<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911</id><updated>2009-12-08T12:23:31.650-08:00</updated><title type='text'>The SandBox Files</title><subtitle type='html'>The SandBox Files was my way for my friends and family to know what is going on with me while i was in Iraq in '06. The name comes from a cartoon panel I did the first time i was in Iraq in '03,if your familiar with Gary Larson's Farside single panels it was something like that... It has grown into a semi-regular glimpse into a former soldiers life.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>325</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-5274317229833050935</id><published>2009-12-05T01:14:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2009-12-05T01:14:09.646-08:00</updated><title type='text'>I'm Rockin' the Shotgun!</title><content type='html'>I&amp;#39;ve blasted a devastating 715 shells in Shotgun Free. I bet you can&amp;#39;t  &lt;br&gt;match my speed, with a fastest fire of 0.164 seconds, fastest five  &lt;br&gt;fires of 2.938 seconds, and 18 fires in 15 seconds.&lt;p&gt;How are your numbers looking? Check out Shotgun Free (&lt;a href="http://tinyurl.com/getshotgunfree"&gt;http://tinyurl.com/getshotgunfree&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;) and Shotgun pro (&lt;a href="http://tinyurl.com/getshotgunpro"&gt;http://tinyurl.com/getshotgunpro&lt;/a&gt;) for the iPhone  &lt;br&gt;and iPod touch!&lt;br&gt;I&amp;#39;ve blasted a devastating 715 shells in Shotgun Free. I bet you can&amp;#39;t  &lt;br&gt;match my speed, with a fastest fire of 0.164 seconds, fastest five  &lt;br&gt;fires of 2.938 seconds, and 18 fires in 15 seconds.&lt;p&gt;How are your numbers looking? Check out Shotgun Free (&lt;a href="http://tinyurl.com/getshotgunfree"&gt;http://tinyurl.com/getshotgunfree&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;) and Shotgun pro (&lt;a href="http://tinyurl.com/getshotgunpro"&gt;http://tinyurl.com/getshotgunpro&lt;/a&gt;) for the iPhone  &lt;br&gt;and iPod touch!&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;Sent from my iPhone&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;Sent from my iPhone&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-5274317229833050935?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/5274317229833050935/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=5274317229833050935&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/5274317229833050935'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/5274317229833050935'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/12/im-rockin-shotgun.html' title='I&apos;m Rockin&apos; the Shotgun!'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-6251991844192164370</id><published>2009-11-10T21:40:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-11-10T22:03:47.439-08:00</updated><title type='text'>She knows when we lie....</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvpTqhK5FZI/AAAAAAAAATQ/LJk4OBGSiMQ/s1600-h/0620_Ice_Cream.gif"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 148px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvpTqhK5FZI/AAAAAAAAATQ/LJk4OBGSiMQ/s320/0620_Ice_Cream.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402722692907996562" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;        Today didn't really work out the way that I had hoped but I did get a chance to see some friends and have a nice meal with them. We had planned for more hanging out, but that wasn't meant to be. Tempé (the car)  was true to form very temperamental today and decided she didn't want to cooperate.  Luckily it wasn't a big deal and we were able to meet up with everyone as planned. &lt;div&gt;    &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;    Before we sat down to eat I walked across the street to wash my hands (as they reeked of fuel) I was walking towards the 7-11 (which for the record did not have a public restroom) and an obviously homeless woman asked me if I had a cigarette I told her that I didn't smoke and went on my way thinking nothing of it, as she was walking away she said she knew when people were lying to her. I laughed and said no really, smoking is bad for you.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;     About an hour later the same woman came in to the Teriyaki place where we were eating and after being loud and yelling at the hostess came to our table and asked for money we all replied that we didn't have any to give and she once again mentioned that she knew when people were lying to her and that more or less we could all rot in Hell. I told her to have a nice day. I am an A-Hole...&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;      &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;        After our meal we walked back to the car and after some gentle coddling (I may or may not have kicked the car once or twice) She started back up. I drove The Alien and Miss Lewis Home and then Miss Abbott and I came Home and watched a film. As I type this Miss Abbott is quickly falling asleep behind me... &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Random Fact.  &lt;span class="Apple-style-span"   style="  color: rgb(102, 102, 102); line-height: 24px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:medium;"&gt;Modern research has shown that a sharp decrease in daily calories results in fewer nocturnal ejaculations in men and an overall decrease in the sexual themes of dreams  &lt;span class="Apple-style-span"   style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);  line-height: normal;  font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"&gt;.. Which explains my constant need of Ice Cream before bed.... (awkward) &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-6251991844192164370?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/6251991844192164370/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=6251991844192164370&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/6251991844192164370'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/6251991844192164370'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/11/she-knows-when-we-lie.html' title='She knows when we lie....'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvpTqhK5FZI/AAAAAAAAATQ/LJk4OBGSiMQ/s72-c/0620_Ice_Cream.gif' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-1699118252468239739</id><published>2009-11-09T21:38:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-11-09T22:06:55.506-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Never push the Button...</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvkC9tCRTOI/AAAAAAAAATI/1uCq3HqGKX8/s1600-h/easy-button.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvkC9tCRTOI/AAAAAAAAATI/1uCq3HqGKX8/s320/easy-button.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402352487092014306" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;       Today was a bit hectic and in response this will be a short update. I went to work at 6:30 this morning and more or less faked ill so that I could go home early. I also plan to call in the next three days. When I finally did get home, Miss Abbott was getting ready as we had plans to meet Adam and Molly. Plans changed and we ended up rescheduling our day for tomorrow, so instead Miss Abbott and I decided to travel less and catch a movie. &lt;div&gt;     The movie we saw was an absolute bore. The movie was titled "The Box", (a movie about how one choice, whether or not to Push a button, could seal your fate.) but trust me when I tell you it really isn't worth your time. After the movie we had an early dinner at Red Robin which unfortunately didn't sit well with either of us. In order to try and feel a little better we walked around the Not so SuperMall. Funny little side note about this mall They do not have any ATM's in the entire mall. That was just really odd to me. According to the customer service attendee the New Bank that took over the ATM service hasn't delivered the new machines. