San Francisco Tour Guide Extraordinaire - BriAnne

BriAnne is my niece. She's 18 and the world is her's! So this story really should come as no surprise to anyone that knows her. This photo was taken shortly after this story.

It was 4th of July just after the sun had gone down, when Nick and I stopped our shopping. As we walked out of the sunglass store, who do we run into? BriAnne. But she was not alone. Accompanying her was a large black guy to whom she had been giving directions. Just as we found her, this guy was trying to give her a hug for helping him find Lou's Bar. Here was our conversation.

Me: Hi Bri. What's going on?

BriAnne: I was just helping him (the large black guy) find Lou's bar.

Me: How did you know where Lou's was? (I had been up and down that street so many times and I had no idea where it was.)

BriAnne: It's just right there. (She pointed. Then she guestured that he wanted to give her a hug.)

Me (Maybe Over Protective Uncle): You really should not be out here after dark alone. Nick and I were just one street over and ran into a woman without her shirt and a drunk santa clause.

To which she pretty much shrugged her shoulders. Oh to be young and fearless!

It's Just the Circle of Life

While we were at the Aquarium at the Bay on Pier 39 in San Francisco, I overheard a conversation that I found interesting and a little humorous. I thought that I should share it.

As soon as we gave the attendant our tickets, we turned the corner and there were several exhibits to view before heading to the the under-water tunnels. One of those exhibits was a video about sharks similar to the video shown above. The video had a warning that it was violent. It quickly became apparent as the killer shark created a bloody mess by attacking a seal. The interesting part came from a mother and daughter also viewing the video. Here's how their conversation went:

Daughter: Did that shark just eat a seal?!

Mother: It wasn't a seal. It's not real.

Another Viewer: Yeah, the shark just ate a seal.

Mother: Okay, it was a seal and it's real but it's the circle of life. See even the birds are doing it (eating the left over seal.)

Somehow I don't find it more comforting to know that even the seagulls feed on seals. I don't know what the mother was trying to accomplish but I'm afraid that she probably only further traumatized her daughter. Now her daughter knows that her mother will easily lie about things that don't really matter. But more scary than that, I fear that she might have nightmares of being attacked not only by sharks but also by seagulls. Eeek! But hey if she got attacked wouldn't it really just be "the circle of life?"

Thank You Notes

Today I was reading through my normal blog subscriptions. One of which is LifeHacker. They had a nice link to an article called "How To Write an Effective Thank You Note for Any Occasion." It reminded me of the importances of sending thank you notes.

The first time I remember getting good exposure to thank you notes (at least the first time that it sunk in) and their benefit. It was while I was on my mission in Canada Halifax. My mission companion at the time was Elder Brooks. While we served together he was constantly writing thank you notes to members when they would feed us, to our investigators, and anyone else whenever a thank you was warranted.

When I got transferred to my new area and I was with a new elder, I thought that I would try out his process. So When Sister MacKenzie delivered a fresh loaf of homemade bread to the local elders, I responded by writing a nice thank you note in return. I didn't think too much of it until later she told us that she had made ten loaves of bread to share with others. She informed us that we were the only ones to return a thank you note. She told us that it reminded her of the story of the ten lepers that were healed and only one turned to give thanks. That experience made an impression on me and helped to me to see the value of sending thank you notes.

Since then my sister, Tammy, has been a great example. She is always sending thank you notes for everything no matter how small. And I gotta say that it makes me want to help her out more because she is such a gracious receiver.

So with that, I'm going to be better at expressing my written thanks.

The Dangers of a New Razor

If you know me, you know that I love a bargain. Well what could be better than a free item then, right?! So several times I see these deals online where you can fill out a form and get a free razor. And when I say several times, I mean it. My bathroom shelf has about a dozen razors just waiting the be opened. I'm not particular about the brand or the model. After all, aren't all razors pretty much the same? To that I now say, "No!"

