Remington Family Blog

I work on the top, 3rd level of an office building. A bird hit the office window at work. I know this happens all the time, but this one left a mark to prove it. It looks like it must have been either a Seagull or Pigeon. You can see his wings, feather and head. If you look close you can even see his eye mark. We went looking for a dead bird on the ground, but there was nothing. My guess is even if he is not dead; he is going to wake up with a nasty headache.

The other night we were sleeping soundly in our beds and at 4:00 AM the phone rang. It woke both Sariah and me up. When I woke up I immediately smelt smoke and my half-awaken, brain gears started turning wondering what the smell could be coming from. Sariah answered the phone and she yells to me: “There is a fire in the back!” The call was from a neighbor calling to alert us. If you don’t know, our house sits next to the mountain. There are photos in the gallery if you would like to see. I jumped up and ran out onto the patio that is off our bedroom and I could see the glow of a fire two houses up in a large canal that runs behind our home. I ran back inside to get dressed, told Sariah to get dressed and be ready to evacuate if needed. Once I was dressed, I went back outside to look again and the fire hadn’t moved. I told Sariah I was going to go and check things out but from the looks of things there was no emergency because the fire wasn’t spreading.

I grabbed a shovel and was prepared to fight a fire. When I got to the fire things turned out a little different than I had planned. There was a pickup truck in the canal that had caught on fire. The fire was not spreading in the grass thankfully. A young man in his early twenties was lying on the ground in pain. We pulled the victim further away from the vehicle and called 911. Police, ambulance and fire trucks arrived. They put out the fire, and took the injured person to the hospital. By 5:00 AM they were all gone.

I was a little confused as to how the truck got there and why it was on fire. Trucks don’t normally catch on fire when they drive into a canal. Later, I got the full story. The young man decided he wanted to commit suicide. He drove up on the dirt road behind our home and started a fire in the front seat of his truck with barbeque briquettes and lighter fluid and was breathing the fumes and smoke in hoping to kill him self with carbon monoxide poisoning. Someway unknown to the victim and everyone else he drove off the road and into the canal which tossed the burning coals all over the cab. The truck caught on fire. The man at this point got scared for his life (which is humorous since he wanted to die in the first place) and crawled out of his truck to safety. This is when we arrived. The young man was treated with minor cuts, bruises and mouth/throat damage from breathing in the smoke.

I wish I took photos during the chaos but I did take some when the tow-truck came and got the truck and some more after they left. You can see them in the gallery.

It was definitely a reality check to make sure that we are prepared if there is fire that is a threat to our home and family.

One of the only game shows that Sariah and I like to watch is Deal or No Deal. When we watch it Sariah, several times, mentioned how I should apply to go on this show. I looked it up a while ago and in order to do this I have to fill out this long form and also make a video of myself and the people that would come and support me on the show. I didn’t think it was worth the effort so I immediately dismissed the idea.

Saturday April 12, the game show decided to come to Utah and do auditions. Sariah coaxed me into doing this. The only sacrifice for this was my Saturday. Auditions were held at an RC Willey in Salt Lake. They started at 10am. Not being one of the crazies that camped over night I took Trax in and arrived at 10am. This was a mistake. I got at the back of the line, which I think was about 1.5 miles long, and there was a sign that said: “12 hours from this point.” DANG!! This means I will get my chance at 10pm. I decided to hang out and see how it works out. The line moved much faster then they projected, but it was still a long time. After going through the longest maze of people, and 6 hours later, after I got the first sun burn of the year, I had my chance. I was ready to be crazy and wild (since I knew that is what they were looking for). Unfortunately, I didn’t make it, but it was still fun. I made some new friends in the long line that I stood in all day. I guess I’ll have to stick to just watching in on TV.

Sariah has been talking about dying her hair black for a week or so. She has been a little worried about the change. She went and bought the dye and wondered if it was the ‘right color’. I finally folded and told her that when she dyed it I would do it too. She was excited. I dyed my hair black a few years ago, well before I even know my wife existed so I knew what I was getting myself into.

Sunday night after the kids were in bed we got started. It was great fun. You have to see the photos in the 2007 gallery to get the full laugh. On the package it said: “Not to be used to dye facial hair.” Immediately I thought I should dye my facial hair. After it was done all turned out quite well. Go and take a look at the photos. Hope they give you a good laugh. The one photo with the dye in my goatee reminds me of the Dominos Oreo pizza.

I had a weird rash looking spot on my arm that just appeared 3 years ago and has since been growing. It had grown to the size of a dime. I decided that it was time to go and get it looked at. I planned a visit to the doctor and he told me exactly what I figured he would, “Schedule another visit and well just cut it out!” I did just that. July 17th I went in and had it removed then got sewed back up with 15 or so stitches. He then said they would test it and let me know what they found out.

July 23rd they called me back and said that it was cancer. Basel Cell Carcinoma which is generally caused by to much sun exposure was the type that I had. It was strange to me because it was on my upper arm below my shoulder. I don’t normally go without a shirt on or never really did as a child either. I would have thought that if I got it, it would be on my face or lower arms not a part of my body that is normally covered by clothing.

When they called they also told me that the surgery didn’t get it all and I would have to come in for another operation to have another attempt of cutting me up to get it all. July 25, one day before we planned to go on a family Vacation hiking in Arches, was the planned date. They prompted me to come in as soon as possible, for two reasons. One, so they could cut more before the stitches heal and two to get it out before it spread more. For these reasons, I didn’t want to wait till after the trip.

