RC Airplane Demo

Hey everybody. You might want to watch this movie that shows my airplane all assembled and working because who knows what will happen when I go out and fly it for the first time. Maybe I'll have Shanna capture video of my first flight and then put it up here.

Two things about the video:

1. The plane is a whole lot louder in person than it is on video.

2. Sorry about the creepy smile at the end of the video.

Bird Watching

The house here in Idaho provides us with the chance to see some pretty birds.  For example, today we were looking out the window when we saw about 3 or 4 western tanagers.  Of course we didn’t know that’s what they were until we watched them for a while and then looked up what they were on the internet.  (The internet is so smart!)  If you’re wondering what a western tanager is, see below. This is not to be confused with the western teenager, which is shown here. (Although this specimen looks like she may be no more than a western tweenager)

This place also has an abundance of red-winged blackbirds, which look really neat when they zoom past your car.

Hopefully we’ll see some more neat birds before the summer is over.

Book Review: 1776

Yesterday I finished reading the book 1776 by David McCullough, which you could probably guess is about the year 1776.  I really enjoyed the book.  At first I thought that it would focus on all of the events that were taking place  in the midst of the American Revolution and development of the country.  But to my surprise, and enjoyment, the book focused only on the military trials, struggles, and successes of the Continental Army and General George Washington throughout the calendar year (and a little bit more) of 1776.  I thought it funny that the Declaration of Independence (which obviously took place in 1776) is only talked about on 2 or 3 pages out of 300.  The book picks up late in the year 1775 after the Boston Massacre, The Battle of Bunker Hill, and a few other minor skirmishes. 

One thing that I liked about this book was the information that was gleaned from personal accounts and letters written by Washington, top Generals on both sides of the war, and civilians.  I personally didn’t know about 90% of the content of this book.  The battle of Dorchester Heights, the battle of Long Island and New York, the battle of Trenton were all things I had either never learned, or long since forgotten.  Yet these events are very fascinating and are important parts of our nation’s history.  Many of the patriotic stories that we have heard since childhood come from this period and these events.

The book also sheds light not only on Washington’s strengths, but his weaknesses.  It highlights how close to complete failure the Revolution almost was.  I thought that the year 1776 would have been a very successful year for the United States, but in fact, militarily, aside from a few glimmers of hope it was hugely unsuccessful and things were looking very grim.  Washington’s indecisiveness cost the Army valuable positions, resources, and soldiers.  However, his humility, dignity, and patriotism also inspired the troops to persevere to the end.

The reason I picked up this book was because I had heard (through the grapevine) that it was good and I was interested in learning a bit more about the founding and establishment of the United States.  I thought this book was great, although I will have to read another book to get a little bit more about the non-military founding fathers who were merely mentioned in passing throughout this book.  Great book.  I recommend it.

Potty Emergency

 

(Everyone remembers this classic episode, right?)

This is a true story, though parts of it may or may not have been embellished to make it better. 

I finally got to go in to work today for the first time.  I haven’t been allowed to go in because Korea hasn’t completed and returned my criminal background check yet for this employment with the Department of Energy at Idaho National Laboratories.  They filed a waiver for me which came through last week allowing me to start today.  So being my first day, they sat all of the new hires down in a conference room and pelted us with PowerPoint slides about anything and everything relating to our new employer.

In the back of the room, there were snacks including muffins, coffee, water, and some fruits.  After an hour or so, I got up and poured myself a glass of water.  It was really good chilled water.  The cup wasn’t large, it probably held only about 8 oz. or so.  After about 30 minutes we had a scheduled break and I was dying to use the bathroom.  So I ran in there and relieved myself. 

Since the water was so good, on my way back to my seat, I refilled my cup with some more water and drank it.  Pretty soon it was lunch time and I was on my way out to the car to get my lunch that was stowed in the trunk.  On the way, I realized that I had to go use the restroom again.  It was probably about an hour after my second cup of water, but since I was on lunch and I didn’t really have a way back into the facility until shortly before 1, I decided to hold it. 

I went to a nearby LDS church and ate lunch in the parking lot and on the bleachers by the baseball field adjacent to the parking lot.  The urge had left me and I turned on a sports talk show that I enjoy listening to.  At the end of the show, I took a swig from a water bottle that was in the car and remembered my need to use the bathroom.  Luckily it was almost 1, so somebody would be at the doors to let me in since I didn’t have my ID card yet. 

I drove maybe a little faster than normal to the building and hurried myself through the parking lot and into the building.  Immediately, I made a beeline for the urinal.  (I bet you thought that I wasn’t going to make it in time, or I was going to have an accident, didn’t you?) After using the bathroom, the lady in charge told me and another kid there that all of the training computers were being used and we would be taken down the hall to do some other paperwork, and then we would switch places with the others.

Well, we went down the hall and proceeded to fill out paperwork.  After completing about 5 different forms, we were taken into an onsite medical facility where they took our height, weight, and had us read the lines on the posters to check our eyes.  Then they called me back and produced a urine cup explaining that I needed to give them a sample to be drug tested.  I was a bit embarrassed, and told the lady, I don’t think I can go because I had just gone maybe 6 minutes ago.  She said she just needed a little so give it a try. 

I took the cup into the bathroom.  I was worried because I really had no desire or urge at all to use the bathroom.  (This is the real emergency) I stood there in the bathroom trying to will myself to go, but I couldn’t.  I was thinking of waterfalls, sprinklers, pouring water, anything to trigger the urge.  But I was pretty empty.  I thought I may have to sit in the office for a while before producing the required amount.  Luckily, just as I thought I would give up, success!

I took the cup back to the lady praying that it was enough.  It was below the line she told me I had to fill it to, but as she poured it into the vial, we saw it fill it up perfectly.  I mentioned to the lady that if I had known about needing the urine, I would’ve been able to wait to use the bathroom so that I was sure to have enough.  She told me that if I knew, then it wouldn’t have been a random test.    So, Cheers to my amazing body that was able to produce the exact amount of waste needed on the spot and in a pressure situation.  Definitely not your typical potty emergency.