I like old stuff. Why? I have no idea. Most new things are more efficient, cheaper, more useful. But, that doesn’t change me liking old stuff. Here’s just some of it.
I carry a pocket handkerchief and a pocket knife.
My stepfather gave me this 1921 silver dollar that I carry for luck.
My son gave me this pocket watch. I carry it every day. And use it regularly.
I have a bit of a pocket watch collection. From left to right. Far left belongs to my son. The next one is one I bought. The black one is actually tarnished silver. It was a gift from my mother to my father. The watch fob belonged to my grandfather. The white faced watch next to that belonged to my other grandfather. The one on the end of the board was another gift from a kid. And the watch in the glass case belonged to my great-grandfather. Oh, and the wooden display board was made by my daughter.
Lots of history in that picture.
This is what people used before we had calculators and smart phones. This is a slide rule. It’s the tool that engineers used to put a man on the moon.
I not only own a slide rule, I can use it. (Okay, I can only multiply an divide.)
I’ve typed on this old type writer. As a writer, I have to admit I appreciate my computer and iPad. Corrections are SO much easier. But, still the typewriter has a place of honor in my office.
No, this isn’t any sort of incense or drug picture. It’s a wax seal that imprints the Masonic image. And that’s a wax stick. And that’s a traditional Zippo lighter.
A leather journal and a fountain pen? Of course.
This looks old, but is actually very modern. This entertainment center is bluetooth enabled, has a CD player, a cassette player and of course, can play records. I own three.
Here’s another new thing that looks old. This is a replica deck of 1865 playing cards. I play solitaire with these.
These books look old and they are old. These are Tyler Ledgers for Story Lodge #4. The books cover attendees from the years 1896 through 1910. I’m the historian for Story Lodge #4. These are irreplaceable.
Do I NEED to lock my rolltop desk with a large brass key?
No.
Do I lock my rolltop desk with a large brass key?
Just about every day.
Even my car is old. It’s a 1996 Toyota Corolla. It’s manual transmission, manual windows, manual doorlocks.
I just like the old stuff.
Of course, if you ask my kids, they’d say I just like stuff as old as me. . .I’m not sure they are wrong.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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“Why did you make the donations anonymously? “
“Because I wanted to remain ANONYMOUS!”
– Absence of Malice
I’m a writer. Okay, you probably guessed that by all the words I write here every Monday through Friday. But, I also write short stories (coming next spring in an anthology.) I write for the local newspaper. (Okay, it’s a monthly, but it still has to fill its pages.) I write journals. I have three currently; a collection of spiritual events (weddings, sons going on missions, etc), one that is a list of 40 life history questions, and one that is for other thoughts and musings. I also write prayers for my Mason’s lodge. And my kids gave me a “Journaling” service for Christmas last year. I get an interesting question every Monday. Such as “What’s your favorite vacation memory?” Or, “Tell me about one of the best days you can remember.” At the end of the year, they are going to put it all into a book and send it to me.
Sometimes the question is something I can answer immediately. Sometimes it takes me a few days to think through it.
But, last week I got one that I just can’t answer. It asked, “Have you ever given or been the recipient of a random act of kindness?”
Okay, the simple answer is “Yes, I have. Next!” But, the idea is to give a longer, more interesting answer. And that’s clearly an interesting question. We love to hear about random acts of kindness. They help restore our faith in the world.
Remember Mike Ilitch? He founded Little Caesars Pizza. But, he’s possibly better remembered for the fact that he paid Rosa Parks rent for the last ten years of her life.
But, here’s the thing, he didn’t do it for the fame. In fact, it wasn’t until after she died that we even heard about it. Ilitch clearly wanted to keep it anonymous.
And that’s what makes it so hard for me to answer this question. With as much writing as I do, as many stories as I tell, I don’t tell those stories. Not even to my wife or my friends. Maybe it’s a false sense of nobility. Maybe, (I think this is what Nietzsche would say) I do it to feel good about myself. To somehow feel noble?
I like to think it’s more Christian than that. Jesus said,
1. Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2. Therefore when thou doesn’t thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say until you, They have their reward.
3. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what they right hand doth:
4. That thine alms may be in secret: and they Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
Matthew Chapter 6
But, if that’s why I don’t talk about it, am I really doing any better? Am I doing it so that I can get heavenly blessings? That doesn’t seem very charitable, does it?
