There has come an extreme financial disaster in our country in the last year or so, where so many people have mortgages that they cannot pay. Many banks and financial institutions are failing, and the US Government finally passed a $700 Billion bailout plan. At the heart of the matter is gross dishonesty—lenders who didn't require that the minimum requirements for obtaining these loans were met; people who obtained mortgages that they couldn't afford; people who were too optimistic thinking that they'd refinance later; other financial institutions which purchased the loan notes without verifying that the requirements were followed, etc. And I'm sure that there's some outright blatant dishonesty going on in the mix there. Who knows what will happen now that we've saddled our country with a horrendous new debt? I don't think we've seen the worse yet.
I finished The Brothers Karamasov. It shows how contradictory we as humans are and how our strong emotions lead us into so much trouble. But it also shows that with proper leadership, people can choose paths that bring happiness and meaning to their lives, but unfortunately many choose not to follow proper leadership. It also talks about the willfulness of mankind, that even when they know a decision will bring heart ache, they will often make that decision anyway because it's their decision. It also shows how when people make poor decisions, they'll often get blamed for bad things they didn't do. Human nature is shown in how jealous people are of each other, how they'll hurt the very people that they love, and how these same people, at the same time, can be very generous to people outside their immediate circle.
The garden is still alive. The peppers put on new leaves, but there's something eating up the new pea plants and eating, especially, the leaves of the banana pepper plant. I replanted the empty places and they have come up but each morning I see little holes where the old plans used to be. I suspect it's a pack rat, but I've been unable to catch him. He very gingerly eats some of the bait, and leaves. The last bait I put out involved putting honey on a graham cracker and peanut butter on the other side. I was hoping he'd try to pull the cracker off, but he just licked the peanut butter off. What they really need is another TV show called Are You Smarter Than a Pack Rat.
Last weekend, on Thursday after work, S, D, P, and I drove to a town north of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The following day S toured the campus of the College of Santa Fe. The rest of us toured the International Folklore Museum, which was very nice.
There was one diorama in which there were skeletons playing instruments. I asked D what this represented. He didn't know, and I replied that it was the Orchestra on Temple Square, on Fast Sunday.
That evening we drove to Socorro, where we spent the night. We ate at a Mexican restaurant there, and savored the New Mexican type of Mexican food there. It's different than that of Tucson, but also very good.
The following morning we drove to Silver City and saw the Western University of New Mexico campus, then drove home.
At work, we're pretty much to the end of the system test cycle, and the performance isn't where it needs to be and there are many, many defects that need fixing. We're now to the point of determining which defects will be fixed now, and which will be fixed in the next release or service pack. It's time to stabilize what we have and ship it.
Early in October was General Conference, and I was much inspired by the messages.
Lord Jim was an interesting novel. It started out very slow, and talks about how people deal with guilt, how some just escape the pain of it through various means, but others take it so seriously that there is no reconciliation for them. It's told from the point of view of an old captain who earnestly endeavors to help Jim. It got much more interesting after the inquiry was done, but it ended in tragedy as Jim exercised faith in human nature to do the kind thing, and was betrayed by several evil men. He took responsibility for all the evil which occurred, as if one man can control everything if he just makes the right decisions.
Yesterday I used the hedge trimmer I got for Father's Day and trimmed many of the plants in the front yard. I trimmed them down just leaving the stems, so that when we get rain, they'll grow again. I prefer that to pulling the entire plant out.
On Thursday night, I went out with the missionaries, and had a great time with them. They taught two discussions, and I was very impressed with how well they taught, and the maturity in the gospel that these young men have. I mentioned in Priesthood Executive Committee meeting today that if they had someone they thought they'd like the missionaries to meet, I would highly recommend this pair of missionaries.
Yesterday, I finished and mailed my early ballot, voting for Obama for president. I find it regretful to vote for someone who stands for some things that I oppose, but but I couldn't in good conscience vote for McCain whom I feel is only interested in protecting the unborn and the very rich.
When I went with the missionaries, the television was on when we arrived at one appointment, and both McCain and Obama were at some dinner, and Obama said, “I've been told that if I talk about the economy, I will win this election, so I'm going to talk about the economy.” Even McCain had to laugh with him on that one.