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;    After our uneventful walk we went and swapped cars with my brother and his wife as I had used his car for the impromptu road trip. We had a nice long conversation with them about our trip and Miss Abbott's adorable English pronunciation of words like Tudor and Cheetah... which sound very similar. And we made plans to hang with them again later this week. I am going to cook dinner for all four of us on Wednesday night. Fun!!!! &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;  Random Fact: When Lightning strikes it can reach temperatures of up to 3-5 times as hot as the sun. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-1699118252468239739?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/1699118252468239739/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=1699118252468239739&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/1699118252468239739'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/1699118252468239739'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/11/never-push-button.html' title='Never push the Button...'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvkC9tCRTOI/AAAAAAAAATI/1uCq3HqGKX8/s72-c/easy-button.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-5848309483727705903</id><published>2009-11-08T23:59:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-11-09T22:07:46.927-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Weekend Roadtrip.</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvhgpA57nTI/AAAAAAAAATA/9oMAnK90-zE/s1600-h/IMG_0655.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvhgpA57nTI/AAAAAAAAATA/9oMAnK90-zE/s320/IMG_0655.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402174010764795186" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hello true believers, &lt;div&gt;      Sorry for not having a post for two consecutive nights. Miss Abbott and I spent the majority of Saturday at my little brothers JiuJitsu tournament. He took first place in his weight and belt division which is awesome, He really was incredible. The kid can grapple. After his second match around 3:30 or so we had to leave to head down to my Mom &amp;amp; Dad's it was supposed to be a five and a half hour drive but due to the ridiculous rain storms all the way down the freeway it took closer to 7 hours. When we finally arrived we all sat in my mothers dining room and looked at tons of old family photos, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I wasn't a half bad looking kid. as the Winter Ball picture to the right can attest. (The girl is of little to no consequence.) We looked at the pictures until nearly 2 in the morning and all decided to turn in. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;            The guest bed was so warm and comfortable it was hard to leave it the next morning. Sunday morning we woke up around 8:30 and had cute little conversations. My mother made amazing stuffed omelets and home made bread toast. We had a very relaxed day of good conversations and funny stories. My mother made another amazing meal of cheese and spinach quiche and fried chicken strips... Mmm there is nothing like homemade cooking. We made my Mom and Dad watch Dr Horrible's  Sing Along Blog. I don't think they were as into it as Miss Abbott and I were, but I think over all they were amused. (Miss Abbott and I sang almost the entire production verbatim while we were watching it.) &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;              After Dinner Helen and I packed ourselves back into the car and began the journey back home. We were both much more tired at the start of this leg but managed to make it home with out too many concerns. (when we were nearly home I got off at the exit for my house and for some unknown reason got right back on the freeway and started heading in the opposite direction, It took me a full two miles to realize my blunder. Miss Abbott was very tired but very amused by this turn of events. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;       When we finally did get home, we got ready for bed straight away and went to sleep as fast as we could, as I had to be at work at 6:30 this morning. And that is where I will leave you until tonight. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; Random Fact: Canada has the longest Coast line in the world.  &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-5848309483727705903?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/5848309483727705903/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=5848309483727705903&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/5848309483727705903'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/5848309483727705903'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/11/weekend-roadtrip.html' title='Weekend Roadtrip.'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvhgpA57nTI/AAAAAAAAATA/9oMAnK90-zE/s72-c/IMG_0655.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-261264742267833961</id><published>2009-11-06T23:59:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-11-07T08:37:51.448-08:00</updated><title type='text'>The Meet &amp; Greets!!!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvWiO5Y-bmI/AAAAAAAAAS4/LW_ApUBahNI/s1600-h/IMG_0639.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvWiO5Y-bmI/AAAAAAAAAS4/LW_ApUBahNI/s320/IMG_0639.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401401704908222050" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;  So unfortunately I had to work today,  so while Miss Abbott was able to get a few more hours of sleep, I was up bright and early for a 6:30 shift. I only had to work four and a half hours so as soon as I was done I drove home picked Miss Abbott up and we headed in the general direction of Tacoma, Washington. Our plan was to pick up the very talented Molly Lewis (more commonly known on the Interwebs as &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/sweetafton23"&gt;Sweetafton23&lt;/a&gt;) and then meet &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/AdamTheAlien"&gt;AdamtheAlien&lt;/a&gt; for a Frost park Chalk off. (For the record Frost Park is a tiny little beautiful memorial park.) &lt;div&gt;       Unfortunately it was raining balls and we were unable to play with chalk. so instead we went and looked at some really awesome legal graffiti, had some really good soup and then after dropping Molly off we went and played Monopoly  with Adam and his roommate. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;     After our Game (in which Helen destroyed all the American despite constantly referring to the currency as pounds, and not recognizing any of the spaces, apparently the British version is very different) Helen and I headed back towards home and dinner with my brother and his wife&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;we had some home made pizza and a night of board games and conversation the picture above was my brother celebrating making his weight for tomorrow's Jujitsu match. (note the creepy facial hair, a remnant of his Halloween costume where he portrayed a gay partially dressed construction worker, and meant to scare his opponents) &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;      Tomorrow after my brothers match we are heading down to my mothers so that Miss Abbott can meet my Mom &amp;amp; Dad. I am very excited about getting there, not so much about the 12 hour round trip in two days.. But it will be very good. