Being a Grandpa is so AWESOME!

I love being a grandpa!

There. I've said it. And it is published on the Internet for everyone to know forever.

Being a grandpa is so much better than being a parent. As a parent, you are always putting what is best for the child first, and sometimes that means being strict or being the bad guy. As a grandpa, I take my solemn duty of spoiling my grandkids seriously. I figure that their parents are better parents than I ever was, and so I don't have to worry about what is best for my grandchild. I just spoil 'em rotten and leave the worry to their parents!

There are a couple of very funny but true sayings about grandparents and grandchildren. They are related to each other, but are a little different. The one attributed to Sam Levenson states "The reason grandparents and grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy." The one attributed to Claudette Colbert states "Why do grandparents and grandchildren get along so well? They have the same enemy - the mother."

Now, before I get my daughters feeling bad and thinking that I view them as my enemy, let me state categorically that I do NOT consider my daughters to be my enemies. That being said, the truth is that my grandchildren and I will sometimes want to do things that their moms or dads will not exactly "approve" of. And that is part of the fun of being a grandpa! For example, I try to remember to ask permission to give my grandkids a treat, but sometimes....well.... Let's just say that sometimes they end up going home on a sugar high from the treats grandpa has given them!

I love it when my oldest grandchild, Bailee, comes to me and asks if she can do something. As a parent I almost looked for reasons to say "no", but as grandpa I want to say "yes" whenever I can. There have been times when we have conspired together to do something and that is so fun. I am probably closer to Bailee than any of the other grandchildren, because she is oldest and is most easy to have a conversation with. She is spending the night with Sue and me tonight, which is something not easily accomplished by her cousins.

Bailee's younger sister, Afton (who just turned 1 year old), is so funny. We went to dinner tonight with Dan & Janelle and their family. I was the last one to arrive at the table because I had dropped Sue off at the door and then parked the car. Afton didn't see me come to the table and when I sat down she got the biggest grin on her face and pointed at me and said "pa-pa". (I am pa-pa Dave to my grandkids, with pa-pa meaning Grandpa, not Dad). It made me feel so neat.

Janie, our second oldest grandchild, is a special bundle of joy. She will have to face some special issues in life that I never had to overcome, but I am at peace knowing the Gosple Plan for her. I love to pick her up and cuddle with her. And whenever I do (and I don't do it often enough), she quiets right down and seems to enjoy looking me in the eye. I don't enjoy singing in front of others, but I love to sing to Janie because she really loves it, and she makes me feel special when I sing for her.

Ammon, our youngest grandchild, is also our only grandson. He is so funny to watch and play with. I predict that he is going to be a schemer as he gets older. He gets this look in his eye like he is plotting the end of the world (not that he is being evil, it is just that he has great plans). He loves to examine new things and he is all BOY. He is so fun, and I have to say, so significantly different from his Case family cousins.

I'm sure that you have all seen the copies of our family portrait, but I am including it here below so that you can see who I am talking about:



Left to right, standing, is Andy, Sue, and Me.
Left to right, sitting in family groups, are:

Matt & Kathie, with their son Ammon
Dan & Janelle, with their daughters Bailee and Afton
Jason & Meg, with their daughter Janie

With a family like this, life is wonderful!

Dave

P.S. If any of my cousins read this I would be very interested in hearing from them and knowing how close they are to being a grandparent!

Google is going to take over the world.....

Alright.

I admit it.

I am a BIG FAN of Google.

I am really impressed with their company culture and the products they come out with. I have been using Gmail for many, many years, and I love their search results.

Anytime I need directions, I turn to Google Maps. And I love street view in Google Maps.

I love Google Earth.

Of course, this blog is done with Google software.

I have used Google Calendar for years, and love the SMS (Text) message alerts it sends to me when I need a reminder about a meeting.

I've played around with Google Docs & Spreadsheets, and am pretty impressed with that product.

Google Groups helps me do a lot of research in my employment.

So why am I telling you about everything I like about Google? Well, I've just started using another product called Google Alerts. Basically, I have selected 3 or 4 search phrases and whenever Google finds something new that meets the search phrase, it sends me a daily e-mail to let me know so that I can read further up on it.

