Rest in Peace Crocodile Hunter

I write today to talk about famous people. Why do we have such a fascination with the everyday lives of people that are actors, athletes, politicians, and the like? OJ Simpson was recently arrested and charged with armed robbery. They have him on a tape recording doing the robbery. I imagine that he will probably be going to jail because of this. It seems ironic that he would go to jail for a lesser crime than the murder he committed all those years ago. I remember watching his slow speed chase on TV back in 1994 and I remember being shocked that an athlete of his caliber was being accused of such a horrendous crime. I also remember being a freshman at Idaho State and watching the verdict read. The "boos" from the white kids was drowned out by the cheers from the black kids. It was my first time witnessing the line between black and white. Later, as a missionary, I would find myself in the Southside of Chicago, where I was the minority and would learn firsthand that racism isn't only a white issue.

Back to OJ. I remember almost buying OJ's rookie card at the local card shop. I am sure that Brady remembers the card shop. I think every hard earned dollar was spent in that place during that one summer. I still have all of my football cards in my basement, because my mom threatened to throw them out unless I came and got them out of her house. I guess that I think about all of the money that I spent on them would be wasted by throwing them away . Never mind the fact that I have, in a sense, already thrown away my money. Deep down I am hoping that one day I will be able to sell some of them to pay for my kids college..... anyway, back to my OJ point. He is now the latest media circus freak and because of his sordid past, people can't get enough of it.

I was told by Andrea today that Kensie was watching animal planet and Steve Irwin the crocodile hunter's show was on. He was wrangling snakes (I think that is the correct term) and Andrea made a comment about him getting bit by the snakes. Kensie said to her in a matter-of-fact tone that he is the crocodile hunter and would never get hurt by an animal. She didn't say anything, because it would make for a complicated explanation. She wasn't trying to avoid the "death talk," but did not want to explain how he is dead when he is very much alive on the TV. If you have a 5 year old, you understand.

We have been very open with our children about death because we have a picture of Makenna that they have asked numerous questions about. Andrea and I have explained to them why Makenna died and they have been very receptive to hearing about their older sister. Kensie will sometimes out of the blue say something about Makenna and reassure us that Makenna is safe and in a better place. It is really quite cute.

I learned about death, and life, from living on the farm. Watching your dad shoot a suffering sow in the head with a .22 is seeing that death can sometimes equal a positive. I would have to say that watching a boar and a sow getting their groove thing on, is a disgusting way to learn about life and procreation. I am certain that any kid witnessing two pigs getting their freak on, would want to avoid the opposite sex at all cost.

The media is both a good and bad force in our universe. The positive is that we have the ability to learn about anything as soon as it happens. The negative side to this is that we learn about anything as soon as it happens. I remember watching the second plane hit the world trade tower on live TV and it was horrifying. I hope to never have to witness anything like it in my lifetime. Our soldiers that are fighting the war on terror should be thanked. I personally want to thank my sister Sarah and her husband Stephen for serving our country in Iraq. It is because of their service that we get the opportunity to watch celebrities being idiots. Then these same idiot celebrities are allowed the center stage of the media circus to say their idiotic rhetoric about our leaders and the soldiers that serve our country. They need to realize that it is these same soldiers that provide them this freedom of speech to say the idiotic things that they think are so important.

Rest in peace Crocodile Hunter, I guess Kensie was right, you can't be harmed by animals anymore.

The Newbie

Well, I have decided to jump into the world of blogging. I have been inspired from reading brady, scott, and rob's blogs over the past couple of weeks. I have decided that this might be a good way to keep a journal of sorts. I also have the opportunity to be awake late because sophie (10 months) and ellie (3 yrs) are both sick and cry out every 10 minutes or so. I jump up and run into the babies room to give sophie the pacifier. Every time I give her the pacifier, I feel like Pavlov's dog! It is a vicious cycle.

I just started a new job a few weeks ago. I was working at US Bank as a personal banker in burley and then was offered a supposed high paying commission job as a mortgage lender. I should have seen the warning signs, especially when the words high paying, commission, and mortgage lender are used in the same sentence. I did this for about 5 months and then my branch was closed down by the company. If you follow the news at all, you probably could see that coming with all of the sub prime fallout. It was ok, because then I was able to actually start bringing in some money for my family in the form of unemployment checks. If you have ever had to file for unemployment, I am sure that it ranks up there with childbirth, kidney stones, and seeing Hillary Clinton elected president. I was unemployed for 3 short weeks and then was hired as the branch manager of the Rupert branch of US Bank. I know that if I would have stayed as a banker, they would have never considered me for this position. I am sure that the faith and prayers of my family helped considerably. Long story short, I am getting a regular paycheck for the first time in 2 1/2 months.

I have a 15 minute commute to work now and I am not sure how to handle this. My last trip to work took me 5 minutes and that is if I got unlucky and had to stop at the 4 stoplights that I passed through. It is ok, I found some good podcasts and listen to them on the way to rupert every morning. It beats listening to talk radio shows. There are only 2 local talk radio programs that you can pick up in burley, one is broadcast from burley and the other out of twin falls. The funny thing about these shows is the people that call into them. They are always the same people with the same points and complaints. The talk show hosts calls them by their first name and thinks it is great hearing the same lame points from the same lame people every day. Only in Burley.

Well, I am sure that if you read this, that you will probably not be coming back for more. I will try and have some funny stuff like the other bloggers that I have read. I guess that I needed to get a few things out in the open to begin with and will try and be more entertaining in the future. Later