Some new mods in the lineup… and I made a few of them! 🙂

1. 1.8.6 Unofficial Hotfix Mod https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3274932837
2. Community Mod Framework https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3385002128
3. Clear sky https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2926002119
4. Modern Political Map – Terrain Exterminator https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3011614285
5. Global Stats (GDP and POP) https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3312478537
6. More Informative Panel Tooltips https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3132089695
7. GDP Plotline Plus https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3190466673
8. Visible Goods Shortage https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3273620528
9. Better Savegame Delete-Button https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3041508165
10. Extra Topbar Info https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2888391145
11. PriceTag https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3193744343
12. GDP Ownership Display https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3290552216
13. Choose Map Color https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3136536603
14. Famous infamy https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2891239044
15. Irregular Nerf https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3083546609
16. Rarer Powerful IGs https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2886562127
17. Boxers Rebellion Fixed https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3089824334
18. Defensive Recapture Nerfed https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3090109247
19. Cold Water Ports https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2997299912
20. Better Natural Harbor https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2883344939
21. Sweet Sweet Sweet Victory https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3114096597
22. Welfare Payments Fixed https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2884595570
23. Upgradable Everything https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3092636193
24. Sink And Stay Sunk https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3083588942
25. Military Wages Also Impact Prestige from Navy https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3130358138
26. Military PM AI Fix [Still needed in 1.8] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3089785538
27. Double Incorporation Speed https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2882947823
28. Investment Rights Last Longer https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3275997824
29. Fixed Gov Thoroughput https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3275025336
30. Less Productive Subsistence https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3289745374
31. Pop Demand Tweak https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2882860545
32. Better Decrees https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2895956555
33. Law & Authority https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3114281747
34. Liberate Country As Subject https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3241445760
35. Culture in Shackles https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3241049247
36. Kuromi’s AI https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3227982912
37. [1.7] Recruit 5 Commanders https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3291477179
38. Know When to Hold ‘Em https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2886364566
39. Battle of the Alamo https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3085410410
40. Ban Peasant Dividend https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3297054605
41. Smarter AI law enactment https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3305036532
42. later African colonization https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3167110827
43. Better Jobseekers https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3178382287
44. Expanded Production Menu https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3322536687
45. Make My Railway Profitable Again! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3110785319
46. Industry Realism https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3214935635
47. Political & Economic Changes https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2980730952
48. Industry Realism + PEC Compatch https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3241308181
49. The Great Revision Series: Production & Trade [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3324558564
50. The Great Revision Series: New Taxation System [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3452303324
51. Hail, Columbia! – United States Flavor Pack https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3199730217 (If using with PEC, turn OFF two-party system in PEC in game rules)
52. Greece, Byzantium, & the Balkans Flavor https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3384997867
53. The Great Revision Series: The Great German Unification [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3336964965
54. The Great Revision Series: Leadership & Politicians [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3339491017
55. The Great Revision Series: Better Politics [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3339803194
56. The Great Revision Series: The Great Italian Unification [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3349424582
57. The Great Revision Series: Colonial Resettlement [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3401560153
58. Naval Battle Size Fixed https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3365573515
59. More Icons For Different Orders https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3306581818
60. 100% government dividends efficiency https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3275899975
61. Colonisation Speed Fix https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3374496556
62. Law Enactment Unlocker https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3374794139
63. Customize Formation+ [1.8] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3375453915
64. Swift Reform 2.0 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3362054958
65. Economy Jumpstarter https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3397332646
66. Expanded Tech Mod https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3392932072
67. Power Blocs Expanded https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3387651487
68. Matter of Hungary Fix https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3376200701
69. Morgenröte – Dawn of Flavor https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2889925770
70. We Need More Transportation! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3100585946
71. Grey’s Smarter Private Construction https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3115017647
72. Grey’s Urban Synergy Unleashed https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3371689443
73. MMRPA & Morgenröte Compatch https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3174785745
74. USU + Morgenrote Compatch https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3371690718
75. Industry Realism + Urban Synergy + Morgenrote Compatch https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3407382294
76. The Lepsius Map https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3412374417
77. Pop Demand Tweak & Morgenrote Compatch https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3327802395
78. Assorted Migration Fixes https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3386043484
79. Save your CPU https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2889288063
80. Statistics https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3429587193
81. The Great Revision Series: Migration Agreement [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3435081655
82. The Great Revision Series: AI’s Diplomatic plays [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3435081825
83. Australia & New Zealand Flavor Pack https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2939278238
84. ANZFP + Morgenröte Compatibility Patch https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3161929955
85. Austroplosion – Dissolution of Austria-Hungary https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3284139309
86. Less Border Gore – Claim Colonial States https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3395583198
87. Pre-Existing Claims https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3447812422
88. Losing My Religion https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3448052226
89. Many Obsessions https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3448084498
90. More People More Problems https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3449863781

