Ivanhoe: A Romance

I finished reading Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott a few weeks ago. Actually I listened to it while I was exercising in the mornings. I downloaded the story from LibriVox. The first half of the story was recorded by Kristin LeMoine who did a marvelous job. For some reason Kristin could not finish reading the book but others picked up and also read well. But enough of that. On to the story.

Ivanhoe was written a long time ago, 1819 to be exact. And the story narration sound old. I rather enjoy it, but it is different than most books written today. The narrator often speaks directly to the reader giving necessary information or giving explanation for characters actions. It is kind of fun. It feels like you are listening to a story teller rather than reading a story.

Many of our favorite characters are weaved through the story, King Richard, Robin of Locksley, Prince John, and others. I received a new insight into these characters which I had never seen previously in other books or movies containing these men. It was also nice to gain insight into the history and culture of the earliest days of England. I suppose you could consider Ivanhoe one of the earliest historical novels. One of the aspects I liked in the book was to see the way the characters from different cultures treated each other. The generalization about each culture was perhaps exaggerated but it still gives a view into some of the prejudices the people held, either in Sir Walter Scotts day or in early England.

Overall I considered Ivanhoe quite exciting and fun to read. I would suggest it to anyone.

There is one dialog that I wanted to point out from chapter 29. The scene is one where Rebecca, the Jewess and healer, is looking out the turret window describing the war going on below to Ivanhoe who is anxiously lying wounded in bed.

"Alas," said Rebecca, leaving her station at the window, and approaching the couch of the wounded knight, "this impatient yearning after action—this struggling with and repining at your present weakness, will not fail to injure your returning health—How couldst thou hope to inflict wounds on others, ere that be healed which thou thyself hast received?"

"Rebecca," he replied, "thou knowest not how impossible it is for one trained to actions of chivalry to remain passive as a priest, or a woman, when they are acting deeds of honour around him. The love of battle is the food upon which we live—the dust of the 'melee' is the breath of our nostrils! We live not—we wish not to live—longer than while we are victorious and renowned—Such, maiden, are the laws of chivalry to which we are sworn, and to which we offer all that we hold dear."

"Alas!" said the fair Jewess, "and what is it, valiant knight, save an offering of sacrifice to a demon of vain glory, and a passing through the fire to Moloch?—What remains to you as the prize of all the blood you have spilled—of all the travail and pain you have endured—of all the tears which your deeds have caused, when death hath broken the strong man's spear, and overtaken the speed of his war-horse?"

"What remains?" cried Ivanhoe; "Glory, maiden, glory! which gilds our sepulchre and embalms our name."

"Glory?" continued Rebecca; "alas, is the rusted mail which hangs as a hatchment over the champion's dim and mouldering tomb—is the defaced sculpture of the inscription which the ignorant monk can hardly read to the enquiring pilgrim—are these sufficient rewards for the sacrifice of every kindly affection, for a life spent miserably that ye may make others miserable? Or is there such virtue in the rude rhymes of a wandering bard, that domestic love, kindly affection, peace and happiness, are so wildly bartered, to become the hero of those ballads which vagabond minstrels sing to drunken churls over their evening ale?"

"By the soul of Hereward!" replied the knight impatiently, "thou speakest, maiden, of thou knowest not what. Thou wouldst quench the pure light of chivalry, which alone distinguishes the noble from the base, the gentle knight from the churl and the savage; which rates our life far, far beneath the pitch of our honour; raises us victorious over pain, toil, and suffering, and teaches us to fear no evil but disgrace. Thou art no Christian, Rebecca; and to thee are unknown those high feelings which swell the bosom of a noble maiden when her lover hath done some deed of emprize which sanctions his flame. Chivalry!—why, maiden, she is the nurse of pure and high affection—the stay of the oppressed, the redresser of grievances, the curb of the power of the tyrant—Nobility were but an empty name without her, and liberty finds the best protection in her lance and her sword."

It seams as though war has brought conflict to the soul as well as to nations as long as it has existed.

A Miracle Cure

I have been meaning to write about this for a long time. Living in the desert, the air is very dry. Because the air is very dry, my skin is very dry. Because I love to wear sandals, my feet are very, very dry. In fact, they crack and hurt. Hiking a lot also makes my feet worse. But I have found a miracle cure. Lanolin. Lanolin is a lotion often used by breastfeeding mothers, but I have found it to be the best moisturizer many occasions. Lanolin is not a standard lotion by itself, though it is used in many lotions. In its pure form it is more useful in treating serious dry cracking skin problems.

In the case of my feet, most other lotions just moisturized the top layer of skin, which seemed to soften and weaken the skin. Further sandal wearing just maked my feet hurt worse. Lanolin, on the other hand, seems to moisten deep into my skin. It actually helps my feet heal. Usually in just two days of my special lanolin application and my feet are almost entirely healed.

As you can see in the above pictures of my heel (kind of gross, I know), after only one day of lanolin use the cracks in my skin are healing. Well, maybe you can't see that very well. The second picture is so blurry. It's hard to take pictures of the bottoms of your own feet.

The secret to effective lanolin use is to apply the lotion to the dry skin and leave it there to work its magic as long as you can. My special lanolin application method is really quite simple, but very effective. I apply a generous amount of lanolin to my dry, cracked heals. Following the application, I put my socks and shoes on. This keeps the lanolin on my feet all day long. I don't usually put lanolin on while wearing my sandals because it makes my sandals stink. Lanolin is not a nice smelling lotion. I have found that Lansinoh brand lanolin has the least offensive smell.

