Christmas

Merry Christmas. We had a good one. It was Johnny's first. And he loved it.

Keri flew up here (Seattle) on Thursday, December 18. I had a final on Friday so we had to reschedule my flight for Saturday. Keri had a hard enough time getting out on Thursday because of the snow in Salt Lake. My flight actually got canceled. That also had to do with snow in Seattle. What? Snow in Seattle? I'm sure you've heard all about it already, but yeah, it snowed quite a bit here in Seattle the whole week of Christmas. I finally got in on Sunday and I was lucky I even made it in then.

No, I was not on that bus, but this does illustrate how icy and snowy it got in Seattle. They don't have a lot of plows because it "never" snows like this. Also, apparently they attempted an alternative, more "environmentally friendly" strategy for melting the ice (and by "strategy" I actually mean "way to save money at the expense of public safety").

Keri had gone to her sister Fran's house to spend the night and spend some time with her niece and nephew before I came. But when I did come, she was basically snowed in and unable to safely come home. Her sister lives on a very steep hill. The next day (Monday), her dad, brother, and I went on a rescue mission. The roads were slightly better, even though the hill was still closed. Keri, Johnny, and I were finally reunited at last.

We didn't go out much before Christmas because of the snow. But I did at least get out a little bit to play some basketball with Stephen (Keri's twin brother...no they are not identical) and some guys from the stake. We fed Johnny a lot. In this picture he looks like a little Santa with rice cereal running down his face. We did try him on yams as well. For the most part he did all right, but there were times that he looked more like Grandpa Perkins than Grandma Perkins.

We were also able to spend time with Keri's sister Melinda, her husband Daniel, and their son Henry. Johnny and Henry had a fun time together and I think Johnny only gouged him once.

On Christmas Eve we got to open 1 present (or 2 or 3 in some cases). I got a very nice tie from Keri's parents and a nice shirt from her sister. Johnny opened a BYU sweatshirt that we had got for him. He was more interested in the wrapping paper. He also got a large alligator toy that makes various noises etc. He loves it.

We got a little BYU cheerleader outfit for Keri's 3 year old niece, Emma. Her mom asked, "Do you like it? Would you ever wear it?" Emma quickly responded, "NO!" and went on playing with her other things. Even Mom couldn't sell that one.

Christmas Day was wonderful. We waited to open presents until Stephen woke up. He had to work the night before. We got some nice things that we really appreciated. I gave Keri some slippers that she absolutley loves. She gave me a cool BYU zip-up hoody that we picked out together but I forgot about. Her mom gave me some pretty cool under armour (the nice thick kind) and Stephen gave me an authentic Cubs jersey, which is much cooler than any Cubs jersey that Daylen or Maurie might have.

So it has been a fun break and a wonderful Christmas. We go back on New Year's Day. School starts again for me the following Monday, so it will be good to have a few days to settle back into the swing of things and get ready for school. This will be my last semester before grad school, so we are looking forward to it. The Goodriches have been very hospitable and it has been absolutely wonderful to share this holiday season with them. Johnny has also enjoyed it very much.

New Updates!

Well lots of fun stuff has been going on. For all of the updates, go to Keri's blog. She's better at blogging than I am. In fact, it seems like all I ever really blog about is Keri's blogging. I'll give more updates soon.

Tucanos

Baby Johnny loves going to Tucanos with his Dad. He sat in his high chair and was excited for the food. And even after he found out he wasn't going to be eating, he still enjoyed just checking things out. These two always have fun together. Brad made sure we got a picture showing off what onesie Johnny is wearing. We had a great time and Johnny was also happy his Uncle Stevie was there to join in on the fun.

Go BYU

We are a family that loves BYU. Even Baby Johnny. We're rooting for them to beat CSU today, and hope you are too.

I'm back

Well it's been awhile...I kind of took a break from the blogging scene. School has just been too crazy and I've barely been keeping up with that. I am taking 16 credits, and 3 of those classes are lab classes, which just had more time and work. I also try to put in about 10 hours at work each week if I can, but when I'm really busy it ends up being less.

I took the FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) Exam on Saturday. It is a standardized nationwide test that is needed for licensing purposes in engineering. Basically if I passed then I would be considered an EIT (Engineer in Training) and I could get paid like an engineer. After 4 years of experience as an EIT, I can take the PE (Professional Engineer) Exam, which then allows me to stamp drawings and make a lot more money. The FE was a solid 8 hour test with a 1 hour intermission/lunch break. It wasn't so bad...I felt pretty good about it. It's just pass/fail, so I just have to do well enough to pass, which I think I did. I'll find out in December or January.

