Matthew Griffith's Blog

KR Football 2008

matt — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:03:21 GMT

I had the privilege and opportunity to coach at Kentridge High School (my alma mater) again this year. What an amazing and exciting time I had, very surreal. I can remember the many fun times that I had as a player and the traditions that are carried on with the current teams that I was a part of 11 years ago. Such as the towel throwing countdown where Coach Dacus would grab a towel and stand up on a bench and get us all worked up over that nights win (this only happened when we won, which was most of the time when I played). He would ask us “how many did we score?!?!?!?!”, we then would shout out the points. He then would swing the towel around his head that many times. When I played he would always complain of his arm getting tired after every game. That was because the team that I played on score the most points of any team in Kentridge’s 40 year history. In quite a few of the games I would find myself sitting on the bench in the third quarter because we would be up 42-0. It was nice to have that break but a part of me always wanted to continue to beating. This year was a special year as I stated previously this is the 40th year that Kentridge football has been around. During the homecoming game they had players from the State championship team in 1973 come and talk to the players about the traditions of Kentridge football. They had the very first coach of the very first team in 1968 come and talk to the kids as well. What an honor to be in the presence of such great players and coach. My team set all the records but “the boys” from 1973 delivered a state championship, there is something to be said about that. It was a great night even though we lost a very close battle to Kentwood, our cross town rivals. One thing I will always cherish as I continue my coaching career is the relationships I gain with the players that I coach. I always have cherished the relationships that I had with my fellow teammates and will cherish the relationships I’ve gained while coaching, with the players as well as the coaches. One of the things that has really stood out to us as a coaching staff this year is we have really discovered our identity as an offense. At the beginning of the year the plan was to run a spread offense, however those plans were foiled as the season went on and our passing game just wasn’t as effective as we’d like it to be. The spread offense requires a very good passing attack which we didn’t have. We have since then moved to the “I” formation where we run a lot more. We will continue to pass and try to keep the balance but our boys up front are very strong and to not take advantage of that driving force is a mistake. We hope to continue this new identity into the off-season as well as next season. I look forward to it.

Tonight is our last game in what my Dad would call a “kiss your sister” game. We play the boys from Spanaway Lake HS. As long as we come to play we will deliver another win and end our season at 6-4. Here’s a few pictures from this season of yours truly that I liked. :-)

(The stadium that we play at is called “French Field”. It has been there since before my brother Kent played at Kentridge back in the 80’s. It’s a great atmosphere to play a game in especially when it’s packed!)

(This is at two-a-days…notice me in the background paying close attention to what the o-line is doing.)

(Picture day, look at me trying to be all tough looking)

(A friend of mine said I look like Mike Holmgren in this pic, if I was only as good of a coach as him. LOL)

(This is one of my favorite pictures of the year. I was given a headset so I could talk to Coach Dacus up in the booth and also listen to what offensive plays we are calling, some of the conversations on the headset were very entertaining to say the least)

(James Eastman, Steve Fenton, Me. James and Steve are two of my teammates from our 1996/97 team. Steve was our go to reciever that set all kinds of records. James was the other dominant force on the O-line and D-line, we were referred to as the “twin towers”. We are working on getting most of the 96/97 team to the homecoming next year. If we can pull that off it would be sweet!)

One of the many reasons I decided to start coaching is because of my brother Kent. I wanted to continue to fulfill the dream that he had of coaching. He coached for a few years at High Schools in Utah as well as younger teams. I can always remember Kent talking about the dream of coaching and how fun he was having with it. I want to continue to live that dream for him. Each night I step out on the field to participate in a game I always have a few short moments where I think of my older brother and ask myself a few questions. “I wonder what he thinks of me coaching at KR?”. “I wonder what plays he thinks we should be calling?”. “I sure wish I could ask him some questions about our game strategy tonight.” As I think about these different things I often have the thought that he is up there bragging about his little brother coaching football. I always looked up to him as what I wanted to become, he played college football, I followed his footsteps and played college football. He coached, I coached. I always was proud of the things he accomplished and in the last few years of his life he explained to me how he was proud of the things I had accomplished. I think tonight I’m going to write his football number on my shoes as a tribute to his legacy. I love football! I love this game!

How does this sound

matt — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:54:38 GMT

My Dad passed along this email to me. What a great idea! Screw AIG and those other idiots involved in this “financial meltdown”!

GREAT IDEA!!!!

I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.

Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a

We Deserve It Dividend.

To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000

bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.

Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man,

woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at

adults 18 an up..

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals

$425,000.00.

My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve

It Dividend.

Of course, it would NOT be tax free.

So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.

Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.

That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.

But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their

pocket.

A husband and wife has $595,000.00.

What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your

family?

Pay off your mortgage . . . . . . . .housing crisis solved.

Repay college loans . . . . . . . . .. what a great boost to new grads

Put away money for college . . . . . . . . . .it'll be there

Save in a bank . . . . . . . . . . . create money to loan to

entrepreneurs.

Buy a new car . . . . . . . . . . . create jobs

Invest in the market . . . . . . . . . . ..capital drives growth

Pay for your parents medical insurance . . . . . . . . .

health care improves

Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the

folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company

that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our

Armed Forces.

If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do

it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( vote buy ) economic

incentive that is being

proposed by one of our candidates for President.

If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, lets bail out every

adult U S Citizen 18+!

As for AIG liquidate it.

Sell off its parts.

Let American General go back to being American General.

Sell off the real estate.

Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it

up.

Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't.

Sure it's a crazy idea that can never work.

But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!

How do you spell Economic Boom?

I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85

Billion We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in

Washington DC.

And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion

because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.

Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

Kindest personal regards,

Birk

T. J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic

PS: Feel free to pass this along to your pals as it's either

good for a laugh or a tear or a very sobering thought on how to best use $85

Billion!!

700 billion mistakes

matt — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:00:22 GMT

I’m the kind of guy that focuses on his family, his job, and his football coaching. I don’t pay much attention to the news and what the idiots on wall street are doing. However the $700 billion dollar bailout by the government got me paying more attention to the issue at hand. I just wanted to post a few thoughts/feelings that I had about the situation.

I’m the kind of guy who is responsible and pays all his bills on time. Sure I have debt but I understand the ramifications of taking on new payments. I also understand that a person is brain dead to take on a variable mortgage or 2nd mortgage since your interest can change whenever they want it to. Or the person who takes on a second car payment on top of one or two mortgage bills…I’ve seen this happen time and time again…even within my family. I feel that a lot of people in this country are not responsible when it comes to managing their money. With that said I feel that there are many situations in this country where the consumer has no choice but to foreclose on their house, or lose their car, etc. I think a lot of the blame needs to be put on the lenders who seem to have turned into car salesman with their tactics of getting people into mortgages that they can’t afford.

