I was called yesterday to be the scoutmaster for the Anderson Mill Ward. I really like being scoutmaster. After having done it several times I have a plan of how to best setup the program. I am going to work out a plan over the next several weeks to put into place traditions that should help the scouting program progress in the ward after I am gone. Many times in the LDS wards they change leaders so often that there are gaps in program. The inertia sometimes get lost as leaders change. Hopefully I can help build something that wont loose the inertia when I leave.
Working with Visual Studio 2008 and the Ajax Toolkit
Over the past couple of weeks I have been able to spend some time trying to get some new functionality out of the web application our company offers. To save the non programmers the really technical. I am just trying to solve a problem to make one particular part of the site easier for people to use. While Microsoft has made it easier to build many things it’s harder to get into the inner workings of what is going on and customize things. I will continue to work on the situation until I figure it out. Luckily with this job they are giving me the ability to explore some of these things.
Working on the Van
It’s been a week since I changed the spark plugs on the van. The van was running pretty rough and the check engine light had come on. It was about a quart low on Oil so I thought that may have been the problem. I needed to get it inspected so I can get it licensed in TX. So I took it in to get the oil changed and get it inspected. I failed the inspection because my front two tires were bald and the check engine sensors indicated that piston 3 was miss firing. There is about 122,000 miles on the van so I was probably time to change the spark plugs.
The first thing I did was check some stuff on the internet and see what other people were doing with vans like mine, a 2000 chevy venture . A couple said it could take up to 4-4.5 hours to change the plugs. One guy said he did it in 2.5 and didn’t rotate the engine. So I got the Haynes manual just in case. I tried it the way the 2.5 hour guy suggested for about a couple of hours. I believe it can be done this way. But the guy had longer skinnier arms than me and was way stronger. I finally got the Haynes manual out and started to do it that way. I had been too the Home depot twice, and Wal-mart once to get tools. Then about the time I was getting ready to rotate the engine Charles, my brother-in-law showed up. He help read the manual, and get the engine rotated properly. we took all the electrical stuff off and the coil pack. Then I started to try to pull the wires off the spark plugs. it was almost impossible. Charles said there was a tool for that and so we were off to the store to get one of those. The tool help and I was able to finish the job. Over all it took me more than 6 hours to get the project finished. I still don’t consider myself much of a mechanic.
Just Moved to Austin
The move overall went very well. I am so grateful to all the people in St. George and Austin that helped me move all my stuff.
It’s great to have my family in Austin and to be back at my job. All went pretty well with the move. I don’t really have anything to complain about.
One comment about being prepared, even with the best preparation something is going to be missed. We rented a Penske Truck. We got a pretty great deal. The Truck had a CD player, This was a complete surprise. That is the first Rental Truck I’ve use that had a CD player. I was not prepare and I had not made or brought any CD’s for the trip. Roman had 6 or 7 CD’s a few were compilations I had made in the past. Needless to say we listened to some of the songs a lot. I really need to be more careful when I make these compilations.
Looking forward to the new adventure.
Secrets to Southwest Club 7-9
SouthWest Secrets Club 7-9
Most Airlines have some sort of frequent flyer program. Once you have done enought flying(suffering) they start to feel for you and let you get on in the first group and sometimes upgrade you to first class. Plus the benefit of getting a better opportunity to choose seats. Even though they are little perks, it is a real bummer losing those features.
Southwest doesn’t have first class, but does give the savy traveller an edge up. Most of this information is public knowlege, but is hidden pretty deep. But there are a couple of secrets. My brother-in-law Charles has to be given all credit for discovering the secrets. He will probably be a little upset for me sharing his secrets but not many people will ever read this blog so I am not going to worry.
The First critical step is checking in 24 hours in advance. Even if you are checking a bag. This can be done at southwest.com and can also be done from your phone. Don’t worry about being able to print the boarding pass. If you are checking a bag they will print you one at the airport. I even had a skycap print me a boarding pass when I forgot the one I printed at home, even though I wasn’t checking a bag.
Checking in early is critical because it gives you the number in which you can board. Checking in 24 hours early will usually get you an “A” status between 30 to 40. So if you are A 32 you are the 32nd person to get on the plane. All Southwest planes are exactly the same and have 134 seats. Getting on first gives us the opportunity to choose the seat we want. Most people guess what the best seats are. After flying for over 10 years and over 200,000 miles. I preffer an isle seat close to the front with no one sitting next to me. I love to talk to people,an empty seat between us never stopped a good conversation.
So to get the seat you have to have a plan and you have to know what other people are going to do. Charles, my brother-in-law flew southwest everyweek for over a year and started to see a pattern in Human behavior when it comes to the South west experience.
He noticed that many people want to get off quickly and will sit in the first 6 rows, even taking the dreaded middle seat to be able to get off the plane quickly. Once people see the first six rows are taken they head to the back of the plane to find a better seat. So the back fills up forward. This means that the last row to fill their middle seats are rows 7-9, hence the 7-9 club.
A couple of times I have forgotten to check in right at the 24 hour mark and check in a couple of hours late. I was A 57 once and A 65 once. both times I was able to get an isle seat in 7-9.
But that is not it; Once you sit down, and as quickly as possible, you get your MP3 player out. Stick in your headphones and close your eyes, act like you are sleeping and imagine no one sitting next to you. And act as big as possible.
I have been on 10 flights in the last six months. 2 times there were 132 people on the plane and one of the two empty seats was next to me. Three times the plane was completely full and twice the last person to sit sat next to me. Once a lady invited a girl to sit next to her before eveyone sat down. They were nice. the other 5 times there were more than 3 seats empty and one of the empty seats was next to me.
While it’s not a guarentee it gives you an edge to making your Southwest Experience lots better. If you fly let me know how it works out. Both Charles and I would rather fly Southwest now.