MrScience101's Blog

The Dragon War Relic [Paperback] by Berin L. Stephens

2011-11-02T18:58:00.000-04:00

Completely clean. Some instances of minor violence.

Lost Tales of Power, Michael Vey

2011-11-02T18:54:00.000-04:00

Lost Tales of Power: Volume One: The Enemy of an Enemy
Ebook By Vincent Trigili
October, 2011
Completely clean, good strong moral values. Space and Magic

Lost Tales of Power: Volume Two: The Academy
Ebook By Vincent Trigili
October, 2011
Completely clean, good strong moral values. Space and Magic. A little bit slower than the first one. Told from the perspective of a student.

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 [Hardcover]
Richard Paul Evans
October, 2011
Intense. Clean, but has bullying, violence, and a very evil man.

Weed Warrior

2011-06-19T15:48:00.001-04:00

I got sick of refilling line every 150 feet of weeding( keep in mind I have an awesome 450 foot privacy fence). I figured these plastic blades would fall off, or I would somehow regret it. It worked great though and at least 550 feet later I was done and all I had to do was refill gas. Phew that was a relief. I had to use the plastic funnel like piece to protect the spinning nut because it was catching the grass and twisting it up to the stopping point.

Reiyalindis by Cory Poulson

2011-05-07T17:31:00.002-04:00

Another fantastic read. I must admit, I wasn't going to read it because the cover has a picture of an elf girl on it, but it turned out to be a great adventure, especially the ending. No swearing, but a bit of violence in places.

Beyonders, A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull

2011-05-07T17:28:00.001-04:00

Fantastic fantasy book. Very clean, a bit of violence, but no swear words or innuendos. I thought it was a great storyline, but others guess the plot correctly from the beginning, unlike me.

Alex Rider Scorpia Rising by Anthony Horowitz

2011-05-07T17:26:00.001-04:00

Last one in the Alex Rider series I hope. Typical of others in it's storyline it paints a bad picture of government secret agencies, it has quite a few mild swear words, and violence.

Adventurer's Wanted: The Horn of Moran

2011-03-28T21:32:00.001-04:00

Great book! Completely clean! Fantastic and original story.

Space Prison by Tom Godwin

2011-03-28T21:29:00.002-04:00

Great little read, not much swearing only the d word and a couple g words. Not much violence either once you get past the first tragic space incident in the first chapter.

Terminator Salvation: Trial by Fire

2011-03-28T21:24:00.001-04:00

At about a third of the way in this turns into a Zahn book. However if you have read many of his other books you might be able to predict what happens and what is going on. Lots of swearing and violence.

Terminator Salvation: From the Ashes by Timothy Zahn

2011-03-28T21:23:00.001-04:00

Not really like any of his books. A good read, tons of swearing, a bit violent, but it is not a typical 'Zahn' book. There are a couple of Zahn moments, but mostly it is just a good story.

Star Wars: Knight Errant by John Jackson Miller

2011-02-24T11:59:00.000-05:00

One of the best star wars books I have read in a long time. Fantastic story, clean, and no swearing.

Relentless (Dominion Trilogy #1) by Robin Parrish

2011-02-24T11:43:00.001-05:00

This book is somewhat violent but does not have any swearing in it, or smut. Great read if you like Sci-fi mystery. He writes very similar to the style Timothy Zahn does.

The Skull of Truth by Bruce Coville

2011-02-24T11:36:00.002-05:00

This book was good except for the truth telling part at the family dinner table. I felt like he put in some weird stuff just to show off the skull, here you find out his uncle is gay, his mom was married before throwing in doubt weather his dad is really his dad or not, which is never resolved, etc. Otherwise a good book. No swearing that I remember. Maybe one or two mild swear words.

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell

2011-02-16T06:48:00.001-05:00

If you are thinking about becoming a Navy Seal you should definately read this book. I will never look at a Navy Seal in the same way ever again. It is an amazing tale of how one seal out of four survived a failed operation. I still think they should have kept the stupid goat herders prisoner until they could radio for help, or immidiately booked it out of there when they let them go. Unfortunately hindsight is 20/20 and I wasn't there, so that was their choice. It has tons of swearing, greater than 200 words, and the f word is in there quite a bit too. It has some really graphic parts too (Duh! It's about four seals killing a few hundred bad guys).

Tahn by L.A. Kelly

2010-12-31T18:27:00.000-05:00

This book has a ton of religion in it, at least half of it is how we can be saved. It is also odd because the main character ends up falling in love with the wife of the husband who he was sent to kill and killed at the beginning. I was worried at that point, but it is a very clean book despite being ridiculously religious.

Star Wars Fate of the Jedi: Vortex by Troy Denning

2010-12-31T18:22:00.000-05:00

Great little read, some swearing. A bit of violence. Hopefully the series continues to be good.

Saga of the Seven Suns Book 1: Hidden Empire by Kevin J. Anderson

2010-12-31T18:18:00.000-05:00

A somewhat dull book, not gripping, but that is what you expect from a saga. Unfortunately I had to put it down (forcefully into a trash can) when a 70-80 year old alien prince sleeps with a 12 year old girl.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2010-12-31T18:14:00.001-05:00

A book similar to "Maximum Ride". I really did not like it. It portrays a society that essentially has slaves called "Districts" and then they pit teenagers against each other from each district in a fight to the death. Nothing like reading about teenagers killing each other, not to mention the scenes were the main character has no clothes. I did not enjoy the book and it left me with a sick feeling.

