cc: file, Andrea, Tony Hafen, Sara and Des Penny, & Maxine Shirts
"Andrea and I flew back to Houston from my 35th High
School Class Reunion on Monday, the 7th of July. We
had not heard from Matt and were curious as to how he
was doing at Sea Cadet Boot Camp. I believe the
digital photos to the left and below answer this question very well.
However, we did not take the phontos until Saturday,
July 11th. We took the early flight back, and Rob picked
us up at the airport because Rachel was working. We
had a nice visit, and took some of his books back for
a refund. He was due to get his grades for Spanish, and
I still haven't heard how he did. He is going to pick me
up again tonight, and so hopefully we will get caught up
again, at least with that little bit of himself he will let me into.
At the Cedar 7th Ward the day before Andrea had been looking at a posting of requests for missionaries. There was a listing for someone to work with the Natural Resources Department of the Church generating oil and gas exploration Prospects on church property. I called the contact when we got to Salt Lake from Cedar at 7:30 AM, and made arrangements to go downtown and meet with him. However, Delta flights were full, and there was no way they could guarantee me a seat for a couple of days, and so I ended up postponing our meeting until the 22nd of July (0330.html). It was interesting how Andrea and I actually shared some strong emotions at the airport because of our different approaches to handleing this situation. I did what she suggested, and it worked out, and I guess that is sufficient to say.
When we got home there was the normal process of storing all of the spam mail so I can someday build a good filter to keep it from coming to anyone with a walden3d.com e-mail address. There was a nice e-mail from Hayden Hudson announcing his marriage, and asking for Mary Lunt's phone number because he needs someone to help take care of his mother. She is on dialysis and needs help 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Hard times.
The most important news was from Sara Ellyn, who informed me she has been accepted to serve in the Peace Corp in Benin and reports for training on the 24th of September. The words of Marcus Heal at the bar in London, when he learned of her plans, ring through my head: 'So what are you going to think when she comes home with this big strapping black man on her arm?' Sara I hope you have learned I will love you, and I will let you experience the consequences of your choices. I am very proud of you and your desire to provide service. I do not consider the Peace Corp the same as a mission, specifically because I have traveled a lot, I have met many in the Peace Corp, and there is not the same moral basis in their service there is in serving a mission. At the same time, there are very few other things I can think of which I would rather see you doing at your age than providing service to our fellow human beings.
Tuesday was also spent reading papers, cleaning up e-mail, finishing up Shackelford County stuff, working on the Indian data for Phoenix, etc. The most important thing business wise was a teleconference with John Benard and Frank Lott, the geologist who will be working with me in Shackelford County. The work with Benard is looking better and better.
Tuesday evening I went to an University of Utah Alumni Dinner at a Chinese restaurant down by the Galleria. There were about 10 Utah Alum and three professors present. It was typical Chinese food, and the conversation was very interesting. Dr. Margarie Chan was the host, and she is still not sure what to do with me regarding my efforts to see a geoscience repository placed at Southern Utah University. She has done some really interesting work on how hydrocarbons have leached the hematite (the red) out of some of the Navajo sandstones in Southern Utah. There were several interesting discussions with different Alumni, and there have been follow-up e-mail's including an interesting prospect for sale in Portugal. There is a new professor who recently graduated from Stanford named Cari Johnson who is doing some interesting Basin Modeling work. She is interested in the dynamic replenishment ideas I have been pursuing.
Wednesday morning I received the digital files from the SEG for the article they published in The Leading Edge about me. I reworked the Walden 3-D Home Page (www.walden3d.com) for the first time in several years. The next thing I intend to do with this web page is to add links to Roice's pages at www.gravitation3d.com and Melanie's pages at www.memorymelodies.com. There was a nice e-mail of introduction from Justin and Bridget's friends Matt and Stacey Russon. We were able to get together with them and their two cute kids the following Thursday. In the evening, Rachel, Andrea, and I went to see 'Legally Blonde II.' It is pretty dumb, and I found the not-so-subtle lobbying for gay marriages offensive.
