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The big 30, sweepers, and concrete

Yep, I finally made the 30 pounds I wanted to gain after returning from the severe weight loss I suffered in England.  Just Kidding.  After last night’s 12 oz of prime rib, I may be pushing the pre-England weight (which I have never actually reclaimed).  Really though, yesterday was supposedly a momentous occasion.  I lived to the ripe age of thirty.  So what do I have to account for my birthday?  Approximately at 10:08 AM CST I passed the 30 year mark in age.  I passed it at school preparing for legal profession.  I spent 11 hours at school, my wife picked me up, we went to dinner at a steakhouse, and I ate so much I had to come home and go pretty much straight to bed.  Does that sound old or what?

I guess if we count the dozens of Facebook messages and comments, in-person birthday wishes, phone calls, and e-mails I guess it was a pretty good day.  Thanks to Facebook, more people knew about the birthday than I would ever have imagined.  Who would have thought Facebook would have changed our lives so much in a few short years of our existence?  Really though, I am very appreciative of everyone’s sympathetic mourning.  In all honesty, I really don’t feel any older than the day I returned from British soil in December 2000.  The only thing physically I may have to mark any passage of time would be the deterioration of my eyes, which I attribute more to law school than I do to age.  Age to a guy doesn’t really seem to matter.  Unlike women who round it up to the nearest quarter century.  (Kinda like guys losing weight in the mirror where women gain it).  We wear the same clothes were wore ten years ago and think it really is ten years ago, and that we look it.  It really was just another day for me with an excuse to go out to eat something beyond what we really should have paid for.

Moving beyond the birthday, I have a couple of observations to make.  Just some musing and thoughts I can provide, even if not from wisdom.

This deals with more of quirky Oklahoma.  I had to learn some more of the lingo recently and thought I would share.  In church a few weeks back, I was asked to help sweep after classes was done.  I agreed and was assigned to sweep each of the classrooms.  Dutifully, I went to the janitor’s office and got a broom and dustpan thingy.  Each of the classrooms though had carpet!  After trying to sweep up the little chunks in the classrooms I finally just went and got a vacuum and then vacuumed each of the classrooms.  I made a mental note that I needed to inform the Elders Quorum President that the classrooms have carpet and not floors for sweeping.

A week or two later we are serving in the temple and find ourselves on the cleaning crew after the last endowment.  As I go to the janitor’s
office, the lady tells me to sweep the endowment rooms.  I then walk towards the broom with a nagging knowledge that the endowment rooms
have carpet.  I thought, “Wow, these Oklahoman’s sure do things the hard way.”  As I went to leave she asked me what I was doing.  I said,
“I am going to sweep the endowment rooms.”  She then pointed at the vacuums and said, “Why don’t you take a sweeper, it will be a whole lot
easier.”  Suddenly, a light dawned in my aged mind and I said something like, “you mean you call vacuuming ‘sweeping’?”  She nodded with a
puzzled look and told me to go sweep.  As I was sweeping the carpets with the sweeper, I wondered what they called the motion of using a
broom on floors.  Brooming?  Scooting?  Brushing?  Scratching?  I still don’t know.  I was afraid of looking like an idiot to ask anyone.  I
will probably find out soon enough.  “Brother Ross, will you go scoot the floors in the far hall for us?” I will be walking to the janitors
office looking for something to do some scooting.

Our sprinkler system continues to go in between the rain clouds.  For the most part, much of the pipe is in place and most of the heads are on.  In fact, most of the trenches are even filled in.  But the rain keeps coming nearly every weekend and the poor sprinkler system people cannot seem to get it finished.  Need rain?  Put in a sprinkler system.  Kinda like washing the car.  Do it, and the rains come.

I have continued to remove the concrete pad in the backyard.  It has turned out to be a multiple month workout!  Who would have thought a little 8′ X 12′ concrete pad would take 3 months to remove only half?  As lazy as that makes me sound, let me add some flesh to this ‘pad’.  It turns out that this little pad in the backyard has concrete 9 inches thick in places!  Thank goodness the individuals didn’t have access to rebar, but they were kind enough to put a layer or two of fence in the concrete near the bottom.  I purchased a 20 pound sledge hammer thinking I could have the thing done in a week.  This long later, and I am only half done.  I had to buy a spike to break the stuff apart.  I had to pull out my little sledges to drive the spike.  I had to dig around the perimeter of the pad so as I cracked it, it had somewhere to go.  Once I get a crack, I have to take the spike to it and then hope the fence inside will break.  As it slowly severs away, I have to bend it back and forth until the fence wire finally breaks.  Then I heave the block to the side and start again.  This process is painfully slow, exhausting, and in our humidity, draining.