Quote of the Day

Lou Piniella (for the two or three people existing in the world that don't know who Lou is, he is the manager of the Cubs), expressing his opinion on the potential problems of MLB's recent implementation of instant replay, said, "Do you throw out a red handkerchief or something (referencing the way NFL head coaches challenge plays on the field)? I would love to be able to throw out a red hanky. Imagine throwing something out on a field and not be ejected."

Lou Piniella has a total of 61 ejections in his career as a manager.

Cubs On Top...Again

Yesterday the Chicago Cubs continued a streak of domination by shutting out the Cincinnati Reds 5-0. That win, combined with a timely Los Angeles Angels loss, gave the Chicago Cubs the best record in the entire Major Leagues, with a record of 77-48 and a winning percentage of .616. The Cubs have been the best team in the National League for a long time now and are 6 games ahead of any other team (Milwaukee Brewers). They also have a cool 8.5 game lead on long-time division rivals the St. Louis Cardinals. The Angles are now second in the American League (.613) behind the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who have an identical record to the Cubs. With only 37 games left in the regular season, the Cubs are looking pretty good for another run at a world series championship, 100 years after the last time they won.

Stress!

This is another weekend assignment for my Technical Communication class. The weekend was pretty busy but it really wasn't as stressful as I made it sound. We loved seeing Mom and Dad, Brother and Sister Goodrich, and Daylen and Ashley and Brooks. The blessing went very well and so did Brother Goodrich's lesson in Elder's Quorum. I knew he was coming so I volunteered him to teach the lesson. Then I told the quorum that we flew in a specialist from Seattle to talk to them about getting out of debt. On Saturday we all went to eat at the Garden in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building on Temple Square. It was good. Oh and by the way, Johnny's name is now officially John Bradley Perkins. No last second blessing changes. So here's my weekend assignment post:

The weekend assignment was to find someone more stressed than myself and then to do something nice for them. It turns out that I was pretty stressed this weekend with family in town for our baby’s blessing, trying to finish up a research paper, working hard to not get behind in my other class, and going on very little sleep for some reason that I cannot even remember. Oh, and I had a couple of softball games and work. It was great having family in town, but the inevitable loom of the research paper complicated everything. I guess it all comes down to time management, which has been hard coming into crunch time of the semester.

I am sure my wife was even more stressed than I was as she has a lot of responsibilities, such as cleaning up my messes, making sure I am fed so I don’t get cranky, and making sure I get enough sleep. She also takes care of our two-month-old son, Johnny, but he’s a pretty good kid, so I am sure that I cause even more stress.

Well we got home Saturday night at about 11pm after having spent the evening with my parents and my wife’s parents. I was very tired and just wanted to go to bed. Then we remembered that we needed to get some milk and other food supplies for the next day. My wife offered to go, but seeing as how she was also very tired, I insisted and went.

I was cranky the whole time, thinking mean thoughts about some weird-looking teenagers behind me in line. Then my Smith’s card did not give me the 5% student discount so I had to wait a long time while the cash registrar guy figured it out. Finally I went home irritated and ready to sleep.

My wife must have noticed that I was pretty tired that day. She was very nice to me and let me go straight to bed. She woke up with the baby in the middle of the night (instead of making me get up) and she did the same thing last night as well. When I offered to get up she just said, “No, you need your sleep.” And all that time she needed sleep just as much as I did.

So I begrudgingly did an act of kindness. Then that person (my beautiful wife) turned around and lovingly did three acts of kindness for me.

Pioneer Day Extravaganza

In Bancroft ID the 24th of July is even bigger than the 4th. That's Southeast Idaho for you. So we took our little family reunion vacation there this year. It was fun. A lot of the family was there but we sure missed those of you who could not make it. It's okay, we still love you. But we did have 13 of the 15 grandkids there, which made things quite exciting/interesting.

Wednesday:

Me and Keri (yes that is proper English now...none of this "So-and-so and I..." junk) left Provo at about 6 or 6:30, just in time to catch the tail end of rush hour combined with an accident around Orem...so it took us a while to get out. We stopped at Maddox for a delicious steak dinner (mmm...my favorite) then high-tailed it up to Chesterfield ID. We finally got through the construction, detour, and internal navigation failure (i got turned around in the dark) and got to the cabins a little before midnight.



Thursday:

We got up early to go to the Bancroft Lion's Club sponsored chuckwagon pancake breakfast. Then we waited around until everyone else was ready to go. Then everyone else waited on us because we had to feed and change Johnny. Finally we went and just about missed the breakfast. Good thing we got there before all the rootbeer milk was gone. I kid you not...rootbeer milk. And orange milk and something else just as gross I'm sure.

