Action Figure Daniel

Category: Life

  • Driving on the Tarmac

    A Lesson Learned from the Truckers…

    When the road is covered with snow, drive on whatever tarmac you can find, even if it is on the shoulder. When driving back from school the weather wasn’t so good and for several miles the road was covered with snow. Not so much snow that it was undriveable but enough that we had to slow down.

    I noticed that while the cars huddled closer together trying to stay in their lanes, the trucks had found, and drove on, the two foot patch on cleared road that ran down either sides on the road. The car drivers wouldn’t touch this strip of cleared road because it is taboo to drive with your wheels on the wrong side of the rumble strip. Nervous of the snow, and deferring to the more experienced drivers, I decided to try driving on the cleared tarmac. After coasting through the snow and feeling the harsh rumble I was amazed to finally have traction. It wasn’t as good traction as clear roads but it was much better than driving on the packed snow. An added benefit was that if the car started drifting back, it would back more traction on the rumble strip and I could get back over.

    I realized that deferring to the wise, even if taboo, will often allow for safer and quicker travel than following the norms of the crowds.

  • Too busy

    My roommate comes home from work and flings his coat atop his chair. His chair would normally have taken the stress of the extra coat if it weren’t for the entire wardrobe that was already draped across the chair. Under the pressure it leaned back then fell over.

    We looked at each other and laughed. Sometimes, life is too busy (but sometimes we’re just too lazy).

  • Not a moment too soon

    I am not a fan of snow. I probably never will be. But, as much as I dislike it,  I have conceded that it will snow here. Though I was alarmed by stories earlier this week, which turned out to be over exaggerated, I  have now reached a point where I am grateful that it has not yet snowed but am expecting the snow yo arrive. I want to be clear (in case Ms. Rexburg is reading this) that I would rather she never snowed, but if she must, she can now do so with my permission.

    P.S. the light dusting on snow this morning was a good reminder of her eagerness to bless us in white.

  • 2 Years

    P.S. The last post marks 2 years on at least monthly blogging. Not a huge accomplishment, I know, but hey, I party when I can.

    P.P.S. I posted this and my last post in a desperate attempt to maintain the tradition of at least a monthly post only to realize that I had a bunch of material to post, it was just on Seth, my “mobile device” not on my computer where it normally is.

  • Teachers: Can I, May I

    (Found this in the notes section on my phone. Apparently I wrote in church on Sunday.)
    Grade school teachers seem to love to challenge every child who asks “can I…?”
    They say “I don’t know. Can you?” 
    While this may seem to he a gentle correction of a common gramtatical faux pa, it isn’t. It’s not even a demeaning put down targeted at the child. It is a lowly mockery of the fact that the teacher has total and absolute control over each and every aspect of the child’s life. The teacher is pretending that the child is asking if their body is functioning adequate enough to expel waste. That’s not what’s being asked. Every child is keenly aware about their ability to use the bathroom, once in the bathroom. What the child is really saying is “I know that you, oh mighty teacher, rule and reign over each and every aspect of my life in such a way that I cannot even defecate, much less empty my bladder, without your express and all knowing consent to my actions. Therefore, I come before you now, in complete and degrading humility, to beg my release in the private confines of the water closet. If it be your will, of course.” So consider the shame that comes after saying this to have the teacher question your questioning of your body’s capabipities. Adding insult to beaten submissiveness.