This is the updated list, for those who care about Victoria 3. 🙂

THE MODLIST

1. 1.8.6 Unofficial Hotfix Mod https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3274932837
2. Community Mod Framework https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3385002128
3. Clear sky https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2926002119
4. Modern Political Map – Terrain Exterminator https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3011614285
5. Global Stats (GDP and POP) https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3312478537
6. More Informative Panel Tooltips https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3132089695
7. GDP Plotline Plus https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3190466673
8. Visible Goods Shortage https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3273620528
9. Better Savegame Delete-Button https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3041508165
10. Extra Topbar Info https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2888391145
11. PriceTag https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3193744343
12. GDP Ownership Display https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3290552216
13. Choose Map Color https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3136536603
14. Famous infamy https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2891239044
15. Irregular Nerf https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3083546609
16. Rarer Powerful IGs https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2886562127
17. Boxers Rebellion Fixed https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3089824334
18. Defensive Recapture Nerfed https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3090109247
19. Cold Water Ports https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2997299912
20. Better Natural Harbor https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2883344939
21. Sweet Sweet Sweet Victory https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3114096597
22. Welfare Payments Fixed https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2884595570
23. Upgradable Everything https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3092636193
24. Sink And Stay Sunk https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3083588942
25. Military Wages Also Impact Prestige from Navy https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3130358138
26. Military PM AI Fix [Still needed in 1.8] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3089785538
27. Double Incorporation Speed https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2882947823
28. Investment Rights Last Longer https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3275997824
29. Fixed Gov Thoroughput https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3275025336
30. Less Productive Subsistence https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3289745374
31. Pop Demand Tweak https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2882860545
32. Better Decrees https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2895956555
33. Law & Authority https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3114281747
34. Liberate Country As Subject https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3241445760
35. Culture in Shackles https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3241049247
36. Kuromi’s AI https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3227982912
37. [1.7] Recruit 5 Commanders https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3291477179
38. Know When to Hold ‘Em https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2886364566
39. Battle of the Alamo https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3085410410
40. Ban Peasant Dividend https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3297054605
41. Smarter AI law enactment https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3305036532
42. later African colonization https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3167110827
43. Better Jobseekers https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3178382287
44. Expanded Production Menu https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3322536687
45. Make My Railway Profitable Again! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3110785319
46. Industry Realism https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3214935635
47. Political & Economic Changes https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2980730952
48. Industry Realism + PEC Compatch https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3241308181
49. The Great Revision Series: Tax Department [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3328056573
50. The Great Revision Series: Production & Trade [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3324558564
51. Hail, Columbia! – United States Flavor Pack https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3199730217 (If using with PEC, turn OFF two-party system in PEC in game rules)
52. Greece, Byzantium, & the Balkans Flavor https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3384997867
53. The Great Revision Series: The Great German Unification [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3336964965
54. The Great Revision Series: Leadership & Politicians [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3339491017
55. The Great Revision Series: Better Politics [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3339803194
56. The Great Revision Series: The Great Italian Unification [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3349424582
57. The Great Revision Series: Colonial Resettlement [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3401560153
58. Naval Battle Size Fixed https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3365573515
59. More Icons For Different Orders https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3306581818
60. 100% government dividends efficiency https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3275899975
61. Colonisation Speed Fix https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3374496556
62. Law Enactment Unlocker https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3374794139
63. Customize Formation+ [1.8] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3375453915
64. Assimilation Rework https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3378862746
65. Swift Reform 2.0 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3362054958
66. Economy Jumpstarter https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3397332646
67. Expanded Tech Mod https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3392932072
68. Power Blocs Expanded https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3387651487
69. Matter of Hungary Fix https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3376200701
70. Anbeeld’s Stockpile Economy https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3249228964
71. Morgenröte – Dawn of Flavor https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2889925770
72. We Need More Transportation! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3100585946
73. Grey’s Smarter Private Construction https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3115017647
74. Grey’s Urban Synergy Unleashed https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3371689443
75. MMRPA & Morgenröte Compatch https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3174785745
76. USU + Morgenrote Compatch https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3371690718
77. Industry Realism + Urban Synergy + Morgenrote Compatch https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3407382294
78. The Lepsius Map https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3412374417
79. Pop Demand Tweak & Morgenrote Compatch https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3327802395
80. Assorted Migration Fixes https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3386043484
81. Syncretic Cultures https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2952980917
82. Save your CPU https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2889288063
83. Statistics https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3429587193
84. The Great Revision Series: Migration Agreement [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3435081655
85. The Great Revision Series: AI’s Diplomatic plays [1.8.6] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3435081825
86. Australia & New Zealand Flavor Pack https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2939278238
87. ANZFP + Morgenröte Compatibility Patch https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3161929955

