Okay... I'm getting like crazy frustrated here... You know all those wonderful firefox extensions which allow web developers like me to work even faster and more efficiently?  Well...  They must all hate me. I've heard incredible things about Firebug and Y-Slow as far as web development tools go, but can I use them? Apparently no...

Well...  Our pumpkins this year were just so darned cute, I had to blog about em' - I mean, after all, this is my journal! So, without further ado, here are a few photos of the 2007 Jones Family Halloween Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza! ...

My mom called me up a couple of days ago to give me some not-so-great news. My dad got fired from his job.  Now, those of you who know my dad know that he isn't "fire-able" material.  While he was employed at his full-time job at the prime of his life, he happened to "keep a job" for more than 15 years, so...  ...

Last night before going to bed, I (well my wife) discovered an interesting phenomenon. Some type of optical trick/illusion, I don't know what is actually causing it. I was playing with a laser pointer with the lights out. It was completly dark and my wife asked me if I could see the blue streak seemingly coming out of the red dot. At first I didn...

I don't even know where to begin on this one.  Maybe I'll start by screaming in frustration due to Microsoft's complete incompetence.....  or is it incompetence?  Maybe, and more likely, it's completely calculated, thought-through, planned, and executed.... Apparently, Microsoft sent out an "automatic update" to all XP a...

Something which I've never even tried to verabalize, let alone write down is the subject for today's blog. I've always thought there must be something wrong with me, since I've always been almost at the point of being tormented spiritually.  That may seem a bit harsh, and surprising to those who know me, but it's true.  Never actually ...

Since I recently have switched to XFCE on my work computer (all home computers are still running Gnome), I've noticed a strange behavior with window focusing.  I'm trying to decide whether this is a feature, or a bug. What happens, happens once-in-a-while and I can't get it to do the same thing consistently.  Whether it's because this i...

Okay...  I like my RSS feeds because they keep me up-to-date with the stuff I'm interested in. So, I click on this feed which leads me to article about a mom getting mad at Balmer for some reason or another.  Instead of going to the site itself, I'm brought to this full-page ad for something I'm not even remotely interested in. So,...

I simply must blog about this - quickly. When I arrived home from a trip through some pretty insane snow tonight, I simply had to test a theory I had about my 2007 Mustang GT's headlights vs. fog-lights.  (Apart from the chance to drive like a maniac in the snow, which I absolutely love) So, I get my car going about 25 down a very lowly-li...

Okay...  We just got back from a little trip up to Ryan's house so he could sign us up for a loan that'll make it so we can make quite a bit of money saving up for life insurance (too much info for one paragraph to sustain, so.. we'll leave it at that) Anyway, on our way home, it began to snow, and snow quite a bit harder than I've ever see...

I just got done playing some sweet jazz for a client, and with the usual rock 'n' roll requests coming in, this was a great change of pace. I'm always intrigued at the different nuances that exist between styles of music as it pertains to rhythm and percussion.  Rock and roll pounds out some great 4/4 along the occasional 3/4 timing, with so...

So, we're starting 3rd Nephi.  This should prove to be interesting. The first thing I noticed was, again, how quickly (and stupidly) people make up excuses for that which is obviously true. I imagine that living during the time all these miracle were happening (and increasing), would be such a gift.  The signs and miracles profesied b...

Reading this talk from Bish H. David Burton really made me feel good.  It brought the Spirit of God into my little work office and made me realize how much good there is to be done in the world. I personally had no idea the church was doing so much to help so many people.  I knew of some major disasters in which the church lent a huge h...

I haven't posted many videos lately, primarily because KdenLive (my video editor in Linux) wouldn't run for more than 5 seconds without completely crashing - making it impossible for me to do any video editing.  I haven't had any success with any other video editors out there (including Cinelerra), so, I've been video-less. Anyway, KdenLive re...

I just got done preparing my message for my home-teaching visit tonight, and after reading through the matieral the 2nd time, a thought came to my head, although I'm not sure how I'm gonna get it out.  Here goes nothing. As I was thinking of home-teaching in general, the thought came that "love" is pretty much the strongest power o...

