Letter to the Editor

To the Editor,

An armchair survivalist believes the nation is falling into chaos, and he wants to help! On Monday December 1^st there was an article titled “Survivalist cashes in on fear of chaos”. My idea is that we should be prepared but not go to extremes.

What is a survivalist? According to the online Urban dictionary survivalist means; “A person that believes in self reliance. A "survivalist" does not wish to depend on other people, or the government to take care of them or their family.” What causes people to become survivalists? Info according to Wikipedia shows in the 80's the “arms race” and “energy shortages” were reasons. In the 90's fears of the Y2K computer bug. This century it has been terrorist attacks, increased awareness of environmental disasters, global climate change, and economic troubles.

I believe in being prepared but that we should avoid extremism. What is extreme? The Herald article mentions not only stockpiling food and water but also weapons as people anticipate a breakdown of civilized society. What is reasonable? Its always a good idea to be prepared for unexpected disasters, but do we really need to be prepared to shoot it out over a can of green beans?

Encouraging people to be paranoid seems to be trying to help cause some disasters instead of preventing them. Be prepared but let's not go to extremes! Be prepared for catastrophes but don't be the cause of one.

The Essay of Doom

Stupendevacation

I was forced into a torture trip, locked up in a mini-van... for what? In August I got to go on a trip for a week seeing 6 states, a water park, and a wedding! Two-thousand miles in a week takes a lot of sitting. On the first day we had to drive 700 miles and sleep in a motel. On the second day we finished half of the driving for the week.

When we finally go to the cabin it was sunny and windy. The next day we drove to Yellowstone to check out the sights to see. A lot of buffalo slowed us down going through it. After we saw everything we drove back to the cabin, had dinner, and slept for the night.

Four days later I got to go to my favorite place of the trip. The water park! I got to stay there for 5 hours unsupervised while my lungs filled with water. I’ll just say I screamed half the time and they stopped heating the pools in the middle of the day. After that we ate pizza, slept in a motel, drank chocolate milk, and drove home! I guess you can say it wasn’t really torture!

The End.

Your Mission: Move the Dirt

Last Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday I had to do service projects at the Church, our neighbors, and Totem Middle School moving ALOT of dirt and bark. Each day doing it took about 1 to 2 hours. They each needed wheelbarrows moving the dirt, rakes smoothing the dirt, and shovels scooping the dirt. On Wednesday when we were doing it at the church I pushed a wheelbarrows the whole time. On Thursday at our neighbors I did the same thing. On Saturday I raked the dirt on the holes in the ground.

The time it took to bring the dirt from 1 place to another was tiring but also short at church. On Thursday when we went to the neighbors house I had to go back and forth over large bumps that kept getting the wheelbarrow stuck in holes and sometimes making it spill some dirt on the grass. On Saturday I pushed the wheelbarrow back and forth twice but the track was way too long so I got a rake instead. the rake was still a little difficult because it was hard to not ruin the grass. Well there you have it. A COMPLETED mission.

The Wii Fits Mii

Last week on Wednesday my family got Wii Fit.Wii Fit is a game that involves a balance board and the occasional Wiimote. It's an exercise game that will help you lose weight at an average rate. The balance board is even a scale so you don't need to leave the room to weigh yourself! It's made for those couch potatoes that never want to leave the living room and for the troglodytes that don't want to leave the house.

The game includes these sections: Yoga, Strength training, Aerobics, and Balance games. The Yoga is just for loosening your joints. The strength training is like the yoga except it includes stuff such as side planks and push ups for your core workout. Aerobics includes stuff such as hula hoops, short to long jogs, and boxing. The Balance games include stuff such as marble madness, skiing, and snowboarding activities.

The game also includes a system where you can set your goal of how much weight to lose in 1 week or more. At my rate I should lose 3 pounds for the 2 weeks I set it for. This is a game that your are supposed to do daily! Including on weekends. I have to say my favorite activity was hula hooping I even got a total of 1850 hula hoops in 6 minutes. For hula hoops the faster you go the more hula hoops you get to have on you. Anyway I recommend you go to the store and try it out now!

Feel the Burn!

Last week on Friday I went camping and got fried! It's been painful since Saturday from sunburns and I think I'm peeling like... a potato! I applied too much aloe to my skin where I got burnt! The burns are on both my arms completely and face completely and my neck some! Because I put on too much aloe I have hives all over me!

When I was camping I went fishing and caught three big trout! What really got me sunburned though was the canoeing for an hour in the hot sun and not being able to go back to land until everyone was done canoeing! My sunscreen did NOT last the full hour so eventually I started to turn into some bright red monster! Right now I can't open my mouth enough to talk clearly because my face is swollen and looks like a blob! I think my lesson is to apply sunscreen every ten minutes or you will be fried, don't use too much aloe or you'll get hives, and don't trust anyone who says let's get in the canoes!

Spring Recital

On Saturday I had a full hour recital that had some very short and some very LONG songs. I thought some songs had no end. One song mom wants me to learn is called Maple Leaf Rag.

