I’ve mentioned that I’m the historian for Story Lodge #4 of Provo, UT. As such, I get to do “historical” stuff. And with a 149 years to draw from, there’s a interesting bits and pieces. One of the things I looked at was dues.
When the lodge was started, the dues were $12 year. Today the dues are $205 per year. So, who paid more, the founders back in 1872, or me this year when I handed over my bill pay information?
Here’s a chart of the dues amounts from 1872 to 2021.
But, that chart is not much good to us. Stuff was more expensive in the past, or it was cheaper then and costs more now because of inflation.
If we apply the consumer price index (CPI) we see the following chart.
As you can see when expressed in terms of 2021 dollars, those founders were shelling out quite a bit. In fact the highest dues paid were in 1885 where the Masons paid $362.44 per year. It was at that point that the lodge actually reduced the dues from $12 to $8 per year.
- 1872-1885 $12
1886-1923 $8
- 1924-1969 $12
- 1970-1980 $18
- 1981-1989 $30
- 1990-1999 $50
- 2000-2010 $80
- 2011-2013 $100
- 2014 $130
- 2015 $170
- 2016 $180
- 2017 $190
- 2018-2019 $200
- 2020-Present $205
Here’s a chart showing how much money the lodge had in the bank over the years. (1872-1989)
Again, expressed in 2021 dollars.
Something important happened in 1973. The lodge built a temple. That’s why the cash on hand dropped so significantly. (BTW, I’m still collecting data from the years 1990-2021)
But, ever since then, the lodge has struggled with finances. Was it a mistake to buy a building? Is that what threw the lodge finances into chaos?
I don’t think so. I think you have to go back to the dues discussion. Look at all those years (right after the temple was built in 1973) where the dues were the equivalent of $50 per year. The Lodge even upped the dues in 1981 from $18 to $30. Then again, in 1990 from $30 to $50. And again in 2000 from $50 to $80.
At the time I’m sure those seemed like significant increases. But, were they? No. They were not even keeping up with inflation at times. I joined the lodge in 2005. A few years after I joined we really started to see increases. 2011 it went to $100. Three years later it went up $30 more. Then, the following year it went to $170. And $10 per month after that. It’s tapered off a little the last couple of years. It went to $200 per year in 2018 and then $205 two years later.
But, the funny thing is if we look at the time value of money, I’m paying less this year than last year. In 2018 I was paying the equivalent of $216. Even when the dues increased the following year. They didn’t keep up with inflation.
Okay, so what’s my point?
My lodge is considering freezing the dues where they are at $205. After all, who wants to see their dues going up every year, right?
ME, for one. No, I don’t like paying more, but the fact is I’m paying less and less every year. Our brothers left the dues at $18 per year for a decade. And then left it at $30 for twenty years. And what happened? The lodge got less and less form dues every year.
What’s the “right” amount? I’m not sure. Certainly not the $350 that our brothers were paying in the late 19th century. But, also not the $50 that we were paying in the 1980s.
But, if the “right” amount is $205, to maintain that amount we need to keep up with the CPI (about 5% per year.) Time value of money means we have to keep moving forward to keep pace.
I’ll be voting to keep raising our dues. Because I don’t want them to go up, but I don’t want them to go down either.
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.
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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’m a computer IT expert. I’m not bragging. I wrote my first computer program on a TRS-80 and saved it on a cassette tape. Today’s kids might not ever seen a cassette tape except in a Super Hero movie.
I worked with the first computer networks. It was IPX/SPX back then. TCP/IP was new. I saw a meme today that said,
I told my kids I was older than Google. They think I’m kidding.
I spent half a decade at WordPerfect, a decade at Microsoft. I’ve written books and articles on computers, programs, networks and the industry in general. I’ve taken numerous computer courses and taught a few. I’ve even written numerous product certification tests.
I’m the guy who other people call to help them figure stuff out when it comes to computers.
And that’s why I’ve been so cranky over the past six months.
I have a home network. It’s a moderately complex network. Without giving too many details, I have two DMZs, a dual homed hardware firewall. I also have two software firewalls at the network level. In addition my computers have antivirus and local firewalls.
Could a professional hacker break into my home network? In a heartbeat. But I’m not protecting my home network from a professional hacker. I’m protecting it from amateur hackers, neighborhood kids or script kiddies on the internet. I’m not interesting enough to attract a professional hacker.
So, yep, I R a professional!
My home network was horrible. Truly. It was slow. And not “I only have one bar” slow. Literally it would take a couple of minutes to get to a web page. Half the time you’d have to refresh the page.