The Jensen Project DVD

2010-10-10T17:27:00.000-04:00

Great little family Sci-Fi show. It had no rating on it, but it was made by wal-mart as a family film. It had one swear word, but was otherwise a great, if somewhat laid back, show. Hardly any violence at all.

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher. by Bruce Corville

2010-10-10T16:39:00.000-04:00

I just noticed the title rhymes. Like the title, it is a short read, but a good clean book. I think there is only one swear word, but I am not sure. It's a great little story.

Maximum Ride by James Patterson

2010-10-10T16:34:00.001-04:00

A sick book. Enough said. Or maybe not, I am tired of books about experiments on children. It makes me sick. It is a scifi mystery novel, one of those ones where a bunch of weird things happen, but the author makes no attempt to explain them. I will not read the second book.

Overthrowing Heaven, by Mark Van Name

2010-10-03T20:35:00.000-04:00

You would think from it's name I would have known better. This book, while the main hero does nothing particulary wrong, is quite disturbing. The topics talked about are inappropriate. There is some swearing. It deals with a government called "Heaven" that is experimenting with children. The main character has to work with a slut and while nothing happens it is too borderline for me. There is also quite a bit of violence.

Alex Rider Series, by Anthony Horowitz

2010-10-03T20:29:00.001-04:00

In order: Stormbreaker, Point Blanc, Skeleton Key, Eagle Strike, Scorpia, Ark Angel, Snake Head, and Crocodile Tears. Every book is unique which is odd, typically the author repeats himself. There are quite a few swear words, and a bit of violence. They are however very good reads, if quite unbelievable.

Artemis Fowl: Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer

2010-08-22T15:40:00.001-04:00

This is the Seventh Book in the series. It is the first book I have ever actually counted each of the words the main character speaks. One or two swear words, but other than that a great little read. I got lost in some parts due to the lack of description that was going on. Largely in part because there are several high level jokes that I suspect I did not understand. I have always been very logical and jokes are often beyond me.

A Shining Season: The True Story of John Baker, by William J. Buchanan

2010-08-10T18:39:00.001-04:00

There was a very unacceptable amount of swearing in this book. There are also a couple of scenes depicted that could have been left out. It is however a great inspirational book that makes you question what actually you can do in life and what your goals should be. It gives you a great view of what you can do as a teacher, especially an elementary school teacher.

Great Visual C++ Video Tutorials

2010-08-05T16:38:00.000-04:00

Wish I had had these back when I was in college. Or perhaps they existed and I simply didn't know about it.

http://xoax.net/comp/cpp/win32/Lesson1.php

Shadow, the escape artist.

2010-07-25T20:11:00.001-04:00

Not place exists that this dog can't get out of. Every morning at around 3-5 am he get's out. I come home from work or church at around 12 pm and there he is at the front door of the house waiting for me to put him back in his pen, into which he goes readily. Not sure how he does it, but this time I think it is completely stopped.

Star Wars Fate of the Jedi: Allies by Christie Golden

2010-07-25T19:49:00.002-04:00

Two swear words. One brutal murder that is very frustrating. Not impressed by this book. The author depicts major political figures as acting immature, or childish, which I hope is not a reflection on todays political figures. It also has a major anti-slavery theme to it, which is good, but odd to have in today's world where I hope slavery no longer exits. I thought worshiping wooden figures didn't exist anymore, but then I visited Taiwan....

Fire Emblem: GBA Version.

2010-07-13T13:17:00.002-04:00

Finally beat this game. It is one of the best turn-based strategy games I have ever played. Make sure you level up Eliwood and Hector and get the Luna tomb for the last battle or you will never be able to beat the final boss. It is weird, because it is a bunch of easy characters up until the last boss and then it is a tough tough time.

Star Wars Fate of the Jedi: Backlash - Aaron Allston

2010-07-13T13:14:00.002-04:00

This one was a good read too.

Star Wars Fate of the Jedi: Abyss - Troy Denning

2010-07-13T13:11:00.001-04:00

Wow. A completely physco book that raises many questions and never answers them. It reminds me of the one that he wrote about Jacen during the Young Vaugn wars...

Star Wars Fate of the Jedi: Omen - Christie Golden

2010-06-30T20:05:00.002-04:00

Very clean, only one or two swear words. A bit predictable, but still a good read.

Star Wars Fate of the Jedi Outcast - Aaron Allston

2010-06-30T19:22:00.001-04:00

Not a bad read, very clean. No swearing that I can remember. Not as entertaining as others, but it at least is better than most sci fi out there right now.

Inkscape and Heathenx.org

2010-06-06T20:30:00.001-04:00

So I spent an hour or so making a really cool 3d chart with Inkscape. It is vector graphics drawing program. Vector graphics are cool because you can scale them to any size. It also has neat tricks to making really cool graphics art. Aka graphics design. The tutorials are written by a really neat guy that must have too much time on his hands. They are all at this website. Truly you can teach yourself to be a great graphics artist using this free software and the tutorials listed below.

http://screencasters.heathenx.org/

Prince of Persia, Sands of Time.

2010-06-06T17:57:00.001-04:00

A violent, but otherwise very good movie. However when I think of Sands of Time, this is what comes to mind:

http://chir.ag/stuff/sand/

Our Garden, though grass garden it may be.

2010-05-30T20:27:00.001-04:00

We planted a blueberry bush, strawberries, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, beans, Grandma's beans, tomatoes, and some rasberries. Right now all that is left are potatoes, lettuce, carrotts, and beans

It's here, and it's only rated teen.

