7 January 2018

18 December 2017

After church, I was asked if I could help out in a blessing later yesterday evening. I found my oil, finding the valve empty, so I consecrated more oil. I bought a high quality valve a while ago. Trying to figure it out, I found that it functioned like a syringe. Valves that I have had tend to open on their own, so I bought a higher quality one.

I met with Spencer Nielsen to bless Naomi. I was really quiet. After the blessing, Spencer home taught her, but I didn't say anything. I think that I did not say anything during the home teaching lesson because I was not prepared.

After the appointment, I spoke to Spencer about Ultralink because the Facebook phone app connected his phone number to the company. He said that he invented it. He explained it as hyperlink 2.0, saying hyperlinks are so clunky and uncertain. It makes website interaction smoother. You can look at the website at Ultralink.me.

Spencer has been developing Conure Music with Derek Taylor. I can't really check it out because it is only for iOS. The website that it is a music streaming app that does not require subscription, and the purchase of music supports the artist directly.

19 December 2017

Last night we had a Family Home Evening, finishing the reading of Alma chapter 36. I liked the verse, saying that the commandments are holy. Many of the commandments are too preserve our virtue as children of God.

The countertop installation is going well. They started installing the countertops sooner than I expected. All of the counters were delivered over the weekend.

20 December 2017

Last night Jessica and I went to Happy Hooligans, a vegetarian restaurant, for our monthly anniversary. Of course. It was hard to decide where to eat. We are kind of going vegetarian. I mainly wanted to try their chicken made out of soy. I am not into it. I just want to give it a try. On the creativity scale, the restaurant does not have any unique dishes mainly salads and sandwiches. I got a pesto chicken sandwich. The "chicken" tasted like very salty soggy chicken. Somehow they made the texture similar to meat. The interior design of the restaurant was a little trippy. The hardwood floor went up the wall, and exterior finishes were put on a wall. The wall on the other side did not match, having bamboo painted on it. The hardwood floors did not run up the other wall, but brick did.

Yesterday I had my first moment that I questioned the safety of another person. A man, named Bernardo, was laying on the ground with his head, shoulder, and arms; hanging of the edge of a floor of the building. He claimed to be helping someone be as safe as possible. The man was hooking up Damin to structure with fall safety equipment. When I walked down stairs, he was kneeling on ledge between a wooden fence and an edge of the floor with a fall about six feet below to scaffold, having the kneeling width of about 6-8 inches. He was going to set a stone in front of him.  I asked him how he is going to that stone to see how sure of his decision that he was.

22 December 2017

Yesterday I did not write in my journal because Red, our foreman, hosted a barbecue for everyone. This project is very unique because we have over 70 people working from the union. Usually 20 crews is the biggest a project requires to install stone. Audriana got a picture. I know must everyone by name.

24 December 2017

Today is Sunday. On Friday night, my family and I went to Tomi Seafood Buffet. We have been looking for a seafood buffet, since our favorite Seafood buffet went out of business. Tatami was our favorite. Tomi Seafood is actually better than Tatami. We went to the Seafood Buffet for my dad’s business holiday party.

After Jessica, Trevor and I played a game of Tokaido. Trevor won. We have both expansions, and his legendary souvenir was surprisingly good.

On Saturday Jessica, dad, and I had breakfast together. I was telling dad that we were disappointed that our gifts were predicted to arrive on Tuesday; then, I received an email, saying that it was going to arrive by 8:00 pm that night. I attempted to arrange for them to change the address of the delivery location, but I figured that it was too late because the email said that it was out for delivery; therefore, I chose to drive back home.

I didn't do much at home. I made a Storify post, and cooked rice in our rice cooker while I took a nap. When I woke up our package was delivered to our mailbox. It was nice that it did not arrive late in the evening because the family was planning to watch "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."

The package was delivered as I napped in my mailbox. I got the package, and came back to cook my stir fry for my rice. After eating lunch, I drove home, being able to get home in the early afternoon.

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" had a good story line, and the movie focused on character development. I feel that some parts of the story did not follow naturally. I did not feel inspired by the story. (7 January 2018 update) I usually take a while to make up an opinion of a movie. The only character development that it had was mainly between Kylo Ren and Luke Skywalker. No other characters were truly developed well. This was my final opinion that I realized, which I find unique to other media that I have consumed.

