2010 Resolutions/Goals

As I mentioned in my earlier Resolutions in Hindsight post, I've not a fan of resolutions. I think part of the issue has to do with pressure, of which I'm not too big on. I see no need to place additional pressure on myself because I've already got enough to go around. Why do I feel the pressure? Who knows... story of my life. It's something that I've lived with for as long as I can remember. I'm sure those that know me would agree.

At the same time though, I do recognize that having a plan is a good thing and that a little pressure can also be a good thing. In addition to pressure, I've always been a planner, but I'm much better at planning for the short term rather than the long term. Give me something to plan for in the near future, like a dinner party or something, and I start planning. Ask me where I see myself in 5 years and what I'm doing to get there, and I probably can't be too specific.

So, with that in mind, I'm throwing out some resolutions/plans/goals for 2010.

1. Life - find occasion to smoke cigars
   About 6 months ago, my mom took me to an open house the Tinder Box was having. We drank some wine, had some cheese, and smoked a cigar. I haven't smoked a real cigar is forever - probably 15 years or so. Yes, I've smoked some cheap cigars with friends upon occasion, but nothing worth remembering. So, my mom and I smoke a nice cigar and it's a pleasant experience. One of those mother/son experiences (certainly not your typical one, but it never has been with my mom). She says I should buy some and she offers to buy some as well. I ended up buying 5 cigars I think and a humidor. I admit that these were both impulse buys, but nevertheless. So now I have these cigars and I'd like to share them in hopes of having other memorable experiences with some people in my life. Who/when/where is a bit of a question. I guess time will tell.
   


2. House - install microwave
   Certainly an easier one to write about. For anyone who's been to my house, I'm sure you know what this project is referring to. We've had a microwave sitting on our countertop for quite some time now... I would 4 months. About 6 months ago, our previous microwave was sitting hidden inside one of our cabinets, but one day it died. We were able to replace the microwave with the new one relatively cheap (we have yet to pay for it in fact). However, we never liked the microwave in the cabinet and want it mounted above the stove. That however is proving more involved than we hoped. This project is another piece our kitchen improvement understanding that we're working towards. I need to get an electrician over here to run a dedicated line so that we can take the next step in getting this project accomplished.
   


3. House - hang paintings
   We inherited some paintings from my grandparents that were my great-grandma's this past May. We need to replace the frames and decide on the right location. Sounds easy enough, but May is only 5 months away. Our house has certainly been in transition quite a bit over this past year, but we have to get this done.
   


4. Life - see a movie in the theater
   Can't believe that I/we are admitting to this one. I honestly can't remember the last movie I/we saw in the theater. We finally managed to watch a DVD just the other night for the first time in forever. Sad thing is I know there have been some movies this past year that would have been great in the theater. We just need to do it. Should I modify this goal such that it can't be a kid movie? That would probably is pushing it so I'll stick with any movie.
   


5. Life - shoot shotgun (w/Jeff)
   This is really a 2-for-1 goal. This past year, a friend of mine, Jeff, had the goal to shoot his shotgun. We've talked about it a number of times and I/we have other friends that would be interested in this as well. Normally, shooting my shotgun wouldn't qualify as a big deal, but I didn't shoot mine all last year. I could have gone on the pheasant hunt or the duck hunt, but passed on both. I doubt though that Jeff would want to go hunting. Going down to the Castle Valley bird club would be fun though. My current thought is that we can just got out to the Lee Kay center or some place and shoot some skeet.
   


6. Life - go fishing (fly fishing)
   This is one I'm almost ashamed to write about. I justify this sacrifice that I feel I've made with the thought that I'm focusing on my family these days. Fly fishing for me is one of the best things I can do for myself and something that I could do every day. A few years back, I was fishing quite a bit and I would drive quite a ways to fish for an hour or so. I'm trying to think about where/when I fished this past year. I think I fished down in Clear Creek once or twice. I didn't fish on the deer hunt though... oh yeah, I forgot about fishing up at my mom's. I actually caught a real nice one in fact. So let's say I fished 5 times total. Not nearly enough. One thing that would help in this area is if I could fish with someone. Not that it's a team sport or anything, but having someone who was prodding me to go.
   