If any of you need help borrowing money, I know a Trigonometry teacher who’s willing to cosine.

Also, I found a great old Three Stooges short where they play math professors. Of course, it ends with a pi fight.

A difficult conversation…
The rich man lied to you
He made stuff up
Chanted it
Now you think it is real
It is just a fever dream
He becomes richer
Because of hatreds
He created to exploit
A sorcerer, twisting minds
Promising wealth untold
If you let him bite your neck
And you let him bite, felt your life drain
And believed when he blamed
Someone else
For your weakness and poverty
Chanting on the spell
The fever dream
Your soul being transferred to a vault
Through a series of transactions
Your signature
Authorized the fine print
But I want to love, I want to heal.
I want to reverse that flow
Reclaim and restore
And so, the difficult conversation…
He doesn’t really love you
He’s cheating on you
The betrayal will crush your soul,
But it’s preferable to losing it entirely
The master you serve
Fights the master you should serve
The difficult conversation…

It’s been 10 years since I left teaching and came back to IT. While I still miss working with kids, in no way at all do I miss dealing with mismanagement and panic-level attentions to testing. And while I don’t have vacation like I used to, I do get to work from home. In a word, I’m happy.

I’m always thankful for the lives I’ve had connect with mine. Those are riches beyond measure. But I’m also thankful for the ability to walk away from a situation that was heading into the weeds, reboot myself, and head towards something that was so much better for me. I’ve had employer changes in the last 10 years, but I’ve stayed much longer at each employer than I did in my first run in IT. When I was doing this from 1995-2002, I had 5 employers in those 7 years, with varying levels of happiness and security with each. This time around, I’ve had 3 employers and am very happy where I am, and security in my role is something I have control over to a great extent.

What does the future hold for me? Probably more IT. 🙂

“Happy New Year” – once upon a time, we all waited for March 25th to say that. Before that, Christmas Day was used as a new year’s day. In England and its empire, it wasn’t until 1752 that New Year’s Day was fixed on January first by an act of Parliament. Should you travel to other parts of the world, you will see different days chosen for a New Year’s Day. But one thing is clear, we humans appreciate cycles of time, and that reveals our connection to Heavenly Father.

“The course of the Lord is one eternal round.” That phrase is unique to scriptures in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and it occurs five times in our scriptures. The first record of it is in Doctrine and Covenants section 3, as Heavenly Father counseled Joseph after the loss of the first 116 pages of the Book of Mormon translation.

1 The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught.
2 For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round.

We next see it in 1 Nephi 10, as Nephi reckons with the prophecies of his father:

17 And it came to pass after I, Nephi, having heard all the words of my father, concerning the things which he saw in a vision, and also the things which he spake by the power of the Holy Ghost, which power he received by faith on the Son of God—and the Son of God was the Messiah who should come—I, Nephi, was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him, as well in times of old as in the time that he should manifest himself unto the children of men.
18 For he is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and the way is prepared for all men from the foundation of the world, if it so be that they repent and come unto him.
19 For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round.