After breakfast was the parade. The parade goes down Main St. then turns around and comes back. Double the candy, double the fun. Daylen paid Cade a dollar to grab all the Bit-O-Honeys that he could. Daylen also couldn't resist running after some of the candy himself.


Then lunch, which I did not eat because I had just eaten breakfast and filled up on candy. Then the kids had some races. I didn't realize they had adult races, so we took off. It's probably a good thing because I just would have made everyone else feel slow. I did beat Bryson in a race. Jamie got a photo finish which clearly shows me in the lead. If you look closely though you could argue Bryson was in the lead...so we called it a tie.

We went 4-wheeling later on and no one was hurt. I also managed to scare Keri. She was scared when I went fast over the pivot road where the pivot line leaves about a 3" - 6" trench every 100' or so. Then she realized that by going fast it makes it almost as if the trench wasn't there. Fun times.

Friday:

We went to Lava Hot Springs to spend every dime that I've made over the last two years. Well maybe not quite that much, but I still think $7.50 is ridiculous for swimming. They even tried to charge for Johnny, but I told them no. Well we're the chumps that paid it, so supply and demand right? It was worth it though because we had a good time. I jumped off the 40' platform several times and had a headache and sore arms for the rest of the day. Keri got it on video, which i plan on putting on here when I figure out how. After watching the video I realized that I'm fat and need to lose weight. The camera does add 10 pounds, which makes me wonder exactly how many cameras I had on me... The extra weight did come in handy, though, as I was able to make it the furthest at the end of the slide. I'm sure skill and strategy had something to do with it too or else Daylen and Maurie would have come a lot closer.

Saturday:
I was pretty worn out by then, especially after staying up late every night destroying Daylen and Bryson in Daytona 500 (Disclaimer: the term "destroying" in this context actually means "being destroyed by"). I did destory everyone in Homerun Derby though.

We had time to go to the Chesterfield townsite. We went to the church, the cemetery where my grandparents are buried, and the Perkins cabin.

Sunday:
Church was great. It was good to see some people that I remember from my days on the farm. Also, Conner just about bit Kyler's finger off. While I felt bad for Kyler (he handled it very well by the way), I was impressed by the mark it left. When I told Shaulee what had happened she just shook her head and said, "I keep telling those boys to not put their fingers by his mouth."

After church we packed up and then had some delicious Sunday dinner at Mom and Dad's place before our long drive home, which actually ended up being pretty short, unlike this sentence that just keeps going on and on but is just about to finish riiiight now.

So all in all it was a pretty good trip. Here are some pictures of Johnny:

Taking a nap or doing his Rocky impression? You decide

With Brooks. Apparantly Johnny wants all the attention to himself.

It's a New CAR!

The assignment for my Technical communication class was to go shopping where a salesman earns commission (ie a car dealership) once dressed nicely and another time not dressed nicely. The point was to note the difference in how I was treated.

On Saturday I went to the Brent Brown Auto dealership in Provo. I went directly after my softball game that morning, so I was sweaty, dirty, and not dressed appropriately. I expected to be somewhat shunned because of my appearance and to not be taken seriously. What I found, however, was the contrary.

As soon as I pulled up I had sales associate waiting for me. He was very friendly and very interested in showing me anything I might be interested in. I like trucks and one day I would love to own a truck. So he showed me some of the brand new 2008 Dodge Rams and Dodge Durangos, which are definitely out of my price range. As soon as I even expressed any interest at all we were already test driving. I was honest with him in that I did not try to hide the fact that I was a student supporting a wife and child. However, I never mentioned that there was no possible way I could afford a car right now. Even so, I would have expected him to at least play me down and try to sell me something more affordable.

After test driving the next truck, which was still beyond my purchasing capabilities, I was met by a more experienced salesman. He caught on pretty quick and immediately began to steer me away from big expensive trucks towards smaller, less expensive, and more family-friendly SUV’s. Although it was still out of my real price range, I gave him reason to believe that I would be interested in buying a used 2008 Jeep Liberty. I was very surprised on account of my appearance when he insisted that I take it home for the day to show my wife and get a feel for driving it. I’ll admit, if it weren’t for the fact that I have no money whatsoever, I probably would have bought it.

Phase two began when I took the car back. I showered and dressed up in a nice polo and church slacks, giving the appearance that I had money. I took the car for a nice, long, test drive and then headed back to the dealership. I expected them to be all over me trying to sell me the car then and there. The more experienced salesman was not fooled, however, and did not even make an offer. He kindly turned me away and encouraged me to return to him when I was in more of a situation to make that kind of purchase.