25 December 2017

Yesterday was a good Sabbath day, playing Machi Koro with Tony, Racer, and Ben. We also had a great time Christmas Caroling.

27 December 2017

Christmas was enjoyable. Mom said that it was the best in a while. The oldest son hosts Christmas, so I hosted the official Christmas, and Thomas hosted his part of the Christmas after dinner. We sang Christmas songs to Thomas playing piano. We finished the night with a game of Tokaido with my dad and Trevor.

We played the version of Tokaido, where we can choose any character from the game; plus, two expansions.

28 December 2017

Journal entries has been very brief. Only Tony stayed with us on Sunday to go caroling. Tony and Trevor are good friends, and they made it silly by singing falsetto. When we visited my older brother, caroling to his family, a lady stopped to listen with her child.

Over the Christmas break, I was worried that I have burnt some professional bridges that I have built at AC2. An assistant superintendent of an area was taking months to get a counter installed, so I followed up. On the second time that I followed up, I found no progress. I emailed the superintendent, calling the assist superintendent unscrupulous. I learned this word in middle school or high school, and I thought that it meant unorganized. I was looking for a synonymous word of unprofessional with an unorganized angle because I did not want to call him unprofessional. The superintendent followed up on the email, asking if I looked up the word unscrupulous. It means lacking morals. I wondered. Why do the words that are synonymous words of unprofessional have to do with morals? People can be unprofessional and still have high morals. I explained myself to the superintendent and apologized. (7 January 2018 update) I actually followed up again with the assistant superintendent on the Tuesday that I returned, and he again did not do anything or know anything about the counters that he is responsible for. He took me to ask the superintendent, and the superintendent cursed at him for his irresponsible actions. The only time that the superintendent mentioned the email was in a meeting with everyone, making a joke, and I was asked if I questioned anyone else’s morals. Moral of the story is that you should be careful of the words that you use especially in emails.

29 December 2017

One thing about working a salary position is that there is a main job that you are supposed to do for the majority of time that you work, and there is a practice that you can leave early, when you have completed your work. I didn't belief this philosophy or practice because in a position an individual will always be neglecting something, if one leaves early.

Today has been a little slow because I caught up on everything yesterday, but pondering what I am neglecting. I am neglecting something that can save money more than anything else. That is delegating equipment and returning the equipment that is not in use.

Another thing about salary positions is that companies may give individuals too much to do, requiring them to work to many hours. This should not be taken advantage of, and another person should be hired.

I spoke to a very outgoing person named Chris during lunch. He went to school for software engineering. He graduated locally at a university. He quit his job, joining a general contractor company to clean and protect finished product, because Activision worked him twelve hours a day. He worked on Call of Duty and other games.

3 January 2018

I made it to the year 2018, and Mom, Dad, Jessica and I went to Point Lobos on the first day of the year. 

 

4 January 2018

I seem to be too busy with family over the past two weekends to catch up and publish my journal entries. I hope to catch up this Sunday; although, Trevor's birthday is this weekend.

5 January 2018

I have been too brief, but I don't know what to write about. I would prefer to write daily because it is easier to keep track of.

Today my coworker quit, so she taught me about what she was currently doing. She was working with quality control, doing punchlist. It was funny. After she trained me, the QC manager told me that the punchlist program is being thrown out the window currently. My work to help quality control is much simpler than expected.

This week has been a little slow. I am able to keep busy, but I have to be thoughtful. It's nice that I have a little more to do, since my coworker quit.

A mason taught me the greatest overlooked obstacle of construction. It is logistics. It costs so much money to move things around, and deliver the product to the installer; however, it is rarely considered. Hours of waiting have been endured by laborers because logistics is not figured out, yet the subcontractors pay for the down time. Our two counter crews waited two hours in lines to deliver a counter that I watched them install in about ten minutes.

7 January 2018

This weekend was busy, but I am finally at home. I am hopeful about posting my journal entry. This weekend Jessica and I went to Capitola to celebrate Trevor's birthday at home.

