Random written reflections, ruminations, reactions and eureka’s

unseen blessings

2011-09-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

Recently I became read a blog of someone complaining because his wife was asked to be the Young Women's camp director for church and she would be away from home and their 3 year old for an entire week. The person's comment was, "If it hadn't been for my mother-in-law, we never would have managed."

As I have thought about that situation, it reminds me of how often we take blessings for granted and do not recognize them. Can you imagine Moses saying, "If it wasn't for the sea parting when we left Egypt, we never would have managed."

In both cases, it seems to me, the Lord provided a means of escape from the problems facing the individual. It's just one was more obvious than the other.

Until recently, I had been out of work and not had a permanent full time position for many months. A person familiar with my situation commented that I was not receiving any blessings in my life (regarding employment). That was from their perspective. From my perspective, it has been a great blessing to have our needs met and not be in serious financial situation, in spite of not having full time work for about 500 days.

My conclusion is that blessings are not always seen for what they are. I just hope that I can have the insight to see the blessings that come to me each day and not overlook them.

Counting Blessings

2010-06-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

Blessings, like many things come in clusters. Some parts of the cluster may not seem sweet at the time. When my position at work was one of those eliminated, who would have thought that I would now be oh so much better trained in my church calling as stake employment specialist, Who would have thought that I would make a commitment with the extra time to exercize 6 days a week and would lose 20 pounds (and I know that number will increase), and who would know that when I stopped and took my blood pressure at the self serve BP station by Wal-Mart's pharmacy that my blood pressure would have dropped 25 points and would now be well within the normal range. Who would know that so many good things (and more good things to come, I am sure) would result from the seemingly not good thing of being out of work.

Thoughts on Health care legislation

2010-04-06T11:28:00.000-07:00

A couple of experiences mold my view of debate over any government actions. The first was seeing some material printed in the 1960’s when going through an old piece of furniture. This article, published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, discussed the great problems that would arise if lenders were required to tell consumers what the annual percentage rate of borrowing would be on a loan. The legislation passed and none of the terrible things foreseen came about.
The second incident occurred as I read a book What Kind of Nation

http://www.amazon.com/What-Kind-Nation-Jefferson-Marshall/dp/0684848716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270578141&sr=8-1

About the political differences of John Marshall and Thomas Jefferson. They each claimed dire consequences if the other was elected (This was before John Marshal became a Supreme) The political rhetoric of today has nothing on how it used to be. They each in turn were elected and none of the dire consequences occurred.

I am not persuaded that health care is the worst thing that has ever happened in our nation, nor that it is the great panacea that others claim it to be. It contains some good, some neutral, and some bad.

I have worked with people who have had good job offers to go elsewhere, very much wanted to take the offer, but because they were diabetic and would not be covered under the proposed employer’s plan because of the pre-existing condition, remained in a job they disliked. That borders on involuntary servitude, aka slavery. The cost of medical care (even with health insurance) is one of the three major causes of personal bankruptcy, (the other two are loss of employment and family break up) I believe it is a good thing that lifetime limits has been eliminated. I believe it is a good thing that those who are unable to afford health insurance can now be covered.

I believe the health care bill also does some neutral things. I believe that health care costs need to come down. I recognize that shifting the cost elsewhere is not the same thing as reducing the cost. That is at best neutral and at worst negative as the true costs remain hidden. I was intriqued by a study by a Professor at Arizona State University who specializes in health policy. After researching the health care systems in all of the industrialized nations, she discovered that the percentage of people in each nation who liked the system they were under was the same for all systems and the same was true of the percentage that did not like the system they were under. Each system has to deal with the issues of cost of care, quality of care, and availability of care. A change in one of these affects the others. The balance between them may tilt one way or another. An action which will benefit one of the factors will reduce one of the others. Each action will delight one group and disappoint another but it all stays in balance for the entire country.
This is similar to when I was a boy with a paper route. Each day the papers came at the same time and it would take me an hour to deliver the newspapers. I experimented with different methods to cover all of the streets on my route. When I would make such a change I discovered that I got big tips and thanks from those who got their paper earlier. When I went on a different street first I would get a tip and thanks from the ones on that street. Either way the time I took to do it all did not vary. On the whole, I believe the same will happen with health care.
I see a significant negative with the passage of the health bill and this is what it is. The momentum to correct problems in the health care delivery process has stopped without addressing the most significant issue. That issue is that there has been confusion in health care over who the customer is. The customer is the one that pays the bill. In health care that is the insurance companies, not the patient. If the patient was the customer I believe health care would improve and costs would decrease. See this article from The Harvard Business Review:

http://hbr.org/web/extras/insight-center/health-care/will-disruptive-innovations-cure-health-care

