Psalm 51

Our Sunday School lesson last week was on David and Bathsheba. Such a tragedy for a man who spent the rest of his life doing good. We discussed Psalm 51, which is his contrition after his sin. Here is my rendering of that Psalm:

Lord, shew me thy tender mercies,
Cleanse me from my every sin.
I acknowledge my transgressions:
Wash me thoroughly within.

I have sinned against thee only,
And done evil in thy sight.
Save me from a fearful judgment;
Set my inward parts aright.

Purge me clean with fragrant hyssop,
Wash me whiter than the snow,
Make me hear of joy and gladness—
Broken free from sin’s dark throes.

Grant the joy of thy salvation,
Take thy Spirit not from me.
Then will I convert transgressors—
Sinners shall I turn to thee.

Open thou my lips for singing,
And my mouth shall sing thy praise.
Thou desirest not burnt off’rings,
Nor in sacrifice thy ways.

With a broken spirit offered,
And a broken, contrite heart,
I shall speak of thy good pleasure,
And yet choose the better part.

Divisionals

The divisional swim meet went well. Both JW and LM improved on their best times in each event in which they swim. LM went from not being able to swim backstroke six weeks ago to finishing second in her heat of eight on Saturday. JW also finished second in his heat in breaststroke and backstroke. To be sure, the kids are not yet among the fastest in their age groups--JW is finishing in the middle (backstroke) to lower-middle of the pack, and LM is still one of the slower racers. However, both have made progress very quickly this season, and both have another year to swim in the same age group, which should make a big difference. With some practice this summer--LM is signed up for another swim class next month, for instance--I'm hopeful they can improve enough to swim in the final heat next year (heats are seeded by qualifying times, so the fastest swimmers are generally in the last heat).

Birthday time

When we asked JW what he wanted to do for his birthday, he said he wanted to have the Mc___ family over for dinner. He also had a swim meet, though, so we had that first. Then, a family from church had invited us over for their daughter's birthday party. They had a huge inflatable waterslide and water play structure and a slip 'n slide in the backyard, so the kids played there for a while. Then, it was home for dinner with the Mc____ family. They have a boy who is a grade behind JW and with him in cub scouts. We ate pizza from our favorite place, played games, and watched the kids swim in the pool. Having a backyard pool makes summer birthdays easy, handy as three of the four kids have summer birthdays, and so do I. Our extended family seems to cluster birthdays around certain times. JW shares a birthday with a cousin, whose dad has a birthday a day apart. October and December are the other big birthday times.

Next up, RJ has his 3rd birthday next week. His grandparents are coming today for a visit and will celebrate with us. He says a lot of funny things these days in his barely intelligible voice--I need to write more of them down. For instance, last week he said, "Dad, don't bite your nails, or you will get worms in your butt!"

Daniel-san

If you are between 30 and 45, you probably can tell the subject of this post by the title. On Friday night, for J's birthday, we took him, his older sister, and a friend from church to see The Karate Kid, the new movie starring Jaden Smith. For anyone of my generation, however, this is a tall order, because the movie is a remake of one of the 1980s' cultural icons.

The movie was pretty good, but it was hard to replace the original. On the way home, it spawned a discussion between my wife and me on the most memorable movies of the 1980's. I maintained that 80% of people our age, asked to list the big, enduring movies of their childhood, would have listed "Karate Kid" among the list. Not only was every kid in America named Daniel called Daniel-san regularly through the early 90's, but the movie also spawned many other repeated phrases and gestures, such as:

• "Wax on, wax off" (accompanied by hand movements)
• The "crane" position
• "Squish just like grape."
• "Mr. Miyagi"
• "Sweep the leg."
• "Strike first, strike hard, no mercy, sir!"
• "No, Sensei!"

What other movies of the era had a similarly enduring impact on Gen X kids? We came up with a few possibilities, but not many: Indiana Jones and Star Wars (for older Gen Xers) franchises, Top Gun, maybe Ferris Buehler's Day Off, Ghostbusters, or Princess Bride. But the list would be short, and I think most people would have Karate Kid on theirs.

