For a while now I've been feeling like it's time to change jobs and move on away from ASI. Well, today was my first day working at New Dawn Technologies. I'm excited about the company and the work they do. I think I'm really going to be able to stretch and grow there, I've got a rocking computer to work on and my commute is about 20 minutes shorter each way.

ASI has been a fantastic place to work. They gave me a lot of responsibility early on and really made me stretch and learn. I really enjoyed working with all the people there and have a lot of great memories from my time there. I wish them all the best! Now I just need to get better at keeping in touch with old co-workers...

This post is quite late in coming, but I wanted to show off the final product.  This is the first time I've ever covered a foam model, but I really like the result, even if it did double my build time.

Somehow I managed to make the right wingtip chord about an inch longer than the left, so I ended up with a wing that produces different amounts of lift on the right side vs. the left side.  To make things worse, the difference in lift is related to airspeed so the plane almost always flies like it isn't trimmed correctly.  Even with that wackiness it's a lot of fun to fly!  With the power setup I have in this model I get unlimited vertical.  Because this little plane goes so fast it gets small in a hurry.  I really do need to make a bigger model someday...

Specs:

Motor:  Mega 16-15-4

ESC: CC Phoenix 25

Battery: 2100 mAh lipo

Prop: APC 6x4

All-up weight: 16 oz

Static current: ~24 A

Input Power: >200 W

As many of you know, I used to work on a GIS software package named MapWindow.  About 5 years ago I decided to move to the job I'm in now.  Well, a year or two after I stopped working on the MapWindow project it went open source.  Since then I've been meaning to get back into development on it, but it was always such a low priority that I'd just let it slip.  

On memorial day I had a conversation with the project lead for the MapWindow team and, to make a long story short, he's hiring me to do some consulting work to help bring up the new version of MapWindow.  I'm excited to get my hands dirty and help make MapWindow 6 the best version ever!  I just feel somewhat guilty that it took pecuniary motivation to get me back into it.

And there was much rejoicing!

I decided to look back at some of my earlier blog entries.  I didn't realize it was over four years ago that I started this blog.  The sad part is that I've only done about 16 posts all together, or an average of one every 3-4 months.  That's pretty sad.  The good thing is that it made me smile to read some of my earlier posts.  Sometimes I think I get so wrapped up in the present that I forget how much fun I've had in the past.  I am definitely going to start posting more to my blog.  I strongly doubt that anyone else cares, so I'll do it for purely selfish reasons. :)

In my last post I mentioned that I had just registered for the 2008 MS-150 bike tour.  The second time was actually more fun for me than the first, but I did chicken out at just 40 miles.  I was able to ride with my sister-in-law and some co-workers.  I hadn't really trained at all for it so even the 40 miles left me pretty tired, but I took it a bit slower and had a great time.  It was fun crossing the finish line and having my family there to congratulate me.  I definitely hope to continue participating in the MS-150 because it is so much fun, and I hope to be helping at least a little bit in the fight against MS.

Tonight I officially registered to participate in the MS 150 bike tour again. I blogged a few times two years ago as I was training, but I never did mention how it all turned out, and since I think late is just a little better than never I might as well mention it now.

So I get up really early on the morning of the tour, gather all my gear and head for the Fairgrounds. I get there early enough to find a parking spot that isn't miles away, which is good because I'm getting kinda close to the cutoff time for check-in. I leave all my stuff in my car and walk to the fairgrounds to get registered. That goes relatively quickly and I walk back to the car to attach my official number to the bike and get ready for the tour.

After I get everything situated I go back into the Fairgrounds looking for the rest of my team. After a few minutes of searching I finally find them. We get our picture taken then we line up behind the biggest mass of bikes and people I've ever seen in my, admittedly sheltered, life.

The tour organizers let the masses out in waves, attempting to give traffic some small chance of getting through all the bikes and, presumably, to keep bike congestion down a bit. I think I made it out in the third wave. It all starts off really slow because it's not a race, and it seems that most people just wanted to fill the entire width of the road to block any cars or bikes from getting by.

The first few miles the tour were definitely the scariest. There were so many bikes in a small area that accidents could very easily happen. I nearly plowed into the people in front of me a few times when they made some sudden unexpected maneuver. By the time we got out to the airport traffic started to thin out a bit as we left the slower people behind and the faster people pulled ahead of us.

