lame stories from some lame guy in a storage unit in downtown SLC

I apologize to my loyal readers for my lack of posts lately. I would say that I have been busy, which I have, but I actually have been working less lately. Not too long ago the company that has contracted us to work decided it was time to start looking at saving money on the 2.2+ billion dollar project, and one of the ways in which they can do that is by limiting our hours. I did not argue one bit when I was told by my tool supervisor. It has been so nice to have a little extra time these days. It has amounted to about two hours more per day with my family, which has been extremely nice. I catch some crap from some of my other co-workers who are now working 55+ hours, but I remind them nicely that when they were getting 35-40 in December-February, I was getting 65 or so. It is my time to rest. And I am thankful.

So the time at home has been great. The kids never cease to amaze me in their antics, actions, and in how much they have grown (in numerous ways) since we have had them. Janine often tells me of the boys interacting with each other, but today I watched them eating breakfast and just was amazed at the way that they talked to each other and interacted with a Diego video that happened to be on. It was quite hilarious, to be sure. They are all great kids. I was able to go to the library with the boys today, which was pretty fun. They are so much more independent than they were even just a couple of months ago. They look around at the books and videos and play with the toys in the kids area with hardly any notice of me as I collect the books and videos for the week. Juan, especially, walks around like he is a little man. Not just any man, but the one who owns whatever building we happen to be in. Little man. I think that they like talking about the prospect of going somewhere as much as actually going, too. They are like running commentators of everything that happens during a day. If I could broadcast it, you would all know exactly what was happening at any given moment of the day because they are always talking about it. Well, as long as people can understand their Spanglish.

Shirley has been an incredible help around the house, too. She seems to relish in the responsibilities we give her, and has really taken to doing dishes. She has such a helpful attitude in so many ways...it is refreshing. Even tonight she volunteered to read to the boys, which freed us up to watch The Office. She has been enjoying school as well. She was telling me today that she thinks that she has five friends, and then she proceeded to list them all. She is always cracking us up. She was messing around with the portable dvd player, executing anything she wanted to do with ease, so I told her she was smart. "I know," was her response. And she is very smart and very funny. I like to brag about our kids.

So I am irritated with the O.J. nonsense. At work there is a break room that we frequent when we are waiting for particular tools to be ready for us to work on, so we had major downtime the other day. Well, in this break room are three big, flat-screen tvs that are always blaring Fox News. Okay, right away it is not my favorite news channel, but I have disdain for all news channels anyway, so it wouldn't matter if it was msnbc or cnn either. Anyway, this particular day, for three hours straight, they had news on O.J. I am revolted. He is celebrity, and that is the only reason why his ridiculous life is even news. Apparently it sells, though, as I look at the people who stare at the tvs for their whole break or lunch. They watch looped news (sort of news, anyway) as if their very lives hang on the balance. I am disgusted. Can we hear something real? I know that no corporate news channel is going to put on any real news, but do we have to listen to ridiculous lawyers on retainer with Fox News tell us about the implications of O.J.s actions? AND THE PEOPLE WATCH IT. THEY LOVE IT. THEY ARE ADDICTED TO CELEBRITY. Look at the tag lines on your email when you sign out; what does it say? Who is on it? Celebrity. It sells. People want a vicarious life or a voyeuristic life or a life at all, so they hang on the threads of celebrity. I despise it. I want real life. Not celebrity. Not reality tv (could there ever be more of a misnomer?). I want original thought, original opinion, not to be told what is newsworthy by some corporate goon who knows that the general public is full of idiots who believe that O.J. Simpson is news. Get out of my face.

NHL preseason started. I am excited, to say the least. I have hope for the Flyers after their busy summer. The thought has crossed my mind many times to travel across the continent just to watch some Flyers games this year, but I am not sure how much of a reality that thought is. I have been checking into their game in Denver this year, as that might be more of a possibility, but we'll have to wait and see. What I do know is that I really miss watching the sport, and again the corporate goons tell us that we don't want to watch it, so it gets stuck on some half-baked sports/outdoor cable station that I don't get. Makes me want to drop the gloves. Go Flyers.

Sixplex. The idea lives. Inquire within. Communal living. There has to be a better way than the way it is done. We need to find ways to make less of an impact, to live in a way that we feel God calling us to live. I know that the comfortable regular lifestyle is not it. I admit, I love the perks: computers, digital recorders, driving places. But there has to be ways to do that stuff and be less of a nuisance to the planet. There has to be a way to tell the world that this stuff, really, means nothing. So we continue to search for the best way to say it. So communal living still lingers, hanging on, surprising us by being a topic of conversation and a thought of specific direction that seems to be an underlying prompt to us since the discussion first began two years ago. How long do some ideas hang on before they fall to the wayside? If this has not fallen away yet, is it just an idea? What is God calling us to do? We wrestle all the time. But we know that we do not feel comfortable just being status quo, just going along as if our actions have no repercussions elsewhere that we cannot see, that we cannot touch. I am challenged every day by my conscience, by the Holy Spirit, and I know that it might not be conventional, the direction that we go, that we lean, and we might be called crazy or idealists, but why not? Who's to say that we shouldn't live alternate lifestyles? Who's to tell us that we are wrong? I am not Noah, but I know that people laughed and mocked him...

I am going to go eat cereal now.

Damien Jurado. Saw him for the fourth time recently. That guy is amazing. I recommend anyone who reads this to get an album. Check out his music online. I told him a story that my sister Jo told me about seeing him in Portland. He just looked at me like I was an idiot. I'm sure that he wants to hear lame stories from some lame guy in a storage unit in downtown SLC. I know that's why he comes here. I am such a nerd.

I am really going to go eat cereal now.