Busy Weekend!

This weekend I took Bryan to the State Botball tournament at the Blaisdell Center on Saturday morning. Teams from all over the state (including Hanalani!) build robots from the same kit, program them, and then compete to complete a wide variety of possible tasks. The on board computer is a Gameboy running a special "game" program which allows it to receive sensor input and control servos. We also met the Hanalani team advisor and introduced ourselves. Maybe Bryan will be able to join the team next year.

We didn't stay to the end because Bryan had a sleep-over birthday party to go to and we had something special to go to too. Emily and I took Bradley to his first ever concert. We went to see the groups Audio Adrenalin and Mercy Me. It was a great concert and Bradley loved it. He has recently fallen in love with music, especially after getting an iPod for his birthday.

This was Audio Adrenalin's last performance ever. It was nice to be there for that, but honestly I was most impressed with "Mercy Me". Their heart for God as they played was so nourishing to our soul.

We got home pretty late (11:30pm) and I still had a technical proposal to prepare for church the next day. By the time I went to bed it was 12:30am. 5 hours later I was up to help set up for church. This was just my third Sunday with the video ministry and I'm so glad I've been paying attention, because Wallace (the 'regular' guy) had a bunch of welts after diving last night and wasn't going to make it to church today! I was going to be solo! I worked hard and was sweating like a pig when church started (ewwww...), but I had everything running 10 minutes before the service began. Good thing nothing went wrong because I had almost no time left for troubleshooting. Actually if my proposal is adopted, it should make set up and take down a bit easier.

I was hoping to go to our church's beach baptism in the afternoon, but honestly I was just "spent". Went home, put ice on my elbow, and took a nap. Spent the rest of the afternoon clearing emails and updating some blogs.

Peace Love and Busy Weekends,

Rich

Hanalani May Day Program

Bradley sings "My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua Hawaii"


Bryan was an escort for the Princess of Kauai and gives a speech about Queen Emma.

My Secret is out...

I actually pay a college student to write my blog for me!

(You don't pay me enough, I QUIT!)

PROOF!

OK, I'm getting comments and phone calls that I have lost my mind and no way could blocks A and B be identical. So here, I have chopped the board in half and slid the 2 boxes to be side by side. I have not fussed with it in any other way! The 2 boxes have the same gray value. It's the context that is throwing you off!

Seems like there is a lesson in there regarding the importance of context.

Cool Optical Illusions

Sometimes being a graphics artist is pretty fun. Check out these images that I've encountered. It's amazing how the human eye works.

In this image, blocks A and B are the same color!


The following 2 images are NOT animated (despite what you may be seeing!)

Morse Code vs. Text Messaging

Watch this classic Jay Leno when a couple of old hams take on text messaging in a race to the finish! Also, for a hilarious ham radio clip featuring Dilbert, go to my ATV blog and watch "The Knack".

I Think I Can...

We were running all around the island today. One of the fun things we did was introduce ourselves to the Oahu model rocket club, who launch rockets every month at Windward Community College.

This rather large rocket had a very interesting launch as it "chugged" on the launch pad, as if it were hesitant about flying. Rightly so I suppose, because the wind was high and the rocket's recovery system did not deploy properly. I also lost my rocket today to a failed recovery system (got half of it back, but the body detached from the parachute at apogee).

Oh well, I met a bunch of great new people and now have an excuse to buy another rocket.

Bet I got the first one on the block!

WARNING: The following column contains content that some readers might find offensive. If the words "kangaroo scrotum," for instance, make you uneasy, then please don't read this sentence. Whoops. Sorry about that. Forget you read that last sentence. Well, not the last sentence. But the one with "kangaroo scrotum" in it. Dang. Let's start over. -Charles Memminger, Star Bulletin

I am obviously talking about my brand new Kangaroo Scrotum leather bag! (Well at least as new as could be after the Kangaroo was done with it). They are all the rage!

My cubicle neighbor Sid was getting me some change out of a nice seamless leather bag and I made a comment about it. He told me it was a tanned leather roo scrotum! I said "Oh." and immediately looked for someplace to wash my hands!

Anyways, yesterday he said he had some extra ones (can you ever really have too many?) and wanted me to have one. I thanked him graciously for it and now I'm trying to figure out what to put in it! Obviously it should be something small and valuable! The package said that the old Australian pioneers tied it around their neck and stored their gold in it. It might be a great place for ball bearings, threaded nuts or some family jewelry (OK already, enough with THOSE jokes!)

How do you get the raw materials for these anyways? The bags are supposed to be good luck, but it doesn't seem to have worked for the original owner. Chalk that right up there with rabbit's feet.

It has even made it into the local news. You can check out Charles Memminger's column in the Star Bulletin regarding this very topic by clicking HERE.

Well if you want to be the first on your block to have one, you can get one for yourself at the "Scrotum Gift Shop" in Australia. They come in all kinds of shapes and sizes and there is a price break if you order in bulk, up to 1000 scrotums! (OUCH!)