I was really surprised when we got to our first rest stop in Amalga. I wasn't even winded because we'd been taking a pretty easy pace up to that point. We stopped anyway and grabbed a bite to eat. None of us really w♦anted to stay long there so we pushed on pretty quickly. Soon we got to the decision point on the 40 mile loop and I was feeling good. Only one of our team opted for the shorter loop. The rest of us pushed on toward the next stop in Richmond.

Now that we were in the open and have passed most of the slower riders from the first couple of waves we were able to pick up the pace. We pushed on pretty quickly into Richmond, stopped again for a snack then pushed on again heading for Franklin. The ride through Richmond and Cove was really scenic, but a little more hilly than the ride up to that point.

By the time we reached Franklin I was starting to get tired. I'm just not used to long rides, and I'd only had two or three rides that were even as long as the ride into Franklin. After our snack in Franklin, two (or was it three) of our team decided they wanted to go for the century loop and headed off into Idaho, while the rest of us turned back toward Utah. Now the pace really started picking up, and where I started to take a little punishment. I was always was the weakest rider in the team and it really started to show. I spent most of my time in the back of the pack just trying to keep up, and eventually I had to fall back because I couldn't keep up the pace.

Our lunch break was in either Newton or Trenton, I don't recall which. I was pretty tired by then, but I felt good about making it that far. I was happy to spend some time sitting on the grass rather than on the hatchet-like saddle. I grabbed a sandwich and a banana and settled in for a pleasant lunch. I also took off my glasses because they were getting uncomfortable while I wasn't riding. Unfortunately I completely forgot to pick them up again after I finished lunch and I never saw them again.

After lunch things got really bad for me. I was already tired and it was even harder for me to keep up. I made the mistake of pushing really hard to keep up with the pack on a hill, and totally wore myself out. I fell behind the team and tried to hook up with a few of the passing packs, but I wasn't able to keep up so I ended up going almost solo until Benson.

The team was waiting for me in Benson, but they'd been there a while and I was pooped. They were kind enough to wait a few minutes while I cooled off, but since it was so hot and getting later we all wanted to get back as soon as possible. We took off heading toward the airport road. I was able to keep up with their brisk pace until we were just getting to the airport, then I totally bonked. I felt as though I had completely run out of steam. It was all I could do to stay on my bike. I got to 10th west and actually stopped on the side of the road for a few minutes, drinking some Cytomax and trying to get enough energy to limp the last few miles back to the Fairgrounds.

I took the rest of the ride really slow, but to me it was anything but easy. Even the slightest grade felt like I was climbing a mountain. The last 2 miles felt more like 10 to me. It was such a relief to finally cross the finish line and collapse on the grass.

As I was laying on the grass I get a call from my wife wondering where I am. She and my parents had come to see me cross the finish line, but I completely spaced it out and forgot to call them when I was getting close. I blame my lack of blood sugar on that particular oversight and I'm sure my wife won't let me get away with that again.

I finally get rested enough to drive home without killing myself or someone else. I take a shower and crash.

So, that's how it happened, and now I'm doing it all over again! I'm excited! Hopefully I'll manage to do better this time.

If any of you are reading this and want to contribute, you can go to the official web site and donate there. I really do believe that this is a good cause. I'm glad I can help in some small way to make life better for all the people who struggle with MS. I hope a day will come when we won't have the MS 150 because a cure has been found. Until that time comes I will keep doing my small part to help.

Given the title of my blog, I thought it would be appropriate to take this chance to mention that I'm going to be moving... again. My wife and I have decided to go back to school, she to finish her bachelors degree, me for a masters degree. So, yeah. 3-5 years more school... Here we go again!

[EDIT: This never happened for a number of reasons... :) ]

A funny thing happened on my way to Hardware Ranch. I was riding toward Blacksmith Fork Canyon on Hollow Road when I startled a robin who was deeply engrossed in something I'm sure it thought was fascinating in the middle of the road. That by itself wasn't the funny part. Nor was it particularly funny when the robin leaped from the road in a rather startled fashion. The funny part came when it realized what exactly had caused it so much excitement. It was so upset that it started chittering wildly at me. I'm sure if I could understand the speech of birds I would have heard enough obscenities and references to my genealogy to make even me blush.

