cc: file, Grandma Hafen via Tony Hafen, Pauline Nelson via mail, Sara and Des Penny, Claude and Katherine Warner, Lloyd and Luana Warner. and Diane Cluff.
"This week Sara put the various business cards made up for me over the years on a dark green matting under glass in a 36"x22" wooden frame. I hung it on the wall of my office at Continuum yesterday, and was thinking about the various projects represented by the business cards.
The top card was printed for me when I graduated from Cedar City High School. `It simply says Howard Roice Nelson, Jr.' The second row has two business cards: `The KeyNotes' and `Elder Roice Nelson.' As you know from these Thoughtlets I can talk for hours about our High School Combo (`The KeyNotes' later named the `Mydknight Hour') (../9811.html; ../9816.html, ../9837.html, ../9842.html, ../9843.html, ../9846.html) as well as about my mission (../9846.html, 9918.html, etc.). These two rows represent from 1968 to 1974.
The third row has three business cards: Mobil, Computer Genealogical Services, and Geophysicist (for consulting, which I never used). There are certainly things to write about each of these experiences, which I have not. This row represents 15 July 1974 to 15 January 1980.
The fourth row has my business card from The Seismic Acoustics Laboratory at The University of Houston and 4 different business cards from Landmark Graphics Corporation. There is a book full of information about each of these experiences, which hopefully someone will find interesting, waiting to be documented. This row represents 18 January 1980 to about 1992, when I was still working part time for Landmark. Professionally and financially these were very good years.
The fifth row has a card for Walden 3-D, Inc. with the title of `geoscientist,' a card from Dynamic Oil & Gas, three cards from HyperMedia Exchange Corporation, and one card from HyperMedia Corporation. These were the hard years from 1989 to 1996, when HyperMedia should have gone bankrupt, and when I was under the most professional strain of my life so far. I hope none of you find yourselves in this kind of situation. Please learn from my mistakes.
The bottom row has 3 Walden 3-D cards and 3 Continuum Resources business cards. The first one lists Walden's vision as `Designing Responsive Environments.' The second has both the Walden and HyperMedia logos on the same card. The third one has Walden's vision listed as both `Designing Responsive Environments' and `Geotechnical Consulting.' It is amazing to me that there have been three titles already at Continuum Resources Corporation: Director, Director of Visualization, Chief Scientist (never put on a card), and Chief Visualization Officer. These cards overlap the others, starting about 1994 and coming up to the present time.
I think Sara did a wonderful job of arranging my business cards, and it is certain to create a lot of discussion over the coming months. Particularly over the last few years, I have often stated that my goals are to `Continue to make a difference.' As I have watched Sara arrange and rearrange my business cards, I have wondered if this is my core goal, or if I am just trying to prove I have accomplished something worthwhile to those who influenced me in my youth. I have stated in these Thoughtlets (and know in my mind and heart) the importance of reputation to me. I would never consciously do anything to bring shame or embarashment to my Father (Howard Roice, Sr.) or my Grandfather (Roice Bengt), for whom I was named. Having this heritage has been an anchor in my life. And as I look across the future generations to my Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren I realize that the only business card that really means anything in time or in eternity is one with the simple title on it of `Father.' I have made mistakes, and I have never done anything to ruin the reputation of others. Specifically I have strived to be wholesome in my sexual relationships with the girls and women I have known in my life, recognizing how unfair it is to them to do anything which would compromise them or their reputations. I have strived to be a good father, sometimes too strictly, and I hope my legacy is close to as good as my own Father and his Father. Dad was really good and certainly very patient with me, and I miss him.
Particularly I have been thinking of Dad this week because I have started to work on the paper which will be presented on September 9th at the Southern Utah Rural Development Meeting. This presentation is to County Planners, mayors, and Governor Leavitt. Dad had a lot of things he wanted to see happen to improve Cedar City and Cedar Valley. He talked about how nice it was to go over to New Harmony and to see the fields of alfalfa and grain. Planners call this concept Open Space. Leapfrog development in Southern Utah (and sprawl across the globe) is destroying Open Space. I recall his interest in building a dam at the base of the Red Hill and forming a nice reservoir up Cedar Canyon. I've heard the arguments about faults, floods, and sediment fill. I think these issues can be addressed. I had a dream this week, and it was all about figuring out how to create settling ponds to mine the red clay that comes down Cedar Canyon with the thunderstorm floods, specifically figuring out how to turn this iron rich colloidal clay into a significant benefit for mankind. I know, I have wierd dreams. However, it has been nice to reflect on my Dad, and how much it means to me to have lived my life so he was always proud of me.