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   Random Fact: &lt;span class="Apple-style-span"   style="  border-collapse: collapse; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; font-family:Verdana, serif;font-size:large;"&gt;Swallowed gum is not digested by the gastrointestinal system, it usually passes through within 24 hours. &lt;/span&gt;Take that fib telling parents... &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-261264742267833961?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/261264742267833961/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=261264742267833961&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/261264742267833961'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/261264742267833961'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/11/meet-greets.html' title='The Meet &amp; Greets!!!'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvWiO5Y-bmI/AAAAAAAAAS4/LW_ApUBahNI/s72-c/IMG_0639.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-4255300674802558658</id><published>2009-11-05T22:50:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-11-05T23:10:29.922-08:00</updated><title type='text'>"One Short Day in The Emerald City"</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvPL4PL3ZjI/AAAAAAAAASw/7B6oRWhZvP4/s1600-h/seattle-skyline-at-night-with-the-needle-washington-usa-1-07ze1wtc2i-1024x7681.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvPL4PL3ZjI/AAAAAAAAASw/7B6oRWhZvP4/s320/seattle-skyline-at-night-with-the-needle-washington-usa-1-07ze1wtc2i-1024x7681.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400884545156769330" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Miss Abbott and I decided to spend the day in Seattle, (the Emerald City). We had a bit of a late start but we managed to go and have an amazing tea latte at the tea house I mentioned the other day and then we headed into the city. We walked Pike's Market and went into my favorite geek store in the market. (It's a comic book store with ridiculous amount of schwag) It took a great effort to not buy all of the awesome Spidey stuff. We had a really nice chinese meal for lunch and then walked the 12 blocks up to the Space Needle. &lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   It was a miserable and rainy day. But the view was beautiful. It was so windy at the top that I was able to lean forward at almost a 45 degree angle and not fall on my face. We took some great pictures and even some footage that will show up in a vlogtag video very soon. While we were standing in front of the needle I managed to take this shot, &lt;a href="http://dailybooth.com/aslanenlisted/1626111"&gt;Link here&lt;/a&gt; Not bad for a picture I took with out looking with a phone... &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Random Fact:&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;  The entire worlds population could stand on the &lt;a href="http://www.islandbreaks.co.uk/"&gt;Isle of Wight&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-4255300674802558658?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/4255300674802558658/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=4255300674802558658&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/4255300674802558658'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/4255300674802558658'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/11/one-short-day-in-emerald-city.html' title='&quot;One Short Day in The Emerald City&quot;'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvPL4PL3ZjI/AAAAAAAAASw/7B6oRWhZvP4/s72-c/seattle-skyline-at-night-with-the-needle-washington-usa-1-07ze1wtc2i-1024x7681.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-8939671984265543150</id><published>2009-11-04T23:59:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-11-05T09:45:20.525-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Helenzebcharles aslanenlisted Seattle IHOP'/><title type='text'>Totally not late at all...</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvMObHArSMI/AAAAAAAAASg/4hobOaXBuv4/s1600-h/260_saddestpanda.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 260px; height: 260px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvMObHArSMI/AAAAAAAAASg/4hobOaXBuv4/s320/260_saddestpanda.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400676237048498370" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So today we decided to go in search of A tea house.... Which we found, but we were there an hour and a half before it opened so we decided to go in search of Pancakes, I meant to drive to a specific IHOP in Tukwilla, but I got lost, as even with GPS I am still very prone to do. and I accidently found another in Renton. After breakfast we went out to Tempé (my new to me car) and true to her name she didn't start... We decided to give her a little time to herself, and went for a walk. After our walk and some amusing observations at the Renton Wal~Mart, we got the car started and decided to go see a film. We saw Couples Retreat with Vince Vaughn,Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell, and others. It was really funny... after the movie we had a light dinner and found a little loose tea shop in the mall and had some nice Chai tea and then headed home where we made my Vlogtag video &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkDeqzshi98"&gt;Link here&lt;/a&gt; We are adorable, Tomorrow I think we are headed out to Seattle should be tons of fun... &lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Random Fact: Mustard can prevent Alzheimer's Disease .... contributed by my mother, and Helen's total aversion to said Mustard and her completely Rubbish memory...  &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-8939671984265543150?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/8939671984265543150/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=8939671984265543150&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/8939671984265543150'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/8939671984265543150'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/11/totally-not-late-at-all.html' title='Totally not late at all...'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvMObHArSMI/AAAAAAAAASg/4hobOaXBuv4/s72-c/260_saddestpanda.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-2616446684067133484</id><published>2009-11-03T21:01:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-11-03T21:26:13.112-08:00</updated><title type='text'>The British Have arrived!!!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvEP9p6VgkI/AAAAAAAAASY/q5gdtEb2x9A/s1600-h/b86aba8267bd75a188c1b7111549d8f2_1602590.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvEP9p6VgkI/AAAAAAAAASY/q5gdtEb2x9A/s320/b86aba8267bd75a188c1b7111549d8f2_1602590.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400114980090905154" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;   As you can see by the picture to the right, Miss Abbott has finally arrived to spend some quality time with yours truly. The night has been uneventful so far there has been cuddling and kissing, and then once I finally managed to get her to put Inara down we cuddled as well. We are getting ready to go to sleep while watching Ant Bully. As I write this Miss Abbott is lying down supposedly resting her eyes. Which means she will be fast asleep with in a matter of minutes.  &lt;div&gt;   &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;    Inara being the attention whore that she is seems to have taken to Miss Abbott very quickly. My dear cat also managed to lay on all of Miss Abbott's clothes as soon as she opened her Suitcase (which weighs a bloody ton I might add, I am pretty sure she smuggled some royal guards in her luggage.) I think other than not really approving of our cuddling Inara is going to enjoy having Miss Abbott here almost as much as I will.