Birthday and Gifts

My birthday was Wednesday. Mary Ellen and my kids made it a wonderful day. We did a combination of things, including having lunch at the Mongolian Grill in Springville. It is a really nice hole-in-the-wall chinese place with good food that is really inexpensive. The people there are really nice but barely speak English. I have decided that doesn't always equate to good food, any more than nice americans running a hamburger joint equates to good hamburgers. I do find, however, nice people who run any business make the business a better place to shop.

Irony: During our lunch in Springville, we got a call from Eric & Sarah, who live in Springville, who we were planning to visit after our lunch. They too had gone out for lunch -- in Lehi. They wanted to stop by our house (in Lehi) after lunch.

Many of the gifts I received were really wonderful and thoughtful, including a couple of gift cards to a book store and Outbacks (both of which I love), a wallet (which I needed), a book (non-fiction - can't put it down), and a MindStorms set from my sweetheart. Some of the gifts were far more random. I know that I can respond with thanks and appreciation for the thought of the gift, but how do you respond when the giver of a "questionable" gift asks if you like it? Or worse, if they had spent a lot of time and effort to find the "perfect" gift that ended up to be something that really wasn't your style or taste, then how to do you respond?

If any of you reading this blog gave me a gift, thank you! And I assure you, your gift wasn't one of the "random" ones. :}

More Computer History Ramblings

I am constantly amazed that it isn't necessary good software that succeeds in capturing the market, but well marketed software. Several cases come to mind:

Back in 1978, CP-M was the best microcomputer operating system with the most users. MS-DOS (Microsoft DOS for the younger crowd) was slower, bigger, less features, and generally shunned by most users. So why is CP-M unknown now and Microsoft the "king" of software? Blame IBM. When microcomputers started appearing, IBM said that they would never catch on. (You may have heard the quote in the 50s by the head of IBM saying that there will only be a few hundred computers ever sold - must be the same guy who said that there will ever be a market for microcomputers.) When IBM saw that they were wrong, they quickly came up with the IBM PC. (Again, for the young folk, the IBM PC wasn't the first PC. It sure wasn't the best PC. Its architecture was really poor. It was put out in a hurry. But it was made by IBM and was well marketed. So it survived, the rest - Osborne, TRS 80, Commodore 64, Kaypro - did not. IBM didn't have the time to come up with an operating system, so they negotiated a "deal" with a young nerd named Bill Gates. They could have gone with CP-M but they got a better deal from Bill. Although I don't care for Microsoft, or any of their products, I will say that Bill Gates knows how to market.

For a word processor, Microsoft Word started as one of the worst word processors. There were several much better than Word, including WordPerfect, XYWrite, and others I can't remember. IBM had a pretty good one that I used for a while. But each one disappeared as the Microsoft Marketing Machine pushed its product harder and harder. WordPerfect held on to the Number 1 slot though, until Windows came out. For some reason, WordPerfect didn't think that it was necessary to have a Windows product. So they were left in the dust by the Windows version of Word. Then Novell bought WordPerfect and didn't know what to do with it. That finished WordPerfect as a contender in the word processing market. Corel later bought the product and still sells and supports it. I still prefer it. It is a lot easier to use. But I use Word too because "everyone uses it".

Likewise, Excel was a bit player in the spreadsheet market. They weren't first. Visicalc was. They weren't the best. They were one of the worst. But marketing wins. For many years, Lotus 123 was the best and premier spreadsheet. But they kept the price high and didn't have any student option. Microsoft almost gave away the Office suite to students. So the students bought Office and became the next business leaders and pulled Office into businesses.

Powerpoint, on the other hand, has been a great product for a long time. It really started as the number 1 presentation product and no one has even gotten close to competing with it.

Trip to Visit the Mouse in his House

I admit it. I am a Disney fanatic. I LOVE Disneyworld. And Disneyland. So when Mary Ellen asked where I wanted to go for my retirement trip, there was really only one place to go. When I was a kid, I never got to go to Disneyland. Although it was only 400 miles away, that seemed like forever for a young kid like me. My first trip was a few months after we got married when we went to visit Mary Ellen's aunt and uncle in the Los Angeles area. I was hooked on that first trip. The next time was many years later when Mary Ellen was pregnant with Rachel, our 5th. We had just bought our first camper and used it to go to Disneyworld for the first time. It was a wonderful trip. We stayed in Fort Wilderness, the campground on Disney property. It was (and is) the best campground you will ever see. Somehow, there were no flies, mosquitos, or other bugs. There were Disney movies every night. You could go swim in the lake, or bike around the campground, or take the boat or bus to any of the theme parks. We saw the light parade on the lake every night and the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom.

This trip was different but just as wonderful. We decided to not rent a car and to book the entire trip through Disney - the flight, transportation to the park, the hotel, and even the food. We thought it would be the most "convenient". I figured the food would be mediocre, but I was wrong. It was fabulous. We dropped our luggage off at the Salt Lake airport, and the next time we saw it, it was in our room in the Caribbean Beach Resort. We got off the plane and walked onto a bus which took us to the resort. We ate a wonderful dinner at the resort that evening. It was steak with a Caribbean flare. Everything about the meal was great - the service, the steak, the vegies, and the dessert.