I have a hope here, that this 700 billion dollar bailout will work and help this economy get back on its feet. However, I’m very frustrated that we got in this position in the first place. I’ve been paying all my bills on time, my mortgage is up to date (I have a traditional 30 yr fixed loan). Why should I be punished for companies and consumers irresponsibility?

I also understand the argument that this money should go elsewhere like health care and education, good point. However, what’s more important our economy, health care, education, etc.? Another question that I’d like answered, “is this a scare tactic by the government?” Are they painting an unrealistic picture of our economy? Maybe they are maybe they aren’t. I feel that if our economy becomes strong again we will be able to address the other issues that we face, i.e. health care, education, etc.

What about the war, all the money spent on this war could have been used for this economic disaster. I’m not one to get all political but I think there are different arguments that need to be discussed before making such a rash decision. I do think that the decision can be made within a few weeks. I am very impressed and pleased that both Obama and McCain are going to meet with President Bush and other Congress leaders today to discuss the situation. As it stands right now our economy is what keeps this country going and if this 700 billion dollar solution is the best way to keep this economy a float then I’m for it. I’m just a little frustrated that I have to foot the bill for something that I didn’t help cause. However, I will proudly help out my fellow American’s when called upon. I am in a position with the job that I have and the blessings given to me to help out.

I read this article today that helps explain why the $700 billion makes sense. It points out that we can solve this situation with a bazooka or a BB gun. Where it would take thousands of bb guns to fix the issue and only one bazooka. I’m leaning towards the bazooka due to the risks involved with letting this economy slide closer and closer to recession.

Medal of Honor

matt — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:47:14 GMT

The other night at the Republican National Convention a video was presented about a man who earned a Medal of Honor. I saw this video and had to post it. If anything brings both sides of the political parties together it is the support of our troops. This is a remarkable and touching story. It reminded me of my brother and the amazing things he did just minutes before he was shot and killed at work. It also reminds me of the scripture that states, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13

Honesty is the best policy

matt — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:37:50 GMT

The other day I went to the local oil shop (Grease Monkey) to get my oil changed. I pulled in and was greeted by an employee asking me various things about my car and if I had been in before. This time is was my “beater” truck that I brought in to get serviced. As we got to the computer station inside the building the salesman asked me multiple questions about wether I had various things serviced on my car. The thing I can’t stand about the salesman at oil shops is the constant pressure to get you to purchase extra services. I knew it had been a while since I had some of those services done so I decided it was time to do it. The total came to just under $300.

During the service they noticed that my battery was corroding and leaking a lot from the battery…not good! So I paid the extra 20 or 30 bucks to get them to replace it for me (on top of the cost of the battery which brought it to $90). I’ve replaced enough batteries to know how dirty I would get and I didn’t feel like getting dirty that day. After about 45 minutes of waiting in the lobby they called my name to the desk. They explained the numerous services they performed on my truck. I noticed that there was one thing that they failed to mention when enumerating through the services…the battery replacement.

I was faced with a decision. I could have done one of two things, pay the bill and run or be honest and let them know of the clerical mistake. Having been raised in a good Mormon family and being taught by my parents that “honesty is the best policy” I decided to be honest. I told the annoying pushy salesman of the mistake. Once I told him of the mistake his countenance changed to one of gratitude. He told me “if you would have just left I would have lost my job.” I could tell by the way he said it to me that he really meant it. I could sense a little emotion in how he said it. This example goes to show the affect you can have on other people by simply being honest. Honesty truly is the best policy. I hope that each of you reading this blog post will, when faced with a decision, decide to be honest. I can’t believe all of the dishonesty in the world today. If everyone would simply be honest the world would be a better place.

Football Season 2008

matt — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:02:31 GMT

It’s that time of year again! On Wednesday I attended the very first practice at Kentridge High School (my old school) where I’m volunteer coaching the lineman on the varsity team. I’m stoked to start up coaching again this year. I’ve been more involved this season as I attended spring training and now I’m attending the summer practice getting us ready for Kentlake HS on September 5th. This should be a good year for us, I expect us to make it back to the playoffs, but I believe our competition is better than last year so it will be a tough road to get there.

One thing that I’ve noticed as I’ve come back to football after finishing my career over 6 years ago is that things have changed. The kids have changed, they don’t seem to have as much drive and passion as when I was playing. They don’t seem to have as much intensity either. A good example of how things have changed is the fact that after practice on Wednesday a Sophomore reached into his pocket (we are only in helmets and jerseys so the kids wear shorts) and pulled out a cell phone and started talking to someone! Now this happened after the last drills of the day but before the quick “take a knee” team meeting where the coaches talk for a few minutes about how the practice went. I couldn’t believe it, I was dumbfounded. The next day I spoke to Coach Dacus (he was my line coach when I played 11 years ago). I asked Coach D about the cell phone incident that I saw yesterday. He mentioned that they addressed it in the morning practice and then he said “in my 22 years of coaching I’ve never seen anything like that!” There is nothing more I can say to that then just to say “wow”.

Ty Detmer Sporting Clay Tournament and Charity Dinner

matt — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:14:22 GMT

My Dad sent me this email today mentioning that Ty Detmer spoke to him about organizing a charity event so that he could raise money for the past BYU football players that Ty played with. My brother Kent was one of them. One of the unique/tragic/ironic things about my brothers BYU football team is he along side 3 other BYU football players from his same class have died of tragic deaths. I really appreciate Ty Detmer and his willingness to use his popularity to help these families with the loss of their fathers. Ty was one of the greatest college football quarterbacks of all time. To now see him do something like this is really admirable.

Here is the email my dad sent to me:

This is a note from Ty Detmer and the charity drive he has put together. Ty's Web site is www.regonline.com/tydetmer.
I thought it might be of interest to all of you.

Griff.

I am thrilled to be hosting the first annual Ty Detmer Sporting Clay Tournament and Charity Dinner. The money raised will go
to help support the BYU Athletic Department as well as the Bryan May Memorial Fund and the Kent Griffith Memorial Fund.

I had the honor to play with both Bryan and Kent and look forward to having this event on their behalf.

Both men left this earth too young and my hope is that we can have a fun event and raise some money for

their young families as well as the Athletic Department, which has been so good to me.

