Diaries of a proud papa

Waxing Poetic

2008-04-15T10:33:00.001-07:00

I've written two fun poems today:

Herbert likes his choc’late
He eats it all the time
Breakfast, lunch, or snacking
Whenever it comes to min’

He eats it with his cereal
That’s not that hard to do
Count Coco’s double chocolate crunch
And Chocolate syrup goo

He eats it out at recess
His buddies like to share
Herbert always brings them extra
There’s some sticking in his hair

Bananas dipped in chocolate
A carrot and some peaches
They all go in the chocolate sauce
While Herbert’s teacher teaches

At lunch he eats a well rounded meal
He eats some chocolate bread
Fudge goes in the middle
With peanut butter spread

After weeks and months of nothing else
Herbert’s body changed
With only one thing to grow on
His molecules rearranged

His hair turned brown, so did his eyes
And wouldn’t you just know it
He even smelled a chocolate smell
While going to the toilet

So in alarm, his mom declared,
“Herbert William Twist
You must stop eating cocoa
On this I must insist!”

She switched out all his goodies
With healthy wholesome snacks
Broccoli, beans and carrots
With nothing on their backs

Not near as good or tasty
He ate his beets and leeks
It seemed like every meal time
Lasted weeks and weeks

But Herbert William soon discovered
One day while so down hearted
His mother gave him strawberry milk
And his new obsession started

The second one:
A dad’s most dreaded nightmare
Is going down the aisle
With birds and chirping nightingales
To cross it takes a while

No not the aisle all dressed in white
It’s different than you think
The one that’s filled with cute stuff
The one that’s dressed in pink

This doll has got real girl’s hair
You can brush it if you like
That doll has her own corvette
She likes a guy named Mike

This kitchen set has all the stuff
That you’d find in our home
A little fairy princess
Is sitting all alone

Oh please, please Daddy! Oh don’t you care
That princess is so sad!
Oh get her for me daddy!
I promise I won’t be bad!

Oh curse you dreaded pink aisle
You’re nasty and so stinky!
For nothing proves so well to all
I’m wrapped around her pinky

Our Christmas Newsletter

2007-12-14T05:41:00.000-08:00

2007

Our Family News & PicturesL to R: (on branch) Bug, Bam-Bam, Miss M, Angel Face, Tiny and Lucy

P (holding Lucky) and K Bug, Miss M, Angel Face, Tiny, Lucy, Bam-Bam, and Lucky

This summer, P had the opportunity to go to Scout camp for a full week. He had a wonderful time with the boys. He came back with a face full of hair, and it has stayed put for the remainder of the year. He is continuing to work on his MBA, and is (slowly) making progress there. We have decided that to maintain some semblance of family life and church service that he will only take one class per semester. It's moving him forward, but not very quickly. He continues to spend time each week with the 5 oldest children as they make breakfast together. The children have vastly improved their cooking skills, and P has the added benefit of getting to spend one one one time with one child each morning. He was able to attend his parent's 50th wedding anniversary celebration in Salt Lake City in July. The rest of us stayed here and finished preparations for our Lucky #7's arrival...just 2 weeks after that date. K signed up as a Stampin' Up demonstrator in late February of this year and was asked to help with the memory book for the 50th wedding anniversary. It was quite a stretch for her to work on a "scrapbook" as most of her paper crafting has been cardmaking. She is loving teaching others to make things with paper and enjoying the extra supplies she has acquired. She attended Women's Conference in May with some dear friends. On the way up to Provo, they stopped in Manti and were able to go through the temple there. It was a wonderful time to regroup spiritually, and for her to step away from being "mommy" for a few days.

Bug, now 12, was ordained a deacon in our ward. It is a joy to see him take on the new responsibilities he has been given. He can pass the sacrament now and he does it willingly and likes it (his words). He continues to play both the piano and drums. This is his second year with the drums, and he is working on rolls and on improving his ability to play different kinds of drums. Miss Em is finishing up elementary school this year (5th grade). She is a fantastic helper in every sense, and enjoys organizing her room. It is always the cleanest room in the house. Her efforts to put things in order have been very helpful as K has been working hard to get things purged and clean the house on a deeper level. She lost her second front tooth this summer...(her other one fell out in 2nd grade)...and we're still waiting for it to come in. Angel Face turned 8 this year and chose to be baptized. He was able to be baptized on 07-07-07 (I don't think he'll forget that date!). His cousin, Karina, was able to be here for the week before his baptism and was here when he got baptized. He has a very good sense of humor and loves to show his love for life and laughter in pictures (He's a ham!). He's in 2nd grade this year.Tiny is 7. He is in 1st grade this year and has vastly improved his reading skills in the last semester. He had a great foundation coming out of kindergarten, and it has been fun to see the pieces fall into place this year. He has the most difficult time being woken up in the morning, even knowing how fun it is to cook with Daddy. He usually gets carried into the front of the fire...and a free back scratch as well on his mornings with P. We continue to try to understand his low vision and work with the challenges it brings. He has a great attitude and is starting to understand that he doesn't see the same way other people do, but that he can do anything he sets his mind to. Lucy is our kindergarten cutie. She LOVES school and the sociality it brings to her life. She loves learning and it is fun to hear her make connections with letters, and rhyming words. She has been given the ability and desire to dance and sing (she gets it from her dad), and enjoys her weekly dance class. She makes every she is around happy! Bam-bam is enthusiastic about everything. It is really fun to see his personality develop and watch him grow. He's a typical 2 year old in that he lives life to the fullest and seems to never stop and slow down until he crashes on the floor somewhere (we have about 5 similar pictures to the one below in the pictures for this year). He wants to help and be included in doing chores and other things he sees his older siblings doing. (He loves to help with dishes and setting the table). He loves watching Little Einsteins and Blue's Clues. It's just fun to be around him.
Lucky was born this summer (at the end of July). He surprised us all by being a boy...we were expecting a girl (even though the doctor had never given us a specific guess as to the baby's gender). He is rolling over now and absolutely enjoys his sibling's attention. His smile lights up any room he is in. He was blessed on the same day that Bug was ordained to be a deacon.
(This picture below was to mimic the one that P drew to fill Lucky's frame on the picture wall until we got his actual picture taken and enlarged.)

We are grateful for our many blessings (health, home, and happiness being the foremost that jump into my mind). It is always a joy to hear about you and your families at this time of year.
We continue to see miracles worked by the Lord in our lives and pray that you see the same.
May you have a blessed Christmas season and beautiful New Year!
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
P, K and crew

PS: If you need a hard copy of our family picture, let me know and I'd be happy to send you one. I always wonder what people do with our picture once the holiday season is over. I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one faced with the "What do I do with this picture (of my friends) now?" syndrome.

Today's Inspiration

2007-10-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

I watched the sun coming up on the hill at the entrance to work. It inspired this poem.

I walked down a canyon
At the breaking of dawn
The shadow enveloped
The side I was on

Like a candle just lit
The other side burned
By the light of the sun
The shadow was spurned

I raced to the bottom
Seeking the light
The light raced to meet me
Oh glorious sight!

We met at the bottom
In a long warm embrace
And welcome warm kisses
Soft on my face

I walked up the hill
From whence it had come
And saw there a cross
And God’s Holy One

The shadow rejoicing
The Son was put out
Dark surrounds everything
The world full of doubt

Three days sat in darkness
The world in despair
Would the Sun e’er return
To that hill o’er there?

Then warm welcoming kisses
Broke forth on my cheek
The light had returned
The world to the meek

My hope in the Son
Forever in light
My darkness he’s taken
And banished the night

Though only in spirit
Have I witnessed this scene
My heart feels warm kisses
And I know Truth serene.

Scoutmaster

2007-09-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

They've made me a scoutmaster in my church. I've been associated with the scouting program since I was eight years old and I have always enjoyed it. You'll never here me complain about being asked to help out in scouting.

I have fond memories of my scoutmasters. For the first few years my dad was it. He was always a different man when we were out camping. Not better, not worse, just different. I feel like I know him better because of the time that I spent watching him interact with my friends. My second scoutmaster was the scoutmaster in his troop for decades. He still had the scouting spirit burning strong when I moved back to my hometown a decade after leaving. He was awarded the Silver Beaver for his decades of selfless service.

I see the young men I am teaching now and I marvel at the potential they all have. We're going camping tomorrow, (I'm writing this late Thursday night,) and once again I find myself feeling that thrill of anticipation before the big event. I'm scoutmaster to one of my own boys. I hope he'll have the same fond memories of scouting with his father that I do. I hope that decades from now, I'll still love scouting and the joy of teaching scouting to young men. I hope that some day my boy will look back at his youth and want to be a scoutmaster too. And make a difference in at least on person's life.

Tribal Politics

2007-09-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

I realize that political parties are a pemenant reality of the American landscape. I am glad that we have developed forums for the large masses of people inhabiting America to state their viewpoints, build concensus, and fight for a common good.

I have just one question. When did politics turn into a religious debate?

I am a religious man. I hold dearly to the values that my parents have tought me and I indeed feel on my own. I will readily admit that the political debates that we have around gay marriage, abortion, sex scandals, and the interaction between church and state move me to strong emotions. It upsets me; however, to be so deftly manipulated.

What are the real issues that the state should be concerned with?

Establishing Justice, insuring domestic Tranquility, providing for the common defense, promotingthe general Welfare, and securing the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.

If a candidate has a platform on healthcare. That's a real issue. If a candidate has a platform on prayer in school, gay marriage, or condoms in the school. Pay attention. That candidate thinks you're a dupe and will fall in line becuase he or she has successfully pushed your hot button.

I won't fall for it this go around. I'm going to vote for the cadidate that talks about what they are really going to do for America. Not the one who talks about what we should believe in America. I'll leave that job up to my conscience and the Sunday School teacher.

As you hear the tribal drum beating this election cycle. Just realize its meant to make you dance.

A quick catch up

2007-09-15T14:50:00.000-07:00

I apologize to the four people that are at all interested in my ramblings. After three months of a no excuse absence I have finally felt a stirring of a desire to post some of my thoughts online once again.

A quick recap of my life happenings while I've been away.

I took the scouts to scout camp (where I grew a Fu-man-chew for the first time in my life.) Bug's first year... We had a blast.

My parents had a fiftieth anniversary... My wife was two weeks away from delivering our #7. I flew up to Salt Lake to celebrate with my parents and spent the whole time wishing that my wife and kids could have come with me.

Lucky #7 was born on July 30th. We thought he was going to be a girl. I'm sure he'll have to endure some teasing about that point for the rest of his life. He does have some luck heading his way. He is the seventh child, of a seventh child, of a seventh child. Not quite a seventh son, of a seventh son, but still cool. He's also the fiftieth family member on his paternal side starting with the grandparents and including spouses.

I've started back to school after a month off during the summer.

They've hired a new man at work to take on about a third of my previously assigned responsibilities. He's gung-ho and doing a great job. I'm stressing a lot less at work as you can imagine.

I've started teaching myself Mandarin Chinese. Mainly just to keep the mental juices flowing.

I'll try not to take nearly as long of a hiatus, but I can't make any promises for two reasons: Blogspot is now a taboo website from work, so I won't be checking anybody's posts except in my spare time from home, and that is a pretty rare commodity.

Immigration Bill Failed

2007-06-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

You know, I just can't help but wonder how short sighted our congress is. They just shot down the latest immigration naturalization bill that would allow the current estimated 12 million illegal immigrants an easy path to citizenship. (I actually don't like the "Z Visa" concept which is basically just a glorified work permit, we should give them an easy path to citizenship like our forefathers were given, but you've got to start somewhere.) I know that by posting about immigration I am hereby declaring to the world that I do not march in step with most Republicans on this matter. I don't care.

Here's how economics works. If you run a business that takes raw materials and makes them into a useable goods you must make those improvements for the least amount of money possible. If you don't, you will have your product copied by someone that can and they will. Their substitute product will replace yours and you loose. Now, this process isn't instantaneous but it is pretty quick in our globalized world.

So what do we do in the United States? We discourage immigrants from entering the country by making the naturalization process so difficult that they don't feel as though they can work within the system. So what do they do? They sneak in. The cheap labor comes, but the government doesn't get the increased tax base.

It's not about whether or not its legal. Its about whether or not its possible. And to these immigrant getting in is easy. Getting legal is hard.

Lets build a wall! How stupid are we? If we build walls to keep them out all we are accomplishing is to isolate ourselves. If they want in they will come in. But their government sees our attitude and translates it, "The US thinks they're better than us." We become socially isolated.

In the meanwhile. Our competative advantage in the United States is ebbing. Eventually, China is going to catch up and nothing will be made in the USA because it can all be made in China for cheaper cost and just as good value.

What's more is it is argued that with immigration comes crime. Yeah, but let's look at where that crime is really coming from. Having lived in the Southwest for most of my life, every immigrant that I have met has worked harder for his daily bread than any of his American counterparts. They don't come here to steal and loaf. They come here to work and get ahead.

One last point. The current population trend in the US is to less and less children. This is normal for educated populations. However, if we don't increase our population somehow, how do we expect to be able to grow our economy? Stock market investments?

Continued immigration will save this country's production capabilities. Its time that the nation stopped resenting the culture clash and encouraged immigration as what it is: a replacement working base for a sagging and aging American economy.