Alma has two references: Chapter 7, as Alma speaks to the righteous people of Gideon about the coming of Jesus Christ, the Savior:

19 For I perceive that ye are in the paths of righteousness; I perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I perceive that ye are making his paths straight.
20 I perceive that it has been made known unto you, by the testimony of his word, that he cannot walk in crooked paths; neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither hath he a shadow of turning from the right to the left, or from that which is right to that which is wrong; therefore, his course is one eternal round.

In Alma 37, it appears in Alma’s counsel to his son Helaman, as he entrusts the sacred records to him. Alma asks the question, “why were these records preserved?” and answers with:

12 And it may suffice if I only say they are preserved for a wise purpose, which purpose is known unto God; for he doth counsel in wisdom over all his works, and his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round.

Our last reference came in December of 1830, in a revelation about how the work of the Lord was to be done:

1 Listen to the voice of the Lord your God, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, whose course is one eternal round, the same today as yesterday, and forever.
2 I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was crucified for the sins of the world, even as many as will believe on my name, that they may become the sons of God, even one in me as I am one in the Father, as the Father is one in me, that we may be one.

In the Book of Abraham, we read of the governing cycles of the stars, how one rules above the other until we come to the cycle of the star closest to Heavenly Father. And as we take in the vastness of the universe, we must also see the grand rotations and revolutions of things going around each other and spinning on their centers. The spiral arms of our galaxy make their ways around the great gravitational center – our own sun is part of that celestial procession. Planets orbit their stars, moons their planets, and with them, seasons and events occur with regularity.

And if we are to be one with the Father, that means making our course into one eternal round, making a straight, eternal path and not straying from it. We may think of a straight path as one that goes out forever in a certain direction, never to return. But the curves of time and space mean that the straight path will come back to its starting point at the end of time. And what then? It is the eternal round, so there is no stopping on the path: time begins again, and the cycles of the stars begin anew even as creation regenerates itself. Think on that – we are asked to be good people willing to do service for one another in order to prepare us for participating in those grand eternal rounds of creation. If we do not volunteer for service here, if we do not minister actively to each other here, if we do not let our hearts be moved with godly compassion here, of what use are we on the great eternal rounds of the Heavenly Family we aspire to join?

We dwell in untruth if we think that great changes in life are needed only for the demons and devils among us. Great changes are also needed among us, the average sinners that constitute the myriads of human people, the children of our Heavenly Father. He knows us, each of us, and knows when we are striving to be one with Him in doing His work and when we are making up frail excuses to simply watch the world go ’round as others build up the Kingdom of Zion. “Happy New Year” to us in this church is something of a commandment – to make the new year a happy one through our willingness not just to show up at church events, but to make the days of our lives religious events as we tend to the needs of ourselves and others in building faith, repenting, making covenants, keeping covenants, preaching the gospel, redeeming the dead, strengthening the saints, and to serve the poor and needy. Those are the works, designs, and purposes of God. As we do them, we are fulfilling the prophecy that they cannot be frustrated and cannot come to naught. As we do them, we come out of our crooked paths, and make straight our way. As we do them, we become one with Heavenly Father, and make our course one eternal round. Happy New Year, go forth and make it one!

And that brings us to the matter of resolutions. Resolutions are typically a matter of making one’s self better. Let me suggest adding a resolution to better the self by bettering the world around the self. Heavenly Father has one aim, His eternal round of bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of his children. What can we do to join him in that eternal round? Whatever it is, let us resolve to do it!

More important than using inanimate tools to acquire more inanimate things for ourselves would be to use our thoughts, prayers, words, and actions to reach out to, connect to, discuss with, work with living brothers and sisters in the spirit of what Jesus Christ taught us to do with his life and work. We should frame our resolutions in light of how accomplishing them helps us to build up the Kingdom of Zion, to put ourselves in the same order as the planets and the stars, proceeding forward in the eternal round of God’s work. If we resolve to be more fit – let it be that we might live longer to do more of God’s work, starting now. If we resolve to be more financially ordered – let it be that we might be more able to give of what we have to aiding the poor among us. Put a celestial aim at the end of each resolution, make it something greater than the self, and in pursuing the larger goal, the smaller one will fall into place.

