Low-Tech

I was thinking about things that probably will never change, despite advancements in technology.  These are things that have stayed the same for hundreds or, in some cases, thousands of years. Here are some things I thought of:

1. Books. Even with new e-books and the Kindle or iPad, I am positive that we will always have books with us. I can't remember who I heard this from (maybe Kathy?), but someone told me tongue-in-cheek, "Wouldn't it be great to have a completely portable reading device that you would never have to charge, you could leave your own notes in the margin, and you could flip through the pages as fast as you wanted? That would be amazing!"  Sometimes I like to think about all the amazing things we would say about the paperback book if we only had the e-book first.
2. Steam-powered electricity.  I can still remember my physics class in high school when I learned that even nuclear power plants generate electricity using steam.  The whole purpose of the nuclear power plant is to make enough heat to boil water, and then the steam from the water turns the turbine to generate electricity. Steam engines have been around for about 2000 years.  Granted, we have improved the design and productivity of the engine a lot since then, but the backbone technology is the same.
3. Coins.  Now here is something ancient.  Humans have been using coins for thousands of years. Many people think that physical money will disappear because of the wide popularity of debit and credit cards.  I really think that people won't want to give up the physical money any time soon
4. Missionaries. When I was serving my mission, I felt like the whole process of finding people was so inefficient. I remember my dad saying that the Lord doesn't care so much for efficiency. It's all about the individual for him.  If it was about efficiency, we could have one proxy baptism for all the dead and then be done! Missionary work is the same.  Even though it may take a while to physically go to each door on a street and talk to everyone you meet just to find that one person in 100,000 (that's what it feels like) who would be willing to talk to you , that is the way that the Lord has said it should be.

I found this online magazine that talks about all things low-tech.  It's pretty interesting.

She wanted me to be a Модели

Yesterday, Lisa was so nice and took us out to eat at The Cheesecake Factory.  The food was very, very delicious.  I especially loved the avocado egg rolls.  When we arrived at the restaurant, the entrance was packed full of people waiting to get a table.  We were told that it would be about an hour wait. We walked around the mall a little bit, and the baby started to get a little fussy, so Katie went to the super nice bathroom in Nordstroms to feed her.  I was sitting in a nice armchair outside the bathroom, waiting for them to finish.

While I was waiting in that chair, a girl with a Russian accent walked up to me and said, "Excuse me, but how tall are you?"
I replied, "Huh? Oh, um, around 5 foot 9?"

I was having flashbacks of the girl trying to do my nails.  I wasn't sure what this was all about.

She said, "I'm run a modeling company in the area and you fit the profile of the person we are trying to look for.  Would you be interested in being a model for us?"

I'm not really sure what the profile was they were looking for.  A skinny, pale guy with glasses?  Something seemed a little fishy. Although, I do have some experience as a model.

Pretty good, eh? They've kept me in that header for Independent Study for over two years now and through many different layout design changes.  Must be because I look so sharp.

I told her that I wouldn't have time for that, but thanks anyway for asking. You can't help but be flattered when someone asks you to be a model.

Movie Quiz

Hello there, readers. Please try to think of the answers before looking in the comments! And no looking up the answers!

1.  What were the three gifts that Sabrina brought her father when she returned from Paris?
2.  What was the name of the shell that Johnny Lingo found, and how many did he find?
3.  What kind of drink did Max from the Sound of Music drink while sitting on the patio?
4.  What did Ox, from While You Were Sleeping, get for Christmas?
5.  How many place settings of china did Annie and Walter, from Sleepless in Seatle, order when registering for their wedding gifts?
6.  What is the name of Joe Fox's boat, and what was his "handle"?
7.  What is the name of the TV show that Will and Marcus (from About a Boy) like to watch?
8.  What is the name of the dangerous move that they try to perform in The Cutting Edge?
9.  What does CD stand for in The Santa Clause?
10. What city in Switzerland is the family in Swiss Family Robinson from?

Bonus Question: Is Truman real?

State of the Union

Sadly, I wasn't able to watch the whole thing yet.  I blame my organic chemistry homework.  I started to read it, but it's close to 11:30 PM, and I should probably go to bed.  I quickly read the synopsis on CNN.com and it looked interesting.

I think the most controversial thing he mentioned was that President Obama would work with Congress on the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.  I wish I knew more on the subject to actually have an informed opinion on the topic.  Does it really hurt the military to have gays openly serve in it?  Maybe, maybe not.

