Jaime's Wedding

Congratulations Jaime!

2 weeks ago my cousin Jaime got married. It was a beautiful wedding in Minnesota.



Everyone was all smiles that weekend.

My wife-



My brother-



My cousing Jessica-



The parents, Mark & Joey-



We all wish Jaime & Matt a lifetime of love, laughter and happiness,

Making a Desk

One of my hobies is wood- working. Currenlty I am making a new desk out of maple.

First, I started making the top, cut 6 boards to a~ 6" wide by 60" long, joined them together with glue and biscuits. Once this dried, I joined another 4" wide board to cap the edges, also joined with glue and biscuits. Even with the biscuits, the maple boards were not completely flat, so I spent a lot of time with my bench plane leveling everything out, then many more hours sanding to 300 grit.





Once the top was done, I made the legs and the skirt. The skirt is 6" tall, and sized so that the top will overhang by ~1". The legs were made by staking 3 boards 3" wide by 1" thick to make a 3x3 leg. The leg was then cut to expose a tenon which will be acepted by the skirt, and all corners were chamfered.





Next step was to start the drawers. Since I was running low on maple, and had some extra poplar, the drawers are made of poplar, but will have a maple face. The drawers are constructed with blind dovetails and a 1/4 inch dado to accept the bottom panel.



Still to come will be the keyboard drawer, front panels for drawers, dividers that will hold the drawers slides, final assembly, lots of sanding, staining and finnishing. Hopefully 2 more weeks and it'll be upstairs in the office.

Indecent Propositions

Well, Angelides is not looking good, but what about all that other stuff on the ballot. The propositions most people don't read about until they are in the voting booth. To get the full description of each proposition, go to http://www.smartvoter.org/2006/11/07/ca/state/prop/

In numerical order, here is how I will vote on the propositions that will be on California's ballot next month :

Proposition 1A: Yes. Forces gas taxes to go toward road work. I think the tax revenues collected from gas sales should go to road construction. That was the original intent. If more money is needed elsewhere, than there should be another proposition to raise money for that.

Proposition 1B: No. I don't think borrowing over $19 Billion for road work is a good idea. This will result in $32 billion future generations will have to repay. Of course transportation is important, and I think 1A needs to work before borrowing that much money.

Proposition 1C: I want to say no. 1C is asking for $2.9 billion to fund lower income housing. As much as I want to help senior citizens and the poor, I don't think borrowing $3 billion will make a difference in housing prices for enough people to make a difference. A select few will get improved housing. But, there are some good groups backing this (Habitat for Humanity, and others). It also claims to help battered woman and kids... so I may end up saying yes.

Proposition 1D: Yes. $10.4 Billion is a lot of money, but this will build 6,500 new class room for k-12 and 3,000 for community college. Repair another 31,000 class rooms. It is supported by both Schwarzenegger and Angelides. Basically 1D aims to make the classrooms earthquake safe and add new class rooms.

Proposition 1E: No. This proposition is to protect us from floods. Basically I can't find anybody to tell me why we need to borrow $4.1 billion for flood prevention. We live in the desert.

Proposition 83: Yes. This proposition should put more GPS locators on sexual offenders, keeps them further from schools, and requires more treatment for those offenders who show mental defect.

Proposition 84: Yes. This proposition provides funds to purchase and improve natural areas, improve drinking water, flood control, and funds for state and local parks. Again, $5.4 billion is a big pill to swallow, but environmental protection and safe water is worth a lot.

Proposition 85: No. This proposition seeks to requires minors to get parental permission for abortion. "No law can mandate family communication", and I don't think this law will protect or help anybody, it will only open the door to banning all abortions.

Proposition 86: No. 86 is another tax on cigarettes. The easiest way to pass legislation is to help the most people while hurting the fewest. But this is not always fair, and breeds discrimination. Furthermore, I think this legislation is deceitful. It claims to fund anit-smoking programs, but less than 10% goes toward helping smokers quit or keeping kids from smoking. Hospitals get almost 40%. I'm sure hospitals need more money, but to only charge the smokers for everyone's hospitals seems biased to me. Smokers already get charged more for insurance.

