Tuesdays with Media: Neighbors

Is it cheating for me to just provide a link to a new story without providing an analysis?  Or would it be cheating in a different way if I analyze something that I also wrote?

While I figure this out, enjoy this (very) short story.

Small World

This past Friday I attended a game night hosted by a family in my new ward.  The family's adults are Dave and Naomi, the latter of whom I wrote about a couple of weeks back.  It was a lot of fun and I got to interact with plenty of people I hadn't met before by playing lots of weird and silly games.

At one point during the night, Naomi referenced the area from which I just moved and asked which ward I had attended.  I told her and she asked if I knew a family that also attends the ward in question, the Simciks.  I told her that I was very close the Simcik family and that I still stayed in touch with them since moving from that area.  I asked her how she knew them.  Apparently, Mark and Lori's daughter just married Dave's cousin.  He and Naomi had attended the reception a weekend or two prior.

In most circumstances, I would brush it off as being a coincidence or at most serendipity, but this feels more divinely organized than that.  Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but it was a loving connection and I was glad to make it.

The Rack

Have I mentioned how little I use my dishwasher?

On My Own?

Near the end of the workday on Monday, my boss called an impromptu meeting with all of the members of the department she oversees (just me and one other person).  Since I had no idea what the purpose of the meeting was, I panicked a little and thought that we might be receiving a reprimand -- I couldn't think of anything that had been done that would warrant one, I was just nervous.

As it turns out, my boss -- the head of marketing -- gave her two week notice.  She admitted that it was a really tough decision since she not only likes working for Danfoss, she likes working with us, her subordinates.  The reason for her move is that she had an opportunity to move back to the area she's originally from and decided to take it.

And now the big question: how will this affect me?  I don't know yet, but probably not a whole lot.  Even though I'm in the marketing department, I only occasionally work on assignments for marketing.  Most of my time is taken up working on standardizing installation guides and writing/filming videos.  There certainly are marketing things that come up on a regular basis, but they're simple projects that I finish quickly.  In fact, for the last few months, I've been working mostly independently from my boss.  She and I would meet every couple of weeks to make sure we were both on the same page, but she wasn't giving me assignments and I rarely reported to her when I completed a project.  When her replacement is hired, that may change, but I won't be lost during the interim.

The other person in the department, Michael, is in a much tougher position.  He only started three weeks ago, so he's still learning he's role.  Plus, he is definitely a marketing person and had been working very closely with our boss on most of his assignments.  I'm sure something will be worked out, but he's going to be feeling her absence more than I will.

I had just been thinking recently about how weird it was that I was in the marketing department, despite doing so little marketing.  Now I'm thinking that it's a bit of a blessing, since I've mostly been working on my own.  Let's hope that my next boss will be as willing to let me run free as my soon-to-be-former boss has.

Tuesdays with Media: A Real-world Troll

About a year ago, I defined what an internet troll is in order to explain some principles of proper communication.  Today, I want to focus on why some people become trolls in the first place by using as an example, someone who does not limit themselves to saying terrible things on the internet:

Not all trolls live under bridges.

Donald Trump is currently pretending to run for the Republican Presidential nomination, but don't be fooled into thinking that he's serious about it.  Since he announced his candidacy, he's only said inflammatory things that would be sure to be passed around every news outlets.  Are there other candidates that are campaigning that we should have stronger borders?  Sure, but the rest are diplomatic about it, not saying that Mexicans "are rapists," among other terrible things.  Even his supporters thought he crossed the line when he implied that a female debate moderator was acting crazy because she was menstruating.

Trump has no previous political experience, his company has filed for bankruptcy four times, and he's changed party alignment as frequently as most people change socks.  This is not a man that has any real chance at becoming president.  The only reason it looks like he has a chance right now is that there are way too many GOP candidates right now.  Once things shake out a bit, Trump will drop out, just like he did the last time he ran.

