Today's business...

Ok. I gotta give my props first. We'll start with conference. Ever since President Hinckley died, I had been praying for a confirmation that his successor, Thomas S. Monson, is a prophet of God. And I got an overwhelming answer Saturday night - a resounding "Yes!" It was an awesome experience. One that I won't forget. So I'll gladly and openly shout it from the roof tops and testify to anyone, that this man is God's prophet on the earth today. And EVERYONE, would do well to listen to what he has to say, and follow his counsel. In today's world we need this kind of leadership. We need this kind of direction. And we definitely need the spiritual nourishment. Imagine how great it would be if people tried a little harder to be kinder, more tolerant and accepting, more loving and charitable. Everyone would benefit. So there you go. President Monson is a prophet of God. Go listen to what he has to say and be happy.

LAN party report:

The LAN party was a blast.

Plumbing Woes (warning - lengthy and boring):

Saturday was a bit of a lousy day. I got up with the intention of being productive, and knocking a few things of my honey-do list. Our shower was dripping, so our valves were failing, and I was going to make it my project to fix and replace them. But in order to to that, you need to shut off the water main. And as it turned out, my access to the water main managed to bury itself somewhere out in the front yard. I had a general idea where it was, so I just needed to dig up some sod to find it. Well, as I was using my half moon tool (which is the second one I've bought in a year cause the last one broke) to cut and lever up the sod, it cracked in half. It was an omen of what was to come, and I should have just quit the day right there. I ignored the omen, and used a shovel to dig up the rest of the sod. I found my water main access a few minutes later. When I used my key to turn it off, it didn't work. The valve wouldn't turn anything off. So I had to go to the water meter, and turn it off from the city valve. When I turned that one, (which did work) it started leaking. I ignored it for now and went in and attempted to take off the valve stems but to no avail. I didn't have the tools to get them out. So I figured at that point I'd just have to call my buddy Dave (who's a plumber) to fix the valves for me. So I tightened things back up in the shower, and went out to the leaking water main and turned the water back on. I couldn't get this valve to stop leaking, and it was filling up the water meter hole. I called the water company to come take a look. They showed up, pumped out the water, told me I had a leak, and left. Very helpful. The guy said that I shouldn't touch the valve cause it would make it worse. Ok. 30 minutes later the water meter hole was overflowing. Oh well, I'll nothing I can do about it right? I went in to rest and take a nap. Shortly after Emily comes in and asks, did you know the shower is on? I go take a look, and water is shooting out from the stems, and coming out of the shower head. I did my best to tighten up the valves as best I could, but it was still coming out of the shower but only a little. I went to home depot to get a brass fitting to cap the shower pipe with until Dave could come to the rescue. Once I got back I figured I'd just take off the shower head and screw on the fitting since the pressure was low, and I wasn't supposed to touch the water main valve. Well, I take off the shower head, and it was like opening a fire hydrant. Water was shooting out like a fire hose. Though it had appeared that the flow was slow, it was only due to the fact that the shower head was totally clogged. So I'm trying to get this fitting on with the water coming out full blast, soaking my clothes with very cold water. It was quite the spectacle. I finally gave up and went out to turn off the water main valve again - it was broken anyway. I got the fitting on, turned the water back on, and everything finally seemed to be in order. At least until Christine asked me why it was raining in the basement. I didn't even want to deal with that at this point. I couldn't figure it out anyway. I just hoped that all it was was the stems leaking and that once they were fixed, the leaking in the basement would stop. It's now Tuesday. Dave came in and kicked some butt and had the stems fixed in a jiffy. So yay. But the basement is still raining a bit. I don't know what that means, but I do know that it will cost to fix it. *Sigh*

Mustache update:

I hate this thing. I shaved off the rest of the goatee this last weekend. All I can say is that I can't wait to get rid of it. I'm getting a bit tired of people looking at me and thinking, "Wow, he's growing a mustache...does he know it's ugly? Hmm, I thought he was a bit more savvy." We're going to be taking our photo this Sunday. Can't wait.