I was shocked. I was treated great when I was inappropriately dressed but I wasn’t treated as well when I was dressed nicely. I guess that had to do with the inexperience of the first salesman, but even the experienced salesman let me take the car home. He did notice my change in appearance later on, but still essentially told me to take a hike. The moral of the story is car buying is best done when you’re sweaty. And it doesn’t hurt to throw in a little dirt for good measure.

New Background

Well this is supposed to have a super-cool Cubs background. It worked on Saturday, but today it is just blue. So that's weird. Just imagine a cool Cubs background...I guess that will have to do until I figure this out. Maybe it is because the code contains a link to Pyzam.com, which the BYU server has blocked, supposedly for adult content. I don't know what they're talkin about though because all i have ever seen there (the whole one time i've been there) is cool blog templates, including a super-cool Cubs background.

If you are accessing my blog through a server that is not BYU then please let me know if it is the awesome Cubs background or just a blue background. Thank you.

Professional Interview

The following is my review and reaction to an interview that I had with a professional in my field. This was an assignment for my technical communication class.

I interviewed Eugene Shawcroft, Assistant General Manager of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District. He was also my mission president for 2 years in Brazil, so I will refer to him in this text as President Shawcroft. His job now includes a lot of office work and administration. The majority of what he does is coordination with consultants and engineers in his office. He oversees various water projects from more of an administration standpoint as opposed to detail work. He deals with water-rights issues, bonding, finances, and budgets. He is also in charge of asset management where he helps determine the maximum economic life of certain facilities.

Previously President Shawcroft has worked for 6 years at the Division of Water Resources for the State of Utah as a project manager. There he had the opportunity to manage many important projects such as dam and reservoir design and pressure irrigation systems.

I really appreciated the advice President Shawcroft gave me as I am just beginning my career as an engineer. It is important to get a good education as well as good work experience. The reason for this is that in school a lot of theory is learned, but in the actual work force that theory must be combined with other variables such as timing, expense, and social factors. Not everyone thinks like an engineer and in the professional field I will be working with a lot of people from other disciplines such as attorneys, environmentalists, biologists etc. as well as clients, owners, and the public.

According to President Shawcroft, the most valuable thing I can do right now is to stay in school and pursue a Master’s degree. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is getting to the point where they will require a Master’s degree in order to become a licensed engineer. Although I could probably learn what I need to on the job, I will be behind other new engineers because I will not have received that extra technical training. With that training I will be able to advance and progress more quickly.

President Shawcroft also suggested that I don’t focus so much on one area that I don’t see what else is out there. I should also look into taking classes that deal with financing, administration, economics, and accounting. Also, Geotechnical Engineering classes and GIS (Global Information Systems) classes will help regardless of what engineering focus I pursue.

This was very informative. I plan on looking into what I need to do to continue my education in the Master’s program as well as looking for opportunities to acquire administrative skills. I will also allow for variety in my coursework so as to be able to see which areas of Civil Engineering interest me most as well as to be able to have a better communicate and interact more proficiently within my profession.

Yes, they are the best...

I would just like point out the fact that currently, as we go into the All-Star break, the Chicago Cubs hold the best record in the Major League at 57-38, with a winning percentage of .600. They are 4 1/2 games ahead of any other team in the National League. At this rate, they would finish the season with a record of 97-65, which is 12 wins higher than they finished last year when they won the NL Central pennant and is also higher than any team finished last year.

The last time the Cubs won the World Series was 100 years ago, 1908 (I know that might sound contradictory to certain statements from a previous post, but since this is my blog and everything I say therefore is an absolute truth then let's just say that I did not just contradict myself). They have been prevented from winning since that time due to the infamous goat curse. Could it be that the curse will be lifted after a 100 year drought? Could this be the year of the Cubs? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

President Bush

I am deeply offended by the gross ignorance of many Americans who blindly follow the biased mainstream media, even when its liberal views and hidden agendas contradict the very essence of common sense.

I recently got invited to a facebook group called "Dear President Bush". After reading that filth (I rejected the invitation by the way) I was once again reminded of the unfortunate miseducation of a large portion of our country. I am not saying that President Bush has never made a mistake. I actually disagree with a few select policies and positions. But to say "You have failed at everything you have set out to do" and because of him "...people are embarrassed to call themselves an American" is just a slanderous lie.

For my technical communication class we are writing a 3 page paper on anything we want. I have chosen the subject/title of "The Successes of President George W. Bush." What? Successes? You're probably thinking that I am out of my mind.

I plan on discussing the success of the War in Iraq, where we not only ousted the tyrant Suddam Hussein but we also discovered and destroyed thousands of Weapons of Mass Destruction (which the liberal media has conveniently chosen to downplay and ignore) and secured the liberty and safety of millions of people worldwide.

