Mattress Buying Roundabout

Well, it's that time ... we all dread it.

Yes, it's time to buy a new mattress.

Not much to say right now about it, I'm in the early phases. We did the painful "go to the store and lay on a bunch of beds" thing. Meh.

I'm strongly considering buying a mattress from an online only company. There are several USA based firms that have popped up since I last bought a mattress, only 3-4 years ago!

(BTW - our last one was from Walmart.com. It was OK -- even quite good -- for the first 18 months or so, but, the fact it only had a one year warranty was noticeable. 3 years in, it's just not holding up any longer).

Here is a great website I found for mattress evaluation: www.sleepopolis.com (for online mattresses).

Check back later and I'll let you know how it goes!

Star Wars: The Machete Order

Today is May the 4th. So, "May the fourth be with you!!!" -- This isn't going to be my typical blog entry, I'm going to go full on nerd. So, if that's not your thing, you may want to go back to Facebook now.


First, credit where credit is due: almost all of this concept is drawn from this web site.


How should someone watch the Star Wars saga? Or, maybe a better question, -- if you wanted to watch the entire Star Wars saga, in what order would you watch? If you were introducing a total noob to Star Wars, where would you start?

Might I propose: The Machete Order

"Hey, where's Episode I?"

... It's gone.

Yes, revolutionary. Perhaps a bit hard to accept at first. But ask yourself this question: Is there anything in Episode I that is exclusively critical to understand the greater Stars Wars saga? I say "no."

I had to let that sink in for a bit myself. The Phantom Menace (Episode I) is my least favorite of all the movies, however, I have always thought that it does have some redeeming value. The major redeeming value is the movement and manipulation that shows how Palpatine came to power. (I still contend that Palpatine is the "menace" in the title though some disagree.) Pretty cool that he started a war - and it didn't even matter who won - just so he could become the chancellor, but I digress. Do you truly need to know how he became the chancellor to appreciate the rest of the story? No, no more than you need to know why Han Solo became a smuggler to appreciate his role in IV-VI.

What about how Anakin left his home and his mother? What about Qui-Gon? Why did Anakin get chosen? Well, I don't think you need to go into any of those things to understand the arc of Star Wars. After all, we know nothing of how Obi-Wan became a Jedi, and how he spent his childhood. Focusing on the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin is far more important, and that hardly even starts in Ep. I.

Then there's all the other stuff: The podrace, Amidala/Padme changing clothes & identities, Jar Jar, Messed up Yoda, the Gungan city -- all fluffy tripe that I'm glad to do away with.

Sure, I'll miss the duel of the fates and that epicness, but the thing that has bothered me the most is that Episode I just doesn't seem to fit. It's like someone wrote a precursor to the prequels. Sure, it has a few cool scenes and sets the stage a bit, but it's not a "part of the whole story." If a noobie watches the other 5 episodes and loves them, he or she can then go back and pick up Episode I as a "stand alone" movie set in the Star Wars universe

"What's with the messed up order?"

There are problems with watching in both release order and chronological order.

Chronological order: So you start out knowing that Anakin turns into Vader before you even enter the original trilogy. There is no build up/big reveal. You lose the charm of meeting Obi-Wan and Yoda with the veil of mystery. Also, if waching with a noob, you may lose them by showing the poorest (story-wise) films first.

Release Order: You end on a major downer. You thought the end of Empire was a downer? Try Revenge: the last thing you see is Anakin turing into Vader, Padme dying, most of the good guys getting slaughtered, the baddest guy taking over the universe, and Obi-Wan & Yoda accepting soul-crushing defeat and going into exile.

The machete order gives you the introduction to the characters and the universe, starts off very well, and leaves the viewer feeling like he or she wants to see more. Just when "No, I am your father" [oft misquoted] comes along, and you wonder, "Is Vader really his father? ... why does Vader seem to despise old Ben? etc.," you are given a 4 hour flashback that answers your question. Then you come back to "present day," see how it wraps up, how the Luke-Vader relationship is redeemed, and everybody is happy! (As an added bonus, it makes the look-at-different-planets end to Ep. VI from the Special Edition suddenly seem relevant.)

The machette order isn't perfect, but when thinking of the net of gains minus flaws, it's the winner for me.

+ + +


Side note, for being the biggest Star Wars fan I know, I've never watched more than 2 of the movies in consecutive order. I know in high school my buddies and I planned to. I have a very vague memory of going to (I think) Thom Hennen's house and I walked in part-way though A New Hope and stayed to watch Empire, but that's as close as I got. With a wife and kids, I don't see any 10+ hour marathons in my near future, but perhaps if I'm left home alone for some weekend this summer, it may happen.

Feeling Middle Aged

I began a new position with my company about 2 weeks ago. This requires about 6 weeks of training, and during this time, we're in a training room all day every day. (It really feels kind of like taking a college class again -- except I'm getting paid to do it and there's no take-home work.)

I think I'm the oldest trainee in my "class," though I haven't verified that with 100% certainty. [edit: verified.] I do know that there is one 24 year old and at least one 25 year old; most are in the 26-29 range.

And I have to say -- the gulf between 24 and [almost] 36 has never felt broader!

