You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Uncategorized' category.
I did the handwriting analysis on http://handwritingwizard.com/. There were a couple of things I’m not too sure about (like the last paragraph), but otherwise, it was pretty close! Here’s my analysis report.
Welcome Dave Dixon, here is your handwriting analysis.
Dave uses judgment to make decisions. He is ruled by his head, not his heart. He is a cool, collected person who is usually unexpressive emotionally. Some may see him as unemotional. He does have emotions but has no need to express them. He is withdrawn into himself and enjoys being alone.
The circumstances when Dave does express emotions include: extreme anger, extreme passion, and tremendous stress. If someone gets him mad enough to tell him off, he will not be sorry about it later. He puts a mark in his mind when someone angers him. He keeps track of these marks and when he hits that last mark he will let them know they have gone too far. He is ruled somewhat by self-interest. All his conclusions are made without outside emotional influence. He is very level-headed and will remain calm in an emergency situation. In a situation where other people might get hysterical, he has poise.
Dave will work more efficiently if given space and time to be alone. He would rather not be surrounded by people constantly. In a relationship, he will show his love by the things he does rather than by the things he says. Saying “I love you” is not a needed routine because he feels his mate should already know. The only exception to this is if he has logically concluded that it is best for his mate to hear him express his love verbally.
Dave is not subject to emotional appeals. If someone is selling a product to him, they will need to present only the facts. They should present them from a standpoint of his sound judgment. He will not be taken in by an emotional story about someone else. He will meet emergencies without getting hysterical and he will always ask “Is this best for me?”
People that write their letters in an average height and average size are moderate in their ability to interact socially. According to the data input, Dave doesn’t write too large or too small, indicating a balanced ability to be social and interact with others.
Dave is sensitive to criticism about his ideas and philosophies. He will sometimes worry what people will think if he tells them what he believes in. This doesn’t mean he won’t talk, or that he feels ashamed. It merely means he is sensitive to what others think, regarding his beliefs.
Dave is secretive. He has secrets which he does not wish to share with others. He intentionally conceals things about himself. He has a private side that he intends to keep that way, especially concerning certain events in his past.
Diplomacy is one of Dave’s best attributes. He has the ability to say what others want to hear. He can have tact with others. He has the ability to state things in such a way as to not offend someone else. Dave can disagree without being disagreeable.
In reference to Dave’s mental abilities, he has a very investigating and creating mind. He investigates projects rapidly because he is curious about many things. He gets involved in many projects that seem good at the beginning, but he soon must slow down and look at all the angles. He probably gets too many things going at once. When Dave slows down, then he becomes more creative than before. Since it takes time to be creative, he must slow down to do it. He then decides what projects he has time to finish. Thus he finishes at a slower pace than when he started the project.
He has the best of two kinds of minds. One is the quick investigating mind. The other is the creative mind. His mind thinks quick and rapidly in the investigative mode. He can learn quicker, investigate more, and think faster. Dave can then switch into his low gear. When he is in the slower mode, he can be creative, remember longer and stack facts in a logical manner. He is more logical this way and can climb mental mountains with a much better grip.
Dave is a practical person whose goals are planned, practical, and down to earth. This is typical of people with normal healthy self-esteem. He needs to visualize the end of a project before he starts. he finds joy in anticipation and planning. Notice that I said he plans everything he is going to do, that doesn’t necessarily mean things go as planned. Dave basically feels good about himself. He has a positive self-esteem which contributes to his success. He feels he has the ability to achieve anything he sets his mind to. However, he sets his goals using practicality– not too “out of reach”. He has enough self-confidence to leave a bad situation, yet, he will not take great risks, as they relate to his goals. A good esteem is one key to a happy life. Although there is room for improvement in the confidence catagery, his self-perception is better than average.
Dave is sarcastic. This is a defense mechanism designed to protect his ego when he feels hurt. He pokes people harder than he gets poked. These sarcastic remarks can be very funny. They can also be harsh, bitter, and caustic at the same time.
Dave has a temper. He uses this as a defense mechanism when he doesn’t understand how to handle a situation. Temper is a hostile trait used to protect the ego. Temper can be a negative personality trait in the eyes of those around him.
Something is incomplete in Dave’s life. He feels frustration relating to his physical needs and desires. Somewhere in his life there is some disappointment, non-fulfillment, and interruption. This is very likely to relate to Dave’s sexual needs.