I will also discuss the implications of Bush's judicial nominations. Recently the right to bear arms was upheld in the Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote. 2 of those 5 votes came from Supreme Court Justices appointed by President Bush.

Bush has also done many other things for the sole benefit of the United States. At the risk of unpopularity with liberal America, Bush has courageously sought the best interests of
the country. It has even been said by political analysts that President Bush will one day be remembered as one of the greatest and most courageous presidents in American history.

Before you jump on the liberal media bandwagon of criticism and disapproval of President Bush, just try and think for yourself for a second. Remember that everything that is happening right now in the world is not Bush's fault. Remember that he cut taxes and opposed legislation for unnecessary government spending. Remember that Congress (which is now dangerously controlled by Democrats) makes the laws and spends our money and prevents us from using our own natural resources to obtain energy independence (ie it is not Bush's fault that we are in the current energy crisis). Remember that we are actually winning in Iraq and that even some prominent Democrats concede that we are succeeding there. Remember that you are not privy to the same information and intelligence reports that President Bush is privy to. The media isn't either.

Are the Cubs the best baseball team?

This is something I once wrote on my website...when I had a website...which I actually still have, but I don't even visit it and I don't expect anyone else to either. It's actually unfinished because it was a class assignment which had great expectations and potential of continuing on outside the scope of my class work but eventually (and by eventually I actually mean quite quickly) fell by the wayside. Maybe I'll do some work on it sometime.

• Q: Are the Chicago Cubs the best baseball team?
• A: I'm sure you all are quite aware that yes, they are actually the best baseball team and I would even venture to say that they are the best in the history of the game. Some may doubt my assumptions and even attempt to prove otherwise using outcomes and statistics of past seasons, but we all know that statistics can be manipulated to say anything you want. I therefore contend that they are the best team ever. Also, unbeknownst to many is the fact that the Cubs have won every single world series for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, many people are unaware of this startling fact due to a bias against the team that is reflected in the media. Even more manipulatable than statistics is the media, and that is the cause of most of the world's problems, including widespread ignorance of Cub dominance in the world of baseball.

Free Coke

Friday was Independence Day, the day that we, as a nation, were given the gift of freedom. Being the good, upstanding citizen and patriot that I am, I decided to give a gift to some random person by going out of my way to buy them something, such as a Coke or ice cream. Actually, it was just an assignment for my Technical Communication class. But it was still fun.

On Friday I passed up opportunities to complete my task at the movie theater, the grocery store, and the fireworks stand. It is not easy to go out of the way to do something nice for some random person, although it should be. I am typically shy and have a harder time stepping out of my comfort zone.

On Saturday, as the deadline was approaching, I conceived an ingenious way to accomplish my mission without even having to interact with the complete stranger for whom I would be doing this service. The plan was to insert $1.25 into the soda machine in front of the grocery store and leave. When the next person came to purchase a soda, they would discover that it had already been purchased and they would end up with a free Coke. My plan was foiled, however, as the machine was out of service.

Panicking, I scrambled for ideas when my wife suggested a trip to the McDonald’s drive-thru where we could purchase someone’s order before they were able to. I am sure she thought of this because she also wanted a delicious soft-serve ice cream cone. So we went, ordered a cone, and pulled forward to pay just as a mini-van full of kids pulled in behind us. My first thought was to get our order and go find another drive-thru to avoid paying an outrageous amount for the bill that a mini-van full of kids would rack up. However, when I asked the McDonald’s employee how much was owed by the family or two in the van behind me I learned that it was only about $2.00. So I paid it and drove off. As I pulled out, I glanced back at the mother driving the mini-van who had a very confused look on her face and almost seemed to be arguing with the cashier at the drive-thru window. Just to see the look on her face was worth the $2.00.

just checkin in....i figured i should write something here. all is well. tomorrow we are going to Cedar City to visit Daylen and Ashley for the 4th. He is going to try and convince Maurie and Christy to come up also. Ashley is 9 months pregnant and should have her baby any day now, so that may interrupt our little vacation.

well this is my first post. i decided to jump in on the blogging bandwagon because my technical writing teacher wants us to. besides that i think it might be an interesting thing to do if i can find the time. i'm horrible at keeping a journal, so this helps somewhat, especially with everything going on right now. Keri and i will have our first anniversary in August. Johnny is going on 6 weeks old. i'll probably graduate within a year. we've got neices and nephews popping up left and right. and just like that life is changing every second. so it's a good thing to blog. i'm sure Keri will enjoy it too because she sure likes to talk a lot.