I had an opportunity just tonight to help someone out. The person said, “God bless you.” My thought was “God bless us all.” The person I was helping needed God’s blessing more than I do right now.
Yes, I’ve been the recipient of random acts of kindness. More than I could ever say or deserved. And I’ve tried to pay that back and pay it forward. But, despite being a loudmouth writer with WAY too much to say, I think those are stories I’m going to keep for myself.
I hope you go about quietly doing good. I hope you take advantage of the opportunity to help others, even if it’s just a smile or a kind word. And I’ll understand if you want to retell that story. Like everyone, I love hearing those stories.
I just don’t tell them.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
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or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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I said goodbye to my son today. I gave me a hug and told him I was proud of him. I won’t be able to hug him again for 23 months.
My son is 18 years old. He turns 19 in a couple months. Last year he graduated from Pleasant Grove High School where he played on the football team and did his best to pass all his classes.
He has a serious girlfriend who lives North of Salt Lake City. He also has two best friends from high school. He wants to go to a Utah university and study criminal justice to become a police officer. Specifically he wants to be a SWAT team member.
So, why is he putting all of that on hold for the next two years?
You’ll have to go with me into Mormon theology and culture a little bit. If you aren’t interested, that’s fine. Tomorrow I will probably be back to writing about cars, or campouts. And if you are not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I don’t expect you to understand. If you are a member, then you already know.
The church has always been a missionary church. From the time the church was founded in 1830, men have been going on missions. You’ve seen them. They are the clean cut young men (and women) in white shirts and ties with those black name tags.
They all seem to have the same first name: Elder. Elder is a priesthood office in the church. As a full time missionary, young men are also full time representatives for the church and for Jesus Christ himself. Elder is the priesthood authority that they hold.
The boys have actual names, of course. But, for two years they will be known as Elder. My son has a name tag that says Elder Bliss.
My son will go to the Missionary Training Center in Provo Utah for the next two weeks. After that he will get on a plane and fly to Philadelphia. That’s the area that he will spend the next two years preaching.
Missionaries have a pretty simple mission. They are 100% focused on sharing information about Jesus Christ. Will they talk about the Book of Mormon? Joseph Smith? Tithing and not smoking or drinking?
Of course. The Book of Mormon is a book that has many, many stories about Jesus Christ. In fact, the subtitle of the book is “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.” Joseph Smith? He was the founder of the Mormon church and the first prophet of modern times. Just as ancient prophets received revelations for the people living throughout history, modern prophets receive revelations for people today. Joseph Smith was the first prophet of modern times. Today there is a prophet named Russell M. Nelson. Elder Bliss will talk about him too.
There are some pretty strict requirements to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You have to give up alcohol, tobacco, even coffee. Why? Well, that’s another (long) discussion, but mostly because of those modern revelations I talked about.
So, is a missionary just out there to get more converts for the Mormon church?
No. In fact, there are some missionaries that don’t preach at all. Really, it’s about sharing the Word of God. In fact, if you have no intention of EVER joining the church, but you still would like to hear a message about Jesus, the missionaries will be happy to engage at whatever level you would like.
My son has planned on going on a mission since he was a little boy. Tithing, giving one tenth of your income to the church, is a well established practice in the Church of Jesus Christ, as it is in many churches. Many young men view a mission almost as a service tithing. Ten percent of your first 20 years.
My son’s friends will likely still be his friends when he gets back. His girlfriend? Let’s not even go there. He’ll apply to a university. He’ll move on to the next phase of his life. A phase that many young men enter right out of high school. He’ll be two years old. Hopefully, a little wiser.
But, he’ll also be a different person. Spending two years serving the people of Philadelphia will have an impact.
Good luck and Godspeed, Elder Bliss.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
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LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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Sorry, I realize very few of you, my faithful readers are baseball fans. I try to limit the amount of words I put down on this electronic paper talking about America’s pastime. And honestly, whatever I write today will be in the bottom of the birdcage tomorrow. Baseball is like that. With 162 game regular season, there’s a baseball game every day, with few exceptions from April through October.
Have you ever watched a car race? Indianapolis 500, or the Daytona 500, or example? That race is 500 miles long and often the ending is decided by a handful of seconds. Sometimes baseball seasons are like that. They play for six months and the season can be decided in the last few days.