My opinion on Cap and Trade systems.

2007-06-04T14:24:00.000-07:00

I started summer school last week. No, I don't ride the short bus. I am taking Social Responsibility and Business Ethics. So of course we are going to be talking a lot about people being unethical. I'm really going to enjoy this class because it will require us to share our opinions on a lot of things.

And if there is one thing I am not short on its opinions.

Then, my position as an environmental compliance specialist at a copper mine also lends me a very unique perspective.

One question that came up in class the other day that I didn't comment on because the conversation turned too rapidly away from it was the proposed CO2 cap and trade system. The question was asked: Is it ethical to trade pollution credits?

The simple answer is that it is unethical not to. If a production facility is told to simply cap their emissions they will do so precisely at the legal limit because there is no economic incentive to do otherwise. Where, if the same facility is rewarded for reducing their emissions below the required limit by being allowed to sale the excess pollution to less clean facilities, they will do so.

The great part is that the "dirty" facility that is purchasing the excess credit will still be limited by pollutant limits because there is a financial disincentive to purchase credits.How cap and trade really excels is in the second round of emission reductions.

Then, say five years into the program, the government reduces emission limits even further than the initial round and the most innovative polluters have prepared by installing even better control technologies.

Also, if an environmental NGO wants to be forward thinking, they can purchase the excess credits thereby directly reducing pollution. It would be unethical to use any other system because no other system works as smoothly or efficiently to reduce pollution

Mining News

2007-05-31T11:36:00.000-07:00

We interrupt our regularly scheduled blogging to bring you this mining bulletin.

The CEO of BHP Billington is stepping down to be replaced on October 1, 2007 by the current head of their non-ferrous division, Marius Kloppers.

BHP is currently the third largest producer of copper in the world and that's not even their primary industry. Their first love is for iron ores. Nevertheless, with the new CEO at the helm it is likely that they will be in M&A mode. I can't see them wanting to try and come back into America after their failed purchace of Magma in the late 90's (they purchased Magma when copper prices were trending downward, then closed all of their newly aquired properties permenantly and wrote off the loss only one year before copper started swinging back into profitable territory); however, I can see them ramping up foreign operations or acquisitions.

Why should you care? Actually, for the typical consumer a bigger BHP will probably translate into slightly cheaper copper products as they increase production in their most profitable operations; ie, third world operations.

Why do I care? I currently am employed at one of the least profitable copper operations in the world (but because copper prices are so high, we are still extremely profitable.) I worry that a bigger BHP will translate into a greater world supply that will lift world inventories thereby pushing prices down and price my mine out of operation.

Honestly, any big news like this in the copper business is interesting to a miner like me.

Sorry if I've bored your pants off. ... You can put them back on now, this isn't that kind of a website.

Hectic Schedule

2007-05-30T09:16:00.001-07:00

A hectic schedule
Almost ev-e-ry night
Seems its my lot
With no end in sight

I've signed up for college
To improve my mind
Three hours with scouts
Add to the grind

Visits to friends
at least one night a week
My wife keeps her hobbies
Its her sanity seek

The yard needs attention
The weeds multiply
A faucet is leaking
and I am the guy

Six kid a clammerin'
for my attention
One more on the way
gets honorable mention

A date with my wife
Will come if I'm lucky
Best not neglect it
Or else she'll get plucky

The dishes are waiting
they won't clean themselves
How did that shoemaker
merit those elves?

Spare minutes are rare
They'll come if you look
An hour playing games
Or reading a book

Lest you think I'm complaining
Don't pity my plight
My life holds no bordom
And that seems just right.

I should have seen it coming

2007-05-29T07:59:00.000-07:00

Please note that I did talk about the national healthcare issue just a few posts ago. What I should have realized then is that the release of this film would be coordinated with somebody's campaign. I'd be willing to bet that Mr. Moore and Mr. Obama are working together. The buzz from the film and the already thought out healthcare plan will create the stage for the democrats. And every other candidate is already behind.

It will probably set the stage for the Republican candidates as well by hijacking the agenda. "Mr. Giuliani, what do you think about national healthcare?" He'll have to be ready with an answer and just by answering will move the issue even more to the front.

Lest you think that I have a conspiritorial mind. I do not see this as a left wing conspiracy. Only very deft politcal ability. Mr. Obama will be a candidate to watch. And I think that's the way he wants it.

School is almost out for the Summer

2007-05-23T11:23:00.000-07:00

The kids have just a few more hours left in class. Then the school doors open and they'll be set loose.

And so, a poem for the occasion:

Little orange moth
you flit from flower to weed
Six children lithely chase you
All the fun they need

One would pinch your wing off
The other makes you drown
One holds you like a crown jewel
You're both simple and profound

Come spend the summer evening
Flitting through our weeds
Please come kiss the flowers
And see our growing seeds

SiCKo

2007-05-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

Michael Moore is at it again. He will release a new documentary on our health care system and one can only suppose the underlying agenda: "Get us a nationalized healthcare system!"

If you were alive in the 1980s and 1990s you remember the same mantra being chanted. The solution was to create HMOs or Health Management Orginizations. It was a halfway step to national healthcare. What did this do for healthcare? Did we see a steep decrease in healthcare costs because of them? No, we saw an increase in the bureaucracy. Most HMOs have quietly gone away in the last ten years and the bureaucracy has shifted to the insurance companies. They decide what proceedures are covered and when. Try talking to a doctor about this sometime and see if they like how the current system works. HMOs and national healthcare have the extremely undesirable effect of making the high cost of a medical education unappealing. What do you get for it after all? Prestige?

I have no doubt that Mr. Moore will be screaming for a national healthcare system. What will that mean for the average person? More bureaucracy for less healthcare. Any doctor with any sense will switch to a "private clinic" practice. In other words: pay as you go health care. The kicker there is that in order to have a national healthcare system you'll be having some money removed from your paycheck like the government already does for social security and medicare. Then, if you want to go to a private clinic, you'll pay more money out of your own pocket because the government isn't going to pay you to go to a private clinic.

Robin Hood will be at it again. The rich are paying for the poor to have another entitlement. Except it won't be the rich who bear the real burden, it will be the middle class, because they'll be just well enough off that if they want real health care it will be within their reach and yet because of the national system they'll pay double for it.

I say we regulate the insurers and not the medical system. Limit how much profit they can take off the top. Then, in order to increase revenues, they won't want to limit procedures they'll encourage them (more volume means more revenue after all.) More volume would mean more real competition and our medical system becomes a free market system once again.

I know. Its a pipe dream.

Venezuela in self destruct

2007-05-17T07:15:00.000-07:00

Apparently no one in power in Venezuela is a student of history OR economics.
Señor Chavez has swept to power and compares himself to Fidel Castro.
Fidel faught for his power. I don't like what he did either, but here the comparison doesn't fit. Fidel got where he did with guns, not votes.

Señor Chavez is nationalizing much of his country's major industries. Oil is the main one. That is a good short term win, lots of cash still being generated by that Texas tea. Good luck keeping your pumps working when you will never get another outside company to invest one penny in upgrades and exploration. His move has effectively locked in its production at the current levels (they'll actually deminsh as equipment becomes harder and harder for them to repair.)

Señor Chavez has begun land reform. When has that EVER worked? Again, short run politics winning out as the underprivilaged underclass suddenly feels empowered. Oh yea, they also feel entitled. Good luck keeping that entitlement up.

Señor Chavez wants to move towards a national barter system. WHAT???!!! Barter ended in civilized society before we started keeping histories.

That clinches it. Señor Chavez wants to move Venezuela back into the dark ages and beyond.

The list of things he is doing is only missing the persecution of one group of citizens. I think he'll be able to bypass that ugly totalitarian characteristic by putting the country on the oil teat. Just look how well that has worked for Saudi Arabia, they have a HUGE and growing youth population and a very large unemployment rate (around 12 percent.) Both of which can be directly traced to government handouts associated with oil.

Good luck Señor Chavez.

A quick note. I got a comment from a Venezuelan student who has been opposed to Chavez from the beginning. Apparently there are more people opposing him than I originally gave credit to in this post. My prayers go out to these people.

She specifically noted that I had said, "Apparently no one in Venezuela is a student of history OR economics. " Julia, I hope you approve of my edits.

Storm last night

2007-05-17T07:08:00.000-07:00

A little poem about the storm last night

The thunderstorm last night
Shook us from bed
If my eyes seem to be blodshot
Its the gum in my head

Actually, the worst part of the storm was that it woke up our Bam-bam who then proceeded to wedge himself in perpendicular to mom and dad, all the while crying and protesting. I'm betting mom feels the same way I do.

Sarkozy in Africa

2007-05-16T08:58:00.000-07:00

Interesting article in the WSJ today opines that with Sarkozy now president of france, a ministry office in France called the "African Cell" is likely to close.

This map from the article gives a good feel for where France still has direct influence. (It doesn't show the countries where they speak french as their official language.)

France won't be pulling their military right out of Africa because of Sarkozy. They will just be less likely to swoop in and reverse negative situations in Africa as they perceive them.

What makes this interesting is that without the direct influence of France on the dark continent these countries are actually going to do better, because France has only ever protected France's self interests. Not the interests of the African nations.

Let's hope it doesn't go the other way and get overrun by warlords.

If you're wondering why I care, my company is opening a copper mine in the DRC. I've been keeping close tabs on African politics for a couple of years now because of the potential direct impact to my company's bottom line.

Solving more world problems

2007-05-11T07:52:00.000-07:00

I already suspect that my twin is going to nay-say this post. I think this solution is more realistic than my Saharan Jungle solution. What are the two most politically sensitive topics right now? Iraq and global warming. (Never mind that number two after Iraq on the public conscience is health care, because the media hasn't really caught onto that idea yet.)

Here's how you solve both: The United States initiates a true self sufficiency program with regards to energy. Something on the scale of the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956. They ended up spending $116 Billion dollars laying out the highways which in todays dollars is equal to about $833 Billion dollars. Not chump change.

The good news is my proposed solution already has the infrastructure almost started.

What we do:

The government MASSIVELY starts subsidizing any alternative energy source that gets us off of foreign oil. Bio-diesel, solar, wind, ethanol, you get the point. The emphasis should be on upgrading existing systems, not putting new systems in place, like a hydrogen economy would need.

How would they subsidize it? The subsidies would pay for solar and wind installations costs over and above what it would cost for them to install petroleum consuming resourses. Including, half of the cost of solar panels that the typical homeowner could install on his home to power up. Make it a no brainer to take your house off of the electrical grid. More specifically, a no painer.

The political results would be interesting and rapid:

First, we would lose almost all interest in what happens in the Middle East. The only thing we would have left to defend there is our interest in Israel. (Which I'm afraid would also deminish in proportion to our dependancy on the oil reserves of their neighbors.)

Second, oil countries would have to change their welfare state structure because they wouldn't be getting so much of their funding directly from the gas pumps of America.

Third, America would once again be creating resourses rather than consuming them. No one ever built strength by only consuming. You must CREATE resourses. Mine them, grow them, generate them, whatever. Wealth does not ever flow away from resources. It flows to them.

Yes, this is a kind of econmic warfare, but if we don't do it now, we aren't going to be left with the choice. Eventually the warfare will be even more real than Iraq. It will involve the entire region and could spread to other oil producing states.

The lines are now open for your critisisms.

And now for something totally different:
I don't know if I can keep watching American Idol now that Lakisha is gone.

My week off

2007-05-08T08:59:00.000-07:00

I didn't listen, read, or watch the news.

I didn't blog or read blogs.

I spent the last week at home with my children while my wife went to a seminar out of state.

Here's some of the things that I learned or stuck out in my life the last week:

Bam-bam lived up to his name and took a swan dive out of a shopping cart. (No permenant damage, but you can still see the bruise.)

Miss M had a all day field trip. She got up at four and stayed up 'til ten and the meltdown didn't come for almost twenty-four hours and it was a small one.

Bug ran in a school track and field day. I missed his last event because the school got ahead of schedule and didn't bother trying to stick with the schedule they had sent home to the parents. I saw his school locker. How can he be so neat at school and so sloppy at home?

Tiny has even worse vision then we first thought. It does help to know what his limitations are though so we can work on compensating with him. (Instead of just relying on him figuring it all out on his own.) We're even thinking of buying him what is called an "identifier" cane. Basically it is a white folding cane you see being used by the blind. It would help people remember his limitations and compensate rather than just seeing a cute kid with glasses and assuming that he has no vision problems.

Angel Face gets goofy when he wants attention. Its funny at first but the seventeenth time he tells you that the dinner dishes should be cleaned in his brain, it just looses its appeal.

Lucy is a true sweetheart. She does everything she can to be helpful. I have no doubt that they made the pink aisle at Wal-mart for her.

I miss my wife when she is gone, even after almost fourteen years of marriage. She does more for our family than I give her credit for.

These are all good things to find out as a proud papa.

Painful Realization Islamo-fascism

2007-04-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of talk and its seems to be growing, about the term Islamo-fascism. If we are truly dealing with a fascistic mentality in Iraq, or even throughout the Middle-East, we are faced with a sobering reality.

We got in too soon.