I hope you can join us this year for our inaugural event and look forward to many more to come.

Sincerely

Ty Detmer

Frappachino vs. Slurpee

matt — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:12:12 GMT

Tonight after dinner Meag and I took the girls out to get a drink. Since we’ve been in Seattle we have totally spoiled ourselves with the Starbucks Cream Frappachino’s (i.e. a glorified milkshake). They are the tastiest milkshakes…err “fraps” I’ve ever had. They are pricey as well, about $8 every visit (Meag and I get Grande’s and a lot of the times Meag will get a tall).

We used to be Slurpee addicts. There was a 7-11 down the street from us in Orem that we would frequent all the time. They had some of the best/unique Slurpees ever. Meag loved the Coconut Slurpee and there was a Vanilla Slurpee that was “off the hook” too. The beauty about the Slurpee is they are refreshing and cool you down quickly. The down fall of the Slurpee is they can give you brain freezes a lot easier than a “frap” can if you are not careful.

Tonight we decided to go with the Slurpee, mainly because we haven’t had one in over two years. It was nice to only spend $3 for Slurpees.

Tropic Thunder – Ben Stiller has gone too far

matt — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:06:56 GMT

Ben Stiller (comedian for those of you who may not know who he is) has gone too far. Check out these few links below. One point I’d make here is I bet that the movie producers consulted with Black people and others of different ethnicities, people who are fat, etc. about what would offend them but I can almost guarantee you that they didn’t consult with someone who has special needs.

http://www.silive.com/entertainment/tvfilm/index.ssf/2008/08/thats_just_crude.html This article is from a liberal who enjoys comedies and describes that he isn’t offended by the F-word, nudity and other stuff but he describes how the movie crossed the line with the use of the R-word. This goes to show how offensive this movie is.

http://www.patriciaebauer.com/2008/08/02/thunder-disability-react/ This is another link describing what organizations are getting involved to voice their disapproval of this movie.

Meag and I both don’t get why people don’t understand that the R-word is offensive just like the N-word is for African Americans. I’m hoping the bad publicity that this film will receive will help us get the word out about how offensive this word is. Please don’t support this movie by going to the Theatre and watching it or renting it on DVD, Paramount and Ben Stiller don’t deserve your money!

Eight years and counting

matt — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 03:12:34 GMT

On February 20th, 2000 I met the girl of my dreams…Meag! :-) On August 4th, 2000 we got married. This year we will celebrate our 8 years of marriage. I cannot believe how fast it has gone. We are almost at a big milestone of 10 years. I’m not sure if I’ll have enough money saved up for that Hawaii trip that Meag wants to go on for our 10 year anniversary.

A couple of weeks ago we were at Costco shopping for some food and noticed an older couple (probably in their 70’s). The man was almost as tall as me (that’s really tall for a man at that age!) and the woman was about the same height as Meag. They were just walking down the aisles picking out what they needed from Costco. I reflected and pondered for a few seconds about how some day Meag and I will look like that. I have told Meag time and time again “I’m going to continue to get more out of shape over time so you better ‘get some’ while the gettin’ is good!” LOL

I love Meag with all my heart..I always have and always will. I know that’s an obvious statement I just feel the need to say it because it is completely true. Meag is my best friend, my eternal companion. I know she loves me just as much otherwise she wouldn’t put up with all the crap I hand out!

I have never met anyone as patient as she is with children. She has a wonderful gift with children, not just our own. I see it in nursery at church all the time. Kids are drawn to her spirit. They can’t get enough of it. That is something that I’ve always noticed about Meag that stood out to me when we were dating. That was a fantastic sign that she would turn out to be a fantastic mother.

Meagan is the love of my life. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She dazzles me with her smile. She is the greatest mom my kids could ever ask for. I am excited to spend the rest of my existence with her. I love you Meag!

End User Experience

matt — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:57:12 GMT

Time and time again I’ve worked on products whether it was video games or web sites where the people that are in charge of the overall design don’t have the end-user in their best interest for a number of different reasons. One of the common reasons is date driven development. Developing a product that needs to be released on a certain date (especially if it is a tight date) always hurts the end user the most. Mainly because features are removed that help the end user and the experience they have. The best products are the one’s that have the end-user as the main focus. I think Apple does a fantastic job at creating applications that are easy on the eyes. The iPhone is proof that ease of use and a “pretty” user interface always pays big dividends.

I was reading a blog post this morning from a friend of mine that is a designer. He is a fantastic designer and I actually tried to get him on my team but my team didn’t act fast enough and he joined another group. His post today was about logos and the lessons he’s learned about them and the mistakes he’s realized in his years of work. It really made me think about how the designs that come up for my project suck. Check out Brandon’s blog, it’s a good read for anyone even if you aren’t a designer.

Time for a break

matt — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:28:38 GMT

Every Tuesday night I have boy scouts (I’m assistant Scoutmaster) and then I play some basketball at the church with some of the other members of my church and some teenagers who run circles around me. This week was different. Meag had a good morning however when I called as I was coming home she seemed frustrated. She had a hard day dealing with the girls not listening to her. Maddie is a determined little girl and she will sit their and pinch Meag until she bleeds if Meag doesn’t pay attention to her. Usually Maddie only does this when she wants to watch Signing Time. This afternoon was one of those times. Maddie started off by asking Meag if she could watch Signing Time by pinching…that’s not a good idea. Right off the bat Meag is in a bad mood and is determined that Maddie doesn’t deserve to watch Signing Time because of the pinching…who blames her.

With all that said when I got home Meag was in a bad mood and was frustrated with the girls. Meag mentioned that she needed to go to the store to pick up some pectin to make some blueberry jam, yum! I said “great! we’ll come too!” and that’s is when I got “the look”. The “I need a break” look. I then got the novel idea that she call up one of our friends Kim and go get the pectin and a Starbucks as well. After some coercion I was able to get Meag out the door with Kim. I then proceeded to bathe the girls, read stories, say prayers, and put them in bed. This is a true brownie points deal for me, but that is not the way I looked at it tonight. I thought of all the hard work that Meag invests in our family that goes unnoticed. All the cleaning that she does and the involvement she has with the girls especially Maddie’s early intervention. Meag is truly an amazing woman. She deserves more breaks than I give her. I have some work to do.

So to all you husbands out there, take note and give your wives a break…they deserve it!

