Another Update

Isaac got tremendous news when he went into the hospital on Monday: The burn on his abdomen is healing much better than expected, so the second skin graft won't be needed.

He's also bandage-free on his arm.

His mission papers are submitted. And he's really itching to go to the temple.

Things are looking up.

Petulance, thy Name is Trump

President Trump and members of his cabinet were vaguely shot at yesterday.

I don't condone violence of any sort, let it be clear.

I don't condone hypocritical petulance, either.

Trump has said this wouldn't have happened if he'd had his White House ballroom.

School shootings, workplace shootings, and all the like wouldn't have happened had they had ballrooms either, per that logic.

But since Sen. Lindsey Graham sees fit to introduce legislation to let President Petulant get tax money to pay for his ballroom but nobody seems willing to lift a finger to do to much of anything to lessen the impact of school and workplace shootings, I say fie to it all.

We have a very hypocritical government. They get free health care, pensions -- and in some instances, jobs -- for life. And we pay for it all. But that kind of thing just isn't done for the masses. We have wars to fight, Trump says. So that means we can't pay for health care, or child care, or Social Security, or any of the other social safety net programs that actually show benefits outside the pocketbooks of arms contractors.

The sooner we elect someone besides this twink and his enablers, the better.

Ah, Meta . . .

 

Facebook has just "suggested for [me]" one of my own posts from earlier today and wants to know whether I'm interested in it.

[Clicks "not interested" just to mess with The Man.]

Here Come the Judge (Puts Down the Fudge)

Honorable Judge B. Lynn Winmill

United States District Court

550 W. Fort Street

Boise, ID 83724

My name is Brian Davidson. I am Randy Davidson’s brother, just a few years older than him. I live in Ammon, Idaho, and just marked by 20th year working as a technical writer with the Idaho Cleanup Project, currently with the Idaho Cleanup Project. I also teach an online English course at Brigham Young University-Idaho.

I’m writing this letter to express my love and support for Randy. He was my best friend growing up. I recall many adventures on our bicycles, exploring our neighborhood, the vacant lot in the industrial park near the home where we grew up, and through our involvement with the Boy Scouts of America and the Young Mens’ program in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Though he is younger than I am, I look up to him a lot. He reminds me a lot of our Dad: Studious, quiet, intelligent, and hard-working. I never felt a sense of competition with him; we just worked through things together. When he wanted to go with his other friends, I understood and mostly held back – he’s much more outgoing and courageous than I am.

We have common interests, from reading about World War II – Dad was a civilian in the Netherlands during the war – LEGOs, books, games, and other interests. When Randy comes home, we could certainly pick up on those pursuits again, and offer each other mutual support as we grapple with the challenges that life throws our way.

Randy is a humble person who knows and owns the mistakes he’s made. He’s worked hard to combat the addiction and demons that beset him. And he, like Dad, knuckled down at his jobs, even when he was treated with derision and hostility by his co-workers and supervisors because of his record. This world can be cruel to people who’ve made mistakes like Randy has, but he never ran from them. He never hid them. He owned his past and did the best he could do to not let it control the present. Though he has longed to reconned with his children, he respects their wishes to remain distant, though it hurts.

I appreciate the closeness he grew to have with our sister Maaike when he returned home. She was better positioned to be the best help for him, but please know he has an extensive and willing help and social network when he does come home. We have a large family and though at times we’re not exactly close, we do band together particularly when a family member is suffering. We recognize the godly requirement to love all and to work to remove the beams in our eyes rather than rail against the motes in the eyes of others.

My fondest memories of Randy came when my wife and I bought a house in the early 2000s and discovered the sprinkler system it came with was nonfunctional. He had experience in working on sprinklers, so came over and worked with me to see what we could do with the system we had. We dug a few trenches, found many broken components, and discovered a few functioning sprinkler heads, but nothing in the way that would water our lawn efficiently. I remember him, a week into the project, saying something along the lines of “We can either keep digging and following the lines and fixing the problems we discover along the way, or we can start fresh with a new system.” In a way that’s how he’s led his life since his troubles arrived, recognizing that some aspects were beyond repair and opting to start again. His resilience in the face of his own demons is awe inspiring.