2010-05-23T16:21:00.001-04:00

After many years of waiting Starcraft 2 is finally coming. I just got my invite to the Beta a few days ago and am now pummeling and being pummeled by people who stayed up till 3 am playing the original starcraft. New hotkeys, much better graphics, but mostly exactly like the original. There are of course some new units as well. Zerg require tons more micromanagement and I hope they fix that before the official release date, but we'll see. I also hope they add lan support for which there is none right now.

Refinishing the deck.

2010-05-16T08:51:00.002-04:00

We decided to refinish the deck before it rotted away. You can see the mold that was growing on it...The process was to pressure wash it, sand it, and then stain it. The pressure washing was amazing as you can see in the second picture. The sanding was ineffective due to the boards no longer being flat. They have small grooves from warping and pressure washing and are no longer flush surfaces. It took two gallons of stain to do what you see, but I did it by hand and wish I would have used a sprayer. I still have to do the backside surfaces which will require another gallon. In the end we decided that next time we are simply going to replace the deck with a patio, because it will require less maintanence and the deck just doesn't look all that good anyway.

A new stove

2010-01-02T18:42:00.001-05:00

Consumer reports is an amazing thing. We have an online subscription and
used it to purchase a Kenmore stove. Absolutely amazing, my rolls are now
cooked evenly as opposed to crustry on one side and doughy on the other, my
sweet and sour chicken actually tastes good now, and it just cooks like a
champ.

Direct TV, long story, might be better off deleting.

2009-09-27T05:46:00.001-04:00

Cable used to cost us 70 dollars a month(of course 22 a month was just the leasing the dvr and sd box). So I came up with a master plan. I was gonig to get rid of cable and downgrade the internet to the 25 dollar a month package, and phone to the 25 dollar a month package. Walked into the comcast service station to do just that. Cable be gone, no problem! Signing up for the 25 25 plan? No way! It baffles me that if I sign up for it on the web it looks like I can do it, but I can't do it in their stores. They said they would have to charge me 62 dollars a month for internet if I didn't have at least basic cable. I was this close to getting rid of the internet all together. The rep did some kind of magic though and now it's 70 a month for phone, internet, and cable we don't use. That's better than the 50 dollars a month we were paying for internet and 50 a month for phone we were paying.

DirectTv's family package gives you disney, disney xd, and byu tv which is all we really wanted. On the internet I signed up for the family package with a dvr. I also signed up for ATT's 13.50 a month home phone. When I they asked for a name for the phone book I put in John Ryan, so I wouldn't ever be home if telemarket's called. This of course resulted in my credit card being declined which cancelled my directv order(but not my phone order strangely enough). So I called them and they said I couldn't have a dvr with the family package, even though I ordered it over the web and had the proof to show it. The rep said I had to get the choice package. I of course said forget it and please cancel my order. He did, but I had that nagging feeling, so I called back and asked if my phone order had been cancelled. I ordered both at the same time so I figured they would have automatically cancelled it too when I asked to have "THE WhoLE" order cancelled. Nope, it was still there, so I had them cancel it, but wait, they told me they couldn't because I had requested to have my phone number transferred! So I had to call some weird place, get it cancelled and then call back and ge the phone cancelled.

Maddening. Being the cheapskate I am, I sat back and thought. I was going to have to pay 99 dollars for the dvr and 40 for installation if I signed up for the family plan, which was 30 dollars a month plus taxes and fees. However the choice plan one step above was 35 dollars a month, comes with a free dvr, and free installation for the first 12 months. Then I could call and downgrade to the family plan. so that is 5*12 or 60 dollars for the year, which is cheaper than the 140 I was going to pay. So I went to the web and signed up for one dvr box(extra boxes cost 5 bucks a month) and the choice plan and NO phone this time. It was all great till the first bill came. 67 dollars!!!! I called them and in order to get the 35 dollars a month you have to submit a rebate online which takes 6-8 weeks to go through. You pay at the start of the month so that is about three billing cycles at the rate they work. Which means I would end up paying 105 dollars extra by the time the rebate kicked in. So I called them and downgraded to the family plan right then and there and they refunded 25 dollars. We got to keep the dvr and the installation was free. Worked out in the end.

So now we get home phone, internet, cell phones, and tv for 152 dollars a month. Better than 250, but wow it still seems like a lot.

I am now the master of my cell phone.

2009-09-27T05:29:00.001-04:00

I think I finally beat the cell phone companies, temporarily at least. This all started with a quest to cut down our monthly expenses. Just a month or two ago we were paying 250 dollars a month for cell phones, home phone, internet, and cable tv. That's 1000 dollars every 4 months or 3000 dollars a year for those of you mathmatically inclined. For those of you who are not, let's just say, it's really expensive!

I went to best buy and bought an i465 clutch(a red one with a qwerty keypad) and transferred my att cell phone number to it. I was shocked that 1. The cell phone number transfer took only minutes. In fact I was mad because I sent a text message from my temporary phone number they gave me and it never made it to my att cell phone. I thought texting wasn't working. Turns out my att service was cancelled before the txt could get there! 2. You only have to add ten bucks every three months. For guys like me that only talk 30-40 minutes a month, that's a steal of a deal!.

Apparently it also comes with unlimited data, so if you install opera mini 3(the old version) you can surf the web all day free of charge. They do have a customized built in browser that you can use, but it costs 35 cents a day to use, whether you use it or not. Using opera mini I can check my hotmail, and gmail on the road. Using the google mobile apps I can read excel and word documents.

