Jeannette's House - Exterior

Jeannette's House - Front View
Originally uploaded by David B..

I have received a few photos from Mark on the progress of Jeannette's house. The exterior is coming along quite nicely. It looks like they are about ready for the siding to be installed.



At the rear of the house, you can see that the patio has been poured, which extends out from the dining room area.

Mark tells me that they have just about finished the mudding and taping on the interior, and should be painting sometime this week. We'll no more about the progress this weekend.

THIS IS NOT FUN!

Reflections On Utah Lake
Originally uploaded by David B..

After we finished rockhounding today in Vernon, Utah, we decided to return home by traveling along the the West side of Utah Lake. As we made our way around the lake, we noticed something very unusual. The lake was perfectly still, and had mirrored reflections of the mountains to the South and East of the Lake. I stopped along the way, and took several photos. We tried to get a better perspective, and drove for awhile along a road that paralleled some high-tension power lines in the area. We got back onto the highway, and continued driving North.

We saw a raised promontory a few hundred yards off the road, that was perhaps 300-400 feet above the surface of the lake. And fortunately for us (at least for me and the kids) there were 4 wheel drive roads you could take to the top of the hill! Fortunately, the soil here was not completely saturated, like it was in Vernon. We were able to ventur off road safely. We found a road that left the highway, and proceeded up the hill. We stopped just a couple of hundred feet from the summit. The road looked pretty steep and narrow those last few feet to the summit, and I didn't know if there would be room enough to turn around once we got up there. If there is one thing the Sour Note hates more than anything when we go 4-wheeling, it is to have to back down a steep hill. So I got out of the truck, camera in-hand, and hiked up to the top of the hill.

The view at the top was spectacular. I took several photos, and found a rock ledge there that provided some nice foreground to the photos. You can view more of the Utah Lake photos here. Everyone else waited in the truck, since their muddy shoes were still in the back of the truck from our rockhounding adventure.

As I came back down from the summint, I could see that there was more than one trail going up and down the hill. I saw an alternate route, from the one that we had previously ascended the hill on, that we could take to get down. It would require a minumum of backing up, and better yet, there was a large puddle of water at the bottom! I backed up, made a three-point turn, and proceeded going down the hill. All went well, and mama did OK, too. Then I turned toward the mud puddle at the bottom, a sly grin on my face, and gave the truck a little gas. -- SPLASH! -- We churned up a bunch of water on both sides of the truck, and Amy gave her nervous little laugh/scream that we came to love on our trip to Moab last year. I continued on down the road toward the highway hitting every mud puddle just about as fast I could find. The kids were having a great time. I wasn't too sure about mama though.

We hit one mud puddle at a pretty good clip, and then there was a slight rise in the road, so you couldn't see what was coming up next. As we crested the ridge, a wash bottom (the Sour Note calls it a Ravine!) was revealed right in front of us, and we were heading right into it -- too fast! I hit the brakes, and I could feel the anti-lock brake pulsations kick in on the slippery, muddy road. The heavy-duty shocks and suspension of our off-road outfitted truck were called upon for rare duty, and we made it through OK. --- Except for Mama, that is. Her eyes were as large as saucers, and her heart was stuck in her throat. She had had just a little too much excitement for her taste, as she exclaimed, "THIS IS NOT FUN!". The Sour Note rides again.

She really likes to always know just exactly what is coming ahead. Surprises while four wheeling are just not too good for her disposition. (I first learned of this trait when we went on our first 4-wheeling trip before we were married, on the original "Stripey-Tailed Monkey Trip." We were riding over some dunes in the San Raphael Desert. As you reach the crest of each dune there comes a certain instant in time, as you reach the top, when you can only see sky in front of you. You have to take it on faith that there is still a road before you! A moment later the vehicle crests the hill, and you tilt downward on the downhill slope of the dune, and you can once again see the road ahead of you. On the Stripey Monkey Trip, the Sour Note dug her fingernails into my leg each time we crested a hill -- and I still have the scars to prove it! -- Well, not really.) Fortunately, our new truck is wider than the old one, and she couldn't get her hands on me this time!

I put some calm, soothing music on the stereo. I pointed out things along the roadside as we passed by. (She had never been on this road before). It still took about 20 miles for her to get her feathers unruffled and smoothed down.

All along the way, the kids were teasing mama. They too, have come to know her 4-wheeling proclivities. At every possible chance, they would tell her such things as, "Mama, we're tipping!", or "Look mom, we can't see the road!" and "Mama, we're going backwards!" And after going through our little wash bottom experience, the kids wanted to do it again!

We eventually made it back to the highway, and made it back home in one piece -- that is, I made it home in one piece. The truck, of course, was never in doubt.

Wonderstone

Rockhounding
Originally uploaded by David B..

Today is President's Day. We all had the day off from work and school. We worked around the house until about noon, then headed out for an outing.

