Just another day at work

I need to take two engineering classes at City College. Because I attended a college out of state, I had to prove my California residency. So we all tried to figure out the best day and way to get me downtown. Since we have 4 people going in 4 different directions and only two working cars, transportation arrangements have often been pretty creative. I could drop Mom and Chelsea off at work, take the car to classes and then park the car at the trolley and use Dad's jury trolley pass to go downtown right near the college. Or, I could.... Dad came up with a great solution. Since he works downtown anyway, I could go with him on Friday when I don't have any classes and then walk to the college (just a few blocks from where he parks). And then, he thought after I finish at the college, maybe I'd like to go over to his work for the rest of the day. Yeh, cool! So, he had one of the men he works with, figure out a task that would be good for me to work on. So, it was pretty cool to go to work at Dad's office! And of course, fun to use a few computer skills and see what Dad does everyday. Thanks Dad!

Computer Language???

Dad and I have been having a great time on Monday nights taking two computer classes over at the college. One class is assembly language and the other is C++. I've really been getting into studying the book and working through problems - even ones not assigned. Dad and I discuss our questions together and enjoy sharing this together. We've even helped TA during class lab time because we both understand the material well.

This morning at breakfast (I was still pretty groggy from just being awakened), I said that I must be getting into the computer stuff pretty heavily. I woke up this morning thinking that a new phrase for a measurement of memory could be, "bit -ty baby." This might only be funny to my sisters who knew how much Chelsea loved her American Girl doll called, "bitty baby."

Another Brentism

Tonight after roundtable, I came in and found cookie dough in a bowl on the counter and cookies waiting to be baked on a cookie sheet. Hmmmmmmm, wonder what kind of cookie dough that is (I do prefer cookie dough over baked cookies). So of course, (and wouldn't you), I get out a spoon (ok if Mom weren't standing there I would just grab a handful) to taste the dough. Hmmmm, I comment to Mom, "It tastes like some kind of hybrid! Can't tell what kind it is!" "Hmmmm," Mom replies, "It's peanut butter cookie dough with chocolate chips, hybrid, eh??"

What kind of commercial is that?

Today at lunch while eating PB&J sandwiches, I commented to Mom and Dad that I had seen a new telecommercial. There was no response for a few seconds, then Dad asked (the question mom was wondering), "What is a telecommercial?" That's not what I had said. I said, "I had seen a Nutella commercial." Communication is a process at our house! I had never seen a commercial for nutella before. We got hooked on Nutella from our German exchange friend, Lili, who gave us a gift of a huge Nutella jar from Germany. Yummm, chocolate and hazelnut spread! Maybe I'd better go get some now! (I know Mom has a small jar tucked away in the cupboard.)

I'm Coasting (not really)

Well, I did it. I finally purchased a bicycle! One that is big enough for me, has 24 speeds so I can commute to Grossmont College, and rides smoothly! It's a hybrid bike: part racing and part road bike. It has the racing handlebars and thinner tires so it moves more aerodynamically (more smoothly) and has a little heavier frame for durability (road bike). It's a 2008 model reduced to a great price! The shop we went to was very helpful. I even got a helmet that really fits well (for a big head - I mean a person with a large frame and a larger than average head size). I've been out getting back into the swing of biking the last two mornings (short rides because it's been hot, up in the 100's). I haven't ridden a bike I don't think since my 5th grade major bike crash landing me in Children's Hospital with dozens of stitches in my face. So, it's good to get back into riding and hopefully I'll be ready before long to take a practice ride up to the college (about 15 miles from home with a couple of pretty steep hills). My goal is to ride to school two days a week which will relieve car sharing and get me in shape!

A new skill to add to my resume: Public Speaking

Orange Chocolate Truffle Krispies

I've been known to stay up late reading, watching movies, or playing computer games and then longing to sleep in. Sometimes, I am awakened before I'm ready to get up as evidenced by my breakfast the other morning. I poured a big bowl of Kellogs Cocoa Krispies. Instead of pouring milk onto my cereal, I sleepily poured part of my glass of OJ into my bowl of Krispies. HMMMMM! Not exactly what I really wanted! After pouring off as much OJ as possible into the sink, I sat down and added milk to my bowl and consumed! Hmmmm - will I do that again? Probably!