So, I startled a bird, that reacted in a not completely unexpected way, so far. Nothing really funny yet. The funny part came when the robin really got himself (I'm assuming here, I've no idea how to tell the difference) so worked up that he decided to dive bomb my helmet, three times in a row! The entire time he was screaming at me. After I ducked under his assault the third time he relented and settled for following me, flying from tree to tree to make sure I was really retreating. That was the funny part :)

Today was my first ride on my new bike. Yesterday I finally caved in and bought a "real" road bike. For the last couple of months I've been making due with my mountain bike equipped with slicks, along with some cycling shorts to help reduce the saddle soreness. Even with my new gear I was always left behind in group rides. Now I'm hoping I at least have a chance to keep up.

The bike I settled on is the '05 Raleigh Super Course. I got a good discount because it's last year's model, but it's fairly well equipped with Shimano shifters and derailuers. It's as much of a sweet ride as I could afford, well probably a bit more than I should have afforded.

Anyway, for my ride today I started from home, went about one mile to the rendevous point where there were supposed to be two other guys from work, but I was the only one who showed up. I finally gave up waiting and took off by myself. From there I rode 21 miles to Hardware Ranch, gaining roughly 1000 feet in elevation. For those of you familiar with the area you know that almost every morning has a stiff breeze flowing out of the canyon, then somewhere around 10:00 am, the wind switches directions and goes into the canyon. Sooo, yeah, I get headwinds both ways. I guess that's what I get for starting so early. :)

Anyway, 3 hours and 43 miles after starting I made it home, tired and hot. I'm hoping that these rides help get me in shape well enough so I can survive the MS 150 this year. I will only be doing the first 75 mile day, but that's still nearly twice as far as I've ever been in a single day. I hope it doesn't kill me!

There are a few unavoidable universal truths in this world. There are some that seem universal, but when looked at a little harder aren't. The one that is the topic of today's post is this: Every R/C helicopter owner who actually flies his heli will crash at some time. There just aren't any exceptions. It's not at all a matter of if, but when. The severity of the crash can vary quite a bit. The good news for me is that since my heli is so small and (relatively) inexpensive, the crashes don't really seem all that dramatic. The bad news is that my budget is too tight to allow for constant repairs. "Life... Don't talk to me about life."

Now that my evenings are not consumed by World of Warcraft, I'm starting to pick up some of my older hobbies. I'm doing electronics again with a buddy and even getting back into R/C. Who knows, after a few months of this my wife might want me to pick up WoW again to save money!

In one of my early posts, I went into some detail about one of my R/C models. It was fun to go back and read that one. It leads me into the topic for this post which is my latest R/C toy. For Christmas my wife surprised me with a Blade CP micro electric helicopter. I've semi-successfully hovered around a bit, and I'm already thinking about upgrades. The good news is that parts for this heli are really quite affordable. The bad news is that the batteries recommended for the upgrade aren't exactly cheap. The upgraded motor/heat sinks/rotor combination package only costs about $30, but each of the battery packs recommended for that setup are over $50 each.

Of course I'm going to do it at the first opportunity that presents itself. The upgraded motor/rotors will allow for full aerobatic flight and I've read that the heli hovers a bit smoother with the symmetrical rotors. The new batteries would increase run time from 8-10 minutes up to around 25 minutes, which would be nice.

My hope is to be able to get enough stick time to progress from a tail-in hover to nose-in hover then forward flight. After that I'll have to put a lot of stick time in on the simulator before I try any of the aerobatics. Parts are cheap, but not THAT cheap!

Well, the title of this blog says it all. I've gone and done it AGAIN! Years ago, a friend sucked me into the fantasy world of Asheron's Call. I lived in that world for a long time. I put countless hours into many different characters, explored the land, was slain repeatedly and generally had a good time.

Time passed. A LOT of time passed. The game and I finally went our seperate ways. That was hard. I've had twinges of remorse ever since. It is hard to drop something you've put so much time, money and effort into.

Well, since I'm a slow learner I had to go back to square one and try it all over again with World of Warcraft. Every bit as immersive and addicting. I've never been addicted to drugs, but I have a hunch that I know how it feels. Today is a somewhat momentus day for me. I finally gave up World of Warcraft. It just takes too much time. It hurts. I deleted my highest character and I almost felt like crying.

I'm going to miss the friends I made there more than anything else. I hope to keep in touch with them because they truly are Awesome.

