Nippin' and Tuckin'

Cyber Commorancy has gone under the cyber knife and I've changed the look. The mantra I'm operating under is "Simpler is better" and since I don't post a ton of pics (leave that to Paula) the overall desire is to make the reading of the blog a bit easier. Hopefully this works.
Additionally, on the right-hand column there are a couple new things:

1. I've gone through and labeled all my posts so that they are sorted by topic. Most are self explanitory, though some are random; I'll have to hone the process over time. I'm sure some are miscategorized and others could have different labels applied, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to go through almost 200 posts and get it right everytime. So if there are some posts with the wrong label, let me know.
2. I've added this feature that Blogger calls 'Followers'. I changed the heading to "Cyber Commorons", which is based on a comment by Zach and which I am referred to on Natalie's blog, because 'Followers' is lame. I don't think this is a tracking thing, like if you visit it automatically adds you. From what I can tell you have to add yourself. If you want to become a Cyber Commoron, just click on Follow this blog and that should do it. Due to my giant ego, if this ends up getting no love I will remove it. But if there's a lot of people who want to become Cyber Commorons then maybe I can make t-shirts and we can all ride around like a cyber gang! Woohoo!
3. I don't really follow a lot of blogs - rather, only the blogs of people I know. Paula has a list of like a million people she keeps tabs on, as do other people related to her, and probably countless others. I don't have a problem with that - when I find out people are reading my rants I think it's cool. Keep on lurkin'. Anyway, Paula's been trying to get me to read this blog by someone she and Nat knew from school and I was like 'yeah yeah yeah....' and didn't bother until Monday-ish. Now I find myself checking it out regularly. chalk one up for Paula.I enjoy the topics, the writing style and comments readers leave. To get to the point, the new link on the sidebar is Salt H2O. Check it out - don't forget to read the comments.

Lskjfwerlkjsadfoiuw!

Here’s a random mess of thoughts from my mind. Proceed with caution.

Poll, not pole: My site has been visited 96 times since I posted the Republic vs Democracy question, but only 10 people have done anything with the poll, which closes at the end of the day. There are probably several double hits in that number (maybe even triple?), so we’ll say maybe 50 unique visitors in the past week, making it a fifth who have an opinion on the matter. I think it is an accurate representation of how people:

1. Don’t have a basic knowledge of government
2. Don’t care about government
3. Think government is stewpud.

And I think all three reasons are why we let the government do pretty much whatever it wants with very little accountability.
Anyway, once the results are tallied, I’ll post my opinion. Dave made a very informed comment, so if you have any questions read it.

Tasteless: I surprised Paula with a trip to the outlet malls on Saturday; apparently we overpaid Countrywide and got a check in the mail, so it was a guilt free shopping day for her and stress free one for me. I like those days. Melissa, having been abandoned by her entire family for the weekend, volunteered to take Lydia so major thanks and kudos to her.
Before we left the shopping smorgasbord, I decided to grab a snack at this place called Harry and David for the drive home. I decided on some Wasabi Peas. They were delicious and hot, which was exactly what I was going for; unfortunately there were some negative side effects.
First, they were addicting so I overindulged, which in part led to the second and more damning (literally, not just looking for a reason to curse) consequence: My taste buds are done. Seriously. Sunday I had absolutely no taste – coffee cake for breakfast, bread, apricot chicken, spearmint gum – none of it did a thing. Monday, same story different day; yesterday I began to get a little taste back at the tip and very back of my tongue. Everything is tasteless. I feel like Kramer in the Seinfeld episode with the Mackinaw peaches after he spends time in the fumigated apartment. An excellent diet tool, yes; a miserable existence, for sure.

Harvard: It was the Nerf’s birthday last week, so happy birthday. Speaking of which, he was accepted to Harvard Law School for the Fall 2008 semester, which is pretty awesome. I believe he’s going to try and defer a year to save up some money but that is quite the accomplishment. I’d venture to say not too many kids from Wyoming have ever gone to Harvard Law, but he will. This is a big deal and since no one else has let the world know, I figured I would.

