I got a text:
So, I got pulled over. What do I do?
If you are a parent, you probably would read the text with a mix of dread and anger. Not me.
Mine was all about the fear.
See, my son is black and it’s the first time he’s been pulled over.
I gave him the same advice I’ve given him for years.
- Be respectful
- Keep your hands in plain sight
- Sign the ticket when he hands it to you
- ASK before you reach for your license
- Call me when it’s over
My son is a good kid. But, tonight, more than ever before, I became acutely aware that he’s also black.
It turned out fine.
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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Waiting on an 8:05pm first pitch on opening day is like having to wait until noon to open your Christmas presents.
Statistics say that a good portion of you, fair readers, are not baseball fans. I’m not one of those baseball fans who insists that others should join my obsession. And make no mistake I’m a fan. In fact, I’m probably a bigger baseball geek than anyone you know. If you don’t believe me, send me the contact information for your friend who is a bigger fan. I’m always looking to expand my group of friends who share my passion.
But, despite knowing that some of y’all think baseball is a boring game, and knowing what an insane idiot I am about the game, I appreciate you staying through my baseball posts. I really do.
As I was driving my son to work yesterday, I said,
Do you know what holiday tomorrow is?
.
Ah. . .I don’t know April Fools Day?
.
Oh. . .yes, of course. Not sure why I thought it was May Day. I completely forgot about the month of April.
My son is not a baseball fan. He would not have picked “Opening Day” as the “other” holiday that April 1st ushered in.
Today, baseball returned to “normal.” Teams returned to their home stadiums, like the Mariners, or travelled to “open on the road” like the visiting San Francisco Giants. Fan returned to the stadiums. The Tigers held their home opener in Detroit. It snowed. They played anyway.
But, we really don’t have normal. We have a new normal. Fans returned, but the Mariners home stadium of T-Mobile Park holds about 30,000. They allowed 9,000 to enter the ballpark. The Washington Nationals held their home opener in Washington DC against the NY Mets. The game was postponed. Not due to rain (or snow) but a player tested positive for COVID. The entire game got postponed.
I stayed up late watching the Mariners opener. They fell behind early, but rallied for six runs in the 8th to briefly take the lead before giving it up in the 9th. And then it was off to extra innings.
The great thing about baseball is that ties aren’t really a thing. You just keep playing until someone wins. When, you are tied after 9 innings, you play another and another and so on until someone is ahead at the end of the inning.
Again, normal is new. Now, when a game goes to extra innings, teams start the inning with a player on 2nd base. That rule was implemented during last year’s COVID shortened season. It’s a whole new ball game.
Oh, and the two most exciting words in sports aren’t Opening Day, although that could be a close second. Finally, we can say,
PLAY BALL!
Stay safe
(Just before midnight the Mariners got a walk-off walk to win it 8-7 in the 10th)
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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My daughter does volunteer work six days per week. It’s about a ten minute drive from our house. Despite the fact she’s 21, she doesn’t have a drivers license so I drive her. The CD player in my 25 year old car is broken, so I listen to the radio. And I listen to the Oldies station.
I love music. I have for years. I know most of the songs on the Oldies station. And often several are played without a commercial break. This morning I was offering her trivia about each song and artist. Many I also sang along to.
Is this a CD?
No. I just know all these songs. Because, you know, I’m old.
The final song that came on while we pulled into her parking lot was RESPECT by Aretha Franklin. I explained what a pioneer she was in the music industry. She exited the car before the song got to the first chorus and the distinctive,
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
I thought about how I would never forget how to spell that word. Sure, it’s a simple word, but the song has burned it into my memory.
Travis Tritt has a song called T-R-O-U-B-L-E. The song features the lyrics
What are you doin’ A-L-O-N-E?
Yeah, hey good L double O-K-I-N-G
I smell T-R-O-U-B-L-E
I’m sure everyone my age also remember’s Jenny’s phone number from the Tommy Tutone hit of the same name: 867-5309. Songs and ads make us remember.
It’s also why those of us who grew up in the 70’s couldn’t spell the word relief. It’s an easy word, like respect, or trouble. But, just as kids will learn the right spelling from a song, they will also learn the wrong one.
When I was in 5th grade many of us spelt relief as R-O-L-A-I-D-S. Rolaids, the antacids company ran a commercial. The tagline was “Rolaids spells relief.” Interesting that as 10 year olds we weren’t even the target audience. In fact, the people buying Rolaids knew how to spell relief.