When I think of my family, but of Randy particularly, I’m reminded of the song by The Hollies:

The road is long

With many a winding turn

That leads us to who knows where

Who knows where

But I'm strong

Strong enough to carry him

He ain't heavy, he's my brother

So on we go

His welfare is of my concern

No burden is he to bear

We'll get there

For I know

He would not encumber me

He ain't heavy, he's my brother.

Sincerely,

Brian Davidson

Well, this is Disappointing

 

Started reading "I Capture the Castle" by Dodie Smith - author of "101 Dalmatians," which is why I picked this book up.

Kinda glad I started reading it before I saw the trailer for the movie based on the book, because it's a bit soppy:

Also just found out the movie has an R rating, so maybe this won't be one I finish.

This is why, if AI is to be believed:

In a few ways it reminds me of "Little, Big," by John Crowley, another book I started but didn't finish. Like that one, thusfar Castle has been nearly plotless, though at this point it has had more of a plot than Little. While the lack of a plot was a reason to bail on Little, it was the rapes that really sealed the deal. People try to tell me Crowley wrote an epic modern fantasy; I just don't see it. And Castle isn't that far behind.

Irony is Dead

So I wanted to read this article about a new Google ad wrinkle that blurs the article you're reading until you watch their ad and click out of it.

But I couldn't, because the site put up an ad I had to watch and click out of it before I could read.

Irony is dead.

Irony

The irony hurts my head.

No to data centers in Idaho!

But I will use AI to generate this garbage, so sucks to be any other state.

Especially Wyoming, what with the AI-generated annexation of the western portion of the state.

A Little Follow-Up

A week or so later, Isaac's burns:

They believe his arm is doing nicely.

The belly, well, that's going to take more work. They think they'll have to do another skin graft surgery, either at the end of the week or beginning of next week, depending on the doctor's schedule.

Again, he's not a complainer. I would have been bellowing as they took a look and cleaned things up a bit after they took the bandages off. He said "ouch" a few times, but just kept on letting them work. He did stop them once, but only once, and only for a few moments.

He's worried this could delay his mission. It might, or they might give him a local option for a few months before things go further abroad. We'll have to see what happens.

First Person POV? A Bit Hard, Even for A Good Book

When I started reading Robin McKinley’s “Dragonhaven,” it made me angry.

First of all, first person. Not my favorite point of view for a book. I’m hard-wired a bit to avoid that.

Second of all, the voice. Very scattered. Very slow to come to the point.

But I suppose, after finishing the book, that was the point.

The protagonist is, of course, young. And while versed in many things related to dragons, not really versed in writing.

So the longer I read, the more the point of view and the voice fit. Yes, at times, it was like trying to read one of my younger students’ essays, typical stream of consciousness garble that they usually are. They wear me out. Sometimes you have to read a paragraph, or a series of paragraphs, over and over again to get the gist, and even then you’re not really sure.

That’s what this book felt like, start to finish. Not necessarily how I would have done it, but clearly McKinley made a choice and she stuck with it. It certainly lent her character a unique voice.

I worried at times, however, that the voice got in the way of the story. I can be a demanding reader, and this story demanded a bit more than I actually got.

Remembering the main character’s name? Really hard to do. I got it in the last 40 or so pages.

Being able to tell but a few characters apart? Not really. That was hard, but as the POV is written from kind of an egocentric point of view, maybe that’s mission accomplished.

I’ve read a few other McKinley books and will stick with those. This one tells a good story, but the approach to it was a bit too grating for me to get into it.

Don't get me wrong: This is a good story, telling an interesting tale. McKinley is a strong writer, rich in dragon lore that's historic and contemporary and a bit of her own invention. I just had a hard time with the approach, that's all.

Are They Even Paying Attention?

The Salt Lake Tribune recently published an article claiming some in the LDS Church have "Pope envy," in which they ask why our church leadership isn't speaking out against war, like Pope Leo.

In all due respect, it's clear these were not paying attention during April Conference.

So many talks about peacemakers and finding peace in Christ.

Our leaders don't have to specifically point out "this war," or "this action" is bad; that is baked ino the gospel of Christ.

