Mia Culpa

About six weeks ago I was driving past about four police cars with lights flashing. I slowed way down to take a look, and was immediately pulled over myself for some mysterious reason (to me at least). It turns out that it is a law in Colorado that if there is a police car with flashing lights you have to get over at least one lane unless it is clearly unsafe. I was really taken aback and decided I was going to go to court on this one since I did slow way down.

So today (Thursday) was my court date. I had with me a copy of the law and an e-mail from the E470 Toll Road people showing that their electronic sign above the freeway saying that I had to pull over OR slow down for stopped emergency police cars.

When I arrived at the court I checked in. Then I met with one of the deputy District Attorneys who reviewed my rights and had me sign a paper saying that I acknowledged my rights. They then asked me if I had any questions. I mentioned that I noticed on the form that pleading guilty with an explanation was not an option. The DA asked me what my explanation was. I told her my story and showed her the e-mail. She then offered me a plea bargain. If I plead guilty, she will reduce the charge to a vehicle maintenance charge, which only has one point against my license instead of four. I would also have to agree to complete 8 hours of community service in the next 30 days, plus pay a $75 insurance fee (instead of the fine) in case I get injured while doing my community service. Since I absolutely didn't want the citation to go on my insurance, which would definitely raise my rate more than the $75, I agreed.

So then I had to go downstairs to sign up for community service. First of all, let me say that many of the folks you see at the Community Service department are not there because of traffic violations. The guy in line in front of my had a tracking bracelet on his leg. And most people are there to do a lot more than 8 hours of service.

So I first had to fill out a form, then they ran a list of the community agencies that might need my help. Now I have to call the ones I want and see if they have any openings for community service volunteers. If they do, I take some paperwork down there and have them sign them. Then I do my hours, and turn in a completed time sheet. Then I'm done.

Some of the agencies on the list include:

• Highlands Ranch Library
• Highlands Ranch Recreation Center
• Douglas County Parks and Trails
• Chatfield State Park
• YMCA
• The Goodwill

While mom thinks the library gig would be a breeze, I think having to work in a library for 8 hours would drive me nuts. I'm tending towards Chatfield State Park because I'll be able to get some kind of inside scoop and maybe a hookup for later. Besides, working outdoors means that half the time you are driving around in the back of a truck or taking a break.

So once I'm back from EFY, I'll be on the chain gang. Oh Brother Where Art Thou!

Grad Night

Friday night when Jane and I arrived in Los Angeles we drove to John and Debbie Edwards' house where we spent the night in the maid's quarters. Their new house is about 8000 square feet but it is really fun to see how much they love their new house.


This is an 1890 Steinway grand piano that Debbie got for a steal on eBay and then had refurbished.



Debbie's favorite kitchen gadget is the steamer. Much better than the microwave for reheating leftovers.




This is off of the master bathroom; spa, sauna, and steam shower






The flat screen TV retracts into the counter top




After graduation, we drove over to the Fosson's house to say hello. We didn't stay long because they were all running off to Gabe's open house, which worked out just fine, because we had an invitation to go out on John and Debbie Edwards' new boat. Brett Edwards is a senior this year and so his seminary class had a "graduation" party on the boat and we were invited to come along. John's boat is 70 foot long, has three decks and five staterooms. It has a range of about 5000 miles on a full tank of fuel. Enjoy the tour!




Lovin' the good life

Graduation Day

On Saturday, May 17th I attended commencement exercises at the Claremont Colleges for my PhD. The ceremony took place on the lawn area just north of the Honould-Mudd library where I spent many an evening studying. I also remember Staci and Allie coming with me sometimes just to have a quite place to study (ie read random books or take a nap) away from the house.



It was a warm day; I think the temperature topped out around 100 degrees. If there hadn't been a tent and shade people would have passed out from the heat. As it was there was a bottle of water under every chair.



