This weekend was our Ward Conference. The events associated with the conference includes a special meeting in the Idaho Falls Temple along with a temple endowment session. Nina is an ordinance worker at the Temple and this Saturday was one of her four Saturday afternoons that she also works. There are thirteen shifts at the Temple, but not one for Saturday afternoon. Each of the other shifts works four Saturdays during the year to make up for that shift.

So, I went up with her and spent much of the afternoon in the Temple as well. Her shift started at noon and ended at 7 p.m.

The are are two new film presentations at the Temples. While the dialog hasn’t changed, the new film presentations are designed to help patrons think about the covenants and obligations in a different light. They are both very successful in that regard. Both of them put a bit more emphasis on the fall of Adam and the need for a savior Jesus Christ.

Today I was looking through some of the books still to be listed on Amazon (see my post on being a Used Book Salesman). One of the books is titled “Yankee Doodles” and is a collection of American poetry. In there I ran across this poem which interestingly also reflected my thoughts on Adam and the Garden of Eden:

The Old Adam

All night rain fell,
All night unwound a heavy glistening skein.
Two slept well
Beneath thick leafage curtained by the rain.

All night wind blew unending,
All night pursued the same despairing themes–
Triumphal music blending
With Love’s triumphant dreams.

All night the forest crept
With stealthy life and little lanterned eyes;
All night rain wept,
A wild wind roared, and deep in Paradise,
Flame-sentineled, high-walled,
The corpse-cold serpent crawled.

Two slept. Toward morning
Eve murmured, Adam woke
And comfortingly spoke,
Then — open-eyed —
Recalled it all — the Warning,
The strange Beguiling,
The Word defied,
The Exile that ensued….

And so lay smiling,
His heart held breathless with Beatitude.
— William Rose Benét

 

We stopped at a gas station in northern Pocatello Saturday morning waiting to meet up with a ham radio colleague. While there I noticed the gas prices. At this Shell station the price was $3.239 per gallon. Across the street the price was $3.199 per gallon. A four cent difference. Is that enough to make a difference for people buying gasoline? It must not be, at least for the driver of the white SUV!

Gasoline prices here in Pocatello have been on a roller coaster. A week ago the prices were as low as $2.749 a gallon. Today the lowest in town is $3.179 at Costco (membership required). A month ago the prices here were about $3.29 while in Idaho Falls the prices were around $2.799. The local channel 6 tv station tweets every morning the lowest prices here and in Idaho Falls. That Is Goodness!

After mother went into the assisted living center, we began clearing out her house and a big wall of books. Most of the books went back to those that had gifted them to mother and dad. The rest went up for grabs by the rest of the family. Whatever was left came home with us. I started listing them for sale on Amazon this afternoon. The process for listing the books is easy and straight forward.

I did a search on the book title (most of them are old enough that they don’t have an ISBN number … that stands for an International Standard Book Number). If the book is for sale somewhere on Amazon or affiliates, up comes a button “Sell my book” (if not, there’s a rather arduous process to get a new listing). I clicked on the button, listed the information, uploaded pictures, and viola, the book is available for sale. By the time I wrapped up for tonight I had twelve books (if I’ve counted right) listed for sale. A couple of them are worth some serious dollars. I’ve got another thirty or forty books to get listed. Any that don’t sell in the next three months I’ll send to Deseret Industries for disposition.

There’s an interesting side effect of the Olympics. NBC has been really touting their lineup … enough so that I’ve actually become quite interested in watching two of them: “About a Boy” and “Growing Up Spencer”. I’ll probably record them both to watch at a later time and decide whether to watch more of it. The reviews of both look fairly positive. I don’t watch very much television, so it’ll take a lot to capture my attention.

Ta ta for now!

About ten minutes into the performance, Nina and I turned to each other and high fived! Music that we hadn’t heard since we were teenagers and dating (before the Beatles took over) was coming from the stage. It was a an electric atmosphere in the hall. What a great evening!

So, who are the Bronx Wanderers??? I’d never heard of them. They don’t have an entry in Wikipedia. They don’t have a web page (that I could find). They do have a Facebook page (located here). I’m pretty sure that they are fairly unknown, at least here in Idaho, played into the attendance. The hall was less than half full. Those that had tickets and didn’t go definitely missed a show!

It’s a “family act” with two sons playing with their father. The sons are definitely musicians as well. I’m hoping they come back to Pocatello … or we find ourselves somewhere they are performing. I’ve had an eartune since last night!

Ta ta for now!

 

 

We were gifted a pair of tickets to the ISU men’s basketball game last Monday (February 17, 2014) evening. This would be the first time we’ve attended a basketball game here … and one of the very few basketball games we’ve ever attended.