Our plan was to go rock hounding. We decided to go out into the west desert. We have several geology and rock hounding guidebooks, and decided to head down toward the area of Vernon, Utah to look for a rock called Wonderstone. Vernon is just a little over an hour's distance from our house. We packed a picnic lunch, and took off.

We noticed as we drove a long the way that there was a lot of water along the roadside. I began to wonder if it would be too soft and muddy to go off road very far. Even with 4-wheel-drive, you don't want to venture too far off highway, and get stuck out in the middle of nowhere.

After we arrived in Vernon, we started looking for the road that is adjacent to the railroad tracks. We turned off the road, put the truck into 4-wheel-drive. We went about 50 yards down the road before we realized that it was going to be too muddy to proceed. We were slipping and sliding in the clay soil, and sinking in about 3-4 inches into the mud. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor (did you know that saying originally comes from Shakespeare?) We decided to look for an alternative location, that would not require us to be in jeopardy of getting stuck in the mud.

About a mile up the road from the railroad tracks, there was a large open pit, exposing several layers of different rock strata. We back tracked our way along the road, and found the pit. Fortunately, there was a turnout adjacent to the pit, alongside the road. We got out of the truck, and noticed just how wet the soil was. Bryan started heading to the pit right away, with rock hammer in-hand. We all slipped and slided, and mucked our way over to the pit (less than 100 yards off the road.)

Once we arrived at the pit, we found it to be roughly about 120 feet long, and about 40 feet wide. There were lots of different kinds of rocks there. Bryan, being our mountain goat in residence, was climbing all over the place, chipping away with his rock hammer. At one point, some rocks and soil fell from the rim of the pit. Fortunately, no one was near the spot of the little rock-fall. In looking at the rim of the pit, I could see that the soil surrounding the pit was completely saturated down to the rock layers beneath the soil. More rock falls could happen anytime. We made a point to stay away from areas that looked unstable. I took several photos of the pit, and it is clear to see that more erosion is likely to occur. As we looked at the bottom area of the pit, you could see that there was a sink-hole. It appears that water that flows into this pit, eventually drains down into the sink hole down into an underground aquifer. Over time, more and more erosion will take place, and the pit will continue to expand in size. The Sour Note, and the kids were able to collect quite a number of rocks. But alas, no Wonderstone. We'll have to go back again sometime when things have dried out. We walked back to the truck, and tried to clean off everyone's muddy shoes. Everyone but me took their shoes off as they got into the truck. You can see more photos of the rockhounding pit here.

We proceeded back toward home going through the towns if Tinitic, Eureka, and Elberta.

Bryan's Ordination

Deacon
Originally uploaded by David B..

Its been a big week for Bryan. He has had a lot of attention directed his way.

First there was his birthday party last Saturday with his friends.

Last Sunday, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa C.'s house for a birthday dinner.

On Tuesday, which was his actual birthday, he went to his 11-year-old scout troop for the last time. They took him out to a nearby ice cream shop to celebrate. (He got raspberry sorbet, with fresh raspberries mixed in. Bryan brought home a taste for us -- it was quite good!)

On Thursday, Bryan met with the Bishop to be interviewed for his ordination.

Today, however was the culmination of all the celebrations. Today, Bryan was sustained by the church membership, and ordained a Deacon. I had the privilege of officiating in the ordination.

Our family was in attendance, along with Grandma and Grandpa C, Uncle Mark, and Aunt Jeannette.

Today marks a turning point in Bryan's young life. He begins to turn the corner from childhood, to becoming a young man. He will take upon himself new duties and obligations as a priesthood holder. Now the focus of his efforts as a priesthood holder will be in service to others, and in preparing for a mission.

Bryan and I will have have more things in common. We both share in the honor of holding the Priesthood. We will attend priesthood meetings together. He will get to come with us to General Priesthood Meetings, when Grandpa, Myself and all of my brothers (who are in town at the time) and now Bryan will be ablet to attend together. We will add a new generaton to our family priesthood quorum.

Bryan still has a lot of things to do learn. He still has a lot of maturing to do, as well. But today, he turns a corner and begins a journey in a new direction. He will have new associations as he enters the Aaronic Priesthood, and takes part in the Young Men's program of the church. He now enters a time in his life where more is expected of him. He will have resonsibilties, important responsibilities that will bless the lives of those he serves.

We are proud of Bryan, and for his willingness to take upon himself these new responsibilities and obligations. We know that as he serves his fellowman, that his service will help to shape him as he grows in the gospel, and as he learns to prepare for that which lies ahead.

My Music Listening History

I first started paying attention to pop music in about 1971. I was in the 8th grade at the time. Prior to that, I listened to what my parents did – which was quiet, easy listening music. I remember listening to dad’s Western music (Sons of the Pioneers). I also remember listening to patriotic music, such as John Phillip Sousa marches, and the Ballad of the Green Beret. However, the records I remember playing the most were dad’s Tijuana Brass Albums (The Lonely Bull, Going Places, and Whipped Cream and Other Delights). I remember playing those records over and over again. I’m sure we wore them out.

