Anniversary of my 39th birthday

Today I celebrate the 1st Anniversary of my 39th birthday. Ive always said that age is just a number and it does not really matter but I just cant bring myself to say for........ nope not even going to write it.

Its weird to think that in another 10 years I could have kids married and will have the option to retire and start another career. My life is good and I plan to be around for 50 to 60 years more. Thanks to all my well wishers and friends.

Camping Again

Really, I went camping again. I slept in a tent (with an air mattress), the toilets did not flush, the showers were a bit scary, and I did this for a whole week. I went with our 12 year old scouts to the Bear Lake Aquatics Base. Last time I was there I was 12 and it was my first scout camp. Not much has changed but they now have a mess hall and WI-FI for the scoutmasters so that is cheating a little bit. The lake was nice when it was not hot it was windy. I think I am done camping for the year. There is winter camp but I am trying to get the leaders to schedule it in May or move it to St George.

Old Friends and Sentiment

Today I Ran into an a friend that I grew up with, it has been 20 years since Ive seen him. (note: the fact that I can say something happened 20 years ago and it does not involve me learning to walk, scoring a touchdown or some other youthful memory is disconcerting but that is another blog for another time.) This friend is someone that I admired while growing up. He was a hard worker and a high achiever, He had a positive influence on my life that is still part of who I am today. We were only able to spend about 5 minutes catching up and chances are I will not see him again for a long time. I realized how little contact I have now with those who influenced me when I was younger and it seems really sad that they may or may not know the influence they had on my life. We all have people in our lives that influence us to be better people, it is important to express gratitude to them when you have the chance. My friend probably still doesn't know the positive effect he has had on my life, and it would have been difficult to convey in a 5 minute conversation, but I certainly had opportunities before today.

"If I have seen far it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants" Take time to thank the giants in your life you never know if you will have an opportunity again.

Challenges in Technology

We have a fairly new computer and the other day the hard drive started to crap out. Fortunately there was 14 days left on the warranty. The bad news was we lost all of information on that drive because HP could not recover any data. Many years of pictures, Marilyn's recipe book and who knows what else is now gone. I know about backing data up but did not do it as it should be done. Maybe its time to look at a drobo I do not think I want to trust an online service yet. I love technology but sometimes it bites you in the butt. The moral of the story back up... especially those things that really matter.

Follow up on the fish

So in my last post I blogged about killing 2 of my son's fish. A new chapter in the fish saga started last night. Kyle was looking at the tank and said "I think we need to clean this again" Then an excited yell. There are baby fish in here, It looks like we have about 100 baby fish in the tank. There are 2 adult fish standing guard and keeping the others at bay. We now have to separate the babies from the rest of the fish so they do not get eaten.....

Nate do you still want me to take care of your cat?

Somtimes I am too Helpful

So I decided to help my son clean his fish tank. All was well until I started refilling it. All of the sudden Alex said "dad the fish are starting to swim upside down" I looked at the thermometer and realized the water was too hot. We started draining the tank quickly and cooling the water down. When it was all said and done we lost 2 fish but saved the rest. I had to tell Kyle what I had done when he got home. I'm not sure I will help with the tank again. I almost cleaned it too well.

"Camping"

I do not really like to camp. Roughing it for me is a motel 6. Two years ago they made me the Varsity scout leader in the ward. I want to be a good scout leader and I figure I need to camp at least once a year. For my first summer camp as a scout leader I decided that a back packing trip to Grand Daddy lake in the Unitas was just the ticket. I went there with my dad on a scout trip when I was 14 and remembered it was fun. All the info I read said it was a moderate hike (lying jerks) I made it, but after almost collapsing on the trail on the hike in I decided the following year a change of pace was in order.
This year we went to Jordanelle State Park (http://www.utah.com/stateparks/jordanelle.htm)
The Park is beautiful and about 15 minutes out of Park City. It was still pretty rough we were able to drive right to the camp site and had to carry the gear about 5 feet to set it up. There were flushable toilets and showers (much better than bury or carry). There was also a sign for WI-fi.(had to draw the line there we were suppose to be camping after all)We had good food, good times and hit the weather window perfectly. It started raining as we hit the highway on the way out.

After these two experiences I can conclude the following
Backpacking
Long walk with all your gear uphill (both ways)
Bathroom in the woods
Trail food
No air Mattress
= Bad Camp

Car Camping
Easy to cary gear
Toilets that flush
Good Food (bacon with every meal)
Air Mattress
= Good Camp

I know there are scouters out there that are thinking that I am a wimp. I say to them that I am wise beyond my years and have learned a fundamental element to true happiness