“ This game was absolutely stolen from us”

 Good evening sir,

Quote of the week, the season, and maybe the year: “I’ve been an athletic director for 12 years. This game was absolutely stolen from us,” Harlan said. “We were excited about being in the Big 12, but tonight I am not. We won this game. Someone else stole it from us. I’m very disappointed. I will talk to the commissioner. This is not fair to our team. I am disgusted by the professionalism of the officiating crew tonight.” He’s been fined $40,000.

I think Ben has already recapped it for you. I generally don’t like to blame referees for costing a team a game. But I do really like that Harlan said it, that he stood up for the team. After all the over hype over the pre season and the five losses recently, it’s important for him to stand up for the Utes. The big 12 is pretty crappy this season with the exception of byu. And it feels like they are protecting them the way the PAC12 used to protect usc and Oregon, so I think there’s something there. The byu fans are calling for Harlan’s firing, but, as you know, they are generally idiots, as called out by more than one of their own coaches. 

I was sort of pessimistic all week, I wasn’t sure I even wanted to go. But the weather was pretty and not as cold as we feared, but mainly, your mother was enthusiastic about going and I wasn’t going to miss that opportunity. I will say that with the exception of the last minute the game was really fun, it sorta reminded me of the Rose Bowl game. This has been a rough season for Utah football. Kyle whittingham has never lost this many consecutive games. In fact, we have not lost five straight games since 1990. Think about that…I was in college, mom was in high school, that was 34 years ago. You guys only remember Utah’s glory years. I don’t think they are over, even if coach Whitt retires. But I did feel early on that the transition to the new conference was going to be more challenging than everyone was saying it was going to be. It’s not like I’m glad that the Utes are having a rough time, but it does make it interesting to see what will unfold. It could be drastic.

This was a pretty good week. As you know, Jake and I went to see the basketball team on Monday. They looked good, but then, they were playing a tiny school from Mississippi. I missed Ben, but sometimes it’s really gratifying to be with you guys alone. Jacob is really fun to be with, he’s really intelligent to talk to.

Tuesday night I was supposed to go contacting with the elders, but grandma had called me and told me that her pathfinder wasn’t starting. I don’t think she was too worried about that, but uncle Tim had offered to bring his tools and take the battery out, that she was worried about. Jacob and I took my charger over before the game on Monday, and it started up on Tuesday night when I got there. Still, it’s getting cold out, so I took it out, which was a little more complicated than other batteries I’ve dealt with and took it to the parts store. I actually felt relieved when it tested as bad, I’m much more comfortable putting a new battery in grandmas car than risking her getting stranded. 

Thursday night I went to help aunt Stella sign into her new financial accounts. When I got there she had made me delicious enchiladas. She poured beans over the top. Man oh man was that satisfying. It felt really good to be taken care of that way, I felt like a little boy. It ended up being pretty easy getting logged on and she was pretty happy.

I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m being all bragging about helping these sweet little ladies, but I really think that they are taking care of me by letting me help them.

Friday night mom was off because here temple was closed. We went to go see a movie called Here. It was about one place, one spot and all the families that had lived there and it was filmed from a single camera angle. I liked it and I loved being with your mom on a Friday night. After we got Greek food and went shopping at Costco after. Every once in a while mom and I get on these little tangents, this time we found this super soft and warm comforter, but they didn’t have king size. So we bugged the worker to see if any of the other stores had one, they thought maybe they had one at the west valley store. So even though it was almost closing time, we raced over and walked in three minutes before closing. We got it, and it’s mighty warm and comfy. But mostly, those silly little quests make boring errands with your mother fun.

Yesterday was a rare day to be home and do chores. Sometimes, I like forward to those days. The first thing I tackled was the one I was dreading most. Our dishwasher had started making this loud whining/grinding noise. As with all plumbing projects, it was messy. But I got the dishwasher pulled out, tipped over, and did the pump transplant. The only real unpleasant part was when I was trying to reconnect the water supply. As I pulled out the dishwasher the end of the hose was pulled into a void in the cabinets. I had to open up a hole so I could reach my hand in. I used a little power saw I had to make the hole. I was too lazy to get my hearing protection, I didn’t even actually think about it. But as I reached to and turned on the saw it was like having my head inside a giant buzzing guitar amp.it was really stupid. Adding that to the loudness of the game and my ears are still ringing and muffled today. At my age I need to take better care of my ears.

After I got everything put away for that, I painted the trim around the small window in our bedroom. After that I changed the oil in mom’s car, it was pretty dirty but simple enough to do. I also changed the air and cabin filters. After I tried to change the brake light on Ben’s car, but it wasn’t a bulb, it’s an LED assembly, so I had to order a replacement. Also, and embarrassingly, a few months ago I tried to fix a tiny loose light on his mirror, in doing so I cracked the mirror. I order a new mirror, but as I tried to put it on I not only cracked the new mirror, but I think I messed up the mirror adjustment mechanism too. Well, three out of four successful projects are at least a B grade. 

After all that I had a few minutes to start a new speaker project. I decided I wanted a sound system in my office. Plus, I really enjoy building stuff like that. I bought a kit, but I have several modifications that I want to make. I drilled some holes for thick dowels to add cross bracing to minimize resonance. The next step is to glue it together. They are much smaller than my red speakers.

After that, it was time for the game. We left late so we just stopped by the McDonald’s drive through. Because we were late, there were no parking spaces in our normal spot by my old church. The secret spot by our other old church was full too. So I remembered a place behind my old church down a hidden alley. No one was there. At that moment I was a hero to your mom and brothers, which is a rare enough thing. You’ve heard enough about the game, but we got home about 1:30 am, and I’m tired.

Today we went to grandmas for dinner. Uncle David is here, and is going to be here for two months…your poor grandma. She made her roast beef and supervised the mashed potatoes. I got a good, tender piece of roast and really enjoyed it. Mom made some really delicious pumpkin cake.

That’s about all for this week my boy. You’ve now got a year, your doing well. Mom said you were getting your transfer news this weekend, I understood it will be next weekend. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow. Love you.

Pops