Last Sunday evening I talked to Ben and Sarah for the first time in quite a while. They are doing great, as was stated in Sarah's e-mail to each of us later in the week. In my calls to St. George, I learned Grandma Nelson has had an operation to remove one of her toenails which was causing a lot of problems, and her foot is all black and blue. Grandma Hafen is tired, and particularly tired of being tired and not able to get her body to do what her mind wants it to do. The trials associated with being full of `piss and vinegar and having fire in the eyes.' Monday, the sales meeting was sad. Everything seems to be slipping, and there was a real feeling of doom. However, I had a meeting with Roger Anderson and the Chief Geologist of a major independent oil company downtown over lunch, and really believe we are going to see things take off at Continuum. Monday evening we had a very nice Family Home Evening lesson by Paige Law. Mike Smith and his family were with us for the first time in several months. It was fun to catch up on everything, and to review his past business cards with Andrea and others.
Tuesday was a day of maintenance, phone calls, and planning. The missionaries came to dinner. Wednesday we had a training meeting on Export Compliance, and the President of a different major independent postponed his visit to Continuum. We did have a great demonstration to several oil companies in the afternoon. I got home just in time to go to Matt's Court of Honor. He received his Tenderfoot and his Second Class Scout Awards. It was nice to see Rob going into the church with one of his friends as we left. I watched one of the Star Trek shows before hitting the sack. Thursday I want to my first GSH (Geophysical Society of Houston) Board Meetings as the GSH Section Representative to the SEG (Society of Exploration Geophysicists). It was long, and yet it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. I have a meeting the second Thursday of every month for the next year, and a long meeting on the Sunday of the SEG Convention here in Houston. After the meeting I had lunch with the Chief Geophysicist of yet another Independent, who is intrigued with our plans. In the evening Joe Roberts and David Kessler came over to talk about David's business plan. Friday we had the weekly developer's meeting, and learned that the relations between MuSE and Continuum are being patched up. It was really quite exciting. Susie Mastoras Peebler and three of her colleagues from Edge Petroleum came in for a demonstration at 11:00. I invited a friend from the ward who is involved in the steel industry and who is newly out of work to attend and to meet Roger. He left very excited about our technology and about how it can be used to map iron ore mines. Roger was blown away that I could find an expert in iron mining just as we received news of a $5 million pilot project to do logistics management for a major company in the iron ore industry. I told him I just keep track of a lot of business cards.
Friday evening we went out to dinner with the Burgerner's. It was a lot of fun. For those who do not know, a tornado went through downtown Salt Lake last Monday at lunch time, killing one man, breaking the crane being used to build the church's new Assembly Building, and taking part of the roof off of the Delta Center. I read about it in the paper and immediately told Andrea that President Hinkley must have been praying to get the Saints to stop going to Jazz games on Sunday. I had said this to several people during the week, and got several laughs. The Burgerner's really enjoyed my recounting of the reactions. It was a great evening, and we didn't talk at all about business cards.
Saturday morning Andrea and I went for a run around the inner block, and then I went in to the office. There was an hour phone call with Roger and Steve about the Pilot Project, then I spent about 3 hours helping half a dozen others build a frame around our theater. Then I went and bought a couple of swimming suits, some new shoes, and a couple of `real' ties for Matt. We spent the evening with Todd and Michelle Stahli and their kids. What a wonderful couple. He has done everything just right: mission, undergraduate and law degree, temple marriage, and work. They are expecting their fourth child now, and because of Michelle's diabetes they are concerned for her health and the health of their child. His assignment in the Ukraine was hard. It has really got him thinking hard about the classic philosophical issue called the problem of evil (how can a just God allow so much pain in our world). There was a very bright lady who was his secretary in the Ukraine. She can not travel, and is in terrible circumstances. She is living the results of the bad and selfish choices of several generations of people. Todd, on the other hand, travels all around the world, and has been able to build on the principle centered choices of several generations of God fearing priesthood holders and their faithful wives. We came to the simple conclusion there are consequences associated with the privledge of having free agency. The consequences affect those choosing and also their descendents. It was a really nice evening. I shared Roger's business plan for CES, LLC. and so there was a little bit of discussion around business cards.
Today we slept in. It is nice to have the 11:00 church schedule. I had High Priest Group Leadership at 10:00. Brandon Camp is leaving on his mission to Chile and so their family spoke. I wrote the following stanza for Prime Words, based on comments by his brother Ryan:
I finally finished editing (rotating and enhancing the colors) all of the photos we took at our wedding reception and on our honeymoon. So soon I will start getting them moved over to http://www.walden3d.com/photos. Audrey cooked an awesome lunch. Sara joined us. One of those special moments in life occured a little while ago. Audrey asked me to give her a father's blessing before she left for school. Several of us had tears in our eyes as the prayer finished. It is so wonderful to feel the spirit and to have witness borne by The Holy Ghost that a principle you are living is true. I do not believe this same experience is possible if we are choosing to live in sin of any kind. In a somewhat related topic, Roger sent me several e-mails about his activities to support our entrepreneural discussions. One of them was a copy of a set of business cards for CES, LLC. (CES was originally Columbia Enterprise Systems, and Columbia University said they do not want their name used so we just call it CES now.). I have attached this new business card for your review, so you can contemplate the business cards you have had, are now using, or will carry over the course of your lives. It is my hope and prayer your work experiences will all be of as much benefit to you as mine have been for me."
