Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

My Grandpa Van Ry would have turned 98 today. He came to America from Holland when he was 12 years old. He didn't speak English at the time, but, learned to speak it fluently before he was 20 years old. I learned many things from grandpa including the value of hard work. He worked hard his whole life to provide for his wife and 4 children. He didn't expect a handout from anyone. He was proud of his Dutch heritage, but, considered the USA his country. He died March 20, 2001. I love and miss you, grandpa! Happy Birthday!

Don't delay DTV switch

The US Senate approved a measure yesterday to delay the switch to DTV by 4 months. (see here) The US House must now pass the measure for the delay to actually happen. I am very much against delaying the switch for a couple of reasons.

First, I believe that the majority of those who will not be ready for the switch on February 17th will still not be ready for the switch in June. It's not like there hasn't been plenty of time to get ready for the switch. There has also been several ad campaigns to let people know about the switch. In the interest of full disclosure, I subscribe to cable TV, so the removal of the analog signal will not affect me.

The other thing that I have a problem with is the fact that a converter box retails for between $50 and $70. The converter box has a circuit board in it. It contains no moving parts (except for a small fan in some models). A DVD player on the other hand contains a circuit board as well as the DVD drive itself. One would think based on this that a DVD player would be more expensive than a converter box, however, a DVD player can be had for less than $30. Why the discrepancy? I believe it's because of the government coupons (subsidy). If there weren't any government coupons, I believe that these converter boxes would retail for less than $20. Let the coupon program go away so that we will know the true price of the converter boxes. Remember that selling price is based on supply and demand. I doubt there is any demand for a converter box at the full retail price of $50.

It's on the Internet, so it must be true...

I've been browsing the Wild Wild Web World Wide Web since about the time the first Mosaic Netscape browser was released in late 1994. I even had my own domain name (see here) as early as 1996. Why do I mention all this? To show that I've been around these parts long enough to feel at home on the Internet. I've come to learn that you can find absolutely anything that you are looking for on the Internet. This isn't always a good thing. I find that I have to take EVERYTHING I read on the Internet with a grain of salt. I question absolutely anything that anybody says they read on the Internet.

So what is out here?

Religion? You can find people on the Internet that will gladly tell you all about Joseph Smith talking about tall people who live on the moon. Want to know what goes on in the LDS Temple Ceremony? How about the Masonic Temple Ceremony? Want to find anti-(fill in almost any religion name here) material? You can find all that out there in Internet Land.

Politics? You can find more than your fair share of political stories. Think the attacks of 9/11 were done by foreign terrorists? There are numerous sites that agree with you. Think those same attacks were a conspiracy by the federal government? There are also numerous sites that agree with you.

Hey Thad, what are you getting at with this post? What I'm trying to say is that there seems to be many people that believe anything that they read, as long as it's on a Website, without checking the facts of what they are reading. Would you do the same thing if something showed up in your mailbox or on your doorstep? Say I mailed you a letter with no return address and no way of knowing who the letter is from. I tell you in this letter that McDonalds is offering a free BigMac to anyone as long as you send a copy of the letter to 10 of your friends. All you have to do is make 10 copies of this letter and mail them to your friends. Would you do it? I bet very few people would do this, due to the cost involved. At the very least, I'd expect that most people would do a little checking to see if it's true before spending the money to mail out 10 copies. So how come so many people are willing to forward e-mails with very similar offers or even outlandish stories without checking to see if the things they are forwarding or spreading are true? I bet it's because it doesn't hit them directly in the pocket book each time they do.

The bottom line? (I think I learned this in Kindergarten.) Don't believe everything you read or hear. Check the facts. Is it true? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

My favorite place to check to see if something is true or not is http://www.snopes.com. And yes, you can find people on the Internet who claim (see here) that Snopes isn't a reliable site to check for facts.

Happy New Year!

To all my friends and family, here's wishing you and yours a Happy and Prosperous 2009!

2008 Highlights from Woods Cross Citizen

This past year has been a great one here at the Woods Cross Citizen blog. This post will be my 108th post for the year. Some highlights of my posts over the past year:

• In January I said goodbye to a great leader, President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I also posted about www.crimereports.com which still doesn't appear to have data from Woods Cross, but, does have data from Bountiful and North Salt Lake City. I also speculated about how much a City Council seat is worth to some people.
  
