Aloha

I’ve been away for two weeks. The first week was spent at Utah Business Week on the campus of Utah State University. The second week was spent in Hawaii with my family. It was nice to be out of the office for the time and away from school although my assignments weighed on my mind.
Nine years ago when my wife and I visited Hawaii, my wife tested positive when taking an early pregnancy test. We announced the news to our good friends at our favorite restaurant in Hawaii – Duke’s Canoe Club. Our friends suggested we name our child Duke and we fell in love with the name. Of course when we told our parents we were going to name our child Duke my mother was opposed. My wife and I compromised and decided to give our son a traditional name Andrew, but call him Duke. After the first year, my mother started calling him Duke too and she grew to love the name.
Duke Kahanamoku was a famous Hawaiian surfer who made surfing a worldwide extreme sport. Here out son, Duke, poses near a memorial wall located at Duke’s Canoe Club on Waikiki beach.

First Day With Otis

I promise…this is not a rebound relationship, it’s a heavenly gift. I’m not one to turn away divine intervention and I certainly couldn’t walk away from this cute little guy, but some weird events brought us all together. His name is Otis. He’s a new addition to our family and we’re excited to have him. I can’t wait to buy another hose, vinyl siding on the house and the door trim you see chewed up in the background. He’s too lovable to scold. Of course, I don’t let my kids read how I feel about Otis because I have them on the hook for a lifetime of feeding and cleaning up after him. They think I’d send Otis back if anyone skipped duty. Of course, I know the promise is short lived, but it buys me a few months. Now some of you cat people might be snubbing me because you know how I feel about cats. We do have one thing in common, remember, right now neither this puppy nor your cat is responsive to their masters. At 9 weeks, Otis is like a cat: he’s oblivious to anything going on around him, he wonders aimlessly, lies around whenever he pleases and he obeys no one. Oh, I can’t go on. It’s nice to know strong and bonding relationships develop between K-9s and humans. I don’t know how cat lovers find any joy.

Scofield Frountier Base Camp

I just returned from Boy Scout camp. I have two sons in the program so the pressure is on me as a father to help out. I have good memories of scouting, but a disastrous eagle project left me sour – so sour I quit scouting and the award was never pinned on or presented.

As a father, however, I’d like to see my kids become eagle scouts. The weeklong camp was full of all the good stuff: rifle range, archery, fishing, canoeing and best of all a trading post with all the boondoggle you could buy. To my surprise, I found a lot of relaxation sitting under a shade tree and watching scouts run all over the mountainside from one merit-badge station to another. I even whittled on a few sticks for hours.
There’s not too much excitement in my life at the time. I’ll report on my July 4 experience if I have one.

Coins are full of art and history

A good way to kill a hobby is give it a name like “Numismatic” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numismatic . I know…you want to quit reading now, don’t you? This “N” word really means “coin collecting.” It’s a hobby I’ve had since age 11. Okay, so looking at a nickel with Jefferson’s head on the front and the Monticello on the back may not be all that exciting. But there’s a lot of art in coins, especially the older ones.

One of my favorites is the Indian Head or better known as the “Buffalo Nickel” http://www.buffalonickels.us/history.html . It was made from 1913 to 1938 (the Jefferson took its place from 1938 to present). The buffalo nickel is one of the most popular coins among collectors. Not only is the art beautiful; it’s full of history. When I hold a 1914 nickel I wonder about who used it and what they bought. It was minted the year WW I started and times were tough.

The nickel got its name from the metal of which it was made. It’s a somewhat soft metal so the impression of the Indian and buffalo were of high detail because the mint presses created a good image on most strikes. At the same time, the nickel images tend to wear down faster than other coins (today’s nickels are actually made more of copper than nickel so this isn’t an issue anymore).

Anyway, my father told me that when he was a young boy living in Cheyenne, Wyoming during the late ‘30s, it wasn’t uncommon for a hobo to occasionally jump off a train, walk to my father's house and ask for work and food. If there was no work, these hobos would offer "hobo nickels" in exchange for food although my father and his family never actually received one.

What's a hobo nickel? Some hobos made good use of their time using a knife, nail or other tool to scrape, etch or push the metal on a buffalo nickel to morph the Indian image into someone or something else – often a bearded man wearing a derby. If there was no work, these carved nickels would be offered for a meal. Of course there aren’t many of these nickels around anymore, but when you find an authentic one it’s a prize. They're valued between $500 and $2,000.

Today, some people are making it a hobby as modern carvers http://www.hobonickels.org/showcase.htm. I’m not interested in these particular coins because they lack the history and crude craftsmanship of people who struggled to make ends meet. In my opinion, hobos were respectable and honorable. That’s why people during the depression through WW II offered help when they came around.

I took an old, worn-out buffalo nickel and tried my skill at changing the Indian into another character. I made some progress, but gave up after 3 long hours. The experiment enhanced my appreciation for the creativity some people had when times were so difficult. The two coins in the middle are mine; the larger images were pulled off the Internet to give you clearer picture of what they look like up close.

