Let me get this straight...

Obama's health care plan will:

* Be written by a committee whose head says he doesn't understand it.
* Be passed by a Congress that hasn't read it (but exempts themselves from it).
* Be signed by a president who smokes (and also hasn't read it).
* Have funding administered by a treasury chief who did not pay his taxes.
* Be overseen by a Surgeon General who is obese.
* Be financed by a country that is nearly broke.
* Run as effectively as the US Postal Service.

What could possibly go wrong?

And if I oppose it, that makes me a NAZI RACIST. Huh???

Brrrr!

It was downright chilly this morning! I woke up all wrapped up in my sheet and comforter, and finally screwed up enough courage to jump out of bed and close the bedroom windows. Then I hurried downstairs to close a couple of windows there, too. I couldn't find my outside thermometer, but I'll bet temperature this morning at 6:00 was in the high 30's to low 40's.

Danged Global Warming - still messing with my mind.

I am posting this to mess with the minds of all my loved ones in the Valley of the Sun where this never happens! Love you all.

The Worst Day Golfing...

...is still better than the best day at the office. Last week I participated in the GFOAZ Summer Training golf tournament at the Hilton El Conquistador course in Tucson, affectionately dubbed "The Perspiration Open." It is a four-man-scramble format, and is always a lot of fun. There were prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishes, as well as prizes for longest drive, longest putt, and tee shot landing nearest the pin.

The 6th hole was the "Nearest the Pin" hole, and the green was about 155 yards away up a hill, invisible to the tee box. I shot a 6-iron, and landed on the green (the only one in my group) about 30 feet from the hole. At the time, it was closest to the pin, but I knew in my heart it wouldn't hold, since there were really good golfers behind me. Imagine my surprise, then, when the next day I was awarded a $50 gift certificate from Best Buy for my tee shot! Then it was announced that my team had finished in 2nd place at 2 under par (1st place was 3 under). So I got another $50 gift certificate from Best Buy for that, making $100 in golf winnings. Not bad for someone who only plays once or twice a year, just to keep my game sharp.

The final day of the conference there was a drawing for an iPod Shuffle, and my name was drawn out of the hat for that. That's a lot of winnings in one week for someone who never wins anything. I was almost tempted to stop on my way out of Tucson to buy a lottery ticket. Of course, I didn't.

An Old Friend Found!

Ever since I returned home from Germany in 1972, I have been trying to make contact with one of my old companions, Christian D Roode from South Africa. I have inquired about him with every missionary returning from there; I have Googled his name; I have posted queries on the Internet - everything I could think of. All to no avail.

Saturday, July 25th, 2009, I got a phone message from someone I have never met, telling me of Br. Roode's whereabouts. This young man had been looking at the South Germany/Austria website (don't know why) and saw that I was looking for Christian D. Roode. He phoned to tell me Br. Roode lives in Las Vegas and he gave me his phone number and address. So last night, almost 38 years after I last spoke with him, I called him. He was so surprised! It was so nice to hear my old friend's voice again. He has lived in the US for years, teaching music to elementary school children. They must have a lot of fun in his class - he is a hoot!

What an enjoyable evening. I will have to look him up next time I am in Las Vegas.

The Hiatt Reunion

I think the picture says it all. The annual Rudge and Ruth Hiatt reunion is a kid's paradise where children can play with lots of other children and eat Red Vines all day. Seriously, what a blessing it is in our lives to be part of this wonderful family. This family has been a source of strength to us and our posterity, and we hope we have been a source of strength in their lives, too. This year was harder than usual because so many of our grandkids had been, or were, very sick.

It is always a bit of a challenge, finding sleeping places for 162 people (and growing), but the effort is well worth it. There is no one in that vast crowd that does not love and support every other person in the family - even those that are not blood related. Often our Japanese friend Shinji shows up because we all love him, too. We miss everyone who doesn't come. The Hiatt's have built a family that hangs together because we want to, and that strength comes from a temple going posterity. Mom and Dad aren't able physically anymore, but their posterity keeps going.

The high point of the reunion for me is always the Sunday family meeting. This year was special because I got to participate in giving my father-in-law a blessing after his difficult week. When the meeting was over, Emily told me that Jackson had never seen anyone get a blessing, and he wanted to know if it would be OK for him to get a blessing, too (he had been sick most of the week). I was so pleased to know that Jackson would seek out a priesthood blessing. We went upstairs in the cabin where John and I gave Jackson a blessing. We then gave Emily a blessing too, after her very difficult weeks of sick kids. When we went downstairs, we found out that Lydia had come down with what was going around, so Brad and I gave her a blessing. She recovered almost immediately. Having the opportunity to use the priesthood to bless four beloved members of my family in one morning makes this a reunion I will long remember.

Thank you, Mom and Dad Hiatt, for raising such a special family!

Writing English Real Good

Here is George Orwell's list of rules for good writing:

(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
(ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do.
(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.
(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
(vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
- George Orwell, On Politics and the English Language

Here is my list of rules for good writing:

Verbs HAS to proper go with its subjects.
Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
Don’t use no double negatives, not never.
And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction.
It is wrong to ever split infinitives.
Avoid clichés like the plague.
Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
Be more or less specific.
Never use a big word where a diminutive word will suffice.

My Buddy and Me

Well, the six weeks that Emily and Geoff were here flew by. So many of the things we wanted to do and planned to do just couldn't materialize. Geoff was so busy working, putting in long days at Walgreen's pharmacy, Jan worked long days at the hospital, I worked long days at Town Hall, and between us all, the time for things like camping and hiking disappeared.

I did get to spend some fun times with Jackson, as I wrote about earlier. I know he can hardly wait till his Daddy is through with school so they can do fun things together. Here are some pictures - I will post more later.


Jackson learns how to rope a calf from Rex Lamoreaux


Jackson gets his first experience on horseback


Jackson learns how to shoot a .22 caliber rifle


Jan and the kids enjoy Shush Beto (Big Bear) Lake


A couple of cute kids at the Family Reunion


Everyone has fun at the Annual Brooksby Children & Descendents Exceptional Family Gathering at the Hiatt's In June (The ABCDEFGHIJ)