FWIW, I thought the new movie was well done. It paid proper homage to the original while still being fresh. The cinematography was great, as the movie was filmed in China rather than SoCal. If you're a Gen Xer, don't be afraid to take your kids to this one for a trip down memory lane.

"You're all right, LaRusso."

Off to camp

S is old enough by two days to attend church girl's camp this summer. I'm hopeful that she'll meet new friends from other wards who attend her school, and also have some faith-building experiences. Still, it is a little scary to send her off. She's never been gone from home for so long before. I was giving her advice and kisses this morning, and she said, "Dad, it's only a week." I know, but it's an important week for her. She's probably the most like me of my children and is still a Daddy's girl to some extent.

Gator bait

The kids had their last dual meet of the season on Saturday before divisionals this Saturday, against the Gators. It was fun to see how much they have improved during their first season of competitive swimming. J, on his birthday, cut a second from his best time in one event and 0.6 in another. He's finishing towards the middle of the pack in his best event and will be in the same age group next year, when he could be a contender for ribbons. Since he has a summer birthday, it's nice that he can be classified as one of the oldest at something for a change.

L has improved by leaps and bounds. At time trials, she would take a couple of strokes, grab the lane line and steel herself, then repeat. Once I called out to her to keep swimming, and she yelled back, "I'm not ready! Stop yelling!" Her time was about five minutes, and that was the only stroke she swam. Now, she has added backstroke and has been gradually improving her times--but Saturday was a breakthrough. In freestyle, she swam the 25 yards for the first time (except right as she jumped in) without stopping or grabbing the rope. Her stroke mechanics weren't quite up to her best, but she still took her best time from 1:41 to 1:05 and beat a swimmer from the other team for the first time. Afterwards, I asked her if she was thinking, "Keep going, don't grab the rope," as she was swimming. She said, "No, I was thinking, ' I want to beat a Gator!" She told me, though, that she didn't want to beat anyone from her own team, because that wouldn't be nice.

In backstroke, which she couldn't do a month ago, her progress is even better now that she's discovering the competition aspect of swimming--and it can't hurt that they were giving out little prizes to any swimmer that improved on a best time. She took her best time from 1:26.32 to 47.56--shaving a whopping 45% off of her previous best--and finished 18th of 30 in her group. Since she also has another year in the same age group and is making such quick progress, she should also be able to move up to the final heat next year, at least in backstroke.

Sniglets

In the 1980's, there was a book called Sniglets: Words that Should Be in the Dictionary, but Aren't. They were made-up words, like "vacation elbow," for Dad's ability to contort his body and stretch his arm to reach you in the back seat when you are fighting on a long drive. Lately, I've been thinking of words I could change or add one letter to create a Sniglet. So far I've come up with:

hospitility: how you treat visiting relatives you don't want to stay too long

due dulligence: board deliberations before an ill-conceived, bubble-fueled merger

chief sexecutive: a president, governor, mayor, or CEO caught in a public sex scandal

idiet: a fad or crash diet with no sound nutritional underpinning; also, someone on such a diet

incestment management: when the people running the US Treasury Dept are all former Goldman Sachs employees

mosquitoe: that itch your foot gets right after you've laced up your hiking boots

sin-laws: the parents of a live-in boyfriend or girlfriend

Lust: a pointless TV show about a bunch of attractive people who crash on a remote island already populated with other attractive people (oops, that's not a new definition)

iPaid: the newest, must-have pricey gadget from Apple

litigatar: the lawyers who will get rich over the next 20 years fighting over tar balls washing up on Gulf Coast beaches

What Sniglets can you create by tweaking an existing word?

Memorable lunch

It gets old eating at the same few places over and over. I didn't bring a lunch today and no one to go with, so I ventured out for lunch to a nearby Vietnamese place I've seen on my drive in. I first tried Vietnamese in Boulder, CO in 1998--never having seen a Vietnamese restaurant before that--and loved it. In Utah, Vietnamese was much harder to find than, say, Thai, but there are many such restaurants here. I understand we have one of the highest concentrations of Vietnamese-Americans in the country.

