March 31
Stories Twice Told
March 21
Bryan Lampropoulos
My dear friend, Bryan Lampropoulos, has sadly passed on to the next life. It makes me miss him that much more as I reminisce over the numerous experiences we had together growing up during our junior and high school years. I knew Bryan from gradeschool at Brookwood elementary before they moved out to Holliday. When we moved to Holliday when I was 15 we were in the same ward and lived just a couple of blocks away from the Lampropoulos'. Following are some of the fond memories I have of Bryan.
- He paid me 10$ to eat a worm. (Of course I did, it was TEN DOLLARS!)
- He punched me harder than anyone had in my life. He said the same of me when I punched him back.
- Playing the "knuckles" and "hand slap" game til our knuckles/hands went raw.
- Swimming in the pool. Flipping on the trampoline. Listening to the Beatles in their backyard caddyshack.
- When he got his first Beemer when he turned 16. (Me driving the boat of a station wagon we had at the time ;))
- When he dislocated his hip playing football at Olympus. Me dislocating my shoulder playing basketball later that year.
- When his 300 gallon fish tank exploded and flooded his whole basement. (He was so eager to start filling it up, the silicon had not dried completely)
- Going to some pond out by the old mill and swinging off of a rope swing into the murky water.
- Being there at the church dance when he met his future wife, Deanna
- Playing games of horse in his backyard. Beating him 95% of the time. He would bet money that he would beat me, then do "double or nothing". By the end of the day, he owed me over $500 (And he actually paid me part of it! :))
- Him throwing me a suprise "Sweet 16" birthday party at his house. He said he was taking me to a concert and then 15 minutes after we left, telling me he "forgot the tickets" and having to drive back to his house. It was great as they invited old friends from Sandy-- John Robbins, Mike Holley, Darren Mansell, as well as friends from Olympus. Then they all threw me in the pool with my clothes on.
- We went to a bunch of concerts together. Howard Jones, INXS, Aha, to name a few.
- Wrestling together. He was a strong guy, but I could always hold my own
- Trying to drive his scooter once. Running out of control and right through someones bushes
- Late night escapades diving in ponds at golf courses and finding hundreds of golf balls that we would sell. -- Almost getting hit by a line drive that wizzed over my head while rummaging through the woods on one of our hunts-- Almost hitting a deer while driving to a course out by Tooele. Doing a 360+180 after slamming on the brakes and missing said deer.
- Him sneaking through my bedroom window a few times in the middle of the night and scaring the beans out of me.
- Sneaking up behind each other and giving super-wedgies.
- Almost getting beat up after throwing shaving cream filled balloons at a car and then getting caught by the guy after we thought the coast was clear. Bryan in his silk-tongued way talking our way out of it.
- Him putting the down payment on the engagement ring for my future bride, LeAnn. His generosity was amazing.
- The Lampropoulus' giving us the wedding reception in Utah at their house.
- Using our tan van to pull out a tree stump in their backyard. The chain tied to the bumper ended up pulling part of the bumper off the van as the stump held solid
- Him stealing the "Blue Dart" a little Datsun hatchback we had from in front of our house. He figured out that it could be started with a popsicle stick. (He didnt have his liscence yet of course, but didnt let that stop him.)
- Doing all sorts of yardwork at the Lampropoulos house. Bryan even paying me half the time to finish his chores for him.
- Going down to a pond near Cottonwood mall and collecting wild guppies that we would then sell to pet stores.
- Fred, his dad giving me "The Claw" (Ouch!)
- Fred making me laugh so hard while I was drinking milk once that it came out of my nose
- Fred and Bryan always calling me "Dot!" or "Toddly". Me calling Fred "Derf" in return.
- Seeing Bryan again after many years at my brother Brian's wedding reception. Getting a big hug from him and him telling his boys that I was one of his best friends growing up. Then him telling his twins to "sic" my boy Austin. All three of them wrestling in their Sunday clothes on the grass. It was like a flashback of our youth.