What up, Holmes?: Disclaimer: In no way do I hold a candle – nay, not even a match – to Natalie’s blog-sleuthing skills. In fact (I’ll probably have my site shutdown for revealing this, but such is the price of freedom) she was recently contacted by the Pentagon because she found Osama bin Laden via her blog surfing. Apparently he has a Facebook page also. But I digress…
Anyway, I stumbled onto a college friend’s blog via the Ames'. Averi and I had a ton of classes together (we were both in the grueling College of Communications) and I really got a kick out of her – very witty and sarcastic, so naturally we got along. This site is a real treasure trove of dry – like vacuum sealed – humor and I make sure to check it out. Well, low and behold there are a ton of links to other people in these classes that I hadn’t thought about, much less heard about, in three or four years. So I was checking some of them out and found that many are private. And I gotta ask why...

Do I know you?: Seriously, this is the INTERNET. If you don’t want people to be in your business, why are you posting anything on it at all? It's like celebrities being upset when people photograph them. Just don’t be dumb with the info you put there. Like your address, or where you work or your social security number. Seriously people, if you only want family and close friends to know what’s going on, that’s why Al Gore invented email. I have Google Analytics on tracking traffic on my site and I get hits all the time from cities I have no friends or family in. And these people aren’t the one and done ones either.
So, taking a chapter from Brother Obama, I am going to have the audacity to hope that we, as bloggers, can change. As a token of good will, I’m going to give a shout out to frequent visitors whose names I do not know:

Colorado: I know the Sucher’s are in Littleton, but to you strangers in Englewood, Johnstown and Denver, may this blog only enhance your Rocky Mountain high.
Illinois (Chicago-area): Do not let the windiness of your fair city keep you away. PS – I love your hotdogs.
Kansas (Topeka): I really don’t know anything about Topeka. But if ignorance is bliss, I definitely love you.
Minnesota: May your visits continue to be as numerous as your lakes.
New York: From the capitol to the Big Apple, would I go private on you? Fuggedaboudit
Texas: Your state takes forever to drive across! But it does not change my affections for you.
Wyoming (Cheyenne/Warren AFB): I saw Tim McGraw and Faith Hill at Frontier Days in 97. And it's the state of my youth. Cowboy up.
O, Canada: There will be no security checks for you on this blog, my friends of the true north, strong and free.

There are many other anonymous readers scattered across this great land, from sea to shining sea, and may you all feel welcome and safe in the knowledge Cyber Commorancy will never go private.
But if you steal my identity or try and hurt my family, I will hunt you down and inflict pain upon you until you wish your were at the receiving end of my Winchester 12-gauge.

You Talkin' To Me?

A few comments (one a bit threatening) and a text message have prompted me to post something. I haven’t really felt like it, so I haven’t; I can’t really apologize for not posting, but I can apologize for not letting people know I wasn’t going to post for a while. I think that will be my new modus operandi: if I don’t feel like blogging and know I don’t, I’ll just post something like “Out of Blog: Will return XX/XX/XXXX” At least that way I’m not wasting people’s time.

Obviously plenty has happened in the past month - a reason I haven't been posting - but I don’t know how much merits blogging about. I’ve come up with four topics and as to not make this a super long post, here they are. Just click on the links and they’ll take you to each. Don’t want anyone to get carpal tunnel from over scrolling.

The House: The transformation of the past month.

The Holiday: A tribute to Valentines Day

The Hobby: Need your input

The Hack Off: Political mayhem and my views thereof

I'M SORRY!!!

I owe my family and the five other people who look at this blog an apology for the length of time I've gone between posts. I had one ready to go the second week of November but the pics wouldn't load right and I forgot about it. I've posted it now (it follow this one) so there are some month old pictures there from when G&G Roberts came out for Lydia's blessing the first part of November.
Anyway, life has been uber-busy. (Uber is a hip German world for 'really'; I don't know if that's an exact translation, but I'm not the New York Times...oh, maybe I am and I don't check my facts before I put it in print. Yikes! I am the NYT.) I haven't even read any blogs in the past month or so, much less written anything. Sort of out-of-sight, out-of-mind, you know? Anyway, to put the past month in perspective, this is what's been going on - my life since the first of November:

1st weekend: G&G Roberts come into town for Lydia's blessing. I end up have to work the weekend on a mock run of a major project at work.

