Pinto

This past Saturday, I woke up just after five in the morning, picked up Leah, and we drove to a rest stop in Delaware. What motivated us to do something so specific and annoying?

We got a puppy!

Leah has had at least one dog for as long as she can remember, but the day of our first date was the day she put down her last dog, Roo. While that's sad, she still kept our date, partly because she liked me and partly because she wanted the distraction. However, since that day, she's been without a dog. And Leah loves dogs. If we're going for a walk and she sees someone with a dog, her face lights up like a kid on Christmas morning. Since Roo's passing, she's visited multiple shelters and watched adoption websites looking for a dog that would be a good fit. She needed a dog that would be good with other pets, specifically cats, and small children (since we're planning on having some of them in a few years). No dog met her criteria, so she kept looking.

Over Columbus Day weekend, Leah and her whole family (including her brother Rob, sister Allie, and niece Becca) searched multiple sites looking for the right dog. That's when Leah found Pinto, a blue heeler/black labrador mix. Pinto is a rescue. When he was found, he was the runt of his litter and he had pneumonia. Leah and her family immediately fell in love with him and she submitted an application. We didn't hear back until nearly two weeks later, but when we did, she was ecstatic. So much so, that making the early morning drive was easy.

Leah, moments after meeting Pinto

During the trip back, Pinto was quiet. We figured that he was having a hard time with the change, but we later found out that he doesn't like car rides. As soon as we made it back to Harford County, we went to Leah's parent's place to introduce them to the puppy. Once Pinto was out of the car, his demeanor immediately changed: he was wagging his tail so hard that it was hitting each side of his torso, making a thumping sound.

Leah snuck into her parents' room and plopped Pinto done on their bed in between them. They both were happy for that style of wake up.

Kisses for Mommy!

One thing we noticed pretty soon was Pinto's cough. Considering his recent history, we played it safe and Leah had me bring him into the vet's office where she works as a technician. He was so calm throughout the whole thing, not even flinching when Leah took his temperature.

Calm, but not exactly happy

The vet said that he was dealing with some mild congestion and it probably wasn't related to the pneumonia. Still, she gave us the option of antibiotics, which we took. His cough cleared up a couple of days later.

In the ensuing days, Pinto's personality has started showing. He likes to pile his toys together, which I think means he's trying to herd them. He loves food and we're still teaching him not to try to steal food off of our plates. He loves to go outside and either run around or go for a walk on a leash. He does like to softly bite at us, which has me a little concerned: not everyone will know that he's only playing and someone might act aggressively towards him. Still, he's such an easygoing puppy. I was nervous since the last time I had a dog, I was small enough to be scared of him, so I didn't know how things would go, but Pinto's been a breeze so far.

One of my favorite things to see is when I come home from work and he recognizes me and gets excited. The look of pure joy that he has makes me really happy. In fact, soon after we got him, I looked him in the eyes and thought: "How could anyone look at this face and claim there's no God?"

When Leah and I met, I considered myself a cat person, but Pinto is rapidly converting me to the dog-side.

How to Ruin My Day

I went to the bank today and the teller greeted me by asking "How are you?" Without thinking, I gave my standard reply: "Okay." That's when another teller asked, "Just okay?"

This isn't the first time I've had someone challenge my answer to that question and every time it pisses me off. First, there's an inherent condescension, implying that my first answer wasn't good enough. And second, it ignores the point of the question. "How are you?" and the like are salutations similar to "hello." Any reply I give that's even moderately positive is simply me acknowledging the greeting.

When I was challenged, I replied "It's better than being [expletive deleted]." The teller who had rejected my first response laughed, apparently not noticing the tone in my voice. I was annoyed, but I tried to ignore it and just take care of my business.

When I was finishing up, the teller who challenged me said that she hoped my day would get better. I had tried to ignore her, but she brought it up back up. I asked her why she challenged me and she seemed legitimately taken aback. "I just always say I'm doing wonderful," she said.

"Not everyone has to say that," I said, pointedly, "and that should be fine. You kind of ruined my day." Then I walked out, noting that she didn't even offer an apology.

I made it back to the office in a sour mood, but I welcomed the distraction. Then, about thirty minutes before closing, the branch manager called me, asking me how my earlier visit had been. I've never gotten a courtesy call before, so I'm guessing she heard about the exchange. I told her what happened, making sure to point out that the teller who actually helped me had been quite pleasant, and explain why I had been so offended. The manager promised that she would address the matter and thanked me for my candor.

I try to avoid conflict, but today it seemed unavoidable.

A Unique(ly Stupid) Present

For Susannah and Michael's wedding, Leah and I bought them a present from their gift registry. However, that didn't seem like enough. After all, Michael and I had grown pretty close after working together for more than two years. But what could I give them that was truly representative of our relationship?

After a lot of pondering, I decided to get them something really, really stupid: a framed 8 x 10 portrait of me with pixelated sunglasses superimposed over my eyes. I had created a similar image before and used it in an instant messaging conversation at work, and this was in reference to that. (If you're curious why I would create such an image in the first place, you can read about the meme here.)