I haven't figured out an easy way to transfer my contacts yet, but I am still working on it.

I like boostmobile so far. It is the best pay as you go out there I think. REally slow network though, including texting.

Wow.

2009-08-26T17:24:00.001-04:00

Today I had an observer during a class I taught. Afterwards he said that if he was INPO he would pull the accredidation from the training center. That means we would not be able to teach any operators and is a pretty serious statement. Needless to say, I guess I didn't teach the way they want.

I am failing at teaching.

I am failing at my church calling.

I am failing at keeping up with all the stuff around the house.

It get's pretty frustrating at times.

Oh well, I'll get better at it as time goes on. I am not worried since I am sure I will get many more chances and if worse comes to worse they will just have my find another job inside TVA.

Love,

Brooks

RE: Pardon me, while I vent for a second.

2009-08-12T08:13:00.001-04:00

It is funny that you mention healthcare. While I don't know how things
will change in regard to diagnosing problems or paying premiums, I was
reading something yesterday about that. It was from MSN. Here is the
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32372611/ns/politics-white_house

What caught my eye was at the very bottom, which doesn't give me much
hope of it working all that well. He was comparing the government plan
to private insurers. I will include it now:

*****************************
As long as they have a good product and the government plan has to
sustain itself through premiums and other non-tax revenue, private
insurers should be able to compete with the government plan, Obama said.

"They do it all the time," he said. "UPS and FedEx are doing just fine.
... It's the Post Office that's always having problems."
****************************

So if Fedex and UPS are the private insurers, and the post office is the
government healthcare, what is that saying for how it will be run. I am
not being optimistic now...

My two pents, as they say in England where they have government run
healthcare.

Brian

-----Original Message-----
From: Brooks Mattison [mailto:mrscience101@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 5:24 AM
To: Diane; Elih Mattison; Gloria Mattison; Jennifer Mattison; K M;
lengthybook; Mattison's; Nathan Mattison; Tiffany Mattison; Staffanson,
Brian J Civ USAF AFMC 516 SMXS/MXDED; charity.1@gmail.com;
dstephens3@weber.edu; kenzabird@yahoo.com; Brian & Annette Staffanson;
Brian & Chariti Stephens; Mom & Dad Stephens; Mom Stephens;
mrscience1011.1234@blogger.com
Subject: Pardon me, while I vent for a second.

We had a very nice fixed rate 9.5% visa card through America first. Due
to Obama, now starting Sep 2010 it is required by law to be converted to
a variable rate linked to the government prime index. Thank you Obama
and the government once again for invading our privacy and managing our
money, since I am clearly not able to do it on my own...

What next? Healthcare? Can I no longer take care of myself physically?
I have to have some idiot bureaucrat tell me when, where, and what
doctors I can see? I got my gallbladder and umbilical hernia fixed in
less than 24 hours once they discovered what it was. Do you seriously
think the government can do better than that?

Health insurance when my wife and I were first married was only $150
dollars a month through blue cross blue shield, and we made less than
15,000 a year. That is a heck of a lot cheaper than what the government
is going to take out of our paychecks if and when we switch to national
healthcare.

Here is the letter I got from America first, when I read a little tiny
note in small writing at the end of my bank statement of july that said
our cards would be assimilated into the government prime index in Sep,
2010.

Brooks,

Due to the enactment of federal laws governing credit cards and other
financial services industry factors, America First Credit Union has made
changes to the terms that govern the use of our Visa products. Due to
this act, we will no longer be offering a fixed rate on our Visa Credit
Cards, but we will provide you with variable rates that are extremely
competitive and offer you the choice of a cash rebate or rewards card
with no annual fee.

The 2009 Credit Card Act makes it clear that financial institutions
cannot offer a fixed rate visa unless they disclose the length of time
it is fixed and the rate that will apply at the expiration of the
period. At this time America First does not have a product to meet the
criteria.

Our variable visa credit card accounts will now be tied to the U.S.
Prime rate rather than America First Credit Union's Consumer Rate Index
(CRI). Your rate will not change unless the index (U.S. Prime) changes.
We are changing to the Prime Rate because a provision in the Act
prohibits financial institutions from using an internal index.
Therefore, America First must use an index available to the general
public.

We will also be increasing late fees on loans as part of this process.
The late fee will be $25.00 and the late fee period will now be 10 days.
We are increasing the late fees because of the changing nature of the
financial services industry, including an increased notifying period.
Fees and costs associated with all our products change routinely. We
remain committed to providing you with the best values in financial
services and delivering the highest-quality member service.

These new laws also give consumers more time to make their credit card,
personal line of credit, and home equity line of credit payments, as the
due dates will be moved to the 30th of each month, starting August 1,
2009. For February, the system will adjust the payment date to the 28th
or 29th, depending on the year. We will automatically adjust the
payment withdrawals for you if you have an autopay set up on your VISA
Credit Card, Line of Credit or Home Equity Loan.

We did notify our members as soon as we were able to do so but due to
the delayed discussion and debate about the intent of each of the
provisions within the Credit Card Act. The interpretations of the Act
were slow to be published.
The Act was signed by President Obama at the end of May 2009. The
Federal Reserve Board did not issue a final rule on one of the
provisions until July 16, 2009. America First has done all it could to
address each of the provisions in a limited time frame and notify the
members.
We are committed to helping our members find a loan product that is
beneficial to their budgets that fits their finances. We pledge to
communicate with you about all changes in terms and other developments
that affect your beneficial products and services here at America First.
Please let us know if you have any other questions. Thank you, we
appreciate your membership. Have a great day!