Jessica fulfilled her destined win in our first game of Machi Koro. Everyone except for her won a game during New Years, so she believed that it was her turn.

On Saturday, we had a late breakfast because they wanted me to cook French toast. Every time I am asked what I want for breakfast; I say French toast. Mom said that it is my turn to cook because she misses my French toast. My dad likes to water down the egg with milk to make the egg last longer, but I don't milk it down. I used eighteen eggs to make the French toast for everyone. It was probably about one egg per slice of bread.

After breakfast, mom wanted to organize and clean up the garage. I joked that this is her eternal job. We bought wheels so shelves can be rolled around.

When Trevor arrived after a short shift at work, we played Tokaido, and I dominated, almost getting double the points of the other players.

Trevor loves Ramen soup, so we went out for Japanese soup themed food at Kaito. My family overestimated their walking pace, so Trevor and I ran to the restaurant in order to meet our appointed reservation. The restaurant was about a half mile away from our house. I got Udon with all kinds of vegetables. It was just mom, dad, Jessica, Victor, Trevor, and I. Trevor's Ramen looked well-seasoned. After we got ice cream at Penny Ice.

One thing that I want to mention is that it only rained a couple times this winter in the Silicon Valley until last week. I rode my bicycle with all my rain cycling gear for the first time in the rain last Friday. I was disappointed to find that my waterproof jacket failed to protect my forearms; other-than-that, I was completely dry. I thought of an idea to not get my sock wet. I have Nike shoes designed to be worn without socks, so I wore those without socks. My mom got me some waterproof pants and gloves for Christmas.
Another thing that I forgot to write about is that on the weekend of New Year’s we decided to stay in Campbell until after church instead of going down to Santa Cruz on Friday night. We decided this because I believe that individuals of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are assigned to attend and serve in local wards where they live. One ward should not thrive more than others because members, who are not local, attend the ward. It was coincidental that when we decided to serve our local ward or stake. Jessica was invited to chaperone a multi-stake dance. It was hard to believe that we had eleven stakes invited to the dance. Jessica took her post very seriously, encouraging me to do the same. I did enforce the hope that people would not damage the decorations. I had to work hard at that. When we were asked to chaperone the game room, the decorations that I watched over were dismantled. A main reason why I did not want to stick to my post is that girls from the Capitola Ward stood in the front, and I did not want to seem like I am staring at them; therefore, I walked around a lot, going to talk to Jessica many times. A senior couple encouraged me to talk to youth because they thought that I was a shy youth. Another lady, serving food, looked puzzled, when I asked for food for my wife.

17 December 2017

12 December 2017

Last night Jessica and I finally had a Family Home Evening that Jessica appreciated. We are still working on reading Alma 36 from the sister missionaries' commitment weeks ago. We spoke deeply about parts of the verses that we read just as I write deeply about verses that impress me. I would ask her questions following her responses, and her input would guide the discussion.

One thing that I forgot to write that happened on Sunday is that I home teach the Campbell family, and the mother has been giving Reed Chavez the run around. I met this family during the Christmas party. It seems that Reed was able to connect with the last family, and I was able to connect with this family. The son loves reading and other normal things like sleep, and the mother loves art. I look forward to asking her about her projects. The father was at the party, but he came late, and I was unable to get to know him well. We thought that Wednesday might be a good day, and I suggested 6:30 PM for a quick meeting, which was agreed upon.

Today I seem to have a full day of work, but I finished my report last week two hours early. It seems like it will be the new daily routine. I am thinking that I could help coordinate the countertop installation because it has been very inefficient, but they finished most everything. Brad told me to start tracking the countertop progress, but that did not require much work to figure out.

13 December 2017

Yesterday I said that I was going to look into the activity that I planned to do for the last two hours of the day, but our superintendent said that he was going to do it. I spoke to Brad about my idea to help the countertop crews. I started working on it, trying to figure out what is going on, asking the general contractor to copy me in all the countertop emails. I asked Steve Franckiewicz our superintendent what I can do, and he said to report delays to the general contractor. I asked around to learn of the issues in the stone installation. I spoke to the crews working on the counters, and they explained to me what is going on. I also spoke to the general foreman.