In my life and career I've attended dozens of graduations for myself, family members, and work as a faculty member and this was one of the longest and most boring ones I've ever attended. Staci's was the most interesting and BYU has figured out how to keep them short. The keynote speaker basically said that we should all go out and become a success like him, and he gave us many examples of his successes from his life (zzzzzzzzzz). Then we had to honor a bunch of people that weren't graduating. Please note however this is completely expected and in no way diminished the gravity of the event for me; I just feel bad for my family that has to sit through such a long meeting. I sort of thought that since I have completed the formal graduation process last fall, and even got my diploma in February, that commencement would sort of be anti-climatic but in reality I really enjoyed being there and my advisors seemed to be glad I was there as well. I was especially glad I had my own academic regalia (robes). If you rent them, then you just get plain black and a square mortor board. Only people who had their own wore the red and the octagon tam. I don't know why but it really meant a lot to have my own regalia, so thank-you again to all those who chipped in to help buy it.



Graduate students get hooded as well as receive a diploma, and dissertation advisors hood their doctoral students. My advisor Terry Ryan said as he was hooding me "Its about time!". He is a good friend and I'm glad my job will allow me to stay in touch with my advisors and colleagues.



After the ceremony there was a reception in a nearby building with light buffet and beverages where we could get out of the heat and have pictures taken. Afterwards we went out for lunch at La Paloma for a little mexican food. I really appreciated having family there, especially in the heat. A special shout-out for Leah for taking the pictures. The batteries in my video camera were dead, and all of the pictures taken with my still camera were blurry, so if Leah hadn't been there we wouldn't have had any pictures at all. The following were all taken by her. THANKS LEAH!!!


This is the big tent where we all sat


Randy and Jane before graduation (no hood)





Jack and Maureen Safely came; what a nice surprise.




Mom and Rachel






Two hours after commencement started we FINALLY get to stand up and get in line to get hooded


Waving at Leah from across the audience

First they mispronounce your name...

Then you get hooded. Terry Ryan is to my right

Then a little brotherly love....

Picture with the university president

The chairwomen of the board of trustees gave me my "Certificate of Participation" in commencement. (I'm not being too disrespectful; remember I've done this dozens of times at work; sometimes I was putting the hood on the graduate)


Then you walk the long way around back to your seat.

Jane gave me a big hug and a kiss as I'm walking back to my seat.

Leah was moved to tears...

Post-graduation reception

Lorne Olfman (the Dean) and Terry Ryan. Both were on my dissertation committee. Lorne is stepping down as Dean next month and Terry will be the new Dean.

Tom Horan was another member of my dissertation committee

Here Terry and I are discussing VERY IMPORTANT doctoral things that you wouldn't understand...

Kelly and Katie were real troopers through the entire event. They probably didn't understand much, but they did know it was a big deal and treated me like I was a celebrity; actually, they treated JANE like a celebrity and one of them cried when she wasn't seated (at first) next to her at lunch.

The school banner and me. When I started in 1996, the school was called "Claremont Graduate School" and the department was "Information Science". Then we became a university and the department became a school.

Seth's Spring Cello Season

Seth had a busy April and May music-wise. At the end of April his cello teacher had a recital and Seth played a Vivaldi duet with him. Seth did a great job. One of the highlights of the recital was the fact that a couple friends from seminary drove the 20 miles or so to see him, which meant a lot to us all that Seth's group of friends support each other. Tenille Stucki plays violin and Devon Hanson classical piano so they were an informed audience.

Seth really seems to have improved this season, and also seems to appreciate group performances. If only he could play with CYMO; now THAT was good music!



This is video of Seth's recital performance with his teacher Rodney Farrar. Sorry for the quality, it was taken with my low-quality digital camera that I had to use a chair for a tripod. I have since purchased a tripod.


Devon, Tenille, Seth and Jane at the post-recital refreshments


Tenille, Devon & Seth (yes, the girls are short)



Last Sunday the Arapahoe Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (APYO) had their final "graduation" concert. They played the first movement from Brahm's 2nd, a medley of songs from "Hook" by John Williams, and a REALLY cool adaggio from a collection of Russian folk dances called Sailor Songs; the "Plaintive Song" movement which features the cello section. A video of the song is below. There are three kids from our ward in the orchestra: Seth, his good friend Chris, and Jody Nicholas (a violist). They each had friends who also attended.

Orchestra friends and supporters. From left to right: Devon Hanson, Tenille Stucki, Seth Guthrie, Chris Chambers, Jody Nicholas, Josh Hardman.


Seth really enjoyed playing this piece; you can really tell he is totally into it.