Several weeks ago on a Sunday I was getting ready for church. My old razor was getting a little dull and I decided it was time to break into the razor stash. Not really paying attention I grabbed the one on top, ripped it open, and proceeded with my twice-a-week shave. This is how it works. I get my face wet with warm/hot water. Then comes the shaving cream which I lather up smoothing it over my neck, chin, cheeks, upper lip, and even into my sideburns. (I don't want to miss anyplace.) Then I began my shave just like always only I was noticing how nicely the razor slid over my skin with fresh blades. I was pretty much done with only my sideburn area left. As I mentioned I like to get the shaving cream up into my sideburns so that I can get a clean line. I normally just turn the razor around and use the back side to flatten out the hair and pull the shaving cream down to wear I want my sideburns to end. To my horror I found a little too late that the back of this razor included another blade on the back! Aghhhh! Fortunately I had some sideburn left. I evened out the other side and was glad that the burns were not short to begin with. So while I may have saved a few bucks, I lost about an inch.

Somethings Go Without Saying

I mean really?!

Why Drink Diet?

Today at work I thought I was being helpful when I went to restock the fridge with Diet Dr Pepper. Normally the cases are left on the floor by the fridge but today the extras were stacked on top of it. I grabbed the ever popular case of diet DP only to find out that the handle was torn and quickly tearing even faster. I tried to help it slowly fall to the floor hoping that I could minimize the crash. As the case hit the floor one can popped open and began to spray all over, followed by another, and another, and another. Until all but three lonely cans had broken open and spewed forth. Needless to say I attracted a lot of attention in the office and fortunately some help in cleaning up. We found soda on the carpet, on the wall, the whiteboard, the cubicles, and even the ceiling. Good thing it was diet or we really would have had a big mess. But on the plus side everyone indulged in a little afternoon soda from the cans that didn't fully explode.

Fuji Finepix Z10FD

I've done it! After years of using a hand-me-down digital camera, I've taken a big step forward purchasing my first-owner camera. I initally ordered it on Oct 16th through Amazon for $175.25. I was suprised to see that it wasn't going to ship until Oct 22nd. So I started looking around at other merchants. I found it listed on Buy.com for $165.99 and another $10 off if you use Google Checkout for the first time. Since Amazon was taking so long I thought I'd cancel my order with them and put one in with Buy.com. I did that on Oct 18th and to my surprise, it shipped on the 19th and is supposed to be at my home on Tuesday (23rd). Take that Amazon! They had me scheduled to receive the camera by Nov 2nd.

It seems like a good camera with some cool new features. I'm sure I'll write more about it once I get familar with it. And it should help make some good new posts!

The Truth About Rebates

(At least the truth about this rebate)

So earlier this summer I noticed that fan on my power supply of my home computer was not spinning. After checking with my support technician, I decided that I needed to bite the bullet and go ahead and get a new power supply before my old one caused serious damage to the rest of my system. I found a deal on one of my favorite "deal" sites that I check daily: Ben's Bargains. It was an Antec Basiq 500 Watt Power Supply for $40 after two separate $20 rebates. So I bought it.

I got it home and got it installed. It was working beautifully. The problem for me was that I didn't follow my normal procedure and fill of the rebate forms immediately. Several days went by and the box to my new power supply was sitting on my counter just waiting for me to cut out the UPC. Apparently I waited long enough so that I didn't give it a second thought when I threw it out while cleaning house. Of course the next day was garbage day and the box with it's UPC barcode was long gone.

After beating myself up over and over about it, I came up with a plan. I would go back to Circuit City and ask them if I could get a photo copy of the UPC barcode. At least, I could get one of the rebate checks. (The other required the original UPC.) They obliged fortunately. In fact after I explained the story, one of the helpful salesmen suggested that I try sending in a copied UPC with the rebate that required the original. After all I was already out $20. So what was another 41 cents for a stamp.

I submitted both of the rebate forms with copies of the UPC barcode and then tried to forget about them. So you can imagine my surprise when I received both rebates in the mail. Maybe this doesn't happen most of the time. Maybe it was just good luck. But if I ever find myself in this situation again, you can be assured that I will try it again.