This from President Oaks, said just a few weeks ago, suffices for me:

"Truly, Jesus Christ is the way to peace in this world and eternal life in the world to come. He knows and loves each of us perfectly and invites us to walk with Him, abide in Him, and follow His example of ministering to others one by one in charity and love. . . May we all demonstrate the pure love of Christ in our families, in our communities, and in all of our interactions with God’s children."

And he wasn't the only one.

This from Elder Eyring:

"The world today seems to be in commotion. There are wars and rumors of wars. The economies of whole continents seem to be faltering. Prophesied wickedness seems to be accelerating as the Savior’s return draws nearer.

"Yet despite turmoil and difficulty, faithful Latter-day Saints in hardship across the world have flooded heaven with prayers. In public and in private, they are petitioning the Lord for help, for comfort, for direction, and for personal peace for those they love."

I'm often confused by folks who criticize religion for mixing with politics, but then get upset when religion doesn't mix with politics in the way and in the time they think it should.

War is bad. It is rarely justifiable. The messages of peace that I hear again and again from church leaders affirms that to me 

I applaud Pope Leo for speaking out as he did. I ask those who think our leaders should do likewise to pay attention to what they've been saying all along.

Maybe We'll Get A *New* Nest

Today's accomplishment: A little flower garden prep:

I did do other stuff, but this is the most photogenic.

I tossed an old bird nest from one of the hanging baskets, and it reminded me of this:

This is from the robin who built the nest there last year.

Warning: Teeth

Of course we have a clear little box with four teeth in it on our kitchen counter. Who doesn't?

They're Isaac's wisdom teeth, extracted this week. Yes, the same week he had to have surgery. It's been a tough week for him.

That's the Way it Was, with the Old Man

Back in 1976, when we were celebrating the bicentennial of the United States, we got stuff like this. Good ol' Darren McGavin, the Old Man himself, delivering real news, not that politic slop.

We also got crap like this, so it wasn't all good:

We're in a much, shall we say, stranger era today. We're post-irony, post-cynicism, and in places where we'd have "woke" spokespeople on one side of the 250th arguing with the non-woke on the other.

I don't know that we're any more polarized than we were in the 1970s, but we're certainly a lot louder about it.

Tired Guy Duty

So Isaac went into wound care this morning for a follow-up, and they decided they needed to do a little surgery. So he was in for day surgery. Michelle was with him up until about 1:30, but she had to go to the dentist for a root canal and crown, so I stayed with him that afternoon.

Sorry for the graphic photo. These are the burns on his abdomen, which had them concerned. So they put him under briefly, removed the dead tissue, then put on some cadaver skin as a temporary bandage as he heals.

So he had dead guy duty.

He is a dynamo, though. He was done with surgery and discharged at 4:30, but before we could go home we had to stop to get him something to eat, back to the hospital so he could get his pineapple juice out of his truck (he's getting his wisdom teeth removed tomorrow, and was told the juice would help with the swelling), then out to the plant so he could get stuff from his locker, then to the company store for some ice cream, then to Walmart for a poncho, then finally home where I dropped him off but took his brother to the hospital again to pick up Isaac's truck.

He's the one who had surgery, but I'm the one who's tired. Though he has gone to bed and I'm still up like a moron.

I Did This. A Little.

I don't get to talk a lot about the specifics on the work I do, but since the company published this, I guess I can blab a little.

I did indeed help on the paperwork to make this happen. I'm part of a group that writes and edits reports that are used to track waste like this from cradle to grave. It's challenging work, but I certainly enjoy it. Well, parts of it. Some of it bears the ickiness of any job, but you put up with a lot for a paycheck.

Oh, I Got Dead Again.

 

This is what you get from your laid-back son when he's doused with 185-degree water mixed with a caustic solution and has to go to the ER for treatment.

If anyone asks, he's fine. And ready to go back to work tomorrow.

My Grandpa Car

I was visiting my father-in-law over the weekend, and happened to come as my brother-in-law and their family were leaving after a brief Spring Break visit.

We got to talking about my car, a 2005 Honda Pilot which we bought from my father-in-law for $10,000. I don't remember when it was, but we've had it ever since, which I think is about ten or so years after that.