Proposition 87: Yes. I believe we need to find alternative energy sources. Even if this does mean a short term increase in fuel costs, everyone must know we need to find other fuels. California has always been a leader in clean air technology, it doesn't make sense that we should not stop trying to find alternative fuels now that gas prices are too high.

Proposition 88: No. This proposition taxes real estate $50 / year for schools. I think one proposition per ballot per idea. They got me for 1D, and that is more money that this is. However, I see specific reasons and goals from 1D. I don't think proposition 88 is specific enough with how that money is used to be effective.

Proposition 89: No. Prop 89 takes tax payers money to pay for campaigns. I agree it is terrible that big business has so much affect on campaigns, but there are other things I would rather my tax dollars go toward than TV commercials, signs, junk mail and phone calls from candidates I may or may not agree with.

Proposition 90: Yes. Proposition 90 makes it harder for the government to acquire or regulate private property. It claims to stop eminent domain abuse. I have heard of some disgusting eminent domain abuse stories, and I think that the governemnt should only be allowed to acquire private property in the most dire circumstances... not just to build a large hotel or mall that would provide more tax revenues.

Would you rather:

- weigh 300 pounds or have to always wear a speedo?
- be eaten alive or drown?
- Have no car or have no hair?
- Sit on the plane next to a super fat guy or guy who won’t shut up?
- poked in the eye or kicked in the gonads?
- be invincible or turn invisible?
- be allergic to the sun or to water?
- not be able to drink beer or have an ugly girlfriend?

High Holidays

Today is Yom Kippur. I'm not fasting and I am working (not very hard), but at least we went to temple last night.

For those who don't know about Yom Kippur, below is a pretty good description taken from www.jewfaq.org

Yom Kippur is probably the most important holiday of the Jewish year. Many Jews who do not observe any other Jewish custom will refrain from work, fast and/or attend synagogue services on this day. Yom Kippur occurs on the 10th day of Tishri. The holiday is instituted at Leviticus 23:26 et seq.

The name "Yom Kippur" means "Day of Atonement," and that pretty much explains what the holiday is. It is a day set aside to "afflict the soul," to atone for the sins of the past year. In Days of Awe, I mentioned the "books" in which G-d inscribes all of our names. On Yom Kippur, the judgment entered in these books is sealed. This day is, essentially, your last appeal, your last chance to change the judgment, to demonstrate your repentance and make amends.

As I noted in Days of Awe, Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and G-d, not for sins against another person. To atone for sins against another person, you must first seek reconciliation with that person, righting the wrongs you committed against them if possible. That must all be done before Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath; no work can be performed on that day. It is well-known that you are supposed to refrain from eating and drinking (even water) on Yom Kippur. It is a complete, 25-hour fast beginning before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur and ending after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur. The Talmud also specifies additional restrictions that are less well-known: washing and bathing, anointing one's body (with cosmetics, deodorants, etc.), wearing leather shoes (Orthodox Jews routinely wear canvas sneakers under their dress clothes on Yom Kippur), and engaging in sexual relations are all prohibited on Yom Kippur.

As always, any of these restrictions can be lifted where a threat to life or health is involved. In fact, children under the age of nine and women in childbirth (from the time labor begins until three days after birth) are not permitted to fast, even if they want to. Older children and women from the third to the seventh day after childbirth are permitted to fast, but are permitted to break the fast if they feel the need to do so. People with other illnesses should consult a physician and a rabbi for advice.

Most of the holiday is spent in the synagogue, in prayer. In Orthodox synagogues, services begin early in the morning (8 or 9 AM) and continue until about 3 PM. People then usually go home for an afternoon nap and return around 5 or 6 PM for the afternoon and evening services, which continue until nightfall. The services end at nightfall, with the blowing of the tekiah gedolah, a long blast on the shofar. See Rosh Hashanah for more about the shofar and its characteristic blasts.

It is customary to wear white on the holiday, which symbolizes purity and calls to mind the promise that our sins shall be made as white as snow (Is. 1:18). Some people wear a kittel, the white robe in which the dead are buried.