I’ve always been told that foreign cars made by Honda and Toyota hold their value more than domestics, and the used car market seems to agree. This also seems to be an advantage held by the Apple computer. We just sold our old iMac on eBay this evening and it went for the final price of $450 US dollars. The computer was released in 2000 and though I don’t know for certain, I’d wager a Wintel machine made in that same time period wouldn’t sell for nearly as much. This might explain the new Alberta Electronics Recycling Fee being applied to new computers. Too many Dells in the dump I suppose. Now what do you think we should we do with the cash?
Monthly Archives: March 2005
Colin
I had a great friend growing up in Colin. We first met while playing on the same community basketball team when I was about 10. I was a guard, Colin was a forward. I have the pictures of us somewhere (I’ll try to post those after I dig through some boxes), we were young and goofy. It wasn’t until I switched elementary schools in grade 6 that I really got to know him as my best friend. We remained best friends all through highschool and a year or so afterwards, but as time went on we saw each other less and less as schooling, missions and jobs took us to different countries and cities. We grew up together, from complete immaturity to having a solid identity and maturity. Being friends for so long made everything sweeter, as the years went by we had all this history, nostaligia, unique lingua and countless memories. We were confidantes, teammates, buddies, and classmates. Colin was always my great encourager—he had great confidence in all my abilities, and helped me through a lot of crushes with the opposite sex. We were the kind of friends that could hang out together day-in and day-out and not get sick of each other. Invariably, I would be at Colin’s several days a week. We played sports, made movies, videogamed like crazy, hung out at various places, double-dated, ate out, shopped, danced—you name it. Truly he was my best friend. I speak in the past tense, not because we had a falling out but we just gradually drifted. We hung out over this past Christmas though and it was great to catch up. Hints of that old magic were there but things will probably never be the same —we’ve both changed. I think that is the hardest part about seeing old friends, while it is so good to see someone you treasure so much, it isn’t always easy to pick up exactly where you imagined you left off. There is a certain magic to teenage friendships where you share your emerging independence together. I have lots of friendships with good people, and while I’d call them friends it doesn’t seem quite the same in adulthood. Fortunately, there isn’t a huge gaping void that hasn’t been filled. My dearest closest friend is my sweetheart, Daria. My kids are friends to me “of the highest type.” And yet, if I could still have the incredible friendship with Colin that I had before, with all other things being the self-same, I would gladly embrace it. It’s interesting because though we enjoyed one another so much Colin and I are two very completely different people. Growing up Colin was like one of the “have provinces” while I would say I was more like a “have-not province.” He had a lot of free resources and money, and though I too had a reasonable cash flow, Colin often carried a lot of his friends with rides, and courteous gestures and above average birthday gifts etc. I know that is what you would expect from a good friend, but I never sensed in Colin a huge resentment or tiring of his constant courtesy that might have happened in others. I hope when I move back to Calgary we might build our friendship again, but perhaps that may be something that always remains in the past. I still have the highest of hopes for all of my friends—may their lives be blessed.
Such a Good Boy
Noah is suffering with some sickness right now but he is still quite capable of being cute and pleasant. Thus far he has handled the challenges in his life with nary a complaint. It is so wonderful to have a pleasant baby with a cheery disposition. I want to be like him when facing my challenges. In this photo he seems quiet, composed and unphased by his illness. I’m trying to eliminate complaining from my life (which I differentiate from sharing legitimate concerns) and Noah is a good example. He has the advantage of having no vocabulary, mind you, but still a good example.
I also gave Noah a priesthood blessing today, along with two friends who watch over our family, invoking the Lord’s assistance in restoring him to wellness. I’m confident and peaceful in Noah’s recovery. I hope someday that my brother-in-law Brett will be available to help our family in this same way. I long for him to be part of all our son’s church ordinances. Dylan is only some 14 months away from his ordination to the same priesthood Brett holds, and his direct involvement is so important to all of us.
Implant Dentistry
I want to be an implant dentist. I cannot wait to do implants. I won’t get to do any in school but we do take a labwork-based course on implants. Most of our patient pool do not choose implants as an option (we don’t provide it anyways) so I haven’t had a patient yet with an implant.