2nd weekend: Have to Friday night, Saturday and Sunday on the live run of a major project at work; spoke in Sacrament meeting on the topic of service as it relates to the great commandment.

3rd weekend: Wake up Friday morning at 3:30 am to get everything ready to catch a 6am flight to SLC for Ty and Kami's wedding. It's our first time traveling with a child. Stay up until 11:30 local time with family and friends, making it a 22 hour day. Saturday is full of wedding activities and stay up until 12am watching the DVR'd BYU v UW game at the Brough's house w/ Elder Brough as we explore the intricacies of his new iPhone. Sunday wake up at 5:30 to go back to Atlanta. We also had a 4 hour layover in Minneapolis on the way home, which would have been awful if not for the chance to see Zach, Keri and Saylor as they caught a connecting flight to PA. It had been 1 1/2 years since we'd seen them and it was a pretty sweet reunion.

4th weekend: Thanksgiving on Thursday, paint the kitchen and dining room of the new house; Paula decided she doesn't like the color she picked out and has me repaint the kitchen and dining room with a new color that looks pretty much the exact same; attend Ty and Kami's open house; watch the DVR'd BYU v UU game. Get a call from my mom at midnight telling me the score of the BYU-UNC bball game, so I log onto the computer and listen to the game till 1am; get up early next morning for bishopric meetings; get released; smile.

1st weekend (December): As with week 4, spend every non-job working moment working on the house. Lay tile Thursday night from 8pm straight through until Friday morning 6am, with help from Todd from 11pm to 2am; go to the apartment for a nap, get up and pack boxes and work some more on the house; get up early Saturday to find out U-Haul can take a reservation, but they can't hold a reservation; get a different, oversized truck from Penske and move. Get a lot of help from some great friends.

So anyway, that's been the scoop. There are a lot of little things that go into moving into a house, especially one that needs work, and I'm not a "little things" kind of person. It's been a bit crazy and while I've managed to get all the big stuff done, some of the little stuff has hung around to bite me. Oh well, what can you do? Live and learn...live and learn.

There's the update. Pics will come later. Maybe.

The Century Mark

I was born in December of ‘81; 16 months later, Nathan was born in April ’81. This would be of little consequence except that it’s taken the exact same amount of time to reach the century mark for posts on Cyber Commorancy (12/05-4/07). Yeah, I was thinking the same thing…Twilight Zone.
This post is commemorating this significant event, so break out the bubbly and put on your party hats cuz it’s gonna get CRAZY! Or, more realistically, stay in your pj’s, take time out of work or a break from homework. If there’s a vending machine near by, maybe you can buy a soda…I'd use the bathroom first because it's hard to sum up 100 posts.

A Girthy Post
I never realized I was so diverse and wise (some would counter with ‘scatterbrained’ and ‘egomaniacal’…touché) until blogging. Nor did I realize how many words I could make up - like the word ‘Girthy’.
Regardless, there have been a myriad of topics discussed - more vast than Rosie O'Donnell's waist line and just as scary. Of the past hundred posts, 18 have addressed moral/political issues; 14 have related to family; 12 have been “Shout Out’s”; 6 have been catch-ups. Of the rest, football and the break-in have pulled 3; x-box and the Buck got 2; Oprah, Dr. Phil and Verizon each got 1.

What’s the Scuttlebutt?
One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most over the past 100 posts is the feedback from you, my loyal fan base; let me change ‘fan base’ to readership as I’m pretty sure some regulars loathe me. Political and moral diatribes actually draw the least amount of comments; humorous and shout-out based postings get the most. In general, we feel obligated to say something when something’s said about us and not too many people care enough about social issues to say anything. Or it's been put so eloquently no one has anything else to add. (If you're a gambler, I'd put money on the former rather than the latter.)
Of the first 100 posts to Cyber Commorancy, the top comment-garnishing posts are:

My Top 10 – (5) My favorite tunes from high school.
Weight For it…Weight for it – (4) My ever growing waist line and beard.
If You Haven’t Already Heard – (4) Announcement of a little one on the way.
Shout Out: The Buck – (4) Eulogy to the greatest car a guy could have.
Shout Out: The Sound – (4) Tribute to a little game called ‘Halo’.
House Sitting – (4) A chronicling of the weirdness of living in another’s house.
6 Degrees to My Biznas – (4) Tracing how fast gossip travels
An Ounce of Prevention…And a Slug – (3) Recounting the break-in of our apartment.