A word of caution. Many people are allergic to lanolin. Make sure you are not allergic to lanolin before you use it. It can cause sever rashes and make your skin problems worse if you have an allergic reaction.

Father's Day Dinner

Sunday was Father's Day and I was treated to great company and great food. It was a wonderful evening. I wanted to share the recipe's from the dinner because it was so exceptionally good. The main dish was rosemary pineapple chicken. We got this recipe from a good friend and neighbor Lorie Fleischer. Their was a side of freshly baked focaccia bread and fresh snapped green beans. The focaccia bread we dipped in olive oil and balsamic vineger. I can't stress enough the importance of buying good oil and vineger. We finished the night up with a wonderful Godiva chocolate cake with a cheese cake layer. An all around all star meal!

Rosemary Pineapple Chicken
12 chicken tenderloins
1 T. butter
1 t. salt
1/2 t. minced fresh rosemary
1/2 t. ground fresh ginger
1/2 t. paprika
1/4 t. pepper
1 medium onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings
12 oz. pineapple juice

In a large skillet, brown chicken in butter on both sides. Transfer to a greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with salt, rosemary, ginger, paprika and pepper. Place onion rings over chicken; pour pineapple juice over chicken. Bake uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until juices run clear. Optionally add fresh pineapple chunks.

Focaccia Bread
Bread:
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 T. sugar
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/2 t.)
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 t. salt
1 T. extra virgin olive oil

Topping:
Olive oil
Rosemary
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper

In a small bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over mixture and let stand for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and yeast mixture. Mix well. Knead dough on floured surface for 10 minutes, adding what is needed of the remaining flour until dough is not sticky. Place dough in a well greased bowl, turn once to coat, then cover and set aside in warm place for 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Sprinkle corn meal on a cookie sheet. Punch the dough down, then stretch out and place on cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil over dough and spread evenly. Sprinkle on toppings. Make dimples in dough with fingers gently. Let rest for 10 minutes. Bake at 375 for 30 - 35 minutes.

Godiva chocolate cake with a cheese cake layer
Cheesecake Layer:
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 bar (1.5 ounces) Godiva Dark Chocolate, coarsely chopped

Chocolate Cake:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup sour cream

Make the cheesecake layer:
Beat together cream cheese and sugar in bowl until smooth, using electric mixer at medium speed. Beat in vanilla extract and egg. Set aside.

Place chocolate in microwave-safe cup. Microwave on medium (50% power) for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave 30 seconds more or until chocolate is softened. Stir until smooth and let cool.

Make the chocolate cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 8x2-inch square baking pan. Line bottom of the pan with parchment paper and butter paper.

Mix flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Combine eggs, melted butter and sour cream and whisk until blended. Add to dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Spread batter into prepared pan.

Spread cream cheese mixture over the chocolate batter. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until top is set and golden and a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out with only a few moist crumbs clinging to it.

Cool in pan on wire rack. When the cake is completely cooled, cut into squares to serve.

The Jungle

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is a very powerful, very disturbing book that everyone should read. It should not be read until you are a little older so that the subject matter can be understood. If you have never tried to find a job, if you have never tried to support a family, if you have never had to uphold your morality in the face of possible sever consequences then you may not be ready to read this book. Then again, you may want to read it knowing that you may need to do these things in the future.

The Jungle is an intense discussion about the horrors that humanity inflicts upon itself in the name of greed. It points out the destructive behavior of capitalism. It brings to light the problem of the inhumane treatment of a poor, ignorant workforce. It points out the deceitful nature of politics when connected to monetary gain. It speaks of the apathetic, arrogant, and disillusioned rich in their efforts to subdue the poor more fully and elevate their position to greater heights. If you think this sounds like the book may be propaganda for socialism, you're right. Interestingly, being written in 1906 it was yet to be seen if socialism would solve the ills of capitalism. Having the history we have today allows us to note that socialism, at least that backed by communism, exhibited many of the same problems attributed strictly to capitalism in this book.

A push for socialism was clearly not the only purpose in the writing of The Jungle. The topic of socialism is really only discussed in the last three chapters of the book. Most of the book describes the hopeless plight of the working class, the disgusting circumstances that they lived in and their fight for survival. The descriptive nature of the writing deliberately turns your stomach and tears at your heart. This major purpose, to create an awareness and sympathy for the poor workers of America, was delivered very successfully.

Producing an awareness of the struggle that the poor constantly have is critical in our world today. While there is still a great struggle between labor groups and businesses, America has come a long way in creating more reasonable working conditions. But America is not the only country in the world. Much of the world is rapidly developing and falling into the exact same destructive behaviors described by Upton Sinclair in 1906. A quick look at the Human Rights Watch website shows that there is still a lot of work to be done.

If you have not read The Jungle, you should. I have added a link to purchase the book on Amazon above, or if you would like to listen to it, Librivox has a great recording available.

I'm Giving Away My Birthday

This year for my 33rd birthday I've decided that instead of asking for gifts, I'm asking for $33 or more from everyone to build freshwater wells for people in developing nations. I am doing this through the charity: water organization. You can find my project at http://mycharitywater.org/bbq.

I have been very impressed by the charity: water organization. Charity: water gives 100% of all its public donations directly to water project costs, and each donation is "proved" and tracked to the village it helped when projects are complete.

