My Last Real Semester

This is it. This is my last real semester. This is the last of my grueling manufacturing classes. I now have my Green Belt, which is a really nerdy way of saying I can apply some statistics to manufacturing. I have a job making really cool clothes that are insulated with argon. But yet, I have one more semester. One more chance before I graduate to take classes like Advanced Tennis, Ice Hockey, Intermediate Volleyball, Floral Design, Marriage Prep, and much much more. Also, I have one more shot at trying to decide where I want to go in my career. Any suggestions?

Stupidity at Sliding Rock

There's a place in Alpine, UT called Sliding Rock. It's a series of gigantic rocks that are rather smooth and a large stream (small river?) runs over it (I'd guess 3 or 4 cfs). When you watch someone start at the top and start sliding down it like a waterslide, it looks violent and painful (Especially for those wearing skimpy bikinis). But I decided to try it and it wasn't painful at all. It was amazing. I would never have believed that there could be a natural rock waterslide as long as this (25 feet to 30 feet). (Maybe I'll just put this whole blog in parentheses--just remind me to close with a parenthesis. We then hiked up the stream. It was GORGEOUS, green, and heavenly. I brought a friend from Michigan who's here on an internship. She was probably weirded out by all of us mormons, but she was polite and had a good time I think. It was fun to have her, but the end of our trip was plagued by my own stupidity. On our way back down the stream hike, we got to the Sliding Rock again which was the bottom of our trip. We decided to slide down one last time and I handed her my car/house/church/anotherhouse/churchcloset/oil vial/leatherman/lock keys and told her to throw them to me once I reached the bottom. I should have just held on to them; a little water never hurt anything. I got to the pool at the bottom which was about waist high and she threw them. It wasn't a far enough throw and they slid down into the pool. They ended up right where the water plunges violently into the pool so the water was all frothy and freezing cold. You didn't want to stay in there forever. So, we took shifts trying to find the keys. It was my ONLY key and I could go on and on and on about why that would have been SO bad had we not found them but suffice it to say that by the time we reached our cars at the trailhead, somebody came running down the trail saying they found my keys. We didn't just have my group searching for them but every tattooed, smoking, bikini wearing yahoo in the territory. Someone in my group ended up finding them, but I was SO grateful to everyone who spent much time in those frigid waters risking life and limb (a slight exaggeration but a definite sacrifice) for me. I lost my other key at the bottom of the Green River two 6th Ward superactivities ago. This is already too long.)

I Hate Swimming

But one thing I would LOVE to try is SCUBA diving. I mean, who wouldn't want to be greeted in the morning by the likes of this guy.

When I roomed with Doug and BJ, I was frequently greeted in such manner, except the eel has a little more color in his face. Now that I've insulted half of my readership, I think I'll end by extending the offer. If anyone want to go scuba diving (is feeling rich), let me know. I have a friend who can certify me, and we'll go shark hunting. Isn't the underwater world fascinating? It's so unknown. To me, the whole oceanic life scene is just another witness to my testimony of the gospel. The End.

7 New Wonders of the World

I've always wondered exactly what my opinion on traveling is as a hobby. Would I like traveling? I would probably like the destinations quite a bit, but I probably wouldn't care much for the actual transport. Would I feel like it was justifiable? It's an expensive hobby and how many people could I be feeding for all that money? But I could ask myself that question every time I do just about ANYTHING in this society and spending money does stimulate the economy. Luckily, I've never had to worry about that sort of thing because I'm not wealthy enough for it to be an option. But what about when I'm a decamillionaire? So, while I ponder these imponderables, you just enjoy the 7 new wonders of the world. If I did decide in favor of an occasional trip, these destinations would probably rank highly.

Ancient Colosseum in Rome Italy

The Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janiero Brazil

Great Wall of China near western most point at Jiayuguan in China's northwest Gansu province

The Khazneh or treasury in Petra Jordan

The Mayan Ruins of Chichen Itza in southern Mexico

The ruins of Peru's famed Machu Picchu

The Taj Mahal in Agra India

Vote for Mitt '08!!!