The Sharper Image

Here's my new image. What do you think? I just decided to go short, short again and used the clippers Jack gave me. And I did a great job

vacuuming up the bathroom after my haircut.

I’ve decided

I want to live somewhere green and cool. Perhaps Washington or Oregon. Certainly not anywhere in Southern California, Arizona, or Nevada.

Time for a break

My sisters take care of me

They do such a good job at blogging for me, taking pictures for me, telling me to change my hair style, etc. It makes it so that when I go on vacation, I don’t even need to bring my camera. I know that they’ll take pictures for me.

The Flight of the Navigator

Are you hungry?

What do you do on a cruise? Eat, eat, and eat some more. My dad calls it the Thanksgiving Diet: you eat until you don't want to ever eat again. That diet doesn't work for me, apparently.

On the way home from the cruise at 10 am, what do I ask? "Should we stop at In'N'Out Burger to get some hamburgers?"

Everyone groaned and said NO WAY. The Thanksgiving Diet works better for them, or maybe I didn't eat enough on the cruise.

I love my sisters, part II

Now we have picture documentation that I, in fact, love Jocelyn, too. We just had to go on another vacation to prove it.

I am an animal lover.

I even send out my animal loving vibe in my sleep.
This is me a couple weeks ago at Tamara and Jack's. Sasha wanted to keep me company while I slept. : )

YUMMY! And no cement mixer needed.

I just got home from a meeting and Mom told me that I could try one of the warm chocolate melting cakes she had experimented making for dinner. Mom said they were overcooked and not as good as on the cruise. So, I went down to eat mine. I don't know what Mom was talking about. It was delicious. So chocolatey and fudgey! Yummy!

So, after enjoying one, I asked her why she thought it wasn't so good. She looked at me funny and said it wasn't fudgey. I said that mine was, and it was great. That's when she figured out I had eatened an unbaked one sitting in the refrigerator! Oh well, it sure was good.

Last Day at GHHS

Yesterday, Chelsea graduated from Granite Hills High School. The last of us 5 siblings and Dad to graduate from here. We sat in the bleachers and watched her march in. Both Mom and Grandma got a little emotional at that point. The last grandchild and the last Robertson child ending the 16 year era of high school (and seminary). We all have lots of great high school memories! Like our English teacher and her wild stories about, "Dot." And ugh, European History. And choir! Most of us took at least 3-4 years of choir! We all had some great experiences singing, learning music theory and traveling with the choir.

On the way out of the stadium, Mom said, "This is the last time we will be here!" But when we got home, she realized she had lost her glasses during the graduation! She and Dad went back Friday evening and looked all over under the bleachers and along the track without luck. Guess it won't be the last time back at school - now she has to go to the lost and found next week!

New Cubmaster

I went to my first Cub Scout Roundtable this month and got some pretty good info. First of all, I've got to change my scout shirt from being a scout to being a leader! Hmmmmm. My first pack meeting was last Thursday and the theme (they swapped months) was Jurassic Pack. Mom and I worked a lot on getting it all together. I wore an old hat and took my pick to be a paleontologist. We had a game where the boys put on dinosaur paw covered cereal boxes over their feet and had to carry and egg on a spoon. The parents were cracking up. Besides other things, we had a volcano cake erupt with dry ice and egg whites. It didn't work too well because the beaten eggs whites had sat around too long! But the boys loved it. I showed them things to do with dry ice after the pack meeting was over. The boys loved that (and some parents too!). One cub suggested putting the dry ice and water in a balloon to inflate it - so of course, I did that as soon as we got home!

Giving it a TRY

I think I can do it! Jocelyn has gotten me excited about doing a beginner's triathlon. She came down Thursday after work and we went to a good running shoe store downtown. Wow, the shoes fit so great - didn't know that was possible. Mom was so excited to see me with great fitting shoes I offered to let her try them on to see how comfortable they are! I'm starting out slowly as I've been rather a couch (computer) potato for some time. So, it was with great delight to go walking in my new running shoes on Friday. I've got my training schedule, so now it's time to get moving! (Oh, I'm wanting to do a triathlon outside of Phoenix in Sept - any one else want to join me?)