What really justifies my taking so long deals also with the garbage man.  With these massive blocks of concrete, I have considerable weight problems.  The garbage truck will not pick up a garbage can that weights more than roughly 100-125 pounds.  So I can put about 2 cubit yards of concrete in the bottom and I am really pushing the limit.  Any extra garbage on the top just might throw me over.  There is more though.  The garbage truck is like a stinky old man with a hernia though.  If the garbage can is overweight, the driver has to rev up the truck to get the hydralics where they need to be.  Doing this speeds up something inside the truck and the 3 minutes the truck sits on the side of the road trying to pick it up, or get it all the way upside down leaves a huge puddle of garbage ooze compressed from within the truck.  It stinks, looks disgusting, and we pray for more rain.

I have two garbage cans, but in the past month, two of them have been left for me to reallocate half the load to the other garbage can.  Meaning, I lost two weeks in the last month alone where I could not send more concrete to the garbage cemetery.  So my little pile beside the pad has continued to grow, week by week.  I had another can rejected last Tuesday, so again this Tuesday, I cannot add more to the garbage going out.

The sprinkler man decided not to use one of his trenches, so I must confess, it is filling up with concrete chunks.  Anything smaller than about 4 cubit inches usually ends up in the trench now.  When it is within about 3 or 4 inches of the top of the trench, then I fill it in.  The extra dirt will be used to fill the gaping hole where my concrete pad was located.  I am going to have to get a load of dirt in to fill this hole I am creating.  Geez, if it isn’t one thing or another!  Amanda warned me that it was not necessary the concrete pad be removed.  Now I wish I had listened.

 

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Classes and JRCLS

I am writing after working my way further and further into the bowels of my 3rd semester of law school.  Honestly, I think it is easier than the first year.  It is a great relief to not have to worry about a paper or impending writing coming upon me.  Oddly, I can get into a routine and not really have to worry about anything upsetting that routine until finals (oh and some silly little MPRE exam in November I have to pass to fully take the bar and get my legal intern license).

This semester’s roster includes Federal Income Tax, Evidence, Criminal Procedure, Constitutional Law, and Legal Profession (aka professional ethics).  The classes are enjoyable.  It is almost like the teachers are no longer out to intimidate us or make sure we have the salt not to drop out.  I hope it continues.  Hands down, my favorite class is still Constitutional Law.  My undergrad, Law & Constitutional Studies, is right down this alley.  The degree is basically a pseudo law degree with a large dose of constitutional law.  Not only do I enjoy the class, but I am familiar with everything we have covered already from Utah State University.  If it helps, my professor even reminds me in looks of my constitutional law professor at USU.

The next class to tie for first for what I most enjoy is strangely Federal Income Tax.  What an interesting class.  All of the law school classes up until now have been hypothetical realms of some future case I may deal with in whatever field of law I choose.  But Federal Income Tax is applicable to me as an individual and implicates the majority of Americans.  I did like the brief historical background too.  Did you know that the United States only had taxes from 1791 to 1802, then 1813 to 1818, and then our current taxation period started in 1861?  The taxes in all three periods were brought about because of war.  Too bad the money hungry government couldn’t go back to no taxes after they finished paying off the Civil War.  Oh, and the old taxable items were spirits, tobacco, and beer!  Income taxes didn’t come along until the 1890’s and contrary to popular belief, were Constitutional.  The Amendment just changed things so nobody had to worry about the proportionality among the states.  Since the first chapter it has been nothing but the nitty gritty of gross income and exclusions ever since.  It is nice to have a class with a little math and good solid answers.

Evidence and Criminal Procedure are pretty much up the same line of thinking.  The professor for Criminal Procedure is hilarious both for his jokes and his little man complex.  The evidence is an intense individual with a very dramatic moving teaching style.  I think he must make 100 laps across the front of the class room in each class and if you were to put weights in his hands, he would be one buff dude.