If you're of the opinion that any publicity is good publicity, like Trump apparently is, then trolling is a very effective technique.  If, however, you actually want to both make a positive difference within our country and convince people to agree with you, then you may want to stick with showing how diplomatic you can be.  So, for the foreseeable future, expect Trump to show up in news headlines -- in strictly negative ways.

Unplanned Invitation

Yesterday at church, I was chatting with the Elder's Quorum President (turns out he's preparing for the New York City Marathon) when he was called away.  It was only a few minutes before Sacrament Meeting was scheduled to start, so I just sat where I was and read the bulletin.  A few minutes later, he came back and asked if I wouldn't mind helping to bless the sacrament.  I said that I, in fact, did not mind and I followed him to the sacrament table.

(As a quick aside, my ward has a lot of recent converts, and many of them are either single or are young families.  As a result, we have a very small youth program, including Aaronic Priesthood.  I had noticed that adults blessed the sacrament every Sunday, but this was the first time I was asked to participate.)

I was asked to bless the water.  When I was younger and regularly blessing the sacrament, either as a priest or as a counselor in the Elder's Quorum Presidency in the Young Single Adult Ward, a leader brought up that too often, those blessing the sacrament were rushing through the prayer and not allowing people to appreciate the words being spoken.  So ever since then, whenever I'm asked to bless the sacrament, I slow things down and give longer pauses between phrases.  I don't know if anyone got something more out of the way I said the prayer, but it at least helped me from making any mistakes.

While I was not expecting to be asked to bless the sacrament, I was happy for the opportunity and grateful that I was worthy to jump in, despite being unprepared.

Popular Title

Often when I take my lunch break at work, I'll read the scriptures to prepare for the upcoming discussion in Sunday School that week (sometimes I'll run an errand on my lunch, which is why it's "often" and not "always").  This week, I read about the testimony and subsequent martyrdom of Stephen.  In his testimony of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, he compares the Savior to Moses, saying that Moses was an example to the Messiah to come and how Christ was that prophesied Anointed One.

This was nothing new to me as I've read Acts several times before.  However, what struck me was that when Stephen recounted the story of Moses, he quoted the LORD when He spoke to Moses in the burning bush: "...I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Issac, and the God of Jacob." (Acts 7:32)  This is a commonly used title that appears throughout the scriptures, so why did it stand out to me this time?

Moses was raised in the Egyptian royal family, adopted by the daughter of the Pharaoh.  Moses was "learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," which likely meant that he had been educated to believe in Egyptian theology.  While we don't know how strongly, or even if, he believed in the Egyptian pantheon, we can probably assume that he was at least familiar with polytheism.  (He also very likely knew that he was a Hebrew since he was willing to kill an Egyptian taskmaster to protect "his brethren.")  So when the LORD introduced himself to Moses, He wanted to make sure that Moses did not confuse Him with one of the false gods with whom he was likely familiar.  By using not just one but three prominent patriarchs to establish Himself, the LORD ensured that Moses would not mistake Him for anyone else.

And the title stuck.

Not the most earth-shattering piece of insight, but it made think me about a story and a title that I've known for a long time in a brand new way.  Which, by the way, is a great example of why we keep reading the scriptures over and over again.

Movin' in the Rain

Due to a mix-up, my records were delayed in being transferred to my new ward.  That's been frustrating because I haven't been able access the member directory or activities calendar for my new ward.  It also meant that I was still receiving emails from my previous ward, including from the Elder's Quorum.  I mostly ignored them, but I got one last week that caught my attention: my good friend and old home teacher, Dan, would be moving with his family and could use some help loading up the moving truck.  Despite the fact that I knew I had no obligation to help out with this move, I replied back that I'd be there.

The move happened yesterday evening, which gave me time to go home, eat, and change into more suitable clothes.  As I drove, the heavens opened and it rained so hard that my windshield wipers had trouble keeping up.  Just before I arrived at the family's apartment, the rain subsided and eventually stopped.  The ground was wet, but it wasn't raining.

