Ramble on, my wayward son

Two ramblings for today:

1. A year and a half ago Torrie and I made the decision to leave the Boeing Company and accept a job with the FDIC.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2013713745_dreamliner19.html

http://www.kirotv.com/money/26047371/detail.html

A move, derided by some at the time, appears to have been a good one. Torrie, myself, and now Clara are very happy in Lexington. The job itself is a better fit for me and it’s much more secure, especially with the continuing problems at Boeing. We own a home. We were able to see our families multiple times this year. While we miss family and friends in Seattle, we are nothing but happy with our decision.

2. I’m grateful for the lessons on saving that my parents taught me as a child.

As a fifth-grader, I found out that my family was moving to Detroit. I didn’t know much about Detroit, except that they made lots of cars there, and that they liked hockey. So I decided that I should start to like hockey.

How did I acquaint myself with hockey? Well, I knew of two ways: first, read the newspaper. I started reading all of the box scores that they had on the back page of the Omaha World-Herald. Secondly, I had to get a hockey video game. NHL ’94 for Super Nintendo looked to be a good fit. It had all the teams, it looked pretty cool. Now, how does a fifth grader buy such a game? My parents encouraged me to save up and buy it myself.

They could have bought it for me. They could have called it a Christmas gift, or an early birthday gift, or something like that. They could have decided to buy it for me to help me gain friends after we moved. They could have given it to me because all my friends had video games. But instead, they encouraged me to save up and buy it.

So that’s what I did. I did my chores, saved up my allowance, and eventually I had enough money to buy it myself. What a great day, especially after having worked so hard to obtain it. While I enjoyed playing the game and learning a whole lot about hockey, the more important lesson of making a goal, followed by working and saving towards that goal, was much more important.

I’m grateful my parents helped me learn that lesson – one that I feel is not taught enough these days. Life does not just give you what you want, you have to earn it. That lesson shapes my life today and I will pass it down to my daughter.

Mafia.

Seeing as the url of my blog is www.loganisreallyawesome.blogspot.com, I feel the urge to tell a story about a time when I did something awesome.

One day, not long after my mission, I was in an apartment with some of my friends. It was still that awkward time when nobody really knows anybody and there are a lot of people trying to impress each other. (Count me as definitely one of them. I’m sure I was awkward and overdoing it. Hello, I was right off my mission.)

I think it was a Sunday evening, and we decided to play the game Mafia. You know all that game. Well, I was feeling a little cocky, so I turned to the girl next to me and said, “You know what, you are going to be the first one to die. I guarantee it.” She laughed, told me she was ready for the challenge, and even bet me an apple pie that it would not happen. (That was always a good move. Betting someone a prize that leads to a date. As long as she’s cute (and you wouldn’t make her a bet if you weren’t, you always win, whether or not you win or lose. Not that I would ever lose.)

So the game started. Now Mafia is a quirky game. One innocent comment by someone, someone decides that you look suspicious, and BAM you’re dead. And that’s exactly what I did. I cajoled and insinuated and did everything I could to convince everyone that she was Mafia. (I swear I heard her move! I know I did! It was her!) Well, she was chosen and then killed. I had won. I had won an apple pie. BOO-YAH.

The story does not end there. Yes, I felt pretty sure about myself, and at the conclusion of the game (I’m pretty sure the townsfolk won) we decided to play again. In my confidence I again bet my friend, but this time, I told her that I was going to win. (A bold statement. Remember earlier statement on how quirkly Mafia is, especially if someone is specifically trying to get you out.) How did this game go? Well, being Mafia, I killed my new friend in the very first round, and kept on surviving, even though she continued to talk while she was dead, trying to get people to vote for me (a blatant violation of the rules, I might add.). After the final vote was held, leaving me to win, the other players of the game cheered at my masterful Mafia skill, and I ran out of the door, with my arms raised over my head in victory.

It was awesome.

P.S. My favorite such group game is called “Silent Football.” I think it’s perhaps the funnest game ever. I’ll tell you about it some other time.

Broncos and Cougars

So Josh McDaniels was fired as coach of the Denver Broncos.


I had high hopes for the guy. Give em a chance, I said. A year ago, after beating the New England Patriots, seeing McD on the sideline after the game, firing up the fans, with the Broncos at a 6-0 record, I thought we had our guy. Jay Cutler was struggling in Chicago and Kyle Orton was doing pretty well (I still like Orton, by the way). Brandon Marshall was crazy but electric and worth it. We were 6 - 0 and the future looked bright.

Now, I don't think that you can see it as anything but an absolute failure since then. 5 - 17. Horrible run defense. Horrible run offense. Very questionable personnel decisions. Horrible draft selections. A team with no identity.

In retrospect, it looks so obvious. McD got way too much power over personnel, and he should have been paired with a General Manager who would make the personnel decisions. I'll tell you one thing. I sure am disappointed with the team right now. It's hard to be excited about Broncos football.

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BYU starts off the season next year against Ole Miss in Oxford, MS. It's Labor Day weekend, and it would be an 8 hour drive away. Should we go? Thoughts? I'm torn.

Changes!

As a child, I loved to read. Loved it. I read all the Hardy Boys books I could find. Boxcar Children. Babysitters Club. The Wizard of Oz books (There's like 50 of them! I betcha didn't know that.) Star Wars. (I was just Oh, by the way, I was just kidding about the Babysitters Club.)

Every once in awhile, my Grandma, who was also a reader, would send me a suggestion of a book to read. I remember one time in particular, she send me the name of an author that she thought I would like: David Eddings.

Yet I would not read it.

I could not get myself to start this new book.

