DA EYE EH TAH

The diet, we're always on one.  Just what kind of diet are you on?  I have been on the eat what ever I want diet for the last while and decided that I need to get back on a slightly stricter one.  Cutting out sugar, breads and other things while also cutting down on the portions.  This along with increased water intake.  That would be a quick summary.  Dave and I are doing it together and should draw to a close right at Thanksgiving.  To a close - not really, just to the next stage.  Gotta love a good diet. 

Mr. Degreaser

I earned the nickname Mr. Degreaser a couple of years ago when we began converting over the old Ron and Chris Bakery into The Little Brick House.  I went through quite a bit of degreaser on that occasion and put my pressure washer to the test.  Grease is a nasty part of the restaraunt industry.  It is a part of it though.  We have some pretty fantastic chemicals through one of our suppliers.  One is called Greaselift and it works very well.  I had decided there were a few things that needed to be cleaned and went for it.  The ducting for the exhaust hood is pretty nasty.  It isn't super bad on the sides but on top of it I was laterally shoveling grease off the top.  I got a pretty good section done but still have a long way to go.  I prefer to have things clean and don't mind putting in some effort to help keep them that way.  They call me Mr. Degreaser!

Voting

I was driving home tonight and stopped by South Elementary so I could cast my vote for the next Mayor or Cedar City and to vote for City Council members as well.  I was just looking at the results and noticed that Maile Wilson appears to have won the race with 100% reporting completed.  The results however are not official so I don't know that she has officially been declared the winner.  Anyhow, I voted for Maile and feel she will do a great job.  I am hopeful of that anyway.  The interesting thing to me was looking at the total number of votes cast.  It was quite low.  The report says that we have 13,059 registered voters and the number of cards cast was only 3,926.  That is well under 50% of registered voters casting a vote.  If my quick math is right that is less than 30%.  That is sad in my opinion.  Very sad. 

I wonder what the outcry would be if the right to vote was taken away?  Alas, that will not happen.  We live in a wonderful Country that guarantees us that right and I guess it guarantees us the right not to vote as well.  Unfortunately there are many who do not vote but are filled with discontent and are quite vocal at there displeasure with the goings on in our government.  When you elect not to vote do you really have a platform?  I wish we would see a greater turnout. 

I can't help but think about the 1994 Elections in South Africa.  I was serving as a Missionary in the South Africa Capetown Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at the time.  These elections were the first time that all South Africans could vote the vast majority took seriously that responsibility.  Nelson Mandela was elected president and it was a time of great change in the country.  That right to vote was not taken lightly.  No, it was cherished.    

A Dizzy Mess

When I got up this morning I could hardly function.  I was extremely dizzy and had a hard time trying to focus.  I had to take several time outs as I got the boys ready for school and somehow managed to walk Andy to school and make it back home with out killing over.  That is a huge relief as I am sure you can imagine.  I mean just killing over suddenly is one of the big worries of my life.  Not really.  I did however return home, make a call to Dave about not coming in for a while and then I passed out for a solid three hours.  I am still not feeling all that well but I am no longer a dizzy mess so that is a good thing.  I managed to go in for a bit this afternoon and discussed some of our breakfast recipes as we open for breakfast in the morning.  I suppose I should post something about that but I think we are short a couple of things and probably don't want to broadcast it out. 

Anyhow, we had a wonderful evening here at home.  Chocolate chip pancakes for dinner, great Family Home Evening lesson on the blessings of paying tithing and an examination of the conference talk by Elder Bednar, lots of laughs looking at funny pictures online and reading a chapter of The Great Brain.  We had a good time and now I am completely wiped out and ready for bed.  Hopefully I will wake up feeling much better and ready to go tomorrow.  There is much to do. 

The Boy has Faith

There was a time a few years ago when Jack would not allow me to give him a fathers blessing.  The night before school as we gathered for back to school blessings he refused and so Natty and Andy received blessings and we passed on Jack.  I wondered that night if we would ever reach a point where he would allow me to give him a blessing.  This is not because he was angry with me or because he was anti church.  He simply has sensory issues and I am assume that he was scared of having hands placed on his head. 

Over the last few years he has become much more comfortable with Priesthood blessings and has occasionally requested one.  Over the last couple months since returning home from Alaska he has requested blessings much more frequently.  When he sees something or reads something that frightens him he asks for a blessing.  When he simply wants to be comforted he asks for a blessing.  He is not afraid to ask.  He has a testimony of the Priesthood.  I am grateful for that testimony.  I am grateful for his faith.  I am grateful to be his father and to have the opportunity to lay my hands on his head often.  I am grateful for the example he is to me and to Natty and Andy.  His faith in the Priesthood helps me to want to live worthy to exercise it on behalf of each of my children and others who would call. 

Kick Em in the Ice Hole

We have a little joke in the family about how to catch a Polar Bear.  I don't know if I have shared it on the blog previously or not and since I am not about to look through every post I am just going to share it again. 

Do you know how to catch a Polar Bear?
Well, first you cut a hole in the ice.
Then you put peas around the hole.
Next you hide and wait.
When a Polar Bear comes along and bends over to take a pea...
You kick him in the ice hole. 

Such a great joke and it has a spin off on how to catch a Grizzly Bear but I will save that for another time.  Okay, we'll do it now. 

Do you know how to catch a Grizzly Bear?
Well, first you build a bonfire.
Then you dig a big hole. 
After the bonfire goes out you put the ashes in the hole.
Put peas around the outside of the hole.
Next you hide and wait.
When a Grizzly Bear comes along and bends over to take a pea...
You kick him in the ash hole.

Can it get any better than that?  Okay fine, bad jokes but we love them. 

I spent a bit of time today in the ice hole we call a walk in freezer at the Brick House.  There was a little problem with how it was set up and on defrost mode we had water spilling all over the floor, freezing and building up.  In a month it had reached 3 inches thick in some areas and it was only getting worse.  I turned on the defrost mode and went to work.   I had to make a change to the drain, pull out some frozen crates and bucket and then I went about trying to de-ice the floor.  That ended up being a bit of a chore that involved salting, sledge hammering, scraping, dock brushing and squeegie-ing if there is such a word.  There was an old, beat up linoleum on the floor that shattered and came out with the ice.  The freezer room is just a room that was insulated and had some plastic wall panels put up and the air handler mounted inside.  It is old and has fallen apart some but it stays plenty cold and the unit works great.  While working on it I figured it will be a bigger project for another day or two when I can empty it out, fix the ceiling, walls and light fixture then install a new floor.

Anyhow, it was a good project.  I got just about all of the ice off the floor and out of there, established a new system for taking out the condensate, adjusted the drain set up and cleaned out other items that were not needed in the room.  It went pretty well especially since I kept my laser beam focus and didn't get distracted by delicious peas surrounding some random hole. 

Elbow Grease

I don't know about you but I think that grease is pretty nasty stuff.  I'm not real sure what this elbow grease is but it doesn't sound real pleasant.  Is that grease that randomly drips out of you elbow and can be used in a variety of ways?  Obviously it is just an expression that means to put some extra effort into it.  Anyhow, I used as much elbow grease today as I could muster.  Had a few greasy things that needed some attention and degreasing is one of those things that I just like to do I guess.