The songs I played were Super Mario Bros. Underwater Theme, and Marines Hymn. On the Mario Bros. one I couldn't possibly do left hand becuase it was huge stretch for my hand and played quickly. Luckily it sounded the same without it which was strange.

One song was written entirely by Caitlin who is 13 and somehow the song sounds very familiar but is also extremely long its probably near 5-6 pages long. It was like some Through the Fire and Flames remade for piano.

Now I end my post.

The Never Ending Download

Yesterday I downloaded a program that downloads a program and downloads each file in the program separately taking nearly 3 hours! I thought it would only take 10 maybe 15 minutes but it just kept going and going. I originally thought it would be 300-400 MB but within the first half-hour it turned out it was already 900 MB! Which was almost 3 times more then I expected I started to wonder if it was in some never ending loop but just in case it wasn't I waited an extra couple hours and found when it finished downloading it ended up being 3.5 GB total!

This is a program that was from 1999 in which it originally was 350 MB and it was around 40$ now its free but originally it was only 300 MB oh also the program I am talking about is a video game and SDK "source development kit" also the game it was can be viewed Here. In the end it turned out to be 10 times more then I expected I couldn't figure out why it was that much more then it originally was but it was still taking a lot of hard drive space.

A Day of Starvation/Fun

On Friday, April 25 in the early morning at 5:00am I was woken up by my dad to go the University of Washington annual open house with my brother in law Cory. By the time Cory and I had got their using the community Transit "which had I left my lunch on the sidewalk before getting on it" the school was mostly empty.

We decided to go to the cafeteria and have breakfast with insane prices that are twice as much then at a normal school cafeteria. I had Cinnamon Toast Crunch and my nephew Kaith had french toast and I forget what Cory had.

The next thing we did was go to the computer room that Cory had to work in. It was a long walk to it. When we got their Cory said it may take a half hour so he logged me and Kaith onto a computer so Kaith didn't get bored he said to go to some sight called starfall. Which is some learning site for kids.

After Cory was done working on homework we went out and got the soda bottles and went to the field so we could launch them but we had to wait about 10 minutes for a bicycle pump and then we finally started launching rockets and watch people come with modified soda bottles to launch after that their were many other fun activities.

The End

Andrew's on a Mission to Japan in July

Today Andrew just received his mission call to Japan! Mom has been smiling for an hour and I don't think it is going to end until he finally goes on July 16th to JAPAN! Andrew hasn't shown any difference in behavior except being nice. I wonder if he's traumatized from getting the call. He got his passport out and for some reason it snowed today, maybe its a gift :D!

I wonder what I'll get when he leaves... A computer, or perhaps a portable video player? The world may never know until July 16 2008.

Take Off!

Today I played Take Off! It was the longest game I ever played! Every time my mom or me got a take off! card when we were past the border we went back from where we were. It lasted a full hour for a usually short game that would take around 10 minutes. We even got doubles twice in a row of one color we couldn't use.

Almost every time we were near the finish a take off! card took us back. I used one of my planes to send one of my moms to the beginning but she used one of hers after that to send mine back and then it all began. We couldn't stop laughing at the Take Off! cards taking us back and doubles that we couldn't use. It was like the game was trying to make us play with no end!

My mom went to all "six continents available" I went to 5! Africa kept on pulling us back from where we were and Asia kept pushing us slightly forward. Australia is the only continent on this map that I never went too. I also didn't get to go to the countries New Zealand, Canada, and Japan.

In the end I finally won with a green after 2 turns that had colors that I couldn't use. Now I feel like doing a victory dance!

Capillary Action

Day #1

10 drops food coloring in 4 jars.

Jars are half full of water with the colors red, blue, yellow, and green.

Carnations and celery are the plants used.

Day #2

Added daffodils.
Celery is beginning to change in blue and green.
Yellow is changing color of carnation.

Day# 3

Celery in the red is dying.
Daffodils are opened and showing slight color change in the one in the blue jar.

Day #4

Red celery is dead celery!
Yellow carnation is yellow.
Daffodil in blue and green have dark rims.

Conclusion: Water is stilled absorbed when a plant is died or picked.

I wonder what would happen if I watered a non-picked plant with colored water.

P.S. Blogger was having problems with spacing.

Prepare to be Assimalated

Today in my schooling I learned about viruses. On the right is the cold virus which looks like its from another planet. It attaches to the surface of a bacterium, injects its genetic material into bacterium, material takes over cell functions, cell starts to produce more proteins and genetic material, the genetic material and proteins assemble into viruses that fill the bacterium, and the bacterium bursts releasing new viruses to infect more cells.

0.0 Sounds very scary and the right picture is a "real" cold virus. Another thing about viruses is they are not living things! Must be robots.

Terracotta Warrior

The picture you see on the right is a terracotta warrior. These warriors were created around 200 BC and were discovered on 29 March 1974 in China. I have made one of my own with golden clay!