I got there later than I wanted to (my driving slowed due to the rain) and immediately got to work.  I helped move as many big, heavy pieces of furniture as I could, reasoning that that's what they needed help with the most.  We made it through all of the big stuff and were started to finish up with miscellaneous items when it started raining again.  At first we just trudged along, continuing to fill up the truck, but it wasn't long before we had to stop and wait it out.  Most of the workforce was stuck in the truck, not wanting to even sprint for the building as they would probably have been soaked through by the time they made it -- the truck was parked only about fifty yards from the door of the apartment building.  I was stuck inside, but I was able to chat with some of my old ward mates.  After about twenty-five minutes of hard rain, it finally stopped and we were able to finish loading the truck.

As sad as I was to move out of my old ward, knowing that this family was going to be leaving in a few months anyway made it easier: I was close with both Dan and his wife, Allison, so knowing that I'd be losing them soon enough even if I'd stayed made leaving on my own was that much easier.

I contacted my previous bishop and my records should arrive to my current ward sometime this week, but I'm glad that the delay happened so that I could help out some friends one last time.

Tuesdays with Media: Them Shoes

Have you ever heard a song that you like the first time you hear it, but some time later when you hear it again, it really speaks to you?  Such is the case with the song off the album Every Hour is a Dollar Gone by Patrick Sweany, "Them Shoes":

The music is guitar-driven and strongly on the blues side of rock, the tempo constantly goes from fast to slow and back again, and the vocals have more than a little pain being sung out with the lyrics.

Speaking of lyrics, they're highly metaphorical and their real meaning may not be clear the first time or two.  Such was the case with me, which is why I didn't "get" the song the few first times I heard it.  Here's one of the verses:

No one said it would be easy
Sometimes it is hard to do
It isn't like the TV
You see the cold hard truth
And the things you see in movies
Just don't come true
So here's a little feedback
You gotta wear your shoes

Sweany talks about how life is hard and you don't get a happy ending like in movies or on TV, but then he gives "a little feedback" and says to wear shoes?  Like I said, it's a metaphor.  What he's saying is that you have take life as it comes, whether good or bad, and accept it.  "Wear your shoes" means not hide from who you are or what you've become and to live your life.

But as creative as the music is and as touching as the lyrics are, this is a song where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  Even with what I just detailed above, there's something else about the song that speaks to me and connects with my soul.  I rediscovered this song last week and have listened to it several times since, partly because it's catchy, but mostly because I'm moved by it.

Every Hour is a Dollar Gone is distributed by Nine Mile Records.

Hardest Working Writers

I attended my new ward's choir practice for the first time yesterday.  The stand-in chorister (the official chorister and pianist are out of town) enthusiastically welcomed me, adding that the choir is "pathetic" -- I think she meant that there aren't enough regularly attending members, since there was no bite to her words.  The song we practiced was on the upper end of my register, which was made even harder since I was fasting and my larynx needed lubricating, but otherwise it wasn't an overly complicated song (for the bass part, at least).

After we finished up, the stand-in pianist said hello to me and welcomed me to the choir and to the ward.  I thanked her and said something positive in return and went and found an empty pew on which to sit.  As it turned out, I happened to sit right in front of her and her family.  This sister, Naomi, asked me a few more questions, like where I had just moved from what brought me to the area.  When I said that I had moved there for work, she asked what I did for a living.  When I told her, she said that "technical writers are the hardest working writers in the world."

Not only did she know what technical writing is (the second Sunday in a row that's happened), but she has a great admiration for it.  I, of course, asked how she knew what tech writing was and she said that she had majored in English and had worked as a high school English teacher for a while.  She then added that "we English majors have to stick together."

To think, I didn't like this ward when I first moved in and now I've met two people that have great respect for what I do.  Amazing what happens when we stop being overly judgmental, isn't it?