My favorite team, the Seattle Mariners are in that position. They have four games left. And they are 1/2 game away from qualifying for the playoffs. (Don’t worry too much about what a “half game” means. I don’t really understand it either. Well, I do, but well enough to explain it.)
So, here we are, the last week of September, and the Mariners, the team that has the longest playoff drought (20 years) and the only MLB team to NEVER attend the World Series is fighting for a chance to keep playing after game 162 records its final out.
I know those of you who aren’t baseball fans, don’t care. And even those of you who are, many of you support some team besides the Mariners. But, this week is why I love being a baseball fan. It will all be over in week. Even if they win, it will be the playoffs, a whole new season.
But, for now. . .it’s wonderful.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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Does anyone buy anything without reading through the reviews any more? Seems like our entire lives are governed by those little stars. And of course, fractions. Who knew you could cut a star in half? Isn’t that like trying to dig half a hole?
You probably look for products with the highest rating. And don’t misunderstand, so do I. But, if you really want to find out about a product look at the 1 star reviews. Someone really has something to say if they only give a single star.
Those 1 Star reviews will quickly tell you what COULD go wrong with your purchase. You aren’t going to get that from the 5 star reviews. “Everything was great. Perfect even!” Okay. Good to know.
The low reviews fall into a couple different categories. First, are the ones that aren’t really the company or the products fault.
“I didn’t realize this was only available in black.”
“Keyboard will not fit comfortably into my workspace.”
“Noisier than I expected.”
These can provide valuable information. Noisy? Oh, I was going to put this in the baby’s room. Black? Yeah, that’s not going to work well with her pink themed room.
The other type of low reviews are when somehow the company or the product screwed up.
“Arrived missing parts.”
“Will turn on but only runs for 5 min before it overheats.”
“Had someone else’s picture instead of my baby’s.”
These are the most valuable reviews. Because they tell you if the company will make it right. Did someone from the company add a comment saying,
“Please let us know what parts are missing and we’ll get those out to you right away.”
“Please call our customer service number and provide them the model number. We’ll be happy to help you figure out the issue.”
“Please send me your order number and I’ll track down the correct item.”
The opposite could happen as well. You might see plenty of comments saying, “Same thing happened to me.” Or “Called support never heard back.” People who are unhappy are always willing to tell you about it. If they are telling you, then listen.
However, obviously if a company has ONLY negative reviews, don’t buy from them. But, if a company has a good review score, it’s still worth checking out the unhappy customers. It will tell you the worst that can happen.
If a product doesn’t have any 1 star reviews I get a little suspicious. It might actually be the thing that makes me move on and shop elsewhere.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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This post is for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint. You might know them (us) as Mormons, but the president of the church, Russell M. Nelson has revealed that God is not pleased if we fail to use the full name of the church. Mormon and LDS are both terms that have fallen out of favor with the church.)
If you are not a member of the Latter-day Saints, you are welcome to read along. And you are welcome to comment. But, as you will see, this post really isn’t directed at you.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded in 1830. It was a restoration of the ancient church. And just as the church anciently has been led by apostles and prophets, the modern church is also led by a modern prophet. Russel M. Nelson is the 17th man to lead the church since it was founded almost 200 years ago. And each of those men was a literal prophet of God, as capable of receiving revelation from God as Adam, or Noah, or Moses or Peter or Paul. Or any of the special witnesses of Jesus Christ.
This is the theology of the church. If you are not a member, I don’t expect you to believe that Russell M. Nelson is a prophet, seer and revelator. Just know that members of the Church of Jesus Christ DO believe he is a prophet, seer and revelator.
30: And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31: Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
. . .
34: Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kills and crucify; and some for them ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city.
— Matthew Chapter 23
Members of the church believe that we still, today, have those prophets and wise men sent to us. We also, I think mostly believe that had we lived in the days of the ancient prophets, we would not have been in the group that stoned the prophets.
The prophet, commonly called President Nelson since he’s also the president of the Church recently released a statement about members who want to attend services that happen inside temples. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not attend Sunday services inside the temples. They are sacred buildings for marriages (called Sealings) and other ordinances for both the living and the dead.