The issue was with DNS, Domain Name Service. See, when you ask to go someplace like www.google.com, the internet first has to find the address. The IP address. And it’s DNS that knows the IP address that google.com lives at.
And my DNS queries were horrible. I tried everything. (I AM an expert, after all.) I happen to know that Google owns some fast DNS servers at 8.8.8.8. I set that as my DNS servers. It didn’t help. I played around with my DNS service settings on my firewalls. I disabled and re enabled my wifi router. I tweaked my DHCP server settings.
Every couple of weeks I’d decide I had enough and I’d jump in again and try to fix it. Without success.
Remember how I said I’m the guy people call when they have computer issues? Well, who does the computer guy call? There isn’t anyone.
Finally, last week I was looking through my firewall settings and realized what the issue was. My firewall is setup to allow for IPv4 or IPv6. The difference are pretty significant, but more than you want to hear about here. But, I realized I had set my firewall to use the IPv6 gateway as the default gateway. Since, my firewall is also my DHCP server, my network points at the firewall as it’s default gateway and the firewall’s default server points at the DMZ. The problem was that I was using IPv6 for the default gateway protocol.
That’s like speaking a totally different language. Like if the taxi driver only speaks Spanish and you only speak English. He would REALLY like to get you where you need to go, but doesn’t really understand what you’re saying. It’s going to take him a LONG time to figure out what you need.
Anyway, I disabled the IPv6 gateway and set the default gateway to the IPv4 gateway. It was a matter of a single setting. Disable IPv6 and suddenly everything worked.
I didn’t need to “fix” my network. I just needed to stop breaking it.
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.
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I didn’t realize how uncommon it was. My house isn’t that big. Well, compared to some I guess it is. It’s about 3800 square feet. That’s not particularly large for Utah. But, it has nine bedrooms. It has nine because we needed nine when we moved in. We had eight kids and each kids had their own bedroom.
Now?
Now, we don’t have eight kids at home anymore.
Now we have a library. And I have a proper office, not a closet. We have a guest room. And a second guest room.
We have two kids at home. And soon it will be down to one kid at home.
At most we had 13 at home. Yes, that tag line from my signature block is true. I have 13 kids. When you have that many kids,even simple things become complicated. Chores were a spreadsheet. Meals (several kids had allergies) were complex and always served cafeteria style. Laundry was a daily effort.
Food, was not as expensive as you might imagine for a family our size. Generally about $600/month. We prepared food, we didn’t necessarily eat prepared food. A trip to McDonalds was a big deal. And the house was never empty. There was always someone around.
But, now? Now, the house is empty a lot.
Our food budget is lower. We can eat out more. Laundry is a couple days per week. We manage to sit at the table with the food ON the table with us. And there are lots less people around.
Soon, it will just be my lovely wife and me. She’s studying to be a medical assistant. I’m a writer who works a 9-5 computer job.
It’s right that our kids move out on their own. They need to start their own families. Get careers. Go to college. But, it also means we see less and less of them. When the lights are left on, I know who did it. When a towel is left in the middle of the floor, it’s not a question of who’s responsible.
It’s strange. As my children move to the next phase of this lives (also known as adulthood) I find I’m also moving to the next phase. We call it “empty nesters.” But, just as my kids are not always prepared to be on their own, neither am I.
It’s hard to get used to the lack of noise. The silence is deafening.
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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I’m the historian for my Masonic Lodge. I belong to Story Lodge #4 Free & Accepted Masons of Utah. Story Lodge, or just “Story” as it’s referred to, is the oldest lodge in Utah. It was the very first lodge established in Utah. It was established back in 1872. If you do the math, it’s been 149 years since Story was established.
As you might imagine we are looking forward to the 150th anniversary next year. And that’s where I come in. We kind of want to be able to talk about what’s happened in that ensuing century and a half. So, we need to get the history together.
Fortunately, much of the work is done. Back in 1989 some members of Story put together the 117 year history. Why did they compile the 117 year history? What’s special about the year 117?
I have no idea. But, we’ve got the history up through 1989.
So, all I have to come up with is the last 32 years and the upcoming 12 months. Okay. That’s fine. Masons are great record keepers. We sign into the ledger every meeting. We keep minutes. We have a secretary. And of course, we have a history committee.
I went to the secretary and to start gathering records. The past three years of information is in an online app. (Our organization may be old, but that doesn’t mean we don’t embrace new tools.) But, I need to get the data from 1990 – 2018. That’s still a fair bet of data to collect and collate, but hey, that’s why we have a history committee.
Our secretary took me down into the vault. That’s literally a big old iron vault in the basement of the Provo Masonic Temple. (No, there is ZERO treasure in there. Just a bunch of old records and we don’t even lock the door.)
