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.
"It seems like this week was over before it started. Largely because of Christmas, I was two day's late in writing last week's Thoughtlet. After all, most of you were here or out of town, there are 53 Sundays in 2000, I want to create a regular array of 52 Thoughtlets per year for the ELDO (../9725.html, ../9733.html, ../9825.html, ../0011.html, ../0050.html) you will each receive as your inheritance (to supplement the Ken Turner original oil painting which Heather, Audrey, Rachel, and Matt have not yet received, and two of which have been designed), and therefore I decided this week's Thoughtlet needed to be written on Monday, therefore it was logical last week's Thoughtlet was actually planned to be late. [Don't try to diagram the previous sentence, or you will be late to whatever you need to be doing.]
So more of Tuesday was spent finalizing the Thoughtlet than I would like to admit. It does take me quite a bit of time to put these weekly reviews of an idea, belief, thought, or words together, weaving in my week's history, and attempting to make the boring somewhat interesting. It is pretty common for me to underestimate the amout of time it takes to do different projects I undertake, and thus I am, more often than wanted, late in my delivery. Guess this is part of the trial of being eclectic and a multiprocessor.
Tuesday evening we went to the temple with Paul and Kate. We ended up not leaving the house until 5:10 PM, and I had forgot about rush hour. The bottom line is we were 10 minutes late getting to the 6:00 temple session, and so we were able to sit in the chapel and read scriptures, whisper, and meditate for 40 minutes (after taking 10 minutes to change into white temple clothes). I read the 42nd chapter of the D&C. Paul and Kate were selected as the witness couple, and it was the first time they had been the witness couple since their marriage. It was neat to be in The House of The Lord with some of my posterity. At the same time, it hurts more than there are words to describe, to not be able to go to the temple with each of you. The comfort factor is that it is not yet too late.
Wednesday morning started with a meeting with Peter Duncan at 7:30 AM at the Omni Hotel (formerly the Westside Marriot at Eldridge and I-10, where Sara used to have her dance recitals). Peter only had an hour before he needed to go to another meeting. He did not want to be late, because it was with the major investor in Chroma Energy. I spent the two hours after he left at the hotel making notes and as thinking time. I believe I outlined the next years worth of work with Chroma Energy during that two hours. I believe this type of thinking time is the most significant asset I can provide to a company. Going in, reviewing a problem, and then having some thinking time to create solutions to the problem can be worth a lot to a company. I hope I can figure out how to convince companies of this, before we run out of money and before it is too late.
I left the Omni at 10:30 and followed the Internet map Frank Hamptak had sent me via e-mail to get to his house. He lives right in back of the famous old Mexican Restraurant which Alf Klaviness attempted to buy for the GSH a few years ago. Frank was in school with me at the University of Utah, and we did a neat project on plate tectonics with melting wax. It would be a great science project to repeat some day. Matt, maybe you would be interested in repeating this project with me before you leave for college and your mission and it is too late.
Frank went with me to meet a real oil man. His office is on the top floor of a 20 story office building with a beautiful view of Memorial. It is dark wood, and elegant. There are animal heads on the wall. His son was there taking notes on our conversation. At key points in the discussion, Frank and the son left the room and we just talked. Although my wingtip cowboy boots are well worn and somewhat torn up, they were appropriate with the eel skin cowboy boots he was wearing. I liked him a lot, and I hope that a working relationship comes from the conversation. After we left, Frank took me to lunch at a nice chinese buffett, and then we went back for a tour of his house before it was too late.
Frank's house is at the end of a culdesac, and in back of his house is an old meander from Buffalo Buyou, which was cut off by the Army Corp of Engineers to ease flooding. Frank has the neatest 10 car garage, with power saws, lathes, drill presses, a weight area, a view of the meander, lots and lots of shelf storage, and room for a car. He has enclosed his pool in a room which can be used all year round. He has a beautiful deck, which hangs out over the meander, and reminds me of where the SMU alumni meeting was which Andrea and I went to in March of 2000 (../0010.html). It is probably 30 feet to the meander from the deck. Although Frank is not a hunter, he went on an African hunting safari alone, when two of his friends cancelled, and as a result he has several prize animal heads on the wall of his living room. His office is wonderful. The desks he built for his computers are really nice, and are an improvement over what Ted Romig built for me. He filled in a sunken dining room and made a beautiful area for conversation and reading. I know Frank has had some hard trials, and it was fascinating to get to see another side of him and to see the depth of his woodworking ability. I have always been awe of a good carpenter, and hope to do some more carpentry myself, before it is too late.
