The Empty Soda Can

For the past few days, I’ve been discussing politics on Facebook: specifically, the 2012 Presidential election. One of the friends I’m talking to, right now, is a rabid Ron Paul fan (as are, in my experience, most of his supporters) and sounds like she’d be very difficult to convince to vote for anyone else. Another is a right-leaning independent and quite anti-Obama, but still feels that our incumbent president will be very difficult to beat, in 2012. (This I agree with.) Since my own thoughts on the subject are long and varied, I figured I post some of them here. First of all, I am a Conservative. Despite this, I have no ties to the Republican Party and probably never will. I vote for the candidate , not the party; and when a Democrat, Independent, or whatever comes along that I actually agree with, I’m happy to vote for that person. Secondly, I am a Latter-day Saint. This certainly affects the way I see things, but in no way dictates the way that I vote. When another Latter-day ...

Before you begin reading this post, allow me to give you fair warning: what I’m about to say is anything but politically correct. Breast cancer is a pop culture disease. The reason I say this is not because I want to minimize breast cancer; I don’t. I’m definitely in favor of curing breast cancer. It’s a horrible disease, affecting about four million people at any given time—and about 20% of those four million will die from it. That’s 800,000 breast cancer patients who will not win their battles, and that’s 800,000 too many. Now, that having been said, let’s consider diabetes for a moment. Diabetes affects about 200 million people at any given time, and that number continues to climb. Unlike breast cancer, which has decreased as better treatments are found, diabetes is expected to grow another 50% in the next dozen years or so. By the early 2020s, roughly 300 million people will have diabetes. And unlike breast cancer, diabetes is almost impossible to cure. So, almost 100% of...

I know not everybody that follows this blog is following my religion-themed blog , but I figured this one was important enough to cross-post. Enjoy! The President Packer Postulate

We just got back from an adoption conference in Franklin, Tennessee. The last class we attended—and were asked to present in—dealt with grief and loss. I suppose that, given our history, the presenter figured that we’re experts. Throughout the course of trying to build our family, we’ve experienced many kinds of grief and loss: • We’ve suffered through severe infertility, such that we’ve only managed to get pregnant four times in almost 13 years of trying. • We’ve suffered through two early miscarriages, wherein that pregnancy ended almost before it began. • We’ve suffered through a later miscarriage, when our son Daniel was perfectly formed but born much too early and we got to hold our lifeless child in our hands before burying him in a tiny casket. • Several times, we’ve suffered when an adoption opportunity fell through because, despite desperately wanting to adopt that child, the answer to our prayers was a resounding “no.” • Several times, we’ve suffered when an adopt...

So we got a letter in the mail, saying we have to update our bishop’s reference letter, criminal background checks (including checks for our four- and three-year-old children), and financial documentation (including tax returns). We also have to have a caseworker come to our house—again—to make sure it’s still safe for a child. This is necessary because it’s about to be a year since we were originally approved for this adoption. Oh, and this packet came 44¢ postage due. :-P The bishop balked at filling out the paperwork because our agency neglected to include an envelope for him to send it back. By the time they finally sent one, he was gone on business for a week, followed by a two-week vacation with his family. I don’t begrudge him either of these, but it’s just one more thing, y’know? Regardless, we now have to go through our house, making sure everything is spic and span. I mean, it’s not like we live like animals or anything, but there’s a different standard when you’re showing ...

First of all, if you want to read a very brief summary of my Church’s history with family history software (from my point of view), check it out in the Book of Jeffrey . In short, as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, I’m encouraged to use a family history application on my own computer, be that the Church’s own Personal Ancestral File (which is free to cheap, but has now spent several years languishing) or some other, third party product. Well, let’s face it: all things being equal, free is always better than not free. Based on that concept, I’ve spent the last several years, limping along with PAF 2.3.1. With the advent of Mac OS X v.10.5 Leopard, the Classic environment was completely abandoned, which made things even worse: I had to transfer the application to another computer running an older OS that does support Classic, then access it via Screen Sharing. So here are the steps I have now: My main computer, a Power Macintosh G5 named Anila, request...

Those of you who follow me on Facebook may have been privy to a recent status update wherein I lamented my wife’s insistence that, after five months of running perfectly fine in jeans (when it’s cold) or denim shorts (when it’s not), I suddenly need to switch to running shorts. In response to those who asked why I have a problem with it, I submit this entry. First of all, I don’t need them. Admittedly, I buy lots of stuff that I don’t really need , so this is tenuous at best. The difference, however, is that running shorts are something that I not only don’t need, but I don’t even  want . It just seems silly to waste the money. At least they were only six bucks and change. Second, they’re inconvenient. Most running shorts are intensely difficult to tie tightly enough, so they’re constantly falling down. Now, my Facebook friends may be asking, “Wasn’t that your complaint about the shorts you already had?” Well, yes and no. I did have to cut my Tuesday run short, for that very r...