7. Life - improve job satisfaction
   Work can't just be work, and lately it has been. We, as Americans especially, spend so much time working and so it can't just be a job. I used to love my job. Granted, that was quite a few years ago, and I was still pretty young and naive, but it needs to be more for me. As a software developer, I don't have one of those jobs that I can leave at work. I spend a lot of time thinking about work during the off hours. There are times when I'm working on an project and I've got my head so far into it that I end up dreaming about it at night. For that and many other reasons, I have to find more satisfaction in what I'm doing. I'm not suggesting that I need to find something outside of my field and do something completely different. I have responsibilities as a husband and father that don't allow for that kind of a change, but there has to be a way for me to get more out of work. I only hope I can find how to do that.
   


8. Life - don't gain any more weight
   I definitely need to put some attention towards this one. A few years ago, I was in the best shape of my life, but that was 30+ lbs ago. Yes, I can come up with a bunch of excuses, but I can't continue to allow that to happen. Yes, everyone struggles with this, but still. I need to find a way to fit this into my routine. Honestly, I think this one will be one of, if not thee, hardest one to work on and accomplish.
   


9. Life - blog once a month
   So far so good on this one, but this tends to go in spurts I've noticed. I have multiple blogs and I think if I totaled all my posts in them all, I'm doing ok. I want to write more though. I'm finding it to be somewhat cathartic. I'm certainly getting more comfortable with putting things out there than I've been in the past. I think I'm more comfortable with who I am these days. It may sound bad (which isn't my intention), but if people don't like what I have to say, then my attitude has been, don't read it. I am who I am (which is something I say in our EE talks - another topic). They have to be real posts though. The ones where I'm just making a comment or the like, don't count. This one counts.
   


10. House - build a shed
    This one has been in the making for some time, but I think it's time to get this one accomplished. It should actually be pretty easy because my intention (now) is to have someone else build it. Originally, I had plans to build it with my dad or something, but I think that idea has faded. Granted, building the deck with my dad was a nice experience, but I don't think it'll happen again.
    


11. Life - play basketball >=5 times
    Another one I'm ashamed to be writing about, but I really need to do work on this one. For so much of my life, basketball has been a factor. And yes, I can come up with a bunch of excuses not to play, but I need to play. I really enjoy it and I need to stop worrying about getting hurt. Yes, I have aches and pains in my body these days that weren't there in the past, but I'm not 20 years old either. Hell, John Stockton played till he was 40 and he was playing professionally.
    


12. House - magicjack transition
    Have I mentioned how much I hate Qwest and hate paying so much damn money for a home phone? A few years back I moved to a pay-as-you-go cell phone thanks to Jeff's suggestion and I'm so thankful. The amount of money I save I my cell phone has been so worth it. I'm sure the same can/will be said for the transition to something like magicjack. Yes, I'm sure the service/call quality won't be the same, but imagine the savings. I'm paying Qwest money in fees and taxes each month than magicjack would cost me/us for a whole year. It seems like a no brainer. Not to mention how good it will feel to call Qwest up and say screw you and cancel my service with them. One thing that is holding me back at this point is I'm waiting for magicjack to come out and support Linux because my home computer is running Ubuntu. They say it should be out in the first quarter of 2010.
    Update: I actually made some progress on this one today. I setup my Google Voice account.


13. Life - go to confession
    This is a hard one to write about because for some reason, I feel ashamed. In fact, I don't think I can write much about it. My intention is to read a book (hopefully Greg can suggest one) so I can learn more about the sacrament and then do it. I think that's all I can muster at this point.
    

Well that's it for now. I'll try to post updates as they happen. Yes, 13 is an unlucky number, but I can't think of any others at the moment. Here's hoping for a successful 2010.

