Well, here we are. We decided last night after arriving in St. George, that we’d just go ahead and drive on through to Corinne’s aunt’s home. So, we left at quarter after six and arrived six hours later. Milaena was a bit of a stink to St. George, but she was much better on the second leg of the trip.
We saw an interesting fire on the way down. Just as we were outside Las Vegas (actually coming to the last exit) we saw this huge plume of black smoke rising into the air. It ended up being a Semi Truck that was on fire. Not just a small fire, but the whole “truck”, cab and everything. It was quite interesting. It was on the other side of the freeway, so we didn’t get delayed much, but we decided not to exit nontheless.
We’ll be headed to the hotel by the beach tomorrow. I can’t wait for the week ahead.
A while ago, we went to the Doctor’s office to hear our new baby’s heart beat. The Doc couldn’t find it at first, and once again, we were instantly worried. The good doctor found the heartbeat with the ultrasound and then found it again with the microphone he used in the first place. So…no adjustment in due date this time, looks like the little stinker was just playing hide-and-go-seek. So, here is a .wav file of the baby’s heart beat. Not quite as fast as I remember Milaena’s being. Does that mean that I’m going to have a son as Corinne predicts? Ridiculous, I’m already a proud father and the kid isn’t even here yet.
We put in another twelve and a half hour day yesterday. We finished the roof on the house. Larry Jr. and I spent the better part of the day finishing the shingles on the roof, but we also replaced some more rotted wood and a few other odds and ends. We have a few things left to do. Actually, just soffit and gutter on the back of the house, which shouldn’t be too bad.
I’m glad it’s done though, the money I’ve earned will pay for our trip to California (at least, most of it). Thank goodness for hard work, eh? One more day of hard work and I’ll be able to enjoy nine days of relaxation. Viva La Vacation!
I’ve been moonlighting this week trying to get that roof done. Seems that it’s going to rain here on Saturday so we’ve been pushing to get it done. I must say this, I have no idea why someone would want to get in to that line of work. Of course, I know that for most people, entrance into that field is more necessity than love of the work, but it is grueling nonetheless.
Hopefully, we’ll have most of this roof put back together tonight. That still leaves the garage to do, but that may have to wait until we are through the inclement weather. I can’t say that I’ll complain too much about that.
Do The Research
We had an interesting talk today in Sacrament Meeting. The speaker related a story of the 1457th Engineer Combat Battalion and their accomplishments in the war in Iraq. The story was so fantastic, that I had to come home and research it a bit. Two results in to my first search, I found what I was looking for: an article that showed the story for what it is: a fraud.
Now, before I go on a tirade about using “Internet” sources in church talks and leading the faithful astray, let me say that before anyone uses “facts” from the Internet, they would be well-advised to research their validity first. This advice applies not only to church, but school and work as well. This is certainly not the first time that I’ve personally seen someone get burned by an Internet “reference.”
Now, all decency aside, I’ve always been told that using “temporal” references in church-related talks is simply unacceptable. Now, I give slack to topics such as the 24th of July (Utah’s holiday celebrating the establishment of the new Zion) as stories about the pioneers are not doctrine, but are part of church history well enough; however, experience tells us time and again that the majority of historical reference found on the Internet are more about fantastic ideals and less about actual history. That slack though, comes with some responsibility. There is no easy way to cross-reference historical accounts of pioneer stories, but there IS a way to do that with modern stories and it’s the fault of the author/speaker for not fulfilling this duty. Not that I’m saying there should be consequences for those who mislead others with untrue references, but at least something should be said.
For those of you who are interested in reading the story and rebuttal to which I am referring, please see this link.