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   My day had some humorous moments, the first involving a forklift two empty propane tanks and a number of back &amp;amp; forth trips with a set of very important Managerial Keys.  The second involving an electric cart pusher and the incompetent employees responsible for it's maintenance. Horray for a tiny little cart pusher needing three 12 volt batteries daisy chained together in order to power it. The scary part of the second highlight is that I managed to fix for free what the mechanic had bid three days prior for $1200.00 Obviously I am in the wrong line of work... &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   Well I have been away from Miss Abbott for far too long and she is already far too quiet, so I am going to say good night I'll see you again tomorrow...&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;  Random Fact: According to a recent scientific study children of mixed race heritage are less susceptible to emotional, mental and physical diseases. Due to certain racial immunities and the combined hybrid dominant genes. (Contrary to my brother having cycle-cell anemia) &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-2616446684067133484?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/2616446684067133484/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=2616446684067133484&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/2616446684067133484'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/2616446684067133484'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/11/british-have-arrived.html' title='The British Have arrived!!!'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SvEP9p6VgkI/AAAAAAAAASY/q5gdtEb2x9A/s72-c/b86aba8267bd75a188c1b7111549d8f2_1602590.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-2612830450598390857</id><published>2009-11-02T22:13:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-11-02T22:43:41.198-08:00</updated><title type='text'>The last minute cleanings</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/Su_QwuZEJtI/AAAAAAAAASQ/Qc7lwr0YXcY/s1600-h/0060-0808-2502-5705_Cartoon_Janitor_Clip_Art_clipart_image.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/Su_QwuZEJtI/AAAAAAAAASQ/Qc7lwr0YXcY/s320/0060-0808-2502-5705_Cartoon_Janitor_Clip_Art_clipart_image.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399764013745972946" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;   After working another 11 hour work day I was exhausted when I got home today. And after half an hour or so of procrastinating  I scrubbed my entire bathroom from top to bottom. While I was scrubbing my bathtub with the hot water running I was filling up my sink with hot water and Pine-Sol, which as it turns out over flows faster than you would think. Water was spilling out over the side and down the cupboards. It was all over the floor, and hilarious I only noticed because my socks were all of a sudden soaking wet. After I cleaned up that mess I finished the entire job. The floor is clean, the toilet is clean, the tub is clean... the sink is clean. Well I should say it is clean as long as "Douche" doesn't eff it all up. &lt;div&gt;  &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;    I am so excited Miss Abbott will be here in nineteen hours!!!!! Tomorrow is going to be a hell of a day at work, I have to work a full shift before leaving to pick her up. We are going to have a nice dinner and then head home and watch a movie, as I am sure we will both be exhausted from our travels...&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   Random Quote overheard while at work: "I don't have a vagina; my mouth is my vagina."                                                                                                                 ~~~random guy in the next aisle. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-2612830450598390857?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/2612830450598390857/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=2612830450598390857&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/2612830450598390857'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/2612830450598390857'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/11/last-minute-cleanings.html' title='The last minute cleanings'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/Su_QwuZEJtI/AAAAAAAAASQ/Qc7lwr0YXcY/s72-c/0060-0808-2502-5705_Cartoon_Janitor_Clip_Art_clipart_image.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-3760522006194379871</id><published>2009-11-01T22:28:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-11-01T23:19:40.656-08:00</updated><title type='text'>The Beginning of NaNoWriMo</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/Su6H7wE42KI/AAAAAAAAASI/B60NMcW-gvc/s1600-h/9320_275234555360_757780360_8747829_4010869_n.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/Su6H7wE42KI/AAAAAAAAASI/B60NMcW-gvc/s320/9320_275234555360_757780360_8747829_4010869_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399402463851239586" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hello fellow blog readers!!!! &lt;div&gt;     So Nov 1st is the beginning of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) I thought I would take this opportunity to start writing here again. I have done so many things since my last posting. I have been to England! I have fallen head over heels for a girl. (A different girl, and an amazing and unique woman.) You will be hearing a lot about Miss Abbott in the near future as she is coming to stay with me on Tuesday. She will be here for ten days.  I am very excited... and very nervous to have her here. On the one hand I really miss waking up next to her. (I spent my vacation in England with her.) On the other hand my roommates make me crazy.  And I really don't wish for anyone else to have to deal with what I do on a regular basis.  I promise to make every effort to update every day this month similar to when I was doing BEDA... &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Random Fact of the Blog&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   A cow has four stomachs... (contributed by Miss Abbott.) &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-3760522006194379871?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/3760522006194379871/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=3760522006194379871&amp;isPopup=true' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/3760522006194379871'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/3760522006194379871'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/11/beginning-of-nanowrimo.html' title='The Beginning of NaNoWriMo'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/Su6H7wE42KI/AAAAAAAAASI/B60NMcW-gvc/s72-c/9320_275234555360_757780360_8747829_4010869_n.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-5079190878335432095</id><published>2009-07-11T10:47:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-07-11T10:47:54.753-07:00</updated><title type='text'>This picture makes me lol</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://dailybooth.com/aslanenlisted"&gt;&lt;img src="http://dailybooth.com/aslanenlisted/latest/medium.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-5079190878335432095?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/5079190878335432095/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=5079190878335432095&amp;isPopup=true' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/5079190878335432095'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/5079190878335432095'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/07/this-picture-makes-me-lol.html' title='This picture makes me lol'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-8705159310366988753</id><published>2009-07-11T09:01:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-07-11T10:48:19.989-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Two months, too long</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/Sli8Oy7Y0-I/AAAAAAAAASA/11t3IYMdCpY/s1600-h/224940366_0a37accbf7.