Pappa Hardy’s Musings on Life.

It was interesting to attend a three night Diabetic Management Seminar. It was held from 6:30pm every night for three nights. I wrote my last comment at the end of the second night. I had experienced a rough day at work, and then had to turn around and listen to a dietician lecture us on what we “could” and “couldn’t” eat with our diabetes.

I was angry because of the rough day at work, and then my has been life style was being challenged. It was not a pretty site. What was very interesting was to see how each of those thus affected by this plague on America, reacted to his or her disease. There were seasoned veterans who were there to just get additional information. There were people in denial, believing that it couldn’t really be happening to them. Then there were the angry sort. That was me.

Why am I angry. I am angry because in part, I did this to myself. It is true that in some instances diabetes is genetic and if there are others in your family that have it, then you have a greater chance to get it. However, lifestyle also has a lot to do with it and for so long I have allowed my job and other stresses to rule the way I took care of myself. That is why I am angry. I am angry because I didn’t take care of myself. My challenge to my readers, who are primarily my family, is to take care of yourself because you now have a high likelihood of getting this “chronic” disease. I will have it the rest of my life.

The challenge for me now is to face this disease head on, to manage it, to take care of myself, and yet learn how to enjoy life. It will be a challenge and will require me to reacquire my native positive outlook on life, because that is the only way I am going to be happy in the long run. I also need it to overcome the health challenges that are now sure to come. I once again stare my own mortality, right in the face.

I am on information overload. I have been attending an instructional course for newly diagnosed diabetics. This diabetic course is more like a diabetic boot camp. They have just hit us with so much information and are expecting us to perform as they say we should, right now. A lot of scare tactics too. I am not impressed with that approach either. I do believe we need to be well informed, but I think they have been a little melodramatic in some of their approaches. I am very frustrated.

Today was one of those days. You know, a day when work is crazy, and you get some real off the wall requests. I had several people today asking for stuff that was nuts. They must think I am their personal calculator. One lady came in and wanted me to provide her with an amortization schedule for a payment program with irregular payments. I don’t just have that sitting in my computer.

I didn’t get a lunch or stuff like that. It is on a day like today when I start to wonder why I am in the business arena. Banking is a crazy profession.

May is going to mark the end of the Star Trek saga, at least for a while. UPN has canceled Star Trek Enterprise, as many people know. In some ways, it is good to see that series put to a merciful death. They franchise is worn out and the characters, while fun to watch, have not had the development that some others have experienced in other series.

The franchise itself might be working better but I think that Rick Berman and the other �creative� forces behind Star Trek are in a rut. Where they had some new creative juices that did well in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space 9, I think with Voyager things got bad and with Enterprise they got worse. They have had some good shows, but the majority of them have been fair to middlin.

I have been watching some �classic� Star Trek. The first season of the original series had some excellent episodes and are well written. For instance, the episode �Shore Leave�, �Balance of Terror�, �The Conscience of the King�, �The Corbomite Maneuver�, and �City on the Edge of Forever� are episodes that people remember the titles of and want to see again, and again. I don�t think there are many that want to see Season 3, Episode 5 of Star Trek Enterprise again.

I will be watching the final episodes of Star Trek with interest. What started my reminiscing about Star Trek was a TV guide issue I saw at Smith�s yesterday that was about Star Trek.

This issue revealed that the final episode is not very popular with the Star Trek actors because of the way it has been done. Oh well, I guess it is a good example of why the show has been cancelled.

I have been doing some thinking lately and this was crystallized by a conversation I had with a church associate today. Some of you are probably thinking that doing some thinking could be dangerous for Papa Hardy. Back in the old days, before there were cars as my kids would say, there used to be a lot more association between people. This still happens by and large in other areas of the world. However, in the good ole USA things have changed.

When I was a kid, the neighbor kids got together and played with each other and no one really organized anything. We knew who all of our neighbors were and we had a lot of neighborhood activities. I think Mormons have been a bit different because we have always had �organized� group activities in our �Wards� and �Stakes�. However, we did lots of things with our neighbors and we knew who they were.

