Ideally neighboring municipal governments should work together to find solutions to shared problems. However, on some occasions there may be times when reasonable educated people have differing opinions. In a perfect world these opinions are respected and can be discussed in a civil dialogue.

This ideal has fallen apart though as Lehi has pushed its agenda for a different option for the Mountain View Corridor. Saratoga Springs sent a Letter to all residents of Lehi, Saratoga and Eagle Mountain, voicing support for UDOT’s preferred alignment and opposition to Lehi’s proposal. Following that letter, Lehi has now, out of spite, decided to punish Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain by making it much more expensive to use any Lehi sponsored services, including the library and recreation facilities.

Lehi’s petty actions are simply silly and vindictive. Perhaps, sharing in the spirit of nastiness Lehi is fostering, all Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain residents should boycott Lehi shops and retailers. Such a boycott would be just as silly and have as little to do with the real issue as Lehi’s actions. Can’t we all just get along?

The cities in north Utah County need to work together to solve the problems we collectively face. If Lehi city honestly does not want non-residents using their Legacy Center, that’s fine. But to use this as some sort of punishment for not endorsing them on an issue is stupid and petty.

Grow up!

The Schutzhund USA blog posted this picture back in august. It reminded my of how much fun it has been to see the interactions between Evan and Charlie.

Last week Jenn’s parents were up for thanksgiving and we were looking at something on my laptop. Bodo had his leg up on the couch next to where Charlie was laying. Up crawled Evan, who began playing peek-a-boo with Charlie. First Evan would hide his face behind Bodo’s leg, and then he would poke his head out, look at Charlie, and giggle. It was one of the funniest things I have seen. Evan must have done it four or five times before we all distracted him by our laughter.

No doubt, having dogs and small kids around each other is not easy. It sure can be fun though!

Mike Huckabee gets the honor of having the next funniest presidential commercial so far. While it still doesn’t top Bill Richardson’s ads, this commercial with Chuck Norris is awesome! No matter whether you like or dislike Huckabee’s policy positions you have to admit he is the most entertaining candidate in the field. He is always cracking jokes, but unlike most of the other candidates, his are actually pretty funny. Humor is something that is sorely lacking in these campaigns, especially with the Daily Show out of commission.

One of the toys I have wanted to get for a long time is a small motorcycle for tooling around on. We live in the perfect area for one with a trail right behind our yard and all of Lake Mountain to explore.

Back in the 60’s and 70’s Honda made a line of bikes that was targeted at hunters and fishermen who wanted to get into the back country. They made extremely sturdy and reliable bikes. With a top speed of 55 MPH these bike could be ridden on the road, but they were designed for trails. They are not really a dirt bike though, and should not be ridden hard like a dirt bike would be. Weightless Dog has a great site devoted to these bikes. Check it out at ct90.net.

These bikes are exactly what I have been looking for. I have no desire to buy a true dirt bike designed for speed and hard riding, what I want is a little bike that I can ride around on and get up into the hills with. An added bonus are that these bikes, though 40+ years old, are workhorses and are inexpensive as well. They seem to range in price for $400 to $1400 depending on the condition of the bike.

Jennifer took some pictures of our Cutiepie a couple of days ago while she was cleaning.  I thought they were great pictures.  Check them out at her Blog: Kleine Barclay.

So I thought Evan looked cute today in his red tracker shirt, so I grabed the camera and snapped a few pictures. We’ve been busy cleaning the house before Grandma and Grandpa Balke come for Thanksgiving. Evan’s such a tropper!

It never fails that before every election a multitude of online surveys will pop-up claiming that they can tell you which candidate aligns most closely with your personal beliefs. In most cases they are extremely inaccurate at picking a candidate you really do/would support. This is because these surveys ask very generic questions and give a few one line answers. Based on that and on the “importance” you rate to each question, the survey matches you to a candidate.

The problem is national policy is very complicated and nuanced. A simple answer really is not always the best answer, but that is what we nearly always try to push our candidates to give, and it is what these surveys force you to choose.

Recently I tried the USA Today version of a candidate survey. This one was one seemed better than most at giving unbiased questions, and returning an answer that seems fairly close to reality (at least for me).

Hey, give it a shot. It only takes a minute, just take the answer it gives with a grain of salt.

Here are my results, let me know what you get.

Apparently Mitt Romney has been a member of the Mormon Church for only six years. Or may be only active for six years? It is not entirely clear based upon the strange title for a video on the New York Times website about Romney’s involvement with the church as a young man.

The title of the video is “Mitt Romney’s Six Years in the Mormon Church”, but the video is actually about Romney’s two years volunteering as a missionary in France, and the following four years going to school at BYU. The video is really very interesting, but the title is totally misleading.

One of Romney’s biggest problems is that the media do not understand his faith, and act as though they know what they are talking about when “explaining” it. This only hurts Romney because they inevitably get it wrong.

To the NY Times, and all the media for that matter: if you’re going to do a story on Romney’s faith at least get your facts straight first.