I got this idea from Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert cartoon. He has Google Alerts send him e-mail about a medical condition that has afflicted him for many years.

With the recent news about Wyndham Resorts, and seeing how dependent my family is on that company, I have decided to get e-mails about Wyndham. I have been able to read about the layoffs and get a better feeling for what the company is attempting to do. It has helped calm me a little about the company.

So my suggestion to you is to give it a try. Go to Google Alerts and give it a try. If there is a subject that interests you, you might find it quite interesting to see new items on the Internet about that subject.

Dave

P.S. For those of you who want to know, beginning with this post my blog is now public for all to read.

Thanksgiving

I would suppose that being the day before Thanksgiving it would be appropriate to write a post expanding on the things that I am thankful for. Maybe by so doing I can avoid falling under the condemnation of D&C 59:21 which states:

And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.

I am so very thankful to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. I am thankful for the Church organization and those who teach me more about the Gospel. The Gospel gives me direction in my life, shows me the value and importance of my family relationships, and, perhaps most importantly, teaches me who I really am and who I can become.

I am grateful for the selfless sacrifice of my eldest brother. Without Him, and His willingness to do everything for me, I would have no chance to return to my Heavenly Parents and partake of Salvation and Exaltation.

I am grateful for a wife, companion, and sweetheart who loves me and is constantly doing things to make things better for me. Her efforts often go on without any comments or spoken thanks, but they are never unnoticed. Next month marks 30 years that we have spent together, which is a long time for her to put up with me! I am thankful she has done so, and hope she continues to do so!

I am grateful for four wonderful sons and the joy they have brought into my life for the past 21-28 years.

I am grateful for three wonderful daughters (I hate the word combination daughters-in-law) who by choice joined this family and in so doing improved our family in ways that cannot be measured. They have improved my sons and shown them their potentials. They have also helped me see things from a kinder, gentler side or point of view.

I am grateful for four grandchildren. They really are the light of my life. As a grandfather, I understand better the meaning of Psalms 127:5 than I ever did as a father, and I hope that my quiver continues to grow. :) There is a saying that you are always happy to see your grandkids, and sometimes you are happy to see them go home. While that is true, it is always awesome to hold them and give them loves.

I am grateful for parents who are the epitome of the phrase from "I am a Child of God" that states "has given me an earthly home with parents kind and dear". To this day they still inspire me and provide an example for me that I am unable to replicate. When I consider the tireless service that I see my dad offer to the Lord as he serves in his 7th Bishopric at the age of 74 (almost 75) or the immense love that my mother has for my father, proven by her actions that she left the country of her birth and her family and immigrated to America to raise a family, I get very emotional. I am in awe of my parents and feel that I have the best parents on earth.

I am grateful for my employment with Wavelink. I am grateful for the opportunity to earn a wage to provide for our needs.

I am grateful for friends, and the support they are. Sometimes friends are able to fill a need that nobody else can meet.

I am grateful to each of you.

God bless you.

Dave

Economic Recovery and President-Elect Obama

Well, as I stated in the Blog title, this blog is about things that interest me. Right now I am very concerned about the economy, so I decided to put some of my feelings into a blog entry. I probably wont get any comments because it is such a boring subject, but it's my blog and I can write about the economy if I want to!

As I write this, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is at just over 8000 points. The only reason it is that high is that on Friday of this week it rallied for almost 500 points, meaning that Thursday the DJIA closed at about 7550. While the DJIA is not the economy, I believe that is a gauge of the people's belief in their economic futures, and I believe that the relatively low level of the DJIA is telling America that we are concerned about the future. But what worries me even more is that I don't see things changing for a while. Let me explain.

Just under a year ago, on December 6, 2007, the DJIA closed at 13,727. Since that time we have had bailouts of the Insurance companies, of Mortgage companies, of Banks and now the Automobile industry. All of these have contributed, along with concerns for our financial future, to drive the DJIA to the area it is at today. In my opinion, the way to get the market moving again (and thus, to get the DJIA back to where it was a year ago) is to encourage people to invest. But, with the change of administration, I don't see that happening. Here are my reasons that this is not going to happen.