See, it turns out that I like new adventures...but within familiarity. I loved reading a new Hardy Boys book because, although the mystery was new and the bad guy was probably new and there were new clues...it still had Frank and Joe Hardy and their beat-up jalopy. Every Star Wars book I would pick up would have Luke Skywalker in it. He'd be facing a new situation, new danger, but I knew what the Force was and I knew about lightsabers and spaceships and things like that.

This explains why I still play Madden 2002 periodically. Same players. Same feel of the game. (The other reason would be that I don't play it enough to justify spending extra money.)

Now, eventually I broke down and read the book. Did I like it? Yeah! My grandma knew what types of books I liked. I think that particular book I read led to 12 more in the same series with the same characters that I devoured. Again, I loved the new adventure...once I found a familiar area that I liked.

So what does this say about me? Well, when faced with a new situation, I try to make a concerted effort to make it my new comfort zone.

New responsibility at work? I immerse myself in the position until I feel like I'm comfortable. Nervous to talk to new people? I talk to tons of people until I feel comfortable. Learning a new language? Speak Italian and only Italian all the time until I feel comfortable.

So basically - I don't like change, so I try to encounter change all the time until change becomes normal.

P.S. I am very disappointed that the U.S. did not win the World Cup bid for 2022. Does Qatar even have a soccer team? That means I'm going to be like at least 42 before I go to a World Cup game. Wow.

“We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly” – Articles of Faith 1:8

One Sunday a couple of weeks ago, I sat at home with baby Clara while Torrie attended Sacrament Meeting. I turned on the TV to see what shows are on Sunday around noon and found some preacher preaching. “Well, I need some religion in my life,” I thought, so I stayed for awhile. He was talking about humility and how we should follow the example of Christ. “That’s a good message”, I thought, as be began reading a scripture from the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible. Philippians 2:5-7:

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

7 but made himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

Something just didn’t seem right with that scripture. So I opened my version of the Bible (King James Version, or KJV) and read the same verses:

5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  

6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  

7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Do you see the difference? In the KJV, Christ thinks it not robbery to be equal with God. In the NIV, Christ does not consider equality with God something to be grasped. The two are practically opposites!

I've thought a lot about this over the past couple of weeks. I think this is a perfect example of how the LDS church and doctrine differs from other Christian churches:

The message in the NIV is not horrible – it emphasizes Christ’s humility and uses Him as an example for all of us. That’s a good lesson. If everyone in the world was humble like Christ, the world would be a better place.

However, the NIV limits the extent of the teaching. It teaches a damming(sp?) (as in limiting, like how a dam stops a river from flowing) doctrine, that we cannot become like our Heavenly Father. The KJV teaches us that Christ, having been made in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. And since all of us are made in the image of God, it’s not a huge leap – I would even say it’s logical – that we can become like God.

There’s a difference – an important one - in doctrine there. Also, it’s not that both can be true, since they contradict one another. Again the NIV version does not teach horrible things – following the example of Christ is a wonderful teaching - it’s just that the LDS church doctrine goes deeper and adds more truth and light.

I can understand how good people could be confused by a translation difference like this. How do you know which version to believe? I’m grateful that the Lord has given us, like He promised, more than just one witness (2 Cor 13:1) to establish His word. We have the Book of Mormon, we have the testimonies of modern prophets, and we have the right to ask God personally (James 1:5), and He will answer. I am sure of this.

Clara Blog.

Torrie and I have created a special blog for all of our Clara-related posts. Our plan is for that blog to be our principal means of sharing pictures and videos of Clara with our family and friends.

If you are interested in following along our journey with Clara, please send me an email (logan dot schultz at gmail dot com, if you don't have it), and I'll send you an invitation.

I will continue to post on this blog with the frequency and subject matter that I have heretofore done.

Seating Rules

A lot of my work time is spent around a large table with my coworkers. I have spent a year examining the social customs, and I have come up with some conclusions. The following are rules to live by if you are working on a bank exam:

1. No matter how big the table is, you could always use more room.

If I’m at a crowded table with not much room, I can get by. I can put papers on my lap, make sure to always close my computer, things like that. But if I have space…there is always something else I could spread out. There is a corollary to this rule:  

1a. If you have the chance to get some space, you have to take it.

Even if you don't need it. Because if you don't, someone else will take it, and you will be uncomfortable for no reason at all. That leads to the second rule....

2. No matter how many people there are, you will always fill up the entire table.

Just like a gas will always spread out to fill the container.

3. It is VERY frowned upon to sit closer to someone than needed.

One time I sat right next to my trainer. I was going to need to show her my work often, so it made sense to me that I sat near her.

We ended up leaving some open space at the end of the table.

Well, I consistently got weird looks and comments from the rest of my co-workers and even the bank employees. Why is there an open space at the end of the table? Why aren’t you sitting over there? What’s wrong with that side of the table? Holy Cow! I was just trying to make work easier! Plus, there was another guy who I knew would be on the exam later that week who I didn't want to sit next to. That leads to the fourth and final rule:

4. You cannot think of future seating requirements in advance.

The first day of an exam is probably the most important. You have to get there on-time/early, because you have to get a good seat.

In addition, as people grab seats, you cannot let the fact that other people are coming affect your decision at all. If there are five seats on the side of a table, and two people are finding seats, they will seat in chairs two and four. Like so:

X     O     X     O     X

X is empty chair, O is filled chair.

Now, both people know that there is a third person that is going to need to sit down. But is that mentioned? NO. It is not allowed. No, instead you have to wait for that awkward moment where the late-comer has to decide which chair he is going to sit in. Even if it makes perfect sense to spread out and anticipate where the third person is going to sit…it is forbidden. You cannot make any plans.