Another problem is that prepaid health care is masquerading as health insurance. Insurance is used when there is a high cost risk which will occur in a population. It cannot be determined which member of the population will incur the cost. Insurance spreads the cost of the risk among a large group. That way the large potential unknown cost becomes a known cost, the cost of insuring against the loss. Such a program does not cover the routine and the expected anymore than my auto insurance covers the costs of brakes, oil change, and replacing windshield wipers. Yet health “insurance” asks me just to pay $10 or $25 when I visit the Dr. (True he only sees me for three minutes and 15 seconds so those add up over the course of the day.) but that really isn’t insurance.

I have also found these additional articles on health care to be of interest,
http://hbr.org/web/extras/insight-center/health-care/why-innovation-in-health-care-is-so-hard
http://hbr.org/web/extras/insight-center/health-care/redefining-competition-in-health-care
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/03/health_care_of_the_future.html
And just for perspective.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1969/12/how-good-is-government-medical-care/6085/

Just Sayin...

2010-03-12T10:06:00.001-08:00

I was reflecting on some of the sayings that have come up at different points in my life and have stuck with me:
1. In the First grade, after taking a longer than normal time to walk home(I reversed course every time I saw a dog, my sister had been bit by a dog that summer and I had heard about rabies shots) My dad get a saying which ended up being posted on my wall,

"Courage is not the absence of fear but the master of it."

2. When I was in college I ran across a quote which I copied and put on the wall of my room. It went something like this:

"There is no substitute for the first rate person, 10 second rate people cannot replace them"

3. I worked and worked to get our family to develop a family mission statement. I finally drafted one myself and it has remained largely ignored. Except my daughter, when she was working at a company doing engraving had it engraved on a plaque and gave to me for Christmas.

"An Andrews is patient. An Andrews is kind and envies no one. An Andrews is never boastful nor conceited, not rude or indecent, never selfish and not quick to be resentful or take offense. An Andrews keeps no score of wrongs, does not gloat over other person's problems, but delights in the truth, the eternal potential of ourselves and others. There is nothing an Andrews can't face. We are loyal, we believe in one another, We expect the best of one another. There is no limit to our faith, our hope, or our endurance. Our love will never fail! We will be valiant. We will have joy and have fun.

4. I have been teaching a class on Family finance. One of the lessons is on goal setting and has this quote from Will Durrant's Story of Philosophy. It ow adornes the fridge.

We want to know that the little things are little, and the big things are big, before it is too late; we want to see things now as they will seem forever--'in the light of eternity.'

So there you have it, the sayings and accumulated wisdom I have picked up through the years

2009-11-25T16:31:00.000-08:00

I mentioned in an earlier blog that I may have some crystallized thoughts regarding the constitution by Thanksgiving. I have listed below the documents that have caused me to ponder the most. The firs is a commencement address given last May. I have included a link to the site since it is to long to list here.

http://www.claytonchristensen.com/documents/SNHUCommencementtalk-DemocracyCapitalismandReligion.pdf

The day after I read the above article, I heard the following story on the radio as I drove to work. I have copied the last section of that article.

'A Culture Of Illegality'

In recent years, Italy has recorded among the highest levels of tax evasion among Western countries and the largest number of serving members of Parliament found guilty of criminal offenses.

In a recent report, the state accounts court said corruption in the public administration is so vast that it is preventing the country's economic development and eroding the public's faith in government.

Rolando Patarca, a fisherman who is also a part-time chef and political activist, is demoralized by the society he sees around him.

"A culture of illegality has taken hold. We no longer have an ethical role model. We no longer want to follow the rules and respect the law and the constitution. We are in disarray, and we have given up. We have lost sight of our basic civil rights," Patarca says.

Berlusconi is fond of saying, "Italians like me the way I am."

Through two decades of TV dominance, many analysts say he has, in fact, reshaped Italian culture and values into his own image.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111513125

Finally I ran across this paragraph which is the final paragraph of an article in the encyclopedia of Mormonism onabout the constitution. I think these three documents seem to illustrate an important point.