So, you need 1990 through 2018 or so?
Yeah, anything we have from that period.
Here’s what we found.
This we perfect! I thought it would be harder to find those “missing” years. I collected a couple of the ledgers and took them home to start collecting the information I needed.
And I discovered my mistake. They didn’t make me a historian because I’m smart. See, I completely forgot that our lodge is OVER ONE HUNDRED YEARS OLD. So, the lodge has seen the end of two separate centuries.
Yeah, these books weren’t from 1990s. They were from 1890s. They were in remarkably good shape for books that are over 120 years old. I guess that’s what happens when you store them in a vault.
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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I have a favor to ask. I need your help. And you can really help.
I have three short stories that I need beta readers. It’s easy, all you have to do it contact me at any of the locations in my signature block. It’s not JUST all about me. There’s something in it for you too.
First let me tell you about the stories:
1. You’re Already Dead
This story takes place in the vast reaches of space. Our hero has a very important job. A very BORING important job. Fortunately, he has the computer for company. It’s too bad he can’t stand her. But, surprisingly the story itself isn’t boring. It’s exciting, especially when you consider there’s just a couple of people.
3200 words
2. Buried Alive
What is it with guys stuck by themselves? Our hero (different from the last guy) falls in a hole. The author (that’s me) then spends 4300 words trying to help the guy get out of the hole. But, again, it’s not as boring as I’m making it sound. (I’m really a much more interesting author than I’m describing myself as.) Anyway, the cool thing about THIS guy is that he can “see” with his voice. (Good thing since it gets pretty dark in holes in the ground.) And not just sing, his voice is a weapon. Okay, that would sound more conflicting if I hadn’t already said he’s by himself. But, trust me, it’s more interesting than it sounds here.
3. Syren Rebels
FINALLY a story that involves more one person. . .oh, and our hero is a woman. Do you like American Sign Language? (Everyone does. It’s really interesting.) Imagine a world where everyone is deaf. How would that change things? How would government work? Oh, and also imagine what would happen to a high-tech society that suddenly found itself without any metal. Seriously, imagine what that might look like. Having trouble? Then, you should read Syren Rebels and I’ll tell you what it’s like. . .oh and lots of sign language. . .and rebels. 3500 words
Why these three together? They actually all happen on the same planet. However, the stories are separated by thousands of years.
Here’s where you can help. I’m submitting these to an anthology (more details when they’ve officially accepted them.) I really would like to get some feedback before I hand them over the editors. If Disney did a Writer’s Story, the editors would play the evil stepmother. I want to avoid embarrassing myself in front of mother.
So, all you need to do is contact me and say, “I’d like to be a beta reader for xxxx_xxx” Where “xxxx_xxx” is, of course, one of the stories from above. I’ll send you a .pdf and you’ll have a chance to read it before the evil editors. (They are really nice guys, but I’m trying to sell a specific narrative here.)
Also, if you would like to be notified when the anthology is available, let me know that too. I’ll get around to creating a button or something here that will sign you up. For now, just let me know you’re interested and I’ll send you an email when the anthology gets closer to publication.
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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Tell your friends about this!
“My grandpas was in World War II
He fought against the Japanese.
He wrote a hundred letters to my grandma;
Mailed em from a base in the Philippines.
.
I wish they could see this now,
Where they say this change can go.
Cause I was on a video chat this morning
With a company in Tokyo.”
– “Welcome To The Future” Brad Paisley
It wasn’t video, it was a Teams meeting with no cameras. And it wasn’t Tokyo. It was Nepal. But, it was a meeting with my development team. I live in in Pleasant Grove, Utah. My team lives in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Why is my development team in Nepal? Because that’s where they live. Their location is less interesting than their skills. Which are great. In my previous company, I had a team that lived in Manila. My Nepal team works Nepalese time. My Manila team worked Mountain Time hours.
The first remote team I worked with was in India, many years ago. They provided much of our Dev work.
Did you know that all airline pilots much speak English?
A story is told about a Lufthansa airline pilot waiting to take off from Berlin. While waiting he made a comment in German to another pilot over the radio.
“English only,” the air traffic controller insisted.
“I am a German pilot, flying a German aircraft out of a German airport. Why do I have to speak English?”
After a short pause an British voice responded, “Because you lost the bloody war!”
I think software has a similar if less formal rule. There have been a few notable software companies that were not US based, but not many. The Americans and the British did much of the early work on computers.
Even after the Second World War many of the greatest German scientists came to the US. Computers are one of the things that have their origin in America. So, it’s not surprising that the language of those who create software is also English.