When the day of the wedding arrived, I brought in a modest yet handsome gift bag that contained both their real gift and this stupid one and set it on a table with their other gifts. I was a little annoyed that I wouldn't be present as they opened their gift, but hoped that it would make them laugh.

On Monday evening, Michael sent me a text message with this picture:

He added my ridiculous portrait to his collection of family pictures! I'm guessing that it won't stay there long, but I'm pleased that they enjoyed my dumb little joke, at least for a little while.

The Wedding of Susannah and Michael

On Sunday afternoon, Leah and I attended the wedding of my friend and coworker, Michael and his bride Susannah. I was honored to be included, especially since I was the only person from the office Michael invited.

This was the first Jewish wedding I've attended and it was a lovely introduction. I was a little thrown by the yarmulkes that were provided with no instruction on how to wear them -- Michael had told me ahead of time that they would be optional and I wanted to be respectful of his religion and culture, so rather than wear it wrong, I chose to not use it.

The wedding was outside, which could have been treacherous this time of year. In fact, most of that morning had nothing but grey skies and muggy air, but by the time the ceremony started, the weather was perfect.

The ceremony was short -- which Leah and I appreciated since we had been going since early that morning -- and sweet. Susannah remarked afterwards that the officiant read an earlier draft of the vows that included an anecdote that she didn't care for, but it was more of a comment than a complaint.

Michael is the one of Jewish heritage and he even included some Hebrew in his vows, though Susannah's were completely in English (which is kind of ironic because Susannah is a polyglot, though the other languages she speaks are mostly of the Romantic variety).

After the ceremony but before dinner started, Leah and I wandered around the grounds of the hotel where the festivities were held. It was quite beautiful with lots of flowers, foliage, statues, and water features.

Leah and me having fun exploring

I wish Susannah and Michael the best in their new life together and I'm grateful that Leah and I were included on their special day.

The two happy couples

Manipulation

One of my current assignments at work is a product catalog. I've worked on catalogs before, but with this particular one, I had trouble finding a photograph of one product. I searched two separate databases and came up empty. After googling the product, I did find one picture, but it was from an eBay auction and we couldn't used it in its current form.

The product (in this case, an electronic controller, which is like a high-end thermostat) is at a weird angle with bad lighting and sitting on a cluttered table. Even so, I used the picture as a reference when I sought the help of Danfoss' data management team. I specifically mentioned that the above photo was only meant to be used as a reference, but my contact simply changed the file type and sent it back to me.

I decided to see what I could do with Photoshop. I spent a few hours correcting the color, distorting the image shape, and cutting out extraneous objects. This is the result:

It's not perfect, but I was really happy with what I was able to accomplish, especially since I mostly taught myself how to use Photoshop. However, even after the office lawyer said that we would probably be fine to use the image, I decided to pursue getting a better photograph. As it happened, we had had a sample of the product in the warehouse the whole time. So, I took a brand new picture with proper lighting and the office's camera.

I admit that that the stainless steel reflected the light a lot more than I thought it would, so I may go back and try to cut the glare down, either by fiddling with it in Photoshop or by taking a brand new picture and change where the lights are positioned, but I'm still happy that I took a new picture that cannot be legally disputed.

Still, it was pretty cool what I able to with that first picture, right?

Cat Sratch Fever

I live with Leah's two cats: Edward and Maybeline. Edward loves to cuddle and Maybeline (or Maybe or even just May) keeps more to herself. And even though Edward us more than twice her size, Maybe's in charge.

A few months ago, we bought the cats a cardboard scratching board. They both used it at first, but Maybe made it clear that it was hers and was often seen just sitting on the board. Since Edward wasn't allowed to scratch on the board, he'd scratch other things. Because Maybe wouldn't share, we bought Edward his own scratching board. He used it a couple of times before Maybe marked it as hers by urinating on it. We threw it away and looked for other things that Edward could scratch.

This past weekend, I ordered a small cat tree from Amazon. It arrived yesterday, but neither cat was terribly interested. So, after work today, I rubbed it down with some catnip. That seems to have been the missing element because Edward spent a lot of time with it this evening.

Hopefully this means that he'll finally leave the couch alone.

The Weekend of Food

This weekend, Leah's older brother, Rob, visited from Washington State and brought his eleven-year-old daughter, Becca. Also visiting was Leah's youngest sister, Allie, from Maryland State University. Knowing this, I volunteered to cook two meals: breakfast on Saturday morning and dinner on Sunday evening.

For Saturday's breakfast, I arrived a little after eight AM and started making blueberry compote. While that cooked on the stove, I mixed up some pancake batter and heated up a griddle. I made about thirty blueberry pancakes, stacking them up as I went. Becca helped out by microwaving plate after plate of bacon (we made a total of three pounds). As we got close to finishing up, I started cracking egg into a mixing bowl. I added salt and pepper to the fourteen or fifteen eggs and starting beating them. That's when I found out that Leah's other younger sister, Megan, doesn't like blueberries, so I had Leah mix up another small batch of pancake batter. I reheated the griddle and poured the eggs into a hot skillet. With the eggs scrambled and Megan's seven or eight pancakes done, we all sat down to eat. Everyone ate as much as they wanted and there were still a few pancakes leftover, though the bacon, eggs, and compote were all finished off.