Being a complete sucker for new technology is really a curse. Every time I see a brand-spankin', shiny new product I start thinking to myself "hmm... I wonder how I can justify getting this". Sometimes I can manage to yank myself violently out of that train of thought, which hurts a little but is by far the best solution in the long run. When I either fail to yank hard enough, or forget to yank at all I move into the next phase: obsession.

In the obsession phase I get stuck thinking about something, and not just late at night while I'm browsing webcomics and news sites, but all the time! I wake up dreaming about that new shiny toy that I'm convinced will solve all my problems. I go to work, only to be interrupted with images dancing around in my head. When I get to this point it becomes very hard to turn back. The only two possible routes to take are to either try to bury the whole idea in the back of my mind somewhere and get on with life, or succumb and buy the toy. Since I'm perpetually broke, I keep my mental shovel handy.

The whole reason I'm even writing this is to blow off a little steam. Recently I bought a new computer. I looked online quite a bit, researched my options, checked pricing, evaluated my budget with my special obsession-induced financial myopia, then took the plunge. I've put together an embarasingly large number of computers in the past, and have very seldom been dissapointed in how things turned out. Unfortunately, this time I am very disapointed. I'm about ready to ebay half the internals and try again, but I know I'll only want to get "upgraded" parts when I do, which I can't really afford anyway... *sigh*

So, now I'm trying to find that mental shovel I usually keep handy. I wonder where it went...

Well, here it comes. I am beginning to see a glimmer of light at the end of the seemingly interminable tunnel of school. Even this tiny little sparkle I see gives me a surge of excitement, knowing that the worst is past!

I'm sure you all know exactly how it feels. All of us have gone through several big transistions, whether from elementry school to middle school, or high school to college. The depressing thing is that every such transition in my past has led only to another dark tunnel. Now that I'm graduating, I'll just move into the VERY long tunnel of working until retirement, if I am ever able to retire that is.

I'll stop being such a pessimist and say that I won't mind the pay raise that comes with having a degree. *pessimism creeping back in* but I'll soon have a mortgage to worry about! DOH!

On a brighter note, I've finally got the "Hello World" of microcontrollers working today. I successfully made some LED's blink exactly twice per second. I had them blinking at random rates several hours earlier, but I couldn't just let it be... Now I get to move on to phase two of blinking lights, which would be analagous to doing a "Hello World" program that used a nice friendly font, and instead of saying "Hello World" it would say "Don't Panic".

All of that work is being done ostensibly in preparation for my senior project, but everyone who knows me would say I'm just a geek (or more appropriately, a nerd).

For those unfortunate enough to have stumbled upon this blog, take a deep breath and try to regain your sense of self worth, then check out my friend's blog at http://45acp.blogspot.com/. Enjoy!

It's been a very long time since I've posted anything. I think the main reason is because I'm already swamped with writing. I've been taking a Creative Arts class that requires me to go to 20 different events over the course of the semester, then write a paper about each of them. I've also had to do my design proposal, preliminary design review, and lab reports on top of all that. Blech. I don't really care that much for writing, but thankfully I can typically string a somewhat coherent sentece together once in a while.

The recent election was probably the most important one to me so far in my life. Before this one, I still cared, but I think I was a little young, immature and sheltered when it came to politics. I still am to some extent, but it's getting better. I had a good time researching all the different candidates, even the ones I didn't expect to agree with. It seems that most americans have the same desire for life, liberty and the pursuit of justice, but I could not help but wonder if these candidates had same idea. I get the feeling that some of these men and women have a lust for power, and will stop at nothing to get it. I am just thankful that I have at least a small say in who will govern me.

Every day brings something new it seems, and not only for the little people. On the topic of little people, I have to wonder how humankind ever made it this far. Having a toddler is easily the most frustrating experience of my life. They do the strangest things, destroy the most well protected treasured items, and manage to overturn any semblance of order and cleanliness in a house, and most amazingly they do it all in a single day! I wish I could be as "productive"!

I suppose the things that keep us going and loving these little tazmanian devils is the little things they say and do. Just today, out of the blue, my little toddler boy came up to me and said he loved me. I love the way his eyes light up and how he squeals in delight when I come home from work. Those (and more) are the little things that keep me from completely losing my temper and patience with him.

Coming back to how I started, today was the first day I rode my bike to work. It's a pretty good ride, and I'll have to do it some more. I'm just glad it's downhill to work so I don't work up too much of a sweat getting there.