Resolutions in Hindsight

I've never been a big fan of resolutions for a host of reasons which I don't care to go into now. Not that I think they're a bad idea, I've just never had much luck with them. However, I was reading a friend's blog today about his resolutions for 2009. The post was basically a year in review wrap-up on how he did on his 2009 resolutions. His post got me thinking, and this is was I came up with. Rather than feeling bad about the resolutions I didn't complete this year, I had the idea of resolutions in hindsight. I've found it much easier to make decisions with the benefit of hindsight. A came up with the list rather quickly and they fall into a few categories. Without further ado, I give you my 2009 resolutions in hindsight:

1. House - put in a new bathroom
   Our house had 1 1/2 bath and with us contemplating the possibility of a move in the future, it only made sense to have another bathroom put in so we can appeal to more potential buyers. It's nice to have a bath off our master bedroom as well. The cost was much lower than expected and it turned out really nice (other than the lack of water pressure). We should have done it a few years ago.
   


2. House - put in pantry and closet
   Our main level has/had no closets, and with us spending much more time on the main level these days, we needed a place to store stuff that we want to keep out of sight and out of little kid reach. We had a walk through hall that we closed in on both sides; one side is now a closet and the other is a pantry. The extra space is nice and it gives us the chance to get some stuff off our counters. The cost could have been better as well as the workmanship, but we'll be happy enough once it's all painted. This is also a step in the plan to redo some things in our kitchen.
   


3. House - insulate attic
   Our house was built in 1906 or something, and while there's been a lot of updates to the house as well as major remodels, I felt that we could use more insulation. I'd seen numerous ads over the years from companies saying that the cost was minimal with the rebates, tax credits, and energy savings. Total out of pocket expense was $340 and we're expecting $185 back from Questar and the government. Time will tell on the energy savings. It took the company like 45 minutes to do the install. We should have done this when the rebates were higher, but we've doubled our insulation.
   


4. House - replace ceiling fans and lights in back bedrooms
   Yes, a lot of these a boring house projects. This one sounds simple enough, but there's some back history to it. We have these two bedrooms in our house that have ceiling fans in them, but no overhead lights (our house in general has minimal overhead lights, but that's another topic). A few years ago, I had the thought of buying light kits for the ceiling fans so that we'd have more light in the rooms. I bought the compatible light kits, installed one, turned it on and no light. I thought 'must be a bad light kit' so I installed the other one, and the same result. Damn. Must be an electrical issue and I don't want to mess with that. Fast forward to this summer and one of the fans stops working. Our house has no AC and the room the fan stopped working in has our treadmill. I had plans to start using the treadmill more/some (which is again a whole other post to write about) and thought there was no way without a fan. So, I decided it was time to replace the fan with ones that had lights. Two birds, one stone you see. Well, I won't go into the details of the fun I had installing the fans, but guess what... the reason the original light kits didn't work was due to the fact that the wire to the light kit wasn't wired up. A 30 sec task when the fans were originally installed would have saved me a lot of trouble. Regardless, we now have new fans with lights.
   


5. House - replace dishwasher
   This one will be complete this week assuming the install company shows up. We bought it this past weekend after doing minimal research (another topic). The dishwasher we're replacing has to be 20 years old. It's served us well, but boy is it loud. I'm sure the new one will pay for itself in time thanks to the energy and water savings. Another step in the kitchen master plan. One less thing to complain about too. I wonder what's next.
   


6. House - close in stairs
   You'd have to see our house to understand this one, but a year ago our house wasn't the most kid friendly and the stairs were the biggest example of that. Of course, a year ago this wasn't an issue, but now that we have an 18 month old running around it would have been a significant issue had we not resolved it. Essentially our stairs and the half wall at the top of our stairs were open to the downstairs, and it would have been quite the drop for a little one. I won't go into the details on the trouble we went through getting the work done by our contractor friend, but it was a rather frustrating process (you wouldn't think you could spread out 15 hours of work over 4 months, but you'd be wrong). Thankfully, we now have ourselves a much safer stair setup while maintaining a unique entry way.
   


7. Engaged Encounter - become Local Coordinators
   It's quite ironic that our lives are simpler now that we have our son, and that we felt we were in a place in our lives where we wanted to do more for the Catholic Engaged Encounter community of Utah. I can't say that the experience is turning out how we thought it would, but it is giving Jo & I a new perspective on the ministry and our future roles in the ministry. We're still excited about all the possibilities, but not as excited as we were initially. We've met some really nice people and had a lot of fun at the unit meetings, but I've begun to worry about our local community a bit. With God's blessings, our community will rebound and grow into what I believe it can be.
   