To defend the principles of the Constitution under circumstances where the "iniquity," or moral decay, of the people has torn it to shreds might well require wisdom at least equal to that of the men raised up to found it. In particular, it would require great insight into the relationship between freedom and virtue in a political embodiment of moral agency.

http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Constitution_of_the_United_States_of_America

Lessons from playing croquet

2009-08-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

For unknown reasons, this week I have recalled playing croquet in the back yard while growing up. If you have played croquet, you are aware what happens when your ball strikes another player's ball. You place the two balls together, put your foot on your ball, and with a great swing of the mallet can hit your ball which stays in place because of your foot but the energy is transferred to the other players ball which can go sailing far away and out of the way, to a 10 year old, it was great fun to send the other ball sailing.

Whenever my dad would hit another players ball, something quite different would happen. He would still strike his ball and send the other ball on it's way, but he would send it in the direction the other player was trying to go, he would help them out. Especially he would help out my mom. But in spite of helping us out, my dad still always won.

And the lesson from that is...? Well, I'm not sure. I don't play croquet anymore so I guess I won't ever be in a position to help others out when I could instead act like anyone else would and sidetrack them.

Constitution 1

2009-07-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

Way back in January, when I was planning on things I wanted to do this year, one of them was to learn more about the constitution. By the 4th of July I wanted to have crystallized my thoughts and put them together in a PowerPoint presentation. I'm running a little behind. I have developed a bibliography that I am working my way through. I am about half finished with the list at the end of this blog. However, if you are aware of any very good books on the constitution (that are available without spending over $40 (the cost on Amazon of 'The Constitutionalist' by George Anastaplo.))let me know. Maybe by Thanksgiving I will have it put together.
I have tried to include a wide spectrum of political ideas

The words we live by, Your annotated guide to the constitution by Linda R. Monk (this was handed out to all students at BYU a few years ago)
Liberty’s Blueprint, How Madison and Hamilton Wrote the Federalist Papers, Defined the Constitution, and Made Democracy Safe for the World. By Michael I. Meyerson
Just and Holy Principles, Latter day Saint Readings on America and the Constitution, Ralph C. Hancock Editor
A lawyer Looks at the Constitution by Rex E. Lee
Latter day Prophets and the United States Constitution edited by Donald Q. Cannon
The Summer of 1787, The Men who invented the constitution. By David O. Stewart
The Genius of America, How the Constitution Saved Our Country and Why it can Again, by Eric Lane and Michael Oreskes
Original Meanings, Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution by Jack N. Rakove (won Pulitzer prize)
Remnants of Belief, Contemporary constitutional Issues, by Louis Michael Seidman and Mark V. Tushnet
A More Perfect Constitution, 23 proposals to Revitalize our constitution and make America a fairer Country by Larry J. Sabato.
Federalist Papers
Anti Federalist Papers

Curious

2009-06-14T18:47:00.000-07:00

i'm curious to know if anyone actually reads this blog so I have a proposition. If you read the prior blog you know that I have a goal to lose 10 pounds in the next 8 weeks. If any of my friends (see definition of friend below) comments on this blog anytime in the next two weeks (by June 28, 2009) I will pay you a dollar for every pound that I miss making an A grade (see definition of A grade below) by August 10th.

an a Grade = 90% of goal. (in this case 9 pounds)

a friend is anyone listed as one of my friends on facebook by June 22, 2009

If you are a frient and are not on facebook, comment anyway and I will add you.

Anyone living in the same household as I will not be my friend (for purposes of this challenge) if they make or bring home cakes, pies, cookies, or anything like unto it and offer me some during this period.

If I do nothing about my weight and all of my friends comment it could cost me more then just a little. Comment now and give me motivation.

wake up call

2009-06-14T09:21:00.000-07:00

I am a regular blood donor. I would guess (guessing is required because the blood bank lost the records for a few years) I've donated about 18 gallons. First I went for the cookies. Now I go because it is a cheap mini physical every few weeks. I can get get cholesterol, blood pressure, pulse, iron, and temperature checked every few weeks. Plus they feed me cookies.

Friday I got a wake up call when I was told my blood pressure numbers. I wasn't sure what was considered high, but I thought I was probably close. A little research showed that I was very very very close. A little more research and I have my plan of action. Since I will be fixing my meals anyway, I found a useful web site that provides shopping lists, menus, and recipes for the belly off diet. http://www.menshealth.com/bellyoff/program.php My goal is to lose 10 pounds before I give blood again in 8 weeks and see what that does to the numbers. Losing 10 pounds would just get me back to where I was before tax season started. My real very ambitious goal (don't tell anyone) is to loose 10 pounds every 8 weeks from now till the end of the year. That would get me to where I really want to be.