So, I got back from Belgium on Friday night. I was counting back to the number of times I have been to Belgium. This trip made 10! It doesn’t seem like I have been so many times. The trips are always tough on Valarie and the kids. I have a hard time being gone, but they seem to have it even worse.
Last fall when I was in Manila, a Belgian co-worker commented to me on how nice it was to visit Luxembourg and how there were a lot of really cool castles to see. So, this trip I decided to see if it really was all that cool. It was!
I started out my day by going to the castle in Bouillon Belgium. The castle was quite impressive. I took a tour of the castle and walked around town for a while. They had a medieval festival going on while I was there, so there were lots of people dressed in nice costumes.
I traveled through a place known as the Valley of the Seven Castles. In just a short drive, you pass by seven castles along the roadside. Unfortunately, I think I may have missed one of them. There was one small town, Ansembourg, that had two. I saw two buildings next to each other, and assumed that those were the two. I’m not sure though. Check out my photos of the seven castles here.
The photo I have posted here is of the Castle in Vianden. That was a really impressive castle. It sits up on a hillside overlooking a town below. The view was amazing. Unfortunately, I arrived there too late to take a tour of the castle. I guess that’s what I get for trying to cram too much into one day. There was also a medieval festival in Vianden. They had a parade with knights, peasants, wizards, hunters, etc. It was well worth the visit. Next time I will have to make sure I am there early enough to take a tour.
Check out my most recent Belgium & Luxembourg photos in my Flickr set.
It all started the day I got back from Alaska. There was a message from the Stake Executive Secretary that Pres. Holm from the stake presidency wanted to meet with me. I had a pretty good idea what it would be about. I had been in the Bishopric for almost two years and the Stake had been asking the Bishop if they could take one of his counselors for the high council. Sure enough I was asked to serve on the high council. Of course I accepted. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed that I would no longer be serving in the bishopric with Bishop Mower and Brother Mitchell. On the other hand I was excited to serve on the high council again. I really enjoyed the few short months when I served before. I like hearing Pres. Blancett and his counselors. They are great men.
I was told that I would be sustained in a week or two after they ironed out the releasings on the High Council and the calling of the new counselor for the bishopric. These things sometimes take some time, and it turned out that the week they released me from the bishopric I was out of town. Bishop Mower said that about 100 people came up to him asking what happend to me and why I was released.
When Valarie heard that I was released, she went telling half the ward that I was going to be a high councilor. She felt bad when she found out that I didn’t get the new calling that week. It wasn’t until the following week, last Sunday the 13th that I was sustained in the wards as a high councilor. I was set apart on Tuesday the 15th and attended the first meeting this morning at 6:30.
It was good to be back. I looked around the table, and less than half of the people serving were there when I was released 20+ months ago. All of them welcomed me back and said they were happy to be serving with me again. The spirit at the high council meetings are always strong. Brother D. Olsen gave the in service message for the speaking topic next month, Patriartical Blessings. He talked about how our individual blessings are like a personal liahona. They guide us and tell us where to go. The message can change depending on the trials and challenges in our lives.
It is good to be back serving on the high council again. I feel really old though. Most people that talk about the first and second time as a high councilor always seemed so old to me. Now I’m one of them!
Holy Cow! I just realized that it has been almost two months since I have posted anything. Well, needless to say, a lot has happened since then. Valarie and I took a trip up to Alaska to visit Shaunna and family. We took Haily and left the rest of the kids here with mom. What a nice grandma my children have.
The trip was awesome! We did lots of cool stuff. We took a trip down to Clam Gultch on the Cook Inlet and camped on the beach. When we pitched our tent, the water was way the freak down and we didn’t think much of it until we realized that the sand about 10 feet from our tent was wet from the previous night’s tide. Eric got out the tide book and we realized that the tide was supposed to be even higher the night we were staying there. We decided to just stick it out. In the middle of the night it sounded like the waves were crashing in on us. Turns out we were just a few feet from the water! We were lucky to stay dry.
So the next day, we went clamming on the beach. The tide had gone down quite a bit. It was really pretty fun. We collected enough clams to make clam dip when we got back to Shaunna and Eric’s house. But first, we were off to Seward for the halibut charter.