Put this into historical perspective. Had England or America invaded Germany, Italy, or Japan too soon, it would have been politically unpalitable for them to conquer those countries all together. We would have been left rebuilding a resentful country. Unrepentant because after all, they would have done nothing wrong.

Of the three groups just named the mentality to the Jihadist Islamics most closely resembles the Japanese. And when we finally removed the Japanese from Iwo Jima and Okinawa we had to literally destroy the entire defending army. Of the 22,000 original Japanese combatants on Iwo Jima only 216 were taken prisoner. On Okinawa, 66,000 Japanese soldiers died or were missing with 140,000 civilians killed.

Why were the japanese so willing to fight to the death for their political agenda?

Beliefs and homeland.

For most Japanese, the emperor was decended from the Gods. They fought for the Gods. Then, as the invaders came closer to the homeland, they fought mainly to make them pay a higher price to stop the invaders from ever invading the mainland.

Applying this to what we face in Iraq is not a straight comparison. There are many middle eastern countries. There are even multiple religions in the middle east. It is simply the concept of the radicalized middle east that is the most sobering. Iraq hadn't committed enough attrocities for us to step in and catagorically convince the world and most importantantly the Iraqis and Iraq's neighbors, that the attrocities had to be stopped.

But at the base the comparison is stark. We are attacking their beliefs and we are in their homeland.

What has the reaction become? We are the perceived oppressors. The perceived enemy. This is a battle that must be won philosophically and there are no weapons I know of that can be used philosophically right now. (I can just see a whole fleet of Jehovah's Witnesses sent over to convert Iraq.)

We need to get out but if we leave now, when it implodes, it will be our fault.

If we stay we remain the focal point.

I think we should turn it over to a Middle Easter coalition of countries with Iraq trying to stick to the constitution we gave them. I realize this is a cut and run stategy; but, put into historical perspective, we're gonna get killed no matter what we do. And unlike Germany or Japan, when we went in this time we didn't level the country after years of prolonged war. The people don't need us to rebuild. They need us to get out and turn it over to them. I think that a middle eastern coalition might soften the blow somewhat.

No easy answer here.

I was informed that I have been tagged

2007-04-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

My wife tagged me yesterday and I didn't even realize what she was talking about. I thought that she was just saying that I would probably comment on her blog.

So in the spirit of the game:

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Pizza Oven Connection Dishwasher (age 13) - It paid for my skiing
2. Boy Scout Camp Commissary Director (ages 16-17)
3. Custodian (age 21)
4. Painter (ages 23)

Four movies I have watched over and over:

1. Pride and Prejudice (the A&E version or the old black and white version, I don't really like the Kiera Knightly version) - I really wish A&E would create Les Miserables in the same way they did Pride and Prejudice.
2. Seven Brides for Seven Bothers (way more than anyone should have watched one movie)
3. Return to Me
4. Nine to Five, although I must admit I have only seen it once in the last ten years.

Four places I have lived (other than here!):
1. Cottonwood Heights, Utah(Birth - 14)
2. Kearny, AZ (14-19, and 28-31)
3. Italy (19-21)
4. Mesa, AZ (first 7 years of marriage)

Four TV shows I love to watch: (This is really hard...there isn't much I watch!)
1. American Idol
2. Extreme Makeover, Home Edition
3. House
4. Good Eats (We currently don't subscribe to that satellite package though)

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Experimental Recipies
2. Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownies
3. Chinese Sweet and Sour (Pork or Chicken)
4. Chocolate Milk and Ginger Snaps (together)

Four people who I think will respond:

I'm going to cut the legs out from underneath this ponzi scheme right now. I'm only going to tag two people and hope that they respond.

1. My whiny twin, who thinks I don't know how to add.
2. My whiny older brother, who starts a blog only to let it die, all alone, out in the cold.

White and Nerdy

2007-04-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

I read a WSJ article today about the Czech Republic adopting the flat tax. Interested that there are still folks out there talking about the flat tax I decided to go to wikipedia and see what the font of all knowledge had to say about the flat tax. I assumed (incorrectly) that it would be all about Steve Forbes' presidential bid in 1996.

In reading the article I discovered that the Czech Republic was still listed as one of the countries that had only proposed to switch to the flat tax.

I got an itch.

I had to fix it.

And so, for the first time in my life I added my two bits to the font of knowledge. It really wasn't my two bits, but if I didn't fix it, who was going to?

And now to my point. If you haven't heard the song "White and Nerdy" by Weird Al Yankovic one of the lines describing what makes the singer white and nerdy is that he edits wikipedia. Holy Cow! I'm White and Nerdy.

I have included the lyrics in this post and bolded the lyrics that apply to me, words in parenthesis are my commentary:

White & Nerdy by Al Yankovic

They see me mowin’ My front lawn
I know they’re all thinking I’m so white and nerdy
Think I’m just too white and nerdy
Think I’m just too white and nerdy
Can’t you see I’m white and nerdy?
Look at me, I’m white and nerdy

I wanna roll with The gangstas
But so far they all think I’m too white and nerdy
Think I’m just too white and nerdy
Think I’m just too white and nerdy
I’m just too white and nerdy.
Really really white and nerdy.

First in my class here at MIT
Got skills, I’m a champion at D&D (actually I preferred other RPGs)
MC Escher - that’s my favorite MC
Keep your 40, I’ll just have an Earl Grey tea
My rims never spin, to the contrary
You’ll find that they’re quite stationary
All of my action figures are cherry
Steven Hawking’s in my library
My MySpace page is all totally pimped out
Got people beggin’ for my top eight spaces
Yo, I know pi to a thousand places
Ain’t got no grills but I still wear braces
I order all of my sandwiches with mayonnaise
I’m a whiz at Minesweeper - I could play for days
Once you see my sweet moves you’re gonna stay amazed
My fingers’ movin’ so fast I’ll set the place ablaze
There’s no killer app I haven’t run
At Pascal, well I’m number one
Do vector calculus just for fun
I ain’t got a gat but I got a soldering gun
Happy Days is my favorite theme song
I could sure kick your butt in a game of ping pong
I’ll ace any trivia quiz you bring on
I’m fluent in JavaScript as well as Klingon

They see me roll on My Segway
I know in my heart they think I’m white and nerdy
Think I’m just too white and nerdy
Think I’m just too white and nerdy
Can’t you see I’m white and nerdy
Look at me, I’m white and nerdy
I’d like to roll with The gangstas
Although it’s apparent I’m too white and nerdy
Think I’m just too white and nerdy
Think I’m just too white and nerdy
I’m just too white and nerdy
How’d I get so white and nerdy

I’ve been browsin’, inspectin’
X-Men comics, you know I collect ‘em (Not any more)
The pens in my pocket, I must protect ‘em
My ergonomic keyboard never leaves me bored
Shopping online for deals on some writable media
I edit Wikipedia
I memorized Holy Grail really well
I can recite it right now and have you ROTFLOL
I got a business doing websites
When my friends need some code, who do they call?
I do HTML for ‘em all
Even made a homepage for my dog
Yo, I got myself a fanny pack
They were havin’ a sale down at The Gap
Spend my nights with a roll of bubble wrap
Pop, pop, hope no one sees me
Gettin’ freaky
I’m nerdy in the extreme
And whiter than sour cream (never could get a tan)
I was in AV Club and Glee Club and even the Chess Team
Only question I Ever thought was hard
Was do I like Kirk Or do I like Picard
Spend every weekend at the Renaissance Fair
Got my name on my underwear

They see me strollin’
They laughin’
And rollin’ their eyes ‘cause I’m so white and nerdy
Just because I’m white and nerdy
Just because I’m white and nerdy
All because I’m white and nerdy
Holy cow, I’m white and nerdy
I wanna bowl with The gangstas
But, oh well, it’s obvious I’m white and nerdy
Think I’m just too white and nerdy
Think I’m just too white and nerdy
I’m just too white and nerdy
Look at me, I’m white and nerdy

Funny Names

2007-04-11T08:10:00.000-07:00

When the blog inspiration Gods strike you must be grateful. I was reading Mormon Millie's blog this morning and I decided I should take the opportunity to list the names that we have come up with through the years that would not go well with (or would go too well with) our last name:

John

Porter - A good name just not for this family
Portia Lynn
Fayelynn Dee
Peter Jamsen
Matthew Marcluken

Those are the best on my list.

Got any more?

Mission Anniversary

2007-04-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

Today marks sixteen years from the day that I entered the missionary training center in Provo, Utah to begin my full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Italy.

I mark this day every year and usually my wife and I will talk about it. I am glad that I went.

My mission was not filled with the same kinds of spiritual experiences that my father weaned me on growning up. I was never on top of the baptising list. I worked. I worked hard. I encountered some discouragement but not enough to ever make me want to stop working.

Today I re-read the story of Enos. He is told that his sins are forgiven and he asks, "Lord, how is it done?" He knows that God can not lie and therefore he knows it has been done so he asks: "How?" You can sense his wonder and awe. You can sence his gratitude and love for the savior.

I didn't have an apostalic mission. I didn't heal anyone's infirmities or witness great miracles. Except. I witnessed as a handful of souls were brought to ask with that same emotion and gratitude, "How is it done?"

Given the chance to relive my life there are a few things I would change. The three things I wouldn't change are: 1. Be baptised 2. Go on a mission 3. Marry my wife.

I'm NOT obsessed with Global Warming I Swear

2007-04-02T08:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, I realize that this is my third post about global warming, but I just can't help it. The supreme court has rendered an opionion about global warming that goes one step further to legitimitize the weak science behind the concept.

Today, the court ruled that the EPA cannot ignore car and truck emissions in the Clean Air Act. Specifically, Justice Stephens said in the majority opinion, "A well-documented rise in global temperatures has coincided with a significant increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere."

So, I guess the next logical step is what? We can't stop the vehicles on today's roads stop spitting out carbon dioxide. In fact the only fuel that doesn't produce CO2 is Hydrogen. (Which is not particularly easy to use as fuels go.)

More significantly, the supreme court has just made global warming official in the United States.

I guess my cap and trade idea really could make me rich if every schlub had to pay a CO2 tax at the pump to be used in carbon offsets.

I better get busy.

I'm a Genius

2007-03-30T07:53:00.000-07:00

So, on NPR last Friday they talked about Carbon Dioxide cap and trade schemes. It got me thinking about an idea that I have had for a long time and I've decided to fling it to the blogging world for the voluminous feedback that I always recieve.

You see, we are releasing so much carbon dioxide into the world by burning everything we can lay our hands on that of course global warming is all our fault. The earth has a fever and is going to die.

So here is my solution. You set up a huge pipe line running straight out of the ocean, through a desalinization plant, and into the Sahara. You begin growing trees on the most remote part of the desert so that you can purchase millions of acres on the cheap. Then you start selling "carbon credits" to the industrial countries for all of your new grown jungle. Heck to get the project running you could presale the credits to beat future carbon emission limitations. They get to keep burning their fossil fuels. You get to terraform a useless chunk of the world into a huge carbon sink that undoubtedly would generate piles of tourist cash. The Al Gore's of the world name you the hero of the planet. They'll probably name the new river that forms in the desert after you.

In theory once the terraformed area is large enough and wet enough, it would become a self sustaining habitat.

Genius.

Please send your save the planet checks to:

Presidential Campaigns

2007-03-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

So I just learned yesterday why so many presidential hopefuls toss their hats into the ring so early. You see, to become president requires boat loads of money. The first one asking for the money has a couple of advantages. 1. There is less competition for the money, because there are less options. 2. If you can earn enough early enough you get front runner buzz. Which in turn will generate more money for you. It seems like a smart stategy. This campaign will likely be the most expensive presidential election ever costing over $1 billion, just for the CHANCE to hold the reigns.

I hate to say it but I feel more and more like a low born Plebian and unless you have all of the right credentials, parents, and money you will not be considered a patrician.

Nevertheless, while I don't have money to give to candidates (except for telling congress to give $3 dollars to the official candidates when I file my taxes) I still have seen enough of the candidates to settle on my choice.

If you don't know much about Mitt Romney I recommend you follow my link and spend five minutes getting aquainted. Right credentials, right parents, a SUCCESSFUL business man (which in my mind says a LOT), and has a firm moral compass. Definitely the best of this years patricians.

I'd love to hear anybody else's better suggestion out of the declared candidates.

Rabbits

2007-03-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know my family well I apologize for recycled story telling. I was reminded about a family story today while reading a foody blog that I enjoy and thought that I would share.

When we first got our rabbits for free (the cage cost $45) I intended that we would be cooking them up as little rabbit hot wings to the children and oh wasn't this such a great idea?

I got this idea from eating some at a church social once and having eaten several helpings was finally informed that I was not eating chicken it was rabbit. So yes, rabbit really does taste like chicken...sort of.

Therefore, my first couple of experiments into rabbit preparation were using chicken cooking recipes. Guess what? Not a good idea. Most of the poor bunny got left on the plate.

I finally thought I had struck recipe gold when I cooked up a good plate of hasenpfeffer. It tasted good and, finally, the meat wasn't too rubbery.

I served some of the good stuff up for lunch and my wonderful Angel Face sat down and ate it up.

"What is this?" He asked after finishing half of his first helping.

"It's hasenpfeffer." Was my coy reply. Of course I wasn't going to tell my extremely sensitive five year old what he was really eating.

