What a date!

7 August 2009, 8:39 am by Giggles
Categories: Random

I just have to mention how cool today’s date is! (If you write it day/month/year.)

07-08-09

(7 August 2009)

Yeah for fun dates! 8)

4 Shared thoughts

And some people are stupid

4 August 2009, 3:56 pm by Giggles
Categories: Books, Family, Politics, Venting

The title of today’s post is in response to the title of a news article that ran today on KSL – Some people say Utahns should only have two children or else.

What the huh? 😯

I immediately thought of a book series I’ve read, The Shadow Children by Margaret Peterson Haddix. It’s a future where each family is only allowed two children. And it’s a pretty crappy, government all up in your business, kind of future. 🙁

I also thought just how “well” that plan is working out for other countries right now – growing elderly populations, shrinking working populations, cultural extinctions because they aren’t even having enough kids to replace the population. Yeah. That sounds like a swell idea! 😮

Oy! (and if I say more than that I’ll probably start using words I shouldn’t)

2 Shared thoughts

Wanted: One desk

3 August 2009, 8:35 pm by Giggles
Categories: Education, Health, Science & Tech, Work

I am in sore (literally) need of an ergonomic computer desk. With work and school and other things, I spend a lot of time sitting at my computer at home. And it’s starting to take it’s tole on my body.

They keyboard is too high up. And my right elbow has just been killing me lately. I have had to ice and massage my elbow and fore arm a lot the last few weeks. I’ve learned I have to be careful massaging it though. I pushed too hard a few weeks ago and bruised my arm. Bruised, tight muscles hurt worse than just tight muscles.

If I manage to spend a good deal of the day off my computer (Saturdays when I’m cleaning, Sundays when I’m at church or napping and stuff) then I do okay. But there are days when I’ve been working on lecture notes or slides and it gets to be a lot. And if I push through it, it’ll be a few days before it doesn’t feel weird anymore.

Sewing and knitting aren’t as bad for my arm, but if it’s already on the edge, they just don’t work. And wouldn’t you know it, I need to do a lot of sewing and stuff over the next few months. Not to mention I’ll be back in class in a few more weeks writing papers again.

So if my blogging is sparse, know I’m still around, I’m just having to spread out what I can do a bit more.

1 Shared thought

There was no nineteenth story

29 July 2009, 3:13 pm by Giggles
Categories: Education, Questions

There was no nineteenth story in Wayside School. Miss Zarves taught the class on the nineteenth story. There was no Miss Zarves.
Wayside School is Falling Down by Louis Sachar

I apparently reside on the nineteenth story.

According to the state of Arizona I am an Arizona resident. I’ve lived here more than a year. I pay taxes and nobody claims me as a dependent. I have a driver’s license here. I’ve registered my car here. I’ve served jury duty here. I am a resident.

According to the Univeristy of Arizona, I am not. Why you might ask? Because I moved to Arizona to attend the Univeristy of Arizona and so the University of Arizona says that’s not a good enough reason to be a resident of Arizona.

Now, I could understand that reasoning if I was being claimed as a dependent by someone who lives outside the state and I wasn’t financially independent and all that jazz. But that’s not the case.

So according to the University of Arizona, I could never be a resident of Arizona, at least not while I’m a student. And when I’m no longer a student I won’t really care because I won’t be paying out-of-state fees at that point. The University of Arizona doesn’t want me to get my degree and then leave, because that would mean I’m not a resident of Arizona. Um. Yeah. Because people don’t move out of states all the time.

Luckily, there is a loop-hole. If I marry an Arizona resident then they’ll change my status for me.

In the mean time, where does the University of Arizona think I reside?

Must be the nineteenth story.

3 Shared thoughts

I like WordPress, oh yes I do.

28 July 2009, 3:01 pm by Giggles
Categories: Science & Tech

I was asked by someone recently (okay it was Stretch and it was yesterday), why I prefer WordPress blogging software over the set-up that Blogger has. That seems blog post worthy to me.