• In February I answered the question of why I blog.
• March brought the announcement that our Mayor had filed to run for the Utah State Senate. I also postulated on the propriety of City Council Members forwarding their own agenda.
• During April I crossed two items off my bucket list and commented about curbside recycling beginning in Woods Cross. I also talked about our decision to purchase a vehicle from Murdock Chevrolet.
• In May I sent questions to the Senate Candidates for Utah State Senate District 23.
• June brought my 15th wedding anniversary as well as a meeting with Dan Liljenquist and my first ever lunch with a Democratic Candidate.
• In July I received answers to my questions from the Senate District 23 candidates.
• August began my series of posts giving the answers that I received from those candidates. Also in August, Dan Liljenquist survived a plane crash.
• The only posts during September were more answers in my series of posts that began in August.
• In October I announced that my job location would be changing. I also shared my position on California's Proposition 8, the Davis County Commission race, and the State Senate District 23 race.
• At the end of November, I declared that I was happy to see the Utes go 12-0.
• December started off by me saying goodbye to a great University of Utah fan. It ended with a wonderful Christmas.

Blu-ray = Betamax?

Will Blu-ray survive? I came across a column today at ZDNet (see here) that makes some great arguments about why Blu-ray could be dead soon. (Cue Monty Python's "I'm not dead yet" skit.)

For Christmas, we got a 42" Plasma HDTV. Prior to getting this TV, I used to think that the whole HD craze was just a lot of hype. I've discovered that watching non-HD broadcasts on the new TV is painful. We opted for the lower-priced 720p version of the TV. Our original DVD's still look ok on this TV. With time, I suspect we'll purchase an up-converting DVD player. I don't have the desire to purchase a Blu-ray player anytime soon though. If an up-converting DVD player makes all my original DVDs look nice on the TV, why would I want to pay more for a Blu-ray player as well as more for each Blu-ray disc? Switching to Blu-ray just doesn't make financial sense to me.

Keeping Christmas

This is taken from "The Spirit of Christmas" by Henry Van Dyke:

It is a good thing to observe Christmas day. The mere marking of times and seasons, when men agree to stop work and make merry together, is a wise and wholesome custom. It helps one to feel the supremacy of the common life over the individual life. It reminds a man to set his own little watch, now and then, by the great clock of humanity which runs on sun time.

But there is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day, and that is, keeping Christmas.

Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you; to ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe the world; to put your rights in the background, and your duties in the middle distance, and your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground; to see that your fellow-men are just as real as you are, and try to look
behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy; to own that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life; to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness--are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.

Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and the desires of little children; to remember the weakness and loneliness of people who are growing old; to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough; to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear on their hearts; to try to understand what those who live in the same house with you really
want, without waiting for them to tell you; to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you; to make a grave for your ugly thoughts, and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open--are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.

Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world--stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death--and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? Then you can keep Christmas.

And if you keep it for a day, why not always?

But you can never keep it alone.

Here's hoping for 12-0

I'm rooting for the Utes to win on Saturday over BYU giving them a 12-0 record and sending them to a BCS bowl. GO UTES!

What others are saying - Part 2

I posted back in March (see here) about an intriguing blog that I happened upon where someone was posting their marriage and divorce story. I quit updating that post. A friend of that individual (no, I don't know her personally, I've just been intrigued by her story) posted a link to all the entries in that story. You can see it here: http://10019musings.blogspot.com/2008/10/i-am-not-alyssa.html

Entitled Generation

I've been thinking lately, along with most citizens, about the economic issues affecting our country and I wonder if the way our children are being raised has caused at least a part of this mess. Let me give an example and we'll see if this post makes any sense by the end of it.

About 30 years ago, I played little league soccer. One year I was part of a team that was absolutely terrible. All the other teams looked forward to playing against us, because they knew that they would win. I don't remember winning a single game that year. The only thing I have to show for playing that year is a picture of my team that my parents bought. Another year I was on a very good team. We only lost one game the whole season. All the kids on my team were given a trophy that said "1st Place."

For many years, little league associations have tried to emphasize that "winning isn't everything." In doing this, some little league associations have even given "participation" trophies. All kids that play get the same trophy. What we are telling our kids is just go out and "participate" and you will get something of value. To me this is absolutely the wrong thing to do. Kids need to be taught that if you want something of value, you have to work for it. We are creating a generation that feels entitled to receive something of value, just for showing up.

One problem that I believe has caused the current economic situation is that "kids" were able to purchase larger homes than they could afford using stupid financing schemes. These "kids" were then able to have something of great value without having to put in the necessary work. In other words they were given something of value just for showing up. I'll bet many of them even felt that they were "entitled" to it.

