Foolish Adventures

I decided to take my boat out yesterday. I haven't started the Spring semester yet and I thought I should take it out while I still have a chance. I had one of my most exciting sailing adventures.

The winds inside alamitos bay were pretty light, but they were pointed such that I made a fairly quick clear shot out the jetty to San Pedro Bay (That's the ocean area off of Long Beach and inside the breakwater. At least that's what google maps calls it.)

In just about two hours I managed to sail all the way across the open bay area to Long Beach Harbor. I pushed it a bit farther than I normally would have because I wanted to say I had crossed out of Long Beach Harbor into Los Angeles Harbor, but I didn't make it that far. I didn't know where the division was and it would have been too far anyway. I think in the future I'll avoid that area. I got honked at by two giant boats (one was pushing a barge that carried a mack truck with its own sizeable parking lot and the other was a huge (several hundred yards long) cargo ship.) I was never in eminent danger, but I did need to change course to stay out of their way.

The return trip was uneventful. It was downwind and I made great time. I always start out heading up wind so that the return will be downwind. Sailing downwind is easier and faster though it feels slower (the wind isn't on your face and the boat doesn't heel over on one side). Unfortunately, the winds were almost dead inside Alamitos Bay and since I was in a hurry to get home I finally bummed a tow through the deadest part from a kind passing motorist. Still it was the most satisfying adventure I've had in the boat so far.

Which brings me to my dilemma. My father in law is always upset at me for taking the boat out single handed. It is designed to be sailed by two people though it is fairly easy to handle by myself. But more importantly, I'm several miles off shore by myself. I don't worry too much about drowning as I always wear a life jacket and Long Beach water while not warm is not too cold. If the boat capsized and I stayed with it I could stay out of the water and get help fairly soon (or probably right it and be on my way). But what if I was hit by the boom and knocked out temporarily. I would float all right, but I'd be hard to see. Or what if I fell overboard and the sails were cleated so that the boat kept sailing. He really is right, I should have someone else with me.

On the other hand I love the adventure and the solitude and it is very difficult to find people who want to go sailing with me. OK, it's not hard to find people who want to go, but when it's Friday morning and it looks like the winds will be good in the afternoon it is hard to find someone ready and willing to go right then. To make matters worse, I like to go places. I would love some time in June (long days and good winds) to head up and make it to somewhere on the Palos Verde penninsula at least to Cabrillo Bay. (Truth be told, I'd like to sail it to Catalina, but even I'm not that dumb. Well, I am but I would want an escort boat. Hey people swim it with an escort boat.)That's a significant time commitmant and it is work sailing upwind that far in a small boat. Most of the people who want to sail with me think in terms of a couple of hours of sailing, but this could easily be 3 out and 2 back, not to mention rigging and derigging. Where would I find someone who wanted to drop everything Friday afternoon and spend 6 hours sailing off the coast of Southern California?

So the real question is how do I pursue the sport I love, as I love it, while maintaining some reasonable safety standards. (And on the other hand is my risk really that much more than commuting by motorcycle in LA traffic? Or by barely freeway legal moped as I used to do?)

Sailing / Sailing Races

I found out several months ago that a brother in my ward had bought himself a sailboat. It was a 27 foot McGregor keelboat, that means it is about twice as long as my little dinghy. (By dinghy I simply mean centerboard boat boat as opposed to a decked over keelboat.) It is also much more designed for open water sailing while mine is more for sailing in marinas and bays.

I had been bugging him about when we were going to take it out and finally on Martin Luther King Day he said let's go. I was a bit disappointed with the date as it meant missing out on the family's first trip to the Aquarium, but I've been making a goal of improving on my male friendships (an area of my social life that has been week for decades) and I had been wanting to try his boat out for a while.

The boat needs a lot of work, but seemed to be sea worthy enough. It was fun to ride and both faster and smoother than my boat. Don't get me wrong, I love my boat and am more than willing to take it on adventurous trips, but this was a nice change of pace.