I hadn't eaten there before, so I let myself get talked into the beef soup. I know, that's a strange choice when it's 90 degrees outside. I hoped it was a good sign when they brought me a spring roll full of ground meat (pork?) that was among the best I've ever eaten. It had a crunchy-but-not-too-oily outside, and a fresh-tasting inside with a phenomenal combination of meat and vegetables. It was served with a sauce that was slightly sweet, but also acidic.

When the soup arrived, I was nervous. It had huge carrot chunks, lots of onion, cilantro and other herbs, and beef straight from an episode of Bizarre Foods. This beef smelled good, but it was mostly connective tissue and fat and looked like the stuff you'd normally throw away or make into pet food. But, persuaded by Andrew Zimmern's claims that some of the best flavor is in those "inferior" cuts, I decided to give it a try.

I tried the soup and thought, as Zimmern would say, "Are you kidding me?!" The soup was outstanding, as long as I didn't look too closely at the "meat." I'm no food critic, so I can't describe it well, but it was very savory with just a hint of sweet, and a strong-but-not-overpowering beef flavor. If you eat Thai food, it had a taste somewhat like a tom yum soup, but beefy, and better, IMO. It was served with a "sandwich," which was just the bread you might use to make a hero. The bread was crunchy and flaky and was wonderful when dipped into the broth long enough to get the flavor but not long enough to get soggy.

The soup also came with a side of fresh herbs and a lime that could be added to the soup. I did use some of them, but it was not necessary. This soup was so good on its own that it rivaled any soup or chili I've ever eaten, including the best french onion, chicken tortilla, or tom yum, and right up there with an excellent coconut-milk tom ka gai. And I love anything with coconut milk, so that's saying something. I'll definitely be suggesting this place soon for a lunch with my colleagues.

Golf fiasco

The law department here has a summer golf series for attorneys. My boss is an avid golfer, and he encouraged me to give it a try, so I signed up to play yesterday. It seemed like a good opportunity to network with colleagues and have a nice time. It's semi-sponsored, meaning we pay our own green fees, but the company gives us the time off if we can get our work done. This was my first time, so I wasn't quite sure to expect, but I'm not a very good golfer, so I was just hoping to keep up enough to enjoy some pleasant company. I was hopeful, because I had a pretty good outing last time I went with my son.

The venue was the Tournament Course in The Woodlands, a course that has hosted numerous PGA events and an LPGA world championship. It is a spectacular course. Unfortunately, the address on the email directed me to the main address for the country club, which was the Palmer Course. I didn't know this until after I'd changed in the locker room, unable to put my clothes in a locker since I was not a member. I eventually found out at the pro shop that there was no group from my company there that day. I was given directions, which included turning on Mill Bend Dr., which was several miles away.

I raced to my car and drove back. When I got to Millbend Dr., I recognized where I was and turned in to the golf course near The Woodlands conference center. I quickly raced to the pro shop, apologized for being late, and tried to pay my green fees.

Oops, again. It turns out there is a N. Milbend and a S. Millbend, and I was at the wrong course yet again. By this time, I was flustered. I hate being late, I didn't know the people I'd be playing with, and I am not a good golfer. I finally made it to the right course, but the golf pro said I wasn't on the list. No worries, I paid my $80 (ouch!!) green fees and raced out just as the last group from my company was teeing off. They seemed surprised to see me, but were friendly. I was the only one wearing long pants in the Texas heat, and I had conveniently left my golf shoes home, thinking I'd left them in my car from last time I played with my son.

Completely unnerved by this point, I stepped up and whacked my drive into some trees with a loud thunk. And, that's how the round went. It was my luck to be in a threesome with an attorney who was a very good golfer and a ringer from a different department brought in to score points for one of the teams. They were both very good, and well, I was not.

The Tournament Course is a beautiful course. At each tee box, there is a bronze sign telling players how some PGA player or other made it famous through brilliant or sloppy play at some event. The greens and fairways are well-manicured, the trees are mature and beautiful, water and white-sand bunkers abound, and one green is on an island. And the course is HARD.