ISU was about mid-pack in their conference with six wins and seven losses. Their opponent Weber State, from Ogden Utah, leads the conference with eleven wins and 2 losses. That was to change on this evening. Idaho State stayed right with Weber, tied at the end of regulation time, and won by three points at the end of a five-minute overtime period.

We had a delightful time! We should really do this kind of thing more often. The crowd was very lively, the spirit in the arena was catching, and the outcome was sweet. The officiating, however, was at best “spotty” and definitely inconsistent. It must be difficult for teams to play when the rules are wishy-washy. On the other hand, the inconsistent officiating didn’t favor either team. They both benefited and suffered from the officiating.

Meanwhile, both Nina and I are REALLY enjoying the Winter Olympic Games! As I write this, Ted Ligety just threw down two magnificent runs on the Giant Slalom to take gold. My personal favorite, Bode Miller, however, has had a very difficult Olympics and will probably hang up his skis after this is over. A graphic tonight said that he has more than a hundred pairs of skis and invested more than $175,000 in equipment. That is an amazing number. Well, time to watch the lady’s short program.

Ta ta for now!

 

The eastern US is getting clobbered with snow and ice. They don’t need it … they’re tired of it … we’d like to have it.

Instead, we’re getting rain. A lot of rain. Enough that we’re getting water in the basement. That means I need a contractor to come and figure out what the problem is and get it solved. Dang! I’d much rather have snow!

Ta ta for now!

Two big events marked this year’s Valentine’s Day. Each year the Idaho State Civic Symphony presents a Valentine’s Day program on the Friday closest to The Day. This year, The Day and the concert coincided. This is billed as a “pops” concert featuring mariachi music. The guests were just delightful! It was an excellent concert, but unfortunately there were a LOT of empty seats.

The second event of the day was the delivery of a new refrigerator.

While the current fridge was OK … but it’s side-by-side configuration wasn’t very optimal. Pocatello Electric (a highly recommended store!) was having a sale in January of refrigerators; we still have an income; the time was right. The appliance was delivered Friday afternoon. It has the French doors on top and the freezer section (with a couple of shelves).

Of course, stuff has to be loaded differently in this machine. It’ll take me a while to figure out where everything is. Meanwhile, I’m sure I’ll be frustrating Nina by putting things back into a different place than she had planned….

Once a year each of the Commissions set up by the Pocatello City Council meets with the Council in a “Study Session”. I’m the Chairman of the Pocatello Airport Commission and our turn to meet with the Council was last Thursday morning. We were scheduled at 9 a.m. and the meeting started promptly at 9. It is broadcast on the local “access” channel on CableOne channel 12, so there was a bit more timekeeping that might otherwise be seen in a meeting. These are my notes I made to guide the presentation to the council:

Roland Smith, Chairman of the Pocatello Regional Airport Commission
David Allen, Airport Manager

The other members of the council include:
Dawn Clark
Dick Greggerson
Tim Magagna
Rhonda Naftz
Dwayne Sudweeks
Bob Steinlicht (Power County)

Michael Orr represents the City Council

Commission meets on the 2nd Tuesday at noon each month at the airport

The airport serves SE Idaho with commercial passenger service, commercial and general aviation services, and a business park with the associated land development to capitalize on the airport infrastructure.

Significant tenants at the airport include the AvCenter, McNabb Grain and Trucking, Petersen Inc., Utah Helicopters, and several others.

Primary purpose of the commission is to provide transparency and oversight to the leaseholders, citizens, and other constituents about the business dealings at the airport.

We presented the following highlights from 2013:

Highlights from 2013
To be a significant economic engine and vital source for transportation services for southeastern Idaho through the development of air service, general aviation, and non-aviation land development (Pocatello Airport Mission Statement).

Community Outreach: Present a continuous, positive image to the communities we serve and gain public support for airport issues

• Issued multiple press releases and received excellent media coverage
• Active presence in the Pocatello Chubbuck, Blackfoot and American Falls Chambers of Commerce and prominent civic organizations
•  Made presentations to Chambers and civic organizations

Air Service: Strengthen current air service, determine current and future needs, and obtain new service to meet those needs

• Morning outbound and evening inbound jet service continues
• Conducted one-on-one interviews with major businesses to learn air service needs and educate on availability
• Number of passengers using airport increased almost 9% in 2013 over 2012

Land Use: Develop commercial use of lands in accordance with the Airport Master Plan with an emphasis on attracting aviation-related businesses that can capitalize on airport infrastructure

• Solar farm still in negotiation
• Assessing infrastructure needs and financing for current prospects and to allow for 5- to10-year build-out

This is probably my last time to present to City Council as this time next year, we’ll probably be somewhere else serving a mission. I’ve enjoyed this opportunity to be of service to the community!