Here’s what the prophet and president of the church said on September 22, 2021:
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
We are grateful that in recent months, some level of ordinance work has resumed in every temple. Our desire is to keep temples open.
As cases of COVID-19 increase in many areas, we want to do everything possible to allow temples to remain open. Therefore, effective immediately, all temple patrons and workers are asked to wear face masks at all times while in the temple. These safety protocols are temporary, based on COVID-19 conditions, and will be rescinded as soon as circumstances permit.
Our urging Church members to be vaccinated and to protect themselves and others from the spread of disease has precedent. Prior First Presidencies shared similar messages in 1900 about smallpox and in 1957 regarding polio. Please do all you can to protect yourself and others so the work of the Lord on both sides of the veil can move forward.
Sincerely yours,
Russell M. Nelson
Dallin H. Oaks
Henry B. Eyring
(Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring are assistants to President Nelson)
Now, you might be thinking, “Okay, great that the leaders of the Mormon church are finally getting on board with the mask and vaccine push, but September 2021 seems a little late.”
And you’d be correct. Except that here’s what that same prophet said over a month ago:
To limit exposure to these viruses, we urge the use of face masks in public meetings whenever social distancing is not possible. To provide personal protection from such severe infections, we urge individuals to be vaccinated. Available vaccines have proven to be both safe and effective.”
Okay, so the prophet has twice in six weeks urged members to get vaccinated. But, he’s a religious figure, right. Not to disrespect him at all, but what does the leader of a church know about the field of medicine?
In Russell M. Nelson’s case, quite a lot. Prior to being asked to become an apostle in the church, DOCTOR Nelson was a world famous heart surgeon. The man is certainly qualified to hold forth on masks and medical practices.
So, members of the Church have a man they revere as a prophet of God, who ALSO just happens to have spent a career wearing a surgical mask urging them to be vaccinated.
You’d think that would be the end of it, right? Chapels across Utah and the world must be filled with people wearing masks, don’t you think?
Not so much. Many members are choosing not to wear masks. They are choosing to not go to the temple. They are choosing to exercise their “free agency” to not get vaccinated, despite a literal prophet of God telling them to.
In the Book of Mormon an ancient prophet talks about the ancient Israelites. When the Israelites were beset by poisonous snakes, Moses created the image of a brass serpent.
9: And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived
— Numbers Chapter 21
Alma provides additional details. Seems that not everyone looked on the brass serpent.
19 Behold, he was spoken of by aMoses; yea, and behold a btype was craised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live.
20 But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would aheal them.
— Alma Chapter 33
Seems crazy doesn’t it? The idea that someone would not do something as simple as look at a brass serpent if it was the different between living and dying.
How simple is wearing a mask? Or getting a vaccine shot? Alma went on:
21 O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in aunbelief, and be bslothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish?
— Alma Chatper 33
But, did President Nelson REALLY command it? I mean was it really like Moses? Except that nowhere does it say that Moses commanded people to look. I would imagine he urged people to look at the brass serpent.
Earlier I put “free agency” in quotes. It’s a concept in the Gospel that people have a choice. No one is compelled. The Gospel would not be the Gospel without freedom. And if you read the news site stories about the current “encouragement” they quote many people saying, “I have my choice. We don’t need a one size fits all strategy.”
Yes, choice is important. In fact, our first parents, Adam and Eve had a choice.
15: And the LORD God commanded the man, saying Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eaters thereof thou shalt surely die.
— Genesis Chapter 2
So, sure you have a choice. I have a choice. Everyone has a choice. And President Nelson, God’s prophet didn’t say, “We urge you to get vaccinated or you shall surely die.”
But then neither did Moses.
Those saints who have read President Nelson’s messages should consider the words of Jesus. If you will not follow modern prophets, chances are good you would not follow ancient prophets.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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Today I had lunch with a dead man.
Well, he wasn’t actually dead. Not anymore at least. (No, this is not a paranormal story.)
I’ve known my Steve for almost 20 years. And it was only an accident of time and space that prevented us from knowing each other even longer. We have both been in the IT world for nearly as long as the IT world has been around.
Steve and I used to be neighbors. We lived a block from each other in Pleasant Grove. We both moved. I moved to a different location in Pleasant Grove. Steve moved to California. But, he still had a house here in Utah. He travelled back and forth a lot.