I’m reminded often that when I’m working with developers who live in other countries, they speak multiple languages. I’m the one who is less talented. (I do actually know two languages, but I only speak one. That’s a topic for another post.)
I had a meeting with my Nepal team tonight at 9:15 pm MDT. It was 9:00 am in Nepal. They were starting their Friday while I was finishing up Thursday. It was important to meet “in person.” I’ve talked to several of our team over the past week via slack. But, with more than 12 hours separating us, a slack conversation takes several days.
I’m excited to work with my new team. And now I’ll always know what time it is in Kathmandu.
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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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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Nope, not the COVID vaccine. I got that one months ago. But, yesterday I was feeling a little “poked.”
Do you want it in both shoulders? No, let’s go just with the left. That will leave one arm free to still beat my children. 🙂
Shingles and flue vaccines
Blood work for checking cholesterol etc.
More blood work. (Not sure why one poke wasn’t enough. I didn’t ask.)
The remains of my unfortunately grinder accident last week. Warning: potentially disturbing images behind this link
And now I feel like I got the FLU shot, instead of the flu vaccine.
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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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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Back in March I talked about a book I’m working on. It’s centered on a planet named Syren.
I thought I might give you an update. And it’s a great update. (But, I’m getting ahead of myself.)
As part of the world-building exercise, I decided to explore some of the history of the planet Syren. I’ve written a series of short stories that are set in the universe of Syren. I wrote them as an exercise. But, being a writer, I put a story around them, too.
And I’m now happy to announce that I’ve been asked to join contribute to an upcoming anthology. There are still details to be worked out, but the plan is to include a short story in that anthology.
Watch here for more details. In the mean time, here’s a taste of a story called “Syren Rebels.”
. . .a cart had unexpectedly overturned behind her. Her reaction was completely unconscious and immediately raised the suspicion of the old women selling limes.
“What is that?” The old woman signed suspiciously?
“What? I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” Reisha looked for a convenient escape from the old crone and her suspicions.
“You heard THAT!” It was a statement, not a question.
“No, really, I thought I saw my husband was all.”
“You have no wedding necklace,” the woman pointed out.
Being single, Reisha wouldn’t have one anyway. She wasn’t a very good liar. “It broke this morning. My husband was bringing it to me.” The second lie was no more convincing than the first.
“Were you born normal or did you have the surgery?”
Reisha breathed a silent thanks for a way out. “Surgery. I’m still getting used to it.”
“Let’s see the scar,” the woman demanded. “Pull back your hair now.”
Reisha fled. Forgetting even to pay for the limes. . .
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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I had two extended family members contract COVID last week. My sister-in-law and my son-in-law. The two of them are on opposite ends of the COVID-response spectrum.
My sister-in-law has been extremely cautious. She never quit wearing a mask. She’s limited her exposure. She always social distances. She got COVID anyway. (And so did her isolated family.)
My son-in-law doesn’t like shots. He doesn’t like medicines. His opinion was that antibodies are stronger than vaccines. His job requires some COVID responses, but outside of work, he isn’t one to mask or social distance.
I’m not equating the two. Not at all. Masks will keep you from spreading COVID better than not masking.
Vaccines will help prevent you from getting COVID (slightly) but will reduce the likelihood you will get severely sick and die.
These views are not universally shared. Although they are supported by mainstream science.
No doubt you’ve had discussions with people about COVID and how best to keep yourself safe. And no doubt you’ve had disagreements with people. Those people, are wrong, of course. You’re a smart person. You’re not interested in anyone getting hurt. And the fact that those people are trying to tell YOU that you’re wrong is maddening.
The odds are that you and the person you are talking to are speaking different languages. Not English/Spanish, but logic/emotion.
One is not better than the other. But, if you are arguing using an emotional appeal and your opponent is arguing based on logic, there is no way you will ever agree.
Logic/emotion conflict in any debate. Someone who thinks Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time, is not going to compare stats. They are going to talk about “moments.”
Vaccines have been around for over 100 years. Pro-vaccine supporters are going to talk about efficacy rates, and pandemic infectious ratios.
Anti-vaccine supporters are going to talk about freedom, and choice.
You cannot counter someone who is worried about losing a constitutional freedom by explaining how a vaccine works. Similarly, you cannot counter the efficiency of vaccines by talking about body autonomy.
People often claim to just be talking about facts. A temperature of 100 degrees is a fact. Is that temperature high or low? That takes context. 100 degrees for a person is high, 100 degrees for an engine is low.
Next time you find yourself at odds with someone, either on COVID or anything, ask yourself if you are both speaking the same language?
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