On the Eighth Day of Christmas A Doctor Gave to Me...

Kamas, Utah - The well worn out phrase, “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone” was tested yesterday when a group of snowmobilers went in search of medical attention after an accident disrupted their plans for an adventurous one-day getaway.

Tadd Farmer, a junior at BYU, and his friend, Dustin Higginson, both took dates on their trip to, Kamas, the “gateway to the Uintahs,” but neither could have predicted how this day would unfold. Kamas had already received several inches of fresh powder, and the day continued to threaten more as the snowmobile adventure began.

“I’ve been on four-wheelers and waverunners before, but I’ve never been on a snowmobile,” Tadd said. “I was ready for a fun day with good friends.”

Perhaps inexperience may have played a factor in what happened. After making one successful run down the mountain, Tadd was ascending back to the high elevation cabin with two other guys riding on back. As he approached the turn, the weight situated on the back of the snowmobile caused the machine to continue forward and not respond to the turning of the front skis. Slowing down to a try to make the turn, the snowmobile slipped into a small depression on the left.

“I felt the snowmobile tipping to the left which caused me to fall off and hit my head on a poorly placed ‘For Sale’ sign.” Tadd said of the experience. “When I got up, I first checked my teeth to make sure I still had them. Then I noticed blood coming down my ski goggles and knew that I probably needed a little help.”

“I was about to throw up. When I got back to the cabin, I asked for Tadd’s girlfriend (this was Tadd’s second date) and told her that I could almost see his brain,” a witness reported.

After putting a shirt on the wound, Tadd was immediately driven to a fire station and medical center in Kamas, both of which were closed. They finally found an open medical clinic in Heber City, about an hour and a half after the accident occurred.

The 6 mm deep wound above his left eyebrow required eight internal stitches, and nine external stitches to close it up. It was actually the first case of stitches to be performed at the brand new 5 Minute Medical clinic in Heber City. After taking some Tylenol, and after a forty-five minutes ride back to Kamas, Tadd and company spent the remaining time playing games and even made a few last runs on the snowmobile.

“I knew I wasn’t seriously hurt,” Tadd admitted. “I felt bad for messing up a day that promised to be so entertaining. I am grateful for those who made sacrifices to get the help that I needed.”

Tadd also readily admits that the accident could’ve been worse. Had he hit the sign any lower on his face, his eyes may have been damaged. One thing he appreciates a little more now than before is his sight, and the close proximity of hospitals in Provo.



Editor: The next picture may be a little disturbing. If you can’t handle a little blood and guts, don’t look at it.

Happy Birthday Dad!

I wanted to give a shout out to my Dad on his birthday and thank him for all he has done for me. I have been blessed by great parents!

He has been my coach in at least three different sports throughout most of my life. More importantly, he has been one of the best coaches for my life. Always willing to listen and teach, my Dad has helped me get to where I am today.

He would always ask at least one of my brothers or sisters to help with a project around the house and it wasn’t because he needed our help. He probably undid everything we did and did it over again once we left. He wanted to be with us and teach us things that would be useful to know.

Whenever he went grocery shopping, he would always bring back a bag of candybars and let us choose which one we wanted. He would always pick last.

My parents have been the greatest supporters I have had in my life. They had faith in me when I thought my odds were small. They had confidence in me when I had none. They taught me what I needed to know to truly be happy.

My Dad has a witty sense of humor that can make anyone laugh. He makes people feel comfortable when their near him, and doesn’t have an enemy in the world. Our driveway is always the last to be shoveled.

In Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, The Village Blacksmith, he wrote of a hard working and noble blacksmith. This is how I feel about my dad!

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend

For the lesson thou hast taught!

Thus at the flaming forge of life

Our fortunes must be wrought;

Thus on its sounding anvil shaped

Each burning deed and thought!

I love you Dad!

Where Have All the Bloggers Gone?