I think the thing that affects me the most right now is the section I read concerning university students.  If I understood it right, the plan is to increase the amount of Pell Grants received, and limit student loan payments to 10 percent of your income for 20 years, or 10 years if you do public service.  That sounds pretty good to me.  I am hoping to be able to pay off my student loans faster than 20 years, though.

Now, I'm all for getting free money to assist me in getting through college, but you have to wonder where this money is coming from. I think the deficit here in the United States is around 1.3 trillion dollars. Obama mentioned that he didn't raise taxes at all.  That means that the government is either reducing spending on something else to pay for this, or they are borrowing more money from countries like China and Japan. I hope that bi-partisan task force to come with solutions on reducing the deficit comes up with some awesome plans.

Sealand

Ah, Sealand.  The smallest nation in the world.  Kind of.  It actually only occupies 550 square meters.  It was constructed in WWII by Great Britain in the international waters between England and France, but it was called Fort Roughs then.  They built it to defend England against German U-Boots.

This principality is actually not actually recognized that it is a sovereign state by any other sovereign state. However, Prince Roy of Sealand (formerly known as Paddy Roy Bates), claims otherwise.  He claims that both Germany and England said it was a sovereign state by default because Germany sent a diplomat and England said they have no jurisdiction over it.

The story of Sealand is quite amazing.  Paddy Roy Bates served in the British army, then became a fisherman, and then moved on to be a part of pirate radio in the 60's. Bates went out to the old platform call Fort Roughs, planning on broadcasting his pirate radio station from it. But Bates wasn't the first one to the platform. Another guy named Jack Moore, who had a pirate radio station, had already claimed the platform as his own.  When Moore sent some people to see what was happening, Bates' son, Michael, shot at them with petrol bombs and gunfire.  Bates was summoned by the English courts, which then ruled that they had no jurisdiction over the incident because it happened in international waters. This was in 1968 and Bates was calling the platform Sealand by now.

Eight or so years later, while Bates was away, a guy names Alexander Achenbach, a German, along with some Dutchmen, tried to take over Sealand. He took Michael Bates, the son, hostage and kept him for 3 days without food or water.  Bates returned with his men and took over the island with helicopter.  No joke, they used helicopters!  He then held them captive as prisoners of war. He soon released the Dutchmen, but because Achenbach had accepted a passport for Sealand, he was guilty of treason and could be executed.  However, Bates did not want to "bloody the reputation of Sealand, [and] eventually released him as well."

Alexander Achenbach considers himself to be the rightful heir of Sealand and distributes illegal passports.  People then use these passports to open false bank accounts any other dubious deeds.

Months

Have you heard of the "brrr" months? You know ... September, October, November, and December.  Have you ever wondered why those months have the same ending?

You can thank the Romans for that.  In the Roman calender, September was the 7th month, October was the 8th, November was the 9th, and December was the 10th.  Now, let's see if you remember your Latin prefixes:

7 = sept

8 = oct

9 = non

10 = dec

  Cool, huh?  I never realized that before.  These are the valuable things I learn from naming organic compounds in chemistry.

We have twelve months now because "January" and "February" were added to the Julian calendar.  The first month of the Roman calendar was March (named after Mars, god of war.)  I propose that we use the following names to refer to the months:

March: Unicember
April: Bicember
May: Tricember
June: Quadrober or Quartcember. Maybe Quadricember? No, Quadrober sounds best
July: Quintober
August: Sectober
then September, October, November, December
January: Undecember
and February: Duodecember


Now we just need to think of better names for the days of the weeks...

Funny Joke

I read this joke a couple of years ago in the Reader's Digest, but I forgot how it went.  I had a few minutes before class started today and was trying to think of it, but to no avail.  In any case, I made up my own version:

A guy calls the vacation resort where he has booked his stay a few weeks in advanced.
He says, "What kind of second-rate institution are you running here?!  I called in twice already because you get my name wrong, but you never change it! My name is Mr. Sawey, not Mr. Cryiu! Can you please change it for me?"
The customer service representative replies, "OK, sir. No problem. Can you spell "Sawey" for me please?"
"Yeah, it's real easy. It spelled s as in 'sea,' a as in 'are,' w as in 'why,' e as in 'eye,' and y as in 'you.' Can you please tell me what is so hard about that?!"

Ba dum dum!!