During lunch I got a text, saying that I can come witness what happened when the countertop crews are called. They were rushed for a meeting at 12. I got the message about 11:50 during lunch. I decided to run out to start my participation in the countertop meetings. I am writing the experience in my Columbia Stone Inc journal to report to the general contractor. I think that I saved the company some money because our crew was summoned, but they were not ready. They waited for more than thirty minutes.

14 December 2017

I have been able to jump in helping the countertop installation well. The general contractor's stone superintendent is hooking me up with contacts, and my crew is great.

My home teaching appointment fell through last night. The family was sick.

We did our Christmas shopping instead because the website Package Free was concluding their discount, saying unless you shop today, your gifts will not arrive on time. Package Free is a zero waste online store. We have been getting into eliminating our waste more. We have practiced a lot of the basics for a while, but slowly we are getting to do it universally.

15 December 2017

I think that running to the field may have trigger shin splints. I was walking early back to the office today, and my feet started hurting.

17 December 2017

I missed writing in my journal yesterday because I was resting and transcribing my grandfather's StoryWorth recordings. We watched Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 last night too. Jessica asked me concerning my thoughts of the movie, and I said that the message about family does not justify how messed up the story is. The themes are very deep into the Marvel universe.

On Friday I finally got the contact information for the assistant superintendents that I need to work with. I called one. I have been exploring the possibilities of coordinating the installation of the countertops, asking the general foreman, if I could have some stone delivered, when the situation is ideal. He ran with the idea, asking when it needs to be prepared. I called the assistant superintendent. At first it was confusing because a girl answered. I met the superintendent, and he is a guy. She turned out to be his secretary. We spoke, and Nick, the assistant superintendent, said that they will work on getting the floors ready on Monday. I proposed that we can start setting the counters on Wednesday. Afterwards I emailed two other assistant superintendent, my project manager warned me that general contractors will keep us to what we say that we can do, if we talk dates.

Another thing that we did is have the sister missionaries over for dinner on Friday. Jessica also had a movie night with the young women, so things were tight. I did waste my night watching YouTube videos while Jessica was at the movie night.

I was riding my bike home Friday evening, and I got a call from the sister missionaries. It is a good thing that I bought the Bluetooth headset. They said that they need a ride, since they share their car, or we need to reschedule the dinner appointment. We had an appointment at 5:30, and we picked them up at 5:30, purchasing a couple pizzas along the way. Our conversation over dinner was good. They didn't follow up on their previous commitment.

I finished listening to the audio book "When Panic Attacks" for the third time. Anxiety limits our life. Some people, who are shy, may think that there is a wonderful life reserved for the beautiful people, and they are different leagues of people that people cannot be associated with. I have felt this before; however, this is not true. Any person with a refined personality can associate with any class of people, if there are classes of people. Rich people can be poorer than people with low income. Beautiful successful people can have debilitating anxiety, fears, obsessions, and depression. No one is out of your league, if you want to associate with a type of people. A shy person would need to overcome their self-defeating beliefs and practice people skills; then, they can associate with any type of people that they desire.
At Apollo Mechanical, "lessons learned" emails are usually about injuries, but in my correspondence, working with the general contractors, I pointed out two common errors preparing the counters. I was surprised that my email was labeled a "lessons learned" email for the other assistant superintendents.

December 11, 2017

27 November 2017

My day so far has gone smoothly, but my legs are aching. I got a permit to go into two areas of the building, and that allowed me to record the progress of six sections of the building.

This morning I finished emailing all of the home teaching companionships. Now I have to follow up with companionships that I emailed last week.

28 November 2017

Yesterday evening at home was distracted by the Miss Universe Contest. Jessica liked how Thailand, Colombia, and Jamaica got top five. If you don't know why those countries are meaningful to me. My mom is from Thailand. My mother-in-law is Colombian, and I served my mission in Jamaica.

Today has gone smoothly at work. I have been thinking about how I can participate in my company as a more influential manager. R&S got a Project Engineer to fulfill a role similar to me, and he has been trying to influence the progress of our work. There is a lot of work to be done in two areas. Maybe the smaller extra work should be done when it slows down. Would that be procrastinating?

