"Monday morning at the office I got the call from Paul, followed a short time later by this e-mail:
It is hard feeling like you are very effective as a Grandparent, or as a Dad, when you live a long ways away from your family, or when they live a long ways away from you - either of which option provide the same mathematical result: separation by time and space. Of the many beauties of the times in which we live: telephones - to receive news like the safe and successful birth of a new Grandchild; photographs - to be able to see a new Grandchild; and the Internet - to have virtually real-time updates on the first few critical days in the life of a Grandchild (see http://katepaulnelsonfamily.blogspot.com/). I keep hoping I will figure out how to use these three media to even better support not only a new Grandchild, like Dallin Spencer Nelson, but also his parents, his siblings, his uncles, his aunts, his cousins, and other interested parties.
In the meantime, life motors on when you are far away from the missed distractions accompanying a new birth. Monday I went to POPS. I really go for the history talk by Bob Scott. However, the discussion on Continuous Circulation, by National Oil Well and Varco Business Development spokesman, was very good. Of course I hoped to get a call from Pinebrook Road Partners, and just to keep any of you who are curious from guessing, I never did get a call. I called them a couple of times, and came away figuring it was a waste of time and a compromise of confidentiality to pass this information directly to them without going through an introduction process. Oh well!
Monday evening Reynolds and Luana Calhoon, their granddaughter Renna (Ryan and Wanawan's daughter), and their daughter Coleen, along with Tony and Jana McClain, and Rob joined Andrea, Matt, and myself for a shis-ka-bob bar-b-que dinner and a Family Home Evening. Originally Coleen was not going to come, and her plans fell through and she did come. I was very proud of how Matt played with Reena and how he was such a gentleman all night. It was a wonderful evening, and this was not just because Rob played my guitar and sang, nor because I did also. It was because of the fellowship, looking at digital photos of Michael and Matt and me at the Big Bend High Adventure (see ../0222.html and http://www.walden3d.com/photos/Scouts/020529_Big_Bend and http://www.walden3d.com/photos/Scouts/020605_Big_Bend). Reynolds gave a wonderful lesson on the importance of a Temple Marriage. We talked and played guitars, and looked at photos, and had a good time. Tony borowed a book on the discovery of oil in Kuwait by a Jack-Mormon, and a book on the life of Wilford Woodruff, which I have not read yet. I enjoy this type of interaction a lot. I especially enjoyed Renna, showing her my virtual pig, magnetic harmongraph, and my rocks. She is a few years older than Dallin Spencer Nelson, and since Paul and Ryan were friends and went on a mission about the same time, I could see Renna and Dallin hooking up 22 years from now. Who knows, stranger things have happened.
Tuesday I broke several of my rules. I took Wade Hutchings to lunch. Wade is our Elder's Quorum President, and I tend not to do business with members of the church. However, Wade is a geologist, very down to earth, and I trust him. We went to a French restaurant. I told him about my reconnaissance exploration ideas, as they relate to geopressure cells (see ../0523.html). The ideas were new to him, and he agreed to keep them confidential. I asked him to be a reference if an investor were to call and ask him about the viability of my proprietary ideas. He agreed. I also asked him to consider letting me help him do exploration around the Marathon gas fields he is responsible for using these technologies. He said he would think about this. This was the first time I've talked about this other than to Sam and Joe, and it was exciting to see his positive reaction to the concepts. He asked about licensing the technology. When I got home, Matt and Andrea wanted to go see "Shrek the Third" so we did. It is very much an adult movie, making fun of the fairy tales in adult ways. I'm sure kids will like it, and I'm also sure they will only get a small portion of the adult jokes woven into the plot. When we got home from the movie there was the following note from Reynolds:
Wednesday was the day I showed my friend Les Denham the pictures of Roice ridding his unicycle to work, and his saying off the cuff, in his Australian accent, "Well, it looks like he's doing his bit to keep Austin weird." I thought this was funny.
