Recreation – Page 17

Why a Congestion Tax should be Blocked

July 14, 2008 by rickety 4 Comments

July 10th saw Road Congestion Pricing Possible printed in the Davis County Clipper. The Utah Taxpayers Association is calling for congestion pricing on Utah’s freeways. It is supposed to work by electronically monitoring freeway traffic and charging more when freeways are congested. There are a number of problems with such a system:

Drivers already pay greater amounts of gasoline tax the more miles they drive. The price of gas is a very good automated system for curtailing driving.
The claim that 50% of driving at rush hour is discretionary seems inflated. Most drivers are well aware of when rush hour is. We don’t arise in the morning and say, “Hmm, peak congestion is at 5 pm, I do believe I will wait till then to drive to Salt Lake to buy some stamps.”
If freeways have a rush hour charge, some traffic will divert on to secondary roads, adding to congestion there.
Congestion pricing favors those more able to pay. Congestion is everyone’s problem and needs an intelligent solution that I will of course detail shortly.
Workers who commute would have to pay the most. They have no choice but to travel in rickety cars at the worst of times. The congestion tax does not know who is taking a non-discretionary trip.

Intelligent solutions that encourage participation is the order of the day. Not a new tax thinly disguised as pricing. Here are just a few, nothing new, they have been around for a number of years:

Employers can establish satellite offices to shorten the commute and to tout as an added benefit to prospective employees.
Telecommuting is an obvious solution that is more viable today with the spread of broadband.
The state of Utah recently implemented a 4-day work week. That will shift employee commute times to earlier and later in the day and eliminate it on Fridays.
If you must have a congestion tax then levy it on employers who are mandating that workers commute. Employers have been slow to change because the employee bears the full cost of the commute in time and money.

Perhaps the Utah Taxpayers Association should lobby Congress to change the name freeway to taxway to better represent the way the UTA (the Association, not the Authority) sees these vital traffic arteries.

Musical Testimony

July 13, 2008 by rickety 4 Comments

I love to listen to music. I joy in my children’s music, especially my daughter’s. She plays the piano beautifully and confidently, even before large audiences. Sarah is accomplished with the French horn, a difficult instrument to play. In marching band she played the mellophone which looks like an over-sized trumpet. It is only half the length of a normal horn, making it lighter to carry. While playing in the same range as the French horn, it is played lower in the harmonic series, where the harmonics are not so close together and it is easier to play the right harmonic.

For Christmas 2004, Sarah produced a CD of her own to give to friends and family. On the front of the CD case she placed a picture of Jesus Christ. This is a gift that I treasure. Derek received a disk while he was serving his mission in Guatemala. Would that not lift your spirits?

On the inside of the CD case are these words of testimony:

I love music. I love how closely the spirit is tied to it. I believe in Christ. I know that He died for us and He is risen. I’m grateful for the atonement and I know that His sacrifice makes all things possible. He is the way to return back to our Heavenly Father and He has shown us the way. I’m grateful for His love, His example, and the knowledge that the gospel principles are eternal. What joy this brings to my heart!

The following table has MP3 and Ogg Vorbis soundtracks made from Sarah’s CD. Lastly I have included links to the hymns on lds.org.

Merry Christmas from Sarah
TEXT (www.lds.org)	MP3	Ogg	HYMN (www.lds.org)
He Is Risen	play	play	play
Nearer, My God, To Thee	play	play	play
Jesus, Once of Humble Birth	play	play	play
Lord, I Would Follow Thee	play	play	play
I Believe in Christ	play	play	play
I Stand All Amazed	play	play	play
On This Day of Joy and Gladness	play	play	play
I Need Thee Every Hour	play	play	play
How Great Thou Art	play	play	Copyright restrictions
If You Could Hie to Kolob	play	play	Copyright restrictions

Sarah produced all her music for the CD on a Yamaha Clavinova CVP-207.

Eye of the Bighorn Sheep

July 9, 2008 by rickety 2 Comments

Bighorn Sheep on the road in Canada

Jill and I were on vacation in July 2007 in the Canadian Rockies when we spied several bighorn sheep on the road. I stopped my car to take some photographs and soon one of the sheep came right up to my car. I stuck my camera out of the window and turned it at an angle to get the picture.

It wasn’t until I got home and looked at the photograph that I noticed the reflection of the car in the sheep’s eye.

If you look closely in the enlarged eye you will see the outline of my white Nissan Maxima. You can view my enlargement on this page or click on the photograph of the sheep to see it. Anyway, the rear wheel can been seen in the bottom left of the eye with the rear door and the trunk also showing. You would think the sheep would have had its eye on me in the driver’s seat and be ready to bolt if I moved. I emailed the photograph to two friends, one of whom asked me if I had had any food in the car. Yes, I did have food laying on the back seat of the vehicle. Then I realized how hungry the sheep must have been. Controlled burns were in progress in the area and perhaps this had reduced the availability of food, along with the drought.