One thing that I thought was really exciting was that we saw a lot of sail boat racing. It did make sailing a bit more difficult as we had to stay out of the way of the racers.

As we headed back in the racers were also heading in. Between talking with them and looking things up on the web I discovered that we had seen the tail end of the 2009 US SAILING ISAF YOUTH WORLD QUALIFIER and U.S. YOUTH MULTIHULL CHAMPIONSHIP REGATTA. The were sailing single person dinghies (laser radials for both boys and girls), two person dinghies (420's with a slightly different version for the boys than for the girls), and open (both boys and girls competing with and against each other) multi-hulls (Hobie 16's). They were all fast agile little boats that were a lot of fun to watch. I never got very much into racing but it sure looked fun.

(Incidentally, my boat is two person dinghy rigged very much like the 420's. My boat is not nearly as high of performance boat.)

So the day was a double treat. Not only did I get to go sailing but I got to see some world class racing too.

Blago

First of all let me state that I believe former governor Rod Blagojevich is guilty and deserves to be removed from office. However, I don't know that to be the case. I know that he has been arested, but has not yet been indicted. I don't know what, if any, evidence was presented at his impeachment. I find all of this a bit disturbing. If we are willing to oust someone merely for being arested then what protection do we have against a corrupt prosecutor arresting his enemies on trumped up charges so that they get thrown out of office. I agree with impeaching him and ousting him, I just wish it could have been done in a more measured fasion. (And yes that does mean that perhaps he might have demonstrated his inocence. Although unless he could show the tapes either don't exist or are fakes I don't know how.) Let's stand by the rule of law and trust it to oust the bad guys.

Dueling Doctrine

I hesitate to post anything about doctrinal questions here as it has gotten me in trouble in the past, but this one is an honest question so maybe I can get away with it.

What is the substantive difference between the Catholic Doctrine of the Infalability of the Pope and the Mormon Doctrine that The Prophet will never lead us astray?

We often poke fun at the Catholic Doctrine because so many popes through history were clearly corrupt, but a close reading of the catholic doctrine will point out that it does not refer to his personal character or dealings in secular matter only that when speaking on matters of doctrine he is "preserved from error".

Mormons likewise believe that the prophets are humans and suffer from all the frailties of humans, but the phrase "The Prophet will never lead us astray" is uttered regularly as if it were doctrine and that seems to be the same essential sentiment.

I'm also unclear on the scriptural basis for the assertion. I can trace it to a talk given by then Elder Ezra Taft Benson who cites Wilford Woodruf's talk defending the first official declaration. There is also an unsourced quote wandering around, but one never knows if unsourced quotes were every really said at all.

I'm personally bothered because I thought that personal revelation was the hallmark of our religion, not obeysence to any scripture living or ancient. It is by personal revelation that we know the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and all the other scriptures to be true. It is by personal revelation that we know that the prophets are in fact prophets of God.

Why then are we discouraged from seeking personal revelation on matters once the prophet has spoken on them? I know some will say that we are encouraged to get personal confirmation, but really it's only confirmation we are encouraged to seek. We are told to pray to know that it is true, not to pray to know if it is true.

I'll stop there for now. So tell me, what am I missing?

Is it true that

It is better to be silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

Or is it perhaps better to suggest that

It is better to be known for a fool and learn than to remain a fool unknown.

Pay $5 for gas

There's something special about $5/gallon gas. It was the thing we all worried about this summer as the price nearly reached that point, and it changed driving habits. It may have even had a lasting impact on american car makers' business model. (Maybe). Many say this is a good thing. Robert J. Samuelson of Newsweek recommends it for security reasons. Others recommend it for environmental reasons. Some suggest raising the price for revenue generation.

