Search for Car/Wife

So, today I decided that my search for a car parallels my search for a wife in many ways. If you're single, see if this describes well your personal search for a spouse.

First, we all want a car that looks good to us. Lucky for us, society has a collectively wide variety of what appeals to them visually (there's no accounting for taste) and surely there's a car that looks good for everyone. Unfortunately, individually, we're all sort of picky--some more than others. And the longer we're without a car (single), the more we wonder if we're too picky. Do I want a car that's big, small, nice paint job or little paint, lots of custom work or all natural?

Second, the picky thing goes for not only what a car looks like but the inner workings of the car. Does the car have too little power (energy) or too much, or does the car handle the corners of life well or will it roll easily when things aren't perfectly straight?

Third, accessories. How tricked out is the car? Most of us long for a James Bond style car. Does the car have many bells and whistles (perhaps talents)?

Fourth, how much does the car cost? This isn't just a monetary cost although that's definitely an issue. Some cars do cost a TON of money. But what about the cost in time, in worry (emotional investment), etc? Are we going to put a lot into it only to realize that your bid on eBay was just not enough. After all that work and sweat, you put in $15,000 and still didn't make the reserve price and were rejected.

I could keep going, but I've probably wasted enough time as it is. In the end, as always, the Spirit will help us. But I'm a firm believer that most of the time you have to do A LOT of good hard work and thinking before you're ready for the inspiration that you're looking for. So, onward and upward.

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.