Wednesday evening was our second annual Hanukkah with the Kesslers. We had Paul, Kate, Rachel, Matt, Andrea, David, Karen, Jordan, Amir, and me. Karen brought deep fried potatoes and donuts, and Andrea had a salad and drinks. When we went in the living room by the fire, Karen was the only one to sing the Hanukkah song before we each took a turn lighting one of the candles on the two menorahs they had brought with them. I promised at least Andrea and I would know the song by next year, and I hope you can each join with us, as it is an educational and fun experience. Jordan and Amir were tired, and so the Kesslers left before it was very late.
Thursday was spent working in the office on a spread-sheet for the Infinite Grid (SM), which I have not been able to open since I closed. Andrea and I took Paul and Kate to the airport in the evening, and they were not even close to being late. Paul and Kate it was sure good to have you visit with us. Hope you come back often.
Friday was spent attempting to reopen the Infinite Grid (SM) worksheet I had spent all day Thursday building. It is now Monday morning, and I still do not have it reopened, and this is a problem. Oh well. I also took some time to pack for scout camp at Brazos Bend State Park. About 10 minutes late, Jefrey Yarus got to the house, and we met from 1:40-4:00. It was a good meeting, and I sense there are several areas we will end up working together, specifically related to the Knowledge Backbone (SM). He invited us to a New Year's Eve party at his house. Turns out Sara was in Dallas and we didn't go. Although, Sara, David is in town for the next six months on an internship and would like you to stop and say hi to him before it is too late and you leave for France.
Because the meeting with Jefry went so well, Matt and I were about 15 minutes late getting to the church for the scout camp. It turns out Brother Lunt was 10 minutes later than we were, so maybe it is acceptable. No, it is against my very grain to be late. It is a power seeking, passive- aggressive, control freak, `I'm better than you' attitude to be consistantly late. I remember being late for a meeting with President Belnap in Hyde Park when I was District Leader in Harlow New Town. I remember how foolish I felt holding up all of the others while they waited for us to show up. Ever since then I have always strived to be a few minutes early for every appointment. Of course, I don't always make it, and be assured it is not because I don't try to be early.
While we were waiting for Brother Lunt, Marion Pickerd told me she had a dream about me that morning. She woke up and told Mike I had taken a job in Las Vegas with a dog food company and I told Andrea the dog food tasted really good. I wonder what this means, other than the fact the Young Women's Presidency is concerned about me having a real job (../0037.html). We loaded my stuff in Brother Lunt's trailer and put the guitar in Brother Jurinak's van and Mike Pickerd drove the Saturn back to the house. It was funny to see such a tall man struggling to turn the car without power steering as we drove out of the parking lot about 30 minutes late.
I fell asleep, Floyd and Jeff missed a turn-off sign, and we ended up loosing a half-hour and getting to Brazos Bend just as the sun went down. Too late to put up the tents with sunlight. Oh well! Matt and Andrew Salt put the big tent up by themselves, and more importantly they took it down by themselves the next morning. I started writing a song which so far summarizes the first night:
Matt kept wanting to go home. And when we went on a hike, or stopped at the museum he was right in the front petting the snake or the baby alligator. It was a good campout. We were late leaving, and as we drove out of the camp, the phone beeped telling me Andrea had called. I called, and Ethan, Ben, Sarah, and Roice were waiting for me at the house. It took us 45 minutes to get back to the house, and needless to say I was late getting back to the house.
When I got to the house Ethan was asleep and Andrea and Audrey were just leaving to go to see the movie `Miss Congeniality.' Ethan woke up, I fed him, and we both fell asleep, which was where we were when Ben, Sarah, and Roice found us. It was fun sitting around the house and watching and taking pictures of Ben and Ethan, Sarah and Ethan, Roice and Ethan, etc. (..photos/Family/02_BenSarah/01_EthanEvans). It was funny you were all hungry, and yet since you were starting a new diet next week, you wanted to go out to eat, rather than have me fix something. Rachel and I watched The Dirty Dozen #2, and then Andrea and I went to the High Priest Group annual Christmas party about 20 minutes late. Andrea was the last person to pick, and she took a mixer from someone who had taken it from the person who opened it. Matt used it to make lemon drinks for New Years, and they are both very excited about having it. It was a fun evening, with a lot of good food and good laughs.