Of the 94 comments left over the past 100 posts, some are instant classics. They range from odd to funny to gratifying. Here they are, unedited and uncut:

Jeff: Weird, wild stuff: Having done a statistical research project with you in Sis Hendricks (to which the quote from you of "I wish I had a gun to shoot myself in the face" will live in infamy) Math is certainly not your strong suit, nor mine. But are you really serious about the count being that high?

The Ames Family: Complete: (This comment by Shantay was funny, but really long. Click on the link above to read it. Worth your troubles, I promise.)

Nathan: Shout Out: The 1st Sister-in-Law: Good post. Made me love my wife more, and made her cry. In a happy way.

Lindsay and Rachell: Complete: Logi-After much deliberation, Rach and I have just recently decided that you are hilarious. There is a certain and distinct hilarium about you. We enjoy you very much. Thanks for the continued entertainment you provide two lonely and bored sisters. Love-Rinds and Lach

William: If you hadn't already heard: Congratulations! Molding a legacy is a lifetime effort, with huge rewards. Good luck! BTW: Walter Payton is a good name, as well as Mike Singletary, Dick Butkis, and Brian Urlacher.....- William –

Anonymous: Breakfast Memories: "Hurrah for Cream of Wheat!" exclaims the random passerby.I was surfing blogger for tips on how to jazz up Cream of Wheat, and your blog was in the top ten for "most recently updated." Thanks for the tips on that and other inexpensive breakfast foods!

Nathan: Happy Birthday... : You're good, real good. BTW, happy birthday to you too. May there be many more years of both you and your blog!

Nathan: Shout Out: The Buck : The Buck Died? When did this happen? How did this happen? Is there anyway to save it? Seriously, I got a little choked-up when I read that last line.

Anonymous: Shout Out: The Sound : I have just spent two hours reading your blogs instead of doing my homework.

Dave: Something You Didn't Know : Great diction...would you like to come teach a writing class to my students? Give us more.

Archie: Shout Out: Archie “Slam” Ames and Zach “Cack” Shoemaker : Thats some serious "SHIZZLE MAYHEM." There's nothing like the good ol' college days. Oh wait a minute i'm still in college and it sucks now cuz the LTrain left. We will meet again though and he will probably lose to me at Blitz like he ussually did.-SLAM

Location, Location, Location
Girls get around more than guys - I mean, their blogs do. They have this intricate network of acquaintances – I'm not even upset; that's amazing. Anyway, I use this awesome tool called Google Analytics to track the hits on Cyber Commorancy. It was really cool until I realized Paula gets a ton more visits to her site than I do; then it really stunk. Anyway, as time has gone on, the word has gotten out and reader hot spots have grown and changed, not totally unlike Barry Bonds' forehead since he's been popping 'roids. I’ve had random hits from all over the world and I’ve taken three snapshots in time from the tool and thought I’d give you an idea of who’s reading where. The bigger the dots, the more hits from that area. (Click on the maps to get them big enough to see.)

June and July 06
In the beginning was...the South. When I started using Google Analytics mid June, the local friends and family really kicked this thing off. As you can see, nothing else was even close, though I did get some love from back home and friends at the 'I'.






Dec 06 and Jan 07
Happy Holidays! The dynamics changed some; though Metro Atlanta still led the way, LA was second, followed by a sudden spike in Greenwich, Connecticut. My peeps in Idaho and home remain true. As you can see, there was some spotty international reading, but almost nothing that stuck; however, some faithful readers in Canada still read. I attribute this to Lindsay and her international roots.