"Really, dad. What kind of meat is it."

A direct question and just like George Washington, there was no escaping this cherry tree. He'd asked it straight out.

"Its the rabbit." I replied.

I expected that he would stop eating which really wasn't a problem because he had already eaten enough. Then, much to my suprise....he threw up. Right there, at the table, on his plate.

I think it is my sister-in-law who doesn't really like Oreos any more for the same reason. No, Oreos aren't made out of bunnies.... ... I think. But, you know, she tossed her cookies and now she doesn't like them.

I can honestly say that I've seen many people pretend that they are going to throw up when you tell them that you've got broccholi or some other undesirable veggie planned for dinner. I never thought I would see that kind of a reaction in real life. He tossed his bunnies.

Next time I'll call it Coniglio and try to dodge the questioning a little better.

On being guided by the Spirit

2007-03-22T08:28:00.000-07:00

I am grateful for a father and mother that tought me the importance of the Holy Ghost. The importance of doing what is right all of the time. The importance of being worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost.

So many times in my life I have known what path to take and taken those first steps onto that path not with fear and anxiety but with confidence. Even though I didn't know what would happen next, the spirit reassures. The spirit enlightens.

Some would say we're crazy for having a seventh child on the way. I say simply, "I know its right."

Some would say we're crazy for not moving on to a better paying job, the spirit said stay.

The best part of this whole equation? When I'm working with my wife on a problem, we always get the same or complimentary council from the Spirit. Two seperate witnesses. That means that when the world calls us crazy, I can confidently move forward, not doubting that oh so subtle prompting.

Getting out of bed

2007-03-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

Most mornings I wake up one of the children a little before six and we make breakfast together. Waffles were supposed to be on the menu this morning; however, when I went to wake Miss M (who is one of my true larks) she let me know that she was too tired to wake up and make breakfast. I stumbled back to my bed for twenty minutes more.

I had a good chuckle at the girls expense too. Lucy had her head on Miss M's chest like she was a pillow.

Unfortunately, I did miss my normal time with Miss M. With six kids you don't get a whole lotta 1 0n 1 time with each kid.

So... Here's a short poem for my Miss M

Bleary eyed and incoherant
Not a good time
to make a decision
I head back to bed

So looking forward
when opportunity returns
I'll let my convictions win
and some sleep be lost.

My Wife Left Me

2007-03-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

I know this is not the typical forum for this kind of an announcement, yet it is true. My wife has left me...

Of course, she'll be back Thursday night. She's gone to Mesa to help out a dear friend of ours and that is part of why I love her so much.

The past few weeks there has been a sister in the ward that has been helping my wife with some of the house chores. Mind you, my wife had the house mostly under control...its not like we live underneath piles of junk. All the same this sister has felt compelled to come and help out around the house. I'm grateful to her as my wife is also. It is nice when someone offers a no strings attached bit of service.

So my wife, when she found out her friend would need some service after a surgery, volunteered. She made all of the arrangements to have the children cared for during her absence and there we are. She's left me.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Someone Else's Blog

2007-03-09T07:32:00.000-08:00

If you read my blog you know I like poetry. I recently posted one of my grandfather's poems.

Last night as we cleaned our room my wife tossed me a poem she had written. Its one of her best. So, while this is hardly my blog, today I'll blog for my wife.

Elixir

Weariness furrows my brow,

frustrations fill my view.

Daily toiling takes its toll

Upon my heart and spirit.

The joys of our lives

Bring sorrow too,

angry words and looks,

disobedience and defiance.

Amid the daily struggles,

One bright light can cut through any trial...

Your voice, your touch, your smile,

Renews my waning tolerance.

Renews without requesting anything,

No demands of selfish nature here,

Just joy, complete and whole,

As our day ends...within each others view.

KMJ 2006

I love this poem. It could so easily come from me to her. She is my Elixir.

***I can hear the Austin Powers voice in my head saying, "Yeah, baby!"***

I Envy My Father

2007-03-07T15:59:00.000-08:00

I envy my father. When I was born the doctor told him that he would have to wait in the lobby. He got the good news of my birth and that was it, he was a father. He had no say in the matter. He just sat there with his mouth shut waiting. Now, to become a father you have to ‘share’ in the birthing experience. Now, don’t think that I didn’t want to ‘share.’ I love my wife very much and when we went to the hospital I was anxious for her. I would do anything to get rid of her pain. She definitely had the harder job between the two of us. What most men don’t realize though is that the moment they enter the hospital they are walking a tightrope.

You see, when she gets to the hospital she’s already uncomfortable. Every five minutes she’s in pain and it is very likely that she’s feeling a touch embarrassed that water is leaking out of her and she can’t stop it. So when we got to the hospital with our first child it was with some excitement and a whole lot of naiveté. The first thing they do is verify you’re in labor. You may think this is a simple process, but if your water hasn’t broke, it could be false labor. They send you home and your wife has built herself up to have this baby NOW. Being a man the natural tendency is to tell your wife that the hospital is right, and isn’t it a good thing the doctors and nurses are doing their jobs so well? DO NOT FOLLOW THIS TENDENCY! Your job is to help your wife through the process AND survive until after the baby is born. When they send you home because it’s too early, you be just as indignant as she is. “That’s right honey, those stupid nurses don’t know a thing about you.”

So, when you finally get to the room, they start jabbing and poking your wife and covering her with straps and tubes. This gives them all the control. You won’t get it back until you leave the hospital after the baby is born. All the jabbing and poking doesn’t go very far for putting your wife into a better mood. But with our first child, my wife was very excited so I got to phone all the relatives to tell them we were at the hospital. With our first child everyone was so excited they all came right down to the hospital. While we were waiting for them to come they gave my wife a mild pain killer. It didn’t take any of the pain away it just got her buzzing. My clean wife, who has never had narcotics of any kind in her life, including alcohol, is buzzing. She hates it and is even more uncomfortable. So I put a movie into the hospital supplied VCR. I thought it would be a distraction that would take her mind off the pain. Nope, she’s hurting, buzzing, being poked and prodded, and now I’m trying to take the remote. We turned the movie off. I was glad when some family and friend showed up.

You would think that women would have some sort of innate connection that allows them to know just the right thing to do to help each other out. At first that seemed true. Kristine’s best friend showed up and started cracking jokes. That did help for a while, but Kris wasn’t in the mood for humor, she stopped laughing. Uh-oh, she must really be hurting. Even the dumb guy in the room can see that. Well her mom can tell too. So she sits by her and starts stroking her hand. Why is she doing that? I know my wife and I don’t think she’s gonna like that. Sure enough, after just a minute she pulls her hand away and tells her mom to stop. If her mom was smart like a guy she would have just backed off and given the woman space. Not mom though, this is her daughter and she doesn’t like seeing her hurt. So she takes a cool wash cloth and starts cooling my wife’s forehead. Hey, that’s a good idea. But then she decides to sooth her daughter by waxing poetic. She starts saying, “It’s a beautiful day outside, the wind is blowing, the palm trees are blowing in the breeze…”, “Mom … Shut up.” I’m glad my wife said it. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to speak yet. We all had a good laugh and decided Kristine just needed some time concentrate on what was going on. My mother-in-law kept the wash cloth going that was a good idea. When my mother showed up I thought, “well, she’ll have some good advise, she had eight children, she knows what she’s doing.” So the first thing my mother says is, “Are you hurting?” What? Well duh. Next comes the clincher and she says, “Well, I hate to tell you sweetheart, but it just gets worse from here.” All my wife had to say was, “Mom...” My mom figured out the rest.

So now we’re all there, one big happy family. We’ve got me and my wife, my wife’s best friend, Susan, Kris’ sister, Becca, my sister, Coleen, and my wife’s mother in the room and both of my parents out in the hall trying hard not to put feet in their mouths. We’re having a little get together, just me and the girls. I’m trying to help my wife be comfortable so we all chat and laugh for two minutes and get serious for one while the contraction hits and passes. One minute out of three my wife just needs my attention. But I’m a guy who likes to joke. After a few jokes though I finally realize, she’s not laughing, so she didn’t say it but she thought it, “Pat...just shut up.”

The process has taken several hours, my wife got an epidural which we all thought would make things better; however, my wife is almost as tall as me. They miscalculated the dose and she ended up feeling everything. This didn’t help with her mood much. Now the pain is so frequent that we can’t joke very often without incurring certain wrath. It’s better just not to talk. When the nurses finally determine that Kristine is about ready to push they start reminding me to help her breath, I’m thinking, “I don’t think she really wants me to talk right now, are you sure?” The doctor comes in and he can talk at normal volume. She won’t get mad at him; he knows what he’s doing. I just hold her hand trying not to speak except to convince the nurses that I do know about the breathing. I kind of whisper, “Okay now, take a breath…” I hope the nurses heard me.

I’m not a macho man; I don’t try to hide my emotions normally. But I have to admit I was quite conflicted. Here I am in a room full of women and when the baby was born, I tried not to cry. I gave up after a few seconds. It is truly miraculous how birth happens. How the heck did he fit through there? That had to be worse than all the contractions combined. (I don’t say that out loud either.) The good news is that now that the baby is here, everyone can talk again. Kris’s mood changes completely and now everyone is happy.

My wife is very tough. Throughout this whole labor and delivery she doesn’t cry or scream. She just wanted everyone quiet and helping her out, a reasonable enough request. The girl in the next room was noisier than anything. I’m sure her husband wasn’t allowed to speak either.

What I saw on the way to work this morning.

2007-03-02T17:53:00.000-08:00

My drive to work every morning is just more than 15 minutes (covering 13 miles.) I must confess that I wasn't too sad to leave the house this morning. The God of stink had struck again.

As I pull out of my house I am surrounded by a beautiful mixed pine and juniper forest. I drive one mile, hit the highway, and head out of the junipers into a rolling grassland. It was right at this point three years ago that I saw what I thought was a big coyote...I found out the next day that it had been a wolf from the reintroduction program. (A program that stirs quite the controversy around here. Imagine if they tried to reintroduce the eastern grey wolf into rural Virginia.)

I wiz past the entrance to the town of Tyrone about nine minutes from home and start climbing up the pass that leads to the mine where I work. Just up in front of me I see my manager in his car and then, perfectly framed in a stand of yellow grass I see a regal bobcat, standing shock still waiting for the traffic to pass. At work I asked my manager if he saw the cat and he didn't. It was a perfect setup and the cat knew he could hold still to remain less visible even though he was standing tall.

Last spring when my mother-in-law was visiting and again when the cousins were over on the Fourth of July (and sleeping on the tramp) we heard a cat screaming. It was very cool to clearly see one for the first time though. (I saw the screamer's tail end as it ran away when I went to investigate the noise.)

I love where we live.

Pain

2007-03-01T07:37:00.000-08:00

Last week with the Boy Scouts we worked on the Personal Fitness Merit Badge. It required that the boys all test a baseline for how many push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups they could do. They also have to run a mile. At the end of six weeks they need to show improvement on these exercises.

I decided to do the exercises as well. I couldn't do a single pull-up; however, I beat all of the boys (not the two other adults) in sit-ups and tied the best boy in push-ups. I'm not dead yet.

Of course the next day I was a little sore. The day after that I was REALLY sore. The last of the pain subsided a full six days after the workout. Which leads me to a quote I read recently that I really like.

"Pain is weakness leaving the body."

At first flush this saying is kind of insulting. I mean, what about the chronically ill person that through no fault of their own, is wracked with pain? Or the person that suffers from back pain for years with no relief?

Even then, I believe, God is giving us a chance to strengthen our character. I have met some people that have been to depths of physical pain and they can come out of it much stronger in character. I have also met one or two that have come out of their pain wounded and bitter.

So, once again, I am amending someone else's saying:

"Pain helps weakness leave the body."

There, that should take it from Gym cliche' to profound.

Running the numbers and the experiment

2007-02-26T09:05:00.000-08:00

Because some people don't understand how an earth warming cycle looks I have included a highly technical schematic as part of my blog today.

On the top line of the drawing we are looking at a warming and cooling trend on the earth that has a period of around 20,000 years. While my drawing isn't based on specific data this is pretty much what it looks like. You can find the real 12,000 year span on Wikipedia.

The second line is a magnification of one 10,000 year section through which time we cycle down to a cool era and are heading up. This is what we call an ice age. Not a "little ice age." A full blown ice age.

The third line represents a 2,500 year time span and when you get this close to the data it gets much harder to figure out what is going on.

I then drew a one hundred year stretch with a very steep upward trend. The real data shows a very steep upward trend, changing higher upwards than anyone has ever seen since the last ice age. The problem is we can't reconstruct the data going any further back. So it leaves people guessing what is going to happen. People who are convinced that humans are the cause for this trend jump up and down swearing that the curve will go up forever, swamping all of the the world's low lands in the process.

My undergraduate is in Geology and a student once asked the professor if he believed that there was global warming and if we were causing it. He pointed to the same data I layed out and then sidestepped the issue by pointing out that whether or not you agree on the cause, man is running a global science experiment. We are converting all of our fossil fuels into Carbon dioxide, heat, water, and a few other nasties. So, whether or not you agree that man is the cause, the data shows a phenominal uptick in the OVERALL global temperature.