First some similarities:

  • Both allow you to set up a new blog with just a few easy steps
  • Both allow you to blog, post pictures, organize with tags and categories
  • Both allow a level of customization
  • Both can be made private
  • Both are free

Now, what is it about WordPress that makes me sing its praises? (note, I have not yet actually sung anything to or about WordPress.)

  • It is not beholden to Google. You do not need a Google account to create one. You do not need a Google account to comment on one (although with Blogger you can set it so everyone and their dog can post with any account, but the option of Google accounts only or people and their dogs does not appeal to me).
  • It has smilies!
    😀 🙂 ^_^ 🙁 😮
    😯 :unsure: 8) ;-( 😆
    xD :annoy: 😉 :p :whistle:
    :woot: :sleep: =] :sick: :straight:
    :love: :kiss: :heart:
  • Customization is done through WordPress, You do not need to go out and find hacks elsewhere to add widgets and plug-ins and all sorts of other customization.
  • You can use it on their server, or you can download the software to your own server (what I do) and have control over every single aspect of your site.
  • They do not completely assume that the code you type in is not the code you really wanted.
  • I’m not limited by the limitations of Blogger.
  • It is very easy to mess with as little or as much as you want.
  • Ultimately, I feel I have more control over my information and privacy this way than I do with Blogger.

And while there certainly are exceptions to this, Blogger is the blogging software of the masses. It is cheap and weak. From what I’ve seen it’s mostly used by people who thought, “oooh, internet, I wonder what I could do with it.” While businesses and tech type people use WordPress. It’s just a much more serious blogging set-up (certain blogs accepted on both sides of that of course).

In short, Blogger is the VW bug of the blogging world. WordPress is the Ferrari. And yet it is a Ferrari that anyone can get and use, not just the elite.

I’ve used them both. And I know people who truly do love Blogger, most of my friends with blogs use Blogger. But if the choice is mine, I’ll use WordPress, I’ll take the Ferrari. And the snobby side of me thinks people use Blogger because they know not what else is there.

6 Shared thoughts

Yes, No, and Numbers

25 July 2009, 10:17 am by Giggles
Categories: Meme, Random

These are two different notes on Facebook going around. I decided I wanted to answer them here instead. The first is a series of questions that you can only answer yes or no to, and the second is to see how many states you have been in.

Keep reading →

1 Shared thought

So this is what 31 feels like

23 July 2009, 7:13 am by Giggles
Categories: Family, Gospel, Happy Things, Life

I must admit, 30 was more exciting. Last year I was out of the 20s (yeah!) and I was running a marathon. So last year was a big deal. But I’m definitely not depressed to be over 29 like some people. I love my age!

This year is a big deal in its own way though. This year marks several things in my life. This will be my last birthday single. Which is strange on some levels. It means there are only a few more months to tease me about being an old maid.

And, well, it’s been 31 years since I was born. Here’s me before I even had my first birthday, let alone my thirty-first.

This year though marks ten years from my 21st birthday (I can do math!). And that birthday was a big birthday. I’d received my mission call to Curitiba, Brasil the previous month. And so on my 21st birthday, rather than going out with friends and getting drunk like the people I knew in high school did, I went to Mexico with my parents and received my endowments in the Colonial Juaréz temple in preparation for my mission.

This is a picture of me waiting at the Mexican border for my dad to finish getting the paper work so we could take our car in to Mexico that far.

And this is the temple. I love it. It’s one of the more beautiful I think. But I might be biased.

It was an amazing experience. And the perfect way to spend my birthday I felt.

So since then, if it’s at all possible, I go to the temple on my birthday. I couldn’t for my 22nd birthday because I was on my mission at the time. Instead I was surprised in several ways by my companion and one of my favorite families on my mission. And we made Jell-O without the fridge just to see if we could because it was that cold.

Two years ago going to the temple meant waking up at 3am and driving from Orem to Vernal, Utah. But it was definitely worth it.

Last year was the Salt Lake temple the day before the marathon.

And this year Brett and I are going out to Mesa this afternoon. We might do something else too. But if I at least get to the temple, it’s a good birthday.42D

Maybe next year we’ll drive up to Snowflake. That’s one I’d like to see.

5 Shared thoughts