Lastly is professional ethics.  I wonder how necessary the class really is.  But it is very interesting in that we are confronted with the situations that many lawyers find themselves in, and we get to learn how the ethics rules apply.  Mostly though, we get to discuss what is right and wrong.  I assume the basic importance of the class is to help us recognize the situations and make decisions now on how we will react to them in the future.  There are some serious conflicts for lawyers between confidentiality and doing justice to the public.  Somehow I find myself really torn in so many situations on how I would react.  While most of the time, the rules enthrone confidentiality and working only for your client.  I don’t accept those underlying premises and find myself not even on the same page as most of the individuals in the classes.  To me, a lawyers job is to assist clients in receiving help in navigating justice.  In my understanding and heart, my duty is to justice (Plato and Socrates coming out here) and to society at large.  If a client was to confess a murder to me, I would accept his confidentiality and keep it, but I would feel a very heavy burden to anonymously notify somebody with a clue or tip to make sure justice is also met.  Even further, especially if somebody was serving time for a crime for somebody else.  The form of justice and my duty to society would seem to require I tell.  But, this enthroned idea of confidentiality requires a lawyer never to disclose (there are some exceptions, which are pretty rare and difficult to even see if you meet the criteria).

A slight roadbump did come this week.  I don’t know if I mentioned that I was voted in as Vice President of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society this past spring.  In a quick note, I sat too far back and totally was not reading the minds of the people running the meeting.  I thought somebody wanted to not be President so I made a motion to open the floor so he didn’t have to be.  Well, he was nominated and accepted.  Then I thought the secretary didn’t want to be, so I nominated someone else.  That person declined because she had read that the secretary wanted to stay in.  I misread everything.  But my motioning to open the floor for the President made someone else think I wanted to be President and they nominated me for Vice President.  I really wanted to focus only on my studies and had no interest in serving in any club beyond showing up for service or something.  Now I found myself nominated for Vice President.  I was going to decline but the quote from none other than J. Reuben Clark crossed my mind, “In the service of the Lord, it is not where you serve but how. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one takes the place to which one is duly called, which place one neither seeks nor declines.”  While that quote really doesn’t apply outside the church, the thought passed that I should neither seek nor decline.  I certainly didn’t seek it, and now I thought I shouldn’t decline it.

Well, just alike a Gerald Ford sort of situation, the President transferred from OCU to another school.  That left a vacancy with another acting pro temp.  I nominated the person acting pro temp as president and he declined!  Next thing I knew I was nominated and in a dastardly act, I was not given the opportunity to decline.  Not that it had really dawned on me what was happening yet.  The meeting moved on, I was nominated, none else were and a vote came up.  Here I am the new President of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society and I haven’t a clue what I am doing!  What is more, I work for the liaison for attorney division of JRCLS (J Reuben Clark Law Society).  I now sit as a President of an organization officially chartered and ran through BYU, which really rubs me wrong, and somehow I am no longer just following the lead of someone else, I am supposed to lead out!  Yikes.  So much for just paying attention to my studies and avoiding any responsibility in law school.  Add that to Vice President of LDSSA and Ward Mission Leader and my church service has expanded.  Of course, I could just sit back and let it die away, but because it is linked in some way to the church, I honestly feel like I have to really do something.  Any suggestions?  I could really use them.

Anyhow, I have some other interesting things to share, but it is late and this is already too long.  Many things to think about recently.

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Kennedy’s passing

As ironic as it may seem to some, I want to give a few of my regards to Senator Kennedy.  Many of his lines of thinking with regard to politics I did not agree with, but my experience has shown he was a man whose heart was of gold.  When a person passes, it is customary to share of an experience or two as a tribute to the goodness of a person, and to ignore the bad (of which I have had no such experience).

While growing up there were a number of individuals who made it known to me how very much they disagreed with Democrat Principles.  Senator Kennedy’s name was one that somehow usually found its way into the assault on the Democratic Party and their ideals.  Coming from a heavily Republican territory, of which I make no statements for or against, my views were somewhat colored concerning this man.

In 2003, I paid a visit to some friends in Baltimore.  He was working in Senator Kennedy’s office as an intern.  I guess Senator Hatch and Senator Kennedy’s were good friends and had this sort of ‘trade’ program where the two offices would swap an intern for the summer.  My friend, who like me, tended to find myself in middle ground claiming neither Republican nor Democrat territory, relished the opportunity.  It was with him I learned from his first-hand experience with Senator Kennedy.  It was during recess so the Senator was not in town, but I was able to meet many of his other interns and see his office.  A man’s office tends to tell quite a bit about him.  My impression then was of a man that didn’t necessary come down different than the stories I had heard while younger.  All the signed photographs of notable people on the walls seemed to smack more of arrogance than anything.  A picture of him and his brother (maybe brothers) sat on the mantle showing the classic Kennedy smiles with deceased family members well enshrined in our country.

