A week ago, I was driving home in a snowstorm that followed a rainstorm, so the snow was very slushy. As I was driving up a hill, I was sliding all over the place--I don't think I went straight at one point while I was going up. I never had a driving experience like that, so it got me thinking about the experiences I've had in cars that have gone sliding on snow and ice.
I have a very young memory of our car spinning around when I was probably three or four, but that might have simply been a U-turn.
One day in fifth grade, my mom was driving me and Hillary Ulmer to school in our blue Subaru. It wasn't snowy, but some snow had melted on the road and frozen again, so as we went down Marialana, my mom lost control of the car and nearly hit Debbie Pope, who was coming up the road. We hit the curb and the car quit working. Debbie stopped and asked if we were all right. We were fine, but we didn't know about the car. Hillary said, "Well, I'm not walking," and I thought that was a ridiculous thing to say, because if the car wasn't working, we had no other option, and we weren't super far from school anyway. But my mom started the car again, and it worked fine.
After we got our white Subaru, I remember a few times when we got stuck in the snow at the bottom of our driveway. One of these times was on Christmas Eve in 2000.
When I was in tenth grade, some days we would get rides from Wayne Christensen. He was apparently in a perpetual rush and would drive somewhat recklessly, not staying on his side of the road and going way over the speed limit. One snowy morning, he drove down Marialana and was angry that they hadn't plowed it yet, since it was the worst road in the snow. He was in too big a rush to take a different road. He began pumping the brakes and told us that the worst thing you could do is to slam on the brakes in the snow. When I asked my family about that, they said that it only applied to cars without anti-lock brakes, and that you never take Marialana in the snow.
On another occasion, it began snowing while we were in school, and Latecia Pope was driving us home. We cleared off her windows, and the snow was coming so rapidly that her rear windshield became completely snowed over while she was driving. When we got up to Raygene, she couldn't get up the steep part in the snow, so I had to get out and walk home, which was fine with me.
I didn't do much snow driving, but one morning I was driving to school and I slid as I was coming down to a stoplight near school.
Then on my mission, my first companion, Elder Chun, liked to pull the emergency brake on roads to turn around, rather than just doing a U-turn. You have to understand that in Spokane, they do a horrendous job of plowing roads. They just let the snow pack down, so the roads always have a slick surface. Elder Chun's method of turning around often made us end up stuck in snow berms, and I would have to get out and push, and sometimes other people would have to come help us too.
One time, we were visiting a family, but he missed the turn and we ended up going down an icy, hilly road called Deer Lane. It was so icy that we couldn't come up. I suggested that we go to the bottom of the road to look for an outlet (after all, we weren't far from a major highway), but he didn't think there was an outlet (and he was right). He asked me to get out and push, but when I pushed, I simply pushed myself away from the car, rather than pushing the car away from me. We did lots of praying and trying and pushing. Then he got an idea: On the side of the road, there were lots of pine needles that had fallen from the trees. He got the driver-side wheels on the needles and was able to get enough traction to drive off. Then we were able to use that experience in our lesson we were late to.
On another occasion, he went the wrong way, down a dead end, and people came to help push us back up the hill.
A year later, I was driving in the town of Ritzville, and the roads were coated with ice, I think because of fog. I was approaching an intersection and applied the brakes and couldn't stop; the car going the other way had to swerve to avoid me. Elder Wilson chastised me for not pumping the brakes, but I didn't understand why a brand-new 2008 vehicle didn't have anti-lock brakes.
One Saturday morning in December 2011, I was driving to my work at the Distribution Center, and as I was going down Raygene I slid into the curb. Everything was fine, but I was scared for the rest of the drive, and I did do some sliding.
I have had numerous times where the anti-lock brakes have come on when I've gone down Raygene. Times include the Saturday before Thanksgiving in 2010 and the Sunday after Christmas in 2014.
Then last Christmas, we had a dinner at the home of a bishopric counselor. It started snowing during dinner, and not wanting to get caught on his very steep hill in the snow, I left early, and my ABS came on and stayed on for a rather long time. I was relieved when I got off that hill.
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Monday, January 18, 2016
February 12-16, 2015
Time to remember last year's Valentine's Day.
