Sunday, July 6, 2008

an awful happening

well, so i'm walking my donkey from my grandma's to my house the other day, and sometime along the way his hoof chipped in an awful way.


this could be for a number of reasons apparently, but unfortunately they all point to negligence on my part. or actually in this case ignorance.

i did know his hoofs needed trimming, but i just plain feel bad. tommorow i will call for an appointment, this apparently can make him lame.

for shame josiah, for shame.

also, i've been asked over the years whether i should like to be called Joe or Josiah. well, i think i've finally realized what it is!

in a formal or official setting, it's josiah. i hate when i transfer to a ward, and the roll call i sign calls me Joe. this is church, calling me a name. that's josiah. of course, josiah can be applied at any time, by any family or friend, as can Joe, Jos, etc etc etc.... but not by something official!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008






here's me sporting birth control glasses. marine corps issue glasses, same kind as drew carey. i just found these, i don't actually need glasses







ahhh, naked people... sorry to offend.


well, here's a long one maybe... maybe not though.

as usual, the pictures will be at the top...

first, i went to the last marine corps reserve drill i will ever be required to go to. though, i may stay on recruiters assistance for a couple months here in logan.
we went to 29 palms. the first day we went out i was on road guard duty with our tank. it was very loose sand, and in this type of sand, people throw track sometimes, if their driver is inexperienced.

i had an inexperienced driver. we threw track. so there in 105 degree blistering heat, and with a swarm of bee's (of which i'm deathly allergic) hovering around us, trying to drink our sweat, we broke track, and re attached it. a very arduous process which took all day. and since it's the marine corps, the higher ups were pissed. it didn't affect them in any way, but apparently it was bad any way? ridiculous.
later, we drove over a large amount of concertina wire. this ruins your final drives. makes them leak. so we spent five hours taking it out, instead of sleeping. hard work can ruin any night.
these were just two highlights of the excursion, of course any two weeks in the desert with no showers, and no trips to anywhere to buy anything, and nothing but mre's and a wierd disgusting hot chow that somehow all tastes the same but worse, is going to be a bad two weeks. very miserable.
here's my favorite part about the whole thing though.
the attitude of co-workers at a civilian job. these two weeks were pretty much like war, we ever shot some main gun, etc etc etc. really, the whole thing is very very similar. pretty much we came back from two weeks of non dangerous war. and a boss has the inclination (i almost guarantee it was said to everyone, as it's been said to me countless times) "so, how was your vacation? i hope you enjoyed it while we were stuck here working".

jerks

after that i went back to california for seths being sealed and blessed. a very happy occasion for some, but liz and i both couldn't shake the feeling we were supposed to be happy that our son was sealed away from us for eternity. who began as Seth David Maughan, named after his Great grandpa, and also his grandpa on his other side, my first son, my only link to happiness of the past is now seth david carlson. blessed signed and sealed. now named after some guy's grandpa. and some lady's dad, but not the name, nor in the family i'm most proud of. (oh, hey polly...)

we skipped the rest of church to go to ghiradelli sqare in san francisco. we took bart there, and walked the rest.
we accidently went to the gay pride parade. naked people everywhere. my wife saw her first black... well, i'll actually not finish that. we walked through china town, and finally to the square. the walk made all that chocolate ice cream delicious, and made the bus ride back better. we saw all sorts of flamers, trans sexuals, and straight naked people (i assume) even the cop i asked for directions was a flamer.

i brought my donkey back to my house, as anticipated, he began eating baby tree's. well, not really, only one. i have them all protected with tomato cones, but he found his way through one of them. it's my hopes my yard is too forest like for him to really see them. some died, though i don't think it's a permanent death. and as long as one lived, it's all i really need as they are very simple to propogate.