Blog Notes

Rather than write a narrative of the past few weeks, here are some things (I'm choosing this format mainly because I don't have the time to formally organize it into separate posts . . . sorry):

1. A thought on mob mentality, scientific measurements, and psychology: Before everyone gets all upset about radiation hitting the US, we have to ask "Were we taking these radiation measurements before the Japan radiation hysteria?" If we weren't taking radiation measures on our milk and other stuff before, how can we claim that the increase is from Japan? I hate to break it to you, but radiation is everywhere! Now, if we've been constantly measuring radiation on airplanes, milk, and everything else, and just after the Japanese natural disasters the radiation measurements rise significantly, we can say with a certain degree of confidence that the increase is from Japan. Unfortunately, I haven't heard about previous radiation levels vs. current levels, only stuff on current levels. Now, maybe that's because I haven't read enough about it, but that's part of the mass hysteria - once we find radiation in milk, we look for radiation in our green beans, then in our beef, then in our beds, and before we know it, radiation is everywhere! Anyways, we need some radiation measure to compare against, which I haven't seen yet.

2. Check out this incredible rock climbing video. I was practically screaming "That's insane!" the whole time. You can ask Ashley.



3. I found out I failed the regulation section of the CPA exam . . . I needed a 75 to pass . . . I got a 73. Ouch. So, I'll try to retake it in the next few weeks, then take the auditing section a few weeks later. I feel pretty comfortable with the audit section.

4. I got to visit some of Amsted's manufacturing plants and they were super cool! The Griffin Wheel plant in Columbus, Ohio was really neat. Imagine huge pots of 5,000+ pounds of 3,000 degree molten steel, soot all over the plant from the furnaces, fire, heat, loud noises, electricity, overhead cranes, and all kinds of cool stuff. Our industrial spring plant in Hammond, Indiana was really cool, too. We heat up really big steel rods and coil them into springs will all kinds of machines and manual labor. Fun stuff. Visiting two of our many plants helped me gain a better grasp on my position in the company.

5. Ready for another awesome video? I got chills watching this one . . .  Rowdy, you'll like this one. Moab . . . I miss you . . .



6. I'm excited for General Conference. You can watch it here: http://lds.org/general-conference/watch?lang=eng

7. Ragnar Relay . . . yeah, haven't been training. Thank you foot pain and plantar wart.

8. The calendar says it's spring. It feels like winter. I want summer.