Yesterday I wandered the grocery store for two hours (to be honest, part of the time was visiting with my cousin when I ran into her) Searching for things on the list. For some items I had no idea where they were or even what they were. I noticed that the items I would normally have dropped into the cart had zero appeal as I walked past them in my search for the produce department. If that attitude is maintained, that in itself will bring postive results.

Now it can be told: What tax season is really like

2009-04-23T22:09:00.000-07:00

With 25 years of tax under my belt, I have learned some things are consistant year after year. I no longer try to describe what tax season is like. It is hard to convey without having been there, but here goes.

1. When I say under my belt, that is literally true. Work is awash in food. Dinner is provided when you work overtime, treats are all around. They try to make it comfortable. Just like that warren in Watership Down

2. Every year I consider growing a beard because I resent the time it takes to shave as I am tying to get ready and out the door in the mornings. (Beginning mid March, I am at work about 5:00 a.m. (some people have been there for hours when I arrive) and work till about 8:00 p.m (some people will be there hours after I leave, but not the same people who are there before me) During the last week there will be a few days with about 4 hours from the time I leave work unti I get back.

2. Tax time simplifies life. My focus for a few months is on only one thing. After tax season is over and I have recovered from the pneumonia I contract the week after the 15th (I shouldn't exaggerate, it has only turned into pneumonia 3 times, other times it has been some other ailment, but the last 3 or 4 years I haven't been sick at all)

3. It's necessary to plan things like haircuts early in tax season, there will be no time later and a haircut to early means things may get pretty shaggy by April 15th. April 16th is the day for getting a haircut and other things that have been put off for just a bit too long.

4. After two and a half months of having pizza at work every Saturday, pizza loses it's appeal.

5. The stress from tax season does not come from the work that arrives. That always gets done. The stress comes from:

a. those who think that they are getting close to the deadline and won't have their return when the deadline is still 72 hours or more away. A LOT can get done in the last weekend. The question "Is my return done yet?" feels a lot like the question when i was 10, "is the book report done yet?"

b. all co-workers are sleep deprived and are feeling a little stress themselves. Working around everyone who is stressed is a unique atmosphere,

c. I recall comments by former co-workers during tax season. "I don't need an alarm clock. The thought of what I have waiting at work fills me with terror and gets me out of bed and gets me going". Another comment from a co-worker. " I feel like I'm a prisoner, I can't go anywhere, I can't do anything. I am confined here except for sleeping." My first tax season I thought I was working long hours when I would catch the last bus out of down town at 7:20 p.m. Boy was I ignorant

6. During tax season I tend to measure my sleep in how many sleep cycles I can fit in (a sleep cycle is about 90 minutes) I try to always get at least three cycles, but for a few days it will drop to two. Probably a half dozen times in the last 25 years I have worked all through the night

7. One of the pleasures of tax season is listening to the rebroadcast of general conference which starts at midnight on KSL. Generally I can only last for the first session but occasionally I have heard part of the 2nd session.

8. Sometime during tax season I will recall with amusement a time when I was going to school full time working on my masters degree, working full time (nights) with a janitorial service and serving as a counselor in a bishopric at church. I recall looking up at the sky one Monday morning about 4 a.m. as I was emptying trash and thinking I would be glad when I was though school and could have a regular job with normal hours. Things actually are more normal now. It used to be that every Sunday-Monday was a 20 hour marathon

9. I have learned that I can't work long hours every day. Now I try to alternate working 13 hours with working 12 hours. On Saturdays I like to not set the alarm, get to work a little later (7:30-8:00) work about 5 or 6 hours, go home for a few hours in the day light and then go back in the evening for about 3 hours. this will get me close to 70 hours a week.

10. There are typically two people each year that Julie will meet at work that are having problems with taxes. She will volunteer me to help them out.

11. People are generally understanding of the non essential things that can be put off till after April 15th. Unfortunately It's hard for them to understand that there are enough things put off till after the 15th that it takes 3-4 weeks to get it all done. It doesn't all happen in the first week

11. I LOVE the work I do outside of work helping people with their taxes. (In February) I don't get the stress (see point 5) from them and it is the appreciation and kind words that help me deal with the stress. Several years ago, I had LASIK surgery. During the procedure a nurse just took my hand and held it. I was amazed at the comfort that provided to help get through a stressful time. Likewise the kind, encouraging, thoughtful expressions from others help me survive the stressful last few weeks of tax season. They are like water in the desert.

