Before I begin, let me apologize for once again gracing the pages of JU. I promised I would leave, and I fully meant it up until I discovered a couple of (two months old) messages from former JUers. As many of you know, there was a great deal of conflict that erupted over things that occurred between me and the family of another JU member almost three years ago. While many lies were spread (such as the fact that I NEVER raised my children in a home without utilities or had my wife isolated wi...
I drive a 1999 Chevy Suburban. For the uninitiated, these vehicles (2WD) top out at just over 20MPG. As most of my miles are higway mileage, that's a fair average. Of course, I push for the extra miles by coasting downhill, staying at 55MPH, keeping my tires inflated, etc, etc. I decided to do a little research into what it would take to buy a "greener" vehicle. As I live in a rural area, there's a lot of open country in which I drive. As I checked out the stats, I quickly realized my vehicle...
Several years ago, my brother manned a suicide hotline. In the course of doing this, he would often refer troubled callers to the Covenant House for help. About the same time, I was seriously considering giving a year's service to the Covenant House. I had received the paperwork and was looking it over and it was a topic of discussion among us (we were sharing a place at the time). One of the requirements of the Covenant House is that its volunteers must spend a specified amount of time in pr...
I've finally found the political compromise that will end the smoking debate once and for all. And I actually have Al Gore to thank for it. It will also add the benefit of helping to solve our national health care issues in the process. So it's a win for everyone. The plan is modelled after Gore's "Carbon Credits" plan. The idea of the carbon credits, for the uninitiated, is that you pay for the pollution you create. It's kind of a special indulgence for the new millenium (if you don't kno...
The state of Texas reported a few weeks ago that two of the children seized in the raid of the FLDS ranch were pregnant and about to give birth. Now, they are admitting that one of the young ladies was of age. The woman, Pamela Jeffs, it turns out, is 18. And the article goes on to say that the other young woman also may be 18. The question, then, is what did Texas officials know and when did they know it? If these women lied about their ages to obstruct, then there's really not much that ...
Last weekend, I went back to the college where I finished up in December for graduation. It came on top of a long week, which meant that I was thoroughly and utterly exhausted by week's end. Add to that an extremely uncomfortable bunk in the trailer we stayed in and I was happy to get back home. We rolled in late Friday night instead of waiting for Saturday (besides, it was parade day up here on Saturday!). We've got one full week of classes left, then finals next week. I've got two group pro...
I'm not a big fan of sex education in the schools. I think it's a shame that it is even debatable as a necessity, and I almost always disagree with the perspectives of those teaching it. Ideally, sex education should be taught at home in a proper environment. But it's that word "ideally" that muddies the waters. And it is because of that that abstinence only sex education should not be the choice for public schools. See, I'm among the crowd that refuses to concede failure. I am not going t...
As budgets gat tighter and tighter, analysts are recommending stockpiling food by buying in bulk and keeping a full pantry. What amuses me about this is, I've been doing this my whole life. And I'm FAR from the only one. See, keeping a stockpile of food is one of the positive things I owe to my LDS upbringing. While I left the church over twenty years ago, some things stay with you, and the LDS church has always encouraged its members to keep a year's supply of food in their pantry. While ...
Earlier this week, I was delighted to see my inbox fill up with three tickets about two hours away. The individual prices were initially too low, and I didn't want to enter my bid too high for fear of being underbid. So I took a gamble. I bid an amount on all three tickets that individually would have paid gas, meal money, and not much more. But if I got all three...well, let's just say, it would be a fairly nice payday, despite putting in 4-5 hours on the road. I am happy to say, the plan wo...
As the semester is winding down (and tax season is past) we've gotten back a few more of our papers, and while I'm still not sure what I've gotten in Management or Marketing, I was pleased to see my Accounting grade is looking good. REAL good when you consider the struggles I've had with it. On the "comprehensive problem" (the one I sweated over when I discovered an 11th hour error), I received 74 out of a possible 75 points. Looks like there was value in sweating that one out. On the last ma...
In the linked article, Oliver "Buzz" Thomas postulates that our religion might be killing us. His rationale? The "dire" need for climate change (one wonders why he is wasting so much time on an electrically powered computer if the need is so dire). He believes that opposition to birth control, which is characteristic of the Roman Catholic Church as well as many Orthodox Jewish and Muslim sects, and the encouragement of large families in faiths such as the LDS church. He argues that instead of of...
I heard an educator this past week report that high school dropouts are at an all time high. A few google searches seem to confirm this; that as recently as 2003, only 70% of our high school students are getting their degree in four years. While it's hard to find reliable stats for the last few years (in part because some of the students may go back), it seems this trend is indeed occurring among our young children. The irony is that this apparent epidemic is not even mentioned in the nationa...
Today brought a couple of reminders that my oldest is growing up. First, the local Christian radio station has a coloring contest. The kids can choose what prizes they'd like to be entered for. One of the prizes was a cell phone with 100 minutes. Des asked us about the cell phone, and we told her it would be better to look at addinhg her to our cell plan when we sign a new contract. This led to a discussion about rights and privileges, and the standard reminder that if she gets a phone, she's...
One of the things that major politicians seem sadly not to realize should be the most obvious. In every election cycle, we get candidates identifying problems and offering rhetorical solutions. While they may sound as if they offer real answers, their solutions are hollow, impractical, and unimaginative. Sure, it's good to offer health care reform, but when your solutions are as practical as building a suspension bridge to the moon, you know it's not going to get done. Anyone with half a brai...
In about 8 1/2 hours, I will walk out of this office for good. I will unload my truck, head home, and we will load it once again and head up to a new house, new college, and Monday, to a new job. It's a process I've undergone many, many times in my life. Although most of my other moves have been somewhat more tumultuous, I have to say, orchestrating a "smooth" move isn't any easier. We've had the school squared away for two months, the job squared away for one month, and the house squared awa...