Pardon me, while I vent for a second.

2009-08-12T07:24:00.001-04:00

We had a very nice fixed rate 9.5% visa card through America first. Due to Obama, now starting Sep 2010 it is required by law to be converted to a variable rate linked to the government prime index. Thank you Obama and the government once again for invading our privacy and managing our money, since I am clearly not able to do it on my own...

What next? Healthcare? Can I no longer take care of myself physically? I have to have some idiot bureaucrat tell me when, where, and what doctors I can see? I got my gallbladder and umbilical hernia fixed in less than 24 hours once they discovered what it was. Do you seriously think the government can do better than that?

Health insurance when my wife and I were first married was only $150 dollars a month through blue cross blue shield, and we made less than 15,000 a year. That is a heck of a lot cheaper than what the government is going to take out of our paychecks if and when we switch to national healthcare.

Here is the letter I got from America first, when I read a little tiny note in small writing at the end of my bank statement of july that said our cards would be assimilated into the government prime index in Sep, 2010.

Brooks,

Due to the enactment of federal laws governing credit cards and other financial services industry factors, America First Credit Union has made changes to the terms that govern the use of our Visa products. Due to this act, we will no longer be offering a fixed rate on our Visa Credit Cards, but we will provide you with variable rates that are extremely competitive and offer you the choice of a cash rebate or rewards card with no annual fee.

The 2009 Credit Card Act makes it clear that financial institutions cannot offer a fixed rate visa unless they disclose the length of time it is fixed and the rate that will apply at the expiration of the period. At this time America First does not have a product to meet the criteria.

Our variable visa credit card accounts will now be tied to the U.S. Prime rate rather than America First Credit Union's Consumer Rate Index (CRI). Your rate will not change unless the index (U.S. Prime) changes. We are changing to the Prime Rate because a provision in the Act prohibits financial institutions from using an internal index. Therefore, America First must use an index available to the general public.

We will also be increasing late fees on loans as part of this process. The late fee will be $25.00 and the late fee period will now be 10 days. We are increasing the late fees because of the changing nature of the financial services industry, including an increased notifying period. Fees and costs associated with all our products change routinely. We remain committed to providing you with the best values in financial services and delivering the highest-quality member service.

These new laws also give consumers more time to make their credit card, personal line of credit, and home equity line of credit payments, as the due dates will be moved to the 30th of each month, starting August 1, 2009. For February, the system will adjust the payment date to the 28th or 29th, depending on the year. We will automatically adjust the payment withdrawals for you if you have an autopay set up on your VISA Credit Card, Line of Credit or Home Equity Loan.

The Act was signed by President Obama at the end of May 2009. The Federal Reserve Board did not issue a final rule on one of the provisions until July 16, 2009. America First has done all it could to address each of the provisions in a limited time frame and notify the members.

We are committed to helping our members find a loan product that is beneficial to their budgets that fits their finances. We pledge to communicate with you about all changes in terms and other developments that affect your beneficial products and services here at America First. Please let us know if you have any other questions. Thank you, we appreciate your membership. Have a great day!

Comcast DVR cable box DUI Du1 error code.

2009-08-08T10:31:00.001-04:00

Apparently comcast's motorola dvr box does not support DVI yet. That is what the code stands for. It can only disply dui or du1 on it's box. It stands for DVI. It means the dvr and tv cannot communicate. Eventually the DVR will freeze and the only way to reset it is to unplug it for 1 minute and plug it back in. The solution is easy, don't use an HDMI or DVI cable. I used one of the component cables (the ones with five wires, three for video, two for audio) and the dvr started working again. Make sure you actually unplug the DVI/HDMI cable from the box and tv.

Good luck!

Comcast Cable Triple Play Program the Remote to work

2009-08-08T10:28:00.001-04:00

Finally figured out how to program the remote. Turns out there are two versions of the hd silver remote and I was using the one that neeed five codes as opposed to four.

Here is the website to program your remote:

http://www.comcast.com/corporate/customers/customer_support/remotes.html

Lortab (Hydrocodone), Tramadol (Ultram), Withdrawals.

2009-08-04T11:22:00.005-04:00

If these withdrawals are anything like what illegal drug users go through, I have no idea why you would ever even want to try illegal drugs.

It takes 7 days to get off medical pain killers cold turkey, with the 3rd day being the worst. I had my last Lortab Monday at 9:30 am.

Stage 1: (While taking the last dose)

When the last dose is coming up nervousness set's in. It's the last dose, when is the next one going to come from? There is a doctor's appointment later that afternoon, but will any be prescribed? Apprehension, etc, set's in.

Stage 2: (6 hours later)

It's time for the next dose. Resigned to the fact that there is no more medicine coming, a "I just don't care" attitude set's in. While reaching for a glass, five fall on the floor, "Who cares?", so they sit there. People come to the door, "Who cares?", people try to talk to you, "Who cares?". A complete lack of energy, lethargic, and a general feeling of absolute disregard for anything and everything in general.

Stage 3: (5-7 hours later)

A general feeling of sickness all over set's in as time goes by, feeling just miserable, with a touch a nausea. Thankfully there was no 'real' pain other then a general bowel discomfort. While laying down a cold sweat breaks out and depression set's in. This only lasted 45 minutes to 2 hours when coming off of Lortab, having taken 30 mg a day for four days. Tramadol is much more nasty, I remeber coming off of it twice while waiting for my gall bladder to come out, both times it lasted around 7-8 hours. After only having taken it for a week or so. The hardest part is knowing that if two pills are swallowed it all goes aways.