I finished reading Jacob chapter five. A verse that impressed me in chapter six is number four, saying "as many as will not harden their hearts shall be saved in the kingdom of God." God knows the heart of every man. He will not condemn them, if they are willing to accept the gospel in mortality and not had an opportunity to accept it. If people do harden their hearts, they will not be forced to live the lifestyle of salvation; therefore, they will remain in a Terrestrial World like ours after the resurrection. People need to work out their salvation.

29 November 2017

Today has not gone smoothly. People's badges were not scanning, and a foreman's daily report was not delivered. I need to go back to get the reports after lunch. Another foreman wanted me to put his company email on his IPhone, delaying my work by a half hour. I hope that I can finish today on time.

Yesterday evening I was packing up on time to leave work, but I forgot my lunch box on site. I had to walk back out, and I was able to find it.

After work Jessica and I went to our self-reliance class. Today's class is not about debt, and it was inspiring. It taught the importance of mentors and a goal oriented lifestyle, teaching that evaluating the purpose of goals and establishing mission statements. My goal is to be a great leader in my family, career, church, and community. I made a plan to start talking to Brad Aird, my Project Manager, about being a mentor. I asked him what I can do to practice management. He told me that I can help by enforcing safety, and tracking extra work and equipment. We don't want to do work without getting paid for it, which is easy to do in construction, and we don't want to have too much equipment on site. I attended our first safety meeting today, and that delayed my work today too. Audriana asked if I could help her get around campus, but I was having too many delays in my day to help her. Pete did not prepare the reports for me yet, so I am waiting for him.

I ran into Diego, and I realized that I could invite him to the Creche event of Palo Alto. I have not seen Robert all week, so I invited Diego today with the invitation that the sister missionaries gave me. Diego is the man that I invited to general conference and see me speak in Sacrament.

30 November 2017

Today is going well at work. I already been through four areas, and I got three more.

I got lucky yesterday because I had two areas to record, and the security told me that I did not have the right permit to enter, so I was able to finish my report on time.

At home Jessica has preparing for moving on her mind. She had me talk to management about ending our lease early.

I started reading chapter seven of Jacob today. Chapter six is powerful. I already wrote about a section of one verse. Pondering about people who will not harden their hearts, I recall that God has said that "there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it." I also hear of people diligently seeking truth; however, an assumption of mine is that God is subtlety calling to all his children. Jacob writes in chapter 6.

"Yea, today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts; for why will ye die? For behold, after ye have been nourished by the good word of God all the day long, will ye bring forth evil fruit, that ye must be hewn down and cast into the fire? Behold, will ye reject these words? Will ye reject the words of the prophets; and will ye reject all the words which have been spoken concerning Christ, after so many have spoken concerning him; and deny the good word of Christ, and the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and quench the Holy Spirit, and make a mock of the great plan of redemption, which hath been laid for you?"

There are many gospel allusions in these verses. Why would we die, if we do not hearken to the voice of God? We all will be resurrected. Spiritual death is life without the physical presence of God. We are all spiritually dead on earth, and Terrestrial life will always be spiritually dead.

Let us listen to the word of God as given to up by modern and ancient prophets. The modern prophets of God lead the kingdom of God, and it is called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. God the Father and his Son called upon Joseph Smith Jr to restore the Kingdom of God, since their kingdom was destroyed due to the apostasy of man, martyring all of the disciples, after the death of Christ.

1 December 2017

Last night Jessica and I kind of had family council about our finances. I was actually behind updating my expenses and income tracker, so I caught up to start the month well with a new budget next week.

Work today was chill too. My superintendent wanted four hours today to retrieve some supplies, but I couldn't make the sacrifice.

I concluded reading chapter seven of Jacob today. When I read the chapter previously, I imagined the meeting with Sherem and Jacob to be a more extravagant setting like Sherem, approaching Jacob at a throne after waiting a lot for an appointment with him. Reading it again, I expect that the moment was more happenstance, and the visit lasted less than five minutes. Jacob dealt with his confrontation easily. Sherem's stature in society and God, striking him down, made the situation more momentous because the Nephite nation needed to nurse him for a while. Why did God strike a man down for confronting the prophet? The man was the leader of an anti-Christ movement, seeking to destroy the faith of all men including the prophet. Sherem eventually did confess to the people who followed him that Christ will come to prepare the way to salvation of all mankind by resurrecting and performing the atonement. In the end of his speech, he died, confounding the audience.