For Sunday, I made pumpkin cookies the night before and put them out for people to munch on throughout the day. And munch on them they did. Since it was Fast Sunday, I waited until dinner to eat anything, and there only eight or nine cookies left from the original three-and-a-half dozen. For dinner itself, I roasted two whole chickens, boiled and mashed nearly an entire ten pound bag of potatoes, and sautéed a few pounds of zucchini and onions, or at least I tried to. The pan I used to sauté was smaller than I needed it to be, so I put the lid on in an attempt to have it cook more evenly, which it did, but it also ended getting steamed instead of sautéed. Regardless, there was plenty of food and Allie even took leftovers before she headed back to college.

While I did get lots of compliments on the food I made, I didn't do it for the praise. I like cooking and I like serving people, so when I can combine the two together, it makes for a happy (if tired) Jordan.

General Conference, October 2017

My General Conference experience was quite lovely this year. I watched the Saturday sessions at home with Leah and her mom, Debbie (and her younger sister Megan for a couple of talks during the first session). After our 5K (which, again, we did not train for), Leah and I were hungry, so I made waffles and bacon for us and our guests. In between sessions, Leah and I took a much-needed nap while Debbie clean the recently vacated upstairs apartment. For the Priesthood session, I listened from the kitchen while I baked pumpkin cookies and Leah balanced her checkbook. On Sunday, we watched with the Larsens, which was nice. The kids were very excited to see us and even the dog Sauerkraut clearly missed us because he sat at our feet during the entirety of the first session. After the final session, we stayed for dinner -- which was a very tasty white chili that Sherlin made -- and shared the pumpkin cookies I made the night before.

As for the Conference itself, I liked how much the message of "life is full of trials, but we can still be happy" was repeated. Also frequently repeated was President Monson's challenge to study the Book of Mormon from April's Conference: Leah and I had been slacking on our companion studies, but we've been reading every day since Sunday.

Another topic that kept popping up was the importance of families. I particularly enjoyed Elder Oak's talk about the creation of The Family: A Proclamation to the World (and felt more than a little old when he mentioned that the document is more than twenty-two-years-old). I often enjoy hearing stories about the creative process of other writers and this time was no different.

I also really appreciated the final talk by Elder Anderson: the way he quoted from several other talks throughout the Conference was a really nice way to tie everything together. But more than that, I liked his mini tribute to President Nelson. With President Monson's health failing, is this a glimpse of things to come? Perhaps, but even if it isn't, it was wonderful to learn more about President Nelson's life and apostolic ministry.

General Conference is a time of year that I look forward to. I admit to falling asleep for part of the final session, but every talk that I heard offered insight and inspiration that I needed. And now we get to look forward to reviewing this Conference's talks for the next six months!

Color Run

This past Saturday, I participated in the 2017 Baltimore Color Run 5K. It was kind of lame.

First off, I should say that I did not train for this event. I knew it was coming and I always meant to run after work or on Saturdays, but I never got around to it. When the day of the run came, I was ill-prepared, but I still went through with it anyway.

For those unacquainted with the concept of a color run, it's like any other distance running event (in this case, a 5K), but runners are hit with colored chalk powder throughout the run. What does the addition of color offer that more mundane runs lack? As far as I can tell, just dirty clothes.

One of Leah's best friends, Rachel, wanted to participate in the run, but didn't want to do it alone, so Leah was roped in. After finding out that to register as a team they needed at least four members, I was roped in. I thought that color runs sounded completely stupid, but having not yet experienced one firsthand, I decided to be scientific about it and find out for myself.

It turns out they aren't as stupid as I thought. Perhaps a better way to put it is to say that color runs aren't for me, though I can see why other people might like them. The whole event was about having fun and being happy. Lots of participants wore rainbow-colored wigs, tutus, bandanas, and other clothing and entire families ran together. Throughout the run were signs reminding us to be happy. There was such an emphasis on it being fun that the event was not timed, though I did use an app to track my progress.

So, why didn't I care for the color run? Mostly because it added a lot unnecessary elements to something I already enjoy, so the main thing is obscured. Think of it like a bar of chocolate: if you add a few more ingredients like caramel and nougat, it can compliment the chocolate, but if you add too many ingredients like nuts, marzipan, and orange oil, it can hide what was originally the main attraction.

Not only that, but they only hit us with colored chalk powder four times, which seems too few times for something that's in the name. Yes, I realize that I'm complaining about not having enough of a thing that I didn't even like.

In the end, it was a new experience and it helped to start me exercising regularly again. I don't think I want to do another color run, but another regular 5K sounds like fun.

Our team (Holly, Rachel, me, and Leah) showing off our matching t-shirts, headbands, and temporary tattoos

After the running was over, we were given extra bags of powdered chalk to throw at each other

Team selfie with Holly's friend Lindsay

Any excuse to kiss this woman