I also played the game Loaded Questions, another first. Wow, what a day! I even woke up before 7 am for the first time in a while. Not exactly a first, but I'll count it anyway. I'll have to get used to it because I'm taking a 7:30 am class this fall... yikes!

"When all else fails, duck. It's not practical, but it can be momentarily comforting."

Kids are strange creatures. It never ceases to amaze me how little things can amuse them for hours, at least until something goes bump. They can go from completely independent and disintrested, to clingy and desperately in need of snuggles when they hurt themselves playing.

It is interesting to see the development. First there is just wide-eyed wonder at everything, then it moves on to "what's that?" Not long after that comes the "What doing?" I have so far been spared the "Why?" I dread the day when that word becomes the dominant word in my son's vocabulary. Until then I'll be content with the determined refusal to do anything that I ask him to do, especially if it involves going to sleep at any time of the day.

It has always suprised me how fast life passes me by. It seems just like yesterday that I made my last post. I've had a persistent itch to make a new post, but when I have a spare moment, I never seem to be thinking about it.

This last month has been a prime example of human resiliance. Life has a way of kicking you in the teeth, yet we still seem to be able to turn around and smile at the memory of it. The drubbing I've taken this last month has been from school. I have never been busier in my life. You wouldn't think that 12 credits could work a person so hard, but it did. The best news is that I pulled through, even raising my cumulative GPA (by something like 0.005 points). I suppose I can't really complain because it turned out better than I had feared.

This summer has always seemed like it was only a vauge and distant dream. Now that it is here, it still seems a bit unreal. I've been working more, and that offsets the "extra" time I've gained. Between work and family, I've kept very busy indeed. It almost doesn't seem like a vacation until I come home and realize that I don't have any pressing deadlines or due dates to worry about, so I can then breath a small sigh of relief.

On a seperate note: I've always thought my hobbies were pretty expensive compared to most other students. I've been trumped! One of my neighbors is deeply involved in photography, which I found out makes my hobbies seem almost affordable in comparison. I suppose the only difference is that his hobby also serves as a source of income. I can't say the same for mine. I have a lot of dreams, but no money or time to realize my dreams, which is a great moderator.

It has always struck me as odd how the weeks seem so busy, but the weekends sometimes seem busier. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy my weekends! In fact I really enjoy my weekends. My only complaint is that they fly by too fast...

Speaking of flying by fast, I flew my little electric airplane yesterday. I've had this plane for some time, but have only flown it a few times. It's packing a brand spankin new (4 months ago) brushless motor. I've been excited about getting into brushless motors for some time because they pack a few more (micro) ponies than the traditional cheap brushed motors. I was exited to fly so I tossed in my one and only 10 cell battery, checked the controls and throws. Everything was looking great, or at least as great as a big chunk of baby blue foam can look.

Before I get into the real interesting part, I'll tell you about where I was flying. Not far from my house, nestled up against the mountains stands a little hill, jutting out from the mountains like a giant toe. Unfortunately, I don't have a truck, so I ended up hiking up the hill with my plane and gear in hand and my toddler son on my back. I thought I was going to collapse right there on the hillside. The sides of this little hill are steep enough that even they guys running around on motorcycles barely had the guts or horsepower to scream up the hill. Once I did manage to crest the top of the hill, panting, wheezing and exhausted, I was rewarded with a fantastic view of the valley. It was a good day, just a bit chilly, but I was hot from the exertion of climbing the hill. There were intermittent winds that didn't seem to know which way they wanted to go, and I had a little boy on my back so excited about seeing the plane fly that he hadn't stopped telling me about it for the entire 20 minutes it took to get to the top of the hill.

So, I got my battery charger out, charged up my 10 cell pack, loaded the battery in the plane, then my friend (who was smart enough to find a way for his truck to get up the side of the hill) tossed the plane over the hillside for me.

A little background about this plane is probably in order. Some time ago I was browsing around the internet reading about electric R/C airplanes at the ezone. I stumbled, purely by accident, across an article about a new design for a small speed 400 sized electric plane called the xbow. In the forum post were some pictures... I instantly fell in love with the plane. It is a sleek, agressive looking plane, built from blucor foam insulation (also known as underlayment by many siding contractors). The plane sported a forward swept wing, canard, and a pusher electric motor. Subsequent posts on that thread showed that a great number of people had tried it out and loved it too. I searched the web some more and found more pictures and movies of this little plane in action. After seeing the movies, I knew I had to have one. The fact that I didn't even have any of the parts I'd need didn't deter me. Months of searching and pleading various local hardware stores to order some blucor foam, hours of trying to figure out how to build this thing and lots of tried and sometimes failed experiments brought me up to this particular xbow: XBow #8.