5 Years

It was 5 years ago today that I wrote my first post on this blog. This blog has gone through periods of slowness (especially 2004) and periods where there were regular postings. It is interesting for me to go back and read some of my early posts. I've also noticed that some of my views have changed in the past 5 years. If nothing else, this blog has served as an outlet for me to post random thoughts. If no one reads them, that is fine by me. It's fun for me to write them and then later go back and read them.

Cars vs. Computers

There's a great post over at JumboJoke.com titled If People Bought Cars Like They Buy Computers. I thought it was extremely funny and fitting.

Would I be as involved?

Yesterday my wife asked me an intriguing question. She asked me if we were to move away from the South Davis area, would I be as interested or involved in politics as I am? Since she asked me, I've been mulling it over in the back of my mind. (That's what techie types do. We work on a solution to an issue in the back of our mind.)

Would I be as involved in local politics if I were to move away from the South Davis County area? I probably wouldn't. One of the reasons that I am so involved and interested in politics in the South Davis area is that I have a historical love for the area. I was raised in Woods Cross. I remember walking down 800 West as a kid to buy candy and a soda at Irv's Market. Call it nostalgic, but, I love Woods Cross because so much of my life has been lived here. So would I have that same vested interest in a place that I wasn't raised in? Probably not. I'd probably end up being like the majority of residents and not really care or know what my city officials were doing.

Can I take it with me when I die?

I recently read the book, "The King's Highway" by Howard Fullmer. This book reminded me of a subject that I've wanted to write a post about for some time. The subject is that of materialism vs. service to others. Do we value our physical possessions more than we value our relationships with family and friends? Do we care more about gathering lots of things for ourselves or making the journey easier for others?

Years ago I was asked by a friend if they could borrow my truck to haul some dirt for their garden. If I had valued my possessions more than my relationship with my friend, I would have said no because he might have scratched it, wrecked it, or any number of other things. Looking back, I'm glad that I said yes to him.

How many times do we tell our kids or grandkids that they can't use something because we are afraid that they will hurt or damage it? Do we value the physical possession more than we value our relationship with our child or grandchild? There are many people who spend lots of time and energy taking care of or gathering more physical possessions and not enough time taking care of their relationships with family and friends. In the end, what do we take with us when we die?

In Honor of Those Who Have Served

Happy Memorial Day! This day was set aside to honor those men and women who have served in the US Armed Forces. For a great history of observance of Memorial Day in the United States of America, see http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html.

Today, I'd like to honor my maternal grandfather and his brother. My grandpa served in the navy during World War II. He passed away 11 April 1991. His younger brother was killed 6 September 1945 when the plane he was flying in was shot down by Japanese forces. Apparently, not all the Japanese forces knew that the war had ended on 15 August 1945.

I salute all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms that we enjoy here in the United States of America.

My Bad Experience at South Davis Rental

I read a book years ago titled, "The Simple Truths of Service." (see here.) In a portion of this book it tells the story of Johnny the bagger. (Click here for the full Johnny the bagger story.) Johnny went out of his way to make every customer feel like they were important. Consequently, people wanted Johnny to be their bagger, even if it meant waiting in a longer line for a longer time. In most people's lives, time equals money. These people were willing to pay more (time) for better customer service.

I was reminded of this story because of an experience that I had last week. I wanted to rent a sod cutter for some yard work I was doing. My wife called some of the rental companies in the Bountiful area asking prices. When she called South Davis Rental she was told that the overnight charge was a two-hour minimum. This meant if you used the cutter for less than the two hours, you'd be charged for the two hours. If you used the cutter for more than two hours, you'd be charged the actual hours used. That was the lowest price and so she reserved a machine for us to pick up on Friday evening.

Come to find out, the "standard" for their overnight is a three hour minimum. To their credit, South Davis Rental did only charge the quoted price, however, they made us feel crappy for trying to hold them to what they quoted. They said things like "Overnight rental has always been three hour minimum." and "Man, these guys are killing me." I think it's important to note here that I picked up the sod cutter at 5 p.m. on Friday and returned it shortly after 8 a.m. on Saturday. When I picked the cutter up, it had 21.3 hours on the clock and when I returned it there were 21.9 hours on the clock. I used the machine for 36 minutes! When I left South Davis Rental on Friday there were several sod cutter machines available. Not all the sod cutter machines got rented and kept overnight Friday. There were still some sod cutters there when I returned the machine on Saturday morning. South Davis Rental did not lose the capability to rent a sod cutter because I had one overnight Friday. What they did lose is my satisfaction with them as a rental company. They also potentially lost future business from me and my family members. When I need to rent equipment in the future, I will pay a few bucks more to rent from elsewhere before going to South Davis Rental based on the experience I had there. South Davis Rental is also a U-haul rental location. Needless to say, I won't go there to rent U-haul equipment either.