Anyhow, those impressions were quickly dismissed when I met the man himself in 2005.  My first time meeting him was after having just walked through security in the Russell Senate Office Building I waited for an elevator.  A man with a white tuft of hair walked around the corner with his dogs.  I instantly recognized him, how can you not.  Since it was the Senator elevator that opened, I stepped back to allow him on and watched the doors start to close.  He stopped the doors and asked if I wasn’t going up.  I must have showed my reluctance since staff are to give up their elevator to Senators and let them ride alone.  He smiled and said it was okay, he didn’t mind.  I knew he genuinely meant what indicated and we spent our few seconds riding the same elevator.

Now, you can say he was being a nice guy.  But I can tell you that some of the other Senators are not quite as friendly.  My next story actually deals with Senator Kennedy and his kindness in contrast with the rudeness of two other Senators.

I was asked to give a tour to a family from Oregon.  It wasn’t my turn, but for some reason or another they has asked if I could give their tour.  Honestly, I don’t know why, I had never met them before.  The couple had two darling girls, one about 5 or 6 and the other about 8 or 9.  It was only the four of them and since it was not a usual time, I knew we would have a degree of solitude in giving them a tour of the Capitol.  I had taken my time and given a very leisurely tour of the Capitol.  However, as we were about to exit the Capitol we must have caught the flow of traffic from a vote that had just been taken.  Quite a few staff and some Senators were coming out of the elevators and heading to the tram to head back to the Senate Offices.  We were ahead of the traffic and were waiting for our tram to arrive to take us back to the Russell Senate Building.  Just like the elevator, we are to give up our seat on the tram to a Senator.  As my family was about to board the tram, I recognized Senator Kennedy heading our way and stopped boarding to let him on.  He recognized that I had left him the seat to get on.  Rather than getting on the tram, he stopped to shake the hand of both of the little girls.  He asked their names, he asked where they were from, introduced himself, and asked if they wanted to ride with them.  They agreed and Senator Kennedy helped them on the train, sitting one of them on his lap.  The family got on and I told them that I would walk (the tram was full) and meet them on the other end.  I saw the tram take off and watched the Senator beaming at these two little girls.

On a side note, as that tram took off, the other one arrived for the Russell Senate Building.  It was then I was rudely pushed out of the way so another man could pass.  The man beside me responded by saying, “Who is the prick?”  To which I saw a tall man turn back and look, and instantly recognized Senator Kerry.  I thought to myself what a contrast in the two Senators from Massachusetts.

It is about a 5 minute walk to the other end of the tunnel to where the tram stops and there I saw my family still talking with Senator Kennedy in the hallway that leads to the Russell Building.  They were kind enough to wait for me, and Senator Dodd had joined them.  Senator Kennedy said he was going to take them up to see his dogs and office.  We rode in the elevator to the 3rd floor, left Senator Dodd in the elevator, and went to see his office.  He totally treated that family as golden, let them take a couple of pictures, and we were on our way.

My impressions of Senator Kennedy were nothing but respect for a man who obviously treasured people more than prestige.  In my personal interactions with him, I have seen nothing but kindness.  Now I don’t know otherwise, but I was impressed.

We left the office and the family was obviously impressed.  The father’s comments were along the lines of what I was thinking.  “I have been misled about that man.”  Being a staunch Republican from Oregon, he had a paradigm shift.  Too bad as the elevator stopped on the 3rd floor to go up, we were just getting in when another man approached.  I recognized him as Senator Specter.  He entered the elevator and since we were on the inside, I didn’t attempt to get the family with me out of the elevator.  He was alone so I thought it would be okay.  As the doors closed, he stopped them and made it clear we were to leave.  Our little brush with Camelot quickly came to an abrupt close as we realized Kennedy’s kindness didn’t extend to other Senators.

Back on the 4th floor, I lead them to the office and we parted ways.  We were all changed individuals.  Just because I am getting long, I will just mention my profound respect for a man who still recognized the common man and was happy to mingle with them despite his busy schedule.

My only other experience with the man was again in an elevator, this time in the Capitol himself.  Just the two of us, he turned to me and asked a question.  Of course, I was caught completely off guard, and really didn’t have much of an opinion or knowledge about what he just asked me.  I told him I didn’t know enough to answer his question.  We were both getting off on the same floor and I let him lead out.  It was then he turned as if to ask me another question.  The doors closed and I found me face to face with the man.  He said he really wanted my first impressions on the subject.  As an idiot, I rattled off some answer that was not well thought about and tried to give some justification and reasoning for what I thought.  He then asked me a very penetrating question that indicated how very ignorant I was on the subject.  I made a slight comment about how he was probably more informed and I really didn’t know.  To that he patted me on the arm and walked away, but it was with a twinkle in his eye.  I don’t think he did it to show that he was more knowledgeable, but just to get another opinion on something he was thinking about.  Looking back, I made an idiot of myself.  But he didn’t make me feel that way.

