ThePasseys.com

How sick is the sickest you’ve ever been. I’m not sure if I’m just getting older or if the viruses are getting more complex. But this last one lasted for 8 days. I would write more on it, but I don’t feel up to it.

Please don’t read this and take it the wrong way.

I only mean, what’s wrong with this picture.  I am not attempting to ask the question “What’s wrong with Mike?”  No man should ever ask that question.  I’ve heard there are several other blogs dedicated to that topic.

One day, Sheila and I decided to sleep a little later than usual. Star was playing quietly in her room and we had assumed Jack was playing in his crib. Jack was bored, and we had no idea that he was capable of escaping the crib. Here is the photo of Jack and the crime scene as we saw it when we walked into his room.

Sometime back in December, I took Jack on his first golf outing of his life. I thought that he wasn’t going to last two minutes in the cold. Uncle Jake, Jack, and I froze out in the cold (not real cold, 55 deg+-). Jack  complained a bit around the 13th hole, but he was a trooper. He made it all day. He had his own small club, but he insisted on using the big driver and irons on all of his shots and he frequently used a tee in the middle of the fairway.

By the end of the day, Jack had figured out which was his favorite “club” and was quite skilled at retrieving any ball and dropping it in the hole!

We love it when people visit! Sabrina and Jashub came to town with Sara in their back pocket on Valentines weekend. We scored some cheap rooms at the fancy Hotel Whitcomb on Market St. in San Francisco.  We had some good times. We only had one day to boogie, so we woke, Haight-ed, beached, wharf-ed, scarfed and carousel-ed all in one short stretch, sun-up to sundown.

Good times!

Dang it, he’s sexy!

Sabrina vs. the Trout

Sabrina making the rounds

And finally, sundown.

I love San Francisco!

Star and Jacob Bader (aka Jak-ey Bader) first became friends shortly after birth. Star had to wait for a few days after her birth to meet Jake, but when she did, it was a love connection.

Jake and Star have always liked each other a great deal, but it’s no secret that they haven’t always got along. More times than not, it is the same one of them who comes out with their feelings hurt. Everyone has tried to help them play nice together, but sometimes you just can’t make it happen.  Guess who got the blunt end of the stick this time…

One fine day in January of ‘07, Jack decided to make a dive in the tub. We were living in a hotel in Sacramento because we were between housing, and frankly, unable to make any decisions. I had left my cool, new razor phone on the bed. Jack had just been dressed in his PJ’s and Star was in the bath tub. Jack, in a sudden sprint across the room, swiped my cell phone, ran into the bathroom, and dove head first into the bath tub with his fuzzy-footed jammies and my cool, new phone. If you look close at the picture, you can see the razor phone at the bottom of the tub.

One day we were on an adventure that took us to the Bay Area. While shopping for clothes there, Star decided she had what it took to be America’s Next Top Model.

Here is her photo shoot.

After a hard days work…..

(Star had actually asked me to take a picture while she pretended to be grumpy!)

I have to warn you, that before reading this, you should know it’s going to get a little nasty.

Several weeks back, I rented a truck in Northern California and drove to Southern California.  I rented the truck from the absolute nicest most wonderful people on the planet.  However, the good nature of those people from whom I rented the truck, was not at all consistent with the sleeze-wad of a tiny man that was there to greet me in Southern California. ( I said nasty)

I had made a change of travel plans that required me to drop off at a different location.  I called the rental location up North and asked if there were to be any extra charges.  They said no, and just asked me give the paperwork to the location where I was going to return the truck.  Since they were relatively the same distance (within 20 miles) from the origination point, I was not surprised that it was the same price.  However, the small individual at the drop off point had another plan.

When I arrived at this alternate location, the truck rental attendant began by suggesting that the tank was not full when I arrived.  I have owned the same International 4300 and am very familiar with the tank.  If you top it all the way off to the very top, you will lose diesel when you drive.  Big no-no!

I had driven this truck for the past 15 hours and and had tried to fill it 3 times.  The gauge wouldn’t go completely to “F”

The man tried to charge me for 5 extra gallons at $7 each.  That’s $35.  I told him that another Budget guy already tried to pull that one on me and said I ain’t falling for it.  I told him that if he could make the gauge move higher, I would pay him $20.  If not, he owed me $20.

We went to the fuel post and he put 2.5 gallons more in it until it was literally spilling over.  Here is the after photo :

Now you tell me if that was worth $20.  I paid $10 for gas and he stiffed me for the $20.

This same guy tried to charge me $286 dollars extra for me dropping the truck at his location, and he rented my truck to another customer while I was inside arguing the extra charges.  Because I had told him I would drive the 30 mins in traffic to the original drop off point, he finally had to let me return it at no extra charge.  When I walked outside, the truck was already gone.  He was in a pickle, cause I was ready to leave and he had already sent the truck out.

This is the first and may be the last serious post on my blog. I am warning you before hand, so you do not misinterpret my tone. It is likely that your tongue has been pressed firmly to your cheek the entire way here!

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The actual Church website for the project can be found here. This is an extraordinary time we live in and an important work that is about to go forth.

www.josephsmithpapers.net