But that of course is something that either the market or the government will have to do. But is there something each of us could do? What if we each committed to paying $5/gal for gas. No I'm not saying find the most expensive gas in town, or just burn an extra $20 each time you fill up. But what if each time we bought gas we figured out what it would cost at $5/gal and squirrled the money away somewhere. Put it in your savings acount and save towards a vacation, or save it for when fuel costs really do soar. Or use it to add solar panels or donate it to energy research. Shoot invest it in energy research and get some profit back. Or save it to buy an electric car.

The point is two-fold. First we prepare ourselves for the inevitable return of high prices. If we are already paying $5 then the price shooting up to $3.50 is no big change on our balance sheet. Second, it encourages us to plan in terms of the higher price. How would assuming a price of $5 affect our choice of cars or our driving habits. It would be a shame if the lessons we learned during this summer's run up in prices were forgotten now that gas is again under $2.

I realize, that those who would participate in this are already environmentally conscientious, and no I'm not certain I have the discipline to do it myself, but it is an idea that I think could make a difference for individuals, and maybe, just maybe, for society.

The Old Ditch on Atherton

They have been doing a lot of work on the open ditch across the street from our Church building. Several months ago they anounced that it would be covered up. I was reasonably pleased because it is an eyesore and can smell. However, we don't live all that close to it so I wasn't terribly concerned one way or another. Besides it would take a way a place for skaters to hang out. (OK, I'm of mixed feelings about that one.)





Here's what it used to look like. (Sorry I didn't figure out how to download just the picture.)

Old View

Then for several months the street was half blocked off so they could come in with the giant earth movers and pipes 3 feet in diameter to place the drainage safely underground. I wish I had a picture of that, but I never bothered.

Once the large work was done I expected them to quickly put up a drab barrier and be done with it. Instead the work dragged on and some stonework seemed to go in slowly. Then today they transformed it to a beautiful display of what look to be native (or at least climate appropriate) plants. I think it is beautiful and I am thoroughly impressed.



















Good work Long Beach on a job well done.

On the Nature of Punishment

Several weeks ago, before the UCLA / USC rivalry game, I learned that both teams would be wearing their home colors which was against the rules.

Now at this point the rule seems iron clad, perhaps just because I generally believe in following rules at least unless some compelling higher obligation prevents it.

What struck me as odd was when I learned what the penalty was. USC (the visiting team) would lose a time out. Some how I found this hillariously funny. Delineating a punishment seemed to lessen the impact and meaning of the rule. If the punishment were forfeiture of the game, then there is no way that USC would have even considered it. As long as the punishment was unstated it could be that severe, but once the punishment was stated the rule became almost pointless. This is especially true given that UCLA purposefully blew a timeout because they were in on the decision.

I guess somehow delineating the results always changes something from an iron clad rule to a choice where you weigh the advantages and disadvantages of a decision. As Garrison Keeler once said, there is no rule that you can't fight in hockey. There is just a rule that if you do you have to sit in a box for a little while.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an odd movie at best, but certainly very interesting and very well acted. It tells the story of a man born with the infirmities of an 85 year old man who then proceeds to age backwards. It is largely a study on death starting with his childhood (in a retirement home) and ending with his own death as he regresses toward infancy. It is also an exploration of how we build a life, and how the flow of time is a uniform reference that we depend on. Growing younger instead of older he has certain experiences at abnormal times in his life and others such as establishing a long term relationship are nearly impossible.

The movie is very long but never really drags. Excellent acting from an impressive cast Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt center the cast, but the supporting cast is equally important and impressive. It is very emotional and generally poignant. So yes it is likely to win some oscars and I would recommend it.

Google Maps Street View

Well I must say that I am thoroughly impressed with google maps street view. I first ran across it while exploring the neighborhood around my new job, but have since used it to explore my own neighborhood and even my mom's home town of Taylor Arizona. It is sometimes rather odd the things they do and don't have. For example, I was unable to get a full view of my own house as the truck didn't seem to have gone down that street, but I found my Uncle Norris's house in a much smaller city clear as day. I could tell you the color of the paint and what cars were parked out front. Small world.