I used sculpting clay that almost never softens but is moldable. In making it I had to knead it for 10 minutes and then roll a ball for the head 2 cylinders for legs 1 long one for both arms a box for the body and a square for making a skirt. After that I started joining the pieces and started making the face, lining the armor, and the hands. After that I don't know how but I was satisfied with myself.

:D

Too Cute

You might be wondering why this penguin is here, but if you want to know, read on:

I've had a computer for some time and I've recently upgraded the software and moved from Windows to a freeware system called linux. Linux is something unlike most things, it has many different releases of it you can choose from. What I'm using right now is Kubuntu. Kubuntu is fairly easy for advanced users but requires alot of commands to install linux specific programs but that's something actually in almost all the releases of linux.


At the top you can see a cute little penguin named Tux. He stops the tiny war between pcs and macs. You might have some problems with using software but most programs have a linux version as well.


Hardware may seem like a difficult thing for some people. With linux you can install anything as long as it's compatible with your hardware and you can install different versions of releases of linux that are 32 bit or 64 bit software. You may be struggling at some point with linux because of the sheer amount of customization it has. For linux another thing with the hardware is you don't really need any except the basics. Some releases are from a mere 16MB and then to a large 4GB. The small 16MB you only need a CD or Flashdrive and the large you need a DvD or Flashdrive.


Installing linux is easy! Another thing you can do is just start up from the CD or DvD with no installation at all. When you make or buy a CD/DvD you put it into your cdrom, shut down computer, and start up. After about 20 seconds your computer will boot from cd and it will ask you if you want to Install or boot. On some computers you need to go to setup menu before it boots from CD/DvD and then change what the computer is booting up from. If you decide you want to install it there is the option of erasing Windows and just using linux OR keeping Windows but still being able to use linux.


Also instead of doing the whole installation you can just buy a computer with linux pre-installed. Most pre-installed linux computers are used but they have alot that are brand new with it pre-installed already.


If you followed my installation steps you will probably end up with a cd like mine and a desktop like this "shown at bottom".

P.S. Linux is for advanced users.

When "Heck" Froze Over Mount Baker and Entered My Head

This is a snow trip that I wore too much on! It had 15 feet of snow and was warm! I had to take off a layer of my clothes to not burn up and get a fever. I went sledding but thought it was funner to go with no sled, so I did that half the time. I decided I wanted to make a big hole. I made the hole near the middle of the bowl shaped valley that was huge but that didn't stop people from going to the hole and escaping near death from others trying to backstab them on their way to freedom.

I don't know how but it actually WAS NOT worth it to walk back up the 45 to 80 degree slope. I dont know why because it was actually like a water park that forgot to make the water flow on the ride and then it froze solid and you went twice the speed of sound and hitting a rock bottom that broke your back so you didn't want to try again. That is my example of too much snow.

On the way home I got an ear ache that almost killed me from the pain. Mom put warm olive oil in my ear to stop the pain. That didn't work too well so they bought ear ache drops that I was evidently allergic to on any part of me but my ear. At first I wondered what the bumps covering my entire right arm were and then I figured out that I accidently dropped some on it and some under my ear that made me itch to death but I resisted and the bumps started to fade away after a day or two. This is an example of my life brought to you by my life from my life.

The Never Ending Train Ride!

Last week I went on 2 train rides to and from Oregon and will probably be the longest train ride I will have EVER taken and first. I have to say it was boring half the time during the train ride but on the way back it was like home because of my mom's laptop and my flashdrive :D. I need to say we were very lucky they had at least 1 outlet per seat. Also on the way down I had a carton of chocolate milk and a hot dog.
When we got to Oregon I got another chocolate milk.

On the way back for a small dinner I thought I would like a Macaroni and cheese from the train's kitchen too. I asked and they made it and it was HORRIBLE. Worst 4 bucks of my life D:! It was all dry when it was served meaning it had NO water, and there wasn't even macaroni in it, it also had very powdery and icky cheese. worst thing I ever tried and im glad aunt Tia didnt make me eat it.
D:

Be Over Prepared!

Yesterday I went to the SHoPP office and took a 45 minute test it had 1 or 2 hundred problems. At the end of it at least I got to see my grade levels on subjects each 1.0=1 grade and I got an 11.0 score in mathematics, 6.8 in writing, 9.8 in reading. and my basic skill level was 9.1.

Then it goes on and says for the math one: 11.0 is within the superior range of scores obtained by others at his grade level, as shown by "his" percentile rank (93) and "his" standard score (122).

Also after the entire test we were given 12 thick books that weigh a total of 25 lbs. This is an example of being OVER PREPARED! Also tonight is scouts and our motto is be prepared!

Then I Got Called In!

Today I died at the orthodontist from my braces getting adjusted!

I had to get my appointment rescheduled twice from missing it once and then being sick two times. I'm glad the orthodontist was not mad.

Before I went in there were games. There was 1 gamecube and 2 playstation 2 games. 1 was golf another was a motorcycle racing game and then there was Mario Kart Double Dash. I had about a minute to play so I went to the racing one and it took about 2 minutes to load then I got called in!

Under Construction

Blog is now under construction! Stay tuned for changes.