A billion people in the world are living without clean water. Millions contract deadly diseases from contaminated water. 45,000 people will die this week alone. The lucky ones won't, but still walk hours each day to get dirty water to give to their families.

My birthday wish this year is not for more gifts; it's to give clean and safe drinking water to some of the billion living without it.

I learned about this charity from the daughter of some very good friends of ours that is getting married soon. They put up a website detailing the wedding logistics. The site showed when, where, had engagement pictures and so forth. My wife and I looked at the section for the gift registry and found something I had never seen before. The couple elected to have everyone give to a charity instead of buy them presents. They are a good middle class american family. They are doing fine but, speaking from experience, when you are starting life out together it is nice to have wedding presents. This is the first thing that touched me: the selfless nature of this wonderful couple, especially during a time that should be focused on them.

Due to this feeling, I immediately followed the links to see how I could donate a little bit. The charity they chose to donate to was charity: water. After reading a little bit about this charity I was very impressed. I asked my wife how much we could donate. She said that she had $20 left over in the grocery checking account that she would donate. Our kids were in the room while we discussed it. Our 9 year old daughter spoke up and said, "I have $5 that I can give." (This is the point when a parents heart wells up.) All the kids then came over to see what we were doing. I showed them a short video clip from the website and they all started saying, "I will give my $20," "I will give my $12." This is the second thing that touch me. Our kids have been saving this money for a long time but were immediately willing to give it all to some children they don't know at all. They just knew the kids needed help. Everyone donated a little and it added up to more.



I then thought, what can I do? The charity: water website was very helpful in pointing out a few things I could do. One suggestion was to give away your birthday. Instead of receiving presents, have people donate to your own water project. So, I have asked everyone to donate here instead of give me birthday presents this year. I am asking everyone to take a moment and consider if they can donate a little to help bring fresh water to those without.

Thank you.
http://mycharitywater.org/bbq

Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians

A friend at work told me a bit about Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson and he happened to have a copy available to read as we were talking. So, I borrowed it and read it over a weekend. I enjoyed the book immensely. Alcatraz was creative, witty, and fun. The book is written in a first person point of view which I felt was refreshing. It gave new expression to the reading. The book being written in the present day and in the first person, the author was both the character and the author. This allowed for a feeling of really being told a story from an adventurer.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the humor. It was quick witted and fast paced. There were jabs at current literature and entertainment (nothing was called out by name, but you know what he is talking about). There were jabs at the "all knowing" educational institutions and their professors. There was a bit of witty sarcasm about everyday life and events that everyone is dealing with or has dealt with. This allowed the story to bring a bit of humor into some of the drab parts of life.

Now, while I enjoyed the story and had a hard time putting it down, I will not be reading any of the sequels. This book would have been best as a stand alone story. *On Soapbox* Why does every fantasy story have to be a series! *Off Soapbox* The style of writing and the humor became monotonous at the very end of the story. Wit repeated becomes much less witty. The plot was cute but juvenile, which did not really make me want to read more. I read because the humor made me smile (even laugh out loud at times), not because the plot was engaging.

I definitely suggest this book to anyone who would like a quick, fun story to read.

PHP array_insert

I had the need the other day to create an ordered collection object. I wanted to be able to add elements to the end of the collection as well as at any point in the middle of the collection. Since I was using PHP as the language to create this object, an array was the obvious construct to use as the internal implementation for this collection. Adding elements to the end of an array is trivial, but inserting elements into the middle of the array turned out to be a bit more difficult.

My first thought was that PHP has all kinds of array functions so there must be an array_insert function. This assumption turned out to be wrong. My second thought is that I would have to cut the array into two pieces, insert the new element to the end of the first piece and then glue to two arrays back together. In fact, I coded this before reading the documentation for the array_splice function more closely.

The array_splice function has two optional parameters which are very helpful in creating an array_insert function. The first optional parameter is the length option. This option specifies how many elements to remove from the original array starting at the specified offset. The second optional parameter is the replacement option. This parameter specified what to replace the removed elements with. So, in other words, you can tell array_splice to remove 6 elements from an array starting at offset 2 and to replace the 6 elements with what ever is in the replacement array.

This is perfect for mimicking an array_insert function. If you specify to remove 0 elements and pass in the new element as an array of 1 item, it gets inserted at the specified index. Now for the example:

function array_insert($array, $index, $new_element)
{
    return array_splice($array, $index, 0, array($new_element));
}

There you have it, array_insert nice and clean and optimized in c.

Foundation Series

Right before Candace went to the hospital to deliver Genevieve she was trying to find a good book to read. A good friend suggested to Candace that she read the Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov. A few day later I picked it up, as it was sitting near by, and started reading it. Each Chapter was only a few pages long. This is a very positive quality in a book for me. I usually only have 5-10 minutes at a time to read, so a short chapter lends itself to my reading habits. As the series went on the chapters became longer and longer which meant that as I moved through the series it started to take longer and longer to finish each book. I read only the original three books in the series. There are three more that were written at a later time, but I think it is time for me to move on to something else.

I found the series to be quite intriguing. Much of the plot was based on philosophical misdirection. This meant that each new chapter brought new information as well as new unknowns. This kept the plot alive in my mind and kept me thinking about what might happen next. I found this to be both good and bad. It was good because it made the story interesting. It was bad because I was focused on the plot and not of the messages and philosophy presented by the author.