So, here I am almost 50 years later. I don’t remember class lessons, but I remember Jenny’s phone number, the spelling of respect and remind myself on the right spelling relief.
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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A few months ago I talked about a mistake that my 6th grade teacher made. (A Response To My 6th Grade Teacher.) Even though it was decades, I still remember a lot of what Mr Michalek taught me. Of course, the parts I remember best were when he was wrong.
In 6th grade the teacher covers all the topics. The next year, in 7th grade, we got to move between classes. But, 6th grade was still like elementary school. The teacher has to know a little history, a little English, and of course a little math. I don’t think Math was Mr Michalek’s first love.
The problem with 6th graders, are they are just starting to aquire a few critical thinking skills. And they are obnoxious. I know. I was an obnoxious 6th grader. I suppose I have some excuse. I had what you might describe as a tumultuous childhood. We moved a lot. You are thinking you know what that means. You don’t. I went to 5 different schools in the 5th grade. I finally ended up at Lakes Elementary.
Finally, I had stability, although I didn’t know it at the time. We lived in that house for the next 7 years. I finished up 5th grade at Lakes and then moved on with my classmates to Nisqually Middle School, where they had grades 6, 7 and 8. Eventually I went to Timberline High School where I despite my best efforts, I managed to graduate.
But, back to 6th grade. We were having a math lesson. Mr Michalek informed us that given a set circumference, the volume inside the circumference is always the same. Maybe you are good at math and you are now thinking, “Well, that’s not right!”
You’re right, of course, but as a 6th grader, I didn’t understand how to calculate area. Well, that’s not exactly true. I knew that you could multiple the width times the length and you’d get the area. But, what if I cut the width in half? No, that won’t work. The length doubles and the area is the same.
I didn’t believe Mr Michalek. I couldn’t prove it but it didn’t feel right. I just couldn’t prove it. You probably can. And today, it would be simple. The area of a circle is pi times the radius squared. And today I also understand that the maximum area for a given circumference is a circle. It’s one reason that barrels are round.
But as a 12 year old we hadn’t covered circles. At least not to that level. But, I kept thinking about it. All weekend I went over the problem in my mind. And finally I came up with a simple, non-mathematical solution. Had I lived in Utah instead of Washington, I would have figured it out sooner, I think.
I mentioned I was an obnoxious kid, right? Well, on Monday, I raised my hand eagerly in class,
Mr. Michalek!
Yes, Rodney.
Last week you told us that for a given border the area inside was always the same.
That’s right.
You’re wrong.
Oh really? Care to show the class?
I proudly walked to the blackboard. (Okay, it was probably more cocky than proud.) It turns out that Utah was the solution to my problem. Draw a square. Now, fold down one corner. The length of the circumference stays the same, but you have just “removed” some of your area.
That’s two you got wrong, Mr Michalek. And probably thousands that you got right.
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’ve never been old. I’m guessing neither have you.
Oh sure, there are people who call us old. But, they’re wrong. We’re aren’t really old.
And don’t get me wrong. There are old people. I know some of them, in fact.
I once went with my dad to help do some service. My dad and his friend were meeting up with his friend’s dad. So, here I was a 15 years old kid, hanging out with my father. He is 33 years older than I am. His friend was about his age. His friend’s dad was about 20 years older than both of them.
– Me: 15 years old
– Dad: 48 years old
– Friend: 48 years old
– Friend’s dad: 68 years old
Who was the old person in this group? As it turned out, none of us. We were going to help stack wood for a man who was a friend of the friend’s dad. The guy we were going to help was 90 years old.
The friend’s dad talked to me about it.
“Old” is just someone who is 15 years older than you are.
I’ve thought about that conservation and I think I’ve rarely heard anything more profound.
From that day on I was never old. And I suppose as long as there are truly old people around I never really will be.
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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Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind.
– Lilo and Stitch
Lilo and Stitch was released almost 20 years ago. My family was just getting started. We had four kids. We added a fifth in 2002. Over the coming years we would add eight more.
Thirteen is a large family by any measure. My lovely wife is one of 15 children. I have a friend who has 23 children. But, just because I know about bigger families doesnt’ mean I don’t understand my family is very large.
I’ve often thought about what makes a family. Like many people my age, I was a child of divorce. I have a full brother, a half brother by birth, a half sister and two half brothers by adoption. I guess technically, there are three other half sisters by adoption from my dad’s first marriage. One of my brothers has a half brother by birth and a set of step-siblings that are no relation to me.