The ultimate pepper mill

matt — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:24:34 GMT

I know this post may seem silly but I like to post about products that Meagan and I purchase that we are really impressed with. I notice that I am more pleased with products that I purchase that I hear about by referral, granted we didn’t purchase this one by referral from a friend however I am so pleased with this one that I had to share it.

Meagan and I are really into cooking, it is a hobby we love. A little over a week ago our beloved pepper grinder busted and wouldn’t grind any more pepper. I was a little upset because we purchased it about 3 years ago for about $30 which to me was expensive. As I get older I realize that buying the top of the line products is the best way to go, they don’t always have to be the most expensive just the best of the best. I find that going “on the cheap” on items that you purchase will for the most part give you products that disappoint.

With that said Meagan began to search online for a reliable pepper grinder/mill. Meagan found a few pepper mills on Amazon. She found one that I really liked and stood out as an exceptional pepper mill. It is made by Pepper Mill Imports which is a company that builds their pepper mills by hand. According to Pepper Mill Imports web site “the hand made mills were modeled after a brass coffee mill originally used by the Greek army several hundred years ago.” We decided to go with the 8 inch pepper mill chrome and we absolutely love it. It is tall and skinny and you think there is nothing to it but when you pick it up you immediately notice that it is a solid product. You can tell that it is made by hand by the way it’s constructed (i.e. slight imperfections in the metal handle). The pepper that it produces is perfectly ground up every time. With our old grinder I would set it to “fine” and it would inconsistently produce fine and medium grinds. I am very pleased with this new pepper mill and if you are ever in the market for a pepper mill check this one out you won’t be disappointed.

Splish splash

matt — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:34:36 GMT

We give our girls baths almost every night. At the end of bath time both Meag and I try to hurry and grab the towels and pick them up out of the bath before they can start splashing. Once they see that we are going for the hot pink towels they start splashing because they know it drives us crazy.

Last night was particularly hilarious. We had finished bathing the girls and were sitting there letting them play and then they both stood up in the bath (usually a no-no) and Meag and I looked at each other and I whispered “now is a good time”. So I snuck a towel behind my back to Meag so the girls couldn’t see what we were doing. I thought I was being real sneaky. I then grabbed the other towel and stood up. Once that happened it was like magic both girls at the very exact same moment dropped to their bums and started splashing like crazy. It was so funny I couldn’t pick Maddie up, I just kept laughing.

Grillin and Chillin

matt — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:22:27 GMT

If you know me you know that I hate being hot because I sweat like a stuck hog. However, I love food (as you can tell). I look forward to every summer when I can enjoy grilling outside and not worry about getting rained on. I make my own rub and BBQ sauce now (and no I’m not sharing the recipe, I’ve been working on them both for years now) and recently I started cooking baby back pork ribs from Costco. If you want a rib that is full of meat get it from Costco, they are the best by far. Basically what I do is put the rub generously all over the ribs on both sides, because “I hate one sided tasting food!” (Food TV Emril quote) :) I then let them sit overnight, although I’ve put rub on the ribs just an hour or so before I started cooking them and they were good just not as flavorful. I then take them out the next day and place them in the oven at 275 degrees for 3 to 3 1/2 hours (note: the longer the better). After that I place them on the grill (high heat) and baste them with my BBQ sauce flipping them every few minutes basting both sides. Today we celebrated the 4th and ate some ribs with Brett and Kim Nordquist and their family. I’m not bragging or anything (ok just a little), they said the ribs were really good. I can’t tell you how much enjoyment I get out of cooking my ribs for others, especially when they love it. Cooking is one of my passions and I just love it!

(This is a pic of my ribs from one of the last times I cooked them, yum!)

My next adventure will take me to a charcoal grill where I will use wood chips and cook the ribs with smoke to add that extra flavor. I think once I figure that out I will have a rib that tastes as good as the ones in the Memphis in May Barbeque Cooking Contest. :) Maybe then I’ll go online and buy one of these grills! :)

Kylie Paige Griffith

matt — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:46:45 GMT

My brother Jim and his wife Jennie had their baby girl over the weekend. She is 4 lbs. 7 oz. and is 17.5 inches tall. Jimers is a proud pappa. Jennie says he doesn’t want to take off his scrubs! It makes him feel like he is a doctor. LOL. Congrats Jim and Jennie! :-)

Here is a pic of Kylie:

MSN Newsletters Released

matt — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:34:32 GMT

I’ve been working in the Microsoft AdCenter Direct Marketing group as the Test Lead and we have just released our new Web site. This is a huge release for us because the old web site was running code that is 7 years old. There was a lot of work behind the scenes moving data from our legacy system to our new system with a data migration. I feel we can improve on our UI experience for the end user but this is a good start for us. Check it out http://newsletters.msn.com

Moving to HDTV

matt — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:48:49 GMT

I recently purchased an HD LCD TV. I can’t believe the clarity of this TV. The amount of detail in watching movies and such is amazing. I purchased a 42’ Toshiba Regza LCD TV. It has many features that really separate it as a top performing TV. It has a 120 Hz processor with anti-blur technology which prevents images from blurring when the camera spans across like in a sports game or in video games. The salesman demonstrated the differences between a 120Hz and a 60Hz TV and you could really tell a difference in quality. The TV also has a swivel base which for us is a nice to have feature. It allows us to sit at the dining table and watch TV like we were sitting on the couch. I was afraid that the images would wash out as you sit more at an angle but that is not the case at all. The images look the same at any angle which is a real improvement from what these TVs did a few years ago when I first looked at them.

I purchased the TV from Video Only where they claim they have some of the best prices on TVs. They focus mainly on TVs and surround sound systems and not much else. Because of that they have very helpful and knowledgeable salesman. I am a person who cannot stand going into a store and being attacked by the “shark” salesmen. However I felt that the salesman really actually cared about getting me the best TV for my money. He explained the differences between the Toshiba and Samsung. I was initially going to go with the Samsung however after speaking with him he explained the advantages that the Toshiba had over the Samsung. I found this surprising because the Samsung was over $200 more expensive than the Toshiba. I asked him about the Sony TVs (which were 100’s of dollars more expensive) and he said they are overpriced and you get the same performance out of the Samsung or Toshiba TVs. I explained to the salesman that I have an XBOX 360 that I use for gaming and watching DVDs and when I decided on a TV he threw in a $30 HDMI cable so I could use the full 1080p HD functionality with my XBOX 360. I thought that was very cool.

