Journey, Day 3

Monday, August 6, 2012

Today was a really long day, and not very interesting. 

Cheyenne is at the very eastern edge of Wyoming. My goal for the day was Des Moines, Iowa, so essentially I crossed the whole state of Nebraska and went into Iowa.

Central Nebraska, where I crossed, is definitely agricultural. Lots of fields of what looked like corn, not. Lot of hills. Not a lot of activity on my radio, either.

No car problems today. Maybe it was related to the altitude.  I went from 6000 feet down to 1000 feet by the time I got to Omaha. 

Journey, Day 2

Sunday, August 5, 2012

I didn't get as early a start this morning as I would have liked. I was tired from yesterday's stage and we got to bed late last night. 

The plan called for going back up to Salt Lake and catching I-80, which will be the pathway for pretty much the whole trip. Today's stage would take me from Salt Lake to Cheyenne, Wyoming.

After some interesting terrain as I drove out of the mountains just east of Salt Lake, the rest of the day was pretty boring.  I found no radio stations I was interested in (in other words, no NPR) and nobody on my ham radio. Lots of time to think.

Later in the day I started having some car problems. It happened mostly when I was going uphill, and the engine would just cut out for a few seconds. It would start going again, but still, it was worrisome.

I passed the Continental Divide again, just as I had done yesterday in southern Montana. The big difference this time was that the sign that declared Continental Divide also said the elevation was 7000 feet.

Some time later we reached the summit of another mountain and then the altitude was 8064 feet.  I was surprised I think because the mountains I am most used to driving over, the Sierra, are more obvious about climbing, whereas this came more gradually.

I was making such good time that I considered going past Cheyenne, but then when I actually got there I had had it and was ready to stop.

I am hoping the car problems are related to going uphill at that altitude. I have turned off the air conditioner to lighten the load on the engine. 

I am staying in a Motel 6 tonight. Cheyenne, by the way, is over 6000 feet high. I thought Denver was the only state capital over a mile high, but now I know better. 

Journey, Day 1

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Knowing this day would be the longest stage of the trip, 12 hours, I had hoped to get an early early start. But last-minute preparations the night before got us in bed late. Then it was hard to leave my sweet Sally, hard for both of us. 

I've made this trip through Montana on I-90 East to I-15 South so many times that I didn't see anything new and wondrous. Frankly this part was drudgery. I missed Sally already and just wanted to get down to Pocatello and see Amanda. 

My visit with Amanda was short but sweet. She looks really good and was in good spirits. In many ways she and I view the family dynamics similarly and it's always nice to spend time with her. 

But I was worried about the 2-3 hours of driving I still had and how tired I already was so I left her earlier than I would have liked. 

By the time I got down to Salt Lake everyone had decided to meet at the Leatherby's there. Leatherby's is an old old family favorite from the days when there was one in Fremont. Luckily they serve a really good Chef's salad so that I could keep to my carb-free plan that has been serving me so well. 

It was nice seeing everyone. Rebekah was leaving the next day for her Mexican cruise, so she couldn’t stay too late. And I was really tired, so I couldn’t stay too late. Still it was 0100 before I got to bed and to sleep.

Journey, Day 0

Before I begin the next few posts, some background information needs to be given.

I lost my 5 year 5 month job with Critical Logic on May 31, 2012. It was neither welcome nor unexpected. The company had lost its biggest client and we all knew it was hurting.

There were two of us who were laid off that day. Since then, on the last day of July, five more were laid off, everyone who was left got a 20% pay cut and the corporate headquarters have been subleased.

But on with my story. I immediately put my résumé out in dice.com, the premier site for tech jobs. Inquiries started poring in. I had many interviews, including one in Bellevue, WA and Boulder, CO.

Nothing gelled though until NCR in East Haven, CT. On July 23, 2012, I got the call from my agent, Jamie Martin, that NCR wanted me, and that once a background check and a drug test were complete, I could start!

The first three months will be a "try before you buy" period for both of us. I will be a contractor, which means that either they or I can terminate the relationship at any time. If everyone is still happy after the three months they will make me an offer to be a permanent employee. I won't even think about moving my family there until they do.

I have gone through so many emotions since that day, plus lots of getting ready and saying goodbye. I will try to talk about all of them in the posts to follow, though I will start out with just the trek from here to there.

Holding Alyson's Hand

Alyson did so well while she was being blessed this morning. She was moving her arms around so I sneaked my right thumb out and put it in her right hand. We held hands through the rest of the blessing :)

I wish I had thought of that sooner and had held Jocelyn's hand too. She was blessed just 10 weeks ago :)

Bumper Sticker

Happiness is a passed pawn

Antoinette

There are many emotional experiences that I have had that I have not yet put to pen, but it is time for this one. Our Stake President's talk in Ward Conference brought back these memories.

My third city on my mission was the French Mediterranean port city of Toulon. This area had four elders and two sister missionaries. My companion was Elder Larry Wride, and he had only been there a couple of weeks.

Two weeks before my arrival, Elder Wride and his companion had met a young lady named Antoinette Palmièri. Antoinette was a nurse working a night shift that gave her a lot of spare time. In that time she had completely read the Book of Mormon.

We quickly settled into a comfortable routine with her. One afternoon a week we would go over to her house, she would serve us cold limonade and we would talk.

Prior to finding the missionaries, Antoinette had been studying with the Témoins de Jéhovah (Jehovah's Witnesses). At some point they had pushed to meet her parents, and that turned into an awkward, embarrassing situation. That was why we met with her when we did, because we wouldn't run into her parents.

District Conference came and President Nelson told us "Brethren and Sisters, we don't have time to spend with investigators who are not ready to accept the Gospel. When you go back to your area, challenge any who are not progressing and drop the ones who will not take the challenge."

It was with much fear that I approached our next visit. We were comfortable and I didn't want to upset our relationship.

I asked her "Do you believe the Book of Mormon is the word of God?"

"Yes"

"Do you believe that Joseph Smith was was a prophet?"

"Yes"

"Then what do you have to do?"

"I guess I have to be baptized"

She talked to her parents, and they not only said "Heck No", they said "You join and you leave".

So she left home and joined the church.

A year or so later she had reconciled with her parents and the family had relocated from Toulon to Grenoble. One Friday evening she had her bags packed and said goodbye to her family, explaining that she was going to spend the weekend with a friend.

She got on a train to Geneva where President Nelson set her apart as a full-time missionary, serving in the Franco-Belgian Mission. A year a a half after my return I was fortunate to go back to Europe and spend some time with her and her companion.

After her mission came a temple marriage and five children (very rare in France). Life hasn't been perfect for her, but it may have gone down a whole different path if Elder Wride and I had not done as we were asked.