Archives for May 2010

Missionary Dan Email #5 from Vancouver, Washington

May 11, 2010 by rickety Leave a Comment

It was a great week for us. The phone call was fun too, to tell some of my cool stories that I hadn’t yet. We did a lot of biking and walking, teaching lessons etc. We also got general conference in the mail so I’ve been reading that. It was a great conference. How come no one sent what they liked about conference when I asked forever ago? Anyhow maybe you did, but I forgot.

The best thing my companion Elder Harris and I have been improving on is teaching with simplicity. We have improved greatly and we can tell the effect it has had on the people. Danielle is an investigator that says she wasn’t comfortable at all with being in churches and she wasn’t that interested. After a week of her reading a chapter from the Book of Mormon and us teaching her again, her attitude has changed greatly. It shows the importance of having the spirit with us when we teach.

Great job on running Mom. It sounds like you’re doing a lot of things right. Enjoy the pictures of a pond in my area and me with my bike. Thanks for everything!

Love, Elder Willoughby

Elder Daniel Willoughby is serving in the Washington Kennewick Mission. If you want to communicate with Daniel, write in the comments or use one of these addresses.

Rickety signature.

Caption Competition #8

May 10, 2010 by rickety 7 Comments

Sarah at Fort Worth Zoo

This photograph of Sarah was taken in April at the Fort Worth Zoo. You are invited to write a caption for the photograph.

Usually the prize is limited to Kaysville and environs but this time it is open to all. The prize is a One Hundred Trillion Dollar banknote. It is not worth anything except that to hold it is very worrying when you realize that your own currency could also end up hyperinflated. Especially with government borrowing at record levels. This 2008 uncirculated Zimbabwe banknote was part of the annual inflation rate of 89,700,000,000,000,000,000,000%.

Rachel holding Zimbabwe banknote

When you submit your caption include your email in the comment form. That way I can contact the winner for their address to mail the banknote. If you are reading my Facebook page, click on “View Original Post” to come on over to my blog. If I cannot obtain your address the prize will go to the second place winner.

Only myself and the judge are not eligible to win. Sharpen your keyboards and good luck with your captions. One hundred trillion dollars awaits you. Rachel not included.
Rickety signature.

Graduation Celebration

May 9, 2010 by rickety 1 Comment

Relatives and friend celebrate Paul and Jake's graduation

I was requested to post a few photographs of Paul and Jake’s graduation on Friday. The invitations were sent out and the relatives arrived with varying degrees of gifts. Paul and Jake’s grandpa gave them each a fifty dollar bill. Paul and Jake had present parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, a grandparent, a niece, and a sister-in-law. If you can handle a full resolution (4700 x 3303) 10.8 MB photograph of the relatives click here.

A meal was waiting for everyone with an Adelaide baked cake for dessert. It was a motherboard decorated with wafers but no chocolate chips. Click on the cake that Paul and Jake are holding and you will see that on one of the CPUs my brother Mike is wished happy birthday as well as congratulations to the graduates.

Click to view the cake

After the meal a goodly number attended the University of Utah College of Engineering Convocation at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Jill was able to get a photograph of Paul and Jake because they were seated right next to the aisle.

The convocation seemed like it lasted a long time mainly because it did. When the people you have come to see only take up 1/200th of the alloted time, just sitting there can get a little boring. However, one must pay attention because sometimes there are fractional moments that cause amusement. For example, one of the names that was read out was “Charlie Brown.” That caused a few chuckles to ripple around those present.

After the ceremony we went outside and took some more photographs. We were slow getting off the University of Utah campus because of a detour around a TRAX accident. The one piece of education that we got out of the evening was that if you must attend a convocation, make it a two-for-one event.

Family group photo credit: Zaapit
Rickety signature.

One Hundred Million Marks

May 5, 2010 by rickety 14 Comments

Weimar Republic 100 million mark banknote

The 100 million mark banknote I am holding was mere pocket change compared to the value of the banknotes yet to be issued in 1923. In early 1921 German currency was trading at 60 marks to the U.S. dollar. By November 1921 there were 330 marks to the dollar. A year later a dollar bought 8,000 marks. In December 1923 the exchange rate was 4,200,000,000,000 marks to the U.S. dollar.