The course website helpfully tells you that two of the holes were rated two of the four most difficult holes in Texas. Well, it showed for me. I went through a huge store of balls lost in the water, and a couple lost in the rough. The fairways are narrow, and the water and bunkers are set up not just to be beautiful, but to gobble up errant shots.

I played most of the round poorly, even by my standards. I felt foolish compared to these two very strong golfers. Midway through, I was thinking to myself that I never wanted to play golf again and hoping my store of balls would last (I lost probably ten balls). A couple of times, to avoid slowing the group, I took favorable drops across the water or nearer the green. Luckily, as I was at a low point, I started hitting a few shots better and getting a couple of bogeys. Towards the end, we caught up with another twosome from the company and played a few holes with them. This was so much better, as they were not nearly as good of golfers. They were still better than me, but one guy lost several balls over those holes and hit his share of bad shots. The heat was brutal early on, but it cooled and eventually turned into rain towards the end of the round.

We were the last group and were slowed by congestion in front of us, so some of the people had left by the time we made it to the clubhouse, but there was food and good company waiting for us when we arrived. It turned out to be okay, and I was able to meet some other lawyers from the company. But, I've decided I either need to play golf more or less. Since I now have two kids old enough to play with me a wife who likes to play from time to time, I'll probably keep playing and rotate who I take. But, it will certainly be at cheaper, cruddy courses, because I can't afford those green fees (and I'm not a member of and have zero desire to join a country club). Luckily, the next golf outing isn't for a few months--few people want to play midday in the middle of the summer here--so I've got time to think about it.

Container ship tour

Recently, I got to go on a tour of the CMA CGM Georgia, a large container ship belonging to one of the marine dry cargo shippers my company uses to ship products. It was a cool opportunity to see some of the port facilities and to go on a very large boat.
The tour was very interesting. We got to see the process of how cargo moves from ship through offloading, customs, etc. and onto the highway, or vice versa. We got a detailed behind-the-scenes tour of this 1000-foot cargo ship, including meeting with the captain and chief engineer. I got to go onto the bridge, sit in the captain's chair, and examine the navigational equipment.

I also got to visit the engine control room, which is air conditioned, but smelled strongly of oil, and the engine area, which was very hot and so noisy you had to yell and be within a few feet to speak with another person. You would need ear protection if you were there for more than a few minutes. I believe there are ten cylinders to the engine, and each had a turbocharger alone the size of a room. It was very interesting, but I can’t imagine how unpleasant it would have been to work in the boiler room of an old coal-fired ship.

They actually have a few passenger cabins on most freighters and some companies allow you to book "cruises" on these freighters to obscure destinations. It's cheaper than normal cruising, but the amenities are awfully sparse. You'd be spending a lot of time reading and watching movies or playing ping pong with the small, international crew. This ship had a crew of 18, mostly Romanians and Filipinos. There is a small pool, exercise room, and lounge, but it would be nothing like a normal cruise.

It was interesting to watch the cranes loading cargo and see how efficient many of the operations are. They can load/unload 1500 shipping containers within 24 hours, so most of the port calls are fairly brief for the crew. My grandfather was a customs inspector in San Francisco when that was a major shipping port, and I thought how he would have enjoyed seeing how things have changed since his days going aboard arriving ships.

Adventures yet to be

My sister posted some things she'd like to do before she dies and asked us what we had in mind on our bucket lists. I have lots of goals and things I'd like to do, but I'll just share a few in the adventure/travel category. These are just some things I'd like to see or do, not that I'm checking them off a must-do list:

Go hiking in the giant Sequoia redwoods of California
Visit Jerusalem when it's safe, Thailand, also when it's safer than right now, Rome, and Scotland
Hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and then raft the Colorado River
Parachute from a plane
Enter an open water swim in a fun place like Hawaii
Live in a foreign country at least one more time, hopefully more
Hike Mt. Kilimanjaro
Visit the fjords in Norway or Alaska
Take an extended, multicity train trip (won't happen in the US with the current train system)
Work remotely for a summer from a rented beach house or mountain cabin
Visit The Maze district of Canyonlands (one of the most remote places in the U.S.) during a meteor shower and sleep under the stars
Ride a camel