flipn3

Golden Retriever Puppy

2009-01-20T16:50:36Z

My family just got a new three month old puppy and she's already incredibly spoiled!

The only time you can take her picture is when she finally plops down to rest

Goodbye Killian, Hello Savannah

2008-12-11T00:36:35Z

     Since Killian is off to bigger and better things (first the jail - since they would feel bad sticking him in a cage 24/7 after he's been used to roaming with us, then back to 4Paws for intense training, and finally to a family) we got Savannah to train for about a month. After that she'll go back and we'll get another golden retriever for Lauren to train for the fair. I think we're not keeping Savannah because she's older (5 months?) and they would need her back before fair time.
      It's interesting how similar the dogs from 4Paws act when we bring them home. They're scared of stairs (and getting in and out of the car), they're completely relaxed around Sadie - even when she snaps at them, and they have loose stools (what do they feed them there??).
     However, unlike Killian when we first got him, Savannah likes being very active and she's really good about playing by herself. She also listens really well, but you have to say it very firmly. We think this is probably because she was trained at the men's prison and is used to deep male voices.

She's a German Retriever but she really just looks like a mutt. She's actually a bit cuter than the pictures show (black dogs just don't photograph well). She's admittedly not nearly as adorable as Killian but she makes up for it in personality. She's crazy and hyper and uncoordinated (she tripped over one of the dog bowls when I was home). Since they bred her for being a tracking dog, we'll have to see if she's better at finding us than Killian was. He would walk right past you 3 times and still not be able to find you.



She carried Sadie's bowl around because it was out of water.

Sadie is not too thrilled with this new puppy, but maybe she'll warm up to Savannah like she did with Killian. If nothing else, at least Savannah will get experience dealing with grouchy dogs!

I always get a sunburn on vacation...

2008-08-01T06:15:20Z

In case anyone cared, we didn't fall in the ocean with the earthquake, and we didn't burn up in the fire (although we did inhale a heck of a lot of smoke).

I've decided I really want to bring my civic here to drive the crazy, curvy roads and I'm incredibly glad that I never get carsick. I am, however, longing for the warm weather back at home (or even back in Yosemite).

flipn3 @ 2008-07-18T00:50:00

2008-07-18T04:50:36Z

Food

2008-06-19T05:51:20Z

We've finally started doing mom's plan of having each of us cook dinner one night a week. Since I already made my two dinners the previous couple of weeks (one was chicken fajitas and the other was spaghetti pie) it was Andrew's turn to cook. Pretty much the only things he knows how to do besides through a frozen pizza in the oven is make pancakes and grill stuff so we know what we're having every time his night comes up :) This time it was spicy grilled chicken, which ended up not spicy at all. I thought it was actually really good, although I would have liked a little more flavor. The recipe called for spices that I typically associate with Indian food, so I was surprised that my family agreed to it and liked it, although Andrew was a little alarmed when the chicken he was grilling turned yellow from the turmeric. In addition to the chicken, I helped him make homemade spaghetti alfredo. He was going to just make boxed mashed potatoes, but since we had to go to the store for turmeric anyways, he decided to make something more exciting from scratch. The spaghetti alfredo was awesome, although I would have liked a little more of a sauce. And I think we used a little too much spaghetti, but that meant I could have a delicious lunch and dinner today too! So I'm adding fettucine alfredo and homemade au gratin potatoes to my list of recipes to make and modify next year. I'm planning on eating lots of carbohydrates :)

Meet Killian

2008-06-13T04:37:48Z

So for some reason my mom thought it would be a good idea for Lauren to foster a dog. So after contacting 4 Paws for Ability, and after a lot of debate in our family and going back in forth, we finally picked up Killian today. He's a four month old golden retriever. Our job is to train and socialize him for a year when he will then go back to 4 Paws and they'll start more intense training and they'll decide what sort of service dog he'll be.

We were mostly worried about Sadie's reaction, since she seems to hate all other dogs. She has snapped at him a few times when he comes too close or when he tries to play with her, but Killian is really good about leaving her alone. Hopefully she'll get over her jealousy issues and at least be able to comfortably ignore the puppy.