Shaunna and Eric were kind enough to stay back with the kids while Valarie and I went on a fishing charter. Well as you can see from the picture I posted, I caught a 100 pound halibut. The fishing was a lot of fun. Valarie and I caught two halibut each. I also caught a bit of sea sickness. I bet I hurled a dozen times or more, but who’s keeping track? Next time I’m going to have to go for something a little more than Dramamine!
Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in our attempts to catch king salmon. We hired a guide to take us on the Deshka River, but the king run is just not any good this year. It seems the salmon are MIA. Oh well, we had fun trying. We’ll just have to do it again.
I was contacted a while ago by an editor for Schmap Guides, an online travel guide. They wanted to use this picture as part of their guide for the Paris page. The Place du Tertre is a pretty interesting place. I could walk around for hours just looking at their art and watching them work. By the way, I gave my permission to use the photo.
http://www.schmap.com/france/attractions/p=18030/i=18030_8.jpg
OK, so I took the 365 days challenge starting on Jan 1 of this year. That made yesterday (Apr 9) day 100. I am amazed that I have made it 100 straight days taking a picture of myself. To be honest, I am running out of ideas for good pictures. I will keep with it though. I am 27% of the way there.
I have been looking over my Flickr pictures lately and I was thinking, I need to post more pictures of my family. I have 190 pictures. 100 of those are of me for the 365 days project. That’s too many. Maybe after this year, I will do 365 days posting a picture of somebody else!
Either way, I have had some fun with the 365 thing and with Flickr.
I think Kyle has a new favorite holiday. He liked having jokes played on him as much as he enjoyed playing them on other people. Before I left for work this morning, I hid the bowls and the plates. According to Valarie, Kyle thought that was the funniest thing in the world. Then when he went to put his shoes on, he found the socks I stuffed in his shoes. He saw the baby blanket in the sleeve of his coat as he was headed out the door. Tonight, I short-sheeted his bed and with a smile, he asked Valarie, “Is this just another one of dad’s tricks?” He thought today was great! A kid after my own heart!
Yesterday I went to lunch with Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID). My brother-in-law Steve works at his Pocatello office. Steve called me up the other day to ask if I would be willing to join his boss and him for lunch while he was in town. I just couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to go to lunch with a US Representative.
Simpson has a pretty interesting story. He went to college at Utah State and left before graduating to go to dental school. After practicing as a dentist in Blackfoot, Idaho for a few years he decided to run for the Blackfoot City Council. The day of the deadline, only one person had submitted their name to run, and there were two seats open. That same day several other people submitted their names as well. It ended up being a six person race for two seats. He said that one of the candidates had served on the city council for years and was highly favored to retain his seat, essentially making it a five person race for one seat. The long-time incumbent did in fact retain his seat by a large margin. Simpson came in second with 1016 votes, securing the other seat. The third place candidate received 1008 votes. Simpson won by just eight votes. Well eventually he decided to run for the Idaho State House of Representatives winning and serving as Speaker of the House. After some time, a seat in the US House opened up as Rep. Crapo decided to run for Senate. He has now been in the House of Representatives for 9 years.
He told a pretty funny story about his wife Kathy. Apparently, he did not like going out to choose a gift for his wife. So one Christmas he suggested that he purchase a gift for himself and that she purchase one for herself and they could just exchange cards. He went out and bought a new TaylorMade driver. His wife bought a Porsche Boxster! The next year he bought her a Christmas present.
Although I don’t agree with Simpson on some issues, it was cool to go to lunch with somebody from congress. It was especially cool for all of the US taxpayers to pay for my lunch!
I came across a pretty good ice cream topping recipe the other day.
1C Strawberries
1C Blueberries
1C Raspberries
¼C Balsamic Vinegar
Sprinkle of Sugar
Mix and pour over ice cream.
I know it sounds strange, and some people think it tastes strange (that would be my wife), but I thought it was actually pretty good. Of course, I am an ice cream junkie, so just about anything would be OK with me. Looks like one more reason to keep balsamic vinegar on hand!
This picture was from Monday, day 49/365.
I am currently working on my 365 days project. The goal is to take a picture of yourself every day for one year, and post the pictures on Flickr.com. So far I’m on day 52. I haven’t missed any yet. I am happy with the way things have gone. Some of my pictures are really good. Others are just so-so, but the point is to become more creative and familiar with what does and doesn’t work. I am sure that as the days go by, I will improve. The funny thing is that I have chosen to do this during a leap year. My 365 days will actually end up being 366! I get a Bonus day!