Generally, when I read I am not worried about the story's plot. I enjoy pondering the information presented by the author much more. Reading this series, where both were present, created a real conflict as I read. In the end the plot was too much of a distraction and so I just quickly finished the book to feed my desire to know what was going to happen next. Thus I probably missed a lot of interesting information which was weaved into the story.

Because of the way the first book was constructed I had more time to think about what was being discussed in the book. I really enjoyed thinking about Asimov's ideas about the interaction between education, technology, religion, science, societal advancement and stagnation. It was interesting to think about where our current society stands in comparison to what he was describing.

I highly suggest the foundation series on many levels. The science fiction was great. The depth of the story was wonderful. The writing was clean and fun to read.

Cascade Mountain Hike

Ever since we moved to Orem I have been looking at Cascade Mountain wanting to climb it. Every morning when I would step outside it stood there laughing at me. But no longer! This labor day I climbed to the summit and conquered the mountain. Yeah, it got a few good blows in against me too. My knees are still hurting a bit from the hike down.

Nate and I had been researching how to get to the top of this mountain for quite a while and we finally drove up Provo Canyon on a search for a good trailhead. After driving around for about an hour we finally came upon a marked trail at Big Springs Park. I didn't know this park existed until this drive. It is a nice little park set way back in the mountains. To get there you drive up Provo Canyon, exit at Vivian Park, and then follow Southfork Road a few miles until you reach Big Springs Park. At the back of the park is a trailhead marker stating that the Cascade Saddle is 4.1 miles up the trail. We now knew where to start. We just had to plan when. Labor Day became the answer to that question. So on Monday a party of 5 set off on the trail at 6:00 AM.

It is still dark outside at 6:00 AM. The first 30-40 minutes we hiked following a single headlamp. Luckily the trail is very clean and nice. In fact, the trail was a lot nicer than I had expected. All the way to the saddle the trail was well defined, not to steep, somewhat shaded, and just a nice walk. By the time we got to the top of the saddle we were wondering what happened to our challenging hike. This was really easy and we thought we were almost there. We were not disappointed though, the hike turned out to be quite challenging and we were not almost there.

From the saddle the trail continued down the other side of the mountain as the Dry Creek Trail but it did not continue on to Cascade Peak. Only the ridge of the mountain continued toward the peak. The trail along the ridge quickly narrowed and much of the ground turned to loose scree. We thought the peek was not too far from where we stood on the saddle, but it turned out it was hiding behind another set of lower peeks. We ended up having another 3 miles to hike.

Several things combined to make the hike along the ridge somewhat technically challenging. You had to be careful where to step due to the loose rock. Several times the ridge was very narrow and large trees were growing right on the top of the ridge. This situation required that you either climb over tree branches or walk down below the ridge. At some points the one side of the ridge was a sheer cliff. The other side was still passable but it certainly limited the trail possibilities. There were several peaks that we climbed before reaching the true summit. Between each peak was a valley in the ridge. This meant that we climbed up and then down several peaks making the hike long and hard. On the return trip we did not follow the ridgeline much at all. We instead hiked on the South side of the mountain 100 feet or so below the ridge. The side of the mountain was steep and covered with scree, but it was easier than the constant rise and fall in elevation.

We made it to the summit right about noon. A full 6 hours after we started. The view was spectacular.

By the time we arrived at the summit I was starving. I sat down, ate lunch, rested. Knowing we had a long hike back down the mountain we stayed just long enough to take a few pictures and sign the register. Overall, this was a great hike. I was better prepared than I was for last years Mt. Nebo hike. It was still quite painful coming down the mountain, but going up was great. I recommend the hike to anyone with a full day available and a fair amount of experience under their belt.

Big Baldy - One Year Later

I climbed Big Baldy again. You can read about my first venture up baldy if you haven't taken that opportunity yet. So, I have been exercising quite a bit since my last trip up the mountain. I didn't think it was doing any good but after this trip I think it may be helping after all.

I started up the mountain Monday morning at 5:30 am. It was still dark outside so I wore a headlamp. The weather was beautiful. The trail is worn enough that it was pretty easy to follow in the dark. There were points, though, were the grass had grown so long on the side of the trail that it bent over and made the trail impossible to see. Luckily, at those points the trail was worn down into a rut which allowed me to stay on the trail by feel instead of by sight. It became light enough to see without the headlamp about 6:10.

I still had to go to work after the hike so I gave myself a time limit of 7:00 at which point I required myself to turn around and return home. At 6:30 I was at the top of the steepest grade and on the back side of the mountain. At this point, I knew I was close to the top. I sped up my pace to make sure I made it to the top before the 7:00 cut off time. I ended up jogging about a half mile of the trail. I finally reached the summit at exactly 7:00 with at least 15 seconds to spare. I climb the trail in only an hour and a half this year cutting about an hour off of last year's time.

After a brief stop to catch my breath I headed back down the mountain. As I headed down I noticed the same birds that I saw last year at the top of the mountain. I got a better look this time at what they were. It was a bunch of grouse running around.

The trip down the mountain took almost as long to make as the trip up the mountain. It was so steep that I had to travel pretty slowly on large parts of the trail. But I made it home at last with just enough time the take a quick shower and run off to work. What a great way to start the work week.

PHPUnit Custom Extension - Class ... could not be found in ...

(For the impatient, include your class early, that is the solution.)