Mar and Apr 07

Currently, there are four major hot spots in a little place I like to call the USA. Metro Atlanta still carries the most weight, but Idaho and LA are really showing the love. Greenwich virtually disappeared, but Minneapolis has shown up with a flurry of activity, so we're Even Stevens. I also noticed some hits from Communist China. If they change to an elected form of government, I think I deserve some credit. If I don't deserve it, I still want it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little trip down memory lane as much as I have. Just want to give a shout out to you, the folks who make Cyber Commorancy part of your life.
Whether you read for fun, to keep in touch, out of spite or cuz you're just plain bored, I appreciate you reading - 3,092 visits and 5,111 pages views (since starting tracking in June)- and the numbers are growing. I’m stoked for the next 100!

Shout Out: The 1st Sister-in-Law

In the spirit of sibling appreciation (and the fact she left a wonderful comment on the previous post), I’d be slipshod to not give a shout-out to the first sister-in-law I’ve ever had – the Lindsinator. Why do we call her that, I'm sure you're asking. Well, it stems back to when Lindsay was sent from the future to the year 2003 to stop the Potato Gun Debaucle of Birchwood-E...Okay, I just made that nickname up on the fly and it is pretty much stupid; nevertheless, it doesn’t change the great love I have in my heart for Linds.
I first saw Lindsay coming up on 5 years ago in the household cleaning product isle at Wal-Mart in Rexburg, Idaho when she was an 18 year-old freshman at the ‘I’. Nathan had met her at the university bookstore earlier that day ( a job he'd landed for the express purpose of meeting girls; his logic: all the ladies have to swing by the bookstore) and it was a little awkward to pass a couple giggling girls (not her and Nathan…Lindsay and her friend Janae) twice in the store, but when in Rome…
It's hard to believe that was the genesis of an amazing exodous, starting in Idaho would lead to us become kindred seamlessly after her and Nathan persevered through the wilderness of courtship to reach the promised land of marriage. Biblical references aside, Linds and I have had some good times over the past 5 years. If you’ll indulge me:

• Being in the group with her and Nathan on their first date


• Countless subsequent double-dates


• The potato gun incident of ‘03


• Several visits to Provo, including over Valentines Day ‘04


• A long and arduous trek to Colorado to chill with Nathan and me as groomsmen


• Hanging out en route to my Arizona summer


• Chillin’ in Nashville


• The trip to the ATL resulting in my subsequent marriage to Paula

Perhaps the most memorable are my two ventures with Nathan to visit her in her native land of Canadia. The first was in the summer of 03. Nathan told her he loved her and subsequently slipped through the dock into the frigid glacial lake. (I’ve got the picture to prove it.) I made the same trip with the same brother a year and a half later to “the true North, strong and free” to be there when they were married for time and all eternity.

So, Lindsay Michelle, here’s to you – to being my first new sister, to laughing at my antics, to having a good cry over that lug you call your husband, to hooking us up at Outback all summer in Tennessee, to having an infectious attitude that makes us all smile every time we see you.

Renovations

Sorry if I kept you up all night. Yes, that incecent banging and sawing coming from your modem was me. As you can see, I've been doing some work on Cyber Commorancy, giving it a new look - bold, cutting edge and intrepid. I felt the intellectual stimuli one experiences from visiting this place should be echoed in the electronic decor.
Additionally, I've fixed some broken links to Nathan and Lindsay's blog, as well as the Giddens. There are also a pair of new People to See: my old roommate Archie and his wife Shantay have started a blog, as have my brother Ben and his new wife Ryanne.
Feel free to check it all out and let me know whatcha think. Hopefully I'll be able to update today with something more reader-friendly and following in the tradition of witty and entertaining - though sometimes thought provoking - words.

Happy Birthday...

