Not a Bomb

KSL is reporting a short blurb about a "Man accused of setting off mall bomb". I thought this would have made bigger news, someone setting off a bomb at the Provo Towne Centre Mall. But, upon reading the article, it turns out to be a stupid choice of words and rather the over reaction by police. The moron filled a water bottle with liquid nitrogen (so they claim, probably more likely to be dry ice, where would he get liquid nitrogren? you actually can't just walk into the Chemistry department and buy it willy-nilly).

A water bottled filled with something cold. That's apparently considered an "explosive device", gimme a friggin' break. We did that kind of stuff all the time when I was a kid. We didn't use dry ice, but an expanding chemical reaction from food heaters found in MREs. Guess someone better retroactively charge me with several counts of making an explosive device. The main difference being that we popped them in our yard and not in a public location filled with people.

The kid is obviously a moron to pop a bottle like that in a public location, but he probably should have been charged with criminal mischief and/or disturbing the peace. But no, we'd rather make it sound like he's a "terrorist" trying to blow people up. Being charged with "making an explosive device" is the same kind of charge you get if you make pipe bombs in your basement. I would consider this to be a wholly lesser offense.

Now I have a question though. The article says the police and fire department responded because the device set off the fire alarms. Why would it set off a fire alarm? It's just a loud noise. Are the alarms sensitive to sudden pressure changes? or have the alarms actually be redesigned to include microphones that trigger for loud sudden blasts, much like gunfire would produce? Hmmm...

Engagement Update

Hey all, seems that it has been awhile since I've posted anything here.

The Not-quite-as-heartless-as-previously-supposed Siren and I are currently in California looking for a place to live. I've accepted a job with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and will begin in July after we get married. Since I have a Spring term course, this week (between semesters) was really the only chance we'd get to come out and look at places and let TNQAHAPSS see California (she's never been before).

LLNL is providing some nice relocation benefits, including paying for this trip (reimbursed after I start work), unfortunately since we're not married yet only my expenses would be covered. So we drove out rather than flying. They'll pay my mileage for driving here and back, and it really doesn't cost anymore to have a second person in the car. Chloe (my Honda Civic) is holding up well on the trip (though needs the bugs cleaned off the front end). The first tank of gas from Provo to Winnemucca, NV got 39+ mpg, and the second tank, from Winnemucca to Sunnyvale, got 42+ mpg.

We spent Monday looking at the two places that got the best reviews on apartmentratings.com. We got applications from them, filled them out and dropped them off on Tuesday. Neither place knows if they'll actually have any openings in July, but they took the applications, will process them, and put us on the waiting list. When they found out I'd be working for LLNL they were much more eager to accommodate our situation. It would seem that these Managers have understood that if your tenants can pass an FBI background check and are able to obtain a Top Secret level security clearance that they probably won't give you any trouble. So we're hoping that one or the other place will have an opening and let us know toward the end of May.

If neither has any spots, well... it gets trickier. All the other complexes that have reviews do not get great marks from the reviewers. We may end up renting a house or something. Our plan is to rent something for about 6 months, while we search for a house to buy. In those 6 months we'll be able to put together a down payment, research the area, become part of the LLNL credit union, and go through the entire process without getting stressed about needing a place to live quickly. There are quite a few foreclosures in the area which we will be able to pickup for cheap. The area we're looking at is called Mountain House, and has foreclosures listing in the low 200,000's which sold 4 years ago for 600,000+.

Hopefully we'll pick up something for "cheap" now, thing will recover, and in the future when we are re-evaluating our life situation we might be able to sell at a considerable profit if desired.


Oh, the wedding will be June 23. We're getting married in the Boston Temple. YAY!

That Old Saying...

So, you know that old saying, "The family that prays together, stays together"? There's another, lesser known saying along the lines of, "The family that runs a prostitution ring together, goes to jail together."[ksl.com]

LINDON -- Police have busted a Utah County prostitution ring, complete with the names of more than 1,000 clients. The investigation began last month when a man went to the house for a legitimate massage and was offered much more.

...

Detectives are reviewing an extensive client list that goes back to 2007. The list details dates, sexual acts performed and fees paid by each client -- some of whom, police say, are prominent people.

Note: If you're going to keep a detailed ledger of your illegal activities, at least have the decency to encrypt it, or follow the mafia's example and use code words. Friggin' amateur criminals.