Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Cheer up!

One week ago, a miracle occurred: We elected a President of the United States.  Now we may or may not be happy with the outcome, but either way we were able to participate in the process, and that is still a miracle.

When I turn on the radio or the TV, however, the overwhelming message I hear is one of disaster and scandal.  For months we've been hearing that "If such and such a person is elected, taxes will skyrocket," or "unemployment will rise," or "America as we once knew it will be lost."  Words like "Taxmageddon," "Fiscal Cliff," and "Recession" paint a dismal picture of the future and fill us with fear. The voice of despair reigns supreme.

But today I invite you to consider another voice.  The voice of a prophet of God, Harold B. Lee, who said,

"Men may fail in this country, earthquakes may come, seas may heave beyond their bounds, there may be great drought, disaster, and hardship, but this nation, founded on principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail. This is the cradle of humanity, where life on this earth began in the Garden of Eden. This is the place of the new Jerusalem. This is the place that the Lord said is favored above all other nations in all the world. This is the place where the Savior will come to His temple. This is the favored land in all the world. Yes, I repeat, men may fail, but this nation won’t fail. I have faith in America; you and I must have faith in America, if we understand the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are living in a day when we must pay heed to these challenges. 
"I plead with you not to preach pessimism. Preach that this is the greatest country in all the world. This is the favored land. This is the land of our forefathers. It is the nation that will stand despite whatever trials or crises it may yet have to pass through."
( Source: Ye Are the Light of the World 350-51 )

President Lee also said,
"I quote the words of Eliza R. Snow: 
“I heard the Prophet Joseph Smith say ‘that the time would come when this nation would so far depart from its original purity, its glory, and its love of freedom and the protection of civil and religious rights, that the Constitution of our country would hang, as it were, by a thread.’ He also said that this people, the sons [and daughters] of Zion, would rise up and save the Constitution and bear it off triumphantly.” (Eliza R. Snow, 1870, Women of Mormondom by Tullidge.)
"So today is no time for youth to whimper the refrain of the defeated and retire to the fancied security of the regimented state. Today is the day for youth to gird themselves with the armor of peace, having as their weapons “the shield of faith . . . and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph 6:16–17.)
( Source: Decisions for Successful Living 209 )

I believe as did the former First Lady, Barbara Bush who said,
"...our success as a society depends not on what happens at the White House, but on what happens inside your house."
(Source: Commencement Address given at Severance Green, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts on June 1, 1990)

Let me put it another way:  Turn off your TV and your radio.  Take a step outside.  Walk around your neighborhood and look at the people around you.  What do you see?  Do you see a world filled with darkness and evil, disaster and despair?  Or do you see, as I do, good people - good families accomplishing good things.  When I see all the good being done, not only here, but all over this nation, and all over the world, I can feel nothing but hope and optimism for our future.

Yes, it's true, Satan is raging in the hearts of men.  He is pulling out all the stops in a last-ditch effort to wreak as much havoc as he possibly can before the end comes.  But even he knows, just as you and I know, that he has already lost.  We defeated him once before, and we will do it again.

Our future has never been brighter.



Thursday, September 27, 2012

I Love My Midget


I've been discovering over the past couple months since I bought my Midget that an MG is not a car.  It's an adventure.  And the fun never ends.


Recently I started hearing a bit of a growl that seemed to be coming from the passenger front wheel.  I assumed I had a wheel bearing starting to fail.  So I went to my local parts store and asked them to order me a wheel bearing ('cause apparently they don't stock them for a 1978 Midget - go figure).

The next day on the way to work, the growl grew a lot louder, and turned into quite a wicked vibration.  I thought, "I've never seen a bearing disintegrate that quickly".  So upon arriving at work, I lifted the car to check how much play was in the wheel.  Seemed quite solid to me.  So after work I decided to just drive it home and park it until the bearing came.

About a quarter-mile from home, something let loose with a bang, and a very loud knocking ensued.  And the engine would no longer turn the wheels.  At this point I was pretty certain this was not a wheel bearing problem;  I was suspecting that I had killed the transmission.  I pushed my Midget the rest of the way home (not too difficult with such a little car) and called my boss to schedule the next week off so I could attempt a rebuild.  I then hoisted the car and crawled underneath to investigate the extent of the damage.

Here's what I saw:

This is where the drive shaft attaches to the transmission using 4 bolts.  Notice that there's only one remaining bolt loosely attached.  The knocking I heard was the drive shaft being flung around instead of being turned by the transmission.  Whoever assembled this used cheap grade 5 Home Depot bolts and nuts.  They were just long enough to reach through into the nut, but not long enough to include a lock washer.

Thank heaven the third bolt fell off when I was so close to home and slowed to under 15 mph for a left turn instead of letting loose on the highway.

So a quick trip to to the auto parts store for $12 worth of grade 8 bolts, lock washers and lock nuts, and my Midget runs like a dream (that is, at least as well as it was running before).

I'm still taking next week off.

Oh, and thanks anyway, Auto Zone, but it appears I won't be needing that $70 bearing you ordered for me after all...

I love my Midget.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

My Son, An Eagle Scout

That's MY son!



Congratulations, J2!  I am so proud of you!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

It Has Ever Been Thus...

"Now, it was for the sole purpose to get gain, because they received their wages according to their employ, therefore, they did stir up the people to riotings, and all manner of disturbances and wickedness, that they might have more employ, that they might get money..."
Alma 11:20
We are all connected.

Yesterday morning there was a 7.9 earthquake in Costa Rica.  I heard it on the radio.  I saw it on a web page.  I read it in an email.  I located it on a world map on my phone.  I even discussed it with co-workers on a skype call - all before the all clear was given to our Costa Rican contractors to re-enter their office building.