We would meet for lunch when he was in town. Typically once a month.
And then COVID hit. As you remember, no one went anywhere. We all holed up in our houses only venturing out for a trip to the store, or maybe a forbidden night out to eat. With proper social distancing, of course.
As you might imagine, when two old friends get together after not seeing each other for a year, we had a lot to catch up on. I have three kids on missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We both have new grandkids.
And then there was COVID. My lovely wife and son were infected about a year ago. With plenty of oxygen for my lovely wife, she did okay. My son, was one of those with no symptoms.
We all got vaccinated. And so far have managed to avoid the Delta Variant.
Steve wasn’t so lucky. He got sick prior to the vaccines being available. But, he was terribly sick. he recovered. Then the vaccines were available. And then Delta Variant hit him and his wife. And did he die? No, but he was sure that’s where he was going to end up.
He lost a lot of weight. He lost his sense of taste and smell. He flirted with the edge of death for three days.
I told the story of a young friend who passed from COVID. He talked about the death of his father-in-law, not from COVID, actually. I thought about my own sister who passed away last year from a fall.
We talked about the fickle nature of this insidious disease. My coworkers lost parents in the past year. Today I heard that an old family friend, one that helped me as a teenager, passed from COVID.
Steve is a different person than the last time we had lunch. He no longer watches the news. He spends more time with his family. He does more hiking and camping.
I realized that I’m not the man I was either. All of us, the entire world, have been changed. We are painfully aware that life is short and tomorrow is never guaranteed.
My friend didn’t die from COVID, but it absolutely changed him. Almost a rebirth.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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Yesterday with the first day of Fall. Have you ever wondered who they decide when Fall starts? It’s all about the tilt of the earth.
Seriously. When the sun is directly over the equator is called the equinox. When the sun is headed North, it’s the Spring or vernal equinox. When the sun crosses the equator on it’s way South it’s called the autumnal equinox.
Stated another way, today the sun was directly overhead at the equator.
Fall means colder weather, football, leaves changing colors and holidays. Halloween is the next one.
But, the magic numbers aren’t connected to any witches brew style magic. Fall also means the end of the baseball season and the playoffs. There are ten games left in the season. The Mariners are 82 – 69. They are eight games out of first place in their division. They magic number is 4.
A magic number of 4 means that any combination of Mariners losses and Houston Astro wins greater than 4 will eliminate. The odds the Mariners are not going to win the division title. The Astros only have to go 4-6 over the rest of the month.
But, all hope is not lost. There are two wildcard spots available. The Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays hold those two spots. The M’s are 3 games back. And more importantly their magic number for a wildcard spot is 9. Even better, the Red Sox, the Blue Jays and the Yankees (who sit in front of the Mariners at only a half game out of a wildcard spot) have to play each other, a lot. The hope is that those three will do enough damage to each other that the Mariners can get into the playoffs. The Oakland A’s have the same record as Seattle, so they have a chance as well.
The Mariners are already assured of having a winning record. There are 162 games in a regular baseball season. Not counting the playoffs, of course.
As a fan, I’m anxious for the Mariners (MY team) to make the playoffs. But, what adds weight to these final couple of weeks is that Seattle holds a dubious record. They last went to the playoffs in 2001. Twenty years.
Twenty years is the longest playoff drought for any Major League Baseball team. In fact, it’s the longest playoff drought for any team in the NFL either. And the NBA? Yeah, everyone in basketball has made the playoffs at least once in the last twenty years.
So, I’ll be watching each game. I’ll be scrutinizing the schedule and running possible projections.
And I’ll be counting the magic numbers.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
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Why her? Why this story?
You’ve seen it. There’s a story that is currently making national news. A woman goes missing. Her boyfriend is suspected of hurting her. Sadly, they’ve now found her body and he’s now in hiding.
You’ve seen the story. You can’t have missed it.
Why? Why do you know the story? It took place in Florida, Utah and Wyoming. Maybe if you lived in one of those places, it has local interest. But, most of you don’t live in those areas. So, why the interest?
Some will say it’s because both her and her boyfriend had a large social media presence. I have never heard of either one of them nor their social media channel. And yet, I’ve also heard the stories about them, the fights, the run ins with the police, even the make and model of the van.
And look at me? I’m writing very carefully to avoid naming her or him, but still, I’m writing about them.
