Samsung Stock

To all those that are reading this-- buy Samsung stock.

A week ago, I hesitantly loaned my personal cell phone to Chrissa, who was off to a church activity that same evening. Although we've had issues in the past with this agreement (she text messaged her friend all night, who was sitting right next to her the entire evening), we've had a problem getting phone calls from her after these activites were over so that we could come pick her up at a decent hour.

So, she took the cell phone and off she went.

The events following that exchange are somewhat hazy to me. This I do know: she took the phone, came back late, and went to bed. This was a Sunday evening.

On Tuesday afternoon, I get a call from Michelle who proceeds to tell me that she was doing the laundry, and as she was taking the clothes from the washer to the dryer, out dropped a gray cell phone from the load. Yes, the phone had gone through the wash-spin-rinse-spin cycle, and had fallen out of something (ironically, Chrissa's pants where part of the load-- the same pair she wore to the church activity). Water was dripping out of the phone.

Surely, the phone was dead. Whomever "forgot" to take it out of their pants also forgot to turn it off, I was certain. Turning the phone off is something that is never done around here.

The first suspect was Chrissa, obviously. Of course, she denied any wrongdoing and tried turning the tables on me-- "But, dad, I GAVE you the phone back when I got home. It must have fallen out of your pocket in the laundry!" I just so happened to be in bed when she got home, so the only way this could have happened is if I took the phone and put it in my pajamas and slept with the dumb thing. Chrissa buckled under the cross-examination-- I had her!

Anyway, Chrissa heard that if you put the wet cell phone in a bowl of dried rice for a couple of days, it would suck the moisture out of it and the phone would be alright. I laughed, but she wanted to try it rather than put up the $100 for a replacement. So, in a bowl of rice it went and stayed for 2 days. Periodically during this experiment, I would pull the phone out to look it over, and while it appeared the water was drying up, I was sure the phone was still dead. I shook my head and laughed at it and Chrissa, knowing full-well that this was a desparate attempt. I mean, I would be dead going around a washing machine for that lenght of time and in that volume of soapy water... and the phone was much more delicate then I am!

On Day 3, I took the phone out of the rice and put the battery back in it. THE DUMB THING STARTED RIGHT UP. I was more shocked then it was.

I couldn't believe it. It works like nothing ever happened. And, its much cleaner then before.

I'm not saying that the washing machine is the best way to clean your Samsung cell phone. But, if you have any extra cash laying around, Samsung stock might be the way to go. I'm just sayin'....

The Clampetts, On Vacation Again

From January 14 through the 20th-ish (we all left on a different day), the Jensen Family (eh, I mean, the Clampett Family) met in Orlando Florida for a week of Disney magic.

The trip starred Jed Clampett (Dad Jensen), Daisy Moses (Mom Jensen), Elly May (Tonya Nelson), Jethro Bodine (me), and Jane Hathaway (Lisa), along with our respective families.

I suppose painting the entire family as the Clampetts is a bit rash. After all, it was me and my family that had the airport-- once again-- in an uproar.

It took me nearly 3 hands of fingers to count all the luggage my family ALONE had to get through airport security. Each of us had our allotted 2 carry-on bags. That is 12. Michelle was able to compress these down to 9 before we left. Plus, we had two strollers (one large for Amberlee, and one small for Preston). We also had 2 car seats. Two of the bags were open topped, meaning all the crap kept falling out of it as it was heaved onto the X-ray conveyor belt, down the plane aisle, up into the overhead compartment, through the Disney parks, and into and out of the rental car. I'll bet we left a trail of trail mix, crackers and cheese, fruit snacks, and "who-knows-what-else" between here and Orlando. Ethan never mastered the fact that his suitcase had wheels under it... he kept trying to pull it upside-down. Chrissa lugged her pull-behind with an open-topped bag on top of it, crap falling out every few steps. And, I handled the two car seats and my bags for most of the travel time (Michelle did it part of the time as well)-- not a fun thing to do once you get inside the actual airplane and most of the passengers are seated.

However, we had a great time. Michelle rented us a 6 bedroom, 6 bathroom home just a few miles from the Magic Kingdom that the entire Clampett family (by this, I'm lumping all of us in) stayed in. We (meaning the Cade and Michelle family) spent 2 days in the Magic Kingdom, 1.5 days in Epcot, 1 day at the Animal Kingdom, and 1 day at MGM Hollywood. For the most part, we all stuck together, but ventured off on our own whenever we had the itch.

Daisy Moses (mom) even broke out of her shell and rode the rollercoasters. I believe this is one of the "signs" found in Revelations. I took the short straw and ended up riding side-by-side with her on Expedition Everest in the Animal Kingdom-- one of her first attempts at rollercoastering in a LONG time.

If you've never been on this, the coaster goes forward for a short distance, then stops while heading up-hill. The tracks behind you do the switch-a-roo, and off you go backwards through much of the rest of the ride.