Costa Rica.  That's a quarter of the way around the planet from here.  It's in a whole 'nother hemisphere for heaven's sake!

We live in the "Way Too Much Information Age".  Information comes at us so fast and so plentiful via so many avenues that we simply cannot take it all in.  And we are changing because of it.

You've heard it said by the talking heads - probably even said it yourself a time or two: "Apparently, truth doesn't matter anymore."  And to some extent, they (and you) are right.  But it isn't because we don't care about the truth, or even that we wouldn't like to know what the truth is if we could - we simply don't have time to find it.  Truth does not fit into a 140 character tweet.

Or a 3 second sound bite.

We are instead willing to make a judgement based on a statistical approximation of the truth using the information we find most readily available.  Research consists of a Google™ search.  If the two-line summary of the search result does not contain what we are looking for, we won't even bother clicking through to the web page.  And if the top search result summaries all seem to suggest the same answer, we will accept it as true and move on with our lives - especially if the suggested answer aligns with our preconceptions.

Is it any wonder, then, that negative campaigns work?  It is not possible in a 30 second advertisement to effectively educate people on the merits of one philosophy over another.  But it is possible to defame and ridicule the other candidate.  In the first few lines of a Facebook™  wall post, you can't adequately explain why you believe one candidate's policies to be more effective than the other's, but you can incite fear by suggesting that the other guy wants to harm you in some way.  As with our Google searches, we'll accept as true what the majority of the information coming our way seems to suggest.

When did we stop seeing political candidates as a pair of individuals with differing viewpoints on how to make things better for people, and instead started seeing them as good versus evil - as one who will save us and one who will destroy us?  How have we become so polarized that we will with such passion and fury twist, filter and distort information, and even blatantly lie in order to, on the one hand, extol virtue and defend and excuse vice, and on the other hand accuse, attack, dismiss and even threaten - all because of party affiliation?

Has it ever been thus? (That's an old-fashioned way of asking, "WTH?")

Not anymore.  Not for me.

I choose to delete, not forward inflammatory or derogatory tweets, emails, texts, Facebook posts, etc regardless of which "side" they support.  I choose to turn off media outlets that "stir up the people" to hatred or contention, or that seek to promote one person by vilifying another.  I choose to speak only with respect about those who hold or seek public office.  I choose to vote based on the principles and platforms that a candidate upholds, and never based on party affiliation.

And in this too-connected world of instant information (and piles of it), I choose to take the time to learn the truth.

Friday, August 31, 2012

"Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!!"

J2 did a lot of babysitting, mowed lawns and did odd jobs for various members of our ward to earn the money to play in the Westlake Youth Football League this fall.  He has learned a lot about football and he's having tons of fun.

He is one of two kickers on the team and he also plays right corner back on defensive.  When on defense, his coach calls him "the fumble maker."

His team dressed up in costumes for the yearly "weigh in".  Yes, J2 is really wearing a shell bra!! (I call it blackmail!)


Sunday, June 24, 2012

Commuting on a tight budget


When the going get's tough, the tough get going.
...
The rest of us resort to sheer stupidity...


Saturday, April 7, 2012

Cutest Egg Contest


Everyone looks forward to dying Easter Eggs. Usually we have between 60-72 eggs to dye ... and everything is done in about 20 minutes.

This year, we decided to have a contest with a theme ... the cutest egg contest. Each person had 6 eggs to dye. It took 2 hours to finish dying all the eggs! Everyone had fun being creative.



We need your help to choose the winner of our "Cute Egg Contest"!!
Here are the contestants:
Little Duckling
I love Families


Blue Bunny
Ogres are Not like eggs!
Smile!
Peek-a-Boo, Chick!
Killer Bunny!
Watermelon
Where's Waldo?
Crying Baby
Easter Egg on an Easter Egg
The Blimp
Polka Dots
Family of Chicks


Since the Easter Bunny was going to be hiding eggs in the local park for a party on Saturday, we decided to leave our eggs and baskets out on the table and see if he'd come and hide ours, too. He did!

Lil' Miss and my Little Man had fun looking for a few eggs, but then they were more interested in eating candy and sharing their candy with each other.

Happy Easter!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Twilight Moment

If you have ever seen the movie Twilight, you remember the scene when Edward picked Bella up for a date and her dad was cleaning his shotgun?

L prepared for her date ...
... even had her best friend's sister do her hair.
Don prepared, too!
Kaleb was a little nervous when he arrived. He even asked Don if one of the bullets had his name engraved on it! Don casually replied, "No, I don't want you to put your name on a bullet. It'll find you anyway."
Everyone calmed down and we sent them on their way after getting a few details about the evening and making sure they had a cell phone in the event of an emergency.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Feeling Like a Princess

Being a Princess has it's perks.

First, there was the Homecoming Dance with Jon.
Then there was the Sadie Hawkins Dance with Richard.
Next up, the Sweethearts Dance with Calvin.
Now it is Prom time. A couple weeks ago a young man named Kaleb dressed up like a knight and had Richard (see photo above) play a fanfare on the trombone while Kaleb announced, "Here ye, Here ye. Will you go to Prom with me?" Of course, she said yes! (She just found out the theme for Prom is "A Knight for a Princess" ... Kaleb had come up with his idea to ask her before the theme was announced.)

So, yesterday we spent about 3 hours shopping for a prom dress. OUCH!!
I didn't think to take a picture of the first dress she tried on, but here are her other dress selections.
She looked so beautiful in all of the dresses. As she tried them on, she kept saying, "I feel like a Princess!" Which is your favorite? Which one do you think L chose?

J1 decided to try on a couple dresses as well, just for fun. She also looked beautiful!
Don thought I should have tried on a dress or two as well ... maybe next time.