I know he is much maligned for many things.  I cannot speak for his morals, his history, or his doctrine.  Ultimately, we all answer to God for that.  But I saw a man who still knew how to connect with people.  Something I saw in very few other Senators.  Since I doubt God respects Senators, I wish Edward Kennedy the best in the realm he now finds himself.  I love the man, and feign to believe the friend, I had a brief acquaintance with here in mortality.

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Cash is for Plunkers

I thought I would take a few moments to write a few thoughts about the latest ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program funding my our tax dollars.  We all know what the program is supposed to do.  Take the old gas guzzling cars off the road and put more efficient, environment-friendly cars on the road.  Additionally, it helps put some extra money into the pockets of those who take advantage of the program (rich or poor).  Even better, it provides some extra funds in the mix for the car makers who are producing these better cars.  Then, as if it cannot get any better, it is helping out the economy by getting cash and finance moving in the system.  How can we beat a program like this?

Well, lets look at the other side of the coin.  Government is classically known for being short-sighted and usually missing the secondary effects (or any real primary effects at all).  Some of which I thought I might share.

I will save the old government bashing lines for later.  I only want to look at the Cash for Clunkers program.  First, there are two pretty simple economic fundamentals that government seems to forget and is being ignored in the overall program.  Economics never, ever encourages waste!  “Wait,” you ask, “What is being wasted?”  All those cars that are being traded in under this program are not being resold, they are not going to some auction for charity, they don’t even go to the kidney foundation.  These cars are having a substance, usually a solvent, poured into the engines and the car is run until it seizes.  That means the car is destroyed, unless you want to put a new engine in it.  (I don’t know if these cars can even be parted out or sent to a junkyard.  They might just be scrapped!)

Good economics always has a good being put to its best use.  Good economics always has a commodity used, recycled, and used over and over.  These cars, some of them perfectly good cars, are being junked because they don’t meet an environmental standard.  No retrofitting, no alternative fuels, nothing.  Junked.  This is pretty much like everyone trading in their old radio for a newer one because the old one uses too much power, has a toxic chemical in its board, and has AM still available (which of course, nobody uses anymore).  But wait, there is more, we have to take the radio, crush it, and put it in the dumpster.  Do we realize how much energy went into creating that radio, do we know how much time, and all the other resources.  A car probably takes 100 times as much power, planning, and expenditures to create though.  What do we get in the end?  We have a car off the road, but what about the multiplication of energy and capital in mining, relocating, and planning the materials for a new one?  What about what those materials might have otherwise been put to use for.  (Classic scarcity and trade-offs)  In the end, we removed a few pounds of carbon from the air due to that one car, but put a few more pounds in the air to produce a new car somewhere else.  I am very willing to bet, the loss of those new resources pulled from other items, and the energy to create each new car is pretty much a wash for the old one it replaced.  Okay, for the sake of argument, there is a plus.  But what about the additional scarcity by the new products?  Oh, and we really cannot forget all the energy and capital (especially human resources) to cover the cost of that free $4,500 dollars they get for trading the car in.  Ouch, that alone probably puts us back into negative territory.

I don’t know how many cars are traded in or disposed of in a month, but I am willing to bet you there isn’t much more than the normal business routine.  Sure, we see a great swell.  But everyone looking at trading in their car for the rest of the year probably jumped the gun.  Who isn’t going to jump it for $4,500 extra dollars?  So what do we have, those who were already looking to trade in a car.  This could be either for necessity or luxury.  Some just want an updated model.  Others to update before their warranty runs out.  Others because they have no other choice, their car is on its last leg.  Here we are giving some money to the poor, the rich, and the middle-class.  Leaving aside the arguments for progressive taxes, we cover the spectrum.  But I am willing to bet most of these cars are for the middle-class and wealthier.  Why?  The poorer tend to have credit issues, especially in today’s market.  Even with the $4,500, how many of the poor do you think can afford a new car?  No, they are out looking for a used car, most of which will not qualify for the program.  Here we have a program that appears to be cleaning up the environment and offers incentives, but only to those who can afford it!  Odd twist isn’t it?

