Say What?: 3 Slogans That Have Got To Go

I'm so glad that the election is almost over.  Here are three slogans that have really bugged me and I'm hoping we can leave them behind now that the election is almost over!

3. "Every Day Is Game Day"

Every Day is Gameday

Okay, this isn't a political slogan, but I've hated it all year long.  I really have no idea what it means and whatever it was supposed to mean, it means a lot less in light of the fact that we have lost 3 games so far by a total of 7 points.

Any athlete will tell you that you want to target your preparation so that you "peak" on game day.  Triathletes, for example, will "taper" their training so that they are geared to perform their best on "Game Day."  I suspect that our football might have played better if it had saved its best performance for Game Day.  

Maybe this is supposed to mean that you are supposed to try your best every day.  Great!  I agree with that, but that's a different slogan.  

We've had some bad marketing campaigns in BYU's sports history.  Does anyone remember how the basketball team claimed it was "Big Time Basketball" one year with a giant clock on the poster?  Seriously!  And I think I even got my picture on that poster and I didn't even bother to keep copy!

Maybe I'm just mad that the Marriott Center "police" confiscated my "COUGS KICK AZtecs" sign during one game because some of the tired old alumni were offended by it.  I was told that I could pick up my sign after the game.  I left that sign with the Campus Police.  I was sure that if I had picked it up, I would have had an unscheduled interview with the Honor Code Office!

Let's hope that the slogan for next year is better.  Too bad we can't re-use "Band of Brothers!"

2.  "Speak Truth to Power"

A famous truth teller

I don't know why, but I will forever link this quote with Hillary Clinton.  I saw it the other night in a movie that I was watching ("Fair Game"  It's an awful movie, don't bother watching it!).

Again, I'm not sure what this quote means exactly.  Shouldn't we always speak the truth?  I get the feeling that politicians use this when they want to speak half truths because otherwise why would they be congratulating themselves for speaking the truth?

Also, is Hillary Clinton honestly trying to tell us that she is willing to speak truth to power?  Last I checked, she was pretty powerful.  I wouldn't say that the Clinton family is kinda like the average family next door.

1. "We've Got More Work To Do/We've Come Too Far To Turn Back Now"

Obama on the Stump

I'm not sure why this bothers me so much, but I feel like I've heard this slogan a lot on the news over the past few days.  Every time I hear the President say it, this is what I think: "No Mr. President, you don't.  I think you've done enough already."

I'm still not sure how far "we've come."  And if we've gone anywhere, I'm not so sure that it's in the right direction, at least as far as the economy is concerned.

Sometimes, when you're in a hole, it's a good idea to stop digging.  Let's not keep digging.  Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow.

More Power

Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor was always looking for "More Power"

I've had a chance to spend a lot of time with the boys the past couple of weekends.  R. has been trying to finish the requirements for his Cub Scouts Arrow of Light Badge.  One of the last badges he has to earn is the Handyman badge.  Here's a bit of a photo dump of what we've been up to:

The boys helped my dad fix a chainsaw.  Tim Taylor would have been proud!

Grandma helped them make some homemade pizzas afterward

Then R. got to wash a car.  I think he had fun...

Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us come visit and get so much stuff done!

More Kung Fu!

Then last Saturday, I got the "easy job" of taking R. to a Tae Kwan Do practice (not a tournament, a practice mind you!) up in Los Angeles.  It took all day.  Much longer than I had been told

It was excruciating.  There was no where to sit.  I couldn't even see R.  We were there for hours...I think I forfeited any claim to "Dad of the Year" accolades when I finally retreated to the car to take a nap!  Anyway, here are the pics to prove that I was there:

R. stands at attention

Class picture...nearly 3 hours later!

R. with his swag...

I felt a little guilty about being so bored when the special Grand Master (Nth Degree Black Belt visiting from Korea) gave out a special award to his favorite/best student--and R. got the prize!  Plus the prize was really cool, it was a samurai-style knife in that wooden box.  Even I was impressed.  Good job R.!  We are proud of your hard work!

Some serious Kung Fu swag!

After class was over, we had to hit up Tito's--my family's favorite taco/burrito joint in Los Angeles.

R.'s first trip to Tito's

Sadly, I don't think that R. was as excited about Tito's as I was.  That's okay...he's still young and can still learn!

For Love of Country: Seven Thoughts on the Election

Vote for "Love of Country"

I just voted by filling out my absentee ballot for this year's election.  Here are seven things that I thought about as I voted this year:

1. Candidates that don't bother to fill out a candidate statement shouldn't bother to expect my vote.  Honestly, how am I supposed to know who you are or what you stand for if you don't bother to tell me yourself.  This mostly applies to the local elections where I have no idea what the holder of the office is supposed to do (i.e. water district candidates or board members for the local community college district--why are there at least 7 of them?  Do we really need that many when I don't have any idea what the job does?).