Since I didn't want to do the Thoughtlet on Sunday, I started sorting and filing Newspaper articles I have cut out over the last decade before Church. Fast & Testimony meeting was an interesting experience. Ben and Sarah, I had hoped you would bring Ethan to Fast-and-Testimony Meeting and give Grandpa the opportunity to give Ethan a name and a blessing. I do believe the spiritual protection given each of my kids and Bridget by having one of these priesthood blessings is real and tangible. I also recognize a baby blessing is also for the parents and the Grandparents. I recall giving a name and a blessing to Nigel and Andrew Clark when I was on my mission, and they would have been about 4 and 6 years old. So it is not too late at six months or even next year. I looked for the reference in my missionary journal, and found the following:
(see ../0007.html)
It turns out, this week's meeting was the first time where I saw someone blatently use the pulpit as a forum for self-justification and manipulation. So Ben and Sara, even though you wouldn't have recognized it, not having the background I have, I was glad you were not there to feel of the negative spirit this talk brought to me. As a scientist I do not understand the physics of spiritual blessings. However, as an observor of the human condition, I know it is real and it is tangible. I do believe there is a spiritual protection which accompanies those who have been blessed, baptized, ordained to the priesthood, and who have partaken of the sacrament in their youth. As I get older I am starting to better realize I am not the center nor the cause of everthing which happens around me, just of my own perception of the events. Others have free will. And it is up to me to teach correct principles and to let others choose if and when to follow those principles before it does become too late.
When we got home from church Rachel turned on the TV to a movie called The Abyss. I spent the movie sorting newspaper articles, and trying to keep up with the channel changing. Rachel, I'm sorry I spoke so strongly when you changed it back to another movie in the middle of a scene. Andrea, thanks for organizing all of my piles into file folders. I realize it was not a very spiritual day. Rachel and Audrey, I'm glad you were both able to go to New Years parties with friends. Matt, I'm glad you were able to fire off the black-powder rifle three times. Andrea, I'm sorry I didn't feel like going out anyplace, and hope your New Year's was sufficient. After Y2K (../0001.html) the new millennium felt like it came late.
Sarah, thanks for calling at 10:00 to say you would be an half-hour late. Your call gave me a theme for this week's Thoughtlet, and provided something to look forward to. You were both so tired, you probably didn't notice that after you had been here a little while, I brought Ethan into the computer room and had him type is first contribution to the Thoughtlets:
Is there anyone out there who can translate baby typing? Or maybe I should say baby arm waving and finger flexing and Grandpa deleting of all of the extra space keys. It would be so nice to figure out a way to tap into Ethan's mind, and learn what messages he has to bring us from the pre-existance, before his spirit is completely overwhelmed with the sensual and the temporal, or in other words, before it is too late.
It was nice to have Ben, Sarah, and Ethan come over for lunch. Even though you were both too tired to eat much, and Ethan seemed to also want to sleep. It was nice to have Roice come over again too, although he is still feeling sick and didn't want to eat anything. It was sad to watch him beat me at chess so thoroughly. However, I made up on the next game. I hope he didn't just give me the game. It was really too easy, so maybe he was still sick. Ben and Sarah left at 1:30 so they would not hit the ice and snow in Dallas after dark. Roice left about 3:00 so he could get to Austin before dark. Andrea talked me into going to the mall to try on shoes, so they would fit. Matt and I went to Blockbuster's and checked out `Mission to Mars' (../0012.html), which Andrea, Audrey, Matt, and I watched last night. I like the message of that movie. And while we were watching it, I noticed the only Christmas present we are still playing with is RomP, which is a magnetic variation on the double-elliptical pendulum harmonograph which Dad and I built and which is now out in the garage. Thanks Sara, Des, Brian Bridget, and Justin. It is never too late to say thanks.
So how do I summarize this week's ramblings? I hope you will each always be able to choose when to be early and when to be late."