Pictures

Here are pictures from Bear Lake and the Golden Spike National Historical Site.


The view from our condo.


The view from the rest stop in Logan Canyon

Another view of the Lake

Where the Golden Spike used to be

Kerri next to the railroad

Some monument outside the visitor's center

Chinese Arch

Middle of nowhere Utah

Spring Break 2009 and stuff

This past week Kerri and I were able to get out of Provo for a few days and visit Bear Lake. Bear Lake is one of my favorite places in Utah. However, before peak season, there is absolutely nothing to do. We knew that would be the case so we planned accordingly. We brought plenty of movies, games and the wii to entertain us. We also decided to explore the historical markers between Garden City UT and Montpelier ID. And most importantly, I got to visit USU (which to me will always be infinitely better than BYU, and has the funnest memories of my college years) and get a gallon of Aggie Ice Cream. On a side note, apparently last year the Salt Lake Tribune did a taste test to see if Aggie ice cream really was better than Cougar ice cream, and it was an overwhelming yes. Of course those of us that have tasted the superior ice cream could have told you than anyway.

Any way, I'm digressing. After a short stay at Bear Lake, we decided to go to the Golden Spike Historical site. It was actually kind of interesting. Promontory Point is way out in the middle of nowhere but that is where the the Transcontinental Railroad met. They have a nice visitors center with exhibits, and movies, and a marker where the golden spike was (it has since been removed). There is also a driving tour where you can see various places of importance.

So that was spring break. I am going to start ranting now, so if you want to stop reading go ahead. Since I am graduating in April and not going to graduate school immediately, I am applying for jobs. So far not so good. I applied for a job the beginning of last week and the night before we left on vacation I got an email from the employer asking me to submit answers to 5 questions. Well I wanted to put thought into my answers, so instead of writing them at 1 in the morning, I decided to think about the questions and write back after I got home from Bear Lake. When I got home I found an email from the employer that said "We now have a sufficient amount of applicants that we will no longer be pursuing yours." I was so mad. This cam after I was told by another employer that I was not the right fit for their organization even though we had never met face to face.

So I am still job hunting. Any leads would be appreciated.

Another Daily Universe Letter

So there are a few things about BYU students that bug me. One is letter to the editors. The following letter is about NCMO. The problem I have is that NCMO big 8 years ago when I was a junior in High School?? You remember don't you? There was a website, there were warnings on the local news and the then the creators of the website sold it to UVU students. You remember don't you? It was the same time that Provo Fight Club was big too. Second, I can't tell if this guy is serious, or being sarcastic. Lets just say some BYU students (not all) are a bit self righteious. For a funnier post, see the video below.

No more NCMO

"What is the highest degree of happiness that can be reached? Surely we can expect among the highest of these to be found in the bonds of marriage. A part of this joyous union comes from the intimacy that is shared. Such intimacy can only come from commitment and loyalty. NCMO (non-committal make out) destroys this commitment and loyalty that we are striving for. It is a childish habit that must stop.

'Not only NCMO but lust in a relationship is just as bad. Even though there is that commitment to one another, it is not love, which love is commanded of us to give to one another. John 13:34, “Love one another; as I have loved you.” NCMO/lust go against this commandment. For NCMO is lust, or a fear, a fear of commitment, which fear and love can not exist in the same place. 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.”

'For those who have been in these situations, there is forgiveness, repentance, and change. For those who find themselves faced with the difficult question of whether or not to allow this boy/girl to kiss me or make out with me think of this; Alma 38:12, “Bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love.” By bridling our passions, we are filled with love, which is commanded of God, which then casteth out fear and makes room for that intimate relationship to blossom and grow into marriage.

'Now is the time to prepare, for what you do in relationships now will only be multiplied in marriage. There is room for change and the best time for that is before you get married. Practice now to be the husband or wife you would like to be, so that when the time comes, your most excellent qualities become multiplied."

William Taylor

Provo

Have a good laugh today

There are a number of things wrong with the video posted below. Let me just say, I'm glad this isn't my mom.

Pi Day!