8. Engaged Encounter - successful EE SLC convention
   slc2009eeconvention.com This really was our first responsibility as part of our new role as LCs despite our attempts to not let it become our responsibility. It's hard to say if we brought on the responsibility ourselves by taking on the official roles that we played for the convention or not. Thankfully, the convention was a huge success especially in the financial area. Despite all the worries and headaches, it was a nice experience that I hope to never try to duplicate.
   


9. Travel - visit grandma & grandpa in WY
   Finally, a new category! This one I'm awfully proud of because this was all Jo and me. We actually visited grandma and grandpa twice this year with CJ, but the trip we made in May was the first one and it was just us that went. It was actually 2 trips in 1 because we first traveled to Alpine, WY to see my uncle and aunt and family then over to Riverton, WY to see the grandparents. I'd never driven the stretch from Jackson to Riverton and it was quite lovely (especially past the Tetons). It was a wonderful trip with a lot of relaxing and visiting. The weather didn't permit any fishing which was somewhat disappointing, but not surprising. I had a chance to talk to my grandpa one-on-one for quite a while and I learned some things and interacted with him like I never had before. They, of course, loved seeing CJ and spoiling him (especially Grandma). The second trip was over Thanksgiving and Mom, Jess, and (gasp) Dad went that time (a whole other story for another time).
   


10. Travel - air travel with CJ to Denver
    A trip to Denver for Ben & Heather's wedding. This was originally going to be an extended vacation, but we cut it short due to limited vacation time at work, but it was fun nonetheless. We traveled with our good friends, Jeff & Kristi and their 2 little boys, so we had them as our safety net. You should have seen the 4 of us with our 3 little boys and all their stuff (carseats, strollers, etc). It was really nice of Ben & Heather to invite us, and hanging out with the Aoyagis and Lonahas was a blast (the Aoyagis have always been wonderful). I even golfed for the first time in years and had a great time socializing with Jeff (of course) and Ben's brother and brother-in-law. I'll have to continue to get over whatever mental block is keeping me from getting out onto the course (again another topic).
    


11. Life - go to church more???
    I/we struggled with this one as we always do, but I feel like we're doing better. EE certainly helps in this area, but I think being parents does as well. At the same time, being parents requires a lot of our time and managing an 18 month old at church isn't the easiest thing to do. I do feel, however, that we've grown spiritually over the past year and I feel that's most important.
    


12. Life - watch less TV
    This is really a result of having Christopher and him needing more attention than he needed in the past. Referring ahead to the next resolution has also had an effect in this area. So much of TV is really such a waste. Yes, I/we still have shows that we want/need to watch, but we've managed to cut out quite a bit.
    


13. Life - start eating at the table
    Again, this is a result of having Christopher, but another positive artifact. It seems like we used to live upstairs, but we've since moved our DVR downstairs and there's more room down here so it just makes sense. Christopher is on a much more regular schedule these days and scheduling dinner so we can all eat works out well. The little guy has brought a lot of structure to our life.
    

Congrats to me and Jo for getting all these things accomplished. I'm so proud.

Congressional Reform Act of 2010

THIS IS HOW WE CAN FIX OUR CONGRESS!

I am sending this to virtually all my close friends and that includes conservatives, liberals, and everybody in between. Even though we disagree on a number of issues, I count all of you as friends. The proposal is to promote a "Congressional Reform Act of 2010." It would contain several provisions, all of which would probably be strongly endorsed by those who drafted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

I know many of you will say, "this is impossible." Let me remind you, Congress has the lowest approval of any entity in Government, now is the time when Americans will join together to reform Congress - the entity that represents us.

We need to get a Senator to introduce this bill in the US Senate and a Representative to introduce a similar bill in the US House. These people will become American heroes. Please add any ideas on how to get this done.

Thanks,
A Fellow American

---

Congressional Reform Act of 2010

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

1. Term Limits

12 years only, one of the possible options below.

A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension

A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay once they are leave office. Unused campaign funds will no longer be kept (tax free) by the retiring congressman, but must be donated to a legal charity.