While we are talking about those poor people, of which I happen to be one.  Let’s look how this will effect me in other ways.  I prefer to pay cash for my cars.  I prefer to purchase used and not to finance.  Let’s say 100,000 cars are traded in under the Cash for Clunkers program.  Those cars, the high quality and the legitimate junk ones, are all instantly taken out of commission.  That is 100,000 cars which will no longer be circulating and will certainly not find their way back into the used car market.  A shortage creates a higher cost because of higher demand.  Sure, some of those cards would have been junked, but most of them would have gone on to auctions and other buyers.  So that Lincoln with only 50,000 miles on it, that I may have bought on the second hand market is no longer there.  In fact, NONE of them are in the second-hand market.  The cost of buying a used car will go up.  For how long, who knows.  At least a year, perhaps longer.  To some degree, it will probably never fully recover.  After all, we are taking out of commission quite a few cars.  So I better save up some more for that new used car, or keep my current clunker going for a little longer.  I can afford to maintain and fix my car.  What about those who cannot?  Well, their cars will enter a state of worsening condition and you know what, one of those cars blowing blue smoke does more environmental damage than my whole block’s gas guzzling vehicles could have hoped.  Give it a year or two, I am afraid most of our cars on the block may be blowing blue smoke in a year because we won’t be able to afford a new one or maintain it inevitably.

While the rest of the country is worrying about health-care, the politicians are trumping the success of the Cash for Clunkers.  It really isn’t a success.  Unless of course, you work for Ford, General Motors, or Toyota.  Those of us who cannot afford to trade in our car are paying for someone else to get a new car, on our tab.  Add to that shame, when we can afford a new car, or are required to get a new car, we have to pay more.  Guess I am getting taxed twice.  Oh well, I live in America, it is an honour to pay taxes.  Twice the honour to pay them in two different ways.

While I am thinking about it, I have a radio to go smash and replace.  Please send your $25 to me.  All of you!

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Construction again

Amanda has announced that we have started our next project on the house.  Even before the last one was completed.  As most already know, we had our home broken into the last day of April.  I finally replaced the double doors this past week and a half.  But before I could get the trim put up, Amanda let me know not to put it up because she was going to paint the room.  I am okay with that, just wanted to get the bathroom finished before we started another room.  She hasn’t let me know the color yet, but I started scraping the walls last night of the strange plaster leaf patters found throughout the room. We can start sanding the walls down tonight and hopefully have the patching and priming done on Friday.  Then Amanda and paint her little heart’s content on Saturday and Monday.  This room just happens to be a pain because we had to seal it from the rest of the kitchen, and the little utility closet, and now to cover the refrigerator (have you ever thought of what a strange name that is?  Frigid-cold.  Refrig?  Was it cold before?  rator makes some sense, it seems to denote a motor is involved.  Probably just some marketing name that stuck).

The replacement back patio french doors turned out to be an episode in and of itself.  When I went to Lowe’s, I told them what I wanted and made sure to emphasize I needed it in 60 inch, not the usual 72 inch.  We loaded the doors into the truck and drove home.  A good friend came over and we carried the doors around back (heavy thing!) and I had a 72 inch set of french doors.  Darn it!  We then had to reload them, take them back, go through the whole process of return, and then waiting for them to get the hyster to pull the doors we need off the second tier of shelving.  We made it back home with the much lighter doors.  However, the eave is pretty low on the back so I had to lose the molding off the outside top of the door.  It was a very, very tight fit, but we got the doors in.  It then took us the next 4 hours to get the doors level and to close right.  In the end, I had to have another friend come over that weekend and help level them out some more.  We finally came to the conclusion the door is warped.  I am hoping the door will warp back to where it needs because I most surely am not taking the entire door set back to Lowe’s for a new set to do the whole thing all over again!

I caulked the sides and just need to finish trimming the outside after we get the security people over to install the new sensor (which I broke on the old door).  If it is not one thing, it is another.

We have been getting some estimates on the tiling of the bathroom.  We have some as high as $700 and some as low as $350.  Those are both just for the labour.  I really don’t want to have to rent/buy a saw and go through the chores of the tiling business just to screw it up and start over.  I would like to watch someone do it and then I will venture in the future.  I guess I could always go do the DIY class somewhere, but school starts in a few weeks.  I don’t have time.  I don’t think the supplies will cost more than $300 for our little shower.  We will do it in the next month.