Thursday, February 12. I left early to go to an eye appointment at the Bountiful Renaissance Center. My GPS directed me to get on I-15, and as I was getting on the on-ramp, I faced a dilemma--either go fast and run into the car in front of me, or go slow and get hit by the semi in back. Fortunately the semi changed lanes, but it was scary there for a second. As I drove down the road, two guys--probably in high school--were running shirtless, one of them just wearing American flag boxer shorts. I went inside and saw the signs said one of the doctors was "Dr. Poll," and I thought I was supposed to see "Dr. Paul." I filled out insurance stuff in the waiting room, and then I heard them say "Dr. Poll," pronounced "Dr. Paul." I thought it shouldn't be pronounced that way, but then I thought of the word "doll." The doctor told me I could get new glasses, but I didn't need them. As I got out of the building, I thought for a split second, "It's a little chilly for October," but then I remembered it was February, so it wasn't chilly at all. I went home and made tacos with ground turkey. When I said I was going to tutoring that evening, my mom was surprised that I was cooking even though I had tutoring. She was late for some reason that night. I went to Camille's house to carpool to tutoring, and I think Nik drove. Our bishop also came to tutoring, and some of the kids had heard he was President Eyring's son. Nik talked with Bishop in the hall, and after tutoring was over, Camille and I sat in his car while he kept talking to Bishop. He had just been breaking up with his girlfriend. Camille asked about me, so I told her about my seasonal eating habits. She said that Valentine's Day was her favorite holiday, that it always had been. I said I didn't know whether my least favorite was Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day, and she said it would have to be St. Patrick's Day, since I'm not Irish and I don't drink. She said she liked to go on dates on Valentine's Day. When I came home, I watched the "Valentine's Crush" clip from the Peanuts Motion Comics Collection. I wrote in my journal:
"I left work early today so I could got to my eye appointment. I could get new glasses, but I don't need to. Then I came home and made tacos for dinner. Then I went to tutoring; I feel like I get progressively less awkward. Bishop Eyring came. Nik Day is thinking about breaking up with his girlfriend. Then I came home and watched my three-minute Valentine clip."
Friday, February 13. When I got home from work, my family had made a Papa Murphy's stuffed pizza and were going to watch a movie. Since I was home a little early, I asked if I could go running before I ate. I drove up to Tunnel Springs Park, and I began running up the hill toward the radio towers. I wanted to see what the little gate said, so I went up to it. I doubt I was running at that point, because I hadn't gone up that hill before. The gate just said I was entering Salt Lake County and that dogs had to be on leashes. I decided to see what the sign at the top of the hill said; it just said "Bonneville Shoreline Trail." I had to take in the view, and I saw Ensign Peak, but it was too late to keep going. I returned and ate pizza and various candies my mom had brought home, as well as some red velvet candy corn my sister had brought. We went downstairs and watched A Charlie Brown Valentine, and then we looked on Netflix and Amazon to see what to watch. One of the items on Netflix was Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett; Susanne said it would be good, and my mom told her I had the CD. We watched Box Trolls, which had a weird ending, and we didn't particularly care for it. I remember Allie had to let Buddy, their dog, outside. Then my mom and Susanne watched another movie, and my dad went to bed, while I went to write on this blog. That night I wrote in my journal:
"I actually got to work a little early today. I wore my Snoopy Valentine tie. I came home and had a wonderful run on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, going up near a weather station [radio tower]. I saw Ensign Peak but I didn't go to it. (Nan thought I said 'I saw some puke but I didn't get in it.') Then we watched A Charlie Brown Valentine and Box Trolls, the latter of which has language I don't approve of. Then I wrote on my memory blog."
Saturday, February 14. I think my family was undecided about what we wanted to do for the day. I ran up to the Wild Rose Trail, and as I was coming to the intersection of five trails, I saw two guys coming from another direction. I think they said hi as I passed them. When I returned, I showered and put on my red shorts, Valentine shirt, and red heart socks, and we decided to go to Golden Spike. We went and picked up Allie, and I brought a red velvet Pop-Tart in the car, and I tried to be discreet about it. Allie brought all the Valentine candies her mom had given her, saying her mom had gone overboard, and my mom said that was typical. When we showed up at the site, there was a whiteboard saying the date, with hearts drawn next to it. We signed up for a special tour, so in the meantime we went out and looked at the railroad.
