Blog-dude

My mother has acquired and used lots of candles. She lets them burn until the wick has burned away, but most of the time, there is still much wax stuck to the sides of the glass containers. So, yesterday, we scraped all of the unused wax into a large glass jar. We then put the jar in boiling water and let the wax melt until it was all liquid.

We then cut off a piece of string that would be used as a wick and started dipping it into the jar of liquid wax. We would dip the string into the wax, then take it out for five seconds, dip it again, and repeat the process for about 30 minutes until we had a candle! You would think that it would become boring after the first five minutes, but it was quite fascinating. After were finished with the first candle we started another. We made three candles by dipping them.

With the Christmas season being over it looks as if I will be taking down the christmas lights. I heard from some of my neighbors that they purchased LED rope lights this year. They told me all about the benefits of LED lights, like how they consume very little energy and that the LED lights can last for more than 50,000 hours - that’s 5.5 years for 24 hours a day! They also generate very little heat, causing them to be much safer.

LED rope lights can be used for all sorts of decorating, whether it’s seasonal or full-time - step lighting, handrails, patios, dorm rooms, Christmas parties, you name it. Light ropes don’t get tangled like strings of bulbs and the lower energy costs will even make Scrooges smile. That’s because these LED lights burn about .5 to 1.0 watts per foot compared to 6 or 7 watts from incandescents. You can have bright decorations and still be safe and responsible.

~blog-dude~

I will tell some more about my day at Afton Alps. After the pop-can tops incident, we slipped our gear on and went to the ski and snowboard racks. As I was walking to where I had left my skis, I spotted someone, my size, trying on a pair of skis that looked identical to mine. As I drew nearer, I realized that he was trying to take my skis! I walked up behind him and asked for my skis back. His response was a muffled “oh, sorry”, and he then selected another pair to try on! I asked him if he was sure that the newly selected pair was his and he mumbled an unconvincing “yeah”.

I am still upset about that encounter. I knew that Afton was notorious for equipment theft, but I figured it would never happen to myself. I am going to be sure that I bring a lock along with me next time I go skiing. I suggest that all who read this heed my warning, ski theft does happen!

~blog-dude~

Happy New Year!

I went skiing with my family, yesterday, at Afton Alps. We had a great time and skied for about 6 hours. So much happened while skiing, so it may take a couple of days to post it all!

When we arrived at Afton Alps, we bought four tickets, each costing $37.00. Fortunately I own a pair of skis, so I did not have to pay for rentals. We located a chalet to put on our equipment at and I then realized that I had left my helmet at home. After we got our gear on, we hit the slopes. Afton has 18 lifts, so our goal was to use all of them. We skied for an hour, then met back at the chalet to eat lunch. Being a thrifty family, we packed our own lunches rather than buying over-priced cheap-quality chalet food.

This is a bit off topic, but I have recently started a pop-can top collection. I collect colored pop-can tops commonly found on energy drink cans. Anyway, while we were eating at the chalet, I saw a group of teenagers drinking energy drinks, which has colored pop-can tops. After they finished their drinks I went over to them and asked if I could have the pop-can tops. They thought it was an interesting request, but graciously gave me the pop-can tops. I think that is enough for today. I will be sure to write more in a couple of days.

~blog-dude~

Now that winter break has begun, I haven’t got a whole lot to do. The other night I saw Shrek the Third with my family, it was real funny. Tonight we are going to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3, which is 169 minutes long. Me and my brother shoveled the driveway and sidewalks today since it was snowing all day. It looked like we received around 2½ inches.

Our family went to the mall yesterday and bought gifts to give each other. We are all really excited from Christmas, which is only one day away (if you don’t count today)! Unfortunately, we do not have anybody coming over to celebrate Christmas day with. We do, however, have friends from our church coming over on Christmas eve for fondue. I am really looking forward to fondue, since we only get to have it once a year. My favorite part is dipping apples and such in the chocolate.

~blog-dude~