Pic's from Japan

These are some pic's from my first day in Japan.

Japan day 1

New Year

The Church in Okayama it is a very small building

Sorry I am not good at posting info very often I am in Japan this week so I thought I would post some pic's from my trip.

This is of a woman who is cleaning up the leaves by hand for this park.

This is the elevator in the ward building

Denver

View from my office
other view from my office

My office that I share with Mari, I even have a door I can close!!

View from my desk

Well I guess since I have been in the Denver area for over 3 weeks now I had better give an update on what is going on in my life. I guess part of me wishes that I would have been able to stay in the Buffalo or Raleigh area but it just didn't happen that way. Sometimes I think that life would be much simpler if there were other people telling me what to do. I find it very easy to give others advice when they are facing big life choices. It just is harder when you have to make them for yourself.

My first week here started off pretty good. I arrived Sunday around 11:30pm and checked into the Hampton Inn and then got up the next morning and went to work. I didn't stay very long just wanted to check in and see if there was anything that I needed to do. I was able to pick up my phone a blackberry pearl (T-Mobil) Then I went out and looked for places to live. That night I stopped by the Institute building in Boulder and they gave me a lot of info on what was going on and who I should talk to about finding a place to live. The following few days I just went around the area and looked for places to live and ended up renting a room from some guy I met at the ward. I have to admit it is not the most ideal place on earth but you can't beat the price.


My first week of work was pretty slow because my boss was out of town and there wasn't much going on. It was also the lead up to the holiday weekend. I went looking at houses on Saturday of my second week. It was good to see what is out there and what types of homes and price ranges are available. I guess I need to look some more because I just didn't love anything too much. So what else can I say? On Labor Day I didn't labor I know dad must be very disappointed but I did drive out to Rocky Mountain National Park and see what was out there. I didn't do much but drive around and then head back but it was good just to get more of the area in my head.


This week I have been spending a lot of time getting things done for my boss and trying to get use to everything. I am sure as time goes on that I will get better at my job. We’ll see how things go.

100 Years of Anne

As I am sure all of you my faithful reading public know that this marks the 100th anniversary of Anne of Green Gables. Prince Edward Island is pulling out all of the stops this year to celebrate. I hope you have your bags packed because this has to be the hottest ticket in the world. I mean why are people getting excited about some Olympic Games in China when you have something that happens only once in a lifetime celebrating Anne's beginnings with the great people on PEI. I visited there last summer and I can tell you from first hand experience that it is truly a magical place. It feels like you are entering Disney World but it is a real place where people live. Just as you cross the bridge there is a huge welcome center beckoning you to stop and visit. There you can get maps. use the restroom, watch some girl dressed in strange 18th century clothes do a little dance (you can also get the evil eye from the people you are with when you don't give her a tip) The next stop down the road is the McCain foods potato processing plant. I don't think they will let you inside but it gave me a warm feeling knowing that they have french fries in PEI. After that the island is one big tourist trap but they do have a lot to see and do where ever you go. My favorite was the ruins of the British fort they had there. From what I remember in the first year of the fort they had rounded up several locals to be part of the garrison but part way though the winter they ran out of rum so all of the solders abandon the fort and went back home. I think also it was because of the very very low threat of invasion by anyone. there is just farmland and that is it on the island. Well I hope to go back there soon and I hope all of you plan on visiting there someday.

I have to give a big Congratulations to Tyler and Shannon Showalter on their new Baby!!!

On a personal note:
Sunday- Just went to church and then played with Clark and Cal my nephews
Monday- Finalized all of the quotes for my move to Denver, it looks like this is going to happen
Tuesday- Sprayed for bugs in the garden, watched "Top Gear" and "Robin Hood" Then had hamburgers for dinner.
Wednesday- I have no idea because it hasn't happened yet

Price of gas

What does the price of gas have to do with anything. If we pay more for gas we will save the planet? This kind of logic is about as smart as saying "If we pay more taxes government will be better". There are also people saying that if we drill offshore it will not change the price of gas at all, but in the most basic economics class we learn about supply and demand. In the 16th century people in Holland went on a crazed tulip bulb buying binge (say that five times fast). There is a person who at that time bought a house for one tulip bulb. Within a short amount of time everyone involved lost money. Now we are in a huge time of speculation in the commodities market. Within the last 8 years we have had the tech bubble, housing bubble, and now the commodity bubble. It will fall just as all the other bubbles have unless we do something crazy to prop up and artificially keep the price high. What also is just wrong is to tax the profits of the oil companies. I don't hear anyone talking about taxing the profits of the farmers or miners? The day we do that is the day we take a bold new step towards becoming a communist state.

On a personal note, things are going well. I am happily employed as a "dole bludger", receiving money from the State of New York every week. I also have a job offer in Denver CO and will start on the 18th of August. Well see how this new chapter in my life unfolds. This week is broken down as follows:

• Monday- I went to FHE and that is about it
• Tuesday- Date with a girl from the area, it was a lot of fun we ate dinner at Chili's and then played mini golf at some fun center. After mini golf we were looking at just getting some tokens to play some of the games there but they had this deal if you pay like 20$ per person you get unlimited video games, mini golf, and go-carts. So they said all of the games are free today just go play. So that was fun and a pretty good deal.
• Wednesday- Chopped down most of the corn on the right side of the garden for Dad.
• Thursday- I don't remember but it was probably fun.
• Friday- Finalized the quotes to move my stuff to Denver. Took my friend Michelle to get a computer, I was able to get her 50$ off of one of the services. Then we went to Marconi Grill to celebrate.
• Saturday- Got engaged (ok i didn't but hey just seeing if you are paying attention)