12 Just as tax time simplifies life for me, it also simplifies what I expect from others. All that anyone around me needs to do is to anticipate and deal with every need or wish that I have, without my saying anything, make no demands of me, and be perfect in every way.

13. People think that April 15 is a busy day. Actually it is not. Things better not be too busy after April 13.

Easy and Hard

2009-04-05T15:46:00.000-07:00

When I was in junior high, I wanted to expand my participation on the track team from the half mile to the long jump. I approached my mom about allowing me to dig a landing pit so I could practice at home. She agreed and recommended a location to put it. I dug out the grass, removed any rocks, and made a nice soft place to land. The next year my landing pit was converted to a garden. It is much easier to dig a landing pit than it is to dig a garden.

When the new Duty to God award was introduced, I was working with young men and decided to fulfill all of the requirements myself. My son also filled all the requirements for the one year of he had remaining in Young Men. He did not know he was filling requirements and might well have provided static had he been doing only that. Instead, as a family we filled the scripture reading requirements, to prepare for life after high school we filled other requirements, to help me out when I was busy I would ask him to do things and still more requirements were filled. He did not even know he was working on a program and the years requirements were completed in the natural course of day to day and without complaint or fussing. It was easy.

How many more things are harder or easier then they need to be because of the purpose we think is being accomplished by our actions?

2009-03-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

My Interests exceed the time I have to pursue them. That means I have several half finished, or would that be half started projects. It also means many of the things I thought were oh so very important at one time, I now have an interest in but no longer consider them the most important thing ever. For instance, while on the campus improvement team for my children's school and on the board of directors for the school districts educating foundation, I was passionate about schools. When I was a scout leader, I was passionate about the purposes and role of a well run (and I have my own definition of well run) scouting program.

I am a CPA but didn't plan to be an accountant. In fact I was miffed when a vocational interest test taken in college spiked high in accounting and owning my own accounting firm (and rehabilitation counseling.) Not that these areas were high, but that the areas I was planning to pursue were low. Since it did not sow what I wanted it to, I paid no attention to that test. I graduated with a degree in Sociology having taken only one sit down in the classroom class in the field, but that story will have to be another blog I considered myself first a political science then an economics major. I have a Masters of Business Administration (MBA)

I am a regular blood donor (I expect to hit 15 gallons this year) I noted the power of example when my daughter, on her 17th birthday (the earliest one can donate) wanted to go donate blood. My son also donated when he was seventeen

I know more then I apply. I have an amateur radio license (ham radio.) I have studied and upgraded my license twice to enable me to have more on-air privileges. The last time I upgraded, after passing the first test, I opted to take the next upgrade, which would have put me at the top to the amateur radio food chain. I missed a passing score by one question. However, I do not own a ham radio nor ever been on the air.

I completed a course from the county extension office to be a master gardener for the county, but have not had a garden in years. Work is busy when its time to plant

In addition to being a CPA, I have been a Certified Financial Planner and currently have an accreditation as a Personal Finance Specialist. (CPA/PFS) I am working towards getting my own personal finances in line with what I know, but have a way to go.

I participate (not to be confused with compete) in 5Ks and triathlons, I have a shelf of books on training for these events. If I had known in high school the things I know now about training, who knows what could have been. But no one else knew then what is known now either.

Speaking of my bookshelf, it occurs to me that to know my book shelf is to know me, or something about me. I have a shelf of books on the constitution. I started studying this a few years ago and have about 10 books from a variety of viewpoints. Another shelf has several religious dummies guide to books on: Islam, Judaism, Catholicism, and Mormonism I also have a few books on major world religions. A shelf on personal finance topics, A shelf (or 2) on church history, both LDS history as well as early Christian history. A shelf of political and religious biographies, plus the Story of Civilization volumes by Will Durant, The Great Books of the Western World, (how many times have I restarted the 10 year reading program, I began in college and might be 2/3 of the way through the 2nd year now). Several books (any I can find) from Arbinger Institute and a shelf on marriage and family, (weighted towards John Gottman's books.) Those are topics that fill a shelf, I've not mentioned individual books, nor novels (Grisham, Ludlum, Card)

With so many books why do I watch TV? (24; House; Psych; Bones ;) especially when the garden is only 1/2 started

This is a test

2009-02-22T19:25:00.001-08:00

This is only a test. If this were an actual blog:

1. I would have something to say

2. I would pick a time when I had more time to put some thought into what I said

3. Future blogs will have more substance. If nothing is written in the future, then....