Currently, there is a lot of bridgework, dentures, partial dentures etc. being used to treat a lost tooth or teeth. Implants are infinitely better in function and durability with equal esthetics in most cases—the closest thing to teeth that dentistry provides.
If any of you lose any teeth I highly recommend anteing up. Hopefully someday soon I can do it for you. Here is a patient story found on Nobel Biocare’s site. The writing could be improved, but it puts a face on implant dentistry.
Someone sent me $1 in the mail
I got a great letter today with $1 US bill attached. It was from a dental practice marketer who I signed up to receive some free information from. I thought this was a great idea not only because I got a buck out of it but because it got my attention (mostly because I got a buck out of it though).
He probably has some good ideas that I will read, but I’m leary from all the non-hype hype. You know the kind that downplays each tidbit of advice as just good common sense that really works. I’m not looking for anything magical, mind you, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel but I prefer succinctness rather than a long leadup pitch to make me ‘believe’ in a marketing method.
To anyone else that plans on sending me mail please include money it makes opening envelopes so much more pleasant.
Dylan is Available
That cute handsome fast-maturing boy I know as Dylan is now available in his first online photo album spanning 102 photos. I wish I had even more shots to post from his younger days (I do, but I mean already scanned; Dylan was born in our pre-digital phase). I like the shots that show a classic Dylan expression. You’ll also notice plenty of shots where he is with younger cousins and siblings. With rare exception, these shots typify Dylan’s loving nature with little kids—he’ll be a great dad and uncle someday. Right now he’s a super kid: sensitive to peoples feelings, responsible and kind—even charitable—and a pleasure to guide as a parent.
Were planning on signing Dylan up for some basketball this spring. It will be good to get him into an environment where someone can coach him and he won’t have any of the pressure of family coaching. He’s really enjoying swimming these days so hopefully we can keep that up too.
What’s your favourite shot of Dylan? I really like this moment captured with Daria
No One Cares More Than You Do
I promise I’ll do some real posting soon. Promise. For now I want to bring to light the fact that I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time playing and adjusting and tweaking the layout, colours etc. etc. on my new templates. I’ve also added a switcher for those of you who actually have a preference. I don’t love every single one of these templates but I think they provide a variety of styles. Check them out and then THEN tell me which one you like, which one you HATE, and what you like and dislike about blog layouts. For e.g. do you ever use the search on a blog? Do you like to see recent comments on the sidebar? Do you care what categories I post under? RU blind to certain text sizes?
Amidst all my CSS and Photoshoppin’ I’ve come to the conclusion that no one cares or agonizes about the look of your blog more than you do. Maybe I’m wrong, but how many of you tweak and tweak and then realize you could have written 10 posts instead? I love playing with pixels-I’m totally addicted.
Better go to sleep.
Oh and Daria has a new template or two on her site which need serious revamping.
The Power to Change
Daria and I are full of energy right now, it’s contagious and we just feed off of one another’s encouragement and attainments. We are finallly pushing through some of the hurdles in our home, that have been bogging us down, at a rapid pace. A lot of its organizational and ensuring everything has a place and stays in that place and nothing else invades that space. But its also finally getting out and doing things like working out at the gym to get physically fit. Today Daria and I went to the local recreation center together to do some cardio and weights together. It was SO FUN! Of course I could not get the Stairmaster to work at all I was majorly out of step—next time it’s the bike or treadmill. Honestly, I think I may have embarrassed Daria a little.
I have this goal of someday being fit and strong instead of a skinny weakling. I’d also like to be able to dunk a basketball if only just barely. In the long run I’d just like to be doing something physical several times a week. They say with frequent physical activity your brain runs smoother and brighter, you have more energy and sex drive and you may live longer and more enjoyably. That all sounds good to me.
So getting back into the groove is interesting. You want to be there, you are there but when you are just starting out it’s hard to judge just how hard to push yourself. The balance between being sore for 3 days and still doing something is slim at the start. So we’ve got our disorganization cornered down to 1 room of the house, and we are starting to get fit again. Next up: spiritual breakthroughs!