One of the signs was from the Hibernian Society, and I reflected that it would soon be St. Patrick's Day. Then we went back inside and they announced the tour, so we all hopped in our automobiles and followed the ranger to the place where they were working on the railroad car replicas. They told people not to get lost. They showed us how colorful the trains were originally, as they had advertisements on them. They instructed people on how to get to Spiral Jetty. The ranger pointed out a young girl who was wearing a Golden Spike visor--they had ordered visors for the gift shop, but no one bought them, so they were giving them away. We returned to the visitors' center, and we looked at various exhibits. I liked the old map of Utah showing different county borders, and I liked seeing chocolate golden spikes, but we didn't get one. We watched a documentary in the auditorium, and Allie went out and asked for one of the free visors. Then we looked in the gift shop. I wanted a 37-star American flag I could use for Pioneer Day, and my mom wanted a documentary she could get for school. They said the Charlie Brown one was out of stock, but my mom said I had it; she debated and got another one. After we had made our purchase, Allie said she would have liked a flag, but it was too late. We stopped at a place where they had lots of rocket pieces on display. My dad and I got up and looked around. I signed the guest book, and they probably didn't care about visitors from North Salt Lake, and I drew a little heart by the date. We drove home, and I put in our heart-shaped pizza which we hadn't made the day before, while I turned on Batman. I needed to go to the store for some reason, and when I got there, Julie Keddington saw me, and she remarked how unusual it was that I could wear shorts in February. After I checked out, I saw my home teachee Bob at the Redbox, but there was a woman waiting to use the Redbox, and I didn't want to hold them up by talking to him. My mom made a blackforest cake that night, and while it was baking, we watched Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown and the Golden Spike episode of This Is America, Charlie Brown. I turned on my Valentine's Day playlist that night, and when Jan Terri's "Everyday is Valentine Day" came on, Allie said, "This is terrible." That night I wrote in my journal:
"Today I successfully ran for an hour, including on the Wild Rose Trail. Then we picked up Allie and went to Golden Spike National Historic Site. That was all right; I got a little 37-star flag. Then we came home and cooked our heart pizza. Then I went to the store and saw Julie Keddington. I also saw my home teachee Bob, but he was at a Redbox, and I didn't want to interrupt him, especially since someone was waiting for him. Then we watched Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown and "The Transcontinental Railroad" of This Is America, Charlie Brown. Then we ate cherry chocolate cake."
Sunday, February 15. In the morning I wrote on my blog. We went to my grandparents' house to visit because my uncle was in town. He asked what I was doing, so I told him a little about my job, and there was also a teenager who came with him, whom baby John loved. I was wearing pencil socks, and my cousin Peter asked why I wasn't wearing Valentine socks, but Valentine's Day was over. My aunt had brought some s'more brownies, but she pronounced it with two syllables, "sa-more." I couldn't have them. Sue talked about her horrendous principal. I later remarked to my mom that it was a good visit with Sue, and she said part of that was because she wasn't on her phone the whole time. That night I wrote on my memory blog. I went to bed and watched Get Smart while I was in bed. I wrote in my journal:
"This morning I wrote on my blog before church. I passed the sacrament and set up home teaching. Then I came home, and we went to G'ma and G'pa's because Uncle Paul was there. It was pretty fun, I guess. Then we came home and I wrote on my other blog and tried my hand at a crossword puzzle.
"Having eaten too much cake last night and having a sore throat, it was a rough night. My voice is deeper than normal, and I might be congested. I hope it's all temporary."
