Summer Time

Summertime, and the livin' is easy. Cat fish are jumpin', and the cott'n is high! Did you "Have a good summer" like I wrote in your year book? Most of my summer has been spent at the Kennecott Smelter near the Great (and smelly) Salt Lake. I have been working as a Technical intern since the middle of May. In case you're wondering, IT'S HOT! Working in the same building as two 2500 degree furnaces isn't quite as cool as you think it would be, but it hasn't been too bad. I work with two other interns. One if from jolly old England, and the other is from Chicago(all things go, all things go.)They are really smart guys, and generally pleasant to work with. Our advisor, Dan Martin gives us various projects to help out with around the plant. I have been working on numerous projects, including developing a level sensor that can withstand 2500 degree molten metal, achieving greater energy efficiency in the smelter offices, revising SOPs, and occasional good old fashioned office work (budget spreadsheets, scan and copy documents, etc.) One of the coolest things I got to do was look directly into one of the furnaces. Thanks to the miracle of digital photography, you can too. I have a few weeks left, and then my summer of love will end.



Other than that, my wife Amberly and I have been on a few trips down to San Pete to visit her family's farm, as well as go to the Manti pageant, a drive-in theater, and a demolition derby. I know, it doesn't get any better, does it?
We have also been on a few hikes and managed to camp a time or two. We have also been busy watching nieces and nephews whilst our brothers and/or sisters on either side have had a few hours to few days respite. Its hard work, but very rewarding.

We have also been watching lots of summer superhero movies and working on my crime busting skills, so evil doers beware! You know who you are!



So how has YOUR summer been?

Eye Surgery

This last week during my spring break I underwent a life altering procedure....puberty, you may ask? No...way past that. My wife Amberly and I had Lasik surgery. For those of you not familiar with the procedure, an eye surgeon puts these round suction deali-os on your eyes and a high tech laser cuts a flap open in your cornea( the outer surface of your pupil). They then tape down your eyelashes, put those eye opening clips on your eyes, lift up the corneal flap and shoot a different laser into your exposed eye for several more seconds. The laser actually reshapes your cornea and corrects for whatever eye abberation you may have. Fortunately, they put numbing drops into your eyes and the procedure is relatively quick, but it still rather unpleasant. The upside is that now I have 20/20 vision and can shoot concussive laser blasts out of my eyes( they said there would be some side effects.) Anywho, I highly recommend it for anyone considering it. Glassesandcontactssuck dot com! Here are some grossout pictures for you. That is all.

So I bought some art...

As the title implies, Amberly and I decided to cover the walls of our drab little apartment. We mostly decorated with fambly photos and what not, but I did suggest that we get some affordable art work from art.com and got this and a city scape of Paris(Amberly digs Paris...the city, not the Hilton). I was all for a Warhol or something, but I figured "Starry Night over the Rhone" was a safe bet. I feel so progressive. (But I still haven't given up on my Warhol.)

Indignation at Precipitation

ArgggH. I am so tired of the snow. I have traditionally welcomed it with childlike wonder, occasionally running around with my tongue out in front of complete strangers to catch a feathery crystal. However, due to my shoes being constantly wet, the roads being perpetually slippery, and the Campus shuttles being even more heinously tardy, I have decided I am fond of snow s'no more. Ha ha. But this is no laughing matter. So I propose the following. I am going to rent a helicopter, fly several thousand feet in to the atmosphere, and punch these snowclouds in the FACE!!! But wouldn't that just release more snow, you might ask? Perhaps, but at least the clouds would know the consequences of their actions. They would incur the wrath of my precipitation indignation.

Note: Were I to have the time or money for skiing/snowboarding, I might reconsider, but til then, this ain't over.

Another Funny Mom Moment

So yet again, my dearest mother provided another hilarious blogworthy quote after Sunday dinner. I believe my father said something about my mother being "anal-retentive," which if you have ever met my mother, fits her to a tee. She got a befuddled look on her face and asked "Angle-retentive? What's that?" Afterwards we all had a good chuckle and explained to her the complexities of the phrase. Now she knows. Perhaps it takes one to know one.

How to Improve your Spirituality

This is a funny email my brother Mark sent me about a hilarious sacrament meeting experience. I am sure you have sat through several of these types of meetings/open mike nights yourself. Good thing the Church is still true.



Brother Middlemas,

Observing your slackjawed countenance yesterday, and your call for
help to set in order your life, I yield to the promptings of the
Spirit in sending you this prescription for increased spirituality:

1) Stop taking showers. They entice us to think that nakedness is
natural. After having been on the pioneer trek, I know of a surety
that the pioneers never showered. Can you imagine Joseph Smith taking
a shower? The thought makes reason stare! No, brother, if you feel
the natural man whispering nudity in your ear, rebuke him and take
only baths from now on. If you will remove but one limb at a time, replacing it after you have scrubbed thoroughly,
you will feel pure intelligence flowing into you each time you bathe.

2) When you feel the urge to adopt a position advocated by a Democrat
as the appropriate course of action, ask yourself if he is speaking
according to the Constitution. This applies to Harry Reid and Gordon
Smith as well, who are wolves in sheep's clothing among the flock. You
can be sure that anyone who says a word about taking away our guns,
family planning, or reducing troop levels in Iraq is not ordained of
God.

3) Only play music you would feel comfortable listening to in the
presence of President Hinckley. Any standard less than this invites
the tempter to lay hold of you.

4) Movies which are not appropriate for children under 13 are not
appropriate for you. The Lord does not want us polluting our minds
with carnal filth.

5) Reject the devilish notion that we are descended from monkeys.
This encourages you to have illicit sexual relations with strangers.
Why are there still monkeys?

6) Refrain from speaking evil of the Lord's anointed. Has not his
servant Harris Platner had hands laid on his head, bestowing on him
keys and powers, worlds without end?

You will feel the power of the Lord, including even the power of
electric bolts from the heavens and causing car accidents to hedge up
the way of your enemies, if you follow these simple guidelines which
the prophets have clearly given us in these last days,

Brother Nilsson

I've Got the Blues

Hi Everybody! I thought I would post some neato pictures from Halloween that my friend Landon McCoy from the ward sent me. Do not be alarmed. They are only pictures. They can't harm you