There are fun sorts of social customs like this at every job (or class, sporting event, etc.). A previous blog entry where I made a recycling joke at a staff meeting comes to mind.

So I just found out that JetBlue had an “All You Can Jet” promotion. Unlimited travel for a month for $499, $699 if you want to travel Fridays and Sundays.

Unfortunately, it ended October 6, and today is October 21. Although I had a baby during that month and so it wouldn’t have worked out anyway.

But isn’t that awesome? What a great idea. Travel every weekend – go see different members family for a quick weekend, take a week off and head down to Barbados or somewhere else that JetBlue flies…very quickly this turns into a great idea and well worth the money.

I’m on the lookout now, however, for next year. Unfortunately, JetBlue does not currently fly to Lexington. Or Cincinnati. Or Louisville. Hmm.

What's my Motivation?

I’ve often wondered at the purpose of my blog. Why do I write anything on here? Who is my audience? What should I write about?

Let’s take the birth of my daughter. How much do I want to write about it? Is my blog a journal so that anyone can know about all of the minute details of one of the most important things in my life? Do I make my blog private so that only people I know can read those details? Do I just tell little stories about her to make people laugh?

(I don’t think I want to expose my daughter to the unfettered internet. If I were to do it right now, I’ll probably be making a password-protected blog for people to read about Clara’s progress and maybe see some pictures or video. I think that will be the best way to let friends/family be a part of her life…yet give some privacy. I think I’ll feel a little safer that way.)

Not that I have any real blog-funny stories about Clara. Oh she’s funny, don’t get me wrong. She is MY daughter, after all. It’s just not the type of humor that someone reading a blog would enjoy.

I do have a lot of thoughts about other topics normally associated with blogs. Politics, for example. But am I going to throw out my thoughts on taxation, alternative energy, and foreign policy onto the internet?

Answer: Maybe every once in awhile. I don’t expect a lot of commentary (not that I do on any of my blog entries) but I think that it’s good practice for me to articulate my positions every once in awhile.

Elder Ballard has counseled members of the Church to use social media to talk about our testimonies of the Restored Gospel. Is that something that I feel comfortable talking about? Do I want to use my blog as an outlet for sharing my testimony?

Answer: I probably will, occasionally. I don’t think it will be incredibly overt: “Logan’s Testimony on Tithing and Why You Should Pay it Too” but more like when I talked about how I needed to come up with a new scripture marking system a couple months back. I can talk about the gospel and how it affects my life without being in-your-face about it.

I’ve often talked about sports in the past. I don’t have a lot of outlets to discuss the sports teams that I care about. But does my blog audience care? Do I care if they care?

Answer: I’ll talk about sports occasionally.

To summarize, my blog writing will continue to muddle along. There will be no definitive objective to my blog. I will just keep on stumbling, writing about random things whenever I feel the need to write.

Thank you for your continued patience, my friends.

A Non-Vampire Blood Post

Today there was a blood drive in the office park where I work.

I have been meaning to donate blood for awhile. My blood type is O negative, which anyone can receive. (I'm such a giver.) Once my name gets on that blood donation list, not a couple weeks will go by without a phone call reminding me that they would like my blood. However, I have spent the last year, since moving to Kentucky, not donating blood. I just didn't do it. However, I finally decided that, since I could do it on work time, I would go ahead and donate the blood.

So I went down with a co-worker of mine to the bus they had brought and parked in the middle of our office park. That's right, a blood bus. In the back they had little booths (kinda like catholic confessional booths) where you'd do the interviews and they'd poke your finger, and then towards the front they had the beds on either side of the bus so you could donate using either arm. A rather innovative idea, the blood bus. I'm a big fan.

My favorite part of the blood donation interview is when they find out I have been outside of the United States and Canada in the past three years. "Well, where have you been?" "Where haven't I been!" I respond, and then start to name all the different countries where Torrie and I went backpacking just over two years ago. This year I got to name the countries that we cruised to, after which I got some bad news:

"I'm really sorry sir, I want to take your blood, but unfortunately, Honduras is a malaria risk zone. You cannot donate blood for one year."

Sad! My dream of a kentucky blood donor shirt, dashed to pieces! I had so been looking forward to those cookies, and I could have said that I donated blood in a blood bus!

A half hour later, I received the worst news of not being able to donate blood.
Turns out, you can get half a day of leave time for giving blood. You know, to make sure that you have fully recovered. Since I don't have a lot going on today, I could have been out of here after lunch time.

Man! And now I have to wait until at least next June until I can take advantage of that. Dumb Honduras. Dumb Malaria. I remember marvelling, while I was in Honduras, at the lack of mosquitoes on the island where we were.

Oh well. At least I had time (and material) to write in my blog today :)

Independence Day

Being a BYU alumnus with a blog, I feel that I should comment on BYU's declaration of independence from the Mountain West in football.


I love it!!!!

I, living in Kentucky (or anywhere east of the Rockies, for that matter), will finally be able to watch BYU on TV. Every game. Beginning next season, every BYU home football game will be shown to a national audience on an ESPN network or BYUtv. How great is that??

Oh and it's not just football, either. They'll be a lot of basketball games on TV as well.


It's not just me being able to watch BYU on TV, however. It's recruits. I don't see how this move could hurt BYU's recruiting abilities. Come join our team, you will be on TV all the time. If I was a recruit from Michigan, that would have been hard for me - there's no way my family would have been able to watch me play. No longer.


Does not being in a conference limit our bowl opportunities?

Well, first, I am sick and tired of the Las Vegas Bowl. Does going independent kill our chances at making it 10 Las Vegas Bowl appearances in a row? Yes. Boo-hoo.

I guess I'm not as concerned about it being harder to get a BCS appearance because I didn't think the MWC would ever be an automatic BCS conference.