Here are some interesting moments over the past two weeks. Remember, these are all individuals who are supposed to be my "peers":

- "September 11th? Oh, I was in 5th grade when that happened" ("Um.... I was already married...")

- Somehow the movie Forrest Gump was mentioned. One of the other guys implied that it was a really old movie, the kind you only see on cable channel replays and such. Then again, he was 3 when it came out.

- Realizing that at least 2 of my peers we not alive for a single day during the 80's...

- Cell phones, cell phones, cell phones!
    (a) They simply can not be put down.
    (b) I am the only person in my class who does not have a web-enabled phone.

- Partying and "going out" on weeknights are still things. ("Sorry guys, I've got a big evening of playing Ocarina of Time with my boys and going to bed on time planned.")

I'm sure there will be more over the next 4 weeks, I'll try to keep updating!

Quick Ottumwa Photo Tour

This past Sunday, I took a quick trip down to Ottumwa to visit my parents (down and back the same day). On the way there, I stopped at the cemetery where my Rose-side grandparents are buried, which is west of town (near Munterville). While I've been to O-town several times since high school, I've only entered town from the west maybe once or twice before. So, I decided to grab a camera and snap some pics as I went (don't worry, I did keep one hand on the wheel the whole time, and didn't look thru the viewfinder. It was the point-and-snap-hope-you-aimed-well method of picture taking.)

So, without further ado, here is a very brief photo tour of my route. I thought this may spark some memories for those of you former Ottumwans who haven't been back in years.

You can click on any picture for larger version.

Where "old" highway 34 meets "new" highway 34 (it looks like I was playing chicken with the train, but really it was stopped).

That's the entrance to some new stores -- "new" Wal-Mart on my right, and the building you see is a Kohls. Menards is nearby, too.

Vaughn Motors is now here on Hwy. 34 opposite the mall.

Quincy Place Mall. What used to be Wal-Mart is now M.C. Sports.

We have Arbys!

Looking toward downtown.

Facing NE at the intersection of Hwy. 34 and what used to be Hwy. 63. When the bypass was finished, the "in-town" portion of the N-S highway was re-numbered as the southernmost extension of Hwy. 149, which ends here.

End of the Market St./Church St. exit, facing east. I've always been a fan of the sign with the blinking light that tells you if the other end of the Market St. bridge is blocked by a train. I've never seen one of those in any other town.

The "new" Bridge View Center (former Coliseum). You can see that [unknown to me until after I turned north] the Market St. bridge was blocked off due to construction. So I turned around at the Beach entrance.

"Hey Todd!!!"

I used to work admissions/concessions at The Beach. The yellow slide was added some time after 1997.

This is where Fareway used to be (Peter!), I was told it's now out on Albia Road, near the former Pamida site.

Turning left (north) onto Jefferson St. viaduct.

Tried to get a picture of my little league field -- the "National League." Sorry it's blurry.

Looking east/southeast -- Railroad bridge (now a pedestrian bridge).

"We'll all join in together, to root for OHS!"

Downtown from the bridge.

Looking west down Main St. at "The China Restaurant" (not sure if still called that). I always wondered why they didn't call it "The Chinese Restaurant?" Main is no longer a 1-way street.

"Voc-Tech!" -- The standard "band member" entrance. Note the doors on the far right are a little different. I'm guessing those are no longer unlocked all the time.

J.R. ... Richards???

Facing West on 4th street, at intersection with Jefferson. Catholic church to the right, Methodist to the left.

"Ghetto Gas" / "Sweaty Betty's" -- Looks pretty nice!

Continued up Jefferson to Pennsylvania, then I found out that this gas station, AND this intersection was blocked off due to construction!!! OK, time to find a different way up to Elm St. ...

Chris Ellis's old house.

Decided to head up Jay St. ...

Which is NARROW!

What street am I on? :)

 Heading North on Elm.

 Memorial Park (non-playground part). Looks perfect for leaning up against a tree for senior pictures!

This house is new ... old one was torn down.

Destination reached!

This is Made Out of Wood

BEHOLD!

The EPICness of the tri-level storage shelf.

OK, well, I need some affirmative action here. I'm not a big time woodworker of anything, so this is kind of like when your kid draws a picture. You're not expecting a Rembrandt or anything -- "it's really good! [for you]"

Debbi and they boys have been in Arizona this week, so this was my chance to use tools and leave hazardous chemicals laying around unattended for long periods of time.

Maybe it doesn't look like much, but it took me about a year and a half to build this. OK, full disclosure, I built about 60% of this 2 winters ago (Dec. 2012-Jan. 2013) when the wife & kids were gone, then it sat in that condition until just now I finished it off.

The longest part is applying a protective finish to each board before assembly (Minwax Polycrylic). So now it's mostly waterproof and should last about forever. This will be helpful if, for example, if you are grilling in the garage and the grill catches on fire and you spray a fire extinguisher into the area. Just if that were to ever be needed.

Apply to side 1, wait 3 hours. Side 2, wait 3 hours. Side 3, wait 3 hours. Side 4, wait 3 hours.

In use.

Move over, Al Borland..