Today I’m waiting for my DirecTV HD service to be installed. I purchased the 200+ channel package with an HD DVR. All the channels that we watch are in HD and I can’t wait to get it. One of the first shows I’ll be watching is the NBA finals. If you don’t have an HDTV and have considered it like I have, you should take the plunge and get one. My TV service is only increased by $10 per month to get HD. So if you are worried about that then don’t be. I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without HD. I feel like I’ve been cheated in some way. LOL

Mothers don't get enough credit

matt — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:28:52 GMT

I've thought back on my childhood and how easy I had it because I had a mother that did everything. She was truly a super mom. I think about all the crap that she had to put up with from 4 large boys in the house. I can't tell you how many phones she's broken over our hands because she's threatened to call our dad and we hung up the phone on the wall side or how many wooden spoons she's broken over our butts. She's a wonderful mom and has never received enough credit for the wonderful job that she's done. I hope that my daughters will realize the hard work and effort that Meag puts into keeping our house in order. I hope that they will get off their rears and help when asked and that Meag won't have to use me as a threat. The following comic strip truly describes what my bro's and I were like:

Learning good habits early in life

matt — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:06:14 GMT

We have a nightly routine of eating dinner, then chilling out on the couch for about 30 minutes watching a show on the Food Network while the girls play with their toys then we head upstairs for bath time, scripture study, story time, and prayers. As we were heading upstairs Meag had already started up the stairs with Maddie but Macy started walking back into the other room. She had some toys in her hands. I called for her a few times but she wasn't listening to me. I got frustrated and told Meag. She leaned over the edge of the stairs and noticed that Macy was putting her toys away before she wanted to go upstairs. It's amazing that a 15 month old realizes by herself that she needs to put the toys away before she goes upstairs and gets ready for bed. I thank my wife for teaching my girls at such a young age. I can't wait for the day when my daughters will be waiting on me hand and foot. LOL! Just kidding.

Cutting QA Resources or Budgets

matt — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:56:07 GMT

Time and time again I've heard the argument that the QA team for a given software product team is expendable. I completely disagree, if you want a quality product you need a full QA team of 1:1 Testers to Developers or more. This will ensure your product is adequately tested. I've have been a part of teams where we haven't had enough QA Testers and that implies longer test cycles which delays the overall product schedule. This also has impact on the quality of the product because with less QA employees you run the risk of not having enough test coverage across the product. This is a frustrating situation to be in. Sometimes I feel that no one gets it...but Dilbert does. I saw this strip today and had to post about it.

Madison Fish and Macy Uh Oh

matt — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:30:11 GMT

I took some video of Madison and Macy a few weeks back. It shows how smart the girls are getting. Madison can point to words in books now as well as pictures. She can even spell DADDY! :-) Macy has started to say words like Uh Oh and Doh! All credit for their smartness should be given to Meag. She is a wonderful mother and is the perfect mother for our girls! Here is the video:

Live Mesh Tech Preview

matt — Sun, 25 May 2008 20:55:53 GMT

Yesterday I signed up for the Windows Live Mesh Tech Preview. I really like the design and the quick startup time. One of the first things I noticed is that you have 5GB of online storage. You setup a folder on your desktop that synchronizes all files to the cloud which also synchronizes them to all other devices you have setup. I look forward to trying out the mobile options when they become available. I also noticed that you can setup multiple members to either be owners, contributors or just plain viewers. This concept is similar to Groove but from the looks of it seems easier to setup.

(This is the view you see after you login to the web site)

(This is how to add a member, currently Mesh only supports owners and not contributors or viewers.)

When you login to the web site and view the desktop it actually has an icon for a folder that you setup. I double click the folder and up opens what looks like a Windows Vista window. At first I thought it launched an actual folder explorer window but after looking closer it is actually built into the web page. Here's a screen shot:

(This is a view of the "Live Desktop")

Another cool feature in the Tech Preview is the ability to connect remotely to your other machines. I can easily do this by opening my Mesh folder and clicking on the Synchronized Devices section and clicking "Connect to device" next to the device I want to connect to. A window opens (you need to install an ActiveX component to use this feature) and then I'm treated with the login screen of the remote computer and from there I have access to everything on that device. One other nifty feature is I can copy and paste files to that remote computer. This is a paid feature with other services like LogMeIn. Currently the remote desktop experience is a little slow but I assume that is because this is a Tech Preview and assume it will get better when this releases.

(The screen shot on the left is the view of your desktop folder that you setup through mesh which allow easy access to your other devices. The screen shot on the right is the actual view of the remote desktop.)

Overall I love the concept of this product. I've also heard that there will be an open SDK available for developers to create useful add-ons for. I'm really excited about this. I think this is one of the big steps to get Windows more integrated with the whole concept of "cloud computing". I hope that the mobile devices experience is just as good as what I've seen so far.

Would you like some Fry's with that?

matt — Sun, 25 May 2008 20:08:11 GMT

Yesterday was a day full of relaxation and shopping, and Meag of course loves the latter. We started our shopping by traveling to Renton and stopping at Fry's. I can't tell you how much of a love hate relationship I have with that store. I love all the tech that they have but I hate the quality of customer service. I can't stand that I can sit in the motherboard or hard drive section for over 30 minutes by myself looking at products and never be approached by a Fry's rep. WTH?!?! I have experienced this before but never really learned my lesson. I think one of the main problems with Fry's is that they try and have EVERYTHING and the kitchen sink with regards to tech. I would much rather pay a little more and go to either Best Buy or Circuit City. However, next time I decide to go looking for computer parts I will be either buying something online from NewEgg.com or TigerDirect.com or IF I need the part that same day then I would travel to Redmond and buy from ComputerStop.com. I can't stand Fry's and vow to never return again. There I've said it!

Passion

matt — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:04:44 GMT

I grew up in a family where my father worked like a mad man (in some peoples eyes). He was very supportive of us boys and our sports and would make it to most games. One of the things my father taught me that I truly cherish is passion. I come to work and that is exactly what I do work. I don't lolly-gag around the office visiting with people at the pop machine or strolling outside to have a smoke. I come in to work and go 110% all day long. By the time that my day is finished (usually 9 hours plus 2 hour commute drive) I'm exhausted.

Some people in the tech industry feel that if you are not working 16 hour days then you have no passion or no drive for what you are doing. To those people I say, screw off! I can accomplish more in the 9 hours I am at work then most people who work 12 hour days. I have a huge passion for what I do. I love my job and enjoy the education that comes along with working with smart people.