3. Normal Retirement

Congressmen (past, present & future) will participate in the Social Security Retirement system. All money in the Congressional retirement fund will be moved to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, where Congress will participate with the rest of the American people. (Congressmen can purchase their own private retirement plan just as all Americans can.)

4. Pay Increases

Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Health Care

Congress will give up its current health care system and will participate in the same health care system as the rest of the American people.

6. No Exemptions

Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American citizens.

7. No "Sweetheart" deals

All contracts with past and present congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.

The American people did not make these contracts with congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

---

If successful, these new laws would greatly reduce the ridiculously expensive campaigns for Congressional seats, and make finance reform more palatable to the present members. (Congressmen who excel in office will have many opportunities for continued public service at the state or federal level as well as the private sector.)

Please Keep this Circulating.

Lyrics from the past

Some lyrics worth preserving:


"Hey my friend
It seems your eyes are troubled
Care to share your times with me
Would you say you're feeling low and so
A good idea would be to get it off your mind"


"Hey, my love, you came to me like wine comes to this mouth
Grown tired of water all the time
You quench my heart and you quench my mind"


"In my life, never before
Have I lover so adored
Her eyes, her hair, everything she says
My delight, tickle me inside
Touch my heart, touch my mind

No matter whats inside, I'll give to her
No need to satisfy my hunger, lost in her
While I spend these hours, five senses reeling
With biggest steps I am running
After her I will run"


"Cry freedom, cry
From deep inside where
we are all confined
How can I turn away
Brother/Sister go dancing
through my head
Human as to human
The future is no place
To place your better days "

Emailing the President

Just thought I'd share the email I just sent to the President.

As a relatively informed citizen who voted for and financially supported President Obama in the past election, I have a question. Why are we even thinking about sending more troops to Afghanistan? To what end are they fighting? Something like 34000 people died on the roads in the US last year. 9/11 was a sad and tragic day, but we can't send our young people to fight and die just so we can pretend to no longer live in fear. Even if we kill all the terrorists in the world, we will not be safe. Safety cannot be guaranteed and increasing safety comes at what cost? What is the cost of another wounded or killed US soldier? I pray to God that you bring our soldiers home. I pray to God that my sons and your daughters can live in a world of increasing peace and not one of increasing war. War is not the answer.

Thoughts

I sit here on this day thinking about so many things going on in my life. Trying not to think about work, but rather the important things in my life. I'm finding that I want to blog about these things as a way of sending them out into the world. To what end? I'm not sure. I'm not sure if it's just a way that I can get things out of my head, or if I'm hoping for an audience, or I'm looking for answers.

A year ago today, my son was born. My life is forever changed for the better. Not to say that life before Christopher wasn't good, but it has more meaning these days. Everything is seen in a different light. The trivial things I used to spend time doing, seem much more trivial. The desire to have those close to me, even closer, has certainly grown. My life feels simpler than it once was, but the joy in my life is overflowing.

I've struggled with who I should be writing these posts to. Who should I imagine is reading them? I think I've decided that I have to stop thinking about that because I think it hinders my willingness to write anything. In fact, I know it has hindered my writing. There have been, and still are, numerous topics floating in my head that I've wanted to blog about but haven't. Is that because there are people that I don't want to read them? Alternatively, is it because there are people that I want to read them (and might) so I want to ensure I say the things that accurately reflect my thoughts. Yes, there are people in my life that I want to read these, but I can't let that enter my head. I think the important thing is to write. My intention is to make a concerted effort to do just that.

Michael Jackson R.I.P.

The King of Pop died yesterday quite unexpectedly at the age of 50. No specifics of his death have been made public at this time. For the next generation (my son's generation), I'm thinking he'll be like Elvis is to my generation. Our kids will hear his music and see videos of him, but never have a real understanding or appreciation. With the advent of the internet and improvements in technology, there will be more footage and the like available of MJ as opposed to Elvis (I'm using his initials out of laziness only, not disrespect). Elvis died in Aug 1977 (8 months after I was born) at the age of 42 so the math works out pretty close ("adjusted for inflation" according to my wife). My son is nearly a year old now so it's very close indeed. [Side note: It just occurred to me that MJ was married to Elvis' daughter for while.]