2. I'm overloaded with the deluge of commercials about California's various propositions.  What I really want is a gladiator-style debate where I can play each side's commercials to the other side and ask them if the claims are really true.  Barring that, I'd love to put them under oath and subject them to a little cross-examination about their claims.  Seems like I could save everybody a whole lot of money.


3. I actually try to read the language of some of these ballot proposals.  It's exhausting.  Clearly the whole "plain English" movement sweeping the legal profession has not reached whoever is writing these propositions.  Maybe they want us to be confused.  In the absence of such clarity, I often look to see what organizations support or oppose the initiative.  Many times, I will vote against the organization supporting the ballot measure.



Would you support Prop 32?

4. I'm sick of career politicians who skip from one office to another and make a living by eating out of the public trough.  I almost voted for one such politician who was drummed out of office under the cloud of scandal and is now shamelessly running for another office.  They should have put an asterisk next to his name in my ballot!  Thank you Google for allowing me to confirm my suspicions.


5. Who are these people that run for office?  Our political system seems so dysfunctional, I can't imagine who would volunteer for the abuse that comes with running for office.  I worry that this limits the pool of decent men and women who would be candidates and it scares me a little.


6. Everyone talks about encouraging people to get out there and vote.  Sometimes that bothers me when I see people that have taken no steps to educate themselves on the issues and who clearly have no idea what is going on.  Why should their vote cancel out mine?  Shouldn't we encourage people to get educated first and then vote?  Is that so un-American?


7. I'm really sick of all the polls in the Presidential race.  I can't make heads or tails of them.  I have a strong suspicion that someone is lying (whether the pollsters or the polls or the news media).  Does anyone really believe that this race should be as close as every poll seems to claim that it is?

This just looks like gibberish to me!

I'm In!

Florida.  2013.  See you there!

It's official.  I'm in.  Registration for this race sold out in 15 minutes last year, but I made it.  I felt like I was camping out for tickets to a NKOTB reunion!  (Not that I'd ever go to one of those concerts, but I know people at least one person that would...)  Registration is still open.  If you're going to do it too, you'd better hurry!

Don't ask how much it cost.  I'm sure it will all be worth it!

The In Crowd

L-->R: Chy Johnson and Carson Jones

 I admit it. I'm a sucker for feel good stories, especially those that involve sports.  Did you see this one?

Chy Jones is a sophomore in Queen Creek, Arizona.  She has a brain disorder that affects her development and she basically has the mental development of a third grader.  She was being bullied at school.  Mean girls threw trash at her.  Her mom didn't know what to do, but watched helplessly as her cheerful, sunny-dispositioned daughter grew to dread going to school every day.

In desperation, Chy's mom reached out to a kid in her Mormon ward congregation who also went to school with Chy--Carson Jones--the senior starting quarterback for the football team.  Chy's mom asked Carson Jones if he could find out who was doing the bullying--so that Chy's mom could do something--anything.

Instead, Carson Jones found Chy at school and asked Chy to sit at his table during lunch and eat with him and his teammates.  Chy has eaten with the team every day since.  Miraculously, the bullying stopped.  Chy calls the football team "My Boys" because she knows that they look out for her and care about her.

This is the type of story that illustrates all that is good about our kids, high school sports, and our humanity.  Oh, by the way, Carson Jones is planning on serving a mission next year, has a 4.0+ GPA, and has the football team undefeated on the season!

The story has gone national.  Please read Rick Reilly's outstanding article here...

Here is a DesNews article as well:

Florida, On My Mind...

Swim Start for the Ironman Florida

This is what's been on my mind today...Panama City, Florida and the 2013 Ironman Florida race.

I've been eyeing this race ever since last May when I did the Iron Man St. George.  Unfortunately, the Ironman Florida is one of only a couple of Ironman races held on Saturday.  That limits your options when you have a goal to compete in an Ironman, but don't want to race on Sunday.

This race is so popular that it sells out in a matter of minutes.  The 2012 race sold out in about 20 minutes, which means that I will be waiting to log in the minute that online registration becomes available this weekend.

That should give me a full year to prepare for the race.  I'm sure I'll use every second of that time wait until the last possible moment to start preparing.

I'm just looking forward to warm skies, white sand beaches, no hurricane conditions for the swim, and a chance to hear the announcer tell me that I am [finally] an Ironman.  :-)

See you in 2013!

No Dumpster Diving!: Lessons From Hurricane Sandy

I saw this headline today on the Drudge Report.  I've been thinking a lot lately about Hurricane Sandy--despite all of the Halloween craziness going on.  Usually these storms are overhyped and are a bit of a letdown, but I think it's fair to say that with an estimated $20 billion in damages and more than 50 dead, Hurricane Sandy was the "real deal."