Being a geologist and used to thinking in terms of Millions...and Billions of years, I personally think that even if we humans are supplying our inputs, our impact or even a major change in our behavior will not change what the earth has done forever. And that is be a huge chemistry lab where oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water are the main chemical reactants.

Anyone that claims catagorically that man is the main cause for global warming has left the realm of science and entered the realm of politics. A realm that in order to look like a hero, you've got to create the problem you are going to solve first.

Protecting My Daughters

2007-02-23T07:27:00.000-08:00

My daughters are beautiful.

Sometimes I'll see them dressed for church and wonder how in the world they are getting so big so fast. The older, Miss M, can appear at times to be a young woman. She's only 9.

I don't think she understands why I am always fussing over how modest her clothing must. Indeed, I can see the pressure she already has to dress "cool."

I am very grateful for a wife that is with me ideologically. That doesn't solve all of the problems. But I believe we are doing as much as we can.

I constantly ask myself: "Are we missing anything?"

Ultimately, all of the children will get older and develop their own values. I hope that what they develop resemble what we give them.

Political Core Beliefs

2007-02-22T15:16:00.000-08:00

I have recently been joined at work by a VERY liberal colleague. Lately, she has given me more reason to be politically minded than I would care to admit.

I just found out what makes her gears tick. Now, admittedly, this is a right wing opinion. But its good for a laugh.

I imagine that a similar list could be made for us right wing nuts.

I'm open for suggestions on what makes you a right wing nut. Something like:

1. You oppose abortion but you believe in capital punishment

2. You believe that homosexuality is a CHOICE (as opposed to genetic) but you believe that diabetes "runs in the family." (Because the family never runs.)

Any others?

Working on the poem

2007-02-21T12:00:00.000-08:00

So,

The second stanza of the poem in my last blog has bugged me for a couple days. Lets try this version:

One builds it up
One tears it down
One more does nothing
Just one gains renown.

Not that fame is what we're after, but lets face it. When you get stuff done people notice. That applies to just about every endeavor.

My headstone won't say, "I wish I had spent more time at the office." But I hope my obituary reads: "He was a hard worker (not a hardly worker.)"

The Construction Gang

2007-02-19T09:24:00.000-08:00

My grandfather Barlow was a prolific poet. When he died my grandmother spent more than a year compiling and editing his poetry. She gave a copy to all of her children and grandchildren. My favorite poem of his is this one:

A good thing to remember
A better thing to do
Is be part of the construction gang
And not the wrecking crew.

I've been thinking about it a lot lately.
Since I have a propensity to procrastinate I've decided that the poem needs a second stanza. I hope my grandpa would approve.

One builds it up
One tears it down
One more does nothing
Only one is renowned.

I can remember as a child, teaching myself how to braid by playing with a pine needle. When I had finished the braid I felt like I had created something wonderful. Not that the braid was fantastic, the point was: I had created. That feeling of accomplishment was/is so wonderful. I love being part of the construction gang.

What makes you feel that way?

Camping in February

2007-02-17T16:26:00.000-08:00

We've committed to taking the scouts out camping once a month no matter what. So, when a snowstorm rolled in earlier this week I was afraid that we'd be camping in the snow. Well, the good thing about New Mexico is that the snow is allergic to the ground here and quickly leaves with teary itchy eyes.

It was warm. Seriously, it took two hours after the sun went down for us to see our breath. There wasn't any frost on us when we woke up either. Weird. I expected at least a weak attempt from mother nature.

We had hiked up from a nice lake over on the Mimbres. Of course because it was a late start (someone's car backfired at the high school and they locked down the schools in the neighborhood thus making us start our campout an hour and a half later than we inteded.) So with our late start we didn't hike too far before we all agreed that hiking up a running crick in the dark was not a *bright* idea. We camped about a quarter mile from the cars. The local high school students (no doubt celebrating the big fuss at the school) then moved into the lake and played their thumping music until past 1am.

At the end of the day both Bug-O-Rug and I were so wiped out that waking us up from our recovery naps was a life threatening action for the waker.

I can't wait until the next campout.

A love poem

2007-02-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

I would have posted yesterday but there were some technical difficulties.

Read the Large text first, then you can go back and read the small text to find out what I was thinking.

Two eyes that sparkle, emerald and blue
*wait a second, that sounds like she has one green eye and one blue eye*
Skin o'er her face, soft like the dew
*read no reference to acne or otherwise, I just like her skin*
Two lips plump and pouting
*Not that she's sad, I like it when she pouts for me*
Gentle her touch
*I'm not into the rough stuff*
I reach to caress her
*You know, like a back scratch or a foot rub*
I need her so much
*Not just because you make my lunch for me and wash my socks*
My soul feels with longing
*A word that here doesn't apply to the length of something but rather the desire for something*
My heart skips a beat
*Don't worry, I don't have an arithmia or any other heart conditions*
Forever I'm with her
*Bwa Ha Ha, you'll never get rid of me*
Come share my VD
*That's shorthand for Valentines Day*

More moisture

2007-02-13T12:47:00.000-08:00

Crud!

Its snowing again. When I was little ... no, when I lived on a paved street my mantra was "Let it snow!" After spending all of January fearing the trip home, mainly because I knew that my wife was pregnant and had the potential of getting stuck, I was ready for a dry February. Nope, its snowing today and the snow isn't sticking. Everything is wet and I've got the brown snot road to look forward to on the way home. Of course, the fact that it is good to have moisture in a desert isn't lost on me. I just felt like doing a little whining.

The weather I truly love is deep snow. While that is what made January so miserable, at least you get some joy in return.

I'll also take a scorching hot summer day next to a swimming pool anytime. Better yet next to my favorite swimming hole....I'll have to post on that one later.

Happy Music

2007-02-08T13:26:00.000-08:00

My Sister in Law likes Metallica. I can honestly say that my teenage biases have stopped me from ever listening to that music with an open mind. So I downloaded "Enter Sandman" (because it was the most popular of their songs on i-tunes) and I have to admit, that while its not the worst music ever, I won't be rushing out to buy the rest of the album. I won't even be going slowly out to buy the album. Definitely a matter of tastes.

The other day coming back from Phoenix I listened to a bunch of happy tunes and when I got home that combined with the joy of being with my children created a positively euphoric mood. (I think my wife was a little freaked.)

I remember that my twin used to listen to some heavy metal tune just before a football game. He swore that it would rev him up.

I have no doubt that music CAN alter your emotions. While I don't think that it always does.

One of my all time favorites is "Man its so loud in here" by They Might Be Giants. My favorite Lulliby is "Cradle Song" by Shriekback (Cool, I just found out that they have a new album.) So I'm curious. What music do you listen to to put you on top? ...If for any reason you are tempted to say "Afterglow" for any reason. Just stop yourself. You know that can't be your favorite. (Whoa! I just found out they made it out of the '80s.)

Light

2007-02-07T12:27:00.000-08:00

Looking down,
I see the light of my neighbor’s barn
One light I know in Silver City
This time, the silver of the lights
Shining in the obscurity
Swallowed whole
In the land’s dark and gaping maw
Headlights declare
“I am a human here
speeding forward towards purpose
conquering darkness
with my glow.”
I recognize the cities below
That creep into view
Car’s lights pointed toward work
Illuminate the path
From my vantage
Their sparks along the way
Crossing road that I have crossed
I recognize their desire
Bright stars above
Wonderous and far
The stars below
Hold my imagination fast
These are the stars I know
The meaning I lend them
Drives mystery away
Great city Phoenix rises
Orange wings spread wide
Fire from the people
Burns away the night
The light attests
We fight against the night.

I flew from Silver City to Phoenix yesterday on business. Watching the towns and cars in the dark early morning brought out the poet in me.

The House of the Lord

2007-02-05T08:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, I just found a scripture that I could have written. I don't mean that it is simple, but that it perfectly expresses the way I feel.

We live about four and a half hours from three different temples. We usually go to the Mesa, Arizona temple. We have been to the Albuquerque temple a couple of times. We went to the Snow Flake, Arizona temple's open house but we've never attended a session. We are actually going to the "wrong" temple when we go to Mesa. Albuquerque is our district, but Arizona is our home.

So, in Psalms 122 David says, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." We try to go to the temple about once a quarter. Somewhere along the line we'll be looking at the calendar and my wife will say, "We need to plan our trip to the temple." I AM glad when she says that. The ball will start rolling, and away we go for a weekend excursion to Mesa. I don't often have ground shaking experiences at the temple but David got that right too. At the end of his short psalm he says, "Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good." He's talking specifically about seeking the good of Jerusalem. For me, metaphorically, he is talking about the kingdom of God. I find myself energized after attending the temple. More willing to read my scriptures, say my prayers, and fulfill my callings.

There's more in that chapter that applies, I won't break it down verse by verse. Just take a minute and read it. It will make you want to go. I'm already whipping out my calendar.

Simple act of kindness

2007-01-26T08:01:00.000-08:00

My Angel Face was up and dressed on time this morning. He usually is. He tends to be very conscientious in most matters where he is involved.

I was running a little behind this morning and as I headed out to clean the newest 2" of snow off of my truck before work I asked him if he would make me a Peanut Butter and Honey sandwich. He said yes and walked towards the kitchen without a complaint or even a put-out expression.

It took me a good five minutes to finish clearing the snow. I finished up and headed in to grab my work stuff. Running down my mental list of things to grab, computer bag, i-pod, pocket pc, lunch box, I remembered Angel Face. I walked into the kitchen and there he was putting the final touches on the sandwich. The honey wasn't evenly distributed. The peanut butter was a little too thin. My pride in my boy couldn't have been any stronger.

Normally my wonderful wife has prepared something for me. This morning as I headed off to work I was grateful for a magnificent son, willing to serve without complaint. While I did thank him profusely, words can't convey how a simple act can touch our lives. How service, ungrudgingly given, can alter our perspective. I hope I can follow my Angel Face's example.

Gnocchi Verdi

2007-01-25T09:01:00.000-08:00

There are a few times in your life when you do something either for the first time or so different than usual that it sticks out in your mind for years to come.

When I lived in Pisa there was a waffle shop on Corso Italia that was about a quarter of the way between the train station and our apartment on via Lucchese . (We could see the top of the tower from our second story balcony.) We stopped at the waffle shop regularly and treated ourselves if the budget allowed. The waffles were good but I remember the shop, not one particular waffle.

One afternoon when we were out working we arranged to meet someone at a local restaurant just off of the Piazza dei Miracoli. I think it was a member, all I can really tell you is they treated us to lunch. It was an italian food restaurant (in Italy, go figure.) It was just off of the Piazza and it catered to locals and forgeiners alike.

Our host suggested that I try the Gnocchi Verdi. I had no idea what it was. When my plate arrived I was a little overwhelmed by the pungent smell of the gorgonzola in the sauce. Prior to this day blue cheese dressing had never purposefully graced my salad. I took the first bite with some trepidation.

I can remember the first mouthful. A flavor so full that I felt it in my jaw muscles. I wanted more but I had to eat slowly and make it last. I made a fool of myself raving over the dish the entire time I ate it. Since that day I have tried unsuccessfully may times to replicate the meal I had that day. I love to cook, so I'll know I've arrived when I can illicit the same reaction I had that day from whomever the poor schlub is that I've conned into eating my experiment.

Am I nuts? Am I the only person that can remember the best meal I've ever had?

I'll tell you one thing for certain. When I take my wife to Italy, we're planning lunch in Pisa.

Mary Baily

2007-01-24T08:27:00.000-08:00

I'm not even sure if I got her last name right. Mary was a marvelous woman. My father and I home taught her and her husband Bill for all of the years I was in High school.

She had arthritis gnarled hands. A constant grin. Wrinkles galore but she never really appeared care-worn... I would say rather that her wrinkles came from always smiling.

When my wife and I were going to get married we went to the Relief Society in Kearny and asked if anyone would let us house sit for the summer while I worked at the mine to save up for college that fall. No one stepped forward. My then Fiance and I went to Mary and Bill and asked them directly. They said that they were expecting us and not surprised by the request. They even let us move in three days before they went on vacation. I have been a little embarrassed about that since then but at the time it was simply a mark of how generous they were.

The Sunday that they were in the house I went to make Gnocchi verdi with gorgonzola for us and them. I don't remember what took me away from the stove for so long but when I came back Mary had begun preparing the potatoes like you would mashed potatoes. It was gross. No one complained. Not even our hosts. That is all that I can remember of them during the time we spent together with them in their house.

Bill was a rock hound. I didn't know it at the time but I would end up getting my geology degree. The only person that knows more about rocks than Bill is my dad. I would love to have spent some time with Bill talking rocks before he passed away.

We moved to Mesa about a month before they returned. When Mary got back she found some knives and wash cloths missing. My wife replaced them with the best we could afford at the time. For the next couple of years when we visited my folks in Kearny we would go to church and Mary would always give us the most warm hugs and ask about us sincerely. There was a real connection.

A few years later she moved to Texas to be closer to some of her children. I think about her often. I am grateful for her sincere generosity. Her compassion on a couple just starting out. Its people like Mary in your life that become mileposts. You look back through the years and celebrate the simple fact that you knew them. You look back at your life and there they are, a point on your timeline and you thank Heavenly Father that you were able to connect with them.