3 December 2017

Yesterday was very busy. My parents took Jessica and I grocery shopping at our favorite Asian store. It was good to commune with them. My dad found an Asian buffet like Tatami that we are going to try for our Mission Dental Lab Christmas Party. It is called Tomi.

After Jessica and I went to a Mexican restaurant and bought a new tire for my bicycle. Last Friday I noticed that my tire is getting worn.

We went early to help prepare the food for the ward Christmas party because Jessica and I are on the Food Committee.

A cool thing that happened on Friday night after coming home from serving the Food Committee is that Robert finally added me on Facebook. He hailed me up, and I said that I was carrying an invitation for him all week to see the Creche displays at Palo Alto, missing him. He started a video chat, showing me that he was eating peanuts with his daughter. We talked, and it was good to see him.

As I served on the Food Committee, I was asked to put water in pots for the Rice Pilaf. I was slightly worried that I didn't put the water in the pots accurately because we were cooking nine boxes for everyone. I also worked on setting up baskets full of rolls with Jessica.

We met the Campbell family during the Christmas party. I was bummed that we did not get a great seat for the program, but I left to invite my family to join us to see the 350 Creche displays from 50 countries.

It was enjoyable to see all of the creative ways that the nativity scene is depicted. The abstract versions were most fun. It is interesting that there are great traditions in the Silicon Valley, but I have never heard of them; although, I grew up in Capitola, which is less than thirty miles away. My parents thoroughly enjoyed the event. It was last minute, but it worked out. Trevor came too.

Sunday classes at church were a rebuking telling us that to get our house in order and fast better.

4 December 2017

Today is my birthday, and I caught up with a couple friends messaging each other.

5 December 2017

Yesterday evening at work I was feeling rushed, and my stress was making me inefficient and late. Audriana said "Shouldn't you be leaving?" It's your birthday. I asked her to compose my report, so I can leave. I bought a luxury pair of ear plugs, and Jessica and I went to Five Guys last night for dinner. The burger's taste was too mild, but the milkshake and Cajun fries were excellent; although, Jessica thought that the fries were too spicy.

I did get cake on my birthday. Dave, a Mason, gave some cake randomly to the foreman, and the foreman shared it with me. It was very tasty chocolate cake, being homemade and made from scratch by Dave's wife. I was telling Jessica that 99.99% of cake is lousy, but this one was excellent.

This morning an odd thing happened. Jessica woke up early with me at 4 am. She said that she finally caught up on sleep.

7 December 2017

I have missed writing in my journal the past couple days because Jessica has been calling me during lunch.

8 December 2017

Last night I went home teaching. It was a miracle because my companion's daughter has a friend that lives at the apartment complex, and we home taught the friend's father. Reed Chavez is my home teaching companion, and he has not met the father yet. This was a great connection for us.

I have been finishing my reports early for the past week, so I was consulting with colleagues about what more that I can do. My project manager told me to start tracking the counters.

Cycling has been so cold in the morning that I had to start wearing gloves. It has been 37° in the morning for a while and.

On Wednesday night, I practiced my bicycle mechanic skills, trying to replace my tire. The tube was too big, so I brought my bike to the shop, and they ran into the same problem, popping the tube. They were impressed with how much the tire was worn. They said that they were replace the tube for free. I offered to pay for the liner that they replaced, but they said to keep them in mind next time, not requiring to pay. The bike shop is Silva Cycles.

I have been wanting to buy these ear plugs that look more mainstream than normal orange ones. They are called Isolate from, a UK company, Flare.. They told me to wait for a couple weeks on Wednesday for its shipment, and later that day they said that it will arrive the next day, which was yesterday. I am wearing them for the first time now, and I put them on early this morning to see how they would block the sound at home. They are good, but I don't think that they are better than normal orange ear plugs. I think that it is weird to walk around public with orange throw away ear plugs, but the design makes me feel comfortable wearing them. There are aluminum and titanium options, and I chose titanium. Their increased density raises their efficiency.