To be honest, about 80% of these two chapters made no sense to me at all.  I didn't put forth my best effort to understand, but I really did concentrate. A couple of verses made a lot of sense to me due to the state of the world we live in. Chapter 15 verses 20-23.  You know it's a bad day when people in general accept wickedness as r...

Here I Am New year in a new town, new state, new sisters and brothers in a new ward and I feel wonderful! To end the year 2009, in December I went to the Temple in North Houston and was so warmly embraced by the Holy Spirit I could hardly contain my excitement. Tomorrow, I make the first Temple trip in the New Year. And I am ecstatic! Last mont...

First off, today was much better than yesterday as far as basing my decisions to strengthen my family. I spent the morning with Luci, and most of the afternoon and evening with Luci and Sarah. At noon, I went in to get all the paperwork taken care of for my new job, and I must say... I'm impressed, excited and anxious all in one emotion. I'm sur...

To have that taken away which is precious to you usually results in one of two things.  Either you do what is required to get back what was taken from you, or you devalue the thing which was taken, justifying its absence. About three years ago, for one reason alone, my Temple recommend was revoked from me and the ensuing years caused me to ...

Today I anticipated changing the clutch on Ryan's 1995 Mustang GT for about 3 hours.  I got up at 7:30 to do it, and I'm writing this about 2 hours after we finished.  Needless to say, it was an all-day adventure - and holy cow, were we dirty. I didn't have the sense to take a picture of both of us before I took a shower, but I did of ...

  Poetry by Kelly Miller   THis is dedicated to my son Shawn VanWagen who left on his mission in 2005 and that next week I started writing poetry. It has been a big part of my life since and has kept me very busy.  Also, to President Hinckley and his challenge for the members to read the book of mormon. and to Bernice Hutchenson w...

At church this Sunday, we talked about the topic of "forgiveness" in priesthood class and I've gotta say, holy cow - I love that class. Ya know...  I often wonder what makes a good class, and what makes a "not-so-great" class as far as gospel doctrine or priesthood or relief society goes.  Learning about religion can ...

Day Two.... I woke up this morning to a wonderful sore-throat.  Nothing too bad, and I felt that it's one of those that will go away as the hours pass by.  Turns up I was right. I rolled around in bed (after getting probably like.... 2-3 hours of sleep on Friday night) this morning for a good 2 hours, trying to go back to sleep. When I...

Sometimes it doesnt seem like i have anyfriends at alll cause i always get ditched and ignored at school wen megan isnt there cause desie always seems to wanna hang wit the other ppl in our class then me cause she says me and megan are alot closer then me and her which is true but still.and i wish she could come stay wit me this weekend cause of my...

I wish I could describe to you how much gratefulness is in my heart for whoever is in the skies who loves me. The prophets say He is Jesus Christ - and I believe them. This being up there loves me more than I can possibly comprehend. There is no way that words can describe to you, whoever you are, how much I want to learn to love Him. One thi...

An interesting thought came to my head that turned into a quote of sorts. I'm sure others have said likewise, but I think this would be a great thing to have hanging in the house to constantly remind us. May thoughts and choices of today bring God to guide and light my way. Life with a healthy baby and a healthy wife sure is good. Welcome to ou...

Oh... My... Goodness... I can't think of where to begin, so I'll just start typing. Two days ago we decided it was time to cut the umbilical for the other guys who were the old I.T. team for the company I work for. We did so by changing all passwords (or so I thought), and that's about it. We thought we had em'.... So.... We all went home and...

Name that tune... :) Man... I'm having a hard time thinking of what to write about. (as you can tell from my last post) Hmm..... Ya know... something I think I'm missing in my blog is the fact that I'm going to be a father (again) any day now. Sarah is due on February 10th and it's getting to the point where Collin Ryan Jones could join our...

Man.... No wonder we're all so screwed up in this life. If someone out there honestly does not think he or she is screwed up in some manner hasn't really lived. :) The whole reason for my saying this is the very essence of my life. If I've been taught once, I've been taught 1,000,000 times that to touch a lit burner on a stove is to get B-U-R-N-E-...

I've been reading a few books and websites lately on the "geography of the Book of Mormon", and see that it is quite a contentious point for many people!  A desire to understand the BOM geography was the specific thing that got me into reading the Boook of Mormon for the first time on my own.  That isn't to say that my testimony...