So far he's doing great (although we haven't even had him for 12 hours yet!). He's the calmest puppy I've ever seen. He isn't scared of much (except going up and down steps) and most things just mildly interest him. However, he was really excited when he discovered Sadie's basket of toys. He spent most of the day scattering as many as he could throughout the house. That was the only time I really saw him hyper. Like many goldens, he enjoys picking up soft toys and carrying them around in his mouth. Squeaky toys are the best, of course.

He's lazy enough to drink from his water bowl lying down

We tired the poor thing out today

flipn3 @ 2008-02-21T18:32:00

2008-02-21T23:32:45Z

I can name 102 countries in 5 minutes. Yay I finally know things about the world!

Sara's Guide to Troubleshooting Cars

2008-02-06T20:41:31Z

This is a list of problems I've encountered with my cars and how to possibly go about fixing them. Despite the length of the list the problems I've had really aren't terrible(yay for hondas!). Note: nearly all these problems and solutions are based on standard shift hondas.

1. Key won't turn all the way and car won't start or you can't remove the key after stopping: Most likely you're in an automatic and the car isn't in park. Put the car in park and all will be well.

2. Car won't start: Make sure that the steering wheel is in a normal position. If not, wiggle the wheel until it unlocks and you can start the car. Another possibility is that the battery is completely dead. Charge the battery.

3. Engine won't turn over: Either the battery is nearly dead or you have an older car. Charge the battery. If you have a manual car, pump the gas once before turning the key again.

4. Car stalls every time you stop: You're probably driving a really old car that does this all the time. Rev the engine every time you come to a stop and it should fix itself once the engine warms up. If you're only driving a semi-old car, you probably did something to anger your car like telling it you're buying a new one to replace it or take it car shopping. Tell the car that nothing will every truly replace it and rev the engine every time you come to a stop. It should fix itself in a couple of days after it gets over being angry. Note: I've only had this problem with manuals. I'm not sure that it's good to use this fix on automatic cars.

5. Turn signal handle doesn't work/no clicking noise when you use the turn signal: The turn signal handle mechanism thingy has probably gone bad. Go pick up a new one from junkyard and replace the old one. Make sure you get one from the exact same car that you have (especially the same year) or it might not fit properly.

6. Car is uneven or feels like it's limping: You most likely have a flat tire. Depending on the severity and where you are, either blow up the tire to get it home (good if you're about a house down from your driveway) or jack up the car and put on the spare. Then fix the tire or buy a new one.

7. You can see the ground through your car: You've got serious rust cancer. The prognosis is very poor. There is no cure and little that you can do. Make the car's last moments its best.

8. There is water in the car that doesn't come from leaving the door/sunroof/window open in the rain: You probably have bad seals somewhere. Put sawdust on the suspected bad seal and blow from the inside of the car to see where the sawdust blows away. (Don't try this on a windy day.) If there is a humongous puddle on the floor on the driver's side or the passenger's side, check the doors for rust holes. Weld on some more metal to cover the hole.

9. Car squeals when starting when it's wet: Your belts are loose. Tighten them up.

10. The a/c is warm: You have a leak in the system or it just hasn't been charged in a long time. Fix the leak and charge up the a/c with some freon (I think newer cars may use something else).

11. Turn signal makes weird, frequent clicking when turned on: Turn signal light is burnt out. Replace the bulb.

12. People in other cars frequently punch the air when you drive by them at night: Your headlight is burnt out and you're now a padiddle. Replace the bulb or leave it that way for the entertainment value. Just don't let the cops catch you.

13. Rattles in the car: Ignore them or appoint a passenger to constantly keep pressure on whatever rattles. These occasionally fix themselves whenever they feel like it.

14. Rattles in the trunk: Remove the dead body from the trunk. If there are no dead bodies, and everything else loose is secure, check the two metal wires that criss-cross each other near the top of the trunk. There should be little pieces of rubber that keep the wires from clanging together but they've probably slid down the wires. Push them back to the point where the wires cross.

15. Clock display disappears: Flick the clock hard with your fingers several times before the display reappears.

16. Car door falls off or car turns to dust: (This is the only one that hasn't happened to me) Reattach the door with bungee cords or just keep driving and pretend nothing happened. If the car is just a pile of dust on the highway, grab the license plates and run away, pretending that it's not your car.