Monday, February 16. It was a very boring day. I spent a lot of it looking at Wikipedia articles, since I was fasting from doing many other things. I felt bad that Allie was spending her day off watching TV, so I asked if she wanted to play games. We played Mancala; we were missing some pieces, so I went outside to find some pebbles that I could wash off and use. We played her Disney Hedbanz game. Then that night I went to a stake dance. I was supposed to turn on 400 N, but I missed it and went on another road, and I just happened to find our stake center. They asked me to give the opening prayer. I was talking with Peter Moosman and Kelton Gubler, and they talked about how we looked alike, and how Kelton had been dating Rachel. I went to the dessert table. There was a girl who knew about my rules, so she asked if I could have the Valentine cookies; I said no, but I could have the mint cookies because of St. Patrick's Day. She said, "So it's St. Patrick's Day because Valentine's Day is over?" I talked with a guy who had a patriotic eagle shirt I own. I said I had the shirt but only wore it around the Fourth of July; he said he always wore patriotic things, including socks. I visited with my sweet-bro home teachee and he told me seriously that I should get a girl's number that night. As soon as they started slow dancing, I left before anyone could ask me to dance. This is a portion of my journal:
"I also have a bit of a cold, so I couldn't go running. I tried to lift weights, but I was very weak. Since I couldn't run or do [other] things, it was a rather boring Presidents' Day.
"Allie watched TV all day, and since I was bored, I played games with her. We played Mancala and then her Disney Headbanz game. Mom and Dad went to a movie. When they came back and learned we played games, Mom said, "Thanks for being a good Uncle Mark," and I said, "I try." Allie said, 'You try and you succeed.' [My mom then smiled at me.]
"I went to the stake dance party. I gave the opening prayer and talked with a few people--a guy named Spence and Daniel Egan, my home teachee. One girl has known through institute about my dessert habits, so she asked if I could eat the Valentine cookies. I explained that I could have the mint cookies. I left just at the beginning of slow dancing.
"I put up a few St. Patrick's Day decorations today."
Thursday, February 12. I left early to go to an eye appointment at the Bountiful Renaissance Center. My GPS directed me to get on I-15, and as I was getting on the on-ramp, I faced a dilemma--either go fast and run into the car in front of me, or go slow and get hit by the semi in back. Fortunately the semi changed lanes, but it was scary there for a second. As I drove down the road, two guys--probably in high school--were running shirtless, one of them just wearing American flag boxer shorts. I went inside and saw the signs said one of the doctors was "Dr. Poll," and I thought I was supposed to see "Dr. Paul." I filled out insurance stuff in the waiting room, and then I heard them say "Dr. Poll," pronounced "Dr. Paul." I thought it shouldn't be pronounced that way, but then I thought of the word "doll." The doctor told me I could get new glasses, but I didn't need them. As I got out of the building, I thought for a split second, "It's a little chilly for October," but then I remembered it was February, so it wasn't chilly at all. I went home and made tacos with ground turkey. When I said I was going to tutoring that evening, my mom was surprised that I was cooking even though I had tutoring. She was late for some reason that night. I went to Camille's house to carpool to tutoring, and I think Nik drove. Our bishop also came to tutoring, and some of the kids had heard he was President Eyring's son. Nik talked with Bishop in the hall, and after tutoring was over, Camille and I sat in his car while he kept talking to Bishop. He had just been breaking up with his girlfriend. Camille asked about me, so I told her about my seasonal eating habits. She said that Valentine's Day was her favorite holiday, that it always had been. I said I didn't know whether my least favorite was Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day, and she said it would have to be St. Patrick's Day, since I'm not Irish and I don't drink. She said she liked to go on dates on Valentine's Day. When I came home, I watched the "Valentine's Crush" clip from the Peanuts Motion Comics Collection. I wrote in my journal:
"I left work early today so I could got to my eye appointment. I could get new glasses, but I don't need to. Then I came home and made tacos for dinner. Then I went to tutoring; I feel like I get progressively less awkward. Bishop Eyring came. Nik Day is thinking about breaking up with his girlfriend. Then I came home and watched my three-minute Valentine clip."