- Getting email from Bryan after reconnecting a few months ago. It turned out that many of the hits on my blog came from people searching Google on "Bryan Lampropoulos" name. I figured I should track him down and tell him about that.
- Him thanking me at that time for "being a dear old friend"
- His mom, Cindy, was like another mom to me.
- Loving his whole family and spending time at their house.
The Scent of Danger
Below is a story of how the Spirit can play a divine role in helping us with the decisions that we make in precarious situations.
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The Scent of Danger
A short time ago I read a story that made me thoughtful. A great menagerie was sold by auction. Some straw that had been used as temporary bedding for the wild beasts was bought by a man who owned a livery stable. And horses that had never seen a lion were uneasy and refused to enter the stalls where the straw was. It was an instinctive dread of an unseen enemy. And it is possible for a conscience to be so delicately adjusted to the voice of God that when a lure which we do not certainly know to be sinful, a cunningly baited trap for the soul, is placed in our track, there shall be spiritual instinct, a divine scent, that shall make us draw back and avoid the danger. Paul had such a conscience.
`5000 Best Modern Illustrations' -- H.C.Lees, page 178
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The Scent of Danger
A short time ago I read a story that made me thoughtful. A great menagerie was sold by auction. Some straw that had been used as temporary bedding for the wild beasts was bought by a man who owned a livery stable. And horses that had never seen a lion were uneasy and refused to enter the stalls where the straw was. It was an instinctive dread of an unseen enemy. And it is possible for a conscience to be so delicately adjusted to the voice of God that when a lure which we do not certainly know to be sinful, a cunningly baited trap for the soul, is placed in our track, there shall be spiritual instinct, a divine scent, that shall make us draw back and avoid the danger. Paul had such a conscience.
`5000 Best Modern Illustrations' -- H.C.Lees, page 178
March 14
I am a drone
I used the story shown below (by Victor Hugo) in a talk I gave last Sunday at church. I was talking about how often we dont realize God’s plans for us when we feel like we are getting too many trials. The case in point reflects my current job search. I had a job offered to me a couple of weeks ago, which I ended up accepting, only to have them pull the offer out from under me. I was shocked beyond belief! This was something I felt like would have been a great fit. Apparently, they felt I wasnt happy with the benefits they offered, and ended up giving the postion to another candidate (even though they said everyone I interviewed with liked me better, they said the other candidate was “more enthusiastic” about the offer). Didnt make much sense to me, and I felt like the drone in the story below that thought I was about to break free into the fresh air, only to slam my head against the shut window. I have had 6 other interviews in the Seattle area and came in second place in two of them so far. Three others have said they are looking for someone with more “senior programming” skills. I try to point out that it has been two years since I was writing code everyday, and that I would get up to speed very quickly, but for most of them they seem to discount 11 years of experience in the industry and focus more on whether or not you can write and algorithm on the whiteboard to demonstrate your programming prowess. So, I continue to dash my head against the window waiting for the right person to open it for me and show me the way into the “perfect” job.
Following is Victor Hugo’s story to which I refer:======================================================
The Bee That Would Not Be Saved
The other evening I was a little late in going down to dinner, and this was the reason: I noticed a number of dead bees lying on the floor of the lookout where I am accustomed to work -- a sight that I encounter every spring. The poor things had come in through the open window. When the windows were closed they found themselves prisoners. Unable to see the transparent obstacle, they had hurled themselves against the glass panes on all sides, east, north, south and west, until they fell to the floor exhausted, and died. But yesterday, I noticed among the bees, a great drone, much stronger than the bees, who was far from being dead, who, in fact, was very much alive and was dashing himself against the panes with all his might, like the great beast that he was. `Ah! my fine friend,' said I, `it would have been an evil day for you had I not come to the rescue. You have been done for, my fine fellow; before nightfall you would be lying dead, and on coming upstairs, in the evening with my lamp, I would have found your poor little corpse among those of the other bees.' Come, now, like the Emperor Titus I shall mark the day by a good deed: let us save the insect's life. Perhaps in the eyes of God a drone is as valuable as a man, and without any doubt it is more valuable than a prince.