A Good Blend

I was perusing my parents' copy of the BYU Magazine and really enjoyed the article on inventor and engineer, Tom Dickson, a BYU alum. He has a food processing machine, a blender, that he tests by blenderizing cell phones, light sticks, crow bars, skiis, and more. It is a hoot to watch his You Tube adds. Check them out on You Tube, and search for, "Will it Blend?" Remember, Don't do this at home! (Chortle, chortle. I think I'll try out mom's kitchen aid and see if it holds up to this blender. Mom probably wants a powerful new blender anyway....hmmmmmmmmm)Here's another link: http://www.googlesyndicatedsearch.com/u/byumag?q=blend

I WIN AGAIN!!!

Not to still the thunder from my previous great post I wrote today about my parents, I just had to add another blog. I am so excited to finally have resolution with a certain computer service company. A week ago, the escalation team, decided that it was time to replace my laptop. After almost 5 months of having 8 motherboards replaced, sent out to their work depot twice and returned unfixed, hours of calls with people who are very hard to understand (sometimes I forgot that raising my voice loudly doesn't help them understand English any better)and being sent from one person to another, finally paid off. I am very happy with my new computer and am glad to have won this battle! This computer has VISTA and I am currently finishing up a VISTA class at school - nice to already know how to use it.

In case you were wondering

In case you were wondering where my sisters and I got our great dancing talents, you might enjoy this clip:

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Now that their youngest is getting ready to graduate from high school, they'll have more time to polish their dance moves and make their costumes (complete with flesh colored sleeves).

The Best Summer Ever!!!

This summer is going to ROCK because Jocelyn is going to live with me and my parents for a couple months! Life will be so much more exciting when she's here. ;) I don't usually like to exercise, but if she's here I might just give it a try. In anticipation of her arrival, Chelsea and I went for a jog last night and we thought about going swimming today. I might need to invest in some running shoes and socks before my next foray with running. Blisters are not fun.

I win again!

Jocelyn has been running a contest. One lucky reader of her blog will have the opportunity to drive across the country with her. You might not have known about the contest because she kept it under wraps. Well, guess what! Yesterday, I got a call (well actually, I called her) and she informed me that I was the proud winner of an all expense paid trip to Washington, DC!!! Woo hoo. The trip also comes with a complete Private Manual Transmission Driving Course.

Another Brentism

Mom was telling me about the great Cinco de Mayo celebration they had at the nursing facility where she works. Great decorations and food and a mariachi band. She was telling me about the food (Mexican fruit salad with papaya, mango, melons, jicama and coconut) 7 layer Mexican bean dip, nachos and a Mexican tres leches cake. I asked her if the cake was made with cow's milk, llama's milk and goat's milk! Ha! Ha! Mom looked up the recipe and the three milks are regular milk, sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream.

Yucca! Yucca! Yucca!

Now, that's a great desert cheer for a cub scout! and for me! I'm our ward's new cubmaster. I'm looking forward to great fun working with our wolf/bear den and our webelos den. I remember P. Huff was my cubmaster and he always did great pack meetings; like the time we rode a bucking bronco, had our picture with a life size famous cowboy: John Wayne, pinewood derbies and .... I have a lot to live up to! Mom's the Primary counselor over Primary so I bet I'll be trained in record time and put right to work! Yucca! Yucca! Yucca! And here's to more dumb/funny cub scout jokes, cheers and activities!

Hmmmm, Thanks Dad!

This week I got the usual letters in the mail wanting to loan me money. So I ripped open a Capital One envelope to discover a great loan deal. And guess who the letter was sent by - a Michael Robertson! But obviously not my Dad, who has a very distinctive signature (that's what he tells us that squiggle is). After showing Mom for a good laugh, I ripped it up and threw it in the trash. The real Michael Robertson takes good care of me already! Thanks, Dad!

I Won! I Won! I Won!

I have been watching the reruns of Star Trek spinoffs on TV the past several months and finally decided that I wanted to watch the original Star Trek series. I've ordered the DVDs from our local library and have started to watch the first season. I'm really getting into it and maybe I'm becoming a trekkie! So, when I heard the local radio station was giving away tickets to the premiere showing of the new Star Trek movie coming out next week, I decided I had better give it a try.