Friday, February 13. When I got home from work, my family had made a Papa Murphy's stuffed pizza and were going to watch a movie. Since I was home a little early, I asked if I could go running before I ate. I drove up to Tunnel Springs Park, and I began running up the hill toward the radio towers. I wanted to see what the little gate said, so I went up to it. I doubt I was running at that point, because I hadn't gone up that hill before. The gate just said I was entering Salt Lake County and that dogs had to be on leashes. I decided to see what the sign at the top of the hill said; it just said "Bonneville Shoreline Trail." I had to take in the view, and I saw Ensign Peak, but it was too late to keep going. I returned and ate pizza and various candies my mom had brought home, as well as some red velvet candy corn my sister had brought. We went downstairs and watched A Charlie Brown Valentine, and then we looked on Netflix and Amazon to see what to watch. One of the items on Netflix was Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett; Susanne said it would be good, and my mom told her I had the CD. We watched Box Trolls, which had a weird ending, and we didn't particularly care for it. I remember Allie had to let Buddy, their dog, outside. Then my mom and Susanne watched another movie, and my dad went to bed, while I went to write on this blog. That night I wrote in my journal:
"I actually got to work a little early today. I wore my Snoopy Valentine tie. I came home and had a wonderful run on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, going up near a weather station [radio tower]. I saw Ensign Peak but I didn't go to it. (Nan thought I said 'I saw some puke but I didn't get in it.') Then we watched A Charlie Brown Valentine and Box Trolls, the latter of which has language I don't approve of. Then I wrote on my memory blog."
Saturday, February 14. I think my family was undecided about what we wanted to do for the day. I ran up to the Wild Rose Trail, and as I was coming to the intersection of five trails, I saw two guys coming from another direction. I think they said hi as I passed them. When I returned, I showered and put on my red shorts, Valentine shirt, and red heart socks, and we decided to go to Golden Spike. We went and picked up Allie, and I brought a red velvet Pop-Tart in the car, and I tried to be discreet about it. Allie brought all the Valentine candies her mom had given her, saying her mom had gone overboard, and my mom said that was typical. When we showed up at the site, there was a whiteboard saying the date, with hearts drawn next to it. We signed up for a special tour, so in the meantime we went out and looked at the railroad.
"Today I successfully ran for an hour, including on the Wild Rose Trail. Then we picked up Allie and went to Golden Spike National Historic Site. That was all right; I got a little 37-star flag. Then we came home and cooked our heart pizza. Then I went to the store and saw Julie Keddington. I also saw my home teachee Bob, but he was at a Redbox, and I didn't want to interrupt him, especially since someone was waiting for him. Then we watched Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown and "The Transcontinental Railroad" of This Is America, Charlie Brown. Then we ate cherry chocolate cake."
Sunday, February 15. In the morning I wrote on my blog. We went to my grandparents' house to visit because my uncle was in town. He asked what I was doing, so I told him a little about my job, and there was also a teenager who came with him, whom baby John loved. I was wearing pencil socks, and my cousin Peter asked why I wasn't wearing Valentine socks, but Valentine's Day was over. My aunt had brought some s'more brownies, but she pronounced it with two syllables, "sa-more." I couldn't have them. Sue talked about her horrendous principal. I later remarked to my mom that it was a good visit with Sue, and she said part of that was because she wasn't on her phone the whole time. That night I wrote on my memory blog. I went to bed and watched Get Smart while I was in bed. I wrote in my journal:
"This morning I wrote on my blog before church. I passed the sacrament and set up home teaching. Then I came home, and we went to G'ma and G'pa's because Uncle Paul was there. It was pretty fun, I guess. Then we came home and I wrote on my other blog and tried my hand at a crossword puzzle.
"Having eaten too much cake last night and having a sore throat, it was a rough night. My voice is deeper than normal, and I might be congested. I hope it's all temporary."
Monday, February 16. It was a very boring day. I spent a lot of it looking at Wikipedia articles, since I was fasting from doing many other things. I felt bad that Allie was spending her day off watching TV, so I asked if she wanted to play games. We played Mancala; we were missing some pieces, so I went outside to find some pebbles that I could wash off and use. We played her Disney Hedbanz game. Then that night I went to a stake dance. I was supposed to turn on 400 N, but I missed it and went on another road, and I just happened to find our stake center. They asked me to give the opening prayer. I was talking with Peter Moosman and Kelton Gubler, and they talked about how we looked alike, and how Kelton had been dating Rachel. I went to the dessert table. There was a girl who knew about my rules, so she asked if I could have the Valentine cookies; I said no, but I could have the mint cookies because of St. Patrick's Day. She said, "So it's St. Patrick's Day because Valentine's Day is over?" I talked with a guy who had a patriotic eagle shirt I own. I said I had the shirt but only wore it around the Fourth of July; he said he always wore patriotic things, including socks. I visited with my sweet-bro home teachee and he told me seriously that I should get a girl's number that night. As soon as they started slow dancing, I left before anyone could ask me to dance. This is a portion of my journal:
"I also have a bit of a cold, so I couldn't go running. I tried to lift weights, but I was very weak. Since I couldn't run or do [other] things, it was a rather boring Presidents' Day.