As any math person would know, yesterday was Pi Day and being the math nerd that I am, we just had to celebrate. For those of you who don't remember math, pi is a number that has infintely many decimals and is most commonly used to calculate the circumference and radius of a circle. So to honor this lovely number, Chase and I ate nothing but circular food yesterday. For breakfast, we ate waffles and sausage patties. For dinner, we made pizza which Chase did an excellent job of making one of them perfectly round by tossing the pizza dough in the air. And of course, no Pi Day celebration would be complete without eating pie for dessert. I feel we made pi very proud yesterday.

Spring Break

Normally BYU students don't get a spring break, and this year is no exception. But this year I'm having one! I took my last final today, and unless I got lower than 24/40 (which I am 99.9% sure I didn't) I have completed all academic requirements to graduate from BYU. I find out next week what my score is.

So, to celebrate, I am going on spring break with Kerri. This is where I want to go:

If we went here we could enjoy 75 degree weather, spend hundreds of dollars on airfare and hotels (all worth it) and risk our lives being shot by a drug cartel (probably wouldn't happen but Mexico isn't all that safe right now). So instead of Cancun we are going here:

Bear Lake. Where there will be snow on the mountains, temperatures will be lucky to hit 55, and since it isn't the summer, no one will be around, there is hardly any cell phone service,and we will save hundreds of dollars. But most importantly it means taking a break from life and just spending uninterrupted time with my wife.

It will be fun.

Gas Leak

So last night I was walking down the stairs to get the mail and I smelled natural gas in the stairway. I thought that was an odd place to smell gas so I called the gas company to report it. They told me it would take an hour to get someone out to check it. When I heard this, I thought are you joking? theoretically a lot of gas could collect in an hour and something could blow up. Unlikely? yes, but still possible. Anyway an hour later the gasman shows up and I show him where I smelled it and he informed me that his little Geiger counter for natural gas wasn't picking anything up. So I told him well, I smelled it and so did my wife. An apartment near by was drying clothes and we could smell the Bounce drier sheet and the gasman asked "are you sure you didn't smell the dryer that is on?"

ARE YOU STUPID! I think in 26 years of life I have learned the difference between the rotten smell of natural gas and the nice spring scent of Bounce. I politely informed Mr. Gasman that I was positive I didn't smell the dryer and left the scene so he could figure it out.

A couple hours later when Kerri and I were leaving we noticed Mr. Gasman still checking things out. Well this morning at 10 AM our entire complex was evacuated, as well as the rest of the block, because someone else smelled natural gas (not to be mistaken for Bounce) and called the company and they found a huge leak outside the apartment. We were evacuated for about 4 hours while the police and fire department let the gas company into each apartment to check for leaks (thankfully there weren't any inside) and they dug to find where it was. It turns out it was on the main line out by the street. However, because of the massive leak, no one was able to go into the underground parking to get in their car because the ignition could ignite any gas that was there. I appreciate the protocol that was followed and understand why people were not allowed to get their car, but I felt bad when I heard that. It was also unfortunate that contractor that came to fix the elevator couldn't do his work either (the elevator hasn't worked for 2 months) but that's OK cause the stairs haven't broken yet.

I know that this incident cannot be blamed on the developer or construction company that built the complex (and it shouldn't be blamed on them), but it just feels like this place as a lot of problems. No drainage system was installed, and the property wasn't graded properly so when it rains/snows pools of water collect everywhere, and stuff drips onto cars and stains them in the garage if you park in the wrong place. It took a week for our refrigerator to arrive when we first moved in, the carpet tacks poke through the carpet, the cabinetry had gouges in it, the counter tops weren't installed as well as they should have been, windows aren't sealed tight, the tub has a crack in it (thankfully it hasn't started leaking), Our landlord fell behind on his payments so the bank assumed collection of the rents in October, the property was foreclosed on in December, our new landlord is the bank. I think that is it but I don't remember.

Now, having said that. with all the problems, our apartment is still really nice, we rent it for a great price, and I am happy (most days) that we have it. I just hope we don't have anymore problems for awhile.

Don't worry a happier post is forthcoming.