Six years ago, Anna and I got a very nice birthday present from my grandmother: a brand new iBook (then Apple’s consumer-grade laptop). We named her Candace, and she was a great little machine. Although she did have a few minor problems, Apple was very good to take care of us whenever something went wrong. From the time the hard drive died to the letters wearing off of a few oft-used keys, they always replaced everything quickly and free of charge. Their customer service was, in a word, impeccable. Then, just over three years ago, with only a week left on our extended warranty, I brought our little Candi in for a checkup. I told the Genius on staff to look her over, see if there was anything wrong with her, and if so, fix it. (If by chance there were something wrong, I was not going to have to pay for repairs, if I could help it.) He took her into the shop, and a few days later I got a call: some part I’d never heard of, that did who knows what, was indeed broken. Unfortunately, it w...

Every once in a while, I get an email from Harris Poll Online . I used to take their surveys all the time; now, not so much. But for some reason, I decided to take today’s survey, regarding television viewing. Perhaps it’s because I care about the kind of entertainment that is available to me. Perhaps it’s more for my kids. Whatever the case, I decided to participate, and the brevity of the poll made it likely that I will do so again. What I really want to talk about, though, is what happened at the end: they offered me the opportunity to see “selected results” of the poll. What amazed me most were the results to Percent Indicating Types of Television Shows Watched . Now, personally, I hate reality shows. But the way things are hyped, I would have thought that they’d the #1 type of show watched. Thus, I was quite surprised when they came in seventh place, with a mere 27.9% of respondents. I also don’t get into sports, but I figured that might take the top spot. Again, I was sur...

C|Net’s Dan Ackerman recently reviewed Apple’s new iPad , comparing it to any one of the plethora of Microsoft Windows–based netbooks out there. Of course, as happens with any Apple product, the responses are both polarized and numerous. Here’s my take on the subject: Personally, I’d never buy a netbook. They’re too small, too slow, too—well, too just about everything I wouldn’t want in a computer. I just can’t see myself having any use for one. IMHO, the problem with a netbook is that it tries to replace a laptop, while the beauty of the iPad is that it doesn’t. I think the funniest complaint I’ve heard is the one along the lines of “It’s just a big iPod touch.” Well, yes, that’s exactly what it is. That’s exactly what Apple was going for, and after playing with an iPad at my local Best Buy, I can say they achieved that intent quite effectively. The reason some people are so excited about the iPad is because it meets a need they have. What is that need? It varies from person to pers...

Since most people aren’t following me over there, The Gospel according to Jeffrey has a new post. :-)

A few years ago, Greenpeace blasted a bunch of computer companies for making their products out of non–environmentally-friendly materials—which, if you think about it, isn’t that surprising, neither on the part of the manufacturers nor on the part of Greenpeace. They each have a job to do and they’re doing it. One of the many companies that Greenpeace blasted—and one that bore much of the brunt of their wrath, due to some of the specific components and chemicals used—was Apple . As a result, Apple made some major changes in the way they did things. Their computers are now much more environmentally friendly, including being made from (I believe) 100% recyclable materials. Whatever the case, Greenpeace was not only appeased, they began singing Apple’s praises for its willingness and ability to make such drastic changes so quickly. And that, we all thought, was that. Enter the iPad . In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months, Apple will be releasing—tomorrow, in fact...

A couple of weeks ago, my beloved wife, Anna, went to the library and checked out a book called 90 Minutes in Heaven . The book is the semi-autobiography of a Baptist minister named Don Piper, who apparently presides over a congregation with 10,000 active members. Really. So anyway, Rev. Piper had a amazing experience in 1989: he died. We’re not just talking he died on the operating table, or his heart stopped, or whatever. This guy was killed in a car wreck; he lay there dead, under a tarp, for 90 minutes; and an acquaintance, who didn’t even know who was under the tarp, was prompted to pray for his restoration to life. And it worked. Very cool stuff. That’s the good part. The second, and somewhat more striking aspect of the book, is what happened while Rev. Piper was dead: he claims he went to Heaven. Now, never mind that God wasn’t there, Jesus wasn’t there, and the Holy Ghost wasn’t there. Never mind that there was a gigantic, pearlescent gate that neither he nor any of his friends...

Anna and I have a bit of a running gag between us: our “Spring cleaning” never seems to take place in Spring. It’s not that we have anything against cleaning in Spring, mind you; we just do a “deep clean” whenever we feel like it, and for some reason, it never seems to happen to be Spring, when that happens. So as per usual, a little backstory: back when I was a lad in Gimmelshtump (or something like that), Anna and I were getting ready for our pre-adoption home visit and realized that our master bedroom was, to be frank, atrocious. We have a lot of stuff and are finally learning to part with some of it (most notably those things we haven’t seen nor thought about in years), even if it came to us via some sentimental method ( e.g. a gift from some random family member we haven’t seen since 1982 who probably died in 1982½, but how would we know?). But back in Gimmelshtump, we decided we needed to get our room clean fast , so I headed over to Walmart (of course they have Walmart in...