"Allie watched TV all day, and since I was bored, I played games with her. We played Mancala and then her Disney Headbanz game. Mom and Dad went to a movie. When they came back and learned we played games, Mom said, "Thanks for being a good Uncle Mark," and I said, "I try." Allie said, 'You try and you succeed.' [My mom then smiled at me.]
"I went to the stake dance party. I gave the opening prayer and talked with a few people--a guy named Spence and Daniel Egan, my home teachee. One girl has known through institute about my dessert habits, so she asked if I could eat the Valentine cookies. I explained that I could have the mint cookies. I left just at the beginning of slow dancing.
"I put up a few St. Patrick's Day decorations today."
Friday, January 15, 2016
Spilling things
This week's memory post is admittedly very random--times that things have been spilled. Obviously, in no way is this every time something has been spilled.
At a primary Christmas party when I was in third (maybe second) grade, they gave us donuts and "hot chocolate"--it was just chocolate milk heated up, which for some reason tasted weird and had a little film that formed on top. Well, I spilled mine all over the table in the cultural hall, so some of the leaders ran to get things to wipe it up with, and I didn't know what to do, so I just stood there helpless while they cleaned up, and I futilely put my little brown napkin in the chocolate milk puddle on the table. After we had had our refreshments and they had given us candy canes, a tiny Devan Gubler went into the chapel and up to the microphone, which was on, saying "My candy cane!" We could hear him in the hall. We told his mom, and she just said, "Silly!"
Sometime around that age, I went to a sleepover at my cousins' house. My cousin Joey got a can of red creme soda and opened it in the living room. It fizzed all over the carpet, which they had recently replaced. My aunt was quite upset about it, and as she cleaned it up, she kept saying, "Dang it, you!" while he nonchalantly sipped his soda.
When I was in seventh grade, my mom took me and my cousin April and her boyfriend to a mall and the food court. As I was bringing a tray with a cup of Sprite over to our table, the cup fell off the tray and spilled all over. My mom went to get someone to clean it up, and since I was taking Spanish, I remarked dejectedly to my cousin and her boyfriend, "Qué suerte" (What luck).
One November day, I was in my Ritzville, Washington, mission apartment, with a cup of water on my desk. I think I might have had a mild cold, which was why I had water on my desk. Well, my desk wasn't very organized, so at one point I spilled the water all over my scriptures. I put my scriptures on the floor of our bedroom while I pointed a fan at the pages. To this day, my Pearl of Great Price has wrinkles in it from the incident. Good thing I only drank water!
After I had been home for about a month, in December 2009, we were having a family game night the week after Christmas. My niece, Allie, was six and wanted to play "Guess which song I'm humming with me." My mom told me I was a good uncle. Allie had some hot chocolate, and at one point she spilled it on the table and carpet. Her mom became mad at her, and my mom thought she was overreacting and being overly mean.
Then two years ago, my sweet-bro roommate, Chad, invited me to a Sunday dinner at a family friend's house. I agreed to go, but I decided to drive separately. He didn't tell me where he was going as I was following, and he kept changing lanes, and then he took the freeway to get from Provo to Orem, which I found ridiculous. Anyway, the dinner was very awkward, because I knew no one there, and I'm inherently awkward, and all his buddies were fellow sweet-bros. I don't know what I am, but I'm not a sweet-bro. In the course of dinner, Chad accidentally knocked over a glass of water, and it got all over the table, and me, and the chair. Not knowing what to do, I just stood around while Chad grabbed a dish towel to wipe it up. (I told you I was inherently awkward!) He apologized for spilling on me, and one of the women there said, "And in his suit!" I didn't think it would help to tell them that I had just had the suit drycleaned. (The women at that dinner were nice. They weren't as bro-like and asked questions relevant to me. One of them had worked for the Church Educational System, so she knew about BYU Studies, where I was interning at the time.) Chad had invited me to several dinners before, but I never went; but he never invited me again.