So, again, why? Why are we fascinated and what does it say about us?
Nothing good.
But, YOU are a good person. And you are rightly appalled at the conditions she went through. That’s why you are following the story right?
No, it’s not. You might tell yourself that, but it’s not about domestic violence. It’s not about missing persons. There are dozens of those cases everyday.
What makes this one different?
- Pretty
- Young
- Blond
- Female
- Possible victim of a sex crime
If she was missing any of those five characteristics, the story would have just been one more of dozens that you and I never heard about. Remember JonBenet Ramsey? Of course you do. She was all over the news. She was on the cover of magazines. There are been stories about her on a regular basis despite the fact the crime happened decades ago.
Why did we, as a country become infatuated with her story?
- Pretty
- Young
- Blond
- Female
- Possible victim of a sex crime
Remember Madeleine McCann? The little girl who went missing in Portugal?
- Pretty
- Young
- Blond
- Female
- Possible victim of a sex crime
While the concern for the current victim and her families is real, the question of WHY we are being inundated with this particular story, when there are so many similar stories that happen daily, says less about the victims and more about what we value as a society.
To all the missing girls, to all the abused girls, to all the families that wait for word from their lost daughters, may your daughters and sisters be found safe. May those in abusive relationships find a way out.
But, realize that our obsession with where we put our outrage is not necessarily being driven by purely altruistic motives.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved
Tell your friends about this!
The printer has an email address. Just attach your file and send it
.
I don’t know how to do that.
.
You don’t know how to send an email
We’ve all been there, right? Your relative asks you do something simple with technology. But, the next comment was not one I was expecting.
Dad. We don’t email. We text.
.
Well, the printer has a USB drive. Save it to a thumb drive and print it from there.
This time all I got was a blank stare. Clearly, he had no clue how to save to a thumb drive.
My son gave a speech yesterday. It was in church so we don’t call it a speech. You might think of it as a sermon and you wouldn’t be far wrong. But, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetings they are called talks. He gave a wonderful talk. It was about ten minutes and all about the power of forgiveness.
He wrote the text of it himself. He’s 18 and headed out on a mission for the church. He’ll be serving in Philadelphia for two years. He’s been preparing for this for a long time. He’s studied scriptures. He’s good with money. He’s a hard worker.
But, apparently he never learned to send an email. Or how to attach a document. He needed me to print it out for him.
I didn’t realize that email was now an “old person” skill. Because it didn’t used to be.
I’ve been around email from the very beginning. Well, technically just after the beginning. But, certainly close to the beginning. In 1988 WordPerfect corporation released their email program called WordPerfect Office. There were already a few on the market. One called cc:Mail was one of the most popular. Microsoft had a terrible program called Microsoft Mail. (It predates Microsoft Exchange by several years.)
I became one of the first support engineers for WordPerfect Office. Eventually, I became part of our elite on-site support team. I left WordPerfect and went to Microsoft in the early 1990s. Originally I supported Microsoft Mail (that’s how I knew how terrible it was.) And then I supported and wrote training material for Microsoft Exchange. I even did a book on Exchange.
I not only was a certified expert, I helped write the certification exam.
So, it was frustrating that I couldn’t get my dear mother interested in an email system. She owned a CPA firm and I offered to install Microsoft Exchange for her for nothing.
We don’t need an email system. We have plenty of those “Out of Office” notes and we just leave them on people’s doors.
Tell you what. Let me put Exchange in and after six weeks if your staff doesn’t love it, I’ll take out.
After six weeks her staff threatened to quit if she took it out. My dear mother was actually an innovator when it came to technology. She quickly saw the advantage of email and had me install other Microsoft products as well.
But, I still tease her about when I had to convince her to use email.
And now I had to do that for my son.
Many families today, especially young families, find themselves caring for young children AND an aging relative. They are known as the “sandwich generation,” because they find themselves sandwiched between the young and the old.
I didn’t fall into that group. My children are all grown and my dear mother, long since retired, is in excellent health.
Well, I almost escaped that group.
Stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
Follow him on
Twitter (@rodneymbliss)
Facebook (www.facebook.com/rbliss)
LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/in/rbliss)
or email him at rbliss at msn dot com(c) 2021 Rodney M Bliss, all rights reserved