Nintendo DS or "Dumb Stupor"

2007-01-23T18:58:00.000-08:00

Its a ritual. Sometime before bed EVERY night, I must turn on our nintendo DS and play a round of Brain Age. We've had this game since about new years and it hasn't gotten too old yet. What I really like about it the most is that once you've run through all of the activities once, it is really easy to turn off. Instead of an obsesive video game addiction, I'm only dealing with about twenty minutes a night. (That kind of reminds me of the New Years cigarette quitters at work..."I only smoke three a day...")

We actually got the DS for Christmas this year and spent the first week in a game induced stupor. Playing Big Brain Academy.

I whole heartily blame this stupor on my older brother Ollie and his lovely wife. They brought their own DSs and Big Brain to Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving. We should have been in a Turkey stupor but were in a video game stupor instead.

So, if no one answers the phone tonight when you call, you can blame Ollie and Laura. They put me in the stupor. I'll recover once I hit 20...

Pajamas All Day

2007-01-22T11:44:00.000-08:00

We spent all day Saturday in our pajamas.

Jack Frost finally delivered the promised accumilation and we were snowed in Saturday morning (eight inches out our front door.)

So when the children went to get dressed that morning I told them all to stay in their pajamas. We were headed outside and they all needed two layers to keep them warm.

We built a snow fort. Bug built a snowman. Miss M turned her into an 'old snow woman' by giving her a nice effeminate hat. Tiny froze out the quickest because while I told them to stay in their pajamas, I didn't explain that it was to help keep their soon to be wet legs a little warmer for a little longer. He was wearing boxer short pajamas.

We walked our sled over to an old mining pit nearby and tried it out. The pit wasn't deep enough so the joy rides lasted about two seconds. At least none of the kids complained about having to tromp through the snow for our fruitless escapade.

Last night when I went to bed there was a dusting on our van. I thought how dissappointed the kids would be in the morning to have to go back to school. I woke up to make breakfast with Bug and found that a new seven inches had fallen through the night. What!!??? This new storm wasn't supposed to do that! Add that to the four that were left from the first storm and we almost had a foot.

They closed the road going to my job but when I called our front gate they let me know that employees were being allowed to come through the barricade. Man I wish DPS would do a better job at protecting the community. There's another hill a little further tromp through the snow I wanted to try out with the kids.

Weather Forcast

2007-01-19T08:43:00.000-08:00

We've spent the last few days with a fevered escalation on the news. The weather man cancelled his trip to Hawaii until October because this HUGE storm was about to move in and in his words, "When you're the weatherman, and you have weather, you can't go on vacation." Yeah, good luck with that one.

So, with much excitement We've spent the last 24 hours preparing for this big storm. The worst case scenario has 2 feet falling right on top of us. Don't tell my kids but the best cast scenario has only 1" of fall predicted. Wait... we're already past four. Maybe it wouldn't matter if he did go on vacation. One website has the storm plowing through in 12 hours. Another has the storm staying longer than 48 hours. Some say it will be rain in Silver City. Some have it snowing down into northern Mexico and everything inbetween.

I'm just hoping that by the end of this work day there will be more than six inches still on the ground at home so that we can build a snowman and if the kids aren't frozen when that's done, a snow fort.

Now, to be honest. When I said 2 feet was the "worst" case scenario. I should confess. I honestly think that that would be the best case, and less than 6 inches would be the worst.

Let's hope that the weatherman staying in New Mexico will convince the weather gods that we are serious about our weather, and we want lots of it.

Fill My Lungs

2007-01-12T15:00:00.000-08:00

I fill my lungs with you
You've gone hard all day
I know your smell
In the happiest way.

I fill my lungs with our home
The fire just lit
Soft light from its glow
Contended I sit

I fill my lungs with our children
The good and the bad
Happy, just off the trampoline
Or wrestling with dad

I fill my lungs with our animals
Its raining today
One child left the door open
Apollo came to play.

I fill my lungs
I take it all in
let it all mix together
It comes out o'er my grin

I love Dirt!

2007-01-11T10:23:00.000-08:00

You may not be aware that I am an amateur gardener. I have been gardening since we lived in Kearny (about six years now), where I learned the magic of composting. My home teaching companion is also a gardener and for the last three years has given me four or five bags of leaves in the late fall to add to my compost pile. In the picture above I have just covered the pile with the third of five bags of leaves and I am hoping to get the other two mixed in by March so that they'll be composted by May. The other crucial ingredient is the rabbit poop from our five rabbits. They about double the volume of the alfalfa pellets we feed them. It's like magic, you put one cup of food in and get two cups of poop out. This whole recipe is topped off by my secret blend of herbs (ha, ha) and spices.

If you can't tell what I am doing in this picture, I am NOT sniffing the compost (though it does smell very nice) I am kissing the little leaves before I put them to bed in the compost. I'm having a secret love affair with my dirt. Nothing kinky...just dirty.

Some nights when I get home from work I will go out and turn the compost pile. Not every day, just enough to keep the process going. This is actually a hybrid compost pile though. It is half composting, half vermiculture. My beautiful red worms live on the periphery of the pile where the compost can no longer reach the high temperatures that it does at the core. When the reaction slows down they move into the whole pile again turning my compost into worm castings. All of which makes my plants VERY happy come planting season.

Gotta love that dirt!

Driving Lessons

2007-01-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

I had this exact conversation with my lovely Miss M yesterday. Of course she didn't say that I never let her do anything, but I'm sure she thought it. Actually she said that I'm no fun. (Of course she forgot about that by last night and was telling me just how wonderful she thought I was right before brownie time.)

When she was little I used to let her drive my Nissan Pickup home from church sitting on my lap. I wasn't too concerned because she would be buckled, there wasn't an air bag, and we lived in Kearny, AZ. (Think middle of nowhere... but a wonderful little town.)

Granted, where she was asking to drive was off-road, on the way home. (That's gonna have to be another blog.) But the air bag issue is a huge psycological barrier for me. Am I overblowing the issue? Is this a legitimate concern? Should I just not worry about it since the chance of encountering another car on the way home would be almost nil? I have visions of her poor little head being cocked back like a Miss M PEZ dispenser.

Of course, nerry a qualm letting all of the children ride in the back of the truck down the dirt road.

Singing and Gossiping

2007-01-07T09:14:00.000-08:00

I'm going to expand my sermonizing and share two verses with you. I read them both last night.

The first is Psalms 95:1 "O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation"

See now, my first thought was about a nice little girl that loves to sing in our ward. She loves to sing and does it with great enthusiasm. Like she's trying to audition for Annie belting it out in voluminous vibrato. Think, "I Know that My Reedeemer Lives" sung to the tune of, "The Sun'll Come Out Tommorrow." She tries hard and I admire her for that. I'm just embarrassed for her. It sounds awful. It does say a JOYFUL noise after all.

Then I read Psalms 101:5 "Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.

I am generally too proud of how well I sing. The first season we watched American Idol I had Bug in my truck with me and I was singing along to some song at the top of my lungs and he turned to me and said, "Dad, you're going to Hollywood!" I don't sing that well. But I am proud of my capabilities. Then I read that verse last night and realized I need an attitude adjustment. The joyful noise they're talking about isn't about the song being joyful to me, its about it being joyful to the blessed little noise maker. And I have no right to make fun of anything she does.

Plus, I REALLY don't want to find out what "cut off" means.

A Daisy on my (daughter's) toe

2007-01-04T06:55:00.000-08:00

My sister Ne-Ne taught me a song once that I love:

There's a daisy on my toe
It is not real
It does not grow
It's just a tattoo of a flower
So I'll look cute
When I'm taking a shower
It's on the second toe
Of my left foot
It has a stem
But there's no root
(Because That wouldn't look right )
My right foot loves My left foot so.

I guess it was originated by the Smother's brothers and the lyrics are slightly different but once you learn a song one way there is no changing it.

So for Christmas Miss M got nail decals. She put one on every one of Lucy's toes. I sang her the song and thought of my sister.

That's the good thing with a song like that. It may have originated with the Smothers brothers, but its mine now.... and maybe it'll be Lucy's too.

Another Psalm for life

2007-01-03T07:21:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know that you read the scriptures on your own. I just can't help sharing some of the nuggets I find on my own.

Have you ever been asked to be an usher at Stake Conference? It has always felt like a fairly useless job to me. I know that they are needed to take a head count of the attendees, and I also know they are going to hand out programs where not enough were printed and yet one family has six of them. Still you could get the same results with the program by placing them on a chair by the entrance.

So here is my scriptorial attitude adjustment: Psalms 84:10 "For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness."

Obviously, this applies to more than just the usher at Stake conference. I guess really what this means is that I should be happy no matter what the calling I have because God is letting me in his kingdom.

Okay, I'll be an usher if I am asked...but you're only getting one program.

Moses' Psalm

2007-01-02T07:45:00.000-08:00

Did you know that Moses wrote a psalm and it's in the book of psalms? I'm re-reading the psalms and I had forgotten that its not just David that wrote the psalms. Solomon, Asaph (the chief musician), Maschil of Ethan the Ezahite, and I'm sure others also wrote psalms.

Moses' psalm is #90.
My wife just blogged about the futility of sacrament meeting with six young children on the bench with you. She called it "The hour long wrestling match." Last night I read Moses' plea to the Lord and thought, "Man, that's just how I feel about my children." In verse 17, the last verse of the psalm, Moses asks the Lord to, "establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it."

Angel face follows the music with his finger, which makes it so I can't sing the harmony because he's hiding it. Bug is into singing, but he also is trying to make Lucy follow along and she is too young to read. Bam-bam is constantly trying to decide whose lap he wants to be on. Tiny wants to color right now, even though EVERY WEEK I have to remind him that we don't color or draw until after the sacrament. Miss M will scratch your back for a minute and expect you to reciprocate for a half hour. And in this mix, I'm just hoping and praying that they get a snippet out of it.

Then, at dinner, I am stunned when Bug and Miss M start to discuss what the speakers were talking about. Usually they pick up on a story that was told. Angel Face or Lucy will sing or hum a hymn that isn't taught in primary. Tiny will tell us proudly what Sister Arellano taught him in primary class. Bam-bam is still too young but as I see his older siblings there is a glimmer of hope, and a prayer, "...establish thou the work of our hands ..."

Why I am a Proud Papa

2006-12-19T15:10:00.000-08:00

I shall not go into my childhood bewilderment with MY father's and grandfather's hate of the word "Papa." I shall instead simply and briefly state why I am proud to claim the title.
1. Six children
2. It's universally understood in latin based languages
3. Six well behaved children
4. It implies a relationship to a mama. (Don't read too deep on that one.)
5. It carries responsibility
6. My children honor me every day I come home with a happy chorus of "Pa-pa-J-J-J, Pa-pa-J-J-J-J." Sung to the intro of Styx's "Blue Collar Man"

Name That Line Christmas edition

2006-12-18T08:23:00.000-08:00

Name that Line Dec 18th (Happy Birthday Ollie)

Here is the latest installment of name that line:1 point for the movie, 1 point for the character's name, 1 point for the actor's name an extra 5 points if you can legitamately name another movie that has the same line not including different versions of the same movie.e-mail any suggestions you want to contribute to next week's installment to:

pnkjohn@hotmail.com

This version of name that line should see a lot of high scores since we all love the Chrismas movies.

* I shortened some names so the quotes wouldn't be TOO easy.

1. [Shoved down the slide, but he stops himself and climbs back up] "No! No! I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!" "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."
2. "What is it you want, M*? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, M*." "I'll take it. Then what?" "Well, then you can swallow it, and it'll all dissolve, see... and the moonbeams would shoot out of your fingers and your toes and the ends of your hair... am I talking too much?"
3. "You're supposed to drink the milk." "Look, I am lactose intolerant! And I'm just about this close to taking all those presents back up the chimney. Supposed to drink the milk!"
4. "Wait a minute, I got it. I got it. I got it. How about this: The Molintator." "The Molinator. I like it. Thank you, Santa. Can we vote right now on The Molinator?"
5. "This bell is a wonderful symbol of the spirit of Christmas- as am I. Just remember, the true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart."
6. "Have you seen these toilets? They're GINORMOUS!"
7. "Welcome, Christmas, bring your cheer. Cheer to all Whos far and near. Christmas Day is in our grasp so long as we have hands to clasp. Christmas Day will always be just as long as we have we. Welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart and hand in hand."
8. "What is your name?" "K* K*." "Where do you live?" "That's what this hearing will decide."
9. "[shouting in desperation] Isn't there anyone out there who can tell me what Christmas is all about?" "Sure, C*B*, I can tell you. Lights, please. [a spotlight shines] "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the lord shone round about them, and they were so afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you this day is born in the City of Bethlehem, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men'". That's what Christmas is all about, C* B*.
10. "Hello there... I-I-I-I... Oh dear... Oh... Oh, you're-you're... I'm W* K* and I'm custodian over at the Beck Apartments, but, but you know that, don't you. You know that. I guess nobody here can see me or hear me except you. I didn't bring a gift, I, but I, I guess that's not important. Thank you for everything you've done for me. As long as I can remember you've been right by my side. I'll never forget when you walked with me right in those first few hours after I lost Martha. I-I've always been able to count on you, when I felt dark inside and when I... You were right there, right, every time, right there. Even when I didn't feel good about myself, I knew that you cared for me enough, and that, that made me feel better. Like that time I got mad with Mabel Huntington because she broke her pipes on purpose just so she could have somebody to see while I came up and fixed them for her. Boy, I hollered at her, boy I hollered real loud. But then, then I got to thinking - you loved Mabel just as much as you loved me and I should treat her the way you want me to. I believe I talked to you about that at the time. Well, I started visiting her and we became friends. I saw her almost every day until the day she died. I love you. You're my closest, my finest friend. And that means that I can hold my head high, wherever I go. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

42 points are possible this week. What'd you get?