The radio competition was to have 3 callers in a row stump the judges with a question they couldn't answer. It could be any question, but I had a great Star Trek one ready to ask. It took me 21 times to call before they answered. The screeners asked me what my question was and then they said, "ok, you're next." I then started with my question (and could hear that weird sound when you are live on the radio), "What was the name of the vulcan who was betrothed to Spock?" They guessed the wrong name (but it was close). I told them the correct answer and they asked me who the person was they had said (and I knew who it was). I was the third caller in a row to stump the judges so we each got 4 tickets to the premiere! And Chelsea sat in her car between seminary and school and heard me on the radio!

Hmmmmmmm, I think I'm pretty excited about this. Oh, I didn't give you the answer did I? How good are you at Star Trek? Let me know your guess (or you can listen to me on the podcast: http://www.star941sandiego.com go to jeff and jer show podcasts for April 28 7AM. (It's not up yet but should be shortly.)

Here's lookin' at you kid

Chelsea took this great picture at the Absecon Lighthouse in Atlantic City. It was a little rainy that day, can you tell?

I love my sisters

Can't you tell:

What a long weekend, Guess it's good I'm an engineer.

Brent came out with Mom and Dad to help me pack up, load, and unload all my stuff. He was the load manager and did such a great job figuring out how to get the most out of the space in the truck and make sure everything fit.
For our wedding, Brent gave us a nice embroidered flag. WE haven't been able to hang it at the apartment (didn't want to make holes in the stucco), so we were excited to get it up at the new house. Brent took on the task drilling the holes and getting the bracket in place, so that we could fly our flag.
Thanks, Brent, for all your help!
-Tamara

Grandpa's Staghorn

Yesterday evening after I mowed the lawn, Dad and I decided to try and hang up Grandpa's staghorn fern. It was hanging up in the magnolia tree in the front but the wire basket rusted apart and it fell to the ground several months ago. Last week Dad and Mom tried to make a nylon rope macrame hanger for it but it turned out to be a cylinder - wrong shape. Dad and I went out and measured the plant and then using algebra I calculated the lengths between rows of knots for them. Last week the fence guy put in a metal post next to the house for us to hang the staghorn on. Now to hang the plant!

Dad and I used the old garage wood shelving to drag the plant onto and then used other shelving to slide it along the grass to the pole. That was the easy part. We tried various ideas of how to hoist the staghorn up to hang on the pole. That is one huge and heavy plant! Finally, I came up with a kind of pulley system (without pulleys because they haven't been unpacked I guess and who knows where they are) just using a nylon rope. I looped the rope several times over the pole and through the metal chain links that we are using to hang the macrame holder. Dad tied the end of the rope around him and did the pulling. It took a lot of work and time to slowly haul that monster up there - but we did it!

The macrame plant holder worked out really well but some of the leaves are caught between knots. Mom's carefully trying to pull them through but some are breaking. Hopefully it will just fill back in and look round and beautiful once again. Mom's grateful I have Grandpa's engineering brain to figure out how to haul Grandpa's plant up on that pole for everyone to enjoy!

Oh, just a sec. Mom is going to go out and take a picture of the staghorn to put on the blog. She would like it up higher off the ground so we'll probably raise it slowly up on the chain links; another challenge!

Check out what my Dad's been up to...

Don't know if you noticed that my Dad started a blog a couple of weeks ago. He started out kind of serious, but it looks like he may have lightened up a bit with his latest post.

Robertson Family Irish Dancers

Brentisms

We found 3 opened large containers of cottage cheese in the refrigerator the other night. Mom got them out and we looked at all the expiration dates. I wondered (out loud!) if you mixed all three of the cartons together, could you average out the expiration date? Hmmmmmm.

Making a Lizst, Checking it Twice

I don't know what got into me! Mom and I were just talking and I told her how much I liked a piece I heard in my music humanities class. It's Franz Lizst's LaCampanella. So, I looked it up online so I could play it for Mom. Pretty cool. I read more about in on Wikipedia and found a place to print up the original piano piece. La Campanella turns out to be 9 pages out of a 42 page piece. It is a very challenging piece but I have page one almost down pat. I do my usual technique of looking for patterns to memorize instead of reading the music each time. I'm practicing it at home and even at the institute while waiting for class. This is a great hobby. I think I'll even try to learn the whole 42 pages -that's a page a week! And as Mom always says, "Practice makes perfect!" You'll have to check back with me in a month or so and see if I'm still progressing.