If BYU is ever actually good enough to get a BCS bowl apperance...well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. I don't think we've been good enough yet.

It's going to be difficult - the bar is raised, and BYU will have to work hard to get a good schedule and be competitive, year-in and year-out. Notre Dame hasn't been so good in that department lately.

However, kudos to BYU for not sitting around and moping (like I sort of wanted to do) when Utah got invited to the PAC 10. (By the way, I'm happy for Utah. Good for them, I hope they do well. I may start to cheer for them if they're not playing us. Maybe.) BYU went out, used their competitive advantage, and took a step forward. It's a bold step, and I don't just like it - I love it. Except now I may have a reason to pay the extra money and get cable.

Painting.

I know that nobody likes to watch paint dry, but paint drying really does change things and therefore it should happen periodically.

Take our guest bathroom, for instance. We decided on a grayish hue. “Silver Spoon”, was what the official name was. Of course once we paint it, (We means Torrie, in this instance. She did the project while I was at work one day. Fabulous woman.) it’s definitely purple.

I was understandably nervous, then, when we undertook the project of painting our great room. Since we moved in it has always been white, and we were definitely ready for some color in our lives. We settled on a color called “Shoreline Haze”, which we thought was a tan, but I was worried that after painting the entire wall it was going to end up be neon pink.

Cute picture of Pregnant Torrie painting

Well, eight hours later, we had the majority of the room finished. At first I thought there was a greenish hue in a certain light, but I don’t really notice that anymore. However, I do notice our crown molding and how well the color matches the hardwood floors and the kitchen.

We tackled the few remaining spots, the hall, and the baby’s room a couple weekends ago. We’ll probably end up painting the guest room the same color as well. (Five gallons of paint sure goes a long way.)

My job was to paint the parts of the wall that people don't really see.

Project: Successful!

Big difference.

Next up: Decorating those walls with tasteful art and photography.

Electoral College

Lawmakers in Massachusetts recently passed a law intended to get around the Electoral College system and ensure that the winner of the presidential election is determined by the national popular vote.

There are a few states with such laws – Illinois, New Jersey, Hawaii, Maryland, and Washington. If enough states passed such laws, whoever wins the popular vote would win the presidency.

Okay first off…..isn’t that unconstitutional? Presidential selection is determined by the Constitution. If people want to change the process, don’t you need to amend the Constitution?

Secondly – one of the main arguments in favor of the law is that the current system is confusing and causes presidential candidates to focus just on a handful of battleground states. Entire portions of the country are ignored because they are too democratic or republican to waste a candidate’s time.

While that may be somewhat true (but not all the way true), changing the process to having the president picked by a popular vote, however, wouldn’t end any disparities. Instead, candidates would only focus on areas where there are lots of people. There’s no way a candidate would devote any attention to a place like Lexington, Kentucky when he/she could go to more populated cities. Smaller towns and rural areas would be shut out of the political process even more.

On a somewhat related note - often read articles in major newspapers (major meaning…from a big city, like New York or Los Angeles) how crazy and wrong it is that a senator from Montana, who represents 30K people, has just as much power as a senator from California who represents 30MM people. Well…that’s the compromise the framers of the Constitution had to make, otherwise people from Montana would matter even less then they already do.

I had a number of possible blog entries that just didn’t make it out into the web. I wanted to discuss BYU’s exclusion from the PAC-10 (Gotta love the hypocrisy of the liberal university presidents.) I had a number of thoughts on the World Cup, from the pre-tournament buzz, to America’s sneaking through the group stage, to how I think the U.S. soccer team has a unique chance to stake it’s claim on the American sports scene (how many sports/teams out there can really unify the country and make us all proud to be American?)

However, they didn’t make it on the blog. I didn’t have time to write, and so they disappeared into the fog of failed blog entries.

However, this topic made it.
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It’s happened again. My old addiction is back.

To my credit, it took longer this time. Normally, it’s after 9 months or so. It’s been two years this time. I think that’s some improvement. Maybe I’m growing up.

But deep inside me, the longings return. Pictures give visual reminders of experiences past and invoke the sounds and smells that have moved to just under the surface of my subconscious. Conversations open up the floodgates and memories crash through. The desire to relive past visitations and feel the dream-like emotion of “Wow, am I really here doing this right now?”

A bucketload of frequent flyer miles and free hotel stays makes it too both way too easy and inexpensive.

I want to go back to Europe. Now.

On the other hand, I do have this baby girl on the way that’s pretty important and might complicate things….

For my recent birthday, Torrie give me a new set of scriptures.

The scriptures are a dark green color that has recently been discontinued. Luckily Rachel was able to snag one of the few remaining copies at the Distribution Center for us. Thanks, Rachel! I really like the color. I love the new book smell.

However, I have a lot of mixed emotions with starting a new set of scriptures, since I have used the previous ones since I turned 16. There's a lot of memories, notes, and sacred experiences in there. They were worn, wrinkled, folded, and colorful. The new scriptures feel cold, bare, black and white.

However, I am changing as well. The biggest change - on her way in early October - is pushing a change in my scripture study.

Seminary Study:
I had one of those two-colored pencils. You know, red on one side, blue on the other? Although the lack of a "safe" end of the pencil did result in more errant red/blue marks, it was rather handy on making scripture mastery scriptures stand out.
I was studying to understand the scriptures and gain a testimony of the power of scriptures.

Missionary:
As I entered the MTC, my scriptures began to get more colorful. The combination of having to delve into the scriptures like I never had before and the state of mind that comes up with being in the same room for hours at a time resulted in a rainbow of verses that approximately lined up with the six missionary discussions that were being used at the time.