...to Cyber Commorancy!! It turned 1 on the 13th and what a year it's been. It all started with a suspended license and has culminated with the untimely death of my beloved car - The Buck. How poetic, really: starting with a car I shouldn't be driving to a car I can no longer be driving. It's the circle of life, a wheel of fortune. Where's Simba?
Speaking of my recently expired car, I just want to say thank you to all those who have expressed their condolonces on our behalf. And while there is a sense of loss, let there also be a sense of hope; in this little place we call mortality, our lives pass by as it were unto us a dream and the only thing that remains is the burning flame of memory and the joy that fire radiates. Such is the case with The Buck: though metal and rubber have passed on to that big open road in the sky, the memories shall never leave us (unless we suffer from amnesia or alzhiemers). But I digress...
In the past 12 months, Cyber Commorancy has discussed such topics as football, Halo, an appendectomy, politics, morality, Bode Miller, burglaries, automobile accidents and marriage. I revealed to the world I love to write and am working on a novel; I shouted out to family and friends, games and my old college car. There hasn't been much this little blog hasn't talked about... it's grown up in a hurry. It's had to - such is the world in which we live. But more importantly than topics is the legacy it has established.
Cyber Commorancy is a pioneer of sorts. I'm not saying it's a revolutionary as Al Gore and his invention of the Internet; however, it's led the way to a blog revolution. My wife has a blog, her sister Natalie has a blog, (they spend hours reading blogs about people they don't even know while Will and I roll our eyes because NONE OF US HAVE ANY IDEA WHO THESE PEOPLE ARE!!!), my brother and his wife have one, my sister Rachell has one, Will has one...I guess four or five people isn't a revolution. Oh well, I'm going to say it is. Now it's on the internet and it must be true.
Anyway, I've rambled on and on. It's been a crazy year...the craziest of my life, to be completely honest...but it has also been the best. And I'm just glad Cyber Commorancy and all of you have been there to share it with me. Happy Birthday, each and every one!

New links

For those of you unaware, there are some links on the sidebar to various websites, previous posts and my profile. Until now, the links were rather mundane, allowing for only a few new experiences via Google News, Pandora and ESPN.
Good news friends! I've expanded the links! There are four new ones to explore! Fox News! My favorite's list from Pandora! Pic's of my nephew! The Colbert Report! Great speeches and movie quotes! Other stuff! In alphabetical order! Why am I using exclamation points after every sentence! I don't know!
Back to normalcy. Click away, explore new places and learn new things. Just another philanthropic endeavor from theltrain52.blogspot.com. We look out for you, our readers.
Without you, who are we but a series of symbols thrown together to form words of the English language? Without you, what are we but another URL in a see of WWW? Without you, where are we but alone? Without you, why do we continually ponder and post and post and ponder? Without you, how do we live, without you; I want to know?
That's all of them I think...who what where why how...dang! I forgot where...
Stay classy, Planet Earth.

The first day

I'm not really sure why I am doing this for sure. I believe it is a combination of things I like: Seinfeld, writing, computers. Put that all together and you have a blog: A website about nothing.
I've just moved to Georgia from, well, Wyoming. That's where I spent my youth and where my folks still live. I haven't lived there since 1998 when I graduated from high school. I've just recently moved to Atlanta and that's the necessary background for where today's blog is coming from.
Tomorrow my license expires. As is my custom I waited till the absolutely last moment to go one of the most dreaded places known to man - the DMV. There was this one lady just pitchin' a fit that people who got a number after her were getting in one of the 10 lines before her number was being called. The woman was a shrew; that is my assessment. As if the lady in front can escort her to the front of the line and say "Here, ma'am, why don't you just be the exception in years of a low and painful experiences."
Well, my number - F667 - was finally called and I went to counter 18. It was fairly pain free until I was told the my license is SUSPENDED! Yeah, that's right - evidently I've been a fugitive from the law for the past nine months. Valley City, North Dakota. North Dakota! I remember the ticket well; what I don't remember is not paying for it. A cold December morning, Christmas Eve day driving home I get pulled over and cited a $25 speeding ticket. That's the thing that's crazy, that's ironic - I would have paid a $25 ticket and not fought it, which is probably why I forgot to pay it. It's worth speeding for that price. If it had been like the $225 two-in-one combo I got as a sophomore in high school for speeding and passing in a no-passing zone, it'd of left an indelible imprint on my mind and wallet. But this got lost in the shuffle of life and now it's gonna cost me $25 to the good people of Valley City, $50 to my peep's in WYO, and the 37 cents to a postal service I haven't used in a year.
So after loggin 20,000 miles, driving from Frannie WY to Sac-town CA, back to the last frontier (WY) and onto Atlanta with stops in Minnesota, Nashville and Augusta, I find out my license isn't worth the plastic it's on. The irony of it all is I'll get pulled over on my way to work tomorrow.