So I have been using PHPUnit for quite some time now and find that it is a great library for testing. I also find that testing really helps in development. I also find that PHPUnit can be infuriating to use at times. For instance, I wanted to create a new base class that extendeds PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase so I can add some custom logging or something like that to all of my tests. So I simply create,

class lib_MyBaseUnitTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {
    ....
}

Then I create my test cases,

class tests_MyFirstTest extends lib_MyBaseUnitTest {
    ....
}

Now whenever I run

phpunit tests/MyFirstTest.php

 I get the error:

Class lib_MyBaseUnitTest could not be found in tests/MyFirstTest.php

So clearly from the error the base class in not being loaded...? Actually, the problem is that the base class is being loaded by the autoloader when phpunit tries to load the test and the base class gets in the way. The phpunit code that causes the problem is located in StandardTestSuiteLoader.php.

PHPUnit_Util_Class::collectStart();
PHPUnit_Util_Fileloader::checkAndLoad($suiteClassFile, $syntaxCheck);
$loadedClasses = PHPUnit_Util_Class::collectEnd();

The collectStart call gathers the list of loaded classes and stores them in memory. The checkAndLoad call then includes each of the files listed in your suite, or the file specified on the commandline, thus loading more classes into memory. The collectEnd call now gathers the new list of loaded classes and diffs the result with the list collected in the collectStart call. Each of the resulting classes should be a test case that needs to be run. The problem is that the autoloader loaded both the specified test case and its base class. When PHPUnit tests to see if it can run the base class as a test, it can't and therefore throws and exception, "Class ... can not be found in ...".

So the solution in the end that I have taken is to place require_once calls in my bootstrap file for all custom base classes. This way the class will be in the initial list of classes created by the collectStart call. It will not be in the $loadedClasses variable and therefore will not cause an exception to be thrown.

Bearpaw Lake

I spent the last week in the Grand Teton Nation Park. It has been said that the Park is the Disneyland of the National Park system. This seemed to be accurate as there was fun to be had by myself, my wife and my young children. Everyone had a good time. While I did a lot of different things from riding in a covered wagon and watching an old west shoot out to white water rafting I will focus this post only on my hike to Bearpaw Lake.

Bearpaw Lake is the oblong blue spot on the map just north of Leigh Lake. I rode the ferry across Jenny Lake from the South Visitors Center to the Hidden Falls trail head. From there I followed the trail on the west side of Jenny Lake to the trail on the east side of String Lake and Leigh Lake and then up to Bearpaw Lake. I completed my hike at Jenny Lake Lodge.

The overall trip was about 10 miles. The trail was fairly flat and well maintained allowing for fast and easy hiking. The landscapes were beautiful and the lakes pristine. Wildlife was abundant, especially the mosquitoes. I almost ran over a bull moose eating the vegetation on the edge of the trail. He didn't seem to mind me being there at all, which I appreciated. I saw eagles soaring above me. I also saw a lot of humans.

I found it interesting to see how well maintained everything was. As I hiked I heard a chain saw cutting through some fallen trees. Evidence of this could be seen quite often along the trail. Campsites were organized and bear safe lockers were available at each site. Flags and markers were frequent to give direction and show detours. I was surprised at how unnaturally this part of nature was being preserved.

Overall this hike was very beautiful and enjoyable. Next time I am in the area though I will hike deeper into the mountains hoping for a more natural experience.

Gawayne and the Green Knight

I finished another good story recently. This story I listened to instead of read. During my morning workouts I have started listening to stories because, as far as I can tell, either cable providers are completely disconnected to their audience or I am not their audience. Sixty channels of trash was too much for me so now I do my best not to look at the filth on the screen at the gym and focus on a good story instead. I find the stories I listen to on the Librivox website.

Gawayne and the Green Knight is the story Sir Gawayne, a knight of King Aurthur's court. It is a short story written as an old english rhyme in the late 14th-century. I read the modern adaptation by Charlton Miner Lewis. It was a fun story with all the joys of Arthurian legend. There were knights, damsels, and of course a quest. The story was fun and enjoyable to read.

At one point where Sir Gawayne's virtue is tested to the utmost he states the following:

Love? What is love? Not the wild feverish thrill,
When heart to heart the thronging pulses fill,
And lips that close in parching kisses find
No speech but those;--the best remains behind.
The tranquil spirit--the divine assurance
That this life's seemings have a high endurance--
Thoughts that allay this restless striving, calm
The passionate heart, and fill old wounds with balm;--
These are the choirs invisible that move
In white processionals up the aisles of love.

He strikes a point that has been largely forgotten in the world today. Love is deeper than infatuation. Love is more enduring than passion. In our world of quick fixes and fast satisfaction love is being lost. Marriages end with the first disagreement. Families are broken by the unfocused lust for pleasure. There needs to be a return to love being that of healing wounds, calming fears, enduring both pain and pleasure. That is love.

PHP Errors and Exceptions

I learned something about php error handling the other day. I was digging through the docs and discovered how to catch errors, warnings, and such and then re-throw them as exceptions. This is great because I already implemented a default exception handling and logging system to catch all exceptions. Now I can use the same routines for PHP errors. The keys to making this work are the set_error_handler function and the ErrorException class. The set_error_handler has been around for a long time, but I have never really used it. This is a failing on my part. The ErrorException class seems to have been made especially for this type of operation. The ErrorException documentation shows exactly how to use these two things together for object oriented goodness in PHP.