Question #1

So, am I a Mitt fan? Well, yes. Am I also a Rudy Giuliani fan? Well, yes. I've been to one of his speeches in person and really like the guy. Always have. My biggest question (and I would like some input here from all you patriotic people out there) is how educated should one make themselves in order to make a good judgment call. I suppose the extremes for this are complete ignorance (just thinking that Mitt's a Mormon so he'll do the best job), and complete immersion of one's self (becoming best buds with each and every candidate to know their innermost beliefs and intents). Neither one is good. I have a few other things in life I should pay attention to right now like school, work, family, church.... But at the same time I want to not only say I like Mitt, but be able to give good solid reasons that he's the Man for the Job and Hilary needs to make a good contribution to society and be a stay-at-home mother for Chelsea. Part of it, no doubt, is already being familiar with the issues which I mostly am.

Question #2


Once I've finally decided that Brother Romney (or whoever) is the right man for the job, what is the most effective way (or ways) of helping that candidate run? Sure, I just ordered my Mitt Romney bumper sticker online yesterday and gave him $25 for his campaign, but what else can I do? I could send spam or call random people. That might be as counterproductive as anything. And what do you do in a state that is already quite Republican? Should I vacation up to Oregon and preach there until the fiery brimstones start breaking through my umbrella?

Cogent Comments

Here's my life's update:
1. My grandmother is making me read a book about Dealing with Differences in Marriage by Brent Barlow. Why? Because I'm having marital distress. Ha! No, rather, she just wants all of her grandchildren, married or unmarried, to know that differences in marriage are inevitable and even desireable to some degree if managed and understood properly. I'll be a marriage genius/counselor before I'm married myself.


2. I'm done with my capstone project at Pac States! As neat as that is, I now must do an internship. The capstone project was fascinating and I hope the internship is half as cool. Nothing like developing equations for determining molten iron temperature.


3. I'm studying for the GRE. I haven't taken a practice test, but some of the sample questions they give are EASY. I hope the test is like the sample questions. Why am I studying for the GRE. Reason 1: I'm a MAD masochist. Reason 2: I'm considering grad school at the Y. Yes, a masters in manufacturing technology and an MBA is a dynamite combo. I'll be the most marketable thing since canned ham.

and lastly...

4. I don't understand why Doug Call isn't a bishop yet. I thought they typically struggled for young, energetic, spiritual giants outside of the Happy Valley Bubble.

Phun with Phlebotomy

I gave blood for the first time this week. It was a blast, or should a say, a squirt. I saw about 5 others from the 6th ward while I was there and a couple others were firsttimers as well. It took me 8:11. I think they all beat me. I was the one that wanted the race and everyone killed me. I told my phlebotomist about the race afterwards and she said she used a smaller vein at a funny angle on purpose. I yelled at her and told her next time we engage in venepuncture, I wanted her to stab right into the inferior vena cava. If I'm going to be egging people on, I need to give them a competition.

Bitter Defeat

Well, tennis didn't go as planned. Heather and I didn't play too poorly, but I really don't think either of us played up to our potential. My serves looked like they did back in the 7th grade and I allowed myself to be intimidated on occasion. The best part was that we made visible progress. We lost our first game 3-8. We won the second game (I don't remember the score; probably 8-5) on Friday night which meant we would come back and finish the tournament on Saturday. Saturday morning we won 8-5 and then, in what I believe was the semi-finals, we lost 8-8. The tie breaker went 5-4 in their favor. The worst part was it was the same team that spanked us 8-3 the first time. I know we could have beaten them. I had so many mind-bogglingly terrible shots. But! At least we could see that we were improving as a team. Maybe if I do it again in the Fall (do they do it in the Fall?) I'll be that much more prepared. I added this particular picture, because that is exactly where I felt I was making contact with the ball. Not in the sweet spot, but rather at the tip of my racquet. I must say, I don't mean to do nothing but complain. I had a great time and really enjoyed getting to know Heather better. That's the most important aspect of any tennis match for me. It's probably also great to be humbled!

Tennis Intramurals

So, it's time to dust off the ol' tennis racquet and whoop some trash. It's mixed doubles and my partner is supposedly amazing tennis player. I've never seen her play, but she can't be bad since she just won the 1st place in the women's singles Division 1 intramurals. She's a girl in my ward who I just went on a date with this weekend to the Utah Symphony. We went to Benihanas for dinner which is pretty amazing. It was a FABULOUS concert. I can't believe that there were actually a few empty seats in the crowd. You dont' get to hear Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D very often and they played Mendelssohn's Fifth which is one of my favorites (especially mvnts 1 & 4) . Definitely a magical evening. And actually the thing I liked the most was that this girl (Heather is her name), likes to think and express herself. Her conversation was full of ambition, goals, values, and she wasn't afraid to talk about the gospel as though it was a part of her everyday life. Holy Cow. I'm trying really hard not to get too twitterpated in case her fun personality and gorgeous smile was denoting nothing more than that she wasn't miserable. Hopefully I'll post again once we're tennis intramural champions together. Pray for me.