Social Networking

If you’re a classmate, I don’t want to run you through the same words you’ve read on other classmates’ blogs. I have the same thoughts and ideas about social networking. Social networking is great for staying in touch with family, with you, and I like it at work where our CEO blogs once a week to let employees in on his life and issues as president. And, I suppose if I were single, I’d use it to find romance. It’s a great tool for letting people in.

An old miner's cabin

On Saturday, we took off for a fun adventure in the Oquirrh Mountains west of Salt Lake. What a great ride. My three sons and I headed off the beaten road for a 3-hour ride, 15 miles into the hills. We came across several abandoned mines, an old mining engine and what looked to be a rusted truck from the '20s. We also came across the remains of several dead livestock; it must have been a tough winter for some lost grazing cattle. Anyway, we all enjoyed spending this time together. The boys are improving their riding skill and able to negociate some rocky spots. It's exciting to see how much their confidence improves after they climb a long hill or carefully manuver down a rocky trail. Here's a photo of us stopped at the old-miner's cabin.

So far, so good

If you're familiar with making mp3s and podcasting, don't waste your time reading this. I spent a few hours loading all sorts of programs off the Internet onto my computer to get my microphone to show signs of life and to get a workable platform that would allow me to make a recording of my voice and save it. Then I gave up. My computer was no longer working the way it used to. I shot an e-mail to my IT guy at 1 a.m. Saturday morning; he called on Sunday and showed up on Monday to clean things up. I think I'm on thin ice with this guy and it's going to cost me in the end. He now has the passwords to all my bank accounts. Anyway, I'm now an official mp3er; and I've downloaded nearly 2 gig of podcasts (best of youtube videos, NPR's financial news series and Comedy Central's live stand-ups). Now, I'll have something to watch at my kids' ball practices besides trying to read "wikis, blogs and podcasts." Blog-on...

Last day with Brandi

On Monday, when the kids went to school I took the day off and told my wife I was taking Brandi to be "put down." We've been talking about it for the past few months when Brandi started showing signs of difficulty in walking, running, hearing, seeing and eating. It was one of those things I couldn't dwell on but felt like I had to do. I helped her into the truck, posed for the photo and took her to the park for one last play date. I sat on a bench while she repeated a few cycles of trotting 20 or so yards, sniffing a little and so on. She had been losing her sight so she wouldn't go far without making sure I was still nearby. The park was empty so I tried to find some peace in the moment, thinking about the 14 years we'd been together. When my wife became pregnant with our first child, she suggested I get a dog to keep me company. So I looked everywhere for the perfect one. I found Brandi in Tennessee and had her shipped here. My three sons saw her as the oldest in the family and they were respectful of her, mostly because they could see how much I enjoyed her. I told my wife I didn't think the boys would notice she was gone because it seemed I was always asking if anyone fed or walked her. At the animal shelter, I was strong until the officer asked if I wanted to be with her while they euthanized her. I pulled off the leash and collar and asked the officer to take her and I immediately walked to the truck, sat in the cab for a few minutes then drove home. That night, my youngest son, Duke (9) walked in at 9:30 and said Brandi wasn't in her bed. I told him not to worry about it. Cole (11) went outside with Duke and a flashlight. They came back in and asked if they could go to the school and look because it was the most likely place she'd go. Mitchel (13) said, "She probably ran away" (Mitchel's at the age where he's tired of putting up with everything.) Finally, I called everyone together and said we had to talk. I told them the story and everyone fell apart, especially Mitchel. He felt guilty for having thought such a thing about a pet that had been with him the longest and become such a good friend. The occasion, has had an impact on his life, at least for the past week. I'm one that knows the difference between kids and pets, but Brandi sure played an importan role in our family. Her life and death has helped us grow.

This weekend, my 11-year old son and I rode motorcycles across the salt flats (180 miles round trip) to Wendover and back. It was great fun. We started Friday morning at Dell, Utah about 20 miles west of Tooele. There were about 75 riders who drove 4-wheelers and motorcycles. We rode over a mountain range to Knolls recreational area where we refueled and ate lunch. Then we left Knolls and rode about 20 miles on the salt flats. It's a unique feeling riding at speeds of 70 to 90 miles per hour on a flat surface as far as they eye can see. For several miles we passed vehicles on I-80 that were traveling in the same direction; that's how I figured our speed. Eventually, the feel of the ride changed. I looked down to see if I had a flat. Instead I could see I was gliding on mud. I quickly directed my bike to the highway for solid ground. Other motorcycle riders did the same. The 4-wheelers kept going. And so did my son. When he looked back and couldn't see us he stopped and sank (once you stop you can't ride out of the pasty muck. We rode along the side of the rode, got off my bike and walked a few 100 yards to where he was spinning his tires and digging in deeper. After an hour we got him out, onto the road and rode until we found some dryer salt. We all stopped for a group photo at the metal tree (30 miles outside of Wendover). Once we arrived in Wendover, two police cars escorted us to the Nugget Hotel where we slept and started the ride home on Saturday.

Welcome to my blog

I'm Shep -- just your typical middle-aged, white male. I'm enrolled in a tech class and playing with this site.