Then starts the dreaded school!  Just thinking about it makes my stomach sick.  The long, long hours of slaving over books doesn’t seem all that exciting.  I do find it very mentally stimulating and exciting learning the new things, but it wears on you after the first month.  Then it is just enduring because you realize nothing else in your life is being accomplished.  Like the at favorite book, wanting to watch a movie, or even just eating out once and a while.  Nope, you are a slave to the law library.  To such a degree that you have to wear your reading glasses by the end of the semester and you cannot seem to get the right words to come out of your mouth.  You are thinking the right word, but a different word emerges.  Hopefully not to anyone’s embarrassment.  I am taking more credits this coming semester than I ever have and I fear that after having the entire summer off.  Some people have kept the pace to some degree over the summer, but I have been completely involved in other pursuits in the evenings.  As long as everyone realizes that I am Mr. Anti-Social during school, and all will be fine.

Probably time to sign out.  I would offer some political advice, but I am so far removed from the political situation now that it was be the same as a sports enthusiast at the television.  One thing is for sure, if I personally spent like the government, I would have lost all credit and probably even thrown in jail.  Funny what government can get away with.  Hopefully all the states will finally stand up and take their position as opposition to the Federal Government.  I don’t care who the President is.  Our current man isn’t any better than the last with fiscal responsibility.  Both are cowards and weak at determining what really is the future of our nation.  It would be great if we could have a California situation with the national government.

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Thankfulness at 100

I thought I would just list some of the stuff that I am thankful for this night.  I responded to an e-mail earlier asking me about a pot pie and I realized how grateful I am for a good pot pie.  It set me to thinking about other things I am grateful.  Here is a quick list.  I want to say I can do 100, but I may do more or less.  These are objects I am grateful for, not a state of mind or generality.  No particular order!  I took all people out.

1. Amanda  2. Pot pies 3. Family  4. Shoe laces  5. Deodorant  6. Health  7. God  8. Family History  9. Friends  10. Home  11. Lasagna  12. Sleep  13. Green grass  14. Home Teaching  15. Prayer  16. Books  17. Showers  18. Blankets  19. Air  20. Life  21. Potatoes  22. Sagebrush  23. Pizza  24. Revelation  25. Pets  26. Water  27. Cars  28. Jesus Christ  29. Light  30. Learning  31. Order  32. Warmth  33. Rain  34. Love  35. Priesthood  36. Neighbors  37. Refrigerators  38. Taste  39. White  40. Stretching  41. Rings  42. Sweat  43. Smell  44. Sauerkraut  45. Mail  46. Sex  47. Spirit  48. Friday  49. Music  50. Purity  51.  Goodness  52. Ironing  53. Touch  54. Computers  55. Airplanes  56. Horses  57. Peanuts  58. Honesty  59. Contrasts  60. Joseph Smith  61. Pavlova  62. Missions  63. Sunshine  64. Bees  65. Leaves  66. Naps  67. Sacrament  68. Comfort  69. Virtue  70. Touch  71. Skin  72. Gates  73. Talking  74. Sunday  75. Eyes  76. Hair  77. Telephones  78. Pictures  79. Dirt  80. Squash (sport)  81. Sight  82. Service  83. Intelligence  84. Robins  85. Forgiveness  86. Understanding  87. Socks  88. Reading  89. Soap  90. Clothes  91. Cleanliness  92. Red  93. Humor  94. Silence  95. Holy Ghost  96. Waterskippers  97. Children  98. Trifle  99. Cuddling  100. Gratitude

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Shout from Idaho

I am writing from sunny and green Idaho.  The amazing thing is another rain-storm is pondering the roll through right now.  The reservoirs are all full and life seems to be looking pretty good here.  The locals say it has been a bit humid for the past few days, but I can handle 20 or 30% humidity with little issue.  Especially after 100+ Oklahoma with a heat index into the cent teens.  I thought I would share a couple of thoughts of our little trip.

This morning found us at the bright and beautiful Twin Falls Temple.  I will have to post some pictures later, but it was a full session.  It was a clear morning and we could not have asked for more.  We ran into my cousin on the session and it was fun to catch up with her.  We took some pictures after we got out as Dad and Jan were going in.  Amanda needed some R&R so we came back and crashed for this afternoon.  We did have lunch with Ms. Felicia Poteet and her cutest daughter, Evie.  I am glad I have friends, that I get to hang out with them, and learn from their life experiences.  Where would we be without family and friends?

The week was busy getting Derek off into the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo.  All went off, pretty much without a hitch, on Wednesday.  His farewell went well, he spoke well, and the family congregated to the Hemsley home in Kaysville.  All enjoyed the food, spent some good quality time with family, and plenty of stories.  I was exhausted after the whole thing and I didn’t even have a role to play in the open house.  There must have been 50-70 people who came through the home during the open house.  We helped Derek pack, finish shopping, fulfill a few last requests, and enter the MTC.  We also had a meeting or two with friends of Amanda’s from high school to catch up on old times.  We stopped to visit Amanda’s Grandpa in Springville, Utah as well.