As a result, my old scriptures are covered with a plethora of potentially confusing color combinations:
Red - Scriptures I liked and decided to mark while I was in high school.
Blue - Scripture mastery scriptures.
Light blue - Basic doctrines of the gospel: Nature of God, Prayer, Holy Ghost, Prophets
Green - The Gospel of Jesus Christ: The atonement, faith, repentance, baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, enduring to the end.
Purple - The Restoration of the Gospel - Priesthood Authority
Brown - The Plan of Salvation - Pre-earth life, purpose of this life,
Orange - Sacrifice, Tithing, Word of Wisdom
Yellow - Second Coming, Everything else

During the mission I noticed a change in my scripture study. I was no longer studying for myself, I was studying for the people that I was teaching. My set of Italian scriptures became a personal teaching treasure trove, with multiple colored tabs in strategically locations across the side in order to teach with precision and help give the Spirit a better chance to have an effect on the people I was teaching.

So I think that with the upcoming addition of a baby girl to our family, my next scripture study coloring system is going to focus on my main role as a husband and father, with secondary foci being my responsibilities as a home teacher, member missionary, and whatever callings I may have at church.

Any ideas? I'm wondering about maybe coloring by situation - how to recieve answers to prayers, how to repent, encouraging passages, etc. I may have a special color for rhetorical questions that the scriptures ask. Maybe something for my own personal responsibilities? I'd appreciate any feedback that anyone has out there. One thing is for sure - there's no one right answer to how one should mark scriptures, otherwise they would come that way.

Full disclosure: This is a soapbox post.

So last Tuesday Rand Paul became the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. If you follow the news, you may have heard the media finally catch on to some of the politically uncorrect things that has said. One of the things that the left-wing media finally caught onto was his unhappiness with one provision the Civil Rights Act.

I know, I know. Civil Rights Act. You can’t be against civil rights!

Here’s a link to a transcript of the conversation he had on the Rachel Maddow show: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-now/2010/05/rand_paul_telling_the_truth.html

Basically he disagrees with the law in that it tells a private business owner how to run his/her business. He’s okay with the public aspects of the law: desegregating public schools, voting, public water fountains, etc. However, he disagrees with the part of the law that says you as a business owner can’t decide who you are willing to sell to.

I personally believe it’s morally wrong to not allow someone to eat at the lunch counter just because of the color of your skin. But if you own that lunch counter, shouldn’t that be your choice? While I personally wouldn’t make that choice, shouldn’t someone be able to? If you want to lose out on that source of revenue, shouldn’t that be your choice?

That’s what Mr. Paul thinks, anyway. It comes back to the reason why he’s running for Senate – he believes there’s too much government interaction in the lives of citizens. While in this instance I don’t agree with him, I think it’s a good point that should be debated.

Let me bring up another point to shed some light on my frame of reference. Here’s a quote from a former state supreme court justice, Dallin H. Oaks.:“Law has at least two roles: one is to define and regulate the limits of acceptable behavior. The other is to teach principles for individuals to make individual choices. “

And you know what – I believe he’s right. There’s incredible teaching power in the law. If something is against the law, which usually means it’s bad. I picture five little elementary school kids about to do something wrong and one of them whispering, “We shouldn’t do this. It’s illegal.” So in that case, a provision saying that you can’t discriminate based on race at your business makes total sense. I think we can agree that a lot of good "teaching moments" have come from this particular provision of the Civil Rights Act. (I know that race relations still have a long ways to go in our country....on all sides.)

Back to my original point. I don’t believe Rand Paul is against civil rights. I’ve already seen many news articles that just say he’s against civil rights and don’t go any further. Let’s not dismiss him outright for his lack of political correctness – I’ll admit, I find it rather refreshing – and instead have a real discussion on what his platform is. Let me put it a different way - If Rand Paul is made the next senator from Kentucky he’s not going to call for a return to separate ice rinks, swimming pools, lunch counters, etc. However, he is going to attempt to reduce the size and reach of the federal government. Is that a good thing? Would that be good for the citizens of Kentucky and the nation? That’s what we should be talking about.

If we as a country are willing to listen only to headlines and not explore important issues to any depth, we’re not going to get anywhere.

Off my soapbox. Thanks.

Chess.

I think I have a lot of the skills necessary in order to be good at Chess. I’m fairly smart, especially at analyzing things. That’s what I do for my job, and I think I'm good enough at it. Maybe not the best in the world, but I'm okay.

However, I’m really bad at Chess. The only people I can ever beat are my siblings, and that was like five years ago. (I’m talking to you, Connor.) Basically – if you’re good enough to want to accept my offer to play chess with you, you will beat me.

The other day Torrie had a meeting in our house, so I was banished to the bedroom. After reading for awhile, I decided to play some chess. I turned on the computer and promptly lost to a Level 3 computer opponent.

So what’s my deal? There are two major obstacles to my professional chess career.

1. Lack of Patience

Chess isn’t the most exciting sport. In fact, it’s kinda boring. Have you ever watched two other people play an actual chess game? The answer is yes, probably one – the epic battle between Screech and in an episode of Saved by the Bell. Eventually, at some point in the game, I’ll hit a point where I’ll have the following conversation in my head:

That looks like a good move. But wait, I should plan out my next move after that. What if it’s really a bad move and he could kill me? Hmm…well, that piece over there couldn’t kill me…neither could that one…well, I’ll just move it. I can always just click undo if it was a bad one.

And you know what? It usually ends up being a bad move. His Queen will take my Rook and I’ll have to click the Undo button. It’s a dumb mistake. If I took longer and thought it out more, I could easily catch those silly moves. But I don’t, so I don’t. A lack of patience dooms my chess abilities.