Church Basketball 2008

matt — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 02:50:32 GMT

This year was the first year that I played church basketball since before my mission. I had a blast getting to know everyone on the team. I feel more comfortable around these people at church and feel more welcome as well. I appreciate the friendships that have been created through this experience. We were a good team, we went undefeated in the regular season. We ended up losing two games in the regional playoffs. The second loss was this past Thursday. Next year I believe we will have an even better team. During one of the games Meag took some pictures and I've uploaded them to our web site. Check them out!

Kent's birthday

matt — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:14:17 GMT

Today is Kent's birthday. He would be 41. There is a lot I could say about Kent. I remember back in 1997 right before my mission I traveled to Las Vegas with my mom for Halloween. Kent and I were really big into wrestling (as we always have been). The big match at the Pay-Per-View that weekend was Hogan versus Sting for the WCW World Championship. Kent and I were stoked to watch it. We were so stoked that we dressed up in Hogan and Sting costumes that we (along with my mom's help) made. Here is a picture:

Oh the memories! I remember we went to the church Halloween party that week and scared the crap out of everyone. It was a blast!

Speaking of church that reminds me of the days where all 4 of us boys were at home and Kent would drive us to church every Sunday. There was this street on the way to Church that went over a huge water pipe. The street was paved in such a way that it made a jump. Needless to say Kent would cruise around the corner and jump the old Ford van we had over that jump. I remember it vividly because I'd be in the back freaking out because every time he went over the jump I'd slam my head against the ceiling of the van. Dang, that hurt!

The following picture is of us boys from 1985. We all were into the taco shell haircut.

This next picture is of us after Kent got back from his mission to Germany. I remember that Dave would tell him to stop acting like a prophet! LOL

When Kent and his family lived in Las Vegas I remember when we as a family would go down and visit them. One of the many memories I have with Kent is of eating. Kent loved food, I have a passion for food and have really increased that passion over time as I've developed my cooking skills. My family was a family that the casino's didn't really like. We wouldn't go to the casino's for the gambling or shopping, but we would go for the buffets! I remember when I went down around Christmas time of 1996 and we went to many buffets. I gained 10 pounds the week that we were down there! One day we were crazy enough that we got up and went to a buffet around 7 am and had crab legs! It was an interesting taste to have crab legs for breakfast, I don't think I'll ever do that again. During that time in Vegas we went and toured the Hoover damn. Here are a few pics of that visit:

The house that we grew up in was a tri-level house. We had a large backyard where my mom tried to grow a garden. As we got older and all of us boys were so involved in sports my parents decided to bag the garden idea and put in a sports court. I can't tell you how many times that sports court got used, especially with competitive games between Kent and Dave versus James or Jim and myself. The games I remember the most and had the most fun with were the games where Kent and Dave were past their "prime" but James and I were just finishing up high school and were in great football shape. Kent and Dave would get so frustrated, it was hilarious. They would talk so much smack before getting out on the court and then once we were out there it was lights out for them. I'd cast up ill-advised 3's and James would be there for the rebound and put back (if I missed). Here is a pic of one of the many times we played on the sport court.

Prior to my senior year of high school I attended BYU football camp with James. During that summer James and I spent a lot of time hanging out with Kent and Conners (Kent's best friend). I remember one time we went over to Conners apartment where he had a swimming pool. We went out to have some fun and there was some old guy out there reading a book. This wasn't a good idea for the old guy to be out there. We started "wrastlin'" in the swimming pool and started really goofing around and splashing a lot of water out of the pool. When we all decided to do a cannon ball at the same time, that is when the old man had enough and decided to leave, I can't remember exactly what he said when he left but I knew he was pissed and his book was wet! LOL

(From left to right: Kent, Matt, James, Conners)

Here is another example of how much Kent and I loved wrestling. We were taking nice family pictures out at Hudson photography and we saw some props out back one of which was a empty trash can. Kent got the idea "hey Matt, let me bash you over the head with this trash can!" I agreed (except over the back instead of the head). Here are a few pictures of that:

My family isn't one that takes a lot of family photos but this is the last family photo we took prior to Kent's death. It was at Taelor's baptism.

One of the things I'll always remember about Kent is his ability to tell great stories, many of them are related to football. Kent was so proud of the time he spent as a BYU football player. Here are two BYU football pictures of Kent, one is his portrait photo and the other is the famous photo where he is blocking for the best BYU quarterback in history Ty Detmer.

One of the things I'll always cherish is the opportunity that Meag and I had to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the whole family the Thanksgiving before Kent passed away. These are the last photos that were taken of all four of us boys together with our Dad. When I see this I tear up and think what a great group of men! What a great group of Fathers! (Jim is soon to be a daddy) What a great group of friends! We have had such a brotherly bond that I cannot describe it in words. Of course we've had our disagreements over the years but when it comes down to it any one of us would do anything to help each other out.

Kent will always be remembered for a fun loving brother, son, father, and friend. I still miss him very much and will always miss him. The brotherly love that we all showed toward each other was an awesome thing to experience. Not every brother is as close as us four are. I love you Kent! Can't wait to see you in heaven!

Favre doesn't rule out playing with Pack again

matt — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:58:26 GMT

Is it just the fact that the reporters have nothing to write about so they know they can get something out of Brett Favre by having him question his decision to retire? I don't get it, leave the guy alone. He is one of the top 3 greatest quarterbacks to play the game. Let him leave on a high note. If any of this has to do with Brett Favre really questioning his decision then I would say DON'T DO IT! Favre has had one of the greatest careers in the NFL he shouldn't spoil it by coming back next season and as he put it in the article "flopping".

I remember back when I was playing at BYU I went down with a knee injury. The doctor told me I could play again but that I had to make a decision whether to continue my BYU football career and have a knee replacement when I finished or to hang up my cleats now and move on with my life. At that time in my life it was a very difficult decision to make, sometimes I question my decision but I know I made the right one. I feel that life with a replaced knee at age 30 wouldn't be a good thing. I decided to hang up my cleats and call it a career. My father and my brother Kent were disappointed that I didn't continue my career and the aspirations that they had for me of making it to the NFL. I knew that I would have started the next year at BYU. Knowing that I may have had a shot at the NFL but I didn't want that life. I didn't want the life that my dad and brother envisioned me having.

As I reflect back on that decision I look at how I have changed. After making that decision I really got involved in computers and technology. I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for that knee injury. I believe things happen for a reason and I believe that is why I had the knee problems that I do so that I would be in the situation that I am today. I have the best wife a man could have, beautiful girls, and a great job. What more could I ask for?