Thursday we received a note from Ethan:
There was also a note from my sister Sara:
Then there was a second note from sister Sara:
Lastly there was also a note from Dave Johnson on Thursday:
Friday when I got home from the office, Matt had been out to Cinemark had had tickets to 'Pirates of the Carribean III.' We went out to the theater a half an hour early, as this was the opening night. There were hardly any lines at the ticket counter when we arrived, and we were about the 10th group in line. However, a few minutes after we arrived, the line was all the way out into the lobby, and the theater was packed when they let us in. I enjoyed the movie. It was a bit graphic, with swords being stuck through bodies, and such. There was a lot of action. You have to think about the plot to keep everything straight. It is not really a movie for little kids, although I'm sure they will all see it. It is a good movie for teenagers and folks like me who have never grown up.
Saturday morning started with mowing the lawn. Then I finally got around to protesting the tax assessment we have been given for 1307 Emerald Green. My first pass said:
By the time I got it down to the 350 character count they required, my protest read:
We left for a ranch in the country near Tyler, Texas about 11:30 Saturday morning for John and Susan Walker's wedding. It rained most of the way up there, and some of it was extremely heavy rain. We learned that the Prius has a warning light for when the tires are hydroplaning on the water. Sometimes we would slide all the way across the road, and it was kind of scary. I drove all the way there, and then back as far as Huntsville. And we did not arrive until 10 minutes before the wedding was suppose to start. Everyone was just starting to drive or walk up the hill when we got there. We immediately went to the two portable potties, and John Walker came up to use one and found them both being used. We learned he had said earlier in the morning he did not think anyone would use them, and then when he wanted to, they were both busy. The wedding was on top of a hill overlooking this part of the Texas Hill Country. Beautiful view.
Corwin Slack, Bishop of the Memorial Park Ward, (../9724.html, ../9833.html, and ../0230.html), a former neighbor, and long-time friend, performed the service. John's daughter Rachel played her flute as the wedding march. I was the only other music on the program, and I sang "I Once Saw A Family" (../9652.html). John was spiritually touched and could not stop crying. The audience as a whole seemed to enjoy it, Susan's beautiful smile kept me from following John's example and becoming too emotional, and there were a lot of very nice comments about the song by those in attendance. The service was simple, and nice. The reception was professional and very nice. John's sisters put on a real feast with beef, lamb, and chicken, as well as salads, corn on the cob, chocolate covered strawberries, and wedding cake. I took several digital photos and some nice movies, which are at http://www.walden3d.com/photos/Friends/Walker_John_Susan/070526_John_Susan_Walker_marriage. One of John and my co-workers, who left GDC a year ago, was there with his wife. Andrea and I talked to Corwin and his son Scott for quite a while, exchanging J. Golden Kimball stories. It was a wonderful afternoon.
On the way to Tyler and back, I listened to some of my Audio-Tech CD's I'm behind on. I learned about the interactivity of Web 2.0, about mash-ups, about how the Web 3.0 is going to be better for computers to communicate with other computers, where tagging (like my spatial, temporal, and process indices) is key, and how Web 3.0 is called the semantic web and is based on ontologies. All of this is just as Bavinger told me it would be. There was also an interesting section on regenerative tissues, and using laser printers to create artificial organs. I am beginning to feel like Grandma Hafen must have felt as she watched all of the changes which occurred over her life time. It is hard for me to even start to comprehend all of the changes Dallin Spencer Nelson is going to see happen during his lifetime.
When we got home we were in time to watch the 11:00 PM showing of the Season Finale of "Robin Hood." This is great TV. It is a little violent, and it really is great TV. I want to get a copy of the shows to watch with Grandkids. However, Andrea pointed out it is a bit violent at times, especially for a new baby like Dallin Spencer Nelson.
Sunday morning came early. Memorial Day weekend was a fitting weekend to be Matt's last weekend home before he leaves for Iraq. He wore is dress uniform to church. Don Keller gave a wonderful talk, and I wrote the following possible stanza for Prime Words based on his talk on the 27th of June 2007:
My primary class lesson was on prayer, and I sang "The First Prayer" for the kids. They were busy coloring a puzzle, and so I'm not sure they even heard the words. Oh well! Hopefully someday I'll be able to sing these words in a place and at a time when they really can be heard and understood spiritually by my Grandkids, including Dallin Spencer Nelson."