I don’t think Lilo and Stitch had it correct. Family doesn’t mean that no one gets left behind. Lots of people get left behind. For example, using my own example, of the “siblings” I mentioned, I claim two brothers and a sister. Am I right? Are the others not my siblings by blood or law? Maybe. But, I decided a long time ago to choose my own relatives.
My family has been touched by horrible abuse years ago. It’s driven a wedge between family members at times. In fact, I have family that doesn’t want to be in the same room as certain other family. Everyone is adult about it and doesn’t make an issue of it.
I saw a picture today of my family shortly after we completed our final adoption. As far as I know it’s the last picture of all my kids and us. It’s from about 15 years ago. Well before our oldest got married. Before any grandkids.
I look at the picture and think about how much potential we saw. We had hopes and dreams and ideas about what the future might bring. Looking at the picture, everyone is smiling.
We have a lot of family pictures since then. Each one has some subgroup of our kids, and now grandkids. Some of my grandkids have been adopted out of the family. It’s okay, I still count them. We pick our family, remember?
I know some families that are more fractured than ours. I know people who never speak to their parents. Parents that disown their children. That’s not me, is it?
I have a daughter I haven’t spoken to in months and don’t even have a current phone number. And when I was adopted by my step father at 14 I turned my back on my birthfather. I didn’t speak to him for almost 40 years. It’s okay. We reconnected and talked again.
So, the family breaking habits that I condemn in others, are in my history as well.
What is family? Is it defined by blood? Marriage? Association? Adoption?
I’m not sure what the ultimate definition of family is, but I do know that Disney got it wrong. Family is complicated. It’s messy. And it even means that sometimes we leave people or things behind.
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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But, I don’t have any cash.
I’d still like us to tip them
Maybe they have Venmo
I wrapped up a mini vacation with my lovely wife today. We were staying at a resort in Midway, Utah. Midway is on the opposite side of Mt Timpanogos from Pleasant Grove. Midway is also just a few miles from Heber, Utah. In addition to being where my brother used to live, Heber is home to something called the “Heber Creeper.”
That sounds much worse than it is. In fact, without context it sounds kind of creepy. It’s not. It’s an old fashioned railroad. The “creeper” name refers to the speed of the train. I’ve seen people run faster to catch a bus.
But, speed isn’t really the point. In fact, the Heber Creeper tries to take us back to a slower time. Some would say simpler times. But, I think the issues that people had 150 years ago were probably just as complicated to them as our world is to us.
The train takes 45 minutes to chug from Heber to Soldier Hollow (site of the 2002 Olympic biathlon.) During that 45 minutes, two different acts perform. One is a guy dressed in “traditional western outfit. Other than the wireless microphone, it did.
He told stories, and recited poems. One story was centered in Soldier Hollow in the 1870s. It was a farm owned by the Vincent’s. Mrs Vincent, a widow with young children was behind on her mortgage. The bank wanted to foreclose. The night before the deadline she gave a meal and a place to sleep to a wandering cowboy.
How much is the mortgage?
It’s $2,000. And if I don’t raise it by tomorrow I lose the farm.
Wait here.
The cowboy went to his saddlebags and pulled out $2000 in cash. He insisted the widow take it to save the farm.
It’s probably a true story. The wandering cowboy was Robert LeRoy Parker. He’s better known as Butch Cassidy. Parker was born in Beaver, Utah. He picked his last name from a friend he met while growing up. His first name, Butch came from the fact that he was a butcher for a period of time.
The second entertainment act was a guitar player named Brayden Weese. His partner was a fiddler player named Eric. Brayden and Eric put on a great show. They played and sang classic train songs; Orange Blossom Special, The Wreck Of The Old 97 along with other songs like Jambalaya. The fact that I knew every song they sang was probably an indication that either they were targeting too old an audience, or those songs are universal.
Like everything, the train ride was different with COVID. We were socially distanced. We wore masks. And we got off the train one group at a time. By the time we entered the depot, Brayden and Eric were setup with an open guitar case and playing for tips.
Of course they have Venmo. Who carries cash anymore? It was a strange image to see the old time train cars, masks and using smartphones to tip street musicians. What a strange world we live in.
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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My lovely wife and I are at a posh resort in Midway, Utah. It’s the first time in years we’ve taken off with out the kids. The youngest two are 18 and we got a chance to spend some time just the two of us.