The first record I remember buying for myself was an album of Piano music from Peter Nero. It had his arrangements of movie theme songs on it. It wasn’t much different from what my parents listened to. My next purchase was the Carpenters’ Tan album, which featured the song, “Rainy Days and Mondays”. I tended to like music with strong melodies, and sweet harmonies, which I found in the Carpenters, Simon and Garfunkel, and similar artists of the day.

Over the years, my musical tastes diverged, into more mainstream pop music, though not much into heavy metal, or really hard rock. Later I would branch into Jazz, Classical, and dabble in Country Music.

If you are like me, you may have lots of old LP records, on good old vinyl – refugees from the 70’s and 80’s. At some point in the mid to late 1980’s, I switched over to CD’s. For a while, when CD’s were first gaining popularity, I still bought music in LP form, because an LP was about ½ the price of a CD. However, I would use the LP’s as master copies. I would only play them once – and then only to record them on high quality cassette tapes. Then if the tape wore out, or was lost or destroyed, I could play the record again, and make a new tape. Finally, LP’s began to disappear altogether from the shelves of the “record” stores. Only then, of necessity, did I convert to CD’s.

After I bought my first CD player, I bought a few CD’s of my old favorites that I had previously purchased on LP records. Of course, all new music was purchased on CD’s. By this time I had over 100 LP’s in my collection, and I couldn’t afford to buy CD’s of them all. In fact, in the earlier days of CD’s not all of the older records were even available on CD’s. Nowadays most every popular record has been re-released as a CD, and can be purchased from some of the larger on-line music distributors, such as Amazon.com, or BMG music. However, even now, it is not cost effective to go back and re-purchase all of your old LP’s in CD form.

Digital music is now the big thing in recorded music. Most of the time, you still want to have a CD hard copy of the music, that you can play on a home or car stereo. However, with the popularity of the iPod, and other portable music players, digital music is gaining more and more popularity.

The early days of digital music were pioneered by Napster, and other file sharing web sites. The problem with this was the great opposition of the record companies, because people were sharing copyrighted material without any compensation to those who either performed or produced the music. After a long series of legal battles, the free music file-sharing sites have either been shut down, or severely restricted.

In comes Steve Jobs, and Apple computer. They have been innovative on two fronts. First, they came up with the iPod, which is the granddaddy of all portable digital music players (and still holds about 90% of the market share). Secondly, the came up with the iTunes digital Juke Box, which can be run by windows based computers. Also iTunes includes a digital music store, where customers can purchase a single song (for 99¢) or an entire album (usually for about $9.99). After downloading, the customer can then download the music to their iPod, as well as make an Audio CD copy of the music, which can then be played on any CD player. Also, if you have music already on a CD, you can import it into your iTunes jukebox, and then download it to your iPod. The iTunes jukebox also allows you to play your music on your computer as well, without having to inset CD’s. You can mix and match music into your own albums, or groups of albums. I have groups for 70’s music, 80’s music, Jazz, Classical, etc. Then you can have this music played in random order. It’s like having your own FM radio station, which only plays the songs you want to hear – with no commercials. Other music companies have similar jukeboxes, and portable music combinations, such as Sony Music, and Real Player. Microsoft has its version with Windows Media Player, as well.

As on-line music stores gain in popularity, I would not be surprised to find more music eventually distributed legally over the Internet. Even now, there are some artists who are self-producing and self-publishing their own music, and distributing it only on the Internet through their own web sites, bypassing the music companies and retail stores altogether. Over time, I would not be surprised to see more and more artist direct to consumer marketing of music in this form.

The question for those of us over 40 then becomes, what the heck do we do with all of those old LP’s? That, my friends, will be the topic of my next post.

Jeannette's Stonework and Drywall

Good progress continues to be made on Jeannette's house. This photo shows the shingles completed, the stonework wainscot on the front, and the tyvek insualation wrap.

Also much of the drywall has been put up. This second photo shows a view of the living room, looking toward the front door.

Both of these photos were taken on Feb 12, 2005.

Bryan's Birthday Party

Bryan and a few friends over to the house yesterday to celebrate his birthday. In this photo, Bryan and his friends (and Amy) are playing a game of secret square. Bryan is contemplating his next move, as he studies the field.

The kids were all well behaved, at least until we brought out the pie and ice cream and they all got their sugar fixes.

I have created a little photo album of the birthday party on flickr. You can see Bryan's birthday party pictures here. When the web page loads from Flickr, click on the small thumbnail of each photo, and you will see additional comments I have made about each picture. (I don't recommend clicking on the "view as slideshow" option. It is slow if you are on dial-up Internet access. Also, it does not show the little comments that accompany each picture.

I'll let Bryan tell you more about his party on his own blog. I'll line to it when he's got it done.