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/Sli8Oy7Y0-I/AAAAAAAAASA/11t3IYMdCpY/s320/224940366_0a37accbf7.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357238719132259298" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Holy jesus that fat guy actually posted another blog!" &lt;div&gt;   I can honestly say that it feels like forever since I updated this blog, a lot of things have happened in the previous months. "i'll 'splain, no there is too much, I'll sum up." &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   ~I have become even more of an introvert hardly speaking to anyone, including people that I care deeply about, sans an instant messenger service known as Skype and the always present Twitter account.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;  ~I have begun searching vigorously for a job on the other side of the country (and even a few out side of the country.) Which obviously includes looking for housing and the such in similar areas.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   ~I met and hung out with a large group of people that I previously had only known via the internet, and spent an amazing weekend getting to know 13 of them specifically. Via this meeting which was both emotionally (and financially) devastating I have been introduced to more people, and became closer with people I was only slightly aware of.  Of all the things that have happened and that I have done in the previous two months this "gathering" has had the biggest impact on not only my idea of the internet but my idea of relationships and bonds made through the internet. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;  ~On May 27th my birth fathers wife passed on. I haven't spoken directly to her in more than 15 years aside from an email or two I received a year or two back I haven't really had any contact with her at all, My thoughts and condolences are with My father and her children and grandchildren. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;  ~Today July 11th 2009 my uncle is getting married I wasn't able to make it to the ceremony but I did want to say congratulations to him and his new wife.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;  In other news I really don't have a valid excuse as to why I haven't updated this blog in the last two months, it has occurred to me more than once, hell last month Laurie even sent me a tweet via twitter saying it had been too long. It just seems that I haven't had the urge. Writers block is to easy an excuse but it is very accurate..&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Random Fact: this Picture is why I will not ever dress as Spider-Man for Halloween no one wants to have that image burned into their brains, not even me... &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-8705159310366988753?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/8705159310366988753/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=8705159310366988753&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/8705159310366988753'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/8705159310366988753'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/07/two-months-too-long.html' title='Two months, too long'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/Sli8Oy7Y0-I/AAAAAAAAASA/11t3IYMdCpY/s72-c/224940366_0a37accbf7.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-3621902996576037145</id><published>2009-05-11T16:15:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-05-11T16:15:43.909-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Weekending; and walk-by creeping!</title><content type='html'>I spent Friday evening and the majority of Saturday with my brother  &lt;br&gt;his wife and her parents. They were both really nice. Friday night our  &lt;br&gt;little group had dinner at a very smarmy grill &amp;amp; lounge named Joey&amp;#39;s.  &lt;br&gt;I swear one of the qualifications to work there was to be an aspiring  &lt;br&gt;Super Model. After dinner we saw the new Star Trek movie. With out  &lt;br&gt;spoiling the movie allow me to just say Wow!&lt;br&gt;     Saturday we headed to Snoqualmie falls. This amazing waterfall is  &lt;br&gt;about thirty minutes away from my house and could not be more  &lt;br&gt;picturesque or beautiful. When you first arrive there is a resort and  &lt;br&gt;lodge at the top and a steep hiking trail down to the base of the  &lt;br&gt;falls. We took pictures at different points during the hike but I  &lt;br&gt;think mostly we were trying not to fall on our rears. The slope down  &lt;br&gt;was determined and steady. On the way back up the trail I saw this  &lt;br&gt;girl &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/italktosnakes"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/user/italktosnakes&lt;/a&gt; and this boy &lt;a href="http://www.YouTube.com/user/nerimon"&gt;http://www.YouTube.com/user/nerimon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;On their way down, I managed to accidently creep them out as only&lt;br&gt;I can. Note to self randomly greeting strangers with their first and  &lt;br&gt;last names is a teensy bit creepy. Go figure.&lt;br&gt;  random fact: writing this blog was a fantastic way to spend my lunch.&lt;p&gt;Sent from my iPhone&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-3621902996576037145?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/3621902996576037145/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=3621902996576037145&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/3621902996576037145'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/3621902996576037145'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/05/weekending-and-walk-by-creeping.html' title='Weekending; and walk-by creeping!'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-3745377033459118787</id><published>2009-05-04T17:36:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-05-04T17:49:35.412-07:00</updated><title type='text'>A Post For my mother</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/Sf-Mro15q0I/AAAAAAAAAR4/w2yXpbNlZO0/s1600-h/IMG_0095.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/Sf-Mro15q0I/AAAAAAAAAR4/w2yXpbNlZO0/s320/IMG_0095.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332135165155715906" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My mother wants a permanent link to &lt;a href="Http://dailybooth.com/InaraEveryday"&gt;InaraEveryday &lt;/a&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Random Thought: Things like this shouldn't count... but they do.... &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Yes i know the photo is terribly blurry That is why it is here and not on the above linked site. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-3745377033459118787?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/3745377033459118787/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=3745377033459118787&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/3745377033459118787'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/3745377033459118787'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/05/post-for-my-mother.html' title='A Post For my mother'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/Sf-Mro15q0I/AAAAAAAAAR4/w2yXpbNlZO0/s72-c/IMG_0095.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-4153251937439954678</id><published>2009-05-03T16:27:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-05-03T16:48:59.164-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Post vacation Crack, or S'mores Anyone?