The Challenge to Change is not Change, but not Challenge the Change

When I was a teenager working at a big box store, there had been rumors that our company would be bought by another big box store.  Sure enough because of these rumors management had a big company wide meeting where they denied that our company was for sale and in no way shape or form would this be happening.

Sure enough within 2 weeks our company was bought by the other company.  All employees were offered to stay working at the new company and keep our jobs.  The tag line that was used from the new company as they implemented their corporate culture on the old companies employees was, "The challenge to change is not change, but not challenge the change."

Last week my life changed as we finally decided to get cable T.V.  Growing up I had cable T.V. all through college I had cable T.V. and now entering our 9th year of marriage we have yet to ever have cable T.V.

The DVR is amazing, and there are popular shows that we can watch "On Demand."  What a country we live in to have these kinds of freedoms!

I have this new amazing technology that for the most part I understand.... then I catch myself watching commercials during the Jazz, Laker game.  What a chump!  I can't believe how slow I am to change myself for the better.

After the first quarter I realized the best way to watch this is on delay so I can skip through commercials, skip through time outs, and I can skip through Carlos Boozer screaming, "Anone (which is ebonic for And One).

So here I am like a sucker watching horrible commercials about upcoming programs, ads trying to get me to buy deodorant, or special ED medications.

Immediately I began recording the game, I checked FaceBook, and then actually had a conversation with my wife.  An hour later I began watching the game.... and all of the commercials that I should be fast forwarding through.

It's hard to implement life changing efficiencies when I have been doing the same thing for so long.
Anyone need my old VHS Tapes?

Pay at the Pump

This morning on my way to work, I stopped and did something rather routine.  Something I do about once a week, sometimes even twice a week if I drive Jill's van.  It was to stop at the local Holiday gas station and fill up the tank with gas.

It's one of those things that we just do.

I was reminded of when I first got my drivers license and I loved the open road and driving anywhere I wanted.  Money earned from my part time job helped pay for this freedom to drive to school whenever I wanted, go out with friends on the weekends, and live with a freedom of knowing "nobody can keep me down".

20 years ago when I first earned by license everyone paid for gas with cash or checks and you actually had to go into the store.  I rather enjoyed getting to know the local people who worked at the corner station many of whom were from my neighborhood.  Often times I would run into other neighbors also getting gas and we'd say hi, or at least wave.

The first time I remember the culture of "pay at the pump", was on a road trip to California while in college and someone from our car talked about how "everyone in Vegas pays at the pump."  "It's so much better and you don't have to go inside," was the rationale.

Being somewhat of a social person I thought why wouldn't you want to go inside, take a look around, get a beef jerky and a soda, visit with the people behind the counter.

Fast forward to modern day and the majority of time I too "pay at the pump."  I never have to wait in line, I probably save money by not going in and buying a 44 oz. soda, and I'm usually in a hurry so I don't pay attention to others who are also getting gas.

It's so much more convenient, but should convenience be the goal in everything?

Or is it okay to mix it up a little and and smother our visits to the gas station with a little bit with Nacho Cheese?  

Going into the gas station and seeing the people of my community, filling up my 'refillable mug', or getting a piece of jerky is something I really used to look forward to.

Now I'm annoyed if someone is in front of me in line, I can't drink the calories that 44 oz. of soda puts into my body, and come on, there is no way that processed piece of meat parts is really good for me.

Going into the gas station is something that has evolved with time and will probably never come back.  It's something that I'll look back on with fondness.  It was a simpler time.

It sure is fun to go in, but who has time for that.  Get out of my way I'm late for work!

My New Favorite Thing

We went out to dinner the other night and ate the most delicious new food. Bang Bang Chicken and Shrimp. It's AMAZING!

The Mall

I went to The Mall today.

Living in the suburbs of Salt Lake City I live a pretty sheltered life. Jill does 99% of the shopping for our family, the only thing I buy is soda, and gas for the car. I'm dangerous in stores because I do so little shopping, if something has a really big sign on it, I assume that it is on sale and I buy it. Jill buys everything for our home, groceries, clothes and birthday gifts are all her department.

The stores I've been too in the last 3 years consist of Target, Kohl's, Costco (for a special weekend treat), and the new Wal-Mart that just opened up near our house. If I shop, I usually tag along with Jill and play the role of enforcer to keep the children in line so Jill can shop in peace.

Most people in the burbs fit the WASP mold that you would expect of a Salt Lake City suburb. Of course when Wal-Mart opened I couldn't believe Riverton had so many people with tattoo's, mullets, and body piercing.

Yesterday we went to the Mall together and it was without kids! I couldn't believe how malls have changed since roughly 2001 when I last stepped foot into one. There were SO many kiosk's (T-Mobile had 3). I believe there were more kiosk's than actual stores. Each of these salespeople are paid on commission, so they reach out to you and ask, "how you doing, would you like....?" I learned to not look them in the eyes and not accept ANYTHING they try to offer for free. It always comes with a catch, usually involving my time and trying to get me to buy something. Nothing in life is free.

Who shops at the mall? Not the same Mom's and Dad's you can see at the Target/Wal-Mart in my neighborhood. It's the young, hip, trendy, pretty, skinny, affluent, well dressed, spa people. The poor girls there must of been freezing wearing their mini skirts and shorts this time of year. At Target I see a lot of jeans, sweat pants, free t-shirts, and muumuu's on the mini van driving, portly, less kept, hunt'n crowd.

As we strolled the mall enjoying the Christmas music looking for shoes and clothes I reflected on to which stores do I really belong? The answer is easy. If I can't buy something I need at these stores, do I really need it?