At a primary Christmas party when I was in third (maybe second) grade, they gave us donuts and "hot chocolate"--it was just chocolate milk heated up, which for some reason tasted weird and had a little film that formed on top. Well, I spilled mine all over the table in the cultural hall, so some of the leaders ran to get things to wipe it up with, and I didn't know what to do, so I just stood there helpless while they cleaned up, and I futilely put my little brown napkin in the chocolate milk puddle on the table. After we had had our refreshments and they had given us candy canes, a tiny Devan Gubler went into the chapel and up to the microphone, which was on, saying "My candy cane!" We could hear him in the hall. We told his mom, and she just said, "Silly!"
Sometime around that age, I went to a sleepover at my cousins' house. My cousin Joey got a can of red creme soda and opened it in the living room. It fizzed all over the carpet, which they had recently replaced. My aunt was quite upset about it, and as she cleaned it up, she kept saying, "Dang it, you!" while he nonchalantly sipped his soda.
When I was in seventh grade, my mom took me and my cousin April and her boyfriend to a mall and the food court. As I was bringing a tray with a cup of Sprite over to our table, the cup fell off the tray and spilled all over. My mom went to get someone to clean it up, and since I was taking Spanish, I remarked dejectedly to my cousin and her boyfriend, "Qué suerte" (What luck).
One November day, I was in my Ritzville, Washington, mission apartment, with a cup of water on my desk. I think I might have had a mild cold, which was why I had water on my desk. Well, my desk wasn't very organized, so at one point I spilled the water all over my scriptures. I put my scriptures on the floor of our bedroom while I pointed a fan at the pages. To this day, my Pearl of Great Price has wrinkles in it from the incident. Good thing I only drank water!
After I had been home for about a month, in December 2009, we were having a family game night the week after Christmas. My niece, Allie, was six and wanted to play "Guess which song I'm humming with me." My mom told me I was a good uncle. Allie had some hot chocolate, and at one point she spilled it on the table and carpet. Her mom became mad at her, and my mom thought she was overreacting and being overly mean.
Then two years ago, my sweet-bro roommate, Chad, invited me to a Sunday dinner at a family friend's house. I agreed to go, but I decided to drive separately. He didn't tell me where he was going as I was following, and he kept changing lanes, and then he took the freeway to get from Provo to Orem, which I found ridiculous. Anyway, the dinner was very awkward, because I knew no one there, and I'm inherently awkward, and all his buddies were fellow sweet-bros. I don't know what I am, but I'm not a sweet-bro. In the course of dinner, Chad accidentally knocked over a glass of water, and it got all over the table, and me, and the chair. Not knowing what to do, I just stood around while Chad grabbed a dish towel to wipe it up. (I told you I was inherently awkward!) He apologized for spilling on me, and one of the women there said, "And in his suit!" I didn't think it would help to tell them that I had just had the suit drycleaned. (The women at that dinner were nice. They weren't as bro-like and asked questions relevant to me. One of them had worked for the Church Educational System, so she knew about BYU Studies, where I was interning at the time.) Chad had invited me to several dinners before, but I never went; but he never invited me again.
Friday, January 8, 2016
My first weeks at college
This is a reminiscent account, rather than one where I try to remember every detail.
January has me reflecting on my very first days of college six years ago in 2010. I was living at Stratford Court 303, just south of campus.
Every day of the week, I had my 8:00 calculus class. Fortunately, I was fresh off the mish and trying to maintain a missionary schedule, so 8:00 wasn't too early for me. On MWF I had music 101 later in the morning, so I would stay on campus between math and music. However, once music was over, I would walk home for lunch. I find I'm always hungrier during the winter, so I'd be pretty hungry by the time I made it to my apartment. I would usually heat up a can of soup on the stove, or sometimes I'd have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with bland grape jelly. I would read my scriptures (I was reading the Old Testament that year) and I would spend some time on Facebook. I think I allotted myself 30 minutes to Facebook every day. (Strangely, I think I'm on Facebook more now, yet I waste less time on it.)