The people who run and work at South Davis Rental could learn a lot about customer service. You can treat customers any way you want, but, really successful companies treat customers in a way that makes them want to come back.

15th Anniversary

Today is an anniversary for me. It was 15 years ago today that my wife agreed to marry me. A recent article (see here) in Mormon Times by Orson Scott Card sums up many of my feelings about my marriage.

In the article, he says in marriage, "there's somebody who shares your goals and your problems, somebody to rely on, somebody to hear you out. You're not alone." One of the great things about being married to my best friend is that we both have someone to rely on. Someone to share our fears and our joys with. We both have a shoulder to cry on when we need it. We have somebody else to help us through when we're feeling down.

Orson Scott Card says of the foundation of marriage, "It's a commitment based on the goals you share. And real love, married love, is not what you start with -- it's what you create together along the way." My wife and I have had many wonderful times together in the past 15 years. We've had our struggles and our heartaches, but, what I feel today is a love that is so much stronger than the love I felt for her 15 years ago.

To my wife, I love you! You are my best friend and I want to be with you always!

No Regrets at Murdock Chevrolet

I have been meaning to write a blog post about this prior to now, but, I haven't done it yet. Last November we were looking at replacing our 2003 Chevy Suburban. There wasn't anything wrong with it, I just wanted to upgrade to something different. Now when you have seven children, your options on vehicles is fairly limited. Our choices really became one of the following three options:

School Bus
A institutional van.
Or a nice new Suburban.
I should add here that we plan on keeping this new vehicle for several years.

With these things in mind, we went looking for a new vehicle. Our 2003 Suburban we purchased from Young Chevrolet in Layton. After that experience I wasn't too thrilled to go to Young again.

Since Murdock Chevrolet was close, we decided to go see what they had available. At the time we went, Chevy was offering 0% financing on 2007 Suburbans. That was the deal that we went looking for. The problem became trying to find a 2007 Suburban that was a 9 passenger model. Basically there weren't any within a 500 mile radius. Our salesman than started to talk to us about looking at a 2008 Suburban. They had a 2008 Suburban that was being shipped to them that would hold 9 people. To make a long story short, we ended up deciding to get that 2008 Suburban.

Why am I happy with Murdock Chevrolet? During the process they did several things that made me happy, among them are:

1. They worked hard to find a 9 passenger 2007 Suburban. They even looked into getting a 8 passenger 2007 Suburban and changing seats to make it a 9 passenger. That proved to be cost prohibitive.
2. When they found out where I worked, they told me about a discount I could get because of my employer. This actually made the vehicle cost about $500 less than the deal that I had worked with them. How many times have you had a car dealer tell you how you could save even more money?
3. To seal the deal, they offered to throw in a vehicle entertainment system. The first one that they installed didn't work and after trying several things to get it to work, they finally installed a dual dvd player system. This system has kept our kids happy for many hours. Happy Kids = Quiet Kids. Quiet Kids = Happy Parents. Happy Parents = Happy Vacation.

You may have seen Murdock's "No Regrets" commercials. I truly have no regrets with my purchase experience at Murdock. My wife and I absolutely love so many things about our 2008 Suburban. We love the color, the way it rides, the remote start, the vehicle entertainment system, etc. Thanks Murdock! If you are in the market for a new car, go see Jason Nielsen at Murdock and tell him that I sent you!

My Village Re-Arranged

In a Mormon Times article, (see here) Orson Scott Card likens a LDS ward to a village of people where people are "groomed" by each other. Last Sunday night, my "village" had new boundaries created. This is the fourth ward boundary change we have been involved in while living in our current home. We were made part of the new ward that was created. This is also the fourth different ward that we have been in since we have lived here. Changes like this always bring challenges, both for myself and for my wife and children. We'll face these challenges the same way that we have faced other challenges in our lives, one day at a time.

Bucket List Reduced by 2

My list of things that I want to do before I kick the bucket had two things on it completed this past week. I've always wanted to see Delicate Arch in Arches National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park. This past week I took my family to see them both on a much needed vacation. It was beautiful weather for a vacation to South Eastern Utah. Our new 2008 Chevy Suburban averaged 18 MPG on the way down there. It also has a built in Vehicle Entertainment System which kept the kids entertained on the drive down and back. All in all, it was a very nice vacation.