Thursday, July 10th there was a nice complimentary e-mail from Michael Ring at Chroma Energy about The Leading Edge article. We started a conversation which ended up in a lunch discussion about Chroma being involved with John Benard's projects. It will be interesting to see how well I keep control of these projects. I hope I have learned enough to do so. Todd Staheli sent a nice, and short, e-mail saying that his motorcycle presentation (0324.html) went very well. Wish I could have been in the room to see the faces of these folks when the bike roared into the room. David Forrest, my contact at NASA, called to say he is changing jobs, and giving me my new contact. We set up a disclosure meeting for the following Tuesday (0329.html). I slipped off to Hartz Chicken for lunch, to have some 'real food' on my way to work on the Landmark license at II&T. I spent the afternoon and evening working on the Phoenix data in India.
Friday morning we were up early and on our way to Austin to go to Matt's graduation from Sea Cadets. I was up late, for a change, and Rachel drove again. I woke up about Columbus, and was reading the book Steve Riches loaned me about Abraham Lincoln. There was a quote in it worth passing on:
We went right to Sara's apartment, where Rachel climbed over the fence to let us in, and we were fed wonderful breakfast burritos with tomatoes and cheese and onions mixed in with scrambled eggs. Sara, it is very fullfilling to see you so excited about your Peace Corp service. You know I worry, my prayers will be with you, and I hope you will live your life the way you've been taught for I know if you do so you will find life a pretty good high. Sara Ellyn had to work. Roice's girlfriend Sara's car broke down and Roice called and said he was not going to be able to make Matt's graduation. We arranged to meet for lunch.
And so Rachel, Andrea, and I drove over to Camp Mabry to see Matt's graduation. I have several digital pictures of the ceremony, the marching, the awards, and the pomp and circumstance. It was neat to see four companies of youth able to work together as a finely oiled machine. I have never been much interested in the military, and as we watched these kids marching and showing off their ability to work together and to follow orders, I was very impressed. Having worked with Scouts for years I know how hard it is to get a group of just 10 to 18 boys to stay in a line on a trail at Philmont or someplace less exotic. After the ceremony I talked to several of the leaders I now know, and Matt gave us his summary report as we looked at his barracks. It was a hard two weeks for Matt, and there were times he didn't think he would make it. And he did make it, and the fact it was good for him was shown in his countenance.
While the cadets cleaned out their barracks, we went to The Texas Military Forces Museum. It is a neat museum, and those of you who live in Austin or who visit there often would do good to visit the museum. Melanie and Jared, I particularly encourage you to take Colby there when he is between 5 and 12 to see the panoramas of the battle of the Alamo, the Battle of San Jacinto, as well as the tanks, and photos, uniforms and ribbons, muskets and stories, etc.
(Click on images for larger view)
The three photos above were taken at the
closing review, after the barracks were all cleaned.
Needless to say, Matt was ready to go as soon as
he was released. And so we got in the car, got on
the cell phone to Roice, and decided to follow
tradition and go to The Olive Garden for Matt's
Sea Cadet Boot Camp graduation lunch. Matt
was waiting outside in his whites (white uniform)
for Roice when he got there. We had a nice lunch
and a nice discussion. Roice is being guided by
his artistic girlfriend in painting his condo blue and
orange. These were always my favorite colors
together. I have wondered if it is because of the
Southern Utah sunsets, or the fact they are
complimentary colors, or whether the colors we
like have something to do with how we think?
Another topic for another time.
Rachel drove back to Houston, and Matt was glad to be home. His voice was horse from all of the yelling, he was tired, and I think he was glad to be under the direction of his "NAZI-Mom" instead of the Marines who drilled him at Sea Cadet Boot Camp.
Saturday morning there was a nice note from Chris Harding whom I worked with at the University of Houston. He has accepted a position at Iowa State University at VRAC, where Paul is talking about doing Ph.D. work, and will be specializing in using touch and sound for the geosciences. Andrea and I went by Eric Mauc's place to follow-up on the discussions about having his family and his parents over for bar-b-que when I was last out with the missionaries. We could not get the schedules together until after Andrea returns from her three weeks in Cedar City. Oh well. We took Matt to see 'The Hulk' in the afternoon. Lots of violence. I came away from the movie feeling in awe at the special effect changes which have come into the movies over the last decade, and especially the last couple of years. It is really phenomenal what the special effects folks can do now.
Sunday morning both Matt and I had interviews with the Bishop. I was given a new calling as the Ward Employment Specialist (0329.html). Matt had his 16th birthday interview. With his shaved head, the scar from hitting the water tube and getting his head stapled back together at Youth Camp really stands out as a smiley face. At church, several folks commented on this, and on how much better Matt seemed to be carrying himself. The first fruits of Matt's first Sea Cadet Boot Camp."