It's Electrifying!

I can't wait for the Jazz game. We have to win both of these home games and at least the next one needs to be a blowout so that we stand a chance going back to San Antonio. And now that I'm posting about the Jazz, just watch them crumble tonight.

On a happier note, I finished a book. This is quite an accomplishment. Why? Because it was leisure reading. I don't think I've read anything for fun since the Boxcar Children series. The book was called "The Millionaire Mind". Basically it confirmed to me that I have a millionaire mindset. It doesn't guarantee that I'll be one, but it mean I've got a good shot at it. So, that's how I'm formulating my future. What book should I read next?

I Got an Internship!!!!!!

This post goes out to Sister Taylor who is by far one of the coolest people in the world. She asked about my internship and I GOT ONE! In fact, I got two offers. And I had a really hard time turning one down since they didn't ask for an intern. I simply sent an email to Traco Packaging in Orem asking them for a position if they had one. They created one just for me after interviewing me and they never had an intern before. Unfortunately, I had already accepted one with Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Company with whom I'm already doing my capstone project. I'll be working at PSCIPCO all summer. So I sent Traco an email asking if I could do one with them as well, but wait until the Fall Semester. We'll see what they have to say. I figure that will boost my resume even a little more if I have two internships. So I'll let you know how that goes once I get a response. I hope they don't respond saying, "We hate you and have sent hitmen out to teach you a lesson you'll never forget."

Also, Sister Taylor asked how my love life is doing. This is something I should post occasionally. I went on a blind date yesterday. I took her to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens since I'd never been and wanted to go. They are quite amazing. I'm sure they're even more amazing at other times of the year. Right now they are between blooms, but it was still GORGEOUS. I'd like to rent Segways the next time. They look like fun. The memorable part was at the end when my date broke a tester bottle of perfume. Holy Cow. The sound was loud enough to wake the dead and it's now the best smelling gift shop in the world. I guess you could say my dating life is picking up. I had been in a drought for a couple of months, but now I'm back to quite a list of girls I'm working on dating. I even got asked out by a girl in the ward. We're seeing Pirates Saturday morning. I hope it's better than the second one.

The Jazz lost today. I don't watch basketball on Sundays and when they lose I'm especially grateful I don't watch. I might not even cry myself to sleep tonight over it.

Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Company

My fellow 10 BYU capstoners and I are not professional pipe makers--in fact, we have never made a pipe in our lives--but we plan on working with PSCIPCO who has been making for over 40 years, to teach them how they can make pipe better. A daunting task? Oh my yes. On the first day we went on a plant tour and I came away laughing at they idea that we could help them at all. But after two more days of observation, I'm beginning to believe I can. The more I just sit and stare, the more I realize that...well, maybe I can't say what I want to because it could be proprietary in nature. Oh well, just rest assured that I believe we can reach our goal of saving them $500,000 in the next two months, and perhaps $2 million every year from here on out. How would THAT look on my resumé?

I wish I could take you all on a tour of the plant. It's a magical land--a land of enchantment if you will. It reminds me of the scenes where the Orks(sp?) in Lord of the Rings are down there in deep dark crevices of the earth making who knows what. There are lights in the plant, but really the only noticeable light is the orange glow of the molten iron, a few light rays penetrating the roof, and super bright flashes of blinding white light coming from when they add magnesium to the molten iron. All of the workers (myself included) look as scary as Orks and probably
smell worse when we come out of there. If any of you have questions on how to cast YOUR pipes better, give me a call. I'm cheap. I work for pizza.

Liar Liar Pants On Fire

What is a lie? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a lie as "an untrue statement made with the intent to decieve." So, Rocky Anderson keeps saying that Bush has lied to the American people. If he did, then so did a lot of other politicians at the time, and they should all be impeached (or perhaps just drug out into the street and shot). But we can't prove Bush's intent. How do you do that?!?! You would have to assume that if "X" number of people advised him about a certain action, and he went against that advice, that he was lying. And that's a huge assumption.

Rocky Anderson (I shudder every time I use those words) also keeps saying that Bush misrepresented the American people. Now, that's fine. There is a BIG different between misrepresenting the American people and lying even though he seems to use them synonymously. But is misrepresenting the American people even a bad thing? It certainly isn't impeachable. A quick parable.

