cc: file, Tony Hafen, Pauline Nelson via mail, Sara and Des Penny, Diane Cluff, and Maxine Shirts
"The compressor on the refrigerator died while Matt and I were at the Big Bend High Adventure (0222.html). Needless to say Andrea and Rachel were not excited. By the time we got home on Saturday most of the food had gone bad and was thrown out or was used up. The freezer is where milk and vegetables are now kept, and there are only a few ice crystals in the milk.
It is amazing how much for granted we take something as simple as a refrigerator. Especially in Texas. Especially when the temperature is 90+ degrees and the humidity is 80+%. When something like this happens, I understand what Mr. Reid, who defended the Prophet Joseph Smith in the early persecutions before the courts in New York, was really saying in a speech at a public gathering in Nauvoo on the 17th of May, 1844 (as recorded on page 94 of The History of the Church):
For those of you who keep track of such things, Texas was mentioned many years before Utah in terms of Church history. Even if it was because this is a inhospitable environment, especially without a refrigerator and air conditioning. Thankfully, we normally have both of these.
So Andrea looked all over for the best buy possible on a refrigerator, and she had ordered one before Matt and I got home from Big Bend. Monday morning she got up really early and drove Rachel to the airport. She cried much of the way home, and several times during the day I saw her eyes well up with tears. Rachel, I'm pretty sure it was because she was missing you already, but it could have been because the refrigerator was broken. Monday afternoon I had an important meeting with Andy Lane, President and C.E.O. of Landmark Graphics. A few weeks ago, when I could tell that MKS was going to take several weeks, or maybe even months to close their investment money, I called Marti Berriman, my former secretary, and asked her if her new boss was honest and if he was technical. The answer to both questions was yes, and Melanie's birthday was the first day he had an opening. So I met with him from 3:30 to 4:20. I asked him for $200,000. up front and $10,000. per month for a minimum of six months. He said he would talk to his technical guys about it. I had two good follow-up discussions on Friday with Mike Weiss, V.P. Data and Applications Management. There will be a follow-up phone call with Dr. Dean Witty on Monday afternoon at 3:30. By the way, in exchange for the money, I offered first-right-of-refusal to the market the Infinite GridSM (see www.walden3d.com/resumes/track_record.html and www.walden3d.com/resumes/020603_meeting.html for those interested in specifics).
Most of the week was spent getting ready for the meetings with the BGP. The trip was postponed for a week. We now have a schedule. We leave at 7:30 Friday morning, arrive at 5:30 Saturday evening via Los Angeles, and spend the first two nights in a hotel in Beijing. They have tours planned for us, and drivers for Andrea and Matt and for me. They pick me up at 7:30 AM Monday and I meet with the President of the BGP at 9:00. We have lunch, and I give my first presentation on the Dynamic Resources Prospect Machine on Monday afternoon. That evening they have a banquet for Andrea, Matt, and myself. I lecture on Dynamic's Technologies on Tuesday and the proposed schools or seminars on Wednesday, while Andrea and Matt have a car to take them on tours of sites in Beijing. We have banquets each night. Thursday I'm scheduled to go to the Great Wall with Andrea and Matt and we are scheduled to leave on Friday. It will be interesting to see how it all turns out. Maybe their refrigerator will be broken and the whole schedule will need to be turned upside down.
Wednesday the drivers went to the warehouse to pick up our new refrigerator and it was not there. The lady was very apologetic when she called. It is now scheduled to get here next Thursday, the day before we leave. So I guess it is another week of frozen leftovers for lunch. Oh well. Sort of like Shell Research. I called to see when the contract was going to happen or if they changed their mind. On Monday they called back and promised I would have the work description by Friday and originals of the contract by Monday. And they no longer expect the work done by the 14th of June, they are giving me until the end of the month. The work description didn't come on Friday. I have built a process model of their contracting process, and once I'm paid for the initial work, I will forward it to them for their review. I can not believe how frustrating it is to work (or even not to work) for virtually any large company in the world. However, Andrea tells me it would be better than the money I have been bringing in the last few months, and I have to agree with her.
Matt has been living at the community pool. Seems to be making some friends finally. This is very good news. He is rapidly turning very dark. We might have to put him in the refrigerator to get him to slow down enough to talk to him. Andrea finished reading Tom Clancy's `Sum of All Fears,' and so we went to see the movie on Thursday evening. It is certainly different from the book. The terrorists were Nazi's rather than Palestinians. The bomb was built in the Ukraine rather than Syria. Ryan was not married. Clark assinated a criminal rather than break his knuckles. The President's mistress wasn't even in the movie. And even though the movie glosses over the loss of life from a nuclear bomb, it was a fun movie to go and see. I recommend it. Melanie said her and Jared went to see `Enough' with Jeffifer Lopez and it was `OK.' I rate The `Sum of All Fears' as OK+. Certainly better than staying home with a broken refrigerator.
Friday we learned our agenda and finalized the arrangements for going to China. We also learned that our house loan did not go through. Walden 3-D owes us a bunch of money, and during 2001 we took money out of Walden 3-D as a loan repayment, rather than as salary. The result was a 76% backratio (Ben, what does this mean?), which under federal regulations means we have to reapply for what is called a stated income loan. This week has been sort of like finding out each day the refrigerator isn't at the warehouse. Oh well!
Saturday Andrea was going to drive up to Girl's Camp to pick up girls. Then they found someone else to do it. I went for a walk-run-walk around the block and came back and worked on some more Infinite Grid(SM) examples for Texas A&M, for Landmark (if they sign the confidentiality agreement), for the Chinese, and for Image Tech (Christian Singfield's company).
Today was Stake Conference. I spent most of the morning putting together a letter to Brian Reeves, who is putting together all of the data about the Mountain Meadows tragedy (../9901.html). Andrea corrected my leaps of logic, so hopefully there will be something useful that can help with the publication of the book. And hopefully it will include Grandpa Morris' documents, so the mystery Grandma Hafen wrote about in her biography can be cleared up. It would be nice to see some closure to the whole discussion. At Stake Conference I was particularly impressed with the talk by Mary Ann Evans. So I'm going to summarize my notes:
It might be a couple of weeks before I send off another Thoughtlet. Then again, if I get my presentations put together, and if there is something to write about, I might send one off Thursday night before we leave. Maybe even if it is only to report the arrival of a new refrigerator."