One Nation Under God

July 5, 2008 by rickety 4 Comments

In my childhood in England I belonged to no church and religion was not part of my life — except in school. Religion was a required subject and it was in school that I learned many Bible stories. I didn’t believe in God and to me these religion classes were merely educational. However, I would be a poor, rickety specimen of manhood if I had not learned about the courage of David and Daniel, the history of the Jews, and the great moral lessons that flow from Christianity. In my Mormon faith some of my favorite hymns are those I would sing long ago at school assembly each day. Hymns such as All Glory, Laud, and Honor, Onward, Christian Soldiers, and Angels We Have Heard on High.

In some American schools the Pledge of Allegiance is recited complete with the 1954 addition of “under God.” In some quarters this is seen as very distasteful. But to me the addition seems to be more of a correction, an alignment with history. Consider the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner” written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key. I direct you to a part of the fourth verse:

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’

So it seems the Pledge was lacking until it was configured to reflect our dependence upon our God. Further, with the numerous times daily one is subjected to the taking of the Lord’s name in vain just one positive reference to God should be welcomed by all. I would hasten a guess that all this fuss about trying to remove, or not to hear two words would boggle the minds of my school friends, now grown, back in England.

Kaysville 4th July Parade

July 4, 2008 by rickety 6 Comments

A blanket and chairs were left overnight on the parade route to save our place. Jill and I put up the canopy in the morning before the parade. Left to right, back to front are Mark, Connie, Sarah, Susan, Rick, Jill, Shauna, Byron, Daniel, and Paul.

The day was hot but cooled down as the sky became overcast. We could have fared well without the canopy. Here are some photographs from the parade. One of the floats won a prize which wasn’t too difficult as there were only two in the whole parade.

There seems to be at least one rickety old car in every parade. Some of these cars look in very fine shape for their age.

The water fight takes place at the end of the parade. The water trucks follow at the same route and give a lot of people a good soaking. Of course many residents come with their own water weapons ready for a fight.

After the parade we all went back to my house for a well-deserved bar-b-q. Tonight are the fireworks and we already have our favorite spot staked out. See you there!

West Bountiful Parade

June 28, 2008 by rickety 2 Comments

It is time for the 4th July parades to begin. Today at 9am found Jill, Sarah, and I at West Bountiful.

Kent and Susan had saved seats for us. From left to right in the photograph below are Rick (me), Kent, Jill, Sarah, Shauna, Mark, Connie, and Susan. Shauna had brought candy just in case we didn’t like the parade offerings. There was also water but it wasn’t needed as I think we had the coolest spot on the parade route.

The National Guard carried the flag followed by Mayor James Behunin on a horse. Val Verda Stake, where Jill and I used to live, had a pioneer themed float. There were the usual bands, fire engines, and old cars. There were even Star Wars characters entertaining the crowd. With fifty entries the parade was over in less than an hour which is about the right amount of time for me.

Raise it Slow

June 26, 2008 by rickety 1 Comment

Pump jack in Deep Fork Wildlife Refuge, White Oak Area

Photo credit FreeWine

I read on the KSL website yesterday that the state of Utah may switch to some kind of compressed work week. On the KSL comment boards, a viewer wrote, “I thought state workers already worked only 4 days a week.” Draper and West Valley City have already implemented four-day work weeks. My daughter-in-law already works a four-day week as does my son.

When FrontRunner began service my wife (who works part-time) began riding the train by driving to Farmington to catch it. Her cost in June is $3 one-way. In Salt Lake City there is a company shuttle to take her and other employees to the work site. Because hiring is strong there are plans for employees to share cubicles and telecommute half the week each.

One of my co-workers last year bought a Natural Gas Vehicle, a Honda Civic. He qualified for the Utah tax credit ($3,000) but not the Federal ($4,000). It costs the equivalent of 63 cents (soon to rise to 85 cents) a gallon to fill. He showed several of us the car. There was a connection where the gas is, um, connected. He says it takes about the same amount of time to fill as a gasoline car. Most of the trunk is taken up by the Natural Gas tank but there is still some space left to stow items. Of course, there are not many filling stations on a long trip so he won’t be going very far out of town anyway. Otherwise the Civic was much like any other car on the outside. Another co-worker just ordered a Toyota Prius.

Many people are adjusting to rising gas (the petroleum kind) prices. So long as prices rise relatively slowly, or at least not in big jumps overnight (I’m talking dollar increases) then a majority of us can explore alternatives like public transport, alternative fuels, telecommuting, emigrating to Saudi Arabia, and compressed work weeks.

