Curious...

I was at Church on Sunday and pulled out my tablet and just for fun decided to see if I could connect to the wireless. So, I'm searching for the right network, and on the list that came up was a network called FBIsurveillancevan2.

Now I'm assuming that the FBI is smart enough not to give such an obvious name to their wireless network, because it really would defeat the purpose of having a surveillance van. At least one would think--I honestly don't know much about the inner workings of the FBI in reality, and am going on common sense and my probably-ill-informed view from TV. Which means that someone came up with a really intriguing name for their wireless, and I'm kind of curious about that person. Potentially, they could be really clever and funny. (Or not. Who knows?)

But if by chance that really is the wireless for an FBI surveillance van, then, dear FBI, you really need to rethink your strategy.

Showing Off

In an effort to make up for the un-noteworthy last post, I am opting for showing off my photo 'skills'. Here are 3 of my faves from today:

Top I just love because of the subject. It wasn't particularly difficult to get. Middle, I am pleased with because it did take a little skill to know what to focus on, and I got it to turn out well (a bit of deliberate composition, I guess). And the last one, well, it's just awesome. And I am incredibly proud of it. Although, if I'm honest, there was quite a bit of dumb luck involved. But also lots of patience and persistence. The fact that I took a ton of photos just to get this one (there were some timing issues with most of them) is hardly worth mentioning, because in the end, this is just an awesome photo.*

*I do realize that comparatively speaking it probably isn't that remarkable. But for the purposes of this conversation, the comparison group is 1 (me), and for that group, it is remarkable. I am really, really proud of it. Really.

So much for this Saturday

I had big plans for waking up early, working out, getting some photography practice in, and going to the ward Pancake breakfast. Then I'd send off taxes and buckle down and finish writing the paper I'm presenting at a conference in a few weeks.

Instead, I got to bed late (to be fair, I was trying to sort out the last of my tax stuff), slept in late, missed the breakfast, didn't work out until quite late in the afternoon, and otherwise didn't follow the dream schedule.

I did get my taxes done and hopefully done right. There was this nice little complication with having moved. The W-2 for my new job had me living in my old location and working in the new (given that that would be a 1600 mile commute, not so much), so somehow I was paying taxes in both places or something like that. So I had to get a corrected W-2, which was a new experience. And then file an amended return, which was also new. And I just want to go on record as saying, there are several places in the instructions where the wording is kind of ambiguous. Also, in doing my federal return, I ended up with a return larger than anything I'd ever had before, so I double checked it by using a different tax prep software. I was a bit surprised to see that there were different parameters for some of the credits and stuff depending on which software I used. Kind of unnerving.

Anyway, hooray, I did do my taxes. And I did finish a 'draft' of my paper, if you can call it that. It is a bunch of different sections and points, but with next to no organization. At least I got it on paper, right? I'm having several problems with this paper:

1) I had to turn in an abstract two months ago (which probably means I should have been further along on the paper, but whatever) and now feel compelled to stick to the general outline of the abstract. In my book, the abstract should be the last thing written, not the first thing required.

2) I have never been to this conference, so I have no idea what the expectation is. If you ever find yourself invited to present at a conference that you have never attended, I suggest being very hesitant to agree. 

3) The conference is a weird mix of religious and academic and I don't quite know how to handle it. It's just weird. 

You might think that having got something on paper, I would feel better, but not so much. Rather than feeling like I accomplished something, I feel like I should have done more while also having a sense of beating my head against a wall just thinking about working on it. So, it's just going to have to stew for a day.

In the meantime, can I get a refund on my Saturday? 

The moral of the story?

Last night, I tried a new recipe for some soup. Which first required that I do the dishes, because the kitchen was too messy to cook in. Then I had to do some chopping--something I am not highly skilled at. I got everything mixed up, and got it cooking and it was delightful to smell the aroma of it cooking (which is impressive since lately my allergies have kicked in about dinnertime making smelling and breathing rather difficult).

So, once it was done, I dished it out so I could take it in my lunch. And in the process, I managed to knock one of the dishes off the counter and it hit the floor with an impressive splatter. Which, while being a tragic loss of soup, was also an incredible mess. It required a bit of mopping, as well as wiping down counters, oven, and refrigerator. And I'm STILL finding soup spattered in random placed, such as the wall near the ceiling. Seriously.

Now, I'm sure there's some kind of moral lesson, or analogy, or symbolism in this. I just don't know what it is. So, brownies for the best life lesson found in this little anecdote!

The soup, by the way, was delicious.