I thought for sure I'd end up with a fainted Daisy Moses-- or at least a lap full of puke. She hung in there, though! In fact, I think it got her psyched up for the rest of the rides... she did the Tower of Terror (the free-falling elevator ride), Rock-n-Rollercoaster at MGM, Thunder Mountain, and just about every other ride that I was certain she'd never get within a hundred yards of.

Ethan was even brave... he loved Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Tower of Terror.

The funny part was Preston. Ethan got a character signature book so when we ran into them throughout the parks, Ethan could get a photo along with their signatures (he filled up the whole book, by the way). Preston, however, wanted NOTHING to do with them. Not Mickey, not Minnie, not Goofy. No one. Except for Handy Manny-- the illegal alien handyman that has the talking tools.

For 5 days, we ran and had a great time. The weather was great. The crowds, though larger than I thought they'd be, were still manageable. Overall, I'd give the trip an A+.

We even had an extra member of the family join us on Day 4-- a cockroach that I'll name "Duke". For an hour, me, Jed, and Ethan chased him. We finally got him cornered and I was able to throw him out the front door.

What really surprised me was the after-effects of the trip. Apparently, the Indiana Jones show had a big impression on Preston. The day after we got back, we found him using a belt as a whip and swinging from door handle to door handle while humming the Indiana Jones theme.

Although it was a wonderful trip, it ended way too quickly. See our photo slideshow.

It Liveth

Obviously, our computer has been reborn. After being out of consciousness for nearly 2 weeks, a friend of mine was able to breath new life into it. Only problem was-- we lost everything that wasn't saved. It wasn't much. I did have to reload everything that we had. So, lessons learned: BACK UP YOUR STUFF. Or, kick the computer harder when it dies. Either way, you'll feel better about yourself afterwards.

Lost and Found

Recall my previous blog around September 2009, right after our trip with mom and dad to Hershey Pennsylvania. Recall that I (and the rest of us) accused Michelle of purposely losing our digital camera for the sole purpose of forcing me to buy her a new one-- a better one. Recall Michelle's reaction-- the death stare and complete denial of any wrongdoing.

Our last recollection of the camera was right before we got into the car to leave Hershey Park, on our way back to our B&B. It had been raining pretty hard, so we didn't do much inventorying as we threw our stuff into the trunk to get out of the rain.

We never saw it again.

That was mid September... nearly 4 months ago.

Well, two days ago, the lady that owned the B&B that we stayed at emailed us out of the blue with the following:

"Dear Michelle and Cade, In housecleaning the Victorian room today, I found a digital camera behind the bed caster. I remember that you lost yours and gave me a call after leaving. Please give me a call regarding same, and if yours, I’ll send to you."

I sent a brief description of the camera and, sure enough, it was our's. Its in the mail on its way home even as I type this.

I wasn't sure whether I'd be happy because the camera was found, although its replacement had long since taken its place, or grossed out because the camera had been there for FOUR months and only now, as the owner decided to houseclean, was it found (with who knows what kind of pictures on it), or embarrassed from accusing Michelle of fraud.

Not sure what to do with it now. After our computer crashed, I lost the software that would allow me to download the photos to the computer. I guess we'll put it on a shelf somewhere to remind us of its long journey back home... or remind me of the foot I had to pull out of my mouth as we learned that the camera was at the B&B this whole time.

Pepperoni Pizza with a Splash of Strawberry Kiwi

Yesterday, for dinner, we had Costco pizza-- pepperoni. They are really good! Lots of pepperoni, lots of cheese, lots of sauce.

Amberlee, our little princess, has gotten used to the idea of joining us for dinner. Literally. She climbs off our lap, onto the table, and scoots around on the table top from person to person until each passes something off his/her plate to her mouth. Its a bad habit, but not one we are ready to break her from. Doesn't matter what it is-- she'll eat it. Hamburgers, sandwiches, tacos... we even found her eating sour cream, plain.

Pizza, especially pepperoni, is no exception. In fact, the little thing LOVES it. So, naturally, she pigged out on dinner yesterday. Her appetite rivals my own.

In addition to the pizza, she had a bottle full of strawberry kiwi juice, which she gladly kept by her side as she made her begging rounds.

As I was finishing up my own dinner, I got the feeling that she was getting full. She looked at me and lifted her arms-- the universal sign for "hold me!". I couldn't resist. I picked her up and raised her over my head with the idea that I would make a funny comment on how much she eats.

Well, the idea was a good one... it just never happened.

You see, just as I rotated her into the superman position directly over my head, and just as I opened my mouth to say "what a little pig you are!", Amberlee decided to refund her dinner. Out it came-- pepperoni pizza goo with a splash of strawberry kiwi. The blob of semi-digested food hit me in the face and continued down my shirt (both inside and out) and onto the floor. Yes, I even got it in my mouth.

As I stood there holding Amberlee with the puke slowly dripping off my chin, I couldn't say a word. I was speechless. Ethan was rolling on the ground laughing, and all Michelle could say was, "Consider it an act of love".