So if oil has to go up in price, please Raise it Slow. I don’t want to get out my rickety old bike just yet.

A Fishstick Fable

June 24, 2008 by rickety 1 Comment

In a previous post I showed how to make cheese and pickled onion sandwiches. Today I tell a story of a fishstick feast last week that almost ran aground. It began with a bag of Trident Seafoods Ultimate Fish Sticks made with whole fillets of wild Alaskan pollock — just makes your mouth water, does it not? As is my custom, I took four of these frozen fishsticks and began micro-waving them for 3 minutes exactly. I was looking forward to my tasty meal and watched the micro-waves gently warm my morsels. With 1 minute and 40 seconds left, I had time for a last minute errand to the other room. After I left for just a moment, Andrew pushed the add one minute button to the recipe.

[Read more…]

Mongolia

June 21, 2008 by rickety Leave a Comment

Now that Daniel will be serving his mission in Mongolia, friends have asked questions about that country. This Wikipedia article is a good source of information and here is the official government tourist website.

The Church came recently to Mongolia. In 1984, Monte J. Brough traveled to Mongolia on a hunting trip. In May 1992 Elders Merlin Lybbert and Monte Brough, members of the Asia Area Presidency, traveled to Mongolia to explore the possibility of the Church providing humanitarian aid. Prior to this trip, the Mongolian ambassador to the United States had traveled to Brigham Young University, which had paved the way for Elders Lybbert and Brough by providing positive contact with the Mongolian government.

After several months of negotiation, permission was granted to send six missionary couples to assist the country’s higher education program and to teach others about the Church.

Timeline

16 September 1992
First missionary couple, Kenneth and Donna Beesley, arrive.
20 September 1992
First sacrament meeting held in the Beesley’s apartment.
6 February 1993
First converts, Lamjav Purevsuren and Tsendkhuu Bat-Ulzii, are baptized.
15 April 1993
Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve and Elder Kwok Yuen Tai of the Seventy visit Mongolia.
August 1993
First six young elders arrive.
September 1993
The Ulaanbaatar Branch is organized.
24 October 1994
The Church is registered with the Mongolian government.
11 April 1995
The first Mongolians receive mission calls.
1 July 1995
The Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission officially established.
1996
Church-sponsored humanitarian projects include the support of the Mongolian Scout Association, training of professional accountants, cold weather housing, teaching English, and relief for victims of grass fires. Seminary and Institute classes begin.
March 1996
First four sisters arrive.
15 September 1996
The Ulaanbaatar Mongolia District is organized with Togtokh Enkhtuvshin as president
12 June 1997
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve visits with Dr. R. Gonchigdorj, chairman of parliament.
1999
Membership reaches 1,850 in nine branches.
6 June 1999
The first LDS meetinghouse, a converted cinema, is dedicated by Elder Richard E. Cook.
2000
The Church responds to an appeal by the Mongolian government for help after a severe winter followed by the worst drought in 60 years. Three shipping containers of clothing and quilts are sent, in addition to 8,000 food boxes.
Fall 2000
Construction began on the five-story Bayanzurkh Church Center that will house the mission home and office, service center, meetinghouse, and Church Education System offices.
2001
Translation of the Book of Mormon into Mongolian completed.
June 2001
The Darkhan meetinghouse is dedicated by Elder Richard E. Cook, the first Church-built meetinghouse in Mongolia.
2002
Membership reaches 4,358 in two districts and 21 branches.
2003
Membership reaches 5,455.
2005
Membership reaches 6,735.
1 Jan 2007
Members 7,306; Missions 1; Districts 2; Branches 26; Percent LDS .2 or one in 468.
1 Jan 2008
Members 7,721; Missions 1; Districts 2; Branches 21.
1 Jan 2009
Members 8,444; Stakes 1; Missions 1; Districts 2; Branches 21; Percent LDS .28 or one in 360.
1 Jan 2010
Members 9,239; Stakes 1; Wards 6; Missions 1; Districts 2; Branches 16; Percent LDS .28 or one in 360. The name of the stake is Ulaanbaatar Mongolia West, organized 7 June 2009, first president being Odgerel Ochirjav.

Source

“Mongolia” 536-537, Deseret Morning News 2011 Church Almanac.

External Articles

Mary Nielsen Cook, “A Mighty Change in Mongolia,” Ensign, June 1996, 75–76. Scroll down to second article.
Don L. Searle, “Mongolia: Steppes of Faith,” Ensign, Dec 2007, 54–59.
Blog post, Mongolia Specifics.

Updates

2010: Added membership details for 2007 and 2008.
2011: Added membership details for 2009. Adjusted some dates.