I am concerned with a recent trend of bloggers becoming increasing silent in their blogging responsibilities. The cause of this is still undetermined, but one could argue that the downturn of the nation’s economy is as much to blame as anything (or anyone) else. Think about it, with our stocks becoming bottom-dwelling creatures in the sea of economic tranquility, who would think to do something incredibly blog-worthy like replace an old pair of shoes with gold-plated go-go gadget spring shoes or have a chocolate fondue party where even the guests are covered in chocolate?

Because of the serious nature of this concern, my first thought was to write my lame-duck president for a portion of the 700 gazillion dollars of bailout money to go to bloggers throughout the nation. I decided against that idea because I don’t have a stamp and I doubt the president is in to blogs anyways. So I thought of an easier solution to bring back the blogs. Write one yourself.

My biggest challenge to blogging is that I never have anything to write about. As you can tell by my previous posts (or at least this one), you know that that has never stopped me in the past. So to get you thinking, I decided to generate a list which can either get you thinking of something you can blog about, or stop reading my blog altogether.

-The best thing about yesterday
-Your children
-Your lost-then-found sock
-The thoughts you had at 11am today
-Gary Coleman
-Ninja Turtles
-Gary Coleman vs. Ninja Turtles
-Your view of a flat, open, or closed universe and the possibility of other “people”
-What you like about Christmas
-What you like about me
-A childhood memory
-What you think a haberdasher is

Well, if that doesn’t help than I maybe I should go get some stamps. But come on people, who wouldn’t want to see Gary Coleman fight the Ninja Turtles?

Reasons to Vote Republican, Despite the Republicans

I like to think of myself as a nonpartisan voter when it comes to politics. I tend to lean to the republican side of the aisle when it comes to most issues, however, I have also sympathized with many democratic philosophies. Over the past several months, I have tried to ignore the political game between McCain and Obama because both candidates seem painfully weak and inadequate to meet the challenges of our country. Despite some good characteristics in both candidates, there really is no good choice for the Oval Office. Obama is a charismatic leader whose ideas and words sound nice but he lacks the experience to run the world’s superpower. McCain, a former POW and Vietnam vet, has the experience Obama’s lacking but looks and acts as if he’s been walking around with a perpetual political chip on his should for the last 26 years. With no clear leader in the campaign, I offer you my two reasons to vote Republican despite the Republicans.

My first reason for voting Republican for this election cycle is maintaining a conservative voice on the Supreme Court. As it now stands, the average age for the Supreme Court is 68 (the oldest being Justice Stevens at the age of 88). This means that there is a good chance that the next President of the United States will decide who will fill the vacancies left on the bench. With liberal reforms to legalize same-sex marriage and abortion coming before the courts with increasing frequency, it’s too risky to vote for a candidate who will place a Justice on the bench with liberal leanings. In an age of judicial activism, we cannot allow for the Supreme Court to legislate liberal laws and policies that could change forever the American way of life.

My second reason for voting Republican is to maintain a true checks and balance system between the Executive and Legislative Branches of government. It is a dangerous proposition for the American people to have one party control both the Legislative Branch and Executive Branch of government. Recent history will provide enough evidence of that. From 2000-2006, the Republicans controlled both branches of government which increased the power and influence of President Bush, making his presidency one of the most ineffective and disastrous presidencies in the history of our nation. Add a liberal Judicial Branch to the liberal Executive and Legislative Branches and you have an entire government dominated by a single ideology. Democrat or Republican, it is dangerous to have too much power.

I don’t know how you all feel, but I’m already looking forward to 2012.

Down In Front!

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to realize that there’s not much sport in the sports I watch. It has gotten to the point that every sport I go to is almost the sideshow to some other kind of gimmick. Who decided that we needed entertainment for our entertainment? Let me explain with a couple of examples.

My BYU football tickets aren’t anything to brag about. Sixth row doesn’t sound half bad but it is when your stuck in the end zone. If that isn’t bad enough, imagine trying to watch an entire football game through a pyramid of cheerleaders! Isn’t it exciting enough just to be at the football game? I almost dread timeouts because it means that I will be exposed to the latest and newest cheerleading stunt involving twists, flips, and flops that I don’t want to even consider. Do they really think that we need to be exposed to constant recreational stimulus for the entire 3+ hour game? Who am I, some kind of ADHD Mt. Dew addict who always needs to fill my caffeine fix? Can I have a timeout please?