Nothing sucks like an Electrolux

So in my German class we were discussing phrases that don't travel well and false cognates (definition #2) and last night we had Ursula over for a cruse reunion (OK, so it was just Ursula, Grandma, Aunt Eileen, Mom, Dad, and me; and I didn't even go on the cruse.) and I decided to share these phrases that don't travel well and some false cognates. Chevrolet tried to market their car the Chevy Nova in Spanish speaking countries. (No va means doesn't go in Spanish.) Electrolux (a European vacuum company) marketed their vacuums in the US with the slogan "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux." Kentucky Fried Chicken tried to market their chicken globaly and their slogan "Finger lickin' good" often translated to "So good you'll eat your fingers off."

False cognates are also funny, but they are a lot funnier when you consider the confusion that might ensue when a German and an American meet. (The bolded words are in German and the italicized words are the English translations.) kahl means bald while bald means soon. schnell means fast while fast means almost. Stein means rock while Rock means skirt. Geschenk means gift while Gift means poison. Rathaus does not mean rat house, but instead means city hall. One interesting thing is that in German nouns are always capitolized.

Beam Me Up Scotty - Or Not!

Since I can't just be beamed from here to there, I've been using public transportation to get back and forth to school. I've been exploring different routes and options and have had some great times. I often will ask Mom or Dad to drop me off at one of two bus stops in the am but I get much more adventuresome in the afternoon on my return trip home. I've discovered that I can miss the bus at the transit center either by 2 mins if I take the bus to Amaya and catch the trolley one exit and get off at the transit center or I can miss it by 5 mins. by just taking the bus to the transit center. Oh well. Since I had time to kill before the next bus, I just stayed on the trolley one day and took a trip out to Santee and back.

But, now I've discovered the fastest route. Get to the transit center (by either of the above methods) and then take the bus down Main or Washington (Washington is less walking), walk to Mom's work, call her to get her keys and drive home! And maybe I won't have to go back to get her because Dad will pick her up on his way home.

Maybe I'll take a cell phone picture of my travels and post it (probably about like getting my haircut picture posted)

OK, so who's in charge here?

I went to make some changes, but realized I'm not the administrator. Who is? Will you add me as an administrator if I ask nicely and smile? Please?

Jeans and the Neatnik

Before Mom starts commenting on both my hair and my jeans, I thought I'd better write my own blog (LOL). The story is that my jeans used to be a little longer and did cover my socks. But, maybe they've been shrinking (LOL again) and now are too short. So, I tried to get Mom to go with me to the store but she was unavailable and I headed out shopping on my own!! Mom said she had luck getting my size of jeans at JC Penney. I had a hard time finding the store at the mall but after a phone call to mom, there it was! So, in the mens department, I locate the jeans area. They are piled up on tables. I found one pair I liked and then another, in the right size and color and style. I tried them on and thought they were plenty long to cover whatever color of sock I might be wearing, whether standing or sitting. I wanted to find another pair but the piles of jeans were so incredibly unorganized it was a mess! So, you know me, I stood there folding jeans and organizing two tables of piled up jeans! And lo and behold, I found one more pair. It took me some time to buy three pairs of jeans, but mission accomplished. Mom burst out laughing picturing me folding all the pairs of jeans and organizing them. It would have been a quicker trip if Mom had come with me!!! She knows how to pile jeans and dig through them - she's had 5 kids after all. Well, I've just been wearing one pair until they were washed after wearing and I could be sure they were the right fit (that way I could return the others if need be). Ok, Jocelyn, let's go get some socks!

Socks

I like to wear white socks. Apparently I like people to see my white socks, as I sometimes wear pants that are just a bit too short. However, I don't like Jocelyn to take pictures of my socks or of people who also wear white socks. Maybe, if I'm really good* this week, Jocelyn will go shopping with me and we can find either some pants that are longer or some socks that are darker.

*Good means calling Jocelyn to tell her how much I love her or at least to say hello.

Hairried in Riverside

Hmmmmmmmm. This afternoon I'm going up to Jocelyn's friend in Riverside who will help me choose a new hairstyle and give me a cut. What will it turn out like? Will I like it? Hmmmmmmm. Sometimes indecision is easier than a decision but it really is time to shape the mop (ok, obviously mom wrote this). Maybe I'll post a before and after picture, maybe...