Stage 4: (12 hours later)

Sleep? What is that? The body rejects the idea and every 2-3 hours it wakes up, assuming of course it ever fell asleep. (It is 10 pm, roughly 12 hours after my last dose. I am afraid to move, have been drinking tons of water, have a dry mouth, and wonder if I can make it through the night.) No real pain though, and eating is possible, so it looks like I will survive.

Stage 5: (20 hours later)

Waking up, is just not fun, at 5am the body finally gave up and went to sleep. At 8am was up again, had to force peaches and a slice of toast down the hatch. The next problem is the bowel movement, which causes nausea because it needs to come out but won't. The intestines are still too sore from the herneated umbilical and gall bladder removal.

Stage 6: (24 hours later)

the 24 hour mark is reached! Wow that seemed like an eternity. Brain functionality/clarity comes and goes in small spurts. The brain wants to work and starts thinking of all these ideas, thoughts, and possibilities at once. Perhaps to make up for lost time? It requires effort to force the body to stay down and rest.

The worst is supposedly yet to come. Day two has been entered and day three approaches. Day three is supposedly the worst. I only hope that it will not be too bad since I only took Percocet for 5 days and lortab for 4 days.

Day three arrived. I could not get to sleep until after 2am. I woke up at around 8 am feeling absolutely wretched. It did not last long thankfully, and by about noon I was able to eat a normal breakfast and even was able to go into work for a good amount of time. At night we were able to go to a restraunt and I ate a club sandwhich with no bacon without any trouble.

I think I am finally through it.

Day 4: I finally got to sleep at around 9:30 pm after working a full day. Woke up at 2am in not quite pain, but a good amount of discomfort. My body really wanted a pill. Ha. It's 3:30 am now and I had a club sandwhich we got from steve's landing and I feel much better now. Can't sleep though. This might be due to the two flinstone vitamins I take a day though, one in the morning with iron, and one gummy at night.

Umbilical Hernia, Gall Bladder removal, would you like fries with that?`

2009-08-01T12:02:00.004-04:00

PAIN. Prepare for pain. Most of it comes from the hernia repair. They do something to your intestines that is cruel, because I couldn't eat the day of the surgery, and three days later I went back to the ER because of the pain. Had to be readmitted twice. Got discharged, then went right back 15 minutes later and sat for three hours waiting to get back in. Don't let them discharge you if you are in pain.

They didn't tell me that the third day is the day of most inflammation, so make sure you take your pain meds through the third day at least. Also Lotrim and Percocet make it so you are quite constipated. Make sure you take a ducolax stool softner(NOT LAXITIVE) after every meal or you will regret it. Make sure you take every oppurtunity to fart, or you'll regret it. Also, always feel free to call the nurse on the phone. Especially since after the surgery I didn't even get to see the doctor or talk to him or a nurse. So I had no idea they took my gall bladder out AND did an emergency Umbillical Hernia repair.

The pain kills me and eats me alive. It makes it so I can't eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, or even enjoy my son.

I have been in almost constant pain since June 28th, 2009, when I had my first gall bladder attack. They actually took my gallbladder out three weeks later on July 23rd. I have had some instances of pain free hours in the last month like right now while I am writing this(while I am skipping lunch, and have not yet had breakfast...except for some pieces of tropical fruit and a couple of shreeded wheat). But for teh most part it has been abosolute misery.

Why God is putting me through this I will never know. What did I ever do to Him?

How Jesus Christ endured so much pain that he bled from every pore is inconcivible to me. I have had several times a day where I have sweat a cold sweat from every pore due to the pain, but never any blood thankfully. How He went 40 days without eating I don't know either. I went a week after the first gall bladder attack and about died. I have only been eating about one good meal a day since my surgery and sometimes not at all. We'll see what happens next.

umbillical hernia, Gall bladder removal, would you like fries with that?

2009-08-01T11:52:00.002-04:00

The gall bladder surgery fixed my inability to eat sort of. But the umbilical hernia nixed that pretty well.

Tragedy! My laptop died.

2009-07-18T12:23:00.001-04:00

After 2 years of continuous use my laptop has died. The reason I think is because I left it running all the time, I should have let it go to sleep. We went to the store and when we came back I noticed the screen saver failed to come on and everything was unresponsive. If I had been around I could of reset it before the processor fried. But since we were not there, the processor overheated, it froze, and the processor continued to overheat.

I am not too distraught. When you buy a laptop, they are only designed to last a year anyway, no matter how much you pay for them. It lasted 2 years, so I think I got my money's worth out of it.

Gallbladder Status Update

2009-07-17T18:16:00.001-04:00

The Hida scan of my gallbladder went well. After the tech informed me that he was not allowed to tell me the results, and the nurse at my doctor's office would only say that I needed to make sure to make my appointment next week because the doctor is out of town this week, I got curious. I headed over to the medical records today and got the print out.

Apparently my gallbladder has an ejection fraction of 24%, with 35% being the lower limit of normal and most people obtaining around 54%. That is all well and fine, but the cause of the pain (I think if I understand the jargon right) is the fact that the bile is crossing over the gastric fundus into the lower part of my stomach and small intestine. It collects there and then does what it does best, which is aide in the digestion of my insides. Nothing like eating myself from the inside out, it really is rather painful.

My doctor is out of town this week, and swamped for the first two days of next week. So hopefully on Wednesday he can help me figure out if we need to rip this thorn out of the side of my chest.