I think that we sometimes think that natural disasters only happen to people in places like Haiti, Chile, or Southeast Asia.

Hurricane Sandy showed just how wrong I was.  All of us need to be prepared.  Hurricane Sandy was just a reminder, but not even one that I really needed.  When we lived in D.C., we had a bad storm that took out power to the the water treatment plant.  Although we had water out of the tap, it wasn't safe to drink for a few days.  Boy was I glad that we were prepared with drinking water in our emergency storage.

I bet that if those New Yorkers had been a little more prepared, they would not have been Dumpster Diving for food!  So here are five simple things that you can do to be prepared for a natural disaster or any other problem:

#1 - Water is Life

Costco sells water bottles with a spigot on them

You may not even need a storm to take out your supply of fresh water.  I had a pipe break almost exactly a year ago that took out our water supply one weekend.  It was a nightmare.  No showers.  No flushing toilets.  Fortunately, we had some stored water like the one above that we could set on the bathroom sink and use to wash our hands.  We also had kind neighbors who allowed us to fill up buckets to keep the toilets sanitary.  I have since learned that you can actually hook up a hose to your neighbors house to keep the water running (make sure to close the valve bringing water from the street into your house first), so that is something I will do next time.

Government sources (hold your sarcasm) suggest having a gallon of water per person per day for drinking and other purposes.  You should probably plan on 3 days worth per person at a minimum.  A week's worth would be better.  Plan accordingly.

#2 - Eat to Live
We live in so much abundance that one of the major issues facing our country is childhood obesity.  Some countries would kill for that problem.  But in an emergency, food could be much more scarce.  Just see the headline above.

Make sure to have some food available.  It should be food that: (a) you are used to eating; (b) you like to eat; and (c) doesn't require much preparation since you may not have electricity or heat to cook it with.  It's best to rotate stuff through your food storage so that it's always fresh.

Typical Food Storage

Sure canned wheat is great, but in an emergency, do you really think you're going to pull out your electric grinder and start making flour?  If so, you're a better person than I am and that's awesome until the power goes out.  Then you've got a bunch of wheat kernels to chew on.  Yum!

Instead, think of simple things that keep well, store well, and will get eaten.  (Ramen noodles?  Pre-packaged meals that just need hot water to be ready...)  Also feel free to include a Costco box of Oreos as part of your food storage planning as well.  Just because there's an emergency doesn't mean you have to skip dessert!  (And there's no reason you can't have some comfort food!)

#3 - Light Up the Night

Flashlights don't need to be big!

We take the power for granted, but without it we are in deep trouble.  I served a Church mission in the Dominican Republic and I don't remember a single day of my two years there where the power didn't go off at least once during the day.  Often times for several hours at a time.  As missionaries, we learned to carry flashlights with us and we taught many lessons by flashlight.

I remember the culture shock of coming home from the airport--my first time in the United States in two years--and seeing all the lights on at night and wondering how often the power goes out.  Then I tried to wrap my head around the fact that, for the most part, the power really doesn't ever go out in this country!  We take it for granted that when we walk into a dark room and flick that switch, the power is coming on!

But in an emergency, we can't take that for granted.  Make sure that you have a flashlight ready, spare batteries, and that you know where they are.  Also, put a mini flashlight in your car as well (and in your spouse's car!).

Flashlights are much better than candles.  If there is a gas leak, you are not going to want any open flames around!

#4 - Turn it Off!

Your Gas Meter

Every house has a master control to turn off the gas, the electricity, and the water.  Usually they are in the garage or on the outside of the house near the garage.  Know where those are and how to use them.  When my pipe broke and my house flooded, I was really glad I knew how to turn off the water at the water meter to stop the flooding.

If your gas pipes break, that can cause a major fire.  In Hurricane Sandy, there was a neighborhood on Long Island that had over 110 homes burn.  Probably because a gas line broke and started the blaze.  You should show everyone in your house where the turn off valves are at and how to use them.


#5 - Have a Plan
The scriptures tell us that if you are prepared, you shall  not fear.  Talk to your kids about what to do and where to meet in the event of an emergency so that everybody is on the same page.  If your kids are in Cub Scouts, this is probably a requirement for one of their badges anyway.  But nothing could make a tragedy worse than losing a human life.  If you can game plan ahead of time the proper exit routes from your house and where to meet, you will at least maximize your chances of keeping everyone in your family safe.  And prevent an accident or disaster from becoming a catastrophic tragedy.

Now I just need to make sure that my kids know what the plan is!

Commuters scramble for gas...

ONE MORE THING:  Make sure that you fill up your car's gas tank before the storm--not after!  Reports out of New York and New Jersey show that many gas stations are running out of fuel and, those that have fuel, may not be able to work the pumps due to the power outages.  If you have to get out of town, you're going to have a lot better luck trying to do it on a full tank of gas!