I'm glad I made the decision I did and would hope that Brett Favre would decide to not give in to the temptation of going back. If I could say something to Brett Favre about this topic I would say, "Leave it alone, hang up your cleats, you are a legend and you have nothing more to prove."

Favre doesn't rule out playing with Pack again - NFL- nbcsports.msnbc.com

Tagged by Meag

matt — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:23:23 GMT

Meag tagged me to answer some questions about myself. Apparently I'm supposed to pass this along to two people.

10 YEARS AGO:

I was on my mission in Independence Missouri.

5 THINGS ON MY TO DO LIST:

Fix my crappy lawn
Landscape front yard
Get back in shape. Man! Can't believe it's been 7 years since I played ball at BYU.
Continue to tinker with this website (yes I do write the code for this blog, LOL)
Make enough money from my blog to pay for the hosting service that I use.

5 SNACKS THAT I ENJOY:

Anything caramel
Meag's cinnamon rolls
Meag's brownies
Twix
Cucumbers (I know it's weird but Meag's been getting the long skinny ones at Costco and slices them into chip shapes and I can't get enough of them, LOL)

5 PLACES I HAVE LIVED:

Renton, WA
Raytown, MO (mission)
Independence, MO (mission)
Provo, UT
Auburn, WA

WHAT I WOULD DO IF I SUDDENLY BECAME A BILLIONAIRE:

Retire
Pay tithing :-)
Go on a Church Mission with Meag
Buy my dream car (see Meag's post)
Buy a nice set of golf clubs and golf every week.
Donate a lot to charities specifically designed to help people with special needs.
Build Meag's dream house (see Meag's post)

5 JOBS I'VE HAD:

Random grunt jobs like painting houses inside and out and landscape work, etc.
Furniture salesman at Office Max in Orem, UT. I remember getting excited about $0.10 raises! LOL Good times.
SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test) at Indie Built Game Studio in Salt Lake City.
IT Consultant in Utah with Dave my brother.
Test Lead at Microsoft in Redmond.

5 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME:

I make my own dry rub for meats and my own barbeque sauce, and I will not share the recipe. Because someday (when I have enough money, probably after I retire or get that billion dollars) I'd like to go to Memphis and be in the Memphis in May barbeque challenge. :-)
I still watch WWF (now WWE) wrestling. I just watched Wrestlemania 24 last weekend.
I still think about Kent almost everyday and still have a hard time with it.
I coach high school football but have no aspirations to coach in college.
I didn't graduate from college and I have no regrets.

Now that I've answered these questions I'm tagging Brett Nordquist, and My mom. Mom, I know you don't have a blog (I'm working on that) so just add your comments to this post. :-)

Maddie's first finger spell word was...

matt — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:08:43 GMT

Daddy! I love it! Meag called me yesterday on the phone and said this to me. I couldn't believe it. We are hoping it isn't a random thing because we couldn't get her to completely do it again that night. However she knows her alphabets (she misses a few letters). She also knows her numbers from 1 to 10 (with a couple missing sometimes). We can also ask her how to sign a alphabet or number and she will sign it. I cannot believe how much help the signing time videos have been for her. Signing Time recently had a audition for kids ages 1-3. If you won then they would fly the family down to Utah for video taping the kid for a new Signing Time video. We taped Mads the other day. We were afraid it may take a few "takes" to get the right sequence of signs. The requirements were that the child needed to sign 4 of the 7 required signs at least 3-4 times in a video. So we sat down with Mads knowing these requirements and she nailed it the very first time! Here is the video we submitted to Signing Time audition:

We were afraid Mads wouldn't be able to focus because this was right before bed, even after her bedtime routine, but we were wrong. :) I'm so proud of Mads and her learning. Sometimes it seems like she is so determined to get this whole signing time figured out. I see a lot of me in her with regards to work ethic and determination. Traits that I have learned from my parents that are being passed down to my children. I love it!

Windows Mobility Center

matt — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:09:32 GMT

In Windows Vista there is a small little application that helps notebook computers quickly change PC settings while on the go. I find this hidden gem to be very helpful. To open it simply press the Windows Key + X. This will open up a small window where you can adjust volume, power consumption (i.e. Power Saver, High Performance, etc.), Turn on or off WiFi, Connect an external display, access the Sync Center (for pocket pc's), and presentation settings. I mainly find this application helpful for external display, and power consumption settings. I'll fire it up when I head to a meeting if I'm presenting or if I'm going to a long meeting and need to adjust my power consumption. If you've got a notebook give it a whirl.

Speed Up Firefox

matt — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:55:15 GMT

For those of you that use Firefox and want to speed it up here is a quick way of doing just that. I tried it tonight and noticed a difference in load times.

TeraCopy

matt — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 01:58:06 GMT

I have been using the standard Microsoft implementation of copying files for as long as I can remember. Every now and then when I need to copy the same directory multiple times (like in a script) I would use command-line tools like "copy", "xcopy" (both of which are built-in to Windows), or I'd use "robocopy". Lately I found out about a great product that helps to copy files faster from source to destination. TeraCopy is a tool that does just that, and it does a great job. This tool will take over the copying and pasting of files in Windows after you install it. I find that it works really well on XP and Vista. You should give it a whirl!

Zune reset

matt — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 01:53:48 GMT

I have been having trouble tonight trying to get my Zune to sync with my PC. I was able to figure out that pushing the back button and the up button at the same time will reboot the Zune. I have had to do this before with my iPod that I own when I had troubles with it. It's nice to know that this functionality is built-in the Zune. I don't like how I had to spend time trying to figure out how to reboot it. After reboot the Zune syncs just fine.

Sunday breakfast tradition

matt — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 02:35:37 GMT

Nearly every Sunday dinner Meag and I will cook a meal that people usually eat for breakfast. Tonight we cooked the classic meal. Pancakes, eggs, and bacon, with a glass of milk (Meag had water because she doesn't like milk). I put Franks Red Hot sauce on my eggs. The eggs we used were those healthy no-yolk eggs which removes all the cholesterol. For the pancakes we bought a huge bottle of PURE maple syrup. No more of that fake crap. Meag grew up in New England and so she was spoiled with the best maple syrup on the planet. The huge bottle we got is from Costco and costs about $20, but is worth every penny. I look forward to every Sunday dinner meal that we have at our house because I can look forward to a wonderful breakfast!