My only fear is that while they may take the gallbladder out, I don't know if it will fix the Biliary enterogastric reflux(eating my insides from the inside out) problem. This is because when they take out the gallbladder, they reconnect the tube, so instead of going from the liver to gallbladder to intestine, it goes directly from the liver to intestine.

Thank you for your prayers, we'll see what happens. The biggest side effect is that I sleep a lot, and have bouts of extreme pain/nausea.

Canon PowerShot A1000 IS

2009-07-17T16:07:00.001-04:00

The Canon Power Shot A1000 IS is simply the best point and shoot camera I have ever owned. It is 10 megapixels and at 130 dollars at wal mart you just can’t beat the price or the quality of pictures. I used to use a Kodak easy share, but the pictures were always blurry in medium light, and especially low light. The canon does well in low light without the flash, and the pictures are almost never blurry, unless the subject is in motion.

Oddly enough we were lucky. I checked consumer reports online and they showed that the canon powershot A1000 IS was a CR Best Buy. So we went to walmart and there was one there. They had just put in the case, apparently people had been calling all day and morning asking if they had any in stock. Heavenly Father saw the need and provided as he usually does. It has taken great pictures of Sam like I wanted, and we were incredibly lucky to be able to get it that same day.

I had a similar experience with my little mini acer.

Taking out the trash.

2009-05-24T21:16:00.003-04:00

A fun filled adventure full of closed recycling centers and a nice person who finally took the riding lawnmower off our hands. But that is a story for another time. Here is the start of it:

The riding lawnmower.

2009-05-24T21:14:00.004-04:00

Much faster and much less frustrations involved in mowing the lawn now:

Shadow

2009-05-24T21:10:00.005-04:00

Here is shadow and a close up of the allergen free me.

Our little garden.

2009-05-24T21:04:00.004-04:00

We obviously don't have much of a green thumb, but thankfully Grandma and Granpa's magic peas don't need one.

Cumberland trail waterfall

2009-05-24T21:02:00.003-04:00

This is a video we took while hiking to the 'waterfalls' on cumberland trail.

A view from the golden globe in Knoxville Tennessee.

2009-04-10T15:50:00.007-04:00

We are up in the sunsphere (golden sphere, Disco Ball, etc.) located at the world fair park in Knoxville TN.

Here is the video:

The Hotel Room

2009-04-10T15:45:00.007-04:00

This is where we stayed while I attended the leadership institue as part of my SRO Cert.

A completely humorous and not to be taken seriously email.

2009-01-23T16:12:00.001-05:00

One day I walked into my office and “loose tie” was written on the white board. This is the response I wrote and sent out:

DISCLAIMER: This email contains nothing that is serious and should be ignored if the reader so desires.

To the misfit who wrote "LOOSE THE TIE" on the whiteboard in my office:

I understand that your educational level in no way even comes close to that of a person with a prestigious degree of Nuclear Engineering such as myself. Therefore I can assume(and we all know what happens when we assume) that you are incapable of spelling even the simplest of terms such as "lose" correctly.

In the event that you indeed were trying to spell the word "lose" and not "loose", you will be happy to know that I am not wearing a tie today. If however you were indeed telling me to loosen the tie around my neck, rest assured that I think loose ties look sloppy and unprofessional. I have no intentions of ever wearing a loose tie.

Very Not Respectfully,

Brooks

P.S. I intend to "LOOSE" this sense of humor upon all of you. Enjoy!

P.S.S If you would like me to "LOOSE" ties upon you, I have several free(aka ugly) ties that I would be happy to give you.

P.S.S. For the correct spelling, please visit www.losethetie.org

How to bypass the safety feature of the garage door opener.

2009-01-21T12:31:00.001-05:00

The only way to close our garage door is to hold down the button inside the
garage. Needless to say this makes it difficult to close the garage door
when you are leaving to go somewhere. The reason the button has to be held
is because the sensors are broken. I tried replacing them and I found out
it was the logic board inside the garage door opener that was shot, not the
sensors. This means you have to buy a new garage door opener. So I
designed an electronic switch that you can see in the picture. It is a
simple when it receives current it turns on transistor. I hooked it up to
the "Clapper Plus" which is a clapper that works with a remote. Worked
great! Except that the clapper only had a range of about 10 feet and
couldn't transmit through the door. It would also sporadically receive a
2.4 ghz signal from somewhere and turn on(bad design on their part). So
it's back to the pull the car out of the garage, get out of the car, close
the garage door, go through the house out the front door and too the
car...all cause I am too cheap to buy a new garage door opener. It sure was
fun trying to jimmy it though.

Mailbox cannudrum

2009-01-21T12:31:00.000-05:00

A long time ago Grandpa gave me some great little super strong neodymium
magnets to make a brushless motor with. After several attempts and not
being confident enough to risk a 50 dollar brushless speed control on my
skills as a superior solderer I gave up. I replaced the mail box and as you
can see in the picture there was a slight problem. It wouldn't close! I
bent the metal but that worked until it got cold and then it wouldn't close
again. No problem though, I taped/glued a couple of those small square
magnets to the inside of the mailbox and we were good to go! (This too is a
result of me being too cheap to pay 60 dollars for a good mailbox and paying
12 for a cheap one instead). Thankfully grandpa's magnets were there to
save me.

Marble Roller Coaster Madness!