</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/Sf4scbTNWNI/AAAAAAAAARw/FxHLYs9puhs/s1600-h/IMG_0091.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/Sf4scbTNWNI/AAAAAAAAARw/FxHLYs9puhs/s320/IMG_0091.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331747875729529042" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;        I have noticed a funny thing about a post vacation work week.. I am actually working... I don't know what they had in the water on the East Coast but I have just been running my ass off at work since I have been back. Now, don't get me wrong, I work a lot to begin with, but very rarely do I ever feel the necessity to do my job with any amount of added exertion. More than once a day for the passed week someone either a customer or an employee has commented on my fast pace. Today I was just bolting all over the place. It was ridiculous. &lt;div&gt;    Can I just say that Inara is adorable? she is currently bounding around playing with anything that dares move in her presence. I am trying to teach her auditory cues.  In hopes that she might start coming when I call her. Man she is picky. She might just be the only cat on the planet that doesn't eat fish flavored anything. So far she enjoys Chicken flavors so at least there is that.  &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   I have every intention of writing a blog entitled "more little things", or "it's all in the details", which would be some of my vacation stories that didn't make it into the blog that week due either to lack of time or patience with the Iphone touchscreen keyboard, I think about it almost daily but haven't managed to actually sit down and write it out all proper like. OOOh blog cliffhangers... I bet you can hardly wait. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   Random Photo:  &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   So another Blogger that I read &lt;a href="http://hayleyghoover.blogspot.com/"&gt;(HayleyGHoover)&lt;/a&gt; mentioned her love for smores recently and I have been craving them daily ever since, and then today while I was grocery shopping I saw this Display at the store... How did they know????&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-4153251937439954678?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/4153251937439954678/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=4153251937439954678&amp;isPopup=true' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/4153251937439954678'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/4153251937439954678'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/05/post-vacation-crack-or-smores-anyone.html' title='Post vacation Crack, or S&apos;mores Anyone?'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/Sf4scbTNWNI/AAAAAAAAARw/FxHLYs9puhs/s72-c/IMG_0091.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-7949574894217985292</id><published>2009-05-01T23:57:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-05-02T00:07:13.561-07:00</updated><title type='text'>"Why did you call him Blob?"</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SfvxFWQ-PaI/AAAAAAAAARo/F2SuWS4ZvOc/s1600-h/6a00d8341bfc7553ef01156eea5d07970c-800wi.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SfvxFWQ-PaI/AAAAAAAAARo/F2SuWS4ZvOc/s320/6a00d8341bfc7553ef01156eea5d07970c-800wi.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331119658101521826" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I worked... I had an extremely embarrassing moment, that I am only even slightly mentioning as my face is still red... I came home played with Inara talked for a little under an hour with my amazing girlfriend and saw a movie with my brother. Aside from the slight hiccup of the embarrasing moment, it really wasn't the worst day I have had. &lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Random fact... He had said Bub.... &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-7949574894217985292?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/7949574894217985292/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=7949574894217985292&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/7949574894217985292'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/7949574894217985292'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/05/why-did-you-call-him-blob.html' title='&quot;Why did you call him Blob?&quot;'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SfvxFWQ-PaI/AAAAAAAAARo/F2SuWS4ZvOc/s72-c/6a00d8341bfc7553ef01156eea5d07970c-800wi.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-3325974962145235652</id><published>2009-04-30T18:40:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-04-30T18:59:26.628-07:00</updated><title type='text'>The Completion of BEDA and an Introduction.</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SfpXYfEfB0I/AAAAAAAAARg/mSnSLE13nSQ/s1600-h/IMG_0072.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SfpXYfEfB0I/AAAAAAAAARg/mSnSLE13nSQ/s320/IMG_0072.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330669187115190082" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today marks the End of Blog Every Day April. I don't plan to quit blogging everyday as of now, but after today i am not obligated to do so. I have actually really enjoyed this last month, I really enjoyed chronicling each day while I was on Vacation. I did the majority of them on my way home at the end of the night while Laurie drove. I wanted to make sure it got done, and wanted to make sure I didn't take time away from her while I did it. &lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   An interesting thing happened to me while I was at work today... A co-worker said he had something for me and that i was to follow him home after work... I was a little concerned but went along with it. Turns out his cat had kittens about two months ago and he wasn't able to give this last one away, Her name is Inara (which is from Middle-Eastern Mythology and means protector of Wild Animals) I named her this for two reasons... First, the name is very unique. I could not bare to saddle another feline with a name like Precious, or Princess ... Though I was tempted to name her Serenity... and second Inara is the name of a Character on a short lived T.V. series created by Joss Whedon titled Firefly, (It is a space western, freaking awesome!) Oh and their Ship's name??? is Serenity.... (as well as the name of the Movie that was made after the TV on DVD sales were insane and fans demanded more.) &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;  Random Fact Inara is 10 weeks old&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-3325974962145235652?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/3325974962145235652/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=3325974962145235652&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/3325974962145235652'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/3325974962145235652'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/04/completion-of-beda-and-introduction.html' title='The Completion of BEDA and an Introduction.'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SfpXYfEfB0I/AAAAAAAAARg/mSnSLE13nSQ/s72-c/IMG_0072.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-8226429109598012819</id><published>2009-04-29T16:23:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-04-29T16:39:51.526-07:00</updated><title type='text'>A working Stiff</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SfjlNhqh-wI/AAAAAAAAARY/lcw-hX0m8zQ/s1600-h/IMG_0032.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SfjlNhqh-wI/AAAAAAAAARY/lcw-hX0m8zQ/s320/IMG_0032.