Another part of patience: Good chess involves looking ahead two or three moves. You need to have a long-term strategy to win any game. I don’t even know what a long-term strategy would be in chess! I end up being all react, react, react. Oh sometimes I’ll see an opportunity to tag team between two pieces and take out one of the opponent’s pieces, but it’s pretty much seat of the pants, oh that looks like a good move, I’ll try that. Not a good recipe for success. What I need to do is slow down. Maybe read some books on chess strategies. Practice. But let’s be honest – that’s probably not going to happen.

2. I feel bad

Here’s the other thing about chess. It’s hard to see that there’s any luck involved. There’s no rolling of dice. There’s no card that comes up. It’s all intelligence. If Torrie beats me at Parcheesi (which she does frequently) then I can console myself with the reasoning that, although I may have had a better strategy, it was just the luck of the dice. My epic game of Yahtzee, mentioned in the previous post? Luck. Skill is not involved with rolling four yahtzees. Even a large strategy game like Risk is somewhat dependent on the roll of the dice. While strategy might lead you to win a majority of your games, if you keep rolling the dice and landing on Boardwalk with a hotel on it, you will lose.

Not so with Chess. If you beat the other person, you are smarter than them. That’s just the way it works. That definitely raises the stakes of the game. Either I can’t handle the pressure, or I feel bad for the person that I may beat, so I don’t play to my full potential. I’m going to opt for the latter. (I know this argument really doesn’t count if I’m playing against the computer.)

So now that everyone knows my weaknesses…anyone want to play some chess?

Torrie and Yahtzee

A couple examples of why my wife, Torrie, is so great:

We were playing Yahtzee last Sunday evening with some good friends in our ward. Real Yahtzee, with five real dice. It was actually quite fun. Early into the game, I rolled - on my first roll - a full house. I was about to write down a quick 25 points for myself, when Torrie nudged me.

"Go for the Yahtzee! Why not?"

Why not? So I did. Two rolls later, five "3"'s were staring up at me. YAHTZEE!!!

I had a Yahtzee on either my first roll of the game. I was feeling pretty good about getting it that early.

A few turns later, however, I managed it again. YAHTZEE!!

Two Yahtzees. Who gets that many??

Another few turns later, I found myself with 4 "4"'s and one roll remaining. I shook the remaining die, then brought my hand up near Torrie. "Give me some luck, Torrie!!!" She responded by pretending to spit into my hand. At that moment, I knew that I would be getting a Yahtzee. And sure enough, I rolled another 4. YAHTZEE!!

Or how about the roll a few turns later? I had two "6"'s and one roll left. I needed one more six to make the requisite three sixes in order to get the bonus. And wouldn't you know it, I rolled 3 "6"s on my last roll. YAHTZEE!!!

Four Yahtzees in one game. Over 600 points. All thanks to Torrie, who encouraged me to go for the Yahtzee on that first roll. Thanks, Torrie!!!

La Macchina in Italia

One of the first things I noticed while living in Italy was the difference in cars. (Since I spent a lot of my time walking or using mass transit, I noticed a lot of cars.) Cars in Italy are smaller – there are practically no SUVs or trucks. They are also much boxier. And European. (I know. Duh.)

I saw nice motorcycles. In Italy, the King of the Motorcycles was the Ducati. I got to the point where I could tell from the engine sound that a Ducati was on its way, and that I should probably dive for cover. I was never interested in motorcycles before the mission, and I’m really not into them now – but for those two years in Italy….I knew the sound of a Ducati.

I saw a lot of European sports cars. BMWs and Mercedes were more than common sights. A Porsche was an everyday occurrence. My personal sentimental favorite became anything Alfa Romeo. However, there were really three nice brands that were always special to see:

Maserati – I have a special place in my heart for the Maserati. Smooth, really nice, and just classy. My view is that if you see someone driving a Maserati

Lamborghini – I saw only two of these. Wow. That’s all I have to say.

Ferrari – The best. While less rare than the Lamborghini, there is just something uniquely Italian about these cars. Two quick Ferrari stories. I was talking to my dad on Mothers’ Day 2005 outside St. Peter’s Square when I heard the unmistakable sound of a Ferrari speeding past. I said to my dad, “hey, do you hear that noise? It’s an accelerating Ferrari.” We then just went quiet and appreciated the beauty.

Second story: I was walking in the hills between Florence and Fiesole in an attempt to find a local member of the church’s house. We had just descended from the bus and were walking on the shoulder uphill to the next cross-street. I then began to hear the typical Ferrari rumble and quickly jumped off the road just in time to see the red blur of a Ferrari speed past. Of all the ways to go, I think being hit by a zooming Ferrari in the Tuscan hills while on an LDS mission would have to be a pretty cool way to die.

Let me finish this blog entry with one more quick story. I had been in Italy about a year, fully immersed in the Italian automobile world, when one day I saw the most beautiful sight: A candy apple red Chevrolet Corvette. Some rich guy in Rome had spent his money bringing an American sports car over the Atlantic to Italy. I spent twenty minutes on the 90 Express autobus on the Via Nomentana in Rome watching that beautiful testament to American ingenuity battle traffic with a crowd of perhaps ten others, all of us in amazement. What a pretty, pretty car. It was a moment I remember every time a shiny Corvette passes by, such as this afternoon on the main street of the little town in Kentucky where I currently am.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get in my boring Honda Civic and enjoy the good gas mileage as I drive home. Sigh.

Best Song Ever

I like to think that I got a lot of my music taste from my Dad. He listened to a lot of Classic Rock while I was growing up, and so it was only natural that I learned to like a lot of the music that he liked. Queen. Eagles. Jackson Browne. That sort of thing. The classics.

