According to Google Trends, a lot of people are trying to find out.

He was a retired NFL player and now he is going to join the Oakland Raiders.  He plays quarterback (QB) position.  He is a winner of the Heisman trophy, “The Most Prestigious Award in College Football”.

Here is some other basic information:

Born: December 27, 1979 in Fresno, CA

College: USC

Drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2003 NFL draft.

You can get more information directly from Carson from his blog: Carson Palmer: Official Blog

He is married to Shaelyn Fernandes

This cute video has been making the rounds.  It shows a one year old happily using an iPad that seems to maintain her interest and then happily flipping through a magazine that she quickly loses interest in.  The baby uses the pinching and sliding movements on both items, and the producer of the video makes the comment that the baby looses interest in the magazine because to her there is no difference between the iPad and the magazine other than the magazine appears to be broken.  It is a fun video.

This One Works

This One Does Not Work

Does Not Work Either

Is it Broken or What?

Yet My finger does work.

I’ve had it.  Off to the One That Works.

For my 1 year old daughter, a magazine is an iPad that does not work.

It will remain so for her whole life.

Steve Jobs has coded a part of her OS.

That last slide makes a reference to a concept we talk about called “Digital Natives”.  These are the kids that grew up with technology.  They could not imagine a world without computers, cell phones, email, and the web.  And they have adapted themselves to use it.  Indeed Steve Jobs was one of the enablers of that and in part Steve Jobs has coded a part of this generations DNA.

The comments ranged from cute to mean.  From thoughtful to crass.   One person even suggested that some of the comments were so extreme and hurtful that the parents should consider removing the video.  One eve says ”Wow. People really need to CHILL OUT. It’s just a cute video whether you believe in why the baby’s is doing what she’s doing or not. Sheesh.”  I think that probably reflects my views the best.

Our community has been shaken by a recent accident.  First an email goes out about an accident in the area:

Then we find out that it is a person very near and dear to all the people in our Boy Scout Troop.

We should all take a moment to pray for the people that are affected by this.

We are somewhat relieved that the suspect has been caught.:  Arrest made in hit-and-run that killed dog, injured woman

But this is not the only driver we have to be worried about.  Here are some ideas of how to increase safety while walking and driving.  If you have some ideas then leave them as a comment.

While Walking:

This is a reminder that it only takes one driver to make the road unsafe for walkers.  We must practice defensive walking.

• Walk with a partner. 
• Carry a cell phone while you are on a walk.
• Use the sidewalks if available.
• Be extra careful at street crossing.  Do not depend on the drivers of the cars to stop or to see us.
• Try to walk during the day.  But if you do walk at night, then wear blinking lights to increase the chances that drivers will see us.
• Let other people know about the path you plan to take and what time to expect you back.  Be predictable so that if you do not show up when expected, people know to look for you.  And they have an idea of where.
• Do not listen to headphones while walking.  Also, do not walk and text or look at your cellphone.  If you need to text or talk, then choose a spot, finish up the call, and then continue on your walk.  We must stay alert.

While Driving

Driving is a privilege.  It comes with a big responsibility to ensure that we keep everyone safe.  Here are some things we can do as drivers to make the roads safer. 

• Focus only on driving.  Do not talk on the phone, text, mess with the radio, or worry with other people in the car.  If you need to worry about any of these, then pull over and take care of it.
• Don’t be in a hurry.  Make sure that you have a realistic schedule, and that you leave extra time for unforeseen events.
• Drive at the speed limit or below.  When it is dark, approaching intersections, turning corners, bad weather conditions then drive slower.
• When approaching an intersection, go ahead and slow down.  If you are unsure if it is a 4 way stop, then stop anyway. 
• Do not over drive your headlights.
• When in an area where pedestrians are common, consider rolling down the windows and turning off the radio.  You may be able to hear people before you see them.  Especially true when in a parking lot and backing up.
• Carry a phone just in case you need to call for help.
• Have a first aid kit in the car.  Be prepared to be a good Samaritan.
• Try to drive during the day.  If you must drive at night, then take extra care.

Learn more about this project

Next time you are driving and you hear that beep from your cell phone indicating you got a text message, consider this video.  Also, consider where the person you texting is.  If you know they are driving, then don’t text.   

Our strawberry plant has survived its first weekend in our garden.  (I think it needs about a dozen more plants to keep it company.)

Found a slide of my grandmother Bernice.  I caught a picture of Christopher looking at it.  I thought it made a nice effect.  What do you think?