Like babies learning how to walk, we often stumble as we try to follow in the footsteps of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. But they do not scold us and tell us to give it up, to make way for someone with better talents. They tell us to get up, be proud of the progress we’ve made, and to keep trying, to never give up. This life is for us to learn how to live not by our own rules, but in harmony with the rules of love, compassion, peace, hope, faith, and charity. The commandments are not harsh rules made to set us up for failure. They are important instructions about how to survive, how to keep our souls intact, given to us by a loving heavenly parent who sees what future is in front of us. If we forget to keep them or willfully disobey, that same, loving, heavenly parent is ready to forgive us if we become truly sorry for what we did wrong so that we walk more carefully, that we turn neither to the left or the right, but keep the straight path of the eternal round.

The work and designs of God will not be frustrated – so let us move in harmony with them. When we diligently seek the path to follow, we will find it – so let us study prayerfully the way to go with our lives. The more we trust in Jesus Christ, the more sure our steps on His path. There is great wisdom in noting the cycles of time we exist in and in making them sacred. We sanctify our weeks with the Sabbath Day: we sanctify our hours with prayers. We can sanctify our months with tithing and acts of service and temple attendance. We can sanctify our years with righteous resolutions. We can sanctify our minutes and seconds with acts of service and words of kindness. We can sanctify our decades with steady friendships and long-lasting forgiveness. In doing all those, we hallow out our lives that we spend on a spinning globe with a moon going around it as we travel around a sun that proceeds around the center of the galaxy that itself is bound on a path ordered by Heavenly Father, whose course is one eternal round. The cycles of time remind us all of who we are, children of a Father who wants us one day to be able to do the same as He has done, so let us rejoice in knowing who we are and what we should do with our time in each new year that comes to us, by the grace of our loving Heavenly Father.

I came home from travel a few days ago. I was feeling pretty sick and though I had credited the sniffles I had to allergies, a slight fever I’d had the night before made me think it was possibly a bad cold, potentially the flu. But my wife told me to take a COVID test and it came back positive. So I got COVID-19 in 2022.

The strange thing is that this run of COVID is very much like a sickness I had back in March of 2020, but tested negative for COVID then. So did that test in 2020 have a false positive? Did I have a strain that the test then couldn’t detect? Was it all part of a massive government disinformation plot? Whoa, there… that last one is a bit of a jump, isn’t it? Probably a false positive or a strain we didn’t know how to check for.

As it was, the onset of my illness in March of 2020 was brutal. For me, it hit hardest in my GI system. After that, I had congestion develop and a shallow, dry, annoying cough if I spoke too much. I felt tired and had dizzyness.

September 2022 saw me with symptoms that came on much more mutedly – thankful for that – but still echo what I had in March of 2020. I had some GI trouble, but nothing as dramatic as March 2020. Everything else is pretty much the same.

I had no vaccinations in 2020. In 2022, I had had a full set of initial vaccinations plus two boosters, with the last one in April, about five months ago. But the vaccinations themselves aren’t as effective in preventing the current strains, although I’m happy to credit them for making those initial symptoms less severe. Very happy for that. I’ve got no shortness of breath or other indicators of something more severe happening, and I’m very thankful for that, as well.

There’s a line from a Marx Brothers movie in which Groucho plays a doctor. Someone questions his experience and Groucho declares he was involved in the influenza epidemic. When his detractor asked what he did, Groucho said, “I got the flu!” Well, along the same lines, I was involved in the COVID pandemic… I got COVID. 🙂 For me, it’s nothing serious in terms of symptoms, but it’s also something to keep an eye on. It’s a new disease and there is still much to learn about it. In my case, it’s mild enough to treat with OTC medications and I’m fine with that. I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to go out and about some time next week. Until then, I keep an eye on my work email and the other eye on a game, YouTube, or a streamed show.