17. No windshield wiper fluid comes out: Either you have an empty reservoir (duh!) or it's frozen. Refill the tank or wait for warmer weather. Do you really need to wash the window when it's 10 below 0?? (I'll admit that I do)

18. Windshield wipers make visibility worse: Time for new windshield wipers.

19. CEL is on: Get the code read at your friendly neighborhood Auto Zone. If they're competent, they'll tell you what's wrong and how to fix it (i.e. Oxford). If they're not they'll just read the print-out to you and you have to figure out what to do yourself (i.e. Hamilton).

20. Can feel the springs through your seat: You've had your car for a long time or the quality of your car sucks. Get a seat pad if it's really bad.

21. Threadbare or stained cloth/ holes in the ceiling: Cover them up with seat covers or pretty colored duct tape.

22. Gas gauge fluctuates: You probably have a honda. Make sure you get gas before the needle gets too close to empty.

23. Speakers make funny noises at loud volumes or with lots of bass: You've blown your speakers. Buy new ones. Like subwoofers. Then you can really ride in style.

24. Muffler sounds really loud: It has holes in it. This may be on purpose. If it is, then you should buy a new one without holes. Loud mufflers sound stupid. If it's not on purpose, buy a new exhaust system or fix the holes by welding a can to it. Cans of corn are the best.

25. Pieces of your car are scattered about the ground: You have either just washed your car and the rusted parts have fallen off or you've gotten into a wreck. If it's rust just wash it away. If it's a wreck, call 911, obviously. Proceed to mourn your car in either situation whether it's still driveable or not.

26. Headlights dim when brakes are pressed or battery light comes on: Your battery is dying. You either have an old battery or a bad alternator. Replace one or both. Note: don't buy an alternator from a junkyard because it's likely that they'll go bad.

27. White smoke comes from under the hood: Your head gasket is blown. Prepare for major car surgery. Don't drive the car in this condition or you may cause further damage to the engine.

flipn3 @ 2007-12-20T23:08:00

2007-12-21T07:08:45Z

We won we won we won!!!! Hooray for Jordan, Christy, and Lisa!!!! It's totally the acapella Flight of the Bumblebee that won it for them. And I know it's crazy but I like Nick Lachey a lot more now. And I would love to be friends with Blake :)

Anyhow, besides watching wayyy too much television, I've been busy making cookies and such. See the crazy amounts of cookies(actually candy in this case) we bake Kristen?

These are the ones that we still had to do...

That's 12 bags of Hershey's hugs, in case you were wondering. Luckily a good portion went to my mom's co-workers. In addition are 2 pans of homemade snickers, 2 batches of M&M cookies, and 3 batches of cookies made with little mini reeses cups(although a bunch of those didn't turn out so well). I'd say we have enough cookies to last us for a good long time, and that's before the cookie exchange tomorrow.

flipn3 @ 2007-12-17T22:24:00

2007-12-18T03:26:54Z

GOOOOOOO Christy, Jordan, and Lisa!!!!

Baby animals from Fripp Island!!

2007-08-22T03:35:04Z

We got to see baby white tailed deer and baby loggerhead sea turtles on our summer vacation!

Baby deer in the backyard

Baby turtle playing hide and seek

Making their way to the ocean

A close up

Finally made it!

Peep Peep

2007-06-21T04:08:02Z

This is Zoey, or, as I like to call it, Peep Peep. Apparently my uncle found it alone in his yard, and of course my sister had to save it. So now we have a baby duck until we go on vacation. It's very adorable, and constantly makes little peeping noises. And it's terribly fond of worms and roly polys.

A walk around the driveway

Swimming! As all good ducks should do

Put your face in the water and blow bubbles!

Diving for worms

On my hand - to show her size

flipn3 @ 2007-06-17T22:59:00

2007-06-18T03:00:12Z

So we have a duck. My thoughts on this matter are somewhere between wtf and aww, it's cute.

My plants :)

2007-06-17T05:00:28Z

Vanilla Ice aka Arnold Schwarzamint

My best pepper plant-maybe I'll have peppers next year??

flipn3 @ 2007-05-20T01:58:00

2007-05-20T05:58:20Z

Wine is disgusting.

License plate that made me laugh a lot: ENTROPY

Let me know if you see a manual transmission, front wheel drive car for sale, preferably having a/c, heat, and no rust.

flipn3 @ 2007-05-09T23:42:00

2007-05-10T03:42:04Z

Wow, 70 degree water is cold!!!

flipn3 @ 2007-05-09T01:21:00

2007-05-09T05:21:02Z

I wish I could be more like a duck.