Good to know.

Peace, Love and ...Oh never mind,

Rich

Quiet week

Nothing much to post about this week. Got some new aloha shirts at Goodwill and some very much needed new jeans at Walmart this week. Small group has really been great lately and I have been enjoying our marriage study. Still doing ham radio but have backed off my archery until my forearm feels better (might be a month or two). Not much to write about. I think I need some Starbucks time to read and evaluate where I'm at.

Peace Love and Steady-as-she-goes,

Rich

Geocaching CITO Party

Had a great time at this year's CITO (Cache-In-Trash-Out) party. Over 150 fellow geocachers gathered to clean the park and enjoy the fellowship.

Dad's Out of the Hospital

Just got a call from my Dad, he's heading home. That's good news. Just has to add Plavix to his pill regimen. Looks like the WV trip may still be on.

This message was sent from Rich's Treo 650.

Update On My Dad

Mom just called me to say that the doctor did confirm that Dad had a small stroke near the base of his brain. Basically all they can do now is put him on Plavix. (Dad says it's just another pill!)

They are waiting for the cardiologist to come and confirm that their are no clots in his heart or anything. He will likely be at Maui Memorial (Room 511) for a few more days.

Mom & Dad

A bit of a serious post today.

I got a call yesterday evening from Mom saying that Dad was in the emergency room and may have had a mini-stroke. (Technically a TIA. Click on link for more info). He had been experiencing slurred speech and some dizziness that came and went over the course of 4 days! I'm told this kind of event can be indicative of a larger, more serious event in the coming months. Mom writes all about it in her blog -"What a Difference A Day Makes".

Please pray for my Mom and Dad as they deal with this news. Currently Dad is feeling just fine in the hospital without any symptoms, but if they put him on blood thinners, he may require some more days of observation at Maui Memorial Hospital.

World's Narrowest Hallway?

Emily had to go to Maui today so I took the day off so I could pick up the kids and do some errands. I took the kids for a snack at Taco Bell and Bradley saw something he wanted to show me. He took me to this door and we laughed. I said it had better be a broom closet because it would be a very narrow doorway! Reminds me of this scripture:

Luke 13:24
" Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

Animal Cruelty?

This poor, poor dog. You can almost read his mind.... "Help me, somebody please help me...."

Getting older? Nah...

Saturday I was asking my brother-in-law about my sore arm I've had for 2 weeks. I figured I had strained it somehow but it wasn't getting better, it was getting worse! He quickly diagnosed "Tennis Elbow" (repetitive use of the Ham Radio frequency dial with my weak left hand believe it or not). Then he said something that keeps coming back to mind..."Getting old sucks, doesn't it.". I'm not getting old am I?

(Long silent pause....)

OH MY GOD I'M 40!

When did that happen? (Oh yeah that big party in October....) But I'm not done being a kid yet! Surely there is some kind of extension form I can fill out.

Maybe that's why I went to the gym yesterday, and to the archery range this morning. But I was shocked that I couldn't finish my archery because of my forearm pain. I got a brace for it now which helps some.

Just as well, when I left the archery range it started to rain pretty heavily and the most awesome rainbow came out.

Is this the beginning of my midlife crisis? Cool! Doesn't that mean I get to do one big foolish thing to recapture my youth before I settle down and live sensibly? Options include buying a Porsche, getting a tattoo, taking up skydiving....Hmmm so many choices!

Let's poll the audience...

What do you think I should do for my big mid-life crisis event? Respond in the comments area and have fun.

Peace Love and Mid Life Panic!

Rich

This message was sent from Rich's Treo 650.

Easter Weekend

We had a nice Easter weekend. Saturday we enjoyed a family gathering at Em's sister's home (see photos) and Sunday we went to the early service at New Hope, and then enjoyed a relaxing Sunday.

Happy Birthday Bradley!

Happy Birthday Bradley! 9 years old today. He's here with his Wananada friends right after blowing out the candles.

Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair

Today at lunch I zoomed over to the Blaisdell to represent the EARC (Emergency Amateur Radio Club) as a judge at the State Science Fair. There were hundreds of wonderful projects there, but I was on the hunt for amateur radio related ones, of which I found 4. It was fun to see what everyone was doing and how it was presented. I was also very impressed by the young people I met, some of who were also kind enough to stand by their projects for a photo. Best of luck to all the students! Good job!

Peace Love and Science,

Rich

Slide Show of Our Camping Trip

Instructions: "Roll Over" with your mouse to see the caption. Click on a photo to see it alone or at full-size. The slideshow loops and is a little different every time.

Morning Rain

Had a great morning but now it is raining. Not much of a problem now but I'm a little concerned about our 4WD trip back home. Road may be muddy.

This message was sent from Rich's Treo 650.

Live Audio: Rain Rain Go Away

Here's my audio Gabcast when the rain came to our camp.

Click to listen. (1:10)

Rain Rain Go Away