I threw open the window, and, by means of a napkin, began chasing the insect toward it; but the drone persisted in flying in the opposite direction. I tried to capture it, it lost its head completely; it bounded furiously against the glass panes, as though it would smash them, took a fresh start, and dashed itself again and again, against the glass. Finally it flew the whole length of the apartment, maddened and desperate. `Ah, you tyrant!' it buzzed. `Despot! You would deprive me of my liberty! Cruel executioner, why do you not leave me alone? I am happy, and why do you persecute me?'
After trying very hard, I brought it down and, in seizing it with the napkin, I involuntarily hurt it. Oh, how it tried to avenge itself! It darted out its sting; its little nervous body, contracted by my fingers, strained itself with all its strength in an attempt to sting me. But I ignored its protestations, and, stretching my hand out the window, opened the napkin. For a moment the drone seemed stunned, astonished; then it calmly took flight out into the infinite.
Well, you see how I saved the drone. I was its Providence. But (and here is the moral of my story) do we not, stupid drones that we are, conduct ourselves in the same manner toward the providence of God? We have our petty and absurd projects, our small and narrow views. Our rash designs, whose accomplishment is either impossible or injurious to ourselves. Seeing no farther than our noses and with eyes fixed on our immediate aim, we plunge ahead in our blind infatuation, like madmen. We would succeed, we would triumph; that is to say, we would break our heads against an invisible obstacle.
And when God, who sees all and who wishes to save us, upsets our designs, we stupidly complain against His Providence. We do not comprehend that in punishing us, in overturning our plans and causing us suffering, He is doing all this to deliver us, to open the Infinite to us.
- Victor Hugo
March 12
Dirty Pennies
For Austin’s 2nd grade science project, he did a comparison of which types of juice would best clean dirty pennies. The juices he used were: Lemon, Lime, Pineapple, Apple, Pickle and Pear. It turned out that the Apple and Lemon juice seemed to work the best. I was a bit confused as I thought the juice that was more acidic would return the best results, but apple held its own. Austin then had a project board where he put his results, hypothesis, conclusion, etc on it, and then he drew some pictures of pennies in the margins. He drew a penny that showed the birthyear for him- 1999, Autumn – 1997, and Jaylin – 2002. He also had one that showed 1970. I was quite pleased that he remembered my birthyear. I asked him about how he remembered that I was born in 1970. He replied to me, “Oh, I didnt know that was when you were born, I thought that was when Abraham Lincoln was born!” And I think he was serious. I dont know which was worse—that he didnt know that Abe Lincoln was born in the 1800’s or that he thought I was as old as Abraham Lincoln!
March 05
Reminiscence – Austin in the Pool
[2004] I had taken Austin down for swimming lessons at the Weyerhauser Pool when he was 5 years old. I also had Jaylin with me, who was two years old. At the time, I was coming off of crutches (again) from one of my few knee surgeries. I still had a nastly limp, and was struggling to walk at the time. After his lesson completed, all of the kids in his class had gotten out of the pool. I was at the opposite end of the pool from where Austin had just gotten out and was slowly working my way down to get him, while holding Jaylin’s hand. The next thing I see is Austin jumping back into the pool where it is 5 feet deep. They had been practicing jumping in and the swim instructor would catch them. I guess Austin thought he didnt need the teacher to complete this easy task. I looked on in disbelief as he went right under. A few people on the benches started screaming that were down near him. It happened so fast I didnt know what to do. First, I was totally handicapped and he was about 40 feet away. Second, I had a toddler with me that could easily fall in the pool if I left her alone. I was getting ready to jump in when the teacher saw him go down the second time after reacting to the yelling. He got down there in a few seconds of impressive freestyling as Austin was flailing around and going under the third time. I was so relieved to see him pulled out and put on the edge of the pool. I hobbled on down as fast as I could to make sure he was alright. It was a totally frightening situation and I felt so helpless. Austin and I had a good talk about swimming safety after that. So much for the old adage where people say they get taught to swim just by being thrown into the deep end of the pool/pond/lake or whatever.
