EARLY EXPERIENCES AT SUNDAY SCHOOL

I often think about the people that have had the most influence in my life. The reason I think about them is because they all had very different personalities, but each one had a way to get my attention and teach me something important. Lately, I have had some experiences that reminded me of my junior Sunday school leader and teacher who included me in an older class of kids.

After finishing medical school and two years of residency in general surgery, my father moved his family to Pocatello, Idaho and set up a private medical practice as a general practitioner and general surgeon.

I was in the second grade at Washington elementary school and we went to church at the Caldwell Park,14th ward, LDS Building.. Our Primary or junior Sunday School leader was a woman named Edie Bell. Edie was an extraordinary individual to say the least. She had flaming red hair, weighed less than some of us, and could only walk with the use of two crutches under her arms. She had been stricken with polio as a very young girl and was sent to Primary Children’s Hospital. She eventually came home, but had been terribly crippled and spent the rest of her life using leg braces and crutches to walk. She also had a deep love for the children in the community and thought she was the most fortunate person in the world because she was able to work with the children in Primary at church.

I was one of the unruly kids in junior Sunday School, but my father told Edie if she had any trouble with me, to come get him and he would straighten me out. She never did send for him though. If I was causing a problem, she would just float over to me and tell me how glad she was to have me there and how much potential she thought she saw in me. That usually confused me long enough for her to finish what she was trying to do in opening exercises.

Once during a Sunday School class, the teacher became so frustrated with me that she ordered me to leave and not ever come back. That was fine with me, so I left and headed down the hall. Edie saw me walk past her class room and was in the hall with her crutches before I got another four steps. She called me back, said she heard my teacher yell at me, and asked me where I was going? I told her I was going outside because I didn’t have to go to Sunday School any more. She said she heard my teacher tell me not to come back, but she was worried that my father might get upset if he knew I wasn’t attending Sunday School anymore and invited me to come to her class on Sunday so I wouldn’t get in trouble with my dad. I had to admit I hadn’t thought that far ahead and she had a good point, but I. protested a little because her class was older than me. She reassured me that although they were older, they were just as noisy as I was, and I would fit in just fine. Her teaching style was unique. She didn’t spend much time getting after us if we became restless or started to whisper. She knew each of us well enough that depending on who was starting to fidget or talk, she would throw something into the lesson that got that particular student’s attention and got them participating in an acceptable manner. In my case we discussed the use of horses and their part in the plan of salvation. I had never thought about whether I could have a horse in the next life until I met and talked to Edie Bell, but she liked the idea, so I do too. I don’t think I ever heard her yell at any of us. I have always wondered if for some reason she couldn’t yell very loud.

GETTING THE MOST FOR YOUR GAS DOLLARS

My wife and I saw the hand writing on the wall as gas prices started going up. I bought a small 4X4 crew cab pickup truck that will get me and all our gear into and out of some mountain property that my family owns when we want to camp, hike, picnic, or hunt. It is also the vehicle we use to go skiing. This truck is also pretty fuel efficient and has adequate power for what I use it for.

My wife on the other hand bought a small four cylinder four door sedan that she uses to run around town and we both use it to travel out of town unless there is a reason we need to take my truck.

My son decided to buy a one ton quad cab diesel pickup truck at $3:70 a gallon plus an additive with each tank of fuel, a snow mobile and a four wheeler.

As you might expect, the gas bill each month can be pretty high in this family, mostly because of the diesel pickup truck, which my son insisted got better mileage than my Nissan pickup. He has always dreamed of having a big intimidating, 4X4, pickup truck, and now he has one with the accompanying expenses.

It would be an understatement to say I started looking for ways to lower the monthly fuel bill the family is paying.

Most of the following information comes from the Department of Energy or a friend that works for a major fuel company in California. I hope it helps others as much as it has helped us.

Fill your car or truck early in the morning when ground temperatures are lower. Gas station fuel tanks are traditionally under ground and cooler gas is denser and you get a gallon for the cost of a gallon of gas. When ground temperatures rise, the warmer gas expands and you don’t get as much for your money.

Most gas pumps have three speeds. Pump your gas on the slowest speed to minimize gas vapors. Gas pumps have a vapor return that returns some of the vapors back into the storage tank, giving you less for your money.