In the end, we had a pleasant walk through the stores and enjoyed the people watching.

It made for a fun night out, but as for me and my people, I'll see you fellow blog reader... at the 'Wal-Mart's'.

My children that are below average?

Every parent wants their child to be ahead of the curve. Some of the soccer moms and football dads can certainly take it to the far extreme. "My child is an advanced soccer player and deserves to go to the soccer camp in Washington D.C." Or the dad's that think the refs are singling out their child because they would NEVER foul EVER.

Other parents love to point out how advanced their child is. "My child needs to go to a private school because public schools don't teach what they need to know." Or my favorite, "My child needs to be home schooled because they are so smart they aren't challenged in formal schools."

As a parent, I too want the best for my children. Which leads to yet another parenting decision that Jill and I stand at odds over. Jill is much more rational about things, while I want my kids to be the best at everything.

In the newspaper yesterday there was a study that the average child between the ages of 2-5 watch 32 hours of T.V. I'm ashamed to say that my children aren't even close to that. I'm embarrassed for them. How can they function in kid society when all of the other kids get exposed to 20 more hours of t.v. a week?

T.V. is so educational. I tried to pull up a website for my boys the other day and spoke aloud while I typed in the url. "Okay I think it's pbskids," I said. Logan piped right in, "dot org forward slash dinosaur train." It made me proud that he actually pays attention while he watches his shows.

Jill and I will evaluate exactly how to move forward on this point and any input would be considered.

Running Through Swine Flu

With all the news focusing on government backed health care, followed by a news story of football teams, school kids, and workplaces infected with swine flu.

Our neighborhood had the first official diagnosed case of swine flu some months ago, in fact Brother Wall was recognized as the first official case of Swine Flu in the Riverton Central Stake. Quite an honor for the old scoutmaster.

Flash-forward a few months and now 1/2 our ward's kids have swine flu...... or at least symptoms of swine flu. It seems hospitals aren't even testing for swine flu much anymore. If it looks like a duck, quack likes a duck, and waddles like a duck.... it's swine flu.

My boys both have had it, and it has been rough. Logan loves preschool so much it has pained him not to go learn from Miss Julie. The girls in the class have missed him so much that they are sending home notes to him where they draw pictures for him. The boy is a chip of his old man's block.

The flu has spread up to yours truly. For the last week I have felt like crud and haven't had much strength for anything. We've really been worried for Jill as she is in the high risk category the news keeps talking about. Of course like a red blooded American I have continued going to work and infecting the rest of the office so they in turn can take days off for illness. I do what I can to take one for the team.

Please take not medical professionals. While I am not a doctor, I have found something that has seriously decreased the symptoms of this flu. RUNNING is the answer.

Running really is the solution to most of life's troubles. It almost always makes you feel better, and in this case, it has virtually cured my flu symptoms. For the last week I've been coughing a nasty nasty cough from the bottom of my lungs. There are times I can't even come up for air I'm coughing so hard.

The trick is to run 1 mile at 10 miles an hour! It gets your breathing so hard it forces you to breath from the bottom of your lungs. All the sickness in your lungs is forced out through heavy breathing and the forceful coughing immediately following the run. Once you've made it through the next hour, you are home free.

Breathing resumes to the best and deepest breath's you've had since the flu grabbed hold. In fact most people can resume their regular lifestyles that same night. This means ANYONE who follows this health plan will be back watching new episodes of Glee like the rest of their neighbors without the heavy coughing.

I do have a question for the rest of you armchair doctors out there. Now that our family has been exposed to H1N1, does this mean that we've bean it and the next time H1N1 rears it's ugly head that we'll have an immunity to it? I really don't want to have to go through this again. But if I do, I know the secret to a speedy recovery.

Camping is for Boy Scouts

Okay let's go back in time. When I was a boy my family didn't really camp much. Our "camping" usually was at our cabin which was a lot more like camping than cabin-ing.

When I turned 11, my scout leader taught us things that we would need while camping. We learned the scout law, oath, and of course how to survive while out in the woods... or so we thought.

As a Scout I had an incredible Scout Master who helped me develop a zeal for the outdoors. Sure I experimented with fire and poker in the tent where the wagers were in tootsie rolls. As scouts we learned orienteering, canoeing, hiking, cooking, fishing, and the list goes on and on.

When in college it was fun to impress the girls that I had a sleeping bag and dutch oven. As I recall "I enjoy camping and being outside" is the first thing all single people put on their list of things about themselves. (is that still the case?)

Somewhere after college, I learned that you can experience the outdoors see the sights, enjoy the smells and still go home in time to sleep in your own bed. Or even someone else's bed like the good people of La Quinta (Spanish for free Internet).

Last weekend my boys and I were invited to a Fathers and Sons camp out with another neighbor. Like a good husband who is trying to suck up to his wife the week before college football, I took my boys to the Great Outdoors aka Provo Canyon.

They had an absolute ball as they hiked up a hill, played in the dirt, threw rocks into the stream, slept in the tent, and played with their friends until 10:00 p.m. Then we began the sleeping on the ground portion of camping.

This is where La Quinta comes in handy. Sleeping on the ground is as much fun as being forced to watch "Twilight." (which I'm not against doing if it buys me 4 months of college football viewing kitchen passes).

YES my sons woke up in the middle of the night. YES one of them peed and got his sleeping bag wet. YES I slept poorly, and smelled like campfire.

Of course my boys absolutely loved it, and like a good father I'll take them camping right up until they are Boy Scouts and I can pass along that responsibility to their Scout Master.