At the cub scout den meeting today, Christopher learned about birds and made a bird feeder out of a pine cone, string, peanut butter, and some bird feed.  (And of course we brought some cupcakes.)

Cleaned the fish tank

Before:

After:

Also, bought 10 ghost shrimp, a plecostomus, and a small crab.

Went bike riding with Sonia and my mom

Had our family meeting to plan and discuss the week

I’m there at the soccer practice/game wondering if we should go to the Blue and Gold Banquet and participate in the father-son baking contest.  The leader of the event sent out an email saying that even if you had not signed up, then you could still come and participate.  I was looking at the rules and saw the category that I thought we could participate in.  Here are the different contests:

Prizes: To winners in a variety of categories. And, to all, a chance to share some delicious dessert with everyone else. The judging categories include: Best Scout-Themed; Most patriotic; Best sports-themed; Yummiest looking; Most unappetizing looking; Tallest; Flattest; Most original; Most colorful; Most elaborate; Judges favorite.

I saw the “Most unappetizing looking” and I thought back to the birthday parties that we used to go to.  Hemma used to make a cake in a bucket that looked like colorful soil with gummy worms.  It seemed like a simple thing.

After the soccer contest, I talked to Christopher about my idea, and he wanted to do the tallest cake instead.  We got this idea of having a pole in the middle, attached to the base to hold it up, and to cover it with cupcakes.  The rules seem to allow this:

Rule 2. The cake and all decorations visible must be completely edible. You may use non-edible items for support, but they cannot be visible. Remember, this is a cake contest and we will be eating them for desert at the banquet.

This would require a lot of cupcakes, Christopher and I got to baking:

I went to Home Depot to find the supporting structure:

There I met the absolutely best person to help me, Don Alford.  If you have a home improvement project, or any other project that Home Depot might be able to help you, then you want to go to the Home Depot on 249 between Louetta and Jones and ask for Don Alford.

He listened to the project:

Helped me find the boards to use for the base

Helped me find the wooden rods to use to support the cake:

But also suggested looking at the metal rods which we ultimately went with.  And helped me find all the screws, nuts, bolts and everything else.

He cut up the boards:

And attached the brackets on to the end:

Don was absolutely fantastic!!!   Because of him, I plan to do all of my future home improvement shopping at Home Depot.  Thanks Don!

Then back at home we made a lot of cup cakes:

Then we went to the bake contest and put together the stand.  Everything was going as planned:

But then the tower of cupcakes started to shrink.  It was slow at first, and it just looked like normal compression at first, but then we noticed that they were actually breaking off at the bottom:

I got the idea of using the extra plastic wrap we had to wrap around the pole and support the cupcakes.  Unfortunately, by the time we had finished getting it set up. the judging was over, and we did not get considered for the cake.  But I still insisted on building it, because I wanted to see what the finish product might look like:

It was pretty impressive.  It was the only cake you could see from outside:

We were very proud of our work:

When it came time to announce the awards, the leader, Scott Peterson, game special recognition to our tower.  He said that this kind of thing is what is going to get us to Mars.  We were very happy and thrilled that he started out with that.  We were a little sad that we did not get the tallest cake award, but we are very glad we did it!!

Sonia made a nice poster with pictures on it describing the making process.  It was great.

Can you guess what we did when we got home?

We ate cupcakes.  And we will probably be eating them all next week..

We also went to a friend’s house and guess what we brought them?  Cupcakes.

Now after having cleaned up the kitchen, we are all ready for bed.

Sonia, Stephen, and I got up at 6 AM this morning to get Stephen to the school to take a bus to the TMSCA contest at the Village school.  As soon as he left, we all went back to sleep, and got up again at 9:40 so that we could make it to Christopher’s soccer.

Today he played goalie and defense.

There was a really funny event that happened at today’s soccer game.  One person on our team was trying to make a goal.  There was a parent from the other team standing by the goal and directing the goalie for the other team.  I think he was standing a little bit in front of the goal, and our team member bounced the ball off of him and it landed into the goal.  Everyone from both teams was shocked, and we all started laughing.  It was a good thing it counted because it allowed for us to finish with a tied score.

Pretty much the rest of the day was spent making the cake for the Dad and Son cake baking contest.  That is going to get its own post.

Also, Stephen did well at his contest.  He scored 1st in the calculator contest and placed well in several of his other contests.  Here are the trophies and medals that he one from today’s event.