Name that Line Nov 10, 2006

2006-11-10T16:26:00.000-08:00

Here is the latest installment of name that line:1 point for the movie, 1 point for the character's name, 1 point for the actor's name an extra 5 points if you can legitamately name another movie that has the same line not including different versions of the same movie.

e-mail any suggestions you want to contribute to next week's installment to: pnkjohn@hotmail.com

In honor of Veteran's day:

1. "The Statue of Liberty is Kaput? That's disconcerting"
2. "Three Jap carriers sunk, Admiral. Isn't that worth at least a "hot diggity damn"? "
3. "You know what top secret is?" "Yes, sir. It's the kind of mission where you get medals, but they send 'em to your relatives."
4. " Lieu-tellen, you sexy man." "Thanks... You're looking pretty... er, fit yourself."
5. "Well I'm as much agin killin' as ever sir. --- But it was this way Colonel. --- When I started out I felt just like you said, but when I hear them machine guns a goin' and all them fellas are droppin' around me --- I figured them guns was killin' hundreds maybe thousands and there wern't nothin' any body could do, but to stop them guns. And that's what I done. "
6. "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure. " *HINT* Not your typical war movie.
7. "Be happy in your work"
8. "You've seen a general inspecting troops before haven't you? Just walk slow, act dumb and look stupid!"
9. "Major, I said "strip." Get it? All clothes, off. Naked." "[Yelling] Parade... strip."
10. "How many you taking out?" "Two hundred and fifty." "Two hundred and fifty?" "Yeh." "You're crazy. You oughta be locked up. You, too. Two hundred and fifty guys just walkin' down the road, just like that?"

How many points did you get?

The comments hold the answer key. I will post it on Saturday

Work and Play

2006-10-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

I spent the last week entirely with my family. Hours and hours with my wife. Compare that to this week where I will be lucky to spend 12 concious hours together with her this week. Most of those will be on Saturday and Sunday.

Work takes the majority of my time away from the family. Church takes most of what's left in the evenings from either me or Kristine. Saturday there is usually something planned either with the church or as a family event.

Family time becomes sacred.

Four days on vacation. Two with good friends making our total group rather large; yet, every moment that we were together as a family was tonic for my soul. Two days and a half days were our family alone. It went so quickly. It went so deep.

This vacation was our first family vacation this year as I have been tasked at work implementing a new system for the company at two locations here in New Mexico.

Coming back to work this week I can feel the renewal and a new vigor in my work activities. A little bit of play has gone a long long way.

I play, I am renewed.
I have laughed
joy in the laughter returned.

I work, I am renewed.
I have accomplished
satisfaction, efforts that improve.

I serve, I am renewed.
I have helped
giving I have grown.

Name that Line Oct 19, 2006

2006-10-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest installment of name that line:
1 point for the movie, 1 point for the character's name, 1 point for the actor's name an extra 5 points if you can legitamately name another movie that has the same line not including different versions of the same movie.

e-mail any suggestions you want to contribute to next week's installment to: pnkjohn@hotmail.com

"1. Oh great and powerful Steve, what do you want?!"
"2. Family comes first!...Honeymoon!...Honeymoon."
"3. A little revolution every now and then is a healthy thing. Don't you think?"
"4. How can you help me if you don't believe in me? Some magic's real"
"5. These are the years when a man changes into the man he is going to become for the rest of his life. Just be careful who you change into."
"6. Major Strasser has been shot. Round up the usual suspects."
"7. Great! You killed the invisible swordsman!" "Yep, he's dead." "How was I supposed to know where he was?" "You were suppossed to fire up. We both fired up. It's like living with a six year old."
"8. Did I not instruct that box five was to be kept empty?"
"9. The fault was mine and so must the remedy be. It was through my mistake in pride that Mr. W____'s character has not been made known to the world."
"10. I, uh, kinda promised the blueberries I'd teach them kanasta."

How many points did you get?

The first comment holds the answer key.

Name that Line Oct 12, 2006

2006-10-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

As explained last Thursday, here is the latest installment of name that line:
1 point for the movie, 1 point for the character's name, 1 point for the actor's name an extra 5 points if you can legitamately name another movie that has the same line not including different versions of the same movie.

e-mail any suggestions you want to contribute to next week's installment to: pnkjohn@hotmail.com

1. "We shall not go quietly into the night,..."
2. "Oh Captain! My Captain"
3. "I'm an Uncle! (Passes out)"
4. "Baby steps to the door, Baby steps to the elevator..."
5. "Do you have a kiss for dad-dy?"
6. "And Daddy...They took my boot!"
7. "If money is a curse, may God curse me with it and may I never recover."
8. "Do you trust me?" "What?" "Do you TRUST me?!" "Yy-e-ss?" "Than jump!"
9. "Come down! Ladies come down!"
10. "He distinctly said "to blave." And, as we all know, "to blave" means "to bluff."

Number 10 was corrected so if you took the test and couldn't get but now you can then give yourself an extra point for being as smart as my twin.

How many points did you get?

The first comment holds the answer key.

Apollo God of Stink

2006-10-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

Though you can't see the fumes
that waft through the air,
the skunk left his mark
with eyewatering flair

This gives one more story
't'will be shared years to come
We'll shake heads and we'll laugh
That dog is so dumb!

A Colorful Life

2006-10-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

Tiny's bruised cheek is pure color
where two brothers collided
black, purple, and yellow
quite nice I've decided

Angel face has chosen
with eyes blue as steel
persistance in learning
and innocence real

Miss M shoots red lasers
watch out for her ire
lives life with a passion
and a book by the fire

Bug sees only two tones
its black or its white
he'll defend truth and justice
he will do what's right

Lucy is radient
a dancing princess
bright yellow like sunshine
in a loved wornout dress

Bam-bam the ham ham
learns the trade of the clown
a farmyard of noises
the joy of the town

Mother is green
a green pillar of hope
the force of our family
the keeper of soap

Each day has a story
of friends, joy, or strife
each one makes my memoirs
a colorful life

Name that line

2006-10-05T08:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a concept for a new game show. In the spirit of "Name That Tune" they could play one word at a time from a movie until the contestant either finishes the line and names the movie, or just names the movie. You get extra points if you can name the actor, actor's character, etc.

So let's play, see how you do:

1. "(whispered) the Users, the Users, the Users... Are you a User?"
2. "He who would pun would pick a pocket"
3. "I died that day, and you can die too for all I care."
4. "(chanted) Run Home Jack! Run Home Jack"
5. "Still...I don't know, do you think a guy like me and a girl like her..." "No!"
6. "Snakes? I hate snakes"
7. "You were the Chosen One!"
8. "(sung in monotone) I want the knife...Please"
9. "The pass is open, the pass is open, all able bodies gather at the meeting house." (Except no one ever does they all just ride off.)
10. "Do you know how vile it is to hear the first song bird of the morning when you've been up all night crying?"
11. "Now show me, sand 'a flo'"
12. "What about this birthmark right here?"
13. "Will you give me your word that I may take all that I can carry?" "Whatever you may carry." (laughing) "All right bring him back, I'll give you a horse."
14. "I caught you a delicious bass."
15. "Kiss me! (That's NOT and order)"
16. "What we need are some nice 'taters" "'Taters? What's 'taters?" "PO-TAH-TOES."
17. "She turned me into a newt (pause) I got bet'er"

That should be enough for this weeks episode.

Self evident truths

2006-09-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

In the preamble to the Declaration of independence, our forefathers outlined their specific reasons very carefully for breaking from their mother country, England. Men have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And when those rights are taken or diminished they have a right to stand up and defend them.

The steps that our country has taken since 9/11 have diminished the rights of it's citizen's. Judges no longer fully check the spying of our government. I realize that those that are being spied upon are not likely to be your typical citizen; however, it is the violation of the human right to liberty that should shake American's to the core and yet only musters muffled opposition. Perhaps it is because non-citizen's are the primary target of these violations that most American's feel safe. I fear that if the American Right doesn't correct this mistake, it will forever return the 'inalienable right' won by tens of thousands of American's fighting an oppressive government in exchange for fear caused by the death of thousands of brave Americans and foreigners in the Twin Towers.

It should be the goal of every conscientious American to restore those check's and balances. I heard on the radio yesterday an assumably patriotic American saying that those that would restore those rights would 'grant freedom to terrorists.' We must also remember that another American concept that all men are innocent until proven guilty. A man is not a terrorist until after you have proven it. You shouldn't be able to spy on that man until you have proven to a judge that you have reasonable cause to believe he is a terrorist.

I believe so firmly in this that I argue that we should not surrender our rights to seek an uncertain security; but, like those brave revolutionaries we should be willing to stand up for our ideals and be willing to risk another 9/11 if it means that we all maintain our rights.

Now, for the three people that read my blog...feel free to call me a fanatic. Just don't forget that big brother may be watching. Yeah right.

Unalienable rights

2006-09-14T20:11:00.000-07:00

In the preamble to the Declaration of Independence our forefathers averred that we have certain unalienable rights. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. They used this as a justification for their actions because they were explaining to their mother country, England, that because she was trying to destroy these rights they would have to fight for them.

Five years ago my wife reported to me while I was in the shower that a "missile" had just hit a building in New York. Throughout the day we watched in horror as thousands of our fellow Americans lost their lives in a senseless tragedy. I felt justified as our president struck out at the heart of those that would do this by attacking the main country that harbored them, Afghanistan under Taliban rule. If felt pride when we helped that country restore the basic human rights that we claimed from England more than two-hundred years ago.

I felt indifference when the Patriot act was quickly passed allowing our government to remove certain rights from it's people, after all, only those that do wrong should have anything to worry about. Right?

I am not a quick thinker at times. It took more than four years for my opinion on this matter to change. Now I think that we have reason to be ashamed. That those same rights that tens of thousands of brave men died to obtain during the Revolutionary war were so quickly abandoned out of fear when a mere fraction of that total were sacrificed in 2001.

Now, lest you believe I don't care for the lives of those that died that day let me vehemently protest. Their sacrifice was a sad one. Let us not insult their sacrifice by destroying liberties along with them. Let us honor their sacrifice and in their name restore the rights that were surrendered to fear.

I have heard the phrase, said in derision, that people that fight the patriot act want to give rights to terrorists. Let us not forget that one of the foundational principles of our justice system is that all men are innocent until proven guilty. This system applies just as equally to those that are not citizens of our country. I would not protect the guilty to establish rights. No, but I would that we should prove them guilty before we convict them. Obtain the permission of a judge before we spy on them.

And if you are wondering if I would allow another atrocity like 9/11 to occur because I don't think it is right to violate privacy I would answer a resounding YES! I do not want the atrocity, but, like those brave revolutionaries, I am willing to sacrifice my life and some of my security if in doing so my family's freedoms are protected.

I realize that I'm a little late in speaking out. I realize that my humble blog is only read by two people...maybe; but I also had to write this down. Count me as one American that cares, even if I don't know how else to make my voice heard.

What makes a favorite?

2006-08-24T18:43:00.000-07:00

For your profound thinking pleasure I proffer the following question: What makes something your favorite? Some of my favorites are very certain. I prefer Purple above all other colors. Did I say certain? Because I can think of some circumstances when Purple wouldn't be favored at all. (Old ladies hair for example.) So, in honor of my question I will offer you my new favorite poem:

You may think me shallow or fickle

yet firmly I swear it is true

my favorite food is a pickle

but that's not my favorite for you.

For you I would favor a breath mint

you may think my preference rude

for the cost don't think me a skinflint

no importance is place on the food.

These choices are simply explain-ed

The pickle is a favorite treat

once the garlic my breath's truely tainted

mint turns my breath back to sweet.

Please, let me know what makes something your favorite.

Sports and Parenting

2006-08-23T21:16:00.000-07:00

No, this is not a post about how many hours I spend coaching my children in baseball or soccer. No this is a humble confession. My children are doomed to be sports illiterate. This afternoon I took Bug to scouts. We talked about the upcoming campout. We played twenty questions with the scouts for a while. Then all of the scouts but Bug and one other headed out to the field to play some football. It was a nice day. The scouting part of scouts was over. Okay. Let's play for a while. Bug says, "I don't want to." "What? Come on, it'll be fun." "I don't like football." "What? Come on, the other scouts are playing, we're all going to play." "Dad, its too violent." "Come on, it'll be two hand touch." Here the other scouts jump in, "Two hand touch? No! Its tackle." "No, I'm not going to explain broken arms to parents." My son, "Dad, I'll play but only if we play tackle." Then it dawns on me. My son has no idea what he is talking about. He's never even played one scrimmage. No idea that tackle is more violent then two hand touch. How can a boy in America not know that tackle can hurt? I once (at about the age of Bug) threatened my procreative abilities by being tackled right on top of a buried sprinkler head. We ended up playing for about a half hour. Bug had a good time. (I had an aneurysm.)