Then I would walk back up to campus for my Book of Mormon class and my late-afternoon "American History through Literature" class. Those first couple of weeks I only knew the buildings in relation to the Wilk, so I would walk up to the Wilk, then over to the JSB--even though there was a much more direct way to the JSB from my apartment.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I had my introductory English language class, which I had asked the professor if I could add because I hadn't initially enrolled in it. I was going to take an English class, but I narrowly averted becoming an English major. (Whew!) I think I would stay on campus until that class, since it was early afternoon, and then I would go home for the day.
(In later terms and semesters, I would stay on campus until all my classes were done for the day, and I would pack lunches.)
During the evenings, I had a dinner group I would attend. Of course, all I had to talk about was my mission. I was very awkward, and I cringe to look back and think of how I must have seemed to those who had been at college for a lot longer. There were two others who had just returned, but they might have had some college before their missions, I don't remember. I'm pretty sure I was the worst adjusted one there. But it was very good for me to go, because it helped me adjust into post-mission life and gave me social interaction.
I was an extremely dedicated student at that time, and I would plan exactly when I was going to do my homework in my leftover missionary planner and subsequent "RM Daily Planner," and I would stick to it. I didn't have time for social engagements outside of dinner group, church, and FHE. Which was probably good, because that might have been the most rigorous semester I had, due to having an Honors course and calculus. My first Friday, there was a ward dance, but I left just as people were getting there, because I had to go home to be in bed by 10:30. I was pretty uncomfortable at the dance anyway.
I kind of wish I'd been more social, looking back, but I was already more social than I'd ever been before.
Certainly sitting at home on a Friday night, in my late 20s, writing a boring blog post isn't much better!
January has me reflecting on my very first days of college six years ago in 2010. I was living at Stratford Court 303, just south of campus.
Every day of the week, I had my 8:00 calculus class. Fortunately, I was fresh off the mish and trying to maintain a missionary schedule, so 8:00 wasn't too early for me. On MWF I had music 101 later in the morning, so I would stay on campus between math and music. However, once music was over, I would walk home for lunch. I find I'm always hungrier during the winter, so I'd be pretty hungry by the time I made it to my apartment. I would usually heat up a can of soup on the stove, or sometimes I'd have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with bland grape jelly. I would read my scriptures (I was reading the Old Testament that year) and I would spend some time on Facebook. I think I allotted myself 30 minutes to Facebook every day. (Strangely, I think I'm on Facebook more now, yet I waste less time on it.)
Then I would walk back up to campus for my Book of Mormon class and my late-afternoon "American History through Literature" class. Those first couple of weeks I only knew the buildings in relation to the Wilk, so I would walk up to the Wilk, then over to the JSB--even though there was a much more direct way to the JSB from my apartment.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I had my introductory English language class, which I had asked the professor if I could add because I hadn't initially enrolled in it. I was going to take an English class, but I narrowly averted becoming an English major. (Whew!) I think I would stay on campus until that class, since it was early afternoon, and then I would go home for the day.
(In later terms and semesters, I would stay on campus until all my classes were done for the day, and I would pack lunches.)
During the evenings, I had a dinner group I would attend. Of course, all I had to talk about was my mission. I was very awkward, and I cringe to look back and think of how I must have seemed to those who had been at college for a lot longer. There were two others who had just returned, but they might have had some college before their missions, I don't remember. I'm pretty sure I was the worst adjusted one there. But it was very good for me to go, because it helped me adjust into post-mission life and gave me social interaction.
I was an extremely dedicated student at that time, and I would plan exactly when I was going to do my homework in my leftover missionary planner and subsequent "RM Daily Planner," and I would stick to it. I didn't have time for social engagements outside of dinner group, church, and FHE. Which was probably good, because that might have been the most rigorous semester I had, due to having an Honors course and calculus. My first Friday, there was a ward dance, but I left just as people were getting there, because I had to go home to be in bed by 10:30. I was pretty uncomfortable at the dance anyway.
I kind of wish I'd been more social, looking back, but I was already more social than I'd ever been before.
Certainly sitting at home on a Friday night, in my late 20s, writing a boring blog post isn't much better!
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