Normal ear plugs only lasts a few days, but Flare's Earfoam lasts up to eight weeks. Jessica and I are practicing more zero waste principles, and throwing out Earfoam every eight weeks would be better that throwing away ear plugs at least once every few days.

At work some people commented that they look weird. I was worried that they may look vane, but people think of them as earplugs; although, they can be seen as an ear accessory. I don't believe that hearing protection is an accessory. It helps me focus more. It's kind of late the blurring skill of photography. You can blur out the sound that you don't care to hear.

10 December 2017

Today is a Sunday, and I am waiting for Jessica at the church as she is in her education self-reliance class. The StoryWorth questions that my grandfather are answering are good. I need to find time to record them. I listened to grandpa's two recordings that I have not transposed yet because I accidentally asked him to answer a question that will be asked this coming week; however, he did not directly answer the question. I love hearing my grandfather talk about the church and his love for the gospel.

This weekend was very busy because I celebrated my birthday with my family. We played many games: at least two rounds of Tokaido, a couple rounds of Uno, and one round of Machi Koro. Thomas and Ashley came, and we played a round of Tokaido and the couple rounds of Uno with them until they had to leave to sleep early. I only won one round of the many games. My Tokaido career is no longer a winning one. After a second game of Tokaido, we watched, the movie, Your Name. Ashley one the first game of Tokaido with a strategy that is not typical for us. She mainly went straight to the encounters. Trevor and Jessica tied in the second game Tokaido; although, we realized that Jessica was playing the game wrong. Trevor should be the sole winner.

"Your Name" is an odd movie. I think that it is inspired by interstellar. The art is great. The story is not developed well, neither are the characters; although, they devoted a lot time to them. I give the move a seven out of ten for story and character development. The science fiction is weak.

We did not get to sleep until about two in the morning, and we planned to leave for a free admission day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium the next day at nine on the morning. I was surprised that we went through the long line of the aquarium entrance fairly quickly. I asked each individual of the party what their favorite sea animal was, and we were able to see a real one if the following favorites: sea otter, sea turtle, and seahorse. We were unable to see a real-life dolphin; although, it was Jessica's favorite. We met some new animals that I never heard of like the garden eel. The sea turtle was too fast for me to get a picture of. Afterward we went to Phil's Seafood Market restaurant for lunch.

I got a Ciopino. It was so big. I was surprised that I ate it. I shared some of the crab. I would probably get full if I opened up the crab. It was served in a bread bowl, and it was over served with plenty of seafood and broth. A second bowl was needed to keep the dish manageable.

We picked up Trevor on our way home at work. At home we played Machi Koro. Jessica, Trevor, and I were all pretty close to winning. Jessica looked like she was going to win at first, but somehow I caught up and won.

We had to take a break from the game to go to the Stake Christmas party. The Duran family seemed to be the host. We ate tamales, rice, and beans. I spoke to Trevor about my theory that Apple is trying to take on all the technology companies, making their products compatible only with their own products. Apple cords, Apple Bluetooth, Apple Wi-Fi, Apple Watch, and so forth only works with Apple products. Trevor explained that none only Apple is trying to monopolize technology. Samsung, LG, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and other companies are developing ecosystems of products.

Today at church I was too exhausted to stay conscious for the Ward Christmas program, napping on Jessica's shoulders. Life at home in Santa Cruz is exhausting. I did have a good experience during sacrament, reading 3 Nephi. I pondered my life in the Gospel.

After sacrament, I took Jessica to the door of the secretary to decide what appointment time that we should do tithing settlement. We did that this afternoon.

The bishop taught us about the widow's mite. Most everyone that day that Jesus was observing the offering were not giving of their substance in the attitude of the law of consecration, giving only part of their wealth, but the widow gave everything that she had, defining the law by her example. The bishop showed us a real mite from thousands of years ago, and he gave both of us a newly fabricated mite. Let us dedicate our lives and everything that we own to the building up the kingdom of God.

 11 December 2017

This morning at work I got a dust mask from our field office. I have been thinking about getting a respirator mask for a while, but I didn't want to buy them. There is so much dust from so many different sources from insulation, wood, metal, stone, plastic, paint, and more. I don't want to breathe this in regularly.