Things are different now, and I think there are two major reasons why. We tend to hide behind our doors, not getting to know who are neighbors are and we don�t associate a lot with them. For our family, this was particularly the case in Cheyenne. While we knew a few of our neighbors, it tended to be only the neighbors that had kids that our children were friends with. They had no block parties, they didn�t get together. It is better for us here in Payson, but even here people tend to hide behind their walls.

The first is we are a much more mobile society. We have lots of cars, sometimes three to four per family (a three car garage is now almost a requirement). When I was a kid, because of the lack of cars, if you had a garage you were considered well off. We have activities outside of the home. We eat out a lot. Our kids, who used to play independently of organized activities, almost always are part of an organized sport or activity. In fact, I notice less and less creativity in neighborhood children in coming up with things to do. Children always want to know what the parents are going to do for them. We never had the organized sports and other activities that children have today, to this extent.

I think even more than the fact that we are mobile is the computer revolution. It is much easier to email our friends, our associates, than it is to get on the phone and talk to them. How many times at work have we emailed an associate who was no more than 10 feet away. We don�t get hurt if we email, and it is easier to hide behind an instant messenger and therefore always say the right thing. I am concerned that we have become a detached society, unable to relate to each other on a personal basis. Should we burn the computers and all start walking more?

By now, most of the readers of this blog (my children and spouse I suppose) all know that I have Adult onset Diabetes, or Type II Diabetes. It is not something I am happy about, but it is something I could have controlled and avoided (well maybe) and it is no ones fault but mine.

I hope that the rest of you will do all you can to stay fit and not put yourself in the same position.

I am grateful for the support I have received from all that I know. I am truly blessed by those I have for my family and friends.

I had an interesting day today. I went up to Salt Lake to see possible sites for a new day care facility for one of my customers. we traveled all over the south end of the valley, and I saw lots of new construction. It is amazing how fast that area is growing, and how modern it looks.

In stark contrast was our visit to Mexico in February. We visited Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico. While I have the greatest respect for all peoples across the world, seeing their businesses and this little town was quite an adventure.

Above is a dental clinic in Los Algodones, where you can go and get your dental work done. I am not sure I would want my choppers up on the sign above the office, but I hear that the dental work is OK. Foreign countries are always interesting to visit.

There are lots of things that cause us challenges in life. One recently had been my surgery for my knees. Another is my general health. I guess life changes come if we don’t always take the long term view and do self defeating things. I have encountered problems now that are the results of decades of behaviors. It sometimes is too late to make changes when we haven’t changed forever.

I was looking at the new LDS CHurch country website for Taiwan tonight. It was so discouraging. I have always prided myself on how good my language was after 30 years. Instead, I can’t read hardly a bit of Chinese. It is another indication I am getting way too old.

It was interesting to see pictures of chapels in cities where I had worked. It makes me proud to be part of an effort that lead to the establishment of the church in those areas. Bonnie and I would like to go back to Taiwan in 2006 to be part of the celebration of 50 years of missionary work in Taiwan.

Above is the Chung Li Chapel. This chapel is in the city where I spent 16 months of my mission. It is wonderful to see a chapel there.

This winter has been a very wet one. Perhaps one of the most incredible sites I saw this winter was on February 19 when we were driving to Laughlin, Nevada, on the beginning leg of our annual trip to Yuma, Arizona. Fall was very wet, followed by a wet winter, and then this spring has been wet as well. This has gone far towards breaking the 6 year drought. One of the most incredible sites was what I have deemed Lake Mud. We had turned south off of the Boulder Highway near Las Vegas on our way to Searchlight, Nevada, then from there to Laughlin. It had been raining hard all day long, but as we turned south you could see the rain clouds heavy, delivering the much needed moisture to the desert. We got to the bottom of the hill and to our right we could suddenly see a sea of water and mud where there once had been nothing but sage brush and desert plants. It was huge and was lapping at the road. More than anything else, here was a testimony of just how much rain we have had this year.

Later we also saw a desert that was as green as an emerald carpet. The desert was a green that I have never seen before. It was a testimony that while most of the time water is witheld from the desert, there are times when water is given, and then the desert blossoms like a rose. It was an incredible site I shall never forget.