The good news is, I'm no jock. I feel no guilt about this realization. Bug has other experiences that point him squarely toward nerdhood. Just like his father. Now, admittedly, I was pretty popular in High School but if you distilled the sum of my characteristics, I'd end up much more nerd than jock. He'll like making music. (I don't consider someone musically inclined when all they know is the personal details and lyrics of one rock group.) Probably drama. He's already been in chess club.

I'd be more lost if he was a jock. I'm just glad that I can relate to him when he says he doesn't want to play football.

What a little stud.

Poetry

2006-08-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

I have come to a realization in the last few years that I can no longer hide. I must come out of the closet. I am a poet. I like reading poetry (though I don't seek it out very much.) I love writing poetry even more. I find myself creating new lyrics for songs every day. Most of my poems don't make it to paper. Most are created with the kids in the car, to the tune of a song, meant to make them laugh. Yet, I love the challenge of playing with words.

Now, I know that there are some that would argue that rhyming isn't good poetry; however, I beg to differ. A good rhyme combined with well planned meter can demonstrate language mastery and literary emotion perhaps better than any other written medium.

Akin to rhyming and just as fun of a literary divice are puns. One of my favorite movie quotes (from the doctor in "Master and Commander") is, "He who would pun would pick a pocket."

So, you may suggest if you like that I am a pick pocket in the poetry closet. I don't care. So in the spirit of poetry I leave you with two poems. One of my own, and one of the bards.

Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,
The dear repose for limbs with travel tired;
But then begins a journey in my head,
To work my mind, when body's work's expired:
For then my thoughts, from far where I abide,
Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee,
And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,
Looking on darkness which the blind do see
Save that my soul's imaginary sight
Presents thy shadow to my sightless view,
Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night,
Makes black night beauteous and her old face new.
Lo! thus, by day my limbs,
by night my mind,
For thee and for myself no quiet find.

William Shakespeare Sonnet XXVII

I sit to my blog
for other's I write
when they leave precious comments
my soul takes delight

My thoughts then have proven
to tickle your mind
so leave me your message
else I fumble 'round blind

Your feedback so precious
a blurb's all I crave
few word's all I need
to leave my poetry cave.

Pat John Blog post #9

Southwest Kids

2006-07-28T18:12:00.000-07:00

My childhood was spent playing with more than 20 kids in my neighborhood. After we moved here I spent some time mourning for the fact that my children would not be surrounded by as many friends, after all, it was a good experience for me and they deserve the same. Then experiences like the one documented in these pictures started to occur and I realized that our children will truly have a charmed childhood.

I guess that I need to show them what a sled is SUPPOSED to be used for.

Forget about the SAT

2006-07-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

This morning, thanks to the prompting of my wife, I took the increasingly more important "Nerd Test." The results say that I am "definitely MIT material." What more do I need? This test even included a question about my GPA and that didn't change my rating. So, I guess that MIT doesn't need my transcripts either. I'm hoping that the new international standard will be the nerd test, in which case I will be starting at MIT in the spring. Here are my results:

Cortez, CO

2006-07-17T21:11:00.000-07:00

The silo is always out of the left side of the window in my memory. It wasn’t a very large silo but to my young eyes it was a thing of wonder. Old weathered gray with patches of rust along some of the seams it might be a water tower. I’m not sure anymore. But I would recognize it if I saw it again. When I would see it I would ask my dad, “How much longer to Cortez?” “We’ve still got a couple of more hours.” It was true but it didn’t seem true. To my young mind whenever I saw that tower it was only a little bit longer.
My grandmother lived in Cortez. It was eight hours from Salt Lake to Cortez and we would make the trek more than once a year. Probably more than twice. When we arrived in Cortez I always loved the great street art. Not sidewalk chalks. Not graffiti. No Cortez was renowned my world over for the most incredible fire hydrant art. I particularly remember the fire hydrant that was painted to look like Snoopy. He really looked like Snoopy.
Sometimes our family would arrive in Cortez very late at night. My dad had made a bed in the back of the Suburban and he let the kids all fall asleep in cozy comfort. Then, when we got to Cortez, he would expel us from our travel coma into the cold Colorado night. Half asleep still, we would all carry one of the sleeping bags from the Suburban into grandma’s house to jockey for position near the one metal heater in the middle of the floor. Not too close though. It put out enough heat to burn.
I can remember one very fast trip where we drove down in the night, my dad napped the morning in a bedroom and Perry and I played with Sammy her dog, or climbed up on the roof of her shed. I don’t remember much of the trip back. We stopped for hamburgers in Moab and I fell asleep in the back seat of the old red Subaru, tired after a long day of traveling. I woke up halfway down the canyon from Price to Provo. Something stank. It wasn’t that cold but I had been covered with my dad’s jacket. The smell and the wet told me all I needed to know. While I slept my brother had spewed his hamburger all over me. I began to complain and beg to stop and let me change. My dad said that it was only a short while longer back to Salt Lake. It was the same distance as the silo was from Cortez, but it took twice as long.
I Slept many a night in Cortez though I never lived there. My grandmother passed more than ten years ago. I’ve only been back once since and only in passing through. But in my heart Cortez will always be a little bit, my town.

Strong Bad has the most death defying sbmail check ever!

2006-07-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

Strong Bad said it and he was right. It made the coverpage of my blog. Find out what I'm talking about by watching this cartoon: http://www.homestarrunner.com/weclomeback.html

Then, if you've never watched Homestar Runner then I suggest you do it in chunks. There's too much there for one sitting. Unless you're a Gluten [sic] for punishment.

So far on this blog I've covered the spectrum from philosophical to frivolous. Well its my blog, I guess that's what its good for.

"The challenge has been issued"

2006-07-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

When I was dating my future wife in Thatcher, AZ my twin came with me to visit her from Kearny, our home town. One of the day's divertments was a walk to the elementary school to sit and talk on the swings. My twin and I started jumping from the swings and we quickly escalated the fun into a competition. Who could jump the farthest? In committing to the competition one of us, I can't remember who, said, "The challenge has been issued." This phrase has become a part of how we interact as twins. Perhaps because we both see strengths in the other that we admire. I love my twin, and so in the spirit of our bond I once again issue the challenge. I now have more posts than you.

Abandoned House

2006-07-15T09:42:00.000-07:00

When Al ask me to come down to the Mission Mine and conduct asbestos inspections on three abandoned homes located on the mine’s property I was more than happy to do so, it would mean a day out of the office. I borrowed a company Chevy Blazer number 116, the best of three vehicles in our department. Stained brown by years of use at the Ray mine, with a weak transmission and rough shocks 116 was really the best of three junkers. I could have driven my own car but 116 had air conditioning and an even better a radio, besides, I was on company business and felt no desire to go through the travel reimbursement process this time.
Once at Mission Mine Al took me to the first two houses. As I conducted the inspections Al explained that the homes used to be rented out to employees. Over the years the employees had not really cared for the housed very well and the company, going through financial difficulties, had no desire to maintain them. The reason for the inspections was so that the company could tear them down, the homes had become too much of a headache for the general manager at Mission. “Plus,” Al informed me, “the last house we are going to was robbed and the renter brutally killed.” He went on to explain that the house’s remote location made the crime easy to commit since no one was around to notice or hear what was going on.
“Do you mind doing the inspection on a house where someone was killed?” Al asked.
At least he had the decency to ask. I didn’t think it would bother me. Death is a part of life after all. This death had just been premature, that’s all.
The road to the house ran past abandoned farming fields. The mine had bought the farm in order to obtain the water rights that went with it. The precious water had once run through the now forgotten irrigation ditches. These had been excellent ditches for a farm. Not earthen ditches, the once carefully laid cement was now cracked and mesquite trees grew up through holes that would never be repaired.
As we approached the home it became obvious that this was once a very proud farmhouse. The hay barn, three dry rotted wooden walls and a corrugated tin roof that was now rusting, was stuffed full of broken and also rusting cars. The stable, again a three sided building, was in better repair; but, the horse manure had not been shoveled out for years and made the building look shorter because the pile came up so high. The yard was once full of green grass and still held a rotting garden hose and sprinkler in the middle.
The house itself was magnificent. The Spanish tile on the roof was in good repair. Al ushered me in through the garage and into the kitchen. My first shock was to find that the house still seemed occupied. There were some dirty dishes on the counter and a mouse or a packrat had pushed the newspapers left on the counter onto the floor to more easily carry them off to it’s home.
A mug on the counter that was shaped like a women’s breast and indeed had a spout from the teat gave Al and I a brief moment of embarrassed laughter. The mug combined with a poster of a swimsuit model gave Al an opportunity to talk about the former occupant’s life. He worked with Al at the mine. Not a close friend but a good acquaintance. Al spoke of the man’s midlife crisis and how he had gone from being a family man to being consumed with living for the moment. His crisis led to divorce and eventually the man became very superficial.
As we toured the house I couldn’t help but be envious of it. There was a high vaulted ceiling with thick wood support beams, a large flagstone fireplace in the living room, three very large bedrooms including the master bedroom with it’s spacious bathroom. The house was U shaped with the western leg of the “U” going out about twice as far as the eastern. The “U” surrounded a covered patio that was completely tiled with white and blue Mexican tile. There was a back wall that completed the courtyard and truly gave the yard a very regal feeling, making me feel as though I had stepped into the nineteenth century and this house was under the rule of Spain.
I was there on business so I knocked some of my own holes in the walls with the reassurance from Al that nothing I could do during my home inspection would matter. The home was too be torn down by the Mine in a desire to eliminate the liability of renting to anyone in such a remote location. Still, knocking new holes in the walls seemed a sin against such a lovely home. There was so much potential with both the home and the yard.
The grandeur of the home was a stark contrast to how the man had occupied it. His superficial attitude carried over into the home’s upkeep. It was obvious that the carpets had never been cleaned. The state of the yard, and the disrepair of the items in the home: cabinet doors missing, holes in some of the walls, and cobwebs that would take years to form, were obvious signs that this man did not appreciate what he had.
The murder had happened sometime in the night. A man from South Tucson was found driving the man’s pickup truck in Los Angeles. He hadn’t even tried to get rid of the truck; he just assumed that he could drive it indefinitely without getting caught. During my tour of the house the dirt stains of the carpet were secondary to the holes that the police had cut into the carpet. Al showed me where they had found him. My disgust for the way the man had kept the house gave way to pity. Not even the most superficial man in the world deserves the fate this man suffered. That pity reminded me of every man’s greatness. We are all children of one God. God certainly doesn’t want us doing what these two men had done.
As we left the house we passed the mug in the kitchen and gave it one more embarrassed laugh. We were both trying to keep the thoughts of the evil carried out in the house as far from the surface as possible. As I left I couldn’t shrug off the sorrow. He had isolated himself from the things in the world that bring lasting happiness and thereby destroyed his family, and then he died.
I tried to avoid the dust that Al’s car kicked up on the return trip away from the farm. I turned the radio on to listen to the next topic of discussion on NPR’s Talk of the Nation, in an effort to turn my mind from a house that had been abandoned first by a family and last by the spirit of a man. Then I concluded that this man had lost his life long before it was taken and I had to turn the radio up louder to try to cover the deeper sorrow I felt for that.
I suppose that a house becomes haunted whenever the thoughts about the house become haunting. I have since tried not to think about this poor man. I would not say that his house was haunted, indeed, I would still be happy to live there. The way he died was gruesome, the way he lived, that is the most haunting part of his life in the end.

Nation Building

2006-07-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

Any one nation is the sum of it’s people. If the nation rewards industry by allowing the people to keep what they have produced, then the people will produce. If a nation feeds a people without asking them to work, they won’t work.

If you want a nation to behave rationally, the people need education in order to think rationally.

How does a nation reward industry? By limiting taxes, the financial burden; limiting bureaucracy, which divert resources; and by encouraging entrepreneurship, which help create new sources of wealth.

How does a nation discourage industry? By granting monopolies and oligopolies, by not educating it’s people, by suppressing dissenting viewpoints, by discouraging any form of entrepreneurship, by locking up resources, which will happen when a state or monopoly runs any one business, by building elaborate and money wasting bureaucracies, by pumping money into non productive government sectors.

Help the poor feed themselves.

Build a strong judicial system that includes a police force entirely divorced from the military forces.

A country should concern itself with: Freedom for all and in most every respect governed by life first and property second. After freedom comes safety but never at the expense of freedom. We extoll our progenitors for defending freedom and then too quickly abandon those freedoms to protect ourselves from harm. If we cannot place our own lives willingly on the alter of freedom, than perhaps we do not deserve our freedom. Next comes education by which the people come to cherish their freedoms and learn to truly defend them. The next goal for a country is transportation so that no set of people is bound by its geography and to encourage industry. Then finally a country should develop and protect its resources allowing the people to use them while requiring that all life within its borders be given proportional justice.

I didn't mean to do this

2006-04-27T07:07:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to respond to a posting on my wife's web page; however, I might just put some thought into this. Maybe just for myself.