So I have to say I was surprised when one day, a few years ago, we were in the car together. A song came on the radio: “Smooth” by Santana featuring Rob Thomas. A perfectly respectable song, one that I enjoy quite a bit. My dad turned up the volume way out loud and we rocked out to the song. After it was over, he turned to me and said: “Logan, that is the best song. Ever.”

Now again, I need to say that I like the song. But did it deserve the title, “Best Song Ever”? What about “Bohemian Rhapsody”? What about “Stairway to Heaven”? “Hotel California”? What about “Mambo #5”? (Just kidding about the last one.)

After I mentioned my concerns with his conclusion, he simply responded: “Smooth is the best song ever. Case closed.”

After many years I finally came to terms with my dad’s choice. It’s his “Best Song Ever” and it can be whatever he wants it to be.

I went for many years without a “Best Song Ever”. How could I pick a song with such a huge variety of songs that I like?

Well, a few months ago I figured it out. A recent vacation to the Florida Keys solidified it in my mind. The Best Song Ever is “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys. No better song has ever been made. Case Closed.

Feel free to contribute with your best song ever. Just know that, deep down, it doesn’t top the smooth harmonies of the Beach Boys (or, I guess, the Muppets, depending on the version.)

BYU Basketball, Continued

Good news, friends. I have officially drunk the kool-aid, and it tastes GOOD.

I'm speaking, of course, about BYU's chances in the upcoming NCAA tournament.

I know they have lost seven straight games in this tournament. I know we haven't made it out of the first round since I was 8 years old. (Look! I've already transitioned and used the word "we" and I didn't even mean to! I'm identifying myself with the team and that is a sign of too much emotional involvement.) I know we've never been to the Final Four. (Winning the NIT in the 50's doesn't count anymore.) I know the only reason we made it to the Elite Eight was Danny Ainge, and while I like Jimmer Fredette, I don't think he's the second coming of Danny Ainge.

I love the short shorts. Pure old-school basketball right there.

But you know what, I'm saying there's a chance. We have a great matchup with Florida in the first round. They look like a team that's beatable. They look like the perfect team to get the huge seven-losses-in-a-row-in-the-postseason monkey off our back. I was initially disappointed with the seven seed, but I would much rather be playing a big conference team who barely squeaked in than a mid-major like St. Mary's or Cornell or Siena that probably should be ranked higher than what they are.

Now, IF we make it there, (huge if, I know. But I'm only getting started.) the second round would be an incredibly tough game. Kansas State is a good team. They deserve to be a second seed. They play tough defense. They've beaten some great teams.

But I think we match up well against them. Their strength is their backcourt, like BYU. They like to run the ball, like BYU. I see a high-scoring game that probably won't go our way. But...it could go our way.

That would bring us to Salt Lake for the Sweet 16. Home court advantage. We could beat Pitt (who doesn't have a star player, a go-to guy, which you need in this tournament). We could beat Xavier. We could beat Minnesota. We could beat Oakland. Combined with the home-court advantage, we could win any of those games.

The Elite 8 game would be against Syracuse. A Syracuse team that lost one of their best players recently. I know he's trying to make it back, but I'm doubtful, and I don't think he would be 100%. Of all the #1 seeds to play, I would want to play Syracuse. (Or Duke.) Remember, this game would be basically at home as well.

That would put BYU in the Final Four. Which would be in Indianapolis. Which is only a three hour drive away.

I'm not going to even think about beating Kansas in that game. That would not happen. For the record, I have Kansas beating Kentucky in the final game. Similar to the Fab Five of Michigan, a freshman class with amazing talent, and I have the feeling that someone on the team will make some boneheaded move ala Chris Webber.

I know what you're thinking, because it's what I'm thinking. It's crazy, it's not going to happen, and BYU will lose in the first round AGAIN. Jimmer will probably have a mono relapse, Tyler Haws will come out wearing an eye patch and his shooting will be off, something will happen and we'll lose. But you know what..............there's a chance. It's March! Spring is in the air, and so is optimism. And in the end, March Madness is just that: It's mad.

BYU Basketball

Last weekend the BYU played New Mexico in the Marriott Center in a game of basketball. Billed as “the biggest game in Mountain West history", it apparently lived up to its reputation, delivering a great back-and-forth, hard-fought game that resulted in a narrow victory for the Lobos.

My brother had front-row, half-court seats that he won in some contest. Lucky.

Anyway, I was watching through the internet. (Watching as in seeing the score update on the website. It’s like the modern version of listening to the radio. In fact, now that I think about it, I should have gone to www.ksl.com and listened to it…on the radio. Oh well, next time.) I noticed that our star point guard, Jimmer Fredette, was not playing. In his place was a sophomore named Michael Lloyd, Jr whose name kept coming up on the screen. A quick search found that Jimmer was out with a stomach, yet somehow BYU kept it close and had a shot to win the game in the end.

So, here’s my question. Would I rather have a BYU victory against New Mexico now…or get a couple wins in the NCAA Tournament in March? Of course I’d pick the latter. I don’t suppose the two are necessarily mutually exclusive, but I think the revelation of Lloyd as a guy that can come in and provide even more spark is an important one that could provide dividends not only years down the road (he’s only a sophomore) but next month when we try to make it to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in what seems like an eternity. (In fact, I don’t remember the last time BYU made it past the first round. It was 1992, but I guess I didn’t pay attention to college basketball back then.)

So while I’m sorry about the loss, I’m still enthusiastic about the future. GO BYU.

Shoveling Snow

The last few days Lexington has been rocked by a few snowstorms, and a couple more are in sight.