<?php
  function exception_error_handler($errno, $errstr, $errfile, $errline ) {
    throw new ErrorException($errstr, 0, $errno, $errfile, $errline);
  }
  set_error_handler("exception_error_handler");
?>

The function name passed to set_error_handler will be called if there is ever a PHP error. The function set up to handle errors takes the error information, constructs an ErrorException and then throws it. Errors never go directly out to the user or logs, they are always wrapped in an exception. Doing this give you greater control over error handling.

In the user comments on the ErrorException page troelskn gives a suggestion for improvement to the basic example above. He suggests the following code.

<?php
function exception_error_handler($severity, $message, $filename, $lineno) {
  if (error_reporting() == 0) {
    return;
  }
  if (error_reporting() & $severity) {
    throw new ErrorException($message, 0, $severity, $filename, $lineno);
  }
}
set_error_handler('exception_error_handler');
?>

This code allows the error reporting value set in php.ini to effect the behavior of the exception_error_handler. Only errors of a high enough severity will be passed on as exceptions. Using his code, if you have warnings suppressed, they will not raise an exception. They will just not be reported. I hope this removes one more of the little PHP quarks for you.

Extolling the virtues of wool

I can't say enough good things about wool. I have always been told that wool is great for winter camping, but have never really listened. I am now a convert. It all started a few weeks ago when I went to buy some running socks. My old cotton socks were rubbing my feet raw, so I stopped in at Runner's Corner knowing that they would have a good selection of socks. I picked up a couple of pairs of nice socks for running. Then it happened. I saw the wool socks. I remembered that I was going to go on a winter campout in a few weeks, so I looked at the options and picked up a pair of Feetures Bamboo & Wool hiking socks.

I love these socks. They are so comfortable. First off, they come is a size that fits me. The medium size fits shoes sizes 6-8.5. This is great for me because I am a size 8. They fit nice and tight, the way I like it. I don't know why most sock manufactures think that one sock can fit sizes 6-12. It's just silly. Second, the fabric feels great. It took just a little bit of getting used to. It has a different feel then anything I have ever worn. You can feel the fibers in the sock, but they are very soft and nice. Third, no sweat. I don't sweat in these socks. I walk to work most days and when there is a lot of snow on the ground I wear my hiking boots. This is great for the walk, but very hot for inside the building. I have a pair of sandals at work now, but for a while I just wore my boots all day. With my normal cotton socks, my feet were very hot and sweaty, but with these wool socks, no sweat! They help regulate the heat and keep my feet at a comfortable temperature in the heat and the cold. Fourth, they stay dry. I wore my low top hiking shoes with my new socks to work one day last week. It snowed about 4-5 inches that day during work hours. I hiked home through all that snow and then started shoveling the snow when I got home. The bottom of my jeans were soaked. I had snow packed around my ankle. I didn't even notice until I started to take my shoes off. I was completely dry. I shook the snow off my socks and they were still dry too. My conversion was complete.

I went camping this weekend in about a foot of snow. Because of my recent conversion, I went to the local thrift store and picked up a $6 pair of wool suit pants as opposed to the $140 pair of ski pants the salesman at the outfitters store tried to sell me. After tromping through the snow for two days, I was completely dry. Never wet once.

I love wool.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Barnes & Noble recently had a sale on their own series of classic literature books so I bought a few. I started reading The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson and had a very hard time putting it down. I was very impressed at Mr. Stevenson's command of language. His word choice and composition made the book very enjoyable. It was quick to read but carried with it very full imagery.

The overall metaphor and discussion about the dual personality of man was rich. In my view he captured that struggle that everyone has as we live life. Without suggesting how we should act he was able to very powerfully describe how and why we act the way we do. I think this is a very effective way to teach, explain the way things are and what consequences there may be and let people choose for themselves.

As Dr. Jekyll wrote explaining what was happening to him, he used the word liberty a few times in his description of Mr. Hyde's behavior. I found this to be a very accurate description of peoples thinking, though, personally, I think it is a short sited mistake in their thinking. For example, Dr. Jekyll describes his feelings at the beginning of his experiment by saying, "I was the first that could plod in the public eye with a load of genial respectability, and in a moment, like a schoolboy, strip off these lendings and spring headlong into the sea of liberty." He felt that by shedding the respectable side of his person he was now more free to act in any way he wanted to. Later in his experiment he discovers that he likes the respectable side of his person better, but still states that his other side has more liberty. "Yes, I preferred the elderly and discontented doctor, surrounded by friends and cherishing honest hopes; and bade a resolute farewell to the liberty, the comparative youth, the light step, leaping impulses and secret pleasures, that I had enjoyed in the disguise of Hyde."

I think the overall story and life itself points to the fact that this definition of liberty is flawed. In the person of Dr. Jekyll he had the power to be either Jekyll or Hyde. But in the person of Mr. Hyde he lost all his freedom. He describes himself as by saying that "his terror of the gallows drove him continually to commit temporary suicide, and return to his subordinate station of a part instead of a person; but he loathed the necessity." Mr. Hyde began to appear even when Dr. Jekyll did not want him to and soon he could not be controlled at all. In the end he committed suicide showing that he had no liberty at all because he chose to live as Mr. Hyde.

Real life is the same in that as we chose good we gain more liberty not less. And as we choose poorly we lose our liberty; we become trapped and unhappy. We often look at behaviors displayed in the world and in the media thinking that we are trapped because we cannot act in that way. This is a misconception. We can act that way, but as Dr. Jekyll found out, it only looks like it would be liberating. In reality it may be exciting or pleasurable for a short time, but it will not bring lasting happiness, only misery.

