From the vault

I know there are many of you out there who have seen this, but I have been going through my collection of home videos and figured this would be worth posting. If there is one thing you can take away from this video, it's an understanding of just how bored I was while I was sitting around in Iraq. And yes, my sense of humor is a little odd. I'm glad you noticed.

Over the airwaves

Antennas have certainly gotten more attractive since the last one we bought

It is time for another installment of how can Ethan use alternate technology (in this case much older technology) to avoid paying out to the cable company. This episode was inspired by the news that the BYU vs San Diego State basketball game would be airing on CBS. Since that is a network that actually broadcasts its content, I went out Saturday morning and purchased a new antenna. They do some nice things with antennas these days. In fact, I wouldn't even recognize the thing as an antenna if it didn't say so on the box. Where are the rabbit ears?

Right after soccer games, we came home and I hooked the antenna up. We caught the whole second half of the ballgame. Go BYU! The picture was fantastic. There were some times when the signal would break up momentarily, but overall things were much better than they used to be on our analog sets. Hopefully, I will be able to watch plenty of NCAA tournament games the same way.

Winter weather

This morning we were greeted with the sight of a cold, white, crystalline substance that is reportedly called "snow"

After seeing so many photos of blizzards and snowstorms this winter, we've been feeling left out. Fortunately Mother Nature finally decided to grace us with some winter weather. As you can see from the photo above, for the first time since we moved to San Antonio, we actually received some snowfall. Granted, the amount of snow can't be considered impressive when it doesn't even cover the grass, but it's a big deal for our area. As you can see, the weather was cold enough that the snow stuck to the sidewalks and roads. And before the snow started falling last night, we also had a light coating of freezing rain, so underneath that layer of snow is a layer of ice. And when south central Texas has to deal with ice, this is what happens:


Traffic is snarled during the attempted morning commute. The freeway was closed from this point on

I knew that getting to work this morning would be interesting. I nearly turned around and went home after seeing five cars that had been abandoned on the side of the road in the mile between our house and the freeway. But I forged ahead because I grew up in Idaho, and we don't let a little ice get in the way. What I didn't foresee was every freeway running through San Antonio being closed. I made it partway into work before I had to give up, turn around and come back home. The kids also got a day off from school. I can safely say that this is the first time I have gotten a snow day for an accumulation of about half-an-inch of snow.