Ben Here Done That

I have been very impressed with the new GPS technology.  It is able to pick the quickest or the shortest route to your destination.  If a turn is missed, the GPS can re-calculate a new route.  My wife has used it on several trips to California and Nevada in my absence.  I have put great trust in this new technology.

On a recent trip with my Dad and a couple of my siblings, I thought I would demonstrate to them this great technology.  We were on I-80 approaching Evanston Wyoming.  It was time to get some dinner and we decided we would stop at Wendy’s.  Now I don’t know my way around Evanston, but I was sure that my Garmin did.  So, with the utmost confidence I grabbed the GPS and entered the necessary information:

•  Where to: Food
• What kind of food: All
• Spell:  W  E  N

Bingo!  It lists a Wendy’s and I click on the GO button, and it starts to calculate the route.  As I pull off the freeway, my sister tells me that this is not the exit that she usually takes.  I assure her that I am driving the correct route, and that it is probably faster than the way she knows.

The GPS has me doing some quick maneuvering: a right, a sharp left, another right.  My sister points to the left and says, I think I can see it over there… I ignore her comment and continue to follow the directions from the GPS.  Soon we were heading away from the freeway and into the dark part of town, away from the commercial areas.  For the first time, my confidence in the device drops, as it announces that we have arrived at the destination. There we were at an intersection in a small residential neighborhood. We all had a good laugh, at my expense, and I learned a good lesson: Don’t trust Garmin to show you the way to Wendy’s in Evanston!  

It has been almost 30 years since finishing high school.  High school was a wonderful time. Senior year was the best, splitting my time between my favorite class, Unified Studies, and playing on the varsity soccer team.   Along with the good times, I came away from high school with some of the best life time friends one could hope for.

Lately, thanks to the whole Internet-Facebook thing, there has been a rekindling of old friendships… a mini high school reunion of sorts. One of those old high school friends came up with the smart idea to stage an alumni soccer match with the current high school team.  Now we were good back in the day, taking state my junior and senior years, but now we are all creeping up on the big 5-0.  My sanity should have been questioned for even considering playing in an alumni game.  I haven’t touched a soccer ball in 20 years.

Brimhall kind of filled in as the coach for our team.  He made sure that no one felt pressured to play.  Almost everyone planned on playing.  There were some exceptions: Davis has a bad ankle, Tobler has a bad back, and Coleman didn’t play.  Grossen, and Mangelson both flew in from California for the game.  Grossen was very excited for the game, and probably our best hope for making any goals.  He plays in a league in California and keeps himself in shape by running 5 miles a day.   Schmutz and Marlon have been playing soccer a couple times a week, but the rest of the team has not played for over a decade.

We met at the Orem high soccer field.  Arriving a half hour early we had a little time to reaquaint ourselves with the ball.  We kicked the ball around and practiced taking some goal shots.  Game time was nearing and so we headed for the sideline with our team bench.  At this point we experienced our first and only injury.  Marlon jarred his back and ended up missing the whole game, much to his disappointment.

I told my wife about the game, and told her she should come and make an appearance.  I knew many of the old gang would love to see her again.  She had not shown up when the game started.  I started the game on the sideline, but it was not long before someone needed a sub.  So, before I knew it, I was playing.

After a solid 5 minutes… and touching the ball twice…

I was done.  About 10 minutes later my wife showed up.  She was a little dissappointed that she didn’t get to see me play, but I told her she didn’t miss much.  We lost the game… never even made a single goal.  Some say we were winners just for showing up.

For 2 days following game I could hardly walk.  Now, enough time has passed, and the soreness has faded… only the fond memories remain.

… already there is talk about a rematch in the Fall.

Having a house dog and a house cat at the same time sometimes creates issues.   Feeding the cat has become the latest issue.  Since the cat has no interest in dog food, it is not a problem to keep the cat out of the dog’s food.  However, the dog feels entitled to eat anything she can get in her mouth.  On occasion, the dog finds her way to the cat’s litter box (gross … I know) and finds a little tootsie roll that the cat has buried.

When we first got the dog, we would keep her out of the cat food by placing the food dish up on a work bench.  But, now that our cat has become a senior citizen, he is no longer able or willing to jump atop the work bench, and instead chooses to howl until someone will lift him up to his food dish.  Lifting the cat every time he feel the urge to eat grew old quickly and we moved his food dish to the floor.

No one specific person had the assignment to fill the cat’s food dish. The dish simply got filled by anyone, whenever the cat complained loud enough.  I would fill the bowl one day, my wife the next, and my daughter the next, all of us filling the dish without the knowledge that someone else was also filling the dish.  Now I know that our cat has a weight problem, but holy cow, we were going through a lot of cat food.  That cat is eating a ton of food, or so we thought…

More evidence started to mount: The cat going through lots of food.  The dog loosing interest in going outside to eat her food.  Brooke and Trevor were the first ones to notice one of the worst side effects.  They were watching TV when they both noticed a foul odor.  Suspicion and wild accusations followed.  “Who cut the cheese?”  If the old adage “He who smelt it dealt it” is true, then the dog must have smelled it first.  We’ve had the dog for many years, and I have never known her to have gas, but there was no denying the pungent fact.  My wife kept asking if the dog needed a bath, I would give her fur a sniff, “nope”.  I knew assuredly the dog had a gas problem after watching TV with only her and me present.  When it was time for the weekly doodoo pickup, another problem presented itself.  The consistency of her number twos had gone from a pile of hard little biscuits to a spattering of chili (now doesn’t that make you what to have a bowl of chili?).

After a weeks we put together all the clues and determined that despite the cats size, it was the dog who was polishing off the cat’s food, sneaking away to the basement, unnoticed, whenever she could.

Now the cat’s food dish is kept in the kitchen.  The dog has been taught to stay out of the cat’s food, but we still have to keep a close watch on her or she will be to the cats dish and have it emptied in a matter of seconds.

The dog spends much of her time now looking towards the cat’s food dish.  Hoping that she will get the okay nod to finish off the cat’s leftovers.

We just completed our annual humanitarian trip to Mexico.  What a wonderful experience.  Each year I come away feeling grateful for family, friends, and life. Here in America we forget how good we have it.  We start to feel sorry for ourselves because the price of gas goes up, the stock market drops, the rising cost health care and so on.  In Tijuana the average days wage for hard labor, if you can get it, is about $8.  Try feeding a family on that budget. These people don’t have a chance to worry about getting ahead, they are in survival mode.We arrived on a Tuesday and departed the following Sunday afternoon.  That gave us 4 full days to accomplish everything.  Things of note this year:

• 70 people
• 4 trailers with construction tools and supplies
• Built 4 houses and put the roof on another home.
• Supplied food and supplies to 60 single mother households.
• Distributed donated clothing and shoes to the needy.
• Distributed first-aid kits
• Equipped multiple perspective missionaries with:
  • scriptures
  • dress suits
  • white shirts
  • ties
• Provided 8 sewing machines to wards of La Gloria stake.

There were many miraculous events during the week that can hopefully be shared in future blogs.I want to thank everyone contributed to this endeavor.  You made it possible to really make a difference in the lives of many people!

Can you get too much pig?  Well the mighty pig is everywhere in Memphis.

Grocery stores are named after it.

In Utah you may have a problem finding pork rind, but not in Memphis.  They almost take their own isle at the local Pigglywiggly.  So many different styles and flavors.

The Memphis police use the pig as a mascot.  Even pig radio station.

I know this… I like pig too.