1. President-Elect Obama has expressed his opinion that business needs to pay their fair share of the taxes, and feels that taxes on business need to be raised. He has specifically mentioned small businesses and big businesses as being subject to tax increases. There are, in my opinion, at least 2 reasons that his opinion is incorrect: First of all, businesses don't really pay taxes, customers of businesses pay taxes. Secondly, raising taxes on small businesses, where most of America's new jobs are created, will make the small business owner think twice about expanding payroll, so that the additional taxes can be paid. This will cause fewer jobs to be created which pushes the economy in the exact direction we do not want it to go. Also, that small business owner is less likely to invest in the small market as he is looking for sources of funds for the additional taxes he has to pay.
2. President-Elect Obama would like to raise the capital gains tax from 15% to 20% for those who are in the highest tax bracket. In my opinion, during financially troubled times, a tax increase rates as an impediment to encouraging investment, while a tax decrease rates as an incentive for encouraging investment. People who are in the highest tax bracket are the very people that should be encouraged to be investing in America. With the uncertainty of a possible capital gains tax increase, I believe that many will adopt a "wait and see" attitude, thus affecting our economic recovery.
3. President-Elect Obama has expressed the opinion that business needs to have tighter regulations and oversight. By so doing, he has again struck at the very segment of society, those who are in the highest tax bracket, who we need to be "betting on America" by invtesting in America. If he is successful, businesses will move more jobs overseas to locations where the regulations will not be as harsh, and we will suffer through additional loss of "American Jobs", and its corresponding tax revenue shortfalls.

Because of these reasons, I believe that many people are going to sit on the sidelines, waiting to get into the game, before returning to the financial markets. I think it will probably take at lease 3 months after being sworn into office, and maybe longer, for people to believe that President-Elect Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and Majority Leader Reid will not screw up the country.

So, in my opinion, don't expect an economic recovery to begin before about May 1, 2009. And it may be later, depending on the decisions that this Democratic White House and Congress make in the meantime.

Dave

Not much point in having a Blog if you don't have readers.....

Meg asked:

Wow... am I legal to see this?

And the answer is: Yes

This is a closed blog (i.e. only those who I invite can read it). However, after making my first post, I added each of you 7 (Jason, Meg, Dan, Janelle, Matt, Kathie and Andy). You should have received an e-mail inviting you to read the blog.

Now I have a question for you (and everyone else who reads this blog):

Can you read the blog without undue hardship?

As you have noticed, I have gone for a very "clean" look. My blog will never be as professional looking or as decorated as the rest of you (Meg, Janelle, Kathie, Sue), but I want it to have a personality of its own. And it is important that it be legible.

Please leave a note letting me know if you can or cannot read the blog easily.

Thanks!

Dave

P.S.

While it is a closed blog right now, there are no guarantees that it will remain that way forever. Please make sure to not post identifying information as you leave comments.

:)

First Post!

Wow! I am finally getting it started.

This blog, believe it or not, is about 3 or 4 years in the making. About a year or 2 after Google acquired Blogger (in 2003), I looked into setting up my own blog. I doubted that I would ever have anything important to say, and so it fell by the wayside. Then, when Meg started her blog about Janie, I revisited the idea, but didn't get anywhere. And, as Janelle and Kathie have entered the blogsphere I have looked at it again, but I was too lazy (or, more likely, spending too much time playing WoW) to get a blog going. BUT......when my technology challenged sweetheart, Sue, had the audacity to get one started, I decided I had to jump in.

I guess I never really liked the layouts that were offered. I looked at probably hundreds of templates but was never able to find the "one" that I wanted for my blog. So, I did what I do when I am programming......I stole ideas! I found a template that I liked, and I stripped it of a lot of "fluff". Then I changed colors and positions and widths and layouts and made it my own. So, I am open for suggestions if you have trouble reading my blog. However, one point that is not likely to change is the "width" of the blog. I tried to make my blog readable in 1024x768 screen resolution, and if you are at that resolution and cannot read my blog, or if there are "slider bars", please let me know and I will try to make some adjustments. However, if your screen resolution is less than 1024x768 and so you cannot see the entire blog (side-to-side) on your monitor, I don't think there will be much that I will be willing to change to make it better for you. (If you have questions, let me know, and I will look at it).

Anyway, thanks for reading!