2009-01-21T12:30:00.000-05:00

Back when I was twelve dad bought me this really neat set. I spent about
six months building it while he was in Korea if I remember right. I figured
when I got older I would build it and display it in my office. Here it is
again, resurrected after many years. Thank goodness for ebay and the three
sets I had to buy to get all the pieces. I did a little bit of tweaking to
the gears and motors too of course. This video was taken with my phone. I
will soon post another that was taken with a better camera, if I can figure
out how to shrink the 50 megabyte size.

How to crash an ATM 101 style

2008-12-16T22:05:00.001-05:00

"Atms are safe and reliable." I told my wife a few weeks ago. I was explaining how wonderfully reliable they are and how amazing it is they can spit out 20s rapidly with no errors. Today it all started with some shelves. It actually started yesterday when I called the guy and told him I wanted to swing by and take a look at them. Today I called him at 10am as he requested and headed out to his place of old work. I had the impression that I should not use the bank on the right, the regions bank, but rather use the first tennessee bank on the left. But that would mean making two left turns. So of course I ignored it and followed a slow poke into the regions bank parking lot. There were three lanes open, so of course the person picked the one that had the atm in it, but did not even use it. Impatient as I was I parked, got out and went to use the atm by the door. I swiped my card, since nowdays that is how it is done, type in my info, asked for 200 dollars and watched for five minutes as it said, "Processing transaction." The mixed emotions and feelings that go through your mind as you watch these machines work is truly amazing. I would recommend it to anyone just for the experience of it. After five minutes my worst fears were realized. A blue screen of death appeared. Apparntly windows blue screen of death has migrated to ATMS. I walked into the bank and explained that their atm had decided it didn't like me. They said no problem and that it would reset in a few minutes. I asked about my 200 dollars and they recommened I call my bank. I did and sure enough 203 dollars had been debited from my bank account. I asked if they wanted to listen and they said no, and that they trusted me. At that point they asked for my drivers license, photocopied my atm card, and made me swear that I did not take the 200 dollars and then came in. Now back to the shelves. Sturdy things, 7 feet tall and three feet wide. I was rather rude I am afraid. When the guy said. "You know you are getting a deal, I ahve had 4-5 peeple call and wantthem. I think I asked too little for them. I responded, "Yes you did these cost 40-50 dollars a piece at home depot" I then handed him his money. He was asking 100 for six shelves and gave him 140 to deliver them to my house. Now we'll see if they ever arrive....

My Halloween Costume

2008-11-03T09:31:00.001-05:00

<<me.jpg>>
I dressed up as a nuclear engineer mad scientist. At the church party I
asked a girl with Autism what she thought I looked like. She replied,
"You're the guy in the fuzzy hat." A perfect name. I am the guy in the
fuzzy hat.

At work I got lots of laughs. When I first walked into class I saw
Nuclear Assurance there. He is in charge of the entire nuclear program
here at Sequoyah. Needless to say I was a bit nervous, but he took it
in stride.

Morticycle Madness!

2008-10-14T08:29:00.002-04:00

This is basically an advanced version of excite bike!

Which shoe is tied correctly?

2008-10-12T12:33:00.000-04:00

Does it matter? YES! There I was tying my shoe for the third time that day. Mike was sitting in class next to me and I complained to him about my shoe laces always coming undone. He told me it was because I tied them wrong. I laughed and said it did not matter which way. It turns out you need to go right over left, then form the loop in your right hand. I have always done it left over right which is wrong. You can tell if you did it right by looking at the picture. If when you are done tying it the laces rest perpindicular to the shoe you have done it correctly. It wiill look like the one on the left and will not come undone while the one on th right will. How cool is that? Don't believe me? Then try it! You'll never ned to double knot your laces again!

My desk at work.

2008-10-02T20:55:00.000-04:00

I bought a 16 gb usb jump drive for 30 dollars thinking it was a great deal
off of ebay. I need to learn my lesson. You never buy electronics off of
ebay, too many people get the second hand stuff and factory rejects and then
sell them on ebay. Buy them from a place you can return them if they don't
work. I went out and bought an 8gb geek squad usb drive for 30 dollars from
best buy. This is after my 20 dollar 4gb usb drive has been filled up with
so much Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant information I had to buy a bigger
drive. I think the next drive I buy with be one of those passport hard
drives that have 80 gb or more on them.

Videos of the RC Plane

2008-10-02T20:52:00.002-04:00

My new RC Plane

2008-10-02T20:51:00.001-04:00

It was on sale for 30 dollars from Tower Hobbies. I wanted to buy it back when it was 90 dollars. I am glad I did not. It barely makes it off the ground! I think this is because I am using a small brushless Feigao motor instead of the stock motor that comes with it. I should of used the stock one. Oh well. I am going to send some videos and see if they make it.

Anniversary Trip!

2008-09-14T16:16:00.001-04:00

This is a picture of the temple we went to for our anniversary. It is the
Nashville temple. Afterwards we sawed off the gas cap to put gas in the
jeep, only to realize we only had to unscrew the screws. This is after
spending 25 dollars on tools to saw it off. It only cost 1 dollar for the
screwdriver we ended up using.

My foot after being stung by a ground wasp.

2008-09-10T21:29:00.002-04:00

My foot as it appeared after I saw a bee land on the ground and crawl into a hole. I of course had to investigate. My companion shadow decided to investigate by digging at the hole which released a swarm of angry ground wasps. Thankfully most of them landed on shadow and only one on me. We ran for a good distance and they finally flew off after about 200-300 feet.

2008-09-10T19:02:00.001-04:00

Hi this is my mobile phone

Yeah! It's back!

2008-09-10T18:56:00.001-04:00

It worked! Amazing!