Program: TripToKnoxville

2006-10-19T04:07:51Z

Date departureDate = new Date(October, 13, 2006);
Person sara = new Person("Sara");
Person[] friends = new Person[3];
friends[0] = new Person("Kelsey");
friends[1] = new Person("Melissa");
friends[2] = new Person("Tyler");
sara.leavesFor(Knoxville, departureDate);
while(carRide.length()<= 5 /*hours*/){
    sara.listenTo(comedyChannel);
    sara.talksTo(friends);
}
Person[] men = new Person[someNumber]

sara.arrive("UC Ballroom", 8:30);
while(dance.isAt("UC Ballroom"){
    sara.dances(men[someNumber]);
    int wow = 10;
    sara.isDipped(4, wow);
}

sara.arrive("Flynn Center", 12);
for(int i = 0 /*midnight*/; i < 5; i++)
    sara.feelsIll("Who knows why");

sara.arrive("Joey's House", 5);
sara.sleep();

sara.arrive("Ihop", 12);
sara.eat():

sara.arrive("Market Square", 2:30);
for(int i = 3; i < 6; i++){
    sara.shops();
    sara.dances(men[someNumber]);
}

sara.arrive("Restoration House", 6);
sara.eat();
sara.freezes();

sara.arrive("UC Ballroom, 8);
for(int i = 8; i < 12; i++)
    sara.dances(men[someNumber]);

sara.arrive("Laurel Theater Parking Lot, 12);
sara.arrive("Taco Bell Parking Lot, 12:20);
sara.arrive("Wendys Parking Lot, 12:23);
sara.arrive("Taco Bell Drive Through", 12:30);
sara.arrive("Wendys Parking Lot", 12:40);
sara.laughs(/*much*/);

sara.arrive("Laurel Theater", 12:55);
sara.dances("Robert");
sara.isAmazed("Guy grabs girl by neck and does dip");

sara.arrive("Joey's House", 4);
sara.sleeps();

Date sunday = new Date(October, 15, 2006);
sara.leavesFor(Oxford, sunday);
while(carRide.length()<5)
   sara.listensTo(comedyChannel);
sara.feelsIll("Partly because of Tyler's Driving");

sara.arrives(Oxford, 2:40);
sara.crashes();
sara.sleeps(/*much*/);

flipn3 @ 2006-07-19T01:20:00

2006-07-19T05:37:42Z

Yadot saw a ytterp doog yad. I tog pu ylrae, dekool rof skoobtxet enilno, dna tnew ot krow. Ti saw ym gnol yad-revo net sruoh. Gnihton oot gnitixe deneppah. I did emoc pu htiw a yrots aedi, hcihw i ma detixe tuoba. Neht I tnew ot Seebelppa htiw sdneirf. I did ton mees ot yllear tif ni erehwyna. Annaej sah a wen dneirfyob, os ehs si deipucco dna I ma ton yllaer ekil ym rehto sdneirf os I yltsom tas ni ecnelis, gninetsil sa rep lausu. Neht I denruter emoh dna Netsirk denethgirb ym yad yb gnihcaet em siht nuf yaw fo gnitirw (: Oot dab ti sekat ekil net setunim ot etirw a elgnis drow! Won ti si emitdeb!!

flipn3 @ 2006-07-06T00:14:00

2006-07-06T04:34:50Z

I went golfing today with my friends. As per usual we had a very interesting time. I was the only one of us four who possibly looked the part of a golfer, with my polo(lol). I also carried our single golf bag which contained a set of lefty clubs, a set of righty clubs, golf balls(in pretty colors), and tees. Most of that is my brother's. Only the pretty colored golf balls and the set of lefty clubs are mine. I know all of the staff at the golf course were laughing their heads off at us after we'd gone onto the course. One even asked incredulously "You only have one bag for all four of you?" We got two golf carts, as per usual. Golf carts are half the fun of golfing. If anyone watched us golf, they would probably die laughing. None of us swing properly, and we usually miss the ball several times before actually hitting it. When we do hit it, grass clumps usually go flying farther than the ball. This time we only lost two balls in the lake. I think the most amusing part was when Emily had to go searching in the woods for her ball or when Sarah tried to search through muck in the lake for her purple ball. Oh golfing. Such a fascinating sport. Lol.