The Wiemar Republic did not have the worst hyperinflation in history — Hungary holds that “honor”. Zimbabwe was the second worst offender, followed by Yugoslavia, Germany, and Greece: the top five hyperinflators of all time.

The highest denomination in Germany was a 100,000,000,000,000 mark banknote issued in 1923. Workers were paid three times a day and wives would meet them to rush to the store to pay 200 billion marks for a loaf of bread.

The hyperinflation was caused by the government issuing massive amounts of new money. This caused prices to rise. Germans with money saved had it wiped out, making them destitute. The German government essentially monetized its debt, much like the U.S. is doing of late. Germany failed to raise its interest rate sufficiently, just as in the U.S. at present.

The main force in the 1920s which gave the nightmare German inflation its momentum was the relentless decrease in the real value of currency in circulation.

Just like in the United States in 2010.
Rickety signature.

Missionary Dan Email #4 from Vancouver, Washington

May 4, 2010 by rickety Leave a Comment

1-5 bridge connecting Vancouver, Washington to Portland, Oregon

This week we had similar success in finding people to teach. We worked really hard and it was worth it. We plan on doing the same thing this week.

Congratulations on graduating, Paul and Jake. The pictures were really cool. I wasn’t sure if Mom paid you to take them or if you set up your own system to take them yourselves then allowed her to print ’em. Either way they were great.

The blog post was really interesting Dad, I had no idea that there was that kind of crazy inflation.

There is a lot of similar stories like last week I could write. The Lord truly is helping and guiding us in the work. I know it is a great work and that Heavenly Father loves all of His children.

The gloves look great! Thanks Mom.

For this Mothers Day call and I will call Sunday morning to see what time will work best. Happy Mothers Day Mom!

Love, Elder Willoughby

Elder Daniel Willoughby is serving in the Washington Kennewick Mission. If you want to communicate with Daniel, write in the comments or use one of these addresses.

Photo Credit: nsjmetzger

One Hundred Thousand Milpengo

May 3, 2010 by rickety 4 Comments

Hungarian 100,000 Milpengo banknote

I recently wrote that I was concerned about the increased deficit spending by the Obama Administration. I showed what happened to Zimbabwe when the government failed to control their currency and their spending. Although hyperinflation destroyed their currency and their citizens lives, the worst offender of all time was Hungary.

Above is a 100,000 Milpengo banknote if I am reading it correctly. A Milpego is a million pengos. So this note is a 100 billion pengo banknote. However this is small change. The largest denomination banknote in history was in circulation in Hungary in 1946. It was for 100 quintillion pengo or 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 pengo.

Hungary had the highest monthly inflation rate ever — 41,900,000,000,000,000% in July, 1946. Prices doubled every 13.5 hours.

When I show friends this banknote and the Zimbabwe note, handling them brings home the fragility of our own Federal Reserve Notes. They know that our printing presses are bigger and faster than any that Zimbabwe or Hungary ever ran. Their economies were destroyed by hyperinflation.

And the same fate could befall us.

Rickety signature.

Paul and Jake Graduate in Computer Engineering

May 1, 2010 by rickety 11 Comments

On Friday, May 7th, at the University of Utah 141st commencement, 7,034 graduates from all 50 states and 76 countries will receive degrees. The same day we will be with Paul and Jake at the College of Engineering Convocation at the Jon M. Huntsman Center at 6:45 pm.

With computer scientist parents and an older brother and sister with computer science degrees, perhaps it is not surprising that Paul and Jake chose a similar career path. But why a degree in Computer Engineering? According to U.S. News & World Report:

If there’s an app for something, there’s a software engineer behind it. From video games to missile systems to, yes, your iPhone, almost every big idea in modern business is supported by software. The work of designing, building, maintaining, and integrating those increasingly complex systems continues to be one the fastest-growing corners of the job market.

The job outlook is promising:

Employment of computer software engineers is expected to swell by a whopping 295,200 jobs, or more than 32 percent, between 2008 and 2018. That rate is well above the average for all occupations, as companies continually integrate new technologies and design their own.

Perhaps you are wondering how this is all working out for our recent graduates. Paul is already working full-time in his chosen field for a local employer and Jake joins him May 10.

Credits: Photography and announcement design by Adelaide of Ada Shot Me.
Rickety signature.