This was contrary to what people told us when we moved here: "No, it doesn't snow much in Lexington. Perhaps once or twice, but nothing too major." Sounds like what they told us in Seattle, too, before huge snowstorms almost derailed our wedding 14 months ago. Perhaps the snow really is our fault?


Anyway, Snowstorm + Homeowner = Snow shoveling!


There is a purifying element that comes from the back and forth motion of shoveling. The scrape of the shovel on the pavement. The cool in the air. The unspoken bond of neighbors shoveling concurrently. As Calvin's Dad told him, "It builds character."
During my university years, my favorite part about coming home for Christmas was the possibility that it would snow and I would get to shovel snow with my dad. (Well, he would snow blow while I shoveled. Whatever.)

Last week, then, I got up early one morning before work to quickly shovel the driveway. The snow was heavy, but there were only a few inches and it wasn't long before I was the envy of all the cul-de-sac.

Well, by the time the afternoon came around, the wind had blown around the snow so much that I had to shovel again. In the sidewalks, you couldn't even see that I had so meticulously cleared the snow only a few hours earlier. I began to clear the snow again.

The wind was stronger this time. Any time I attempted to clear the snow toward the south, it blew right back at me. I also had a difficult time with my shovel - although it was very good at clearing large amounts of snow, it is plastic and I could not remove any of the ice and packed snow.

In addition, there is this strange phenonoma in my subdivision. The trees that line the streets never lost their leaves. A large majority of the leaves continue to hang, dead and brown, from the trees. The wind blew through the trees gave an eery note to my snow shoveling.

A weekend of this back and forth has not diminished my love for snow shoveling. Yes, I go out there even if I know that a good portion will be blown back onto my driveway in a few hours. Like Sisyphus, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Myth_of_Sisyphus) the struggle itself is enough to fill my heart. I am happy.

An open letter to Google Maps

Dear Google Maps:

You have led me astray several times in the past few months:

1. My wife and I were driving home from Washington, D.C. right before the "Snowpocalapyse". I was even allowed to leave on Thursday instead of the planned Friday at Noon in order to make it out of the city. Our plan was to start driving home after a visit to the L.D.S. Temple, stay in a hotel approximately one hour outside of Washington and then continue on our way the next morning.

Well, luckily I had written down the phone number of the hotel, because Google Maps led us to the middle of nowhere. (Although it did lead us to Poffenberger Lane, which is my mother-in-law's maiden name.)

2. My wife and I were traveling to IKEA in Maryland. (Suburban D.C.) Although I am somewhat familiar with the area, I had never been to this particular IKEA and printed out a Google Maps direction in order to help us to get to our destination safely. Well, good thing I have a familiarity with the D.C. area because the Google Maps directions did not get us the right way. An hour later we arrived at IKEA, having taken an alternate route through the city since we were unable to navigate the confusing directions that would have lead us around the city on the Beltway. (Although, considering traffic that night, perhaps I made the quicker choice.)

3. I live in Lexington, KY. There is a street near our house - Star Shoot Parkway - that has been finished at least since we arrived here in August. However, it does not show up as finished on Google Maps. Ergo I have not used Google Maps for ANY directions in the city. In addition, I use other programs in order to plan out my running routes.

4. On a recent trip to southern Florida, my wife and I were driving to the eastern visitor center of Everglades National Park, located in Everglades, FL. However, upon reaching the city, the Google Maps directions led us to some house that had no affiliation with the park. Luckily I was able to find a sign and we arrived at our destination.

I love Google Maps for its easy-to-find route on the specific map, and the ability to drag the route from the "quickest route" to include specific destinations. However, lately you have been unable to provide me with clear directions that get me to the promised destination and have broken my trust. You don't have the fuel cost gauge that Mapquest utilizes that I find quite handy for long trips. In addition, I do not find your printable directions easy-to-follow, a necessity if I'm trying to look at them while driving.

I'm not mad, Google Maps; however, I am disappointed.

~Logan Schultz

Google takes a stand

Some of you may have seen a news headline that Google might exit China due to censorship and human rights reasons.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aU43JmiuDJaQ

I was astonished. A company might leave a highly profitable and important market because of a belief in something other than making as much money as possible?

That is a stance which I find admirable. Props, Google. I am now switching all of my web searches to Google. Sorry, Bing.

Some Revised Boise State Thoughts

Disclaimer: Yesterday I had written a little piece on Boise State, empathizing with them about being undefeated and not being able to play for the "National Championship" (quotes intentional). Give them a chance, I said! It's not their fault they don't play "big" schools from the BCS conferences...those teams won't give them a chance to play them!

Well, I remembered today one HUGE argument why Boise State and TCU were not in the "National Championship" (quotes intentional) game. Therefore I have removed my earlier post and replaced it with this post:

While watching the Fiesta Bowl I was reading during halftime and happened to catch a little bit of the Marching Bands. Ah, Bowl Season - the one time that the marching bands get shown on television. I guess the marching band is an important part of the college football tradition. It's fun to have the band play a few songs during halftime (Full Disclosure: I played one year in the high school marching band). My mom certainly loves it when the marching band comes on and plays an old school jazz tune (In The Mood? Anyone?)

Well, both Boise State and TCU's Marching Bands were horrible. Horrible! I watched them. They were not in sync. People did not step on the beat. The lines were not straight. I'm pretty sure the American Fork High School Marching Band (shout out to Sam and Zoe Bateman) would have done a better job than them.

How can you expect to be taken seriously if your marching band is so bad?? It was a joke. Literally every picture they took of the band contianed some glaring mistake. So that's my revised blog post about Boise State (and TCU, I suppose, although the Mountain West has a couple of good marching bands. See BYU and Utah). Go get yourself a good marching band, THEN maybe I'll listen to your complaining about not being invited to the "National Championship" (quotes intentional).