I look at it this way. A democratic family takes a safari. The kids want to go roll around in the mud with the crocodiles. The parents say "No." The kids get mad and yell at them for misrepresenting them. The parents don't give in. Is this a good thing?

Bush has more access to more information than any of us could dream of, and more than that, certainly to his dismay much of it contradicts itself. The sources of information have biases of their own. His is a job for which I have respect. Sometimes I think the American people are, in general, a bunch of whiny, cowardly, and uninformed bawl-babies. So, do I really care if Bush misrepresents the majority of the American people? Certainly not if it's truly what he thinks is right and he seems to be a good person. If we could prove that he was far from the Spirit through sexual immorality or other acts, then I would say perhaps misrepresention is questionable.

Internships & Marriage

I'm trying to work the system. That is, if I can sign up and pay for my internship during Spring semester when I'm already taking a class I can save $374. Why because that's how much I save by not signing up for both a parttime Spring and fulltime Summer semester. So, I don't know when the deadline is for Spring registration, but I'm feeling the pressure. I suppose that getting an internship is like getting married. If you don't ask, you won't get a "yes" or a "no". And it very well may take a whole lot of "no's" before you get a "yes", so you'd better start asking like CRAZY!!!

This One Goes Out to All You Ladies Out There

For all you lovely ladies who didn't go to the Priesthood Session of General Conference, to you I say, "You missed out!" Sure, you'll be able to read all the talks when they come out. And at least three of them were repeats of past talks. But the part you'll perhaps never witness was the closing number by the BYU choir. I can literally say I've never heard a more beautiful song in my life. I've heard a few that were perhaps as beautiful, but that was shear exhileration. It was Sibelius' tune Be Still My Soul. A few times they all hit the same note so well that it sounded like one singer. It was a capella. I was blown away. You could tell that everyone who stuck around for the closing hymn (a lot of doughheads leave after President Hinckley closes) was so amazed that you could hear a pin drop on the carpet. I pray they'll do that number again before I die. Maybe at my funeral.

Other news. I might be done with school in December. Yea. Now I can be a miserable contributing member of society. I make an end of mine epistle.

Student Advisory Committee

The SAC (just like the BYUSA:)) has lots of great ideas to help transform BYU into a more friendly and accomodating university. And many of them are very feasible: ideas such as building a force field around campus to protect us from the elements, and installing automatic door openers on every door on campus. I have a suggestion to go along with theirs.

I've wanted a climbing wall installed. And to go along with that idea, why not just put those fake stones all up the corners of the Kimball Tower? The corners of the SWKT are indented which means you could have eight walls in all and all you would have to do is add those stones for some easy routes, and add a few slabs of plywood for a more advanced climb. It would take some time to climb around 15 stories (or however tall that building is), which means the lines might be akin to those at Disneyland (I hate that place (or at least I say I do--it's not that bad)). So to lessen the lines, you could do what Lagoon does and charge a fee to wait in line and then another fee to climb a particular wall. That way, the wall will pay for itself and more. What's best is the fact that you have billions of burgeoning nurses in that building just waiting to pick up your pieces and glue them back together. What do you say? Is that SAC material or what?

Frustration

I'm feeling frustrated. There's too much to do in life and half of it is WASTE!!!!

The Spawn of Allison

That's right! Allison and Chris have just announced the future conception of Whirlwind number 3. I don't believe it has a name yet because they don't know the gender, but no doubt it will be a great name like Shear-Jashub or Maher-shalah-hash-baz. Didn't Isaiah have good taste in names?

Speaking of biblical (or bookofmormonical things), I learned new stuff from reading Jacob 5 again. I'd highly recommend it. It's amazing. It's the shortest 77 verses of your life.

My internship woes are weighing more and more heavily on me as time goes on. The thing that almost makes it worse than dating is that there's an actual deadline. Although, on the plus side, once I get one, I'll understand what I'm supposed to do. Hmmmm....

I'm going to go watch the U.S. Amateur Dancesport Championships now while you all won't. But maybe you'll all get to see the championship BYU basketball game tonight. They'll both be good. IT'LL BE MARCH MADNESS SOON! WHOOOPEEEEEE!

