Multi-Tasking

I was reading a copy of Costco Connection today -- an interesting magazine that Costco puts out monthly. There was an article talking about multi-tasking that I thought was pretty interesting. It reminded me of an experience that I have with a friend who multi-tasks on a regular basis. We were talking, then somebody came into the room and he started to talk to that person. Then his phone rang and he started to talk on the phone. Then he finished the phone call, did something on the computer, finished his conversation with the other person, then came back to the conversation with me. I was quite annoyed because I had to wait through all of this while my friend cycled through all of his multi-tasks.

This experience made me start thinking about my own multi-tasking habits. My biggest problem is (or was) working on homework only to get distracted by a new email or news story. One thing that I feel that I have successfully mastered is to not answer my cell phone if I'm doing something that is more important (such as eating dinner with my wife or talking to a friend face to face). Michelle M. Weil, PhD, gave three recommendations for effectively managing time in relation to multi-tasking:

1. Estimate how long tasks take: We sometimes spend more time doing things than we realize. I think we would be amazed if we timed how long we spend just checking our emails on the computer. The author suggested that we set a time limit for tasks and try our hardest to stick to those time limits.
2. Develop an "external memory": We sometimes do things because we're afraid that we'll forget to do them later. If we set a method of remembering to do things (such as a "to do" list in a notebook), then we can avoid having to multi-task now.
3. Give yourself a chance to persevere on a task until completion: If you are engrossed in a task, stick to it until you are done. If you stop, then you'll have to spend time figuring out where you were in addition to the time you'll have to spend doing the task. Get it done and move onto the next step.

BYU vs. Utah

BYU played an awesome football game over the weekend -- winning it in the final play of the game. It reminds me of some of the famous historical games, like the Miracle Bowl. It feels great to be a part of a school where "Tradition, Spirit, Honor" is the motto.

Et si omnes, ego non

President and Sister Samuelson spoke today at the BYU Devotional. Sister Samuelson quoted a latin phrase: "Et si omnes ego non." That means, even if all, not I. It is the mottoe of the sole survivor of an attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler. Philipp von Boeselager, the survivor, believes that we need to be actively engaged in our society, even if it means going against everybody elses' beliefs. But who says that everybody else is right.

Check out this article to read more.

New Addition to our Family

Hello everyone. We thought you might enjoy seeing a picture of the new addition to our family. Here is the picture:

In case you were wondering, I'm talking about the piano in the background. We just happened to be babysitting the Curren's daughter on the first night that we had the piano, so she had a lot of fun playing on the piano. After much research and deliberation, we decided to get a new Roland KR-103 digital piano. It looks nice in the entryway, but that makes it so that I don't have a place for the desk. Guess that means no more homework. But it's definitely great to have the piano to take a break. That's one of the things that I missed about not being home. :) Here's a better picture of the piano. We think that it looks especially good with the pictures. They just happen to match very well.
  

Stadium of Fire, Printing Museum, and Camping

Stadium of Fire this year was on Saturday, July 1. We didn't feel like paying the money to go to the stadium itself, so instead, we decided to take a trip up to the "Y" and watch the fireworks from there. It was quite the experience. Instead of looking up at the fireworks, we looked down on them with the Provo city lights as a backdrop. It was very cool. Too dark to take pictures, though...

On the Fourth of July, we went rollerblading in Provo Canyon in the morning (covering about 11 miles), got Jamba Juice for our "second" breakfast, and then went to the Crandall Printing Museum in downtown Provo. There, they have the only working replica of the first printing press that was designed by Johann Gutenberg. Johann Gutenberg was ranked #1 on A&E's "People of the Millennium" countdown in 1999. This is because his invention, the printing press with movable type figures, was the single most important invention in bringing the world out of the Dark Ages. Before Gutenberg's printing press, all books had to be hand-copied. This, obviously, was a long and expensive process, taking about five years just to copy the Bible. However, with the invention of the printing press, books could be printed more quickly and efficiently. This allowed more people to own books and to use these books to learn. Thus, people became more enlightened as they had access to more information and the Dark Ages ended. Here is a picture of us in front of the printing press.


One other thing to note is the importance of the printing press in publishing the Book of Mormon. Without printing, the Book of Mormon would not be so accessible to us and we would probably only have one copy per family (if we took the time to hand-copy it). That is one of the things that the museum points out. They also point out the the Internet and computers are really an extension of the first printing press. I would highly recommend visiting the Crandall Historical Printing Museum at 275 E. Center Street in Provo, Utah if ever you have the chance.

Lastly, we went camping this weekend. We made foil dinners to take with us, which had carrots, red potatoes, broccoli, steak, and onions. We also discovered an important secret about cooking the foil dinners in the fire. After wrapping everything in foil, you put two layers of damp newspaper around the foil and then another layer of foil. This helps to evenly cook everything inside. Then, it just took about 45 minutes to cook. Very delicious.