cc: file, Tony Hafen, Pauline Nelson via mail, Sara and Des Penny, Claude and Katherine Warner, Lloyd and Luana Warner, Diane Cluff, Maxine Shirts via mail.
"The big news this week is that Bridget is getting married. She got engaged this week to Justin Lee, who was at Paul and Kate's reception. They will be married in The Salt Lake Temple on December 23rd. I guess we will be spending Christmas in Utah this year. Congratulations Bridget and Justin. Let us know if there is anything we can do for the two of you as you go through all of the preparations for this most important step.
It was weird going into Continuum on Monday (and it was wierd being at home today - sorry this is a day later than usual). In CoReExchange on Friday, the announcements had been sufficiently vague that several programmers were left with the impression I had planned to leave. Two of the Chinese programmers came and talked to me, and they refused to believe me when I said I was fired. I expect part of this is cultural, since `no one at your level would ever be fired, in China.' The theme for this week came from an Indian programmer, who after saying a lot of nice things to me about how when there was a geological problem, they always said, `Let's go talk to Roice,' simply looked up at me and said `You will be missed!' Several of the guys came and told me they are available to come and work for me any time I want them. All in all I feel really good about the change.
Most of the week was spent attempting to get my e-mail backed up so there is data for a reasonable and documentable history of Continuum Resources International Corporation when the time comes to write lessons learned and best practices in a book or a series of articles. There were lunch meetings four days (Sam LeRoy at Beef 'N Bird on Monday deciding how to approach the Persian Carpet opportunity, Rick Zimmerman on Wednesday discussing options with Texas Independent, Dick Bostrom on Thursday working out how to sell the Knowledge Backbone (SM) to Exxon-Mobil Upstream Research, and Alf Klaviness bought my lunch on Friday giving me my first opportunity to listen to John Lienhard, creator and voice of `The Engines of Our Ingenuity' at a HESS [Houston Engineers & Scientific Society] Lifetime Members luncheon), something every evening (Monday was Climbers with LifeWay, Tuesday I went on a temple tour with Rhonda Hartmann and her friend Lynda [../9843.html], Wednesday was Venture Scouts and we worked at the Old Folks Home with the Laurels, Thursday one of Andrea's missionary companions - Sharon Shay and her Grandson - came over for dinner, Friday Andrea and I packed up my office and I stayed and packed up stuff until 11:00 PM, and Saturday after the temple dedication Andrea, Rachel, Matt, and I went to see the movie about LDS Missionaries in Los Angeles called `God's Army'), Thursday I had planning meetings for the GCAGS Virtual Reality Tour and the RC-SIG Conference which occurs in the middle of September, and Saturday morning Floyd Lunt helped Andrea and I move about 30 boxes of books and stuff out of my office and to the house. In Priesthood Meeting Brent Peterson mentioned Stake Priesthood Meeting, which was at 7:00 AM Sunday morning, and I realized I had been so wrapped up in all of this other stuff I forgot that which is most important. Oh well! As I write this, the words `You will be missed' ring in my head, and I hope the ringing is not reflected from eternity by my Savior and those whom I hope to be with as part of my eternal family.
I guess I could do as I usually do and go into detail on each of the activities mentioned in the extra long run-on sentance above, yet I think I will spare those of you who read this from the personal diary entries this week. Maybe someday I will say of these left out words, `You will be missed!' If it turns out to be the case: Oh well!
One portion of one meeting must be expanded on, and not only because it fits the theme of today's Thoughtlet. When I met with Rick Zimmerman and his new assistant Linda Lafour by way of the receptionist at Texas Independent Exploration, they each said, in their own way, `Sara will be missed!' Their words included: `She did a great job. She is a hard worker. She did whatever needed to be done. She has a great brain. I will write her a great letter of reference and she can use me as a reference any time she wants to.' Sara, I do not know how you felt about your summer, yet I know I am very proud of you and the example you shared with my friends and geophysical co-workers. Thanks.
In sacrament meeting Sister Coleen Moore talked about the word provident, and specifically mentioned it relates to using the right number of words, not too many and not too few. As I start the transition to the next phase of my life, I wonder how provident it has been to share my personal diary as I have. There was a comment made around me about `The Truman Show,' and ever since I have pondered how the forthright nature of these Thoughtlets is coming across to each of you. The difference with what I write and `The Truman Show,' which like these Thoughtlets has a One-TO-Many distribution, is that I know who I send this to and who reads the Thoughtlets, whereas and in `The Truman Show' it was kept a secret from Jim Carey that his life was being broadcast publically. For instance, since the first of August DSN address 209.247.41.110 has accessed http://www.walden3d.com/thoughtlets on 17 separate days, and DSN 63.64.184.51 has accessed the same address twice, on the 15th and 18th of August. Assuming these individuals read this Thoughtlet, they will know I can and do monitor those who access to the computers at the house. As you each know, these computers files contain my most personal thoughts, those thoughts which I choose to share with close family members for the purpose of helping build relationships and to hopefully help each of you not make the same mistakes I have made. It will be interesting to see if I ever want to say to those who monitor this site: `You will be missed.'
I was suprised at the movie `God's Army.' Showing priesthood blessings, the pranks of missionaries on their companions, and the general irrevent manner of the film suprised me. However, it paralled the movie we made in England back in 1971: `The Round, Round, Round, Round, Round World of Missionary Work, or Round the Round-About And Straight Away Through, Mate.' I do recommend each of you see it. I found tears several times, and it does present a picture of the struggles we each face at different times in our lives.
I took a few notes at the Houston Temple Dedication. President Stewart, one of the councilors in the Houston Temple Presidency spoke and said twice:
Then President Meyers, of the San Antonio Mission, gave an outstanding talk, and his words included:
Jeffrey R. Holland, the St. George member of the Quorum of the 12, and a distant cousin, also gave a wonderful talk. His words included:
President Hinckley was funny. After announcing the choir was from the Katy Stake, he said `Where's Katy?' He kept asking until someone answered. He said he has a Granddaughter named Katy. I admit I felt a moment of hurt at not being invited to sing with the choir, after all of the years of support I have given to the ward and stake choir. Andrea corrected me and told me there were tryouts for the stake choir. I do not remember knowing about the tryouts, and I still felt the same way. It quickly passed as I thought of all that has happened the last few weeks and months they have been practicing. Especially as I noted several of the women singing who have talked down men, church leaders, and the priesthood, and who were some of Marti's closest friends, and supported her, and from my what I can tell, encouraged her leaving me. Again these thoughts passed quickly as I held Andrea's hand, realized how blessed and happy I am now that the divorce transition has passed. These thoughts quickly passed as President Hinckley described how there had been 90,000 visitors to the new temple in East Germany, and how they thought this was a record that would never be beat because they had not had a new building in that part of the world for years and years. Then we had 110,000 visitors at the Houston Temple Open House, `which is only appropiate, since everything in Texas is big.' He went on to say:
As tears ran down my cheeks during the singing of The Spirit of God, I could not help think of President Hinkley, `You will be missed!' Then when Melanie and Jared came over Sunday evening for dinner on Sunday evening, and were describing their session, the spirit bore witness how true this statement is. President Hinckley was describing all of the different Christian churches represented in visitors to the Houston Temple Open House and my translation of what Melanie and Jared said he said is: `Methodists, we love you, and we have ordinances and blessings we would like to share with you. Presbyterians, we love you, and we have ordinances and blessings we would like to share with you. Baptists, sometimes we love you, and we have ordinances and blessings we would liek to share with you.' Won't it be nice if each of us live our lives so that at our eulogy (../9846.html) it is said of us `You will be missed!'"