Yes, 8. All but one of the other seven have been either crashed and smahsed to smithereens or retired from service for other reasons. Each one was slightly different than the others. I experimented with motor systems, materials, glues, and on the last two I even left the canard off (it didn't seem to do anything but make it look a bit cooler, and make the nose portion a bit less resilient to crashes).

Ok, back to the flying. My friend tossed it off the hillside. I kept the throttle at about half, and let it drop a bit to pick up speed. After the speed picked up I goosed the throttle and watched that little blue plane get small in a real hurry. At first things looked a bit bumpy because I had my radio set to "high rates" which means that my shaky thumbs were making this plane do some funny kinds of things in the air. I pretty quickly decided to go down to "low rates". The sickening lurches, swoops, dives and wing wobbling settled down considerably. The air was a bit turbulent, especially when the wind in some other part of the valley decided to take a pot shot at my piloting skills.

The one thing I really wasn't prepared for in this flight was how FAST this little plane could move! I wish there were a way for me to clock it, but I feel quite confident that it was doing at least 50 mph! After two frenzied laps I cut the throttle back to under half. Then it started to fly like my previous xbows. Pretty soon the standard speeds started to feel mundane again so I throttled back up, tried a few rolls and loops. My friend had his camera handy so I tried to fly in close for some good camera shots. I was having so much fun that I almost forgot that my batteries don't last forever. I was making one last pass, enjoying flying BELOW myself for a change rather than having to kink my neck to look up at my plane, when the battery kicked out. No big deal I thought, just a pain to have to go down the hill and hike back up again.

As the plane got farther and farther away, I realized there was a problem I hadn't forseen. By now the plane is very nearly directly below me. The base of the hill is at least 50 yards below where I was standing, which meant that my depth perception was gone! I had no clue when it would actually be on the ground. I kept it straight and slowly sinking. Just before I was going to loose sight of it it finally set down. When I went down to collect it, I found that the long nose had broken clean off right where the fuse meets the wing. I guess that's the danger of flying with such a heavy pack so far ahead of that weak point where the fuse meets the wing. Thus ends XBow #8.

I am not really very dismayed by this loss. I could easily have taped it, and flown again that very same day, but I didn't really feel like it. I have other plans for that motor. There are so many new planes I could make that I don't know yet which it will be. At least it gave me something to reflect on while I walked back down the hill with a now sleeping and silent toddler on my back. Maybe I'll do an even faster model! Or perhaps one that is more to scale, such as a small "Extra". I'm not sure just yet, but I know that when I'm done, my little son Joseph will be thrilled to go with me while my wife does whatever it is she does when we go flying.

Joseph for one doesn't seem to upset about the whole matter. I've let him help me dismember the retired aircraft. I salvaged all of the electronics out of it and let him have the airframe. The wing is still in perfect condition, even though much else of the plane has been destroyed. He likes it so much that when it was time for bed, he wanted the plane to be in his arms instead of his Ernie doll or his stuffed rabbit. Hey, whatever works! He was thrilled to have such a cool toy to help him drift off to sleep, and I was thrilled that he actually stayed in his bed for a change! Sometimes it seems that some unpleasant things turn out to be good in the end.

Now that I have this blog, I guess I'll actually have to start doing more writing. I suppose that's not all bad considering I stink at writing. I can barely string a few words together without sounding somewhat like a preschooler. I don't suppose that having a toddler around the house has any negative effect on my vocabulary and communications skills. Just one example could be this typical sort of conversation with my toddler son Joseph:

"Joseph, do you want to go to the park?"
"Nowannit! Go park! Go park daddy!"
"Ok, let's go!"

Which as everybody knows (right?) means that of course he wants to go to the park and he will absolutely go by himself if you don't hurry up and go with him.

So I guess the moral of this silly story is that if I'm not making any sense when I talk to you, it's either because my brain is so fried from doing homework that I can no longer function as a normal human being, or that I'm so used to talking with Joseph, that I've adopted his unique take on the English language.

Those of you with kids will understand and sympathize, the rest of you can just laugh... for the time being anyway!