We drove up to Idaho yesterday but took our time doing it.  We took the old highway from Snowville up through Strevell, Bridge, City of Rocks, Oakley, and home.  Everything was so green from all the rain and it looked good.  We enjoyed the drive.  We took some pictures of the old homes in Elba, Idaho.  Someday we want to design our own home with a design that is both unique but that has some classic designs, one of which is found in the early pioneer homes.

Tonight we head off to a melodrama at the restored Wilson Theatre in Rupert.  Tomorrow morning we have the Scout Breakfast at the Rupert Square and then we will watch the parade.  Tomorrow is also Dad’s birthday.  Jan’s was last week.  We treated them to dinner last night and the show tonight.  I am certainly looking forward to the parade.  Then we drive back down to Kaysville to watch fireworks at fly out Sunday Morning.

Tuesday Derek and I went hiking up Adams Canyon near Kaysville, Fruit Heights, Layton.  We hiked it very quickly and then pretty much jogged all the way down.  I sure did hurt the next day.  I thought I was getting old but Derek felt the same way the next day so it wasn’t just me!  We also got some pictures at the waterfall which I will have to share as well.  Anyhow, no nuggets of truth in this entry.  I don’t do them as often as I used to.  Someday I will be smart and have something to offer…

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Rambling June

Today we did a deposition for several hours.  Very interesting.  This is the second one I have attended and both were so different, yet so much alike.  Somehow getting to ask nearly any question you want that relates to an individual has a strange sort of appeal.  The one today included what would be some very embarrassing questions that I wouldn’t ask some of my closest friends, but we asked them because they really were pertinent to the litigation.  This case continues to proceed closer to trial and I am getting some pretty good in-the-trenches experience.  Who would have thought the summer would turn out this good.

I found another dead bird in my yard.  Somehow they seem to be dropping dead all over the place (literally!).  I wonder if they are eating the fertilizer that was put down or if there is something else going on.  Perhaps a non-transferable form of the Avian flu?  I don’t notice any tale-tell signs of the flu with these birds.  Who knows.  Sadly, all the dead birds are robins, bluejays, and cardinals.  Four dead birds in the past week and they look like the just fell to where they laid.  Not sure.  On a lighter note, Amanda told me the other day of a patient in her chair with her toddler.  A bird landed out the window and the little boy commented something like, “Look mom, a redjay!”  I had a good laugh from that one.  How do you answer that without turning off the inquisitive nature?

We fly out for Salt Lake City on Saturday.  Another lame pit-stop in Denver.  As much as I hate flying, I think the layovers are getting to be even more deplored.  We will be a week in Utah/Idaho for Amanda’s brother’s farewell (technically Mormon-speak should be, “opportunity to speak before leaving on a mission”) and open-house (again Mormon-speak, since open houses are no longer permitted, is family get-together to wish him well on a mission).  Then on Wednesday he enters the MTC for his whopping 21 days before flying off to the heat of summer Atlanta, Georgia.  I am glad they don’t let anyone go into the MTC anymore.  It really is a mini sacrament meeting that was pretty much a farce with the constrained, canned talks in the highly charged atmosphere.  I feel sorry for the poor MTC Mission President who had to give the same talk multiple times a day every week for his whole tenure.  Honestly, I am glad the church did away with the farewell, homecoming, and MTC bits.  But as Mormons float between culture and doctrine/practice we always seem to prefer the happy, feel-good side of culture.  Anyhow, nothing really against missionaries, missions, or family bonds and connections about to be stretched and strengthened for two years just the heed we seem to feel for a tradition and culture that has no foundation in truth or doctrine that somehow becomes more important than the everlasting.  Anyhow, in telling of what we are going to do I got into an expose on something else that has nothing to do with our trip.

Then we make our trip up to Idaho, probably for a day or so.  Dad’s birthday is on the 4th of July so we would like to go up for that.  However, since we fly out Sunday morning, we will spend that evening in Utah so we cannot spend the entire 4th in Idaho.  We will probably go up the day before, go out to dinner, and I would really like to hit the Rupert Parade on Saturday before heading south.  We will see.  Hopefully Amanda will be able to come up.  She seems to be pretty set on the 4th in Kaysville.

Amanda is in the throes of another murder party.  She made me a pair of chaps already since it has a western theme.  You will have to keep your eyes on the look out for the cowboy coming out long after the last time I rode a horse.