Monday, June 16, 2008

10 years as Tomaxian


Hit my 10 year anniversary at Tomax yesterday which was a Sunday. Today felt like a normal day. Tomax is a good place to work. Lots of perks which I appreciate:

  • Casual Dress

  • Weight Room

  • Table Tennis

  • Flexible work hours

  • Downtown SLC - could be further South in SLC and that would suck



I'd like to be an even greater asset to Tomax by working smarter/harder, learning, documenting what I learn and being more personable with fellow employees and customers. Tomax Rocks!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

"What A Pain in the Butt...."


Cathi noticed at the last Gridley party that Mom and Dad have this sign up on the wall surrounded by family pictures. Cathi's parents also have the same sign up at the cabin surrounded by all the grandkids.

Cathi voiced her thoughts on the saying "All Because Two People Fell In Love..." She said that it was cheesy. If Cathi says something is cheesy, it really is! Usually I'm the one accusing people/songs as cheesy and Cathi thinks I'm just dumb and hard. But Cathi was noticeably bugged by this saying. She mentioned that kids are alot of work and that Grandkids aren't simply because two people fell in love. They're the result of a lot hard work, sweat and tears.

Grandparents definitely have a role in the rearing of children. But the active role goes to the parents.

Cathi said that a more appropriate sign would be "What a pain in the butt..." meaning that child rearing involves alot of pain, as well as a lot of tongue in cheek type humor in order to cope mentally with the stress. Don't get me wrong. Cathi loves our children and does her best to nurture them. So don't go thinking she's a bad parent (especially since we had a "bad parent" experience not too far back).

Anyhow, I designed this sign for anyone who would like to place orders!
Just leave a comment of how many copies you would like and I'll get them made up and sent out to you for display in your own home!

Friday, June 6, 2008

My wife the criminal

Yesterday I was supposed to meet Cathi at America's Best to pick up Austin on the way to his Table Tennis coaching appointment. When I got there Cathi wasn't there and there was no sign of the van. I noticed three police cars there with the officers talking with each other. I figured Cathi's appointment had ended early and had gone home.

When I got home Cathi looked drained. I could tell she had been crying. She asked me to sit down. She really hesitated to tell me what happened. She told me that when she left to go to America's Best she left Jacob with Jonas, Isaac, Sam and Oliver to babysit. She had Lucy and Austin in the van. While Austin was getting his eyes checked some police entered the store and asked for the owner of the van. Cathi had apparently left the house not realizing that she had Sam in the very back seat. He had got in the van before she left and had fallen asleep.

Yesterday's high according to KSL was 64°F (at 5pm) and the van was parked in the shade of a building. Not that the sun was out in full force. It rained straight for two days until yesterday morning. So the situation at that very moment was far from life threatening. Sam had awaken from his nap and was crying. Now the crime that Cathi committed according to the Utah State Codes is "Child Neglect" (78A-6-105 25a). She was not aware that Sam was asleep in the van so it was an accident. But she isn't completely free from wrong doing. When she left the house she did not fully account for every child and literally hand over the responsibility properly to Jacob (who probably doesn't qualify as a responsible babysitter in Utah).

She was angry at herself and angry at the person calling the police. My attitude would be considerably different had yesterday's high been in the 90's or 100's. I'm glad Sam is safe and that is what matters. What can be done to ensure this doesn't happen again? Cathi has told me she has put two new rules on herself:

  1. Accounting for each child BEFORE leaving them with a babysitter. Also keeping track of the kids during the day. Sometimes they roam around our yard, Bremers and Browns (the families on each side) but with them being so small they can't be trusted to stay in that zone, or to be wise enough to make good decisions about what activities they get involved in while with their friends.

  2. Babysitting - no more leaving Jacob or Lucy as the babysitter for more than an hour. Austin is responsible enough we believe, but Jacob or Lucy are not at this point.


Last week I saw a guy holding up his infant with one hand balancing the baby while smiling and cooing at him. Some would consider this dangerous. Had they guy dropped the infant, that would have probably constituted neglect. Where is the line between unnecessary risk/horse play, or neglect/thoughtlessness? When parent's make bonehead mistakes with their kids and the safety of the children is in question family services steps in to try to ensure that they are safe and that those same mistakes don't happen again. Problem is, they can't. Accident's happen. We're human. We get lazy, we don't do every single tiny little action with precision 100% of the time. But that doesn't free us from our responsibilities. We need to do better.

So probation at this point would be the best action in my opinion. If mistakes involving the safety of children are frequent, then greater action should be taken. But I don't think my wife should be treated like a criminal at this point. I'm also very grateful that this situation didn't happen in hot weather, or that Sam got out of the car and wandered off. The thought of that really worries me.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Respect your elders


I try my best to "keep the peace". Yesterday while on the FrontRunner train I overhead two old men talking. One was complaining about how many Utah drivers pass on the right side. I wanted so badly to speak up and respond "Nobody WANTS to pass you on the right! If there is any conceivable space in lanes to your right you should go there even if nobody is behind you!"

I really can't stand it when people drive in the left lanes when they go slow. I refuse to be at the mercy of an old person idiot driver. Nothing gets me fired up more than slow and cell phone carrying drivers who are oblivious to anyone else.

But I keep my mouth shut and respect my elders.