Christmas Story

I've been reading the LDS Publisher blog for a while now. The author has some good general information about publishing, especially for self publishers or those trying to get published for the first time. About a month ago, a post appeared inviting everyone to submit Christmas stories for a little contest. I didn't think much of it, but on my walk home from work a story started forming in my head.

That night, I tried the story out on Candace. I just told her I wanted to tell her a story and then proceeded to try and tell my ideas as a coherant story. I think I was doing pretty good until I got to the end which I hadn't decided on yet. We talked about it for just a bit and then went to bed.

The next morning I started writing. I wrote the story from the top to the bottom. I read the story a few times correcting different inconsistencies and other little things. I gave the story to a friend who enjoys creative writting and had him read the story and give suggestions. I agreed with most of what he said, but never had the time to implement the changes before the submission date of the contest.

None of the above is real important, but it gives a little insight into the development of the story. I would like to have the story illustrated and published so that I could give it to my children one day. You can read my submission on the contest page or below.

Cricket's Gift

There would be no snow for Christmas this year. The winter was far too warm to allow it. Cricket sat alone outside his doorstep. He watched many animals scurrying back and forth on the roadside in front of his home.

Field Mouse must have been preparing a great feast. He was running in every direction scavenging any nuts and berries he could find that had been left by the late coming winter.

Snow Owl sat quietly in a bare tree over head. He was just waking as the sun set behind him. Cricket watched as Snow Owl left his perched position and flew high into the evening sky, his wings stretched out wide as he glided in front of the rising moon.

It was Christmas Eve and all the animals were rushing to finish their preparations for their Christmas celebrations. Cricket had no one to spend Christmas with this year. His preparations were very meager and so he sat and watched the bustle of others.

As he sat, Cricket began to play his favorite violin. He loved to play even though he never had an audience. On this night he played a beautiful medley of Christmas hymns. As he played he thought of the Christ Child. His feelings and his melody grew deep and strong. He played with all his feeling and the hymns floated through the still night.

Cricket put down his violin long after the last rays of sunlight had disappeared. The animals were still scurrying from place to place. No one seemed to notice his melody in the air. The night was now dark and cold. Cricket entered his home, stored away his violin and prepared for bed.

Before retiring, Cricket knelt by his bedside and prayed to the Lord. Cricket thanked the Lord for His goodness in sending the Christ Child. Cricket cried. In part for joy and in part for loneliness, for Cricket had no one to share his joy with this Christmas. In time, Cricket climbed into bed and fell asleep.

Cricket was still drowsy but he awoke to a voice calling his name. "Cricket," the voice called again. Cricket lifted his head and looked around his room. A man with a long white beard stood at the foot of his bed smiling at him.

"I am the Spirit of Christmas," he said. "I have come to deliver a gift to you. This is no ordinary gift. It has not been crafted by the hands of men, but instead is created in their hearts." He then beckoned to Cricket saying, "Come with me."

Cricket pulled on his night-coat as he crawled out of bed. Together they stepped out of his house and into the street. Walking with the Spirit, Cricket did not feel the cold chill in the air. They stopped at the home of Field Mouse and entered the house, but no one could see or hear them.

Field Mouse was singing merrily as he added finishing touches to many of the Christmas decorations around his home. Eventually, he was satisfied with all his preparations and sat down in a chair next to his lovely wife. His wife looked up at him as he quietly finished the melody of a beautiful Christmas hymn. She spoke softly, "I have never seen you so happy before and never singing so joyfully." Field Mouse looked thoughtful for a moment and then replied, "As I was out gathering the last preparations for Christmas, I heard the most beautiful music. A single violin echoed the voice of heaven as it filled the world with the hymns of Christmas. I guess I have been singing ever since."

The Spirit of Christmas beckoned and led Cricket from the home of Field Mouse. As they walked together Cricket said, "I didn't think anyone heard me play tonight." The Spirit smiled and said, "We never know what the hearts of others see and hear."

They continued on their journey to the home of Rabbit and his family. While at Rabbit's house Cricket learned that Rabbit had opened a window upon hearing the echo of a violin. He gathered his wife and children around him and told them the story of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. He told them how angels had filled the sky and sang to shepherds who tended their sheep in nearby fields. That night even the youngest children sat quietly and listened to the sounds of the nativity. Their hearts were full knowing that they were allowed to hear the heavens rejoice on this Christmas Eve.

The Spirit of Christmas led Cricket from home to home that night. Each residence held similar convictions. They all felt that they had been blessed to hear a heavenly melody ringing in the Christmas celebration.

Cricket returned home and cried again as the Spirit of Christmas left him. He knelt by his bedside and thanked the Lord for the vision he had been shown. He was no longer lonely, for he had hosts of people to serve and bless. Cricket still plays his violin each year to usher in the Christmas celebration. If you listen very closely this Christmas Eve you to may hear his heavenly melody playing in your heart.

Rolls

Thanksgiving was wonderful. So much good food. We didn't have any family around but we did have some good friends come and enjoy all of the food. Turkey is wonderful! Potatoes and gravy are great! Pumpkin and apple pies with fresh apples from the apple tree are excellent! But what I think makes thanksgiving the best is rolls. Yes, wonderfully tasty bread rolls. Rolls with butter, rolls with jam, rolls with cranberry, rolls with gravy, rolls with turkey, rolls with...well just about anything. The following is my mother's roll recipe. I think they are the best rolls ever. I have tried quite a few different recipes, but I always come back to this one. It has taken a while to figure out the tricks to make them right, so I will try to share what I have learned to make the just right.