Fill up when your tank is half full or half empty. The more gas you have in your tank, the less empty air space, and the less gas evaporation you will have.

If a gasoline truck is filling the gas station storage tanks, don’t fill up. The fuel is being stirred up while it is being pumped into the storage tanks and you are liable to get some of the dirt that lies in the bottom of the storage tank in your gas tank.

WHERE TO BUY GAS

Just for your information, Saudi Arabia is currently boycotting American goods. If you are inclined, you can return the favor. You can buy from companies that don’t buy from the Middle East.

A list of companies that buy from the Saudis are:

Shell

Chevron/Texaco

Exxon/Mobile

Marathon/Speedway

Amoco

Citco gas comes from South America from a Dictator who hates America

Companies that do not buy from the Saudis include:

Sunoco

Conoco

Sinclair

BP/ Phillips

Hess

Arco

There are certainly other ways to lower your fuel costs. The particular information I have shared is info. I don’t see widely published anywhere, so take it for what it is worth and share it with your friends. Maybe some of the j-hub writers could share their experiences with lowering their fuel costs.

Tasers and Stun Guns

Those of us who were required to go to graduate school for a few years will remember the research methods classes we had to take. I at least, was taught that although I might have an assumption based on some observation, I still needed to design my research to test whether the assumption was valid or not.

Sunday, March 9, 2008, I read an article in the Idaho State Journal by Dr. George W. Katsillometes, entitled, “THE TRUTH ABOUT TASERS, BRO”. Dr. Katsillometes doesn’t seem to have taken the same research methods class I did. He claims to have done some research for his article, but uses emotionalism to try and convince readers that tasers are so dangerous and life threatening that even the police should not be able to use them.

In one case he points out that tasers convey 50,000 to 1 million volts into the body of the individual being hit by the taser prongs. Now, we all know that 50,000 to a million volts is a lot of volts. Just imagine being hit by that many bullets or being run over by a 50,000 pound truck or a million pound train and you may get the idea that his article was trying to convey.

So, 50,000 to a million volts is pretty bad, right? People who regularly work with electricity tell me that volts don’t mean much until you combine them with watts and amps. Using the 50,000 volts figure, these tasers are also putting out 18 watts and 133 milliamps. Although that is enough to incapacitate an individual it is no where near the deadly charge that Dr. Kasillometes wants us to think it is.

So exactly what does a taser do to someone who has been shot by one? It causes Electro Muscle Disruption (EMD). Basically, it disrupts the central nervous system and all conscious thought is overridden by subconscious thought in order to protect the nervous system from further perceived damage. The individual falls down, is probably panting and shaking uncontrollably allowing police to safely take him or her into custody without any further threat to police, bystanders or the individual.

Dr. Katsillometes also claims that security professionals and martial arts experts have expressed doubts about the effectiveness of these weapons against determined assailants. So, let’s pause here for a minute and think this through. On the one hand he wants us to believe that these weapons are so dangerous that even the police shouldn’t have them and then he says that Security and martial arts experts doubt their effectiveness. Which is it Dr.? Actually, since I taught a self defense class at Texas A&M University I will answer that question from my own experience. I recommended to my students, particularly women, that carrying a stun gun that does not fire prongs with a wire attached, but consists of a hand held device with two metal electrodes that are pushed into an assailant, probably was not normally their best option. My reasoning was that they had to get close to their assailant and that these types of devices had to be continually held against the assailant for several seconds before incapacitation occurred. I was afraid the assailant, who would probably be bigger and stronger would be able to take the stun gun away and then use it to incapacitate his intended victim. Personally, I have always differentiated between stun guns and tasers.

Others who have responded to Dr. Katsillometes's article have mentioned that no wrongful death law suit against taser manufacturers has ever been successful and that most of those deaths were attributed to other causes such as drug use etc.

Although I have never personally used a taser on anyone, several experiences that I had as a volunteer patrolman for the College Station, Texas, Police Department have convinced me that in the hands of officers trained to use them, tasers have made police work safer for the police, the community and the individuals the police have to deal with.If Dr. Katsillometes had done his research properly instead of trying to use emotionalism, I believe he would have come to a similar conclusion.