The next day we spent at Animal Kingdom. It is still one of the best parks to visit. I especially love the Safari ride. Disney has designed it so you ride through the jungle, then the savannah, seeing animals all around with no cages or bars. Besides the safari, there is also a couple of jungle walks (Asia and Africa) with animals and birds and beautiful pathways through the forests. We ate dinner at the Tusker House, a buffet with foods from Africa and Asia. Again it was wonderful.

On Day 2, we started out at Typhon Lagoon, a huge waterpark with a lazy river (we went around a couple of times) and a wave pool. By "wave", I mean a real tidal wave about 8 feet high at the start that travels the length of the pool (probably 200 feet) ending in a small wavelet for the kids. Lots of fun. There were also slides and chutes for the more adventurous (not us).

After the waterpark, we went to Hollywood Studios. They have a new ride - Toy Story 4-D Midway Arcade - where you ride around with 3-D glasses from one midway arcade to the next, shooting virtual darts, balls, pies, etc at various targets. There are about 5 different arcades each person has a chance to shoot at and build up their score. No prizes but you get "ranked" versus other people in the park that day who rode on that ride. Really a LOT of fun. We also saw the mini-cars in well done "movie" set, Muppet 3-D, and several other rides and shows (Beauty and the Beast was really well done.) We ate dinner at the 50s Cafe, where they had old 50s furniture, TVs, TV shows, etc in small 50s dining rooms where you eat with about 4 other families. The waiter/waitress is "mom" (since you are in Mom's house), constantly chiding patrons to "get your elbows off the table" or "stop fighting with your brother" with appropriate punishments (standing in the corner, singing "I'm a little teapot", or the like), with mom-style dinners (I had meatloaf, Mary Ellen had steak).

Day 3 was Epcot. We really enjoy watching the kids playing in the fountains between Futureworld and the World Showcase. Also they were having their International Food and Wine Exhibits, so there were many extra stalls with food from all over the world that you could sample. Part of the meal plan was a snack for each of us every day, which we could use in these stalls. We especially liked the cheese sampler with some wonderful cheeses. We also enjoyed The Seas, The Land, a new to Florida "Soaring" ride - taken from Disneyland where you are "gliding" over various California scenes. It is so realistic that you lift up your feet because you glide so low. That evening we ate at Cape May in the Beachclub Resort, a seafood buffet that was terrific.

The last day was Magic Kingdom, with its rides (Jungle Cruise, Journey with Winnie the Pooh, etc) and another wonderful dinner at the Crystal Palace, another buffet with beef tenderloin, salmon, and many other wonderful dishes. It also was a "character" spot so we ate with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eyore, and Piglet. Check out the pictures via the link at the right.

It was Florida, however. So it did rain every day. It was in the upper 80s and very humid. The crowds weren't bad though and no hurricaines this time. But we were prepared and the rain didn't really bother us at all. Mary Ellen could have done without the heat though.

Alpine Loop

This past week, Mary Ellen and I took a drive up American Fork Canyon to view the fall colors on the Alpine Loop. The Loop is a narrow, winding road that starts in American Fork Canyon, loops up around the back of Mt Timpanogos, and ends up near the mouth of Provo Canyon. Although the Utah Valley isn't showing much fall color, we found a lot along the Loop.

For those of you in Utah, I would greatly recommend this trip as something not to be missed. The colors don't last long and they are nearing their peek. People told us that the colors weren't too great this year. We found that true on the Provo Canyon side of the Loop. But the American Fork side was breathtaking.

For more photos, click on "Alpine Loop in the Fall" in Our Photos on the right.

Grandkids Sports

One really wonderful reason that we are now in Utah rather than in Pennsylvania is "Grandkids". We had tried to always be in Utah for "special events" - births, blessings, priesthood ordinations, and baptisms, but we missed a lot of other events, like school awards, plays and musicals, scout awards, and sports events. So for the last couple of years, we have been able to attend a few of the grandkids sports, including little league baseball, T-ball, basketball, football, and soccer.

This year Braden is playing soccer. Last year it was baseball. I will admit that watching soccer is a lot more fun because the game is always moving up and down the field. Baseball has a lot of "waiting" time. With little league, there is a lot of "waiting" time. There usually is a lot of walks and view hits. Not that it is boring, it is just slow. And the other kids (all younger) get a bit antsy with all of the "waiting". The soccer seems interesting to the younger kids, as it is always moving, with running, kicking, and more running. Braden has also played basketball which is also a fun and fast sport to watch.

Kalin is playing football again this year. Kalin LOVES football. He has attended the BYU football camp for several years now and really enjoys the camp, but loves playing even more. Even better, Kalin is really good. He is fast, quick, and agile, with good hands. His only handicap is his size. Some of the other 14 year olds are HUGE. I admit it is difficult to watch my grandson get hit by a linebacker that is almost twice his weight. This year he decided to Z-down, which evidently means to stay back with the younger kids that are a bit smaller for their age (I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong). So he doesn't seem nearly as small as he did last year. That and he has worked to put on a little weight and a lot of muscle this year.

At the Huntman's house, football is definitely a family affair. Don has been involved with the league for the past few years, this year as the vice-president or assistant-something - the 2nd in charge of the league. Kimberly is a cheer leader for the team and has been for a few years also. Karla is usually at the games, along with Kassie and Kyle. Kyle always leaves the game with several more "new friends".

For us, watching an entire game is usually more than we can handle, but 30-60 minutes is fun and very enjoyable.