Update on the DVD

So after a couple hours, I gave up burning the DVD for my friend using my computer and switched to a different program on a different computer. This burn took 20 minutes.

Happy Early Birthday!

So, the layout for birthdays on the new facebook isn't very clear. They have everyone whose birthday is coming up listed in a row in bright red print with the day of their birthday in light gray print next to their name. Today, I was looking there and just opened up everyone's profile who was in red and wished them a happy birthday. Seconds later, I realized that I was the first one to do so on many profiles. I looked back and realized that their birthdays weren't today, they were sometime in the next couple days. Oops.

I promptly deleted my comments. Now no one will know of my slip-ups except the people themselves (probably the worst people to know). That's okay, I'll just make sure to wish them happy birthday on their real birthday.

42 Days and 5 hours

42 days and 5 hours.....

That's how long my computer is telling me it will take to burn 3.7 gigs of pictures onto a DVD for my friend. Somehow, I don't believe it. 3 minutes ago, it said it would take 12 minutes and 20 seconds. It had been saying that for about 10 minutes.

Oh look! now it says it'll take 39 days and 15 hours. Those couple days sure went fast...

Maybe someday my computer will decide to finish burning this DVD, and hopefully before the end of this month. Actually, I'd prefer if it was finished before the end of today.

There's hope! Current estimate: 37 days and 10 hours. But it might be lying...

I spoke too soon...

So my house almost burned down just now. Well, kind of. It could have anyway. Around 9:40 we hear someone knocking on our door. We look around confusedly and I pick up my cell phone just in case we have to call 911. My dad opens the door to some stranger dressed in a target uniform.

"Your tree's on fire!" the man informs us.

"Thanks!" my dad says as he runs out back. The back of our house faces a busy street and gigantic pine trees in enclaves off of the street hang over our backyard and touch our house.

We all follow my dad to the backyard where he hurriedly connects the hose and shouts for the nozzle and a chair. He yells to have someone call 911, which my sister does. Apparently someone had decided to throw their cigarette out the window as they were driving by, and it hit the pile of pine needles and debris at the base of the tree, which then caught fire. There are some other nice people out back beating at the flames trying to put them out. We thank them, and my dad jumps up on a chair and sprays the hose down into the flames.

My family all grabs chairs and peers over the wall to watch my dad at work. After a minute or so of water, the flames subside and the fire truck shows up.

"Thanks for doing out job!" they say. The firefighters dig around the tree to make sure that no more embers are concealed. After they pronounce it safe, my dad turns off the hose, and they leave.

Whew. A close call and an exciting night

A few things:

First: Thanks to bystanders who call 911, help out, and inform others.

Second: Thanks to the wonderful men and women who serve our community as firefighters and put their lives on the line for others.

Third: I have an amazing dad who doesn't loose his calm and knows what to do in the face of an emergency.

Fourth: We were really blessed- if it had been windy so flames spread faster, daytime so you couldn't see them, or later at night with no one driving by, our house could definitely have caught fire.

Fifth: Please don't throw cigarettes out the window. Put them out and dispose of them properly.

Sixth: Don't blog about how everything's good in your neighborhood, because you never know what might happen next.

Everything's good in the neighborhood

Today was a lovely, bright Sunday. There are no more cop cars or helicopters, which is a good start. There hasn't been anything in the news about the incident last week, which I'm definitely happy about because that means that nothing major happened.

My living room is still stacked with boxes that are half emptied, and I've done about a dozen loads of laundry since I've gotten home. I've got about 3 more to go, and then laundry freedom! Well, for a week. Slowly, but surely I'm getting settled in.

spell-check

So my sister was venting to me:



Her: "The class of 2011 is the dumbest class ever! Guess what they did for their spirit week. They filled the halls with 'sophomores' signs. Spelled "S O P H O M O R E S". Can you believe that? Who's that dumb? Seriously!"



Me: "How do you spell sophomores?"



Her: "'S O P H M O R E S' of course!"



Me: "Check this out." (pointing to a google spell-check)



Her: "Oh."



Me: "I'm totally blogging about this."

Manhunt continued

So updates on the manhunt mentioned earlier:

My sister (the same one who raced an ambulance home earlier so she wouldn't have to wait for it) just came back with updates. She walked over to the scene in flip-flops and pajamas and talked to the news crew. Apparently there's a man with a gun in a house surrounded by SWAT etc.

I swear I don't live in the ghetto.

Also, my sister mentioned that she's seen more of our neighbors outside with their kids today than ever before. Apparently they were keeping their children sheltered in the backyard until the gunman came out.