Carl, my brother-in-law, asked what work we've had to have done on it to keep it running. It's got 260,000 miles on it now.

I had to think about it for a bit.

Aside from regular maintenance, from battery replacement (once), new tires, (once) and oil changes and such, the only repairs I've had to have done is to replace the starter and replace the gas cap.

So it's been a *really* reliable vehicle for us.

I don't have an accounting like the one in this video, but I believe it's comparable.

There are some repairs which should probably be done:

1. I've got an air bag sensor that's gone bad.

2. The power steering has developed a small leak.

We've tried finding a used sensor at the scrap yards, but apparently this is a common failure point on Pilots, so the one we need is always missing.

And as for the power steering, the leak is small enough to the point I'm not that worried about it yet. It's more an annoyance to have to top up the fluid every once in a while than anything else.

Knock on wood, it'll keep running for a lot longer.

The Pie-Industrial Complex

 

I am part of the Pie-Industrial Complex.

My full-time job as a technical writer supports cleanup of waste mostly left over from the Manhattan Project.

While I'm grateful for the work, this commercial from 1971 certainly packs a message. Where do we want our money going?

President Trump is telling us we need money to fight wars, and that money for health care or daycare or whatever it is at home that we need is secondary to that fight. Nevermind it's wars that idiot started himself because War is Cool or something, according to the Beavi and Butt-Heads he's got surrounding him in Washington and elsewhere (I'm looking at you, Israel).

Traffic Blockage

I don't usually go home on Pancheri Drive, but today's activity made it necessary.

I won't do that again.

At the intersection of Pancheri and Utah avenues, this:

Note the green light.

No one was moving. You can see cars trying to turn left off of Utah Avenue went into the intersection on the yellow and got caught on the red. They were effectively blocking the intersection for those trying to turn left off Pancheri to Utah, as I was, because I already know the series of lights ahead (Pancheri and Capital, Pancheri and Yellowstone) are an absolute cluster most of the time and particularly at this time of day, say about 5:45 p,m.

The red circle shows the intersection I was stuck at. Yellow shows the lights further down the line, where reds were causing traffic to back up and idiot drivers were blocking the road.

A complication I suspect: Neither the intersection at Utah or Capital, operated by the city of Idaho Falls, have cameras. The intersection at Yellowstone does have cameras, but it's operated by the state, as Yellowstone is technically US 26/I-15 Business route. I don't think the city and state coordinate these lights well at all, because if they were coordinated, we wouldn't see traffic backing up from Capital or Yellowstone all the way across the Pancheri Bridge to Utah and beyond.

There are four river crossings locally. Two are clusters. This one, and the one on Grandview which turns into US-20 and intersects with an interchange with I-15. I usually take that route and get off and go home via downtown and First Street, which is a slow way across town - a good portion of it is 25 miles per hour - but thus sees a lot less traffic than the other routes.

This city needs some serious traffic planning, as does the county. Bless them, they try. But we have a good contingent of intersection-blocking locals who don't want things to change, even though things are changing. They're idiots.

Where Were You When World War Three Started, Grandpa?

So yeah, these, our modern times, suck.

And so do a lot of people living in our modern times. But I try not to pay attention to that.

A few things I do pay attention to:

-- Those looking at Revelation in the New Testament as a clear play-by-play of how the "end times" are going to come about should really, really be careful in separating those who ask us to humble ourselves and repent and try as hard as we can to get along from those who look at Armageddon and think, "How can I actively make that come to pass?"

What was it he said that got everyone so upset?

Be kind to each other.

Oh yeah. That'll do it.

We seemed to have stepped back from the brink this week. But only just, and our Dear Leaders are still dancing on the edge of the precipice. Kinda like this:

Grab a fence post, hold it tight,

Whomp your partner will all your might.

Hit him in the chin, hit him in the head,

Hit him again that critter ain't dead.

Whomp him low and whomp him high,

Stick your finger in his eye.

Pretty little rhythm, pretty little sound,

Bang your heads against the ground.

So where was I? I was at home, washing my tights.

Because talking to our representatives does nothing. They're so deep inside the machine now they don't really listen to us unless we're echoing what they're already thinking. I wish that was cynicism talking, but it's reality.