Pinky & the Brain

I have to start this blog with the best news of perhaps my life. I was given Volume 1 for Valentines Day. It's hard to believe that I haven't watched all 4 DVD's yet, but I've almost seen 3 of them and I'm loving every minute of it. I often wonder why I love it so much. Probably because they (Pinky and the Brain) represent opposite ends of spectra of which I'll never be a part. I've always held a staunch philosophy that most of the time (certainly not all of the time) there is a perfect middle-o'-the-road way of going about things. But it doesn't mean I don't enjoy the antics of Pinky and the megalomaniacal endeavors of the Brain.
So, what's new in the life of CTMJ? Well, in school I'm building things. Yes, I'm practicing how to become an actual contributing member of society. My dad wants a trellis for his garden to make it that much more beautifuller, so I'm going to create the nicest trellis this world has ever seen as I have mastered the fine art of Tungsten Gas Arc Welding (or TIG). I bought $40 worth of steel that is now rusting outside of the Crabtree building. I'll laugh if no one steals it.

I also have to do a Plastics project so I thought I'd make myself a couple pair of snowshoes. Unfortunately, the aluminum alloy I want to make them with will cost about $100. Is it worth it? Am I really going to find time go snowshoeing? Am I really going to find that special someone who cares about me enough to traverse a trecherous mountainside and then turn their bodies into a projectile on the way back down?

I need an internship. Anybody got one for me? I have got mad skillz; for instance, yesterday I cleaned my bedroom without incident. I'd like to see YOU clean my bedroom with or without incident.

The last crazy thing I'm attempting to tackle is to play Flight of the Bumblebee on my viola. I looked for a copy at the MAD Library so I could listen to it before I played it and we didn't have it. But what we did have, and I should have guessed, was a rendition by the tuba. I don't know much about playing the tuba except that you probably need substantial lung capacity as well as lips with wickedly well-oiled hinges. Maybe I should switch instruments. My lips need to be doing something if they aren't kissing girls.

When I started this post I thought I had some cool things to say. Now I know I was wrong. Wait! Yes! I went to my friend Lexi's wedding reception. Never in my wildest dreams did I think wedding reception could be so amazing. It was the first time in my life using valet parking. The country club was gorgeous and my favorite part--THERE WAS NO LINE! I hate lines. People were just mixing, mingling, and enjoying whatever with whomever. Brilliant. It was also great to see the whole Maxwell family. Most of the time I see bits and pieces of the family. Lexi looked absolutely gorgeous of course. And their whole family looked happy unlike so many other weddings I've been to where the look on their faces say "Am I at a funeral or a wedding?" My only complaint was that I was too stupid for words and took my date out to eat before the wedding so I couldn't eat any of the food they had. It looked better than most 5 star restaurants. I'll be kicking myself forever.

My sister Ashley is next. I begged and pleaded that she use them as an example of how to do a good wedding, but my mom insists on having a line (of which I refuse to be part) and Ashley said she would rather start her marriage out with a decent couch and living room chairs rather than feed people something other than what elephants get at the circus. Oh the tradeoffs. I offered to do the food so it might be better than that, but I can only do so much for 350 people and a budget of $12. Bah humbug.

It's Flu Season!

Don't forget to wash your hands!

Childhood Memories

You probably woke up this morning and said to yourself, "I wonder what's new with Charles lately. I wish he had a blog I could go read." Trouble yourselves no more as I will now answer all of your life's questions.

Life got interesting when I was selling one of my textbooks to a fellow BYU student. His name conjured up intrigue. I asked him if he was from Orem and perhaps attended Geneva Elementary as a young lad. Sure enough, Jared Bristow used to play soccer and chase girls on the same playground where I used to play soccer and get in fights with people whom I offended by calling them off-color names like "bub". I can already tell I'm forgetting a lot in life because there aren't too many things I remember vividly about my Geneva Elementary days. I hope that the roughly 85% of my brain that scientists claim I'm not using is storing all of those memories in high definition.

The only other thing this week that has been on my mind has been whether or not to live at home. BJ thinks I need an exit strategy. Apparently some girls are so misguided as to think that if someone is 26 and living at home, that MUST mean that he has no ambition, lacks the ability to take care of himself, and sends polonium-laced letters to retirees. So far my exit strategy is to stay the course stay the course stay the course. And like the Iraqi situation, my exit will no doubt include nuclear warheads. I welcome any and all comments about nice, cheap, close-to-BYU housing where I might also have clean roommates who don't think that a good time consists of playing Playstation XVIICIM for 9 hours every day and don't date.