The second time was a lot more painful, and practically made my left arm unusable for several days. It was awkward to sleep, since I normally sleep on my side. Again they cut a part of me away, a part that I will never get back and sent it off to a lab saying that they would again test it and let me know if they got it all.

Aug 1st I received a call from the doctors telling me that they did indeed get all the cancer this time. What a relief. I’m currently cancer free. They told me to wear long sleeved shirts, long pants and a 3” brimmed hat when I go out side. This will be a challenge for me. We’ll see if I can do it.

I am definitely one that loves puzzles and mind games. There is soon to be a movie released called “The da Vinci Code.” The movie is based off a book written in 2003. This Book is a novel involving a conspiracy by the Catholic Church to cover up the true story about Jesus. I am excited to see this movie not because it has to do with religion but because I really enjoy movies that you have to watch and pay attention to understand them. Movies like, ‘The Village,’ ‘The Matrix,’ ‘A Sixth Sense,’ ‘Flight Plan,’ ‘Big Fish’ and many others.

Google is doing a game where a puzzle a day is released until the release of the movie “The da Vinci Code” I am finding these games a lot of fun. Not only is it challenging but also allows for me to take a break for about 15 min a day to use my mind to solve a puzzle. So if you want to play along click here and get started.

A few months ago I saw a video of a dragon that someone made a origami type dragon that was folded a certain way to make it look 3D. I thought this was quite amazing. It reminded me of the portraits that are in the haunted houses at Disney Land. I thought that it would be cool to make, but I had no idea how to do it. Today a co-worker found a downloadable pdf that has the pattern. We printed it off, cut it out and sure enough it is amazing. If you have 20 min to waste, like I did, then download the pdf and try it out. It will blow your socks off!!

It all started Dec 29th 2006, the day that I took my wife to the hospital to have our daughter Clarissa. We loaded up in the car and started driving down the road and less than a block from our home I started to hear a clunking noise under the front of our car. To me it sounded like I had run something over and it was stuck under the car. When it seemed to get worse I pulled over about two blocks from our home and pulled over for an inspection only to find that everything looked normal. With the fact that we only had one car and we were going to deliver a baby I really wasn’t in the position to waist time. So I concluded that it was my front struts that went on to the Hospital.

Over the next 3 weeks it continued to have a clunking noise mostly when I would hit a bump and randomly when I would hit the brakes it would sound like something was hitting my tire rip with a repeating thumping noise. I then decided the next Saturday to tear the tire off the front wheel that was producing the noise and see if I could find anything obvious that could me making this noise. Unfortunately I found nothing, but when I put the front end back together it stopped. So I thought I somehow fixed it.
Then a week later, I was driving to work and to my fear the noise started again. It is now beyond my knowledge. After two days of this noise irritating me as I drove, I dropped the car off at a garage and explained to them what was happening and walked to work.

Later they called me and said that they found the problem. I was relieved. What had happened is I lost a bolt. To be mechanically correct, one of the caliper to bracket mounting bolts was gone and the other was loose. This was causing the brake caliper to bounce around when I hit bumps and occasionally hit the tire rim when braking. They told me that for liability reasons they would not replace the bolt and all they could do was replace the whole caliper which would cost $160. I called the dealership and they told me that I could get a bolt for $10 but would have to order it. This was now an easy decision. I then said a prayer that my brakes would last the rest of the week to allow for the bolt to be ordered and received and for Saturday to come which is when I have time to repair it myself.

My prayers were answered. It was Saturday and I called the dealership and the bolt had arrived. I drove the car to get the bolt and drove back home to fix the car. I tore apart the front end once again and when I found the place the bolt was to go, of course the bolt was twice as big as the hole. It was obviously the wrong bolt. This means that I have to reorder the part and wait for a few days to get it in. Put my car back together and rely on prayers once more to get me through the week so I can attempt to repair it once again.

I called the dealership and after a long conversation we figured out which bolt I needed and ordered it and he said it would be in on Monday. I went back outside and looked at my car all torn apart and grieved putting it back together just to tear it apart again 2 days later. Just then a thought came to my mind. I know that it has been 7 weeks since I first heard the thumping noise, but I first heard it back when I went to the hospital in December. Today is February 11th. What is the chance that the bolt is laying on the road out there with in the 2 blocks that I first heard the noise? I thought, “What can it hurt?”

I stopped in my tracks and said another prayer. I said, “Father, I know the chances of this bolt lying on the street waiting for me for seven weeks is quite slim, but I also know that if it needs to be there for me right now that you can make sure that I find it. If it is Thy will please let me find this bolt today when I go for this little walk.” I started down one side of the road looking at every foreign object in the road. I found a screw, a few washers, a nut, and a few old AA batteries. “It must me be here.” I thought, walking, analyzing every object and comparing it to another bolt that I had taken from my car. Suddenly I saw a bolt that looked similar but it looked to small to me at first. Picking it up thinking it was just another spare part I compared with the correct one and sure enough, it was it. The right bolt. It was in the location that I remember pulling over, to check under the car, when taking my wife to the hospital. It has actually sat there through 3 big snow storms, possible street sweepers, and little kids who collect odd items like that.

I walked home with my head high yet still amazed at the miracle. I went home immediately said a prayer of thanks and gratitude for God being there, and listening to my little prayer to find a little bolt. I put the bolt in place and put my car back together and called the dealership and canceled my order for the new replacement bolt.

What I gained from this experience is a stronger testimony in prayer and I saved $150.