Midway is about 30 miles from my home in Pleasant Grove. It’s literally on the other side of the mountain from us. Of course, you have to drive through the canyon to get from there to here. For a week away, we spent too much time running back and forth.
Anyway, I don’t know what the resort normally cost for a week. We have a three room suite with a kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a big living room. It’s nice. The resort has a Swiss theme, but it’s a pretty mild theme.
I noticed that I keep fixing things. I think I always have. A buddy once asked me to “look at my garbage disposal. It’s making a funny noise.” I had him turn it on one time. Sure enough, it made a terrible grinding noise. As he went to get tools, I reached my hand down and pulled out the pebble that had fallen in.
Maybe I should have made that look harder?
One of the bathrooms has a sliding door. But, it didn’t lock. The strike plate was dented from someone trying to close it while in the locked position. A multi-tool helped me get the plate off. Then, I bent it back in position and reinstalled it. Now it locks.
The gas stove didn’t turn on. It would click as it tried to start.
Wait, I’ve got a lighter in my stuff.
I don’t smoke. And no one I know smokes.
My son-in-law and daughter came to visit over the weekend. His sister’s glasses got smashed.
Dad, can you fix this?
Sure, let me just grab a wire.
And a few minutes later her glasses were fixed.
The post on the bed was loose. If you twist it a few times, it tightens right up.
I haven’t won all of them. The gas fireplace quit working. It was going and suddenly stopped and even the pilot light was out. I popped the access panel off and rotated the starter to PILOT and hit the striker several times. Nope. I think they may have failed to pay their gas bill, or maybe we ran it too long. (Thankfully the stove still works. . .if we use a lighter.)
I realized that is just what I do. If I’m on a walk and someone’s mailbox is open, I close it without thinking. I’ve fixed items on my son’s project car while walking by with a armful of groceries.
My kids think I can literally fix anything. If only people were as easy to fix as strike plates and gas stoves.
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’ve always been a church-goer. When I was young, my mother made sure we went to church. And we ended up going to a lot of different ones. Baptist, Lutheran, Jehovah’s Witness and then finally settled on the Mormon church. (They prefer to be referred to by the full name of the church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)
There were times when I was rebellious and didn’t want to go. Often, during my teenage years, my brother and I were responsible for getting ourselves to church. My dad claimed he didn’t care if we went or not. But,
If you can’t make it to Priesthood meeting at 7:00am Sunday morning, you can’t go to the dance Saturday night.
We made it to Priesthood meeting, most Sundays.
Mormon’s believed in lots of meetings. When I joined the church in 1976 the Sunday schedule was
7:00 AM Priesthood Meeting
8:00 AM Sunday School
4:30 PM Sacrament Meeting
And, of course, every school day began with,
6:00AM Seminary (for all four years of high school.)
Several years ago, the church switched to a “consolidated” schedule. A single three-hour block that started at either 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM or 1:00 PM on Sunday morning. Your assigned time changed each year. (Early morning Seminary didn’t change.)
Then, just a couple of years ago the church consolidated even further to a two-hour block. Sunday school moved to alternating weeks with Priesthood meeting. (Seminary, still an hour a day M-F.)
Then, COVID hit and for a while church was cancelled. The Church of Jesus Christ has a lay ministry. I hold the priesthood as do my sons. Every worthy male does. So, the church decided that we could hold at home Sacrament and Sunday School lessons. (Seminary was cancelled, much to the delight of high schoolers everywhere.)
As the world started to open back up, the church went to limited services. People with last names that started with A-L attended in church one Sunday and those M-Z got to attend the following Sunday. And the services were webcast for the half of the congregation that was at home.
Utah, like many states has slowly been opening back up. We are now to the point where 2/3 of the congregation (called a “Ward” in Mormon-speak) can attend in person. The other third watches from home. So, it’s 2 weeks on, one week off.
Last Sunday was our week to watch from home. We had family over visiting. My sons put on ties. The girls wore dresses. And we all sat down to watch the service. And then we waited. And we waited some more. And even longer as the screen showed a taped version of the Choir at Temple Square and a scroll bar said, “Please stand by.”
Eventually, we turned it off, said a family prayer and had lunch.
A year ago, broadcast services were a novelty. Now, they are expected. How quickly we become accustomed to the new normal.
I heard it was a wonderful service.
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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A few hours from my home. May God grant peace to the families.
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