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330262179530799874" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;     Before I went on vacation I went to great pains to avoid doing anything that even vaguely resembled actual physical labor. For some reason unknown to me, I have spent the previous two days doing ridiculous amounts of physical labor, This morning I moved all of the furniture Departments freight by myself, the majority of  which weighs between one to two hundred pounds. It wasn't as though I was trying to prove how much of a Bad Ass I am. (Though Admittedly I am pretty bad ass...) I was just asked to help the group of ladies that were assigned the area and they voted me as Mule. Eh what can you do...&lt;div&gt;    I spent the majority of the remaining portion of the day running from one task to another. I need to figure out how I was slacking so efficiently before and put that darn plan back into action...  &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   I need to make my Vlogtag video still tonight, but honestly I am just not sure how I am going to measure up to &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph30a2ueoTY&amp;amp;feature=channel"&gt;Molly's video from last Wednesday&lt;/a&gt;... I mean she read us a story and everything!!! Granted it was a story about how to Un-Gay someone, but it was a story non the less...  Maybe i'll do something awkward and inappropriate... stay tuned...&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   Random Fact.... I have made 6,000 Twitter updates... in less than a year, and 309 actual blogposts in almost 3 and a half years. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-8226429109598012819?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/8226429109598012819/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=8226429109598012819&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/8226429109598012819'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/8226429109598012819'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/04/working-stiff.html' title='A working Stiff'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SfjlNhqh-wI/AAAAAAAAARY/lcw-hX0m8zQ/s72-c/IMG_0032.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-7798956411154267863</id><published>2009-04-28T23:59:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-04-29T04:35:35.334-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Back to the Grind</title><content type='html'>AS I am sure all of you can relate, The first day back to work after a vacation of any length is always rough, mine was no exception. It began with having forgotten to close my drivers side window after arriving home last night, which led to my sitting in a very wet driver seat this morning. Rest assured the window is closed tonight. &lt;div&gt;    I am extremely tired, work wasn't really bad so much as I just really would have rather been any where else, or more specifically any where closer to the amazing woman I spent the last week with.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   I am not sure when my next day off is as of right now, but trust me when I say, the countdown has begun. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Random Fact: Youtube Haters are like soo lame... &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-7798956411154267863?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/7798956411154267863/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=7798956411154267863&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/7798956411154267863'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/7798956411154267863'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/04/back-to-grind.html' title='Back to the Grind'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-2123947549581262599</id><published>2009-04-27T23:59:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-04-28T00:08:28.190-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Day 6~ The Voyage Home</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SfarXmRax0I/AAAAAAAAARQ/H5P8ye6ybiY/s1600-h/IMG_0058.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SfarXmRax0I/AAAAAAAAARQ/H5P8ye6ybiY/s320/IMG_0058.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329635630938507074" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;   Today was a hard one, I woke in my girlfriends bed, next to her, and I will in a few very short moments fall asleep in my own bed very alone. It was a pretty relaxed day we slept in as late as we could manage and then went for a light lunch at Arbys (we had each won a free sandwich at Friday nights IronPigs game.) After our sandwich we went to Rita's for dessert, a popular east coast Icee/custard stand, It was very good and very perfect for the warm day.&lt;div&gt;   With my bags already packed and in her trunk we headed to the airport and said our goodbyes.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;My trip home was mostly uneventful barring a woman that collapsed in the doorway of the plane as I was getting off in Seattle. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   My brother and his wife were waiting for me at the baggage claim area, and after what seemed like forever we collected my one checked baggage, and headed home. My car was not too amused at having been ignored for the passed week and stalled in the middle of the road on the way home. Luckily my brother and his wife were still in the area and after about an hour of fiddling with this part and that part we were able to get the vehicle running again... I hate that car.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;   Random Fact: This is the last picture Laurie and I took together this morning.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-2123947549581262599?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/2123947549581262599/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=2123947549581262599&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/2123947549581262599'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/2123947549581262599'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-6-voyage-home.html' title='Day 6~ The Voyage Home'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Djg9jYutn4U/SfarXmRax0I/AAAAAAAAARQ/H5P8ye6ybiY/s72-c/IMG_0058.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-2244092064545859842</id><published>2009-04-26T19:09:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-04-26T19:22:19.706-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Day 5: Philly Spread</title><content type='html'>Today was the last full day of my trip. We went up to Philladelphia  &lt;br&gt;proper, and met a couple of Laurie&amp;#39;s college buddies, one of whom is a  &lt;br&gt;pastor at a church. We woke up a little early so that we could make it  &lt;br&gt;to his sermon. He is an excellent speaker. I haven&amp;#39;t been to church  &lt;br&gt;since my last tour of the Sandbox, it was really nice.&lt;br&gt;    After church we went to Pat&amp;#39;s king cheese steak joint. Which is  &lt;br&gt;apparently the place to have a cheesesteak in Philadelphia. It was a  &lt;br&gt;really good sandwich for a reasonable price, and we sat next to a  &lt;br&gt;couple of girls that were nice enough to share their table.&lt;br&gt;    When we finished lunch we headed to the Zoo. Mind you at two  &lt;br&gt;o&amp;#39;clock in Philly today it was 96* and rising. The animals were mostly  &lt;br&gt;lethargic but incredibly adorable.&lt;br&gt;On our drive back to Allentown Laurie and I went over the highlights  &lt;br&gt;of our week, it has been an awesome week and a much needed vacation.&lt;p&gt;Random Fact: The Philadelphia city Zoo was the first Zoo in America!  &lt;br&gt;They are celebrating their. 150th anniversary this year.