If it makes you happy.......

A couple of things that make me feel good:

Insurance - How great is this stuff? I get to drive, live, and walk around knowing that if anything happens to me...my health...my life...my wife's health...my car...my house...it can all be protected. How great is that? I think it's amazing. It's so nice to think that if my house catches fire while I'm gone, I will still be able to have a place to live and not lose all the investment that I've put into it. Or if I die in a plane accident, Torrie wouldn't be saddled with a mortgage and have to start working right away again. (Obviously I would not want that to happen, and it would be horrible. But to know that it could and not ALL would be lost...that makes me feel good.)

Running - Since I've come out to Dallas I've been running everyday and it feels wonderful! It has a great impact on the rest of my day and I'm sure it's doing good things for my health as well. I'm excited to run a race and see how fast I can go. I have a theory - seeing as the physical/mental/emotional/spirtual are all connected, when I am pushing myself in one area (running consistently, for example) I think I'm better and more motivated at all aspects of my life.

(And you bet I just put a picture of Sarah Palin from Runners' World to be the picture for my running section. haha.)

Breakfast - The best part of staying at a hotel is the free breakfast. If I stay at the Homewood Suites, it's usually a pretty nice deal, one step above a continental breakfast. They'll have something cooked and it will be good. If I stay at the Embassy Suites, it's a made-to-order omlette that is heavenly. Let's be honest, it's hard to wake up early each day to make breakfast. Having it made for you...and for free? Definitely makes being away from home just a little bit easier.

A couple of quick quotes from CNBC's neat little evening last night with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

In response to a question as to the best advice that they could give:

"First of all, I'd say marry the right person." [LAUGHTER] "And I'm serious about that. " [APPLAUSE] "It will make more difference in your life. It will change your aspiration, all kind of things. It's enormously important who you marry. "– Warren Buffett

In response to a question about if business schools can really teach ethics:

"Well, I think the best place to learn ethics is in the home. I think most of us get our values from what we see around us before we get to business school. I think that it's important to emphasize them, but I think that if I had a choice of having great education and ethics fully on in the home or as a course in a school later on, I would choose the home." - Warren Buffett

Great thoughts.

Reading in Texas

So for the next few weeks I will be in Dallas for some training. I fly out on a Sunday night, spend M-F going to work downtown and spending the night in a hotel, and then fly to see Torrie on the weekend. It's pretty lonely and I'm going to have to find things to do to keep myself busy.

This week I brought three books with me, from our personal library or the Lexington public library. Since I have nothing else to do, I'm going to write my thoughts on them. They are:

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

So, the movie is great. We all know that. But did you know it came from a book? I knew, and thought it would be fun to read sometime. Well, the lady who sold us our new (to us) piano was giving away ten boxes of books. While leafing through the books, I found this one and snatched it up. The actual copy of the book was printed in 1969 and has the old school style pages that don't match up perfectly. It's pretty cool.

The book is a little dirty for my taste - a little too graphic sexual content. However, with skipping over those parts, the book is fascinating. I've only seen the movie once or twice (yay for AMC) but I caught many more details from reading the book.

Of the many themes covered in the book, one of the main ones is the rule of law. One of the reasons for Don Corleone's organization is to provide a place for people to go to obtain justice, instead of going to a corrupt government. The original Mafia families in Sicily started that way in order to fight back against all the different, corrupt powers that have ruled over Sicily. They couldn't go to the government or anyone for justice, so they went to themselves.

And you now what, for 19th century Sicily....I can somehow understand that. While ultimately the population will be better-served by a country, government anfd culture that follows a code of laws, I can see how they are somewhat justifying in taking things into their own hands. However, I am grateful to live in a country where it's not necessary. America, while admittedly unperfect, is a free country, and the more that we choose to follow the law, the better place we will live. However, if as a people - and looking at the problems our country/world is facing right now, I am more and more convinced that this is the case - we choose to not follow the law, we will no longer enjoy the freedom and prosperity that we have enjoyed for so long.

Sorry about the tangent. Anyway, great book, except for the graphic parts. The violence isn't too bad, it's the sex.

Anyway, these are the other two books I'll be reading this week:

The Gathering of Zion: The Story of the Mormon Trail by Wallace Stegner
Torrie had this book from one of her college history classes. I'm excited to read it - well, I've started already - and the theme that I've noticed is that the pioneers weren't perfect. The author is very clear about that, and it seems to me that the purpose of the book is to dirty the "squeaky clean" image of the pioneers. (Oh and yes, Brigham Young had multiple wives. We know. Not a big deal, Mr. Stegner.) Well I for one am comforted that the early pioneers weren't perfect. I'm more than okay that they swore every once in awhile and argued and disagreed with who should go first in the road (think: road rage but with wagons). Cause you know what...I do too! The Lord used imperfect people in order to do His work. That means I, an imperfect person, can still help out today as well.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
I got this from the library...placed a hold on it. I did this like a month ago and it came in right before I came out to Dallas. My expectations are pretty low - I liked Angels and Demons and Di Vinci Code, but I understand that it's just a thriller and will probably follow the same basic plot, so I'm not expecting anything great. It's all about keeping the right expectations...