I have to fly to and from my home office pretty regularly. Being a tall guy, I like seats with extra legroom so I don’t get crushed into tiny pieces. Those seats are either in the front of coach or on the exit row seats. I like to get aisle or window before I take a middle seat and overall, I favor the forward seats.

I also walk with a cane because I have balance issues on uneven ground or if I stand in an area for a long period of time, like over 15 minutes of standing in a go will be really hard on me. I can walk quickly and have no issues lifting or doing short bursts of high activity in a small space, such as if, oh I don’t know… had to assist in an exit row.

So one day, I’m going to sit in an exit row because the window seat was there and not further forward. The gate attendant notices that I’m in an exit row and I have a cane. He jumps to an assumption and questions if I can properly handle exit row duties. I assured him that I could, but he was still on the fence about it. He shrugged it off finally and left it a matter for the flight attendants to adjudicate.

That made me want to know more about how exit rows work.

That led to a search for any documentation on airplane evacuations and, surprisingly, there is hardly anything on the subject. What there is gave me a fascinating read: https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-studies/Documents/SS0001.pdf

Critical to exit row functionality is the ability to judge whether or not a running engine, fire, or debris makes the exit safe. Right up with that is the ability to follow instructions from the flight attendants on whether it is a debarkation – where all passengers leave via the front and rear exits – or an evacuation, where wing exits are involved. Flight attendants are also supposed to be in communication with the flight crew so that they can coordinate the safest debarkation or evacuation possible. Neither of these criteria are assessed or enforced. There was one incident, for example, where 5 of the 6 persons in an exit row were either too frail to operate the door – they were over 70 – and another three did not speak English well, which was the language the flight attendants were using to direct the evacuation.

Instead, the primary aim in filling those seats is monetary, for the airline. The seats cost more and those who buy them are placing their comfort above other concerns. I confess that I buy them with comfort in mind, but always with the intention to fully discharge my duties as an observant exit row passenger. Now that I’ve read the linked document, I feel even more prepared and committed to my future as a conscientious exit row passenger.

But there’s still that monetary matter. Seats have shrunk over the years and there have been little or no studies of the impact of tightly-packed seats and narrower aisles on safety. We have opinions from the NTSB and FAA OIG that studies are needed and that they suspect passengers and crew are less safe with denser seating in play. Safety tests on these planes we fly were often done long ago and with fewer occupants and wider arrangements than what we have now. We need to know if we are now less safe because of decisions made to change the plane configuration without testing it. I have to ask, where’s the priority, here, money or safety?

Flight crew safety is another matter – sometimes, those planes are being delayed because the captain and his crew are trying to get something to eat. First class eats better than the flight crew. They get worked to the maximum on their shifts and permitted rest breaks as law and regulation demand. I wish it was otherwise. Something in me wants a fresher, better rested crew in charge of putting me into the air and back on the ground safely.

Putting the money issue back into play, alcohol is freely served to exit row passengers. Some expect it because a complimentary alcoholic beverage goes with the seat class. There have been exit row passengers who consume enough alcohol to the impairment of their ability to clearly reason, and yet, there they are, with passenger safety in their hands. I’m not comfortable with that. Personally, I do not drink alcohol, so I feel even more strongly about my capability to function in an emergency as an exit row passenger.

Which means, next time a gate attendant looks at my cane and questions my exit row assignment, I’ll be able to plainly lay out my case. I won’t need to be difficult or preachy about it, just state my case plainly and honestly. Then I make the suggestion of having exit row passengers pledge to not consume alcohol and pass a limited language test in which they respond correctly to phrases such as “throw the door on the wing after you remove it.” If they’re really concerned with safety – and the man looking at my cane was concerned, and I commend him for that – they’ll add those to the visual scanning for physical capability. They’ll also add a verbal briefing from the flight crew on operating the exits, as that makes the exit row passengers better-off at handling emergencies. If they’re not concerned with safety, then there’s no need to apply any sort of discriminatory test to passengers in the economy plus seats that happen to be next to wing exits.

Myself, I can operate the exits better than ever before, now that I’ve read up on the topic. You want a passenger like me in your exit row, I can guarantee that.