Who do I wish I saw more of?

I'm posting this in response to another blog that I read. The request from the post when something like this:

Choose a prompt, post it on your blog, and come back and sign Mr. Linky!!
The Prompts:

1.) Tell us about a stray animal you took in.
2.) Write a poem for your favorite teacher of all time.
3.) Describe someone in your life you wish you saw more of.
4.) Write a letter to someone who bothered you this week.

Obviously I chose #3 and there is no better quote to start it off with than this one. . .

"What strange creatures brothers are!" ~ Jane Austen

Yes, It's my brothers that I wish I saw more of, actually it's my whole family, but the quote was irresistible.

Joey ~ The easy going free spirit. I've always envied how he always seems to land on his feet with very little worrying, unless he just hides it well. We get along better now that we're adults then we did when we were teens, although we're still two very different people.

Sam ~ Super smart college student who loves gaming. Just trying to figure life post HS out, but he'll come along nicely.

Matthew ~ The funny and competitive attention hound. Dude, you're goin' down next time we play Wii Ski jump.

Jack ~ The precocious introspective thinker. I hope you find a creative outlet for your talents.

Like I said I wish I could really see my whole family more often, but the brothers and the quote went together so well I couldn't pass it up. For all of you out there that I don't see often, or haven't seen in a while know that I think of you all and hold special memories of everyone.

Here are some pics are some pics and videos of them:

Matthew
ARGH, maty!!! Me thinks you'll be walking the plank
(This was taken a couple of summers ago @ Friday Harbor)

Jack
Jumping off of rocks at Lime Kiln Park
(I was super excited that they got to see some of the last Killer Whale pods that season)

Joey & Sam on Sam's graduation day

I really like this pic of Sam. It looks like he can conquor the world.

Joey playing the guitar at Christmas

That's Matthew telling some jokes at Christmas. In case you can't understand him (since he's got something in his mouth) I'm transcribing the jokes below.

Joke #1
Q: Why wasn't Cinderella good at soccer?
A: Because her pumpkin was her coach.

Joke #2
Q: Why was Cinderella Kicked off the team?
A: Because she kept running away from the ball.

#12 on my list, Learn 30 new words (#5)

Truth time . . . I listen to talk radio. We actually have a pretty good talk radio station here in WA KIRO 97.3. I don't agree with everything that the talk show hosts say all the time, but I think they have a fairly decent balance of both sides of an issue. Dori Munson always hits the nail on the head. Plus the afternoon drive time guys Ron & Don are hilarious and sometimes even later at night I can catch TBTL (To Beautiful To Live), which is basically a bunch of random musings by someone who thinks fairly highly of himself, he's also funny but in a more intellectual way and this is where I got my new word.

Ex·co·ri·ate

Pronunciation: ek-'skor-e-ate
Function: Verb
Date: 15th century

1. To tear or wear off the skin of; abrade.
2. To censure strongly; denounce

The way that the word was used was on the radio tonight was the second definition.

Unexpected Praise

I've lived in my apt for a little over 3 years now. Of course it's been the first place that I've gotten on my own and so there have been many learning curves along the way dealing with different property managers. This latest set of property managers have been pretty decent. They at least care about trying to make improvements to the property so that it can be habitable. Don't get me wrong it's no slum, but there are definitely improvements that need to be made since it's an old building. I'm guessing at least 25 years.

Anyway, today I was home for lunch and I got a knock on my door. Unless I'm expecting someone a knock on the door usually means one of two things. It's either the UPS man, and I haven't ordered anything, or it's Mormons. As I walked toward the door I was anticipating the later and what I would say to them to get them to go away, but to my relief it was one of the ladies from my property managers office with two construction guys. She said that there was a problem with the apt downstairs and that he was dealing mold, of which I am allergic, and so they wanted to see about my outer walls as well as his. Turns out I have the same problem:(

However, what this does mean is that my neighbor and myself will be getting new walls and windows, both in the front and back, of our apartments. Hopefully, within the next few weeks. My windows right now are super cheap and sweat a lot whenever it turns cold outside. What this also means is that this will probably just spiral down to a savings in my heating bill!!! I'll let you know how it all progresses. Suffice it to say I wasn't expecting this today, but it's still a praise all the same.

My friends might want to be on standby as I might need a place to stay.

#11 on my list, Learn 30 New facts (#3)

So this quarter I'm taking Meteorology. So far it's interesting to learn about, it's just very dry. This is where fact number 3 comes from. I've tended to stay away from scientific facts, because I would hate to look like a fool, but I'm copying it from my text book so if I mess something up it's the books fault, not mine. PLus I think it's just good info for us to have.

Throughout my travels I have spent a lot of time in humid weather. Probably the worst was when I was in Diego Garcia. The air feels almost suffocating and all you want to do is lay in the A/C until dusk when the temperature becomes reasonable again. The air hangs with a heaviness that can just feel oppressive. . .but wait. . .I just learned tonight is that humid air is actually less dense than dry air, at the same temperature and pressure. The water vapor that's in the air actually reduces the density of the air because the molecular weight of water, that is to say the weight of it's molecules, is less then the molecular weight of dry air.

Still no answer as to why exactly the air feels heavier than normal, but there you have it. Unfortunately for myself it will probably be a pet peave for me the next time I hear someone complain about humid air being heavy, but I'll just have to get over it.

Resourceful Transportation

Amidst the frozen temps, certain areas of the world have learned to adapt and created unique ways of getting from one place to the other. Take out Dutch neighbors who have decided to ice skate in order to get to their respective destinations. Now that's thinking outside the box.