Ingredient List
4 1/2 tsp yeast (2 packages)
1/2 cup warm water
1 Tbsp sugar
2 cups of milk
1/2 cup butter (margarine will work, but butter is better)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
8 cups of flour

Directions
Stir yeast and 1 Tbsp of sugar into 1/2 cup warm water. The water needs to be quite warm to make the yeast react, but not to hot to kill the yeast. This is a little hard to measure, but you should be able to get the water out of the tap. It should be hot to the touch, but not burning. They key is, about 10-15 minutes after you mix it, the mixture should become very foamy. I usually mix this in a 2 cup liquid measuring cup and the foam will almost fill the cup. Set this mixture aside.

I use a kitchen aid mixer for the rest of the ingredients. Heat milk to hot, but not quite boiling. I usually do this in the microwave. Pour the milk into the mixing bowl. Soften the butter and add it to the milk. Add sugar, salt, and eggs to the milk mixture. The yeast should be very foamy by now. Add the yeast mixture to the milk mixture. Mix in 7 cups of flour. The dough will be very sticky.

Spread about a cup of flour on the counter. Dump the dough onto the flour. Put some more flour on top of the dough and some on your hands. Knead the flour into the dough. Adding the last cup of flour this way allows the dough to pick up as much flour as it needs. The dough should be smooth and elastic. Don't knead the dough to long, just long enough so it no longer sticks to your hands. Spread some flour in the mixing bowl. Place the dough back in the bowl, cover it, place it in a warm place and allow it to rise for about a 1/2 hour to an hour or until it doubles in size.

Punch the dough down. Put some flour on your hands, do this as necessary so the dough does not stick to you. Make balls of dough, table tennis to golf ball sized. I do this by squeezing a ball of dough in between my first finger and thumb until the ball of dough pops loose. Place the balls of dough on a cookie sheet. It makes about to cookie sheets worth of rolls. Cover the rolls and let them rise for about half an hour. Bake them for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

As soon as you pull the rolls out of the oven, rub a cube of butter or margarine over the top of the rolls. The makes the top of the roll very sweet. Pull them off the cookie sheet and enjoy!

A Memory

Wrestling is a genetic trait among Jones boys. Countless hours have be spent practicing, running, sweating, starving, aching, suffering. For some reason it was all counted as fun. Practice often included running sprints about 5:30 AM, running for lunch, 3-4 hours of actual practice time after school, and running in the evening.¹ It was a bit grueling, but again, somehow it was all counted as fun.
On one particular night after a very hard match, which included the usual black eyes and split lips, I sat down in the recliner in the living room to rest. I don't remember why, but for some reason Mom volunteered to massage my feet. I gladly accepted. They hurt. In fact, everything hurt. Mom quietly and tenderly work out the tension and pain of my sore muscles. I probably fell asleep due to the relief...or the Ibuprofen.

The significance of this simple act of service was certainly not understood or appreciated as it should have been at the time. Years later though it has often brought to mind the simple act of the savior as he sat with those he loved most. “[Jesus] riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.” Mom understood what the Savior meant when he said, “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.” Countless hours of service. No visible reward.

I suppose the true significance of this act of service came into view as new little feet came into my own home. Each pair of feet needing special care and attention. I only hope that I can serve as thoughtfully as those who have left such great examples to look on.

---

1. Spitting is gross. Besides if you can spit, you aren't running enough or dieting right.

The Prince

This weekend on our family vacation to Colorado I had some time and finished reading The Prince, by Niccolò Machiavelli. I appreciated Machiavelli's logical and straight forward approach to the subject of becoming and remaining a prince. His arguments were clear and concise which made the book very enjoyable to read.

As I read I could not help but thinking of Utopia, by Sir Thomas More. Machiavelli would argue that the Utopian society would not last long because a mercenary army would not suffice to keep the country safe for very long. This led me to wonder how their society would work if the people had to defend themselves. Their society would require a standing army. I think this would still work with the other principles of their society. I would expect they would require service in the military. They would focus on teaching their soldiers skills of physical strength and skill. Many of these skills could be utilized in their future professions. No one would remain in the military forever, but all would be available if needed. The older solders would teach the younger ones until their time to leave the military was at hand. In this way, their military supports society, but is not a profession in itself. This may not be the most efficient military, but it might suffice for their needs.

I disagreed with at least one theme presented in the book. Machiavelli writes, "For a man who wants to make a profession of good in all regards must come to ruin among so many who are not good. Hence it is necessary to a prince, if he wants to maintain himself, to earn to be able not to be good, and to use this and not use it according to necessity." I can certainly see his point. If everyone around you is not good and you are to rule over them, you also must perform acts that are not good to gain control of them. You must, of course, do some of both so that you gain control while at the same time you gain their respect and servitude. While this line of reasoning is sound, I disagree in two regards. First, you should never disregard your principles because of the actions of others or because of circumstance. Second, I don't believe that the evil of the people is an immutable fact. Machiavelli did not have record of King Benjamin. The way King Benjamin dealt with the problem of wickedness was to convert all of his subjects to the gospel of Christ. This allowed him to rule without fear of the people.

Overall, I enjoyed the book a great deal. I learned a bit about the science of politics, which is an important thing at this election time. It allowed me to consider how our nation, as well as other contemporary nations, handle power and security.