I believe in the golden rule. You sweet-spirited cheerleaders, how would you feel if we invited the football team to hold a scrimmage on the sideline during a cheer competition? Cheer your guts out, but could you stay down in front?

My experience at the last Real Salt Lake game showed me that distractions at sporting events are not only caused by cheerleaders. During part of the game, some RSL people starting throwing stuff into the crowd. I reacted like a typical 4 year old as I reached to catch a ball that was coming my way. As I caught the ball, the entire stadium erupted in cheers and I knew immediately that the cheering wasn’t for me (even though it was a good catch). RSL just dropped a goal in the back of the net and I missed it because I was busy trying to catch a stupid hacky sack that even the sweatshop workers in India wouldn’t claim.

Why is free stuff so popular at games anyways? Did you ever go to a game because you’re sick of your summer wardrobe and you thought you needed a new shirt? And what about you who scavenger the underside of the bleachers looking for that cubic zirconia coupon? Was that on the wedding preparation to do list? Why is it that they can throw stuff into the crowd but anyone who throws anything back is escorted away by the police?

The more cheers I hear from the cheerleaders and the shirts tossed out, the more appealing baseball is becoming. By they way, I just posted a really cool soccer hacky sack on ebay so let the bidding begin!

In Case You're Not Sick of Polls By Now...

I just wanted to explain my new survey that I've included on the right of my blog. After writing a new blog post last weekend, my conscience made an uncommon appearance in my mind. I couldn't publish the post I was working on because I thought that it might be a little too sarcastic. That caused me to think of all of my blog entries. I do not try to vaunt myself or put other people down in my blogs, I just try to write the things as I see them (with a little extra, of course). So, I'm really curious about what you think. Let the polling begin!

Okay, So I Don't Travel Much...

This week I had an opportunity to travel to Lake Tahoe, Nevada to present a research project I’ve been working on with a professor from BYU. The project is about student teaching, and if any of you are interested, let me know and we can talk about it sometime. However, my blogging patrons are few, and probably won’t be able to stomach a blog on academia, so for their sakes and for mine, this blog is about my extracurricular experience at Lake Tahoe. Be aware that you are about to wade around in the shallow waters of my mind. Whether or not my infrequent travels results in my simple mind, or if my simple mind is why I don’t travel much is for you to decide.

I didn’t have to go any further than my hotel room to find something to blog about. One of the first things I noticed about my room was that there was a phone in the bathroom. I have never in my twenty-three-and-a-half years of breathing seen a need to use a phone in that locale. I hope I never do. As much as I would hate to need to use the phone in the bathroom, I would definitely not want to be on the receiving end of that call.

I was surprised to find that my shower was almost completely surrounded by glass. I enjoyed watching TV while taking a shower. I would not call it obsessive, I’d call it efficient.

I’m not much of a tree-hugger, but I sympathize for environmentalists. It seems like they were born with only half a brain or at least without common sense. On the sink in my bathroom counter was a sign that read, “Save the planet one towel at a time.” The sign then proceeded to beg me to hang up towels that I could reuse and leave dirty ones on the floor for them to launder. That was a reasonable request. Over the next few minutes of exploring the room, I found numerous piles of towels all over the place. In all, I counted 13 towels of all sizes left for me (and only me) to use during my two-day stay. It seemed to me that if they wanted me to use fewer towels, they’d give me fewer towels to use. Over the course of my trip, I looked for 13 legitimate ways to use each and every towel at least once. I know it’s not much, but someday our children and grandchildren will be left to deal with these environmentalists.

My time in Tahoe went by quickly! It was a great experience for me and one that I hope to repeat in the future. I am grateful for all those who did so much to make it possible for me to attend. Thanks!

P.S. I don’t know if you can “P.S.” a blog but I’m going to do it anyway. This blog was written before I went home. Between now and the time I wrote this blog, I had the unfortunate opportunity to use that poor phone!