It's certainly easy for me to say that my kids will be exposed to his music because I've always been a fan. At the same time though, my mom was a big Elvis fan and I can't say that I grew up listening to him. I do, of course, know quite a few of Elvis' songs so maybe I'm not giving my mom enough credit with exposing me to him. Maybe I need to give him a closer listen. I'm getting off topic.

It's difficult to write anything about MJ and feel like I have anything to offer. I have no intimate knowledge of him and only know what the media has allowed us to see over the years. I can say that his music has been a presence throughout my life. I'm sure it sounds corny, but I can remember listening to Thriller over and over with my brother Jess in Montana (that would have been in 3rd grade I think). Some of my favorite songs of all time are by MJ ('The Way You Make Me Feel', 'Billie Jeane', 'Smooth Criminal'). I can also remember anxiously waiting for his next video to come out... seems like it was always a big deal (like after the Super Bowl or something). I can't confess to ever being able to successfully do the moonwalk, but I will confess to trying it.

There was a lot of controversy and oddity that came with MJ as well (the allegations, bizarre interviews, mask wearing, dangling his children over balconies, etc). I can't comment on any of that except to say that none of that should take away too much from his legacy, which should be the music. Growing up with his dad and the child star lifestyle must have had an impact on him for sure. Outside of his music, from what I understand, he also did a lot to raise awareness of poor human conditions throughout the world (like in Africa as well as terminally ill children). Again, I really don't want to comment too much on anything outside of my memories of MJ. It will be interesting to see how people choose to remember him in the years to come. I definitely think that we'll continue to hear his music forever.

For me, I'd like to think that I'll try to listen to some more MJ in the coming months and years. I'm sure there's quite a few gems that I haven't heard or may have forgotten about. If you're someone that hasn't listened to too much of his music, I'd certainly recommend it. I just learned that he made his first recording at the age of 8. That means he was making music for 42 years.

As I've said, I hope people remember and enjoy the music. I know I will.

Yapta

Very cool! yapta.com

I've heard lots of good things about this service.

God Bless America, right?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/15/AR2009031502724.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2009031602358

Easter Tip

A helpful tip for the season:
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=5247&Extcode=L9DN1AA00

Cross site advertising?

I just had a thought for a quick post, so while my build is running, I thought I'd throw it up.

Following is a list of sites or blogs I currently have my hands in:

1. fmpthoughts.blogspot.com - this site
2. personalblogsite (url not shown) - I have a personal blog that I write to as well.
3. flickchat.blogspot.com - a movie review site I setup in hopes of getting some of my friends to write some movie reviews. I'd like to get enough traffic on the site to see if we can actually get a check from google for the ads.
   
4. d5ee.blogspot.com - this blog is related to engagedencounter.org with the intention of being a better way to track district 5 news.
   
5. utahee.blogspot.com - this blog is related to the local community portal on engagedencounterutah.org and is where the local community news ends up.
   
6. retiredartandcollectibles.com - this is the beast that will maybe make some money one day.
7. engagedencounterutah.org - this is the local engaged encounter site for the SLC community. I could go on and on about Engaged Encounter, but essentially it's about marriage preparation. This site consists of the public site and the community portal.
   
8. engagedencounter.org - I'm only responsible for a small section of this site, but this is my newest adventure so I'm sure my role will grow over time.
   
9. slc2009eeconvention.com - another Engaged Encounter site. This one is for the convention that the unit (set of communities) is having here in SLC in Aug 2009.
   
10. heavytruckmanuals.com - this site is actually making money, but not directly through the site; this site is setup to help my mom sell truck repair manuals
    

Time to Write

Oh where does the time go, and how can I find some to write? Is it more important to write, or to write something well thought out and informative. I can't tell you how many posts I've started and then aborted because I don't feel like I can get my complete thoughts out. But then what happens is that months go by and I don't post anything. Another issue I have is that I have multiple blogs, this one and a "quote" personal one. Some topics are borderline personal so I tend to post them in the other blog because I want this blog to have a different feel.