Trunk or Treat/Chili Cook-off

Every year the various wards do what's called a Trunk or Treat where everyone parks their cars in the church parking lot and the kids go from car to car trick-or-treating.  We go to all the wards trunk or treat parties in the stake then take all the kids candy that gets taken away because the are not following the candy rules and hand it out on Halloween.  Taya did everyone's face art.  Forgot to take pictures of the chili.  Just imagine several crock pots of beans and meat in various brown colors.  Now imagine tasting them and some are REALLY spicy, some yummy, and some yucky.  Now imagine the kids not eating any and only going for the deserts.  That’s exactly how it way.  Were you there too?

Dr Brent Powell Logo Design

The time has come.  Brent ask me to help him out with his Logo design and so we are currently brain storming some ideas.  Here is the process so far: (Let me know what you think and which one is your favorite so far)

1.  Hate it

2.  Better, but still hate it.

3.  Dont want to confuse the customer about name.

4.  Um, cant read it very well and want to get away from stereo typical dentist signs. (No teeth or tooth brushes)

5.  Um… No

6.  This one is nice, maybe with some color.

7.  Emma says child is hanging itself.  (Not somthing we want to convey to the customer.)

8.  Better, Waiting for feedback from Brent.

9.  More simplistic

10.  Maybe too simple…

11.  Design idea from Emma, waiting to hear back from Brent.

12.  Proabaly not going to go with “P in the box”  Business does not cover Urology yet.

13.  First Design with the Happy face as the “O”

14.  I like this one (Troy)

15.  And this one is much happier (Troy)

16.  A compilation of a few of the other ideas.

I find out if my car is totaled

I got a call from Progressive this morning and they think my car is not worth the effort to repair.  My options:
1.  They give me $1600 and let me keep the car
2.  They give me $2600 and they keep it
I went over to their shop to take a look.  (see below)

It doesnt look all the bad to me.  I figure I can pick up a new gate for about $600 and a new bumper for not too much more than that.  the latch should be good as new after a few whacks with a hammer.  So I am going to try and pick it up today and repair it this weekend if I have time.  I may try to give may dad a call to see if he needs another vacation down to TX for some good clean fun.  :)

Met some new people today

I met some new people today. I was on my way to Freescale (customer site) and after exiting E Ben White/71 to N 183, I was rear ended. It was a 3 car accident and the one in the back was at fault. The lady in the middle was in a Jeep Grand Cherokee and her car did not appear to have any damage. The little Chevy S10 that hit her and drove her into me was a bit messed up on the front and my back gate on my Plymouth was mashed in.

I took it to his insurance adjuster to see what the damage was. They game me 3 options:

1. Take $1400 and fix it myself

2. Take it to another garage and have them bill the insurance company

3. Let them fix it and the give me a rental car in the mean time

I took the third option and they are going to get back to me and let me know if there is any additional cost.

They called back later that night and let me know that it was $1000 off the total-the-vehicle estimate and that they would get back to me if they were going to total it or fix it.

Guess we will wait and see.

Chicken Tractor

So the other day Emma is talking about wanting to get some chickens and build a chicken tractor? So my first thought is... chickens driving tractors? She showed me it was just a mobile chicken coop that you can move around your yard as the chickens eat all the grass and bugs in that spot. Sounded pretty straight forward. So I mocked up some plans in Sketchup and away we go.

So here is part of the build process and the final product. I had some left over roofing from when I replaced my shed roof the other day so it looks pretty rough. I figured the chickens wouldnt care. It took about 2 days to build and about 200 gallons of sweat. I worked out on the driveway and the temp was around 98F both days. The first day I stopped because I under estimated the heat and how much water I needed to be drinking. I ended the day with a splitting headache and completely exhausted. The second day I drank about 5 gallons of water and did much better. The heat really saps you strength and if I were to do it again, I would do it in the family room when it is nice and cool. :) I really need to get a better cooling solution for the garage.

Some pics with the kids and their new chickens.

Night Stand Prototype

Finally finished the night stand/dresser prototype.  Glad I made my mistakes on this one.  I learned a lot and am much more confident about starting the ones for the master bedroom.  Since the kids beds are so close together, the prototype will be perfect for their room and I only had to make one! 

Night Stand Sketchup Model