&lt;br&gt;Sent from my iPhone&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-2244092064545859842?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/2244092064545859842/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=2244092064545859842&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/2244092064545859842'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/2244092064545859842'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-5-philly-spread.html' title='Day 5: Philly Spread'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-6318792844443462271</id><published>2009-04-25T18:17:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-04-25T18:17:45.508-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Day Four: The Big Apple on foot!</title><content type='html'>Laurie and I took the commuter train into NYC today. With that  &lt;br&gt;exclusion we walked all over the city. We saw the Empire State  &lt;br&gt;building, the Statue of Liberty (granted it was from a far) we walked  &lt;br&gt;up and down Broadway, fifth ave and what felt like every street and  &lt;br&gt;avenue between the two.&lt;br&gt;    I saw my first Broadway play on broadway. Laurie surprised me with  &lt;br&gt;tickets to the show. Avenue Q was an amazing hilarious musical with a  &lt;br&gt;not so subtle moral to the story. The basic idea is it might suck to  &lt;br&gt;be you today but the future of change and opportunity are just around  &lt;br&gt;the next bend.&lt;br&gt;   Random Quote &amp;quot;The Internet is for PORN&amp;quot; Trekkie Monster ~ Avenue Q&lt;p&gt;Sent from my iPhone&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-6318792844443462271?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/6318792844443462271/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=6318792844443462271&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/6318792844443462271'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/6318792844443462271'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-four-big-apple-on-foot.html' title='Day Four: The Big Apple on foot!'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-6592183608161153971</id><published>2009-04-24T22:09:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-04-24T22:09:14.408-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Day three/four: IronPigs Triumph</title><content type='html'>Yes I know I titled yesterdays post day three; turns out I fail at  &lt;br&gt;life. I titled the evening I landed as Day Zero&lt;br&gt;But I keep thinking of it as an actual&lt;br&gt;Day.&lt;br&gt;     Laurie had to work half a day today and like a good boyfriend I  &lt;br&gt;slept till right before she got home.&lt;br&gt;    When she finally did get home we went and walked around an outdoor  &lt;br&gt;mall similar to the one in Kent, and while waiting for the game we saw  &lt;br&gt;17 again. Which was a great movie.&lt;br&gt;    The IronPigs are a triple A baseball team, they won tonights game  &lt;br&gt;13-3 they had 7 runs in the third inning alone. It was a lot of fun. I  &lt;br&gt;met two of laurie&amp;#39;s friends at the game, Katie and Shayne they were  &lt;br&gt;both a lot of fun, we had a late snack at Dennys with them after the  &lt;br&gt;game.&lt;br&gt;   Tomorrow we are spending the entire day in New York City. I am so  &lt;br&gt;excited I can&amp;#39;t wait!!! Laurie even surprised me with tickets to the  &lt;br&gt;Broadway show Avenue Q!!!! so exciting!!&lt;p&gt;Random Fact: The LeHigh IronPigs destroyed the Pawtuckett Red Soxx!!&lt;p&gt;Sent from my iPhone&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-6592183608161153971?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/6592183608161153971/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=6592183608161153971&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/6592183608161153971'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/6592183608161153971'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-threefour-ironpigs-triumph.html' title='Day three/four: IronPigs Triumph'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-521890876135789993</id><published>2009-04-23T19:44:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-04-23T19:44:16.434-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Day Three: Exploring Nazareth</title><content type='html'>Today was more or less uneventfull. Laurie had to work till five so I  &lt;br&gt;slept till half past 12. When I finally drug my lazy arse out of bed I  &lt;br&gt;walked the two&lt;br&gt;Blocks to Laurie&amp;#39;s bank and met her for lunch. After lunch i wandered  &lt;br&gt;down main street listening to my music and enjoying the historic  &lt;br&gt;buildings.&lt;br&gt;    Laurie and I had dinner with her mother and brother and are on our  &lt;br&gt;way home.&lt;br&gt;    I also met Laurie&amp;#39;s cousin Alyssa, the person that introduced  &lt;br&gt;Laurie to my videos on Youtube. Alyssa also started the  &lt;br&gt;7awesomenerdfighters collab channel where I post videos on Mondays.&lt;br&gt;    Random quote: &amp;quot;You have to be rich and smart to get into this  &lt;br&gt;college.&amp;quot; Laurie Cook&lt;br&gt;Sent from my iPhone&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-521890876135789993?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/521890876135789993/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=521890876135789993&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/521890876135789993'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/521890876135789993'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-three-exploring-nazareth.html' title='Day Three: Exploring Nazareth'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15181911.post-6029535168479048427</id><published>2009-04-22T21:14:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-04-22T21:15:14.644-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Day One: meeting the family</title><content type='html'>This will have to be quick, if it has passed midnight when this posts  &lt;br&gt;I maintain that I have until midnight pacific standard time to post  &lt;br&gt;each BEDA this month. I met Ninnin today (laurie&amp;#39;s grandmother on her  &lt;br&gt;mother&amp;#39;s side) as well as Grammy and pop-pop (her fathers parents.) I  &lt;br&gt;played with Ninnins little ten year old dog the majority of my visit  &lt;br&gt;there and if nothing else at the very least I made a friend with the  &lt;br&gt;very spry pug/mix.&lt;br&gt;   At Grammy and Pop-pops we had some interesting conversations.  &lt;br&gt;Interesting due mostly to pop-pop being 81 years young, and at the  &lt;br&gt;very least ninety percent deaf.. Grammy compliments him by being very  &lt;br&gt;soft spoken and completely adorable...&lt;br&gt;Random fact: Grammy and Pop-pop will be married fifty-nine years on  &lt;br&gt;December thirty first. The date according to pop-pop selected for tax  &lt;br&gt;reasons... Wow&lt;br&gt;Sent from my iPhone&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15181911-6029535168479048427?l=sandboxfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/6029535168479048427/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15181911&amp;postID=6029535168479048427&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/6029535168479048427'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15181911/posts/default/6029535168479048427'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sandboxfiles.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-one-meeting-family.html' title='Day One: meeting the family'/><author><name>A.J. James Brooks</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00992159232117297657</uri><email>aslan_enlisted@hotmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16441540435693458454'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry></feed>