WGA - Finally

matt — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 04:48:20 GMT

Finally it was announced that the Writers Guild would end their strike. I'm so glad for this because I am really enjoying this season of LOST and cannot wait to see what happens next. It's amazing how much of an affect the writers have on the TV shows that I watch. It's driving me crazy that I will only have 8 episodes of LOST and 6 episodes of Prison Break. I have heard that there will be NO 24 this season! I'm sure that is mostly due to the fact that the writers were on strike. I'm not complaining, I'm sure they deserve what they are striking about (...I don't pay attention to the details) but c'mon! I need my full season of LOST people! LOL :)

Good Routine

matt — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 01:03:18 GMT

Since the new year began Meag and I have decided to change our schedule with our kids. We have found that this new routine brings an increase of spirit in the home and finally for the first time in our marriage we have consistently read scriptures and said prayers every night! I personally have pushed against reading scriptures because we didn't have a routine down. I'm sure Meag and I benefit more from the routine than do our girls. Our girls know what comes after walking up the stairs. Because of the consistency we have had no problems getting our girls to bed. This truly has been a blessing in disguise.

Here is our routine:

Give the girls milk
Walk up the stairs - the girls do the walking and they love it
Have bath time - they love this too!
Get PJ's on
Brush teeth
Read Scriptures
Read bedtime stories
Say Family prayers
Bedtime

If you struggle with scripture study or family prayers as Meag and I have for over 7 years you may find that a simple night time routine will make all the difference.

A thoughtful reply

matt — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 00:29:29 GMT

The other day my father sent me an email titled "2 tough questions". I read the email and thought it was very interesting. However one thing stuck out in the email that didn't sit well with me. Time and time again I hear people refer to people with special needs as "mentally retarded" or the like. You have heard me hop on my soapbox and speak about this word and you know my feelings about it however I wanted to post this reply that I had to my fathers original email because it has some "food for thought".

Here is the "2 tough questions" original email:

2 Tough Questions

Question 1:
If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids already, three
who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she had
syphilis, would you recommend that she have an abortion?
Read the next question before looking at the response for this one.
Question 2:
It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts.
Here are the facts about the three candidates. Who would you vote for?
Candidate A
He associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologist.
He's had two mistresses.
He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.
Candidate B
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon,
used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.
Candidate C
He is a decorated war hero.
He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke,
drinks an occasional beer and never cheated on his wife.
Which of these candidates would be our choice?
Decide first... no peeking, then scroll down for the response.
Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.
And, by the way, on your answer to the abortion question:
If you said YES, you just killed Beethoven.
Pretty interesting isn't it? Makes a person think before judging someone.
Wait till you see the end of this note! Keep reading..
Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember:
Amateurs...built the ark.
Professionals...built the Titanic
And Finally, can you imagine working for a company that
has a little more than 500 employees and has the following statistics:
* 29 have been accused of spousal abuse
* 7 have been arrested for fraud
* 19 have been accused of writing bad checks
* 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
* 3 have done time for assault
* 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
* 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
* 8 have been arrested for shoplifting
* 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
* 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year...

Can you guess which organization this is?
Give up yet?
It's the 535 members of the United States Congress.
The same group that crank out hundreds of new laws each year designed to
keep the rest of us in line.

...and here is my reply

Time to hop on my soapbox. In the first question of my father’s email one of the children is described as “mentally retarded”. I know that this has been an accepted term in the past however I do not believe and will not accept this as an ok term today. I am aware that there are so many touchy feely people out there who complain about being hurt over silly things, however the word “retard” refers to a group of people who are incapable of defending themselves. People use “retard” in disparaging or derogatory ways. Such lines as “you are such a retard” or “that is so retarded” or “I’m so retarded” are completely unacceptable. If I were a betting man I would bet that the majority of you have used or still use those lines in your daily speech. I was guilty of this before my wife and I had our first child.

You will never fully comprehend the impact that the word “retard” has unless you have a child with disabilities. I have a daughter who has Down Syndrome, her name is Madison, she is a beautiful angel. I have come to the conclusion (as has my wife Meag) that it is my responsibility to educate people on how hurtful that word is. Every time I hear that word I cringe, it hurts. You will be surprised as I was to know that the majority of people that use the word “retard” in a disparaging or derogatory way are LDS church members. Of the 100’s of people I work with at Microsoft only one person has said that word before. It’s amazing to me the standards by which members of the LDS church live by and the values that we place in our families and yet the r-word is used so often. I challenge each of you to take a day, week, or month and keep track of how many times you hear the r-word. You will be shocked at the results. I know of many people in my own family who use this word and don’t think anything of it. I feel it is my responsibility to bring them to that realization. I plead with each of you to stop using that word. You hurt parents like me every time you say it but much more importantly you hurt the people with disabilities like my beautiful daughter Madison.

Here is a great blog post written by a woman who is the mother-in-law of a good friend of mine. She used to work with people with disabilities for 22 years. She talks about the “People First Language”.

http://grandmahenke.com/grandma/?p=197

Another good read is on my blog.

http://matt.mattandmeag.com/archives/2007/3/r-word_speech_by_soeren_palumbo.aspx

I hope you all take the time to pay special attention to what you or others around you say for at least a day. You will be amazed at how many times people use the word "retard". It needs to stop!

Al Qaeda use two women with Down Syndrome to blow up 99 people in Baghdad

matt — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 00:20:35 GMT

Tonight my father called me and told me about the two suicide bombers who killed 99 people this weekend in Iraq. I couldn't believe it when he told me they both had Down Syndrome. Just when you thought people in the world couldn't get more evil...it gets worse. I can only imagine these two women were "talked into" doing this disgusting deed. I'm sure they were forced to do it. I have read some blogs that mention that these women may not have Down Syndrome. Either way these Muslim Extremists need to be stopped!

Here is one of the stories I read:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=511678&in_page_id=1811

The Menu for Super Bowl XLII

matt — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 00:07:07 GMT

My brother Dave and his kids came over for the Super Bowl, as well as James and Laurie and their boy Cooper. It was a blast and we had "good eats". I made everything by myself from this menu. Here is the list of what we had to eat:

Salmon Cakes with Creamy Ginger-Sesame Sauce

Ruby River Buffalo Wings

Deviled Eggs

Nordstrom Snickerdoodles

The big hits had to be the Snickerdoodles followed closely by the Buffalo Wings. Dave brought over some Coke which topped off a great meal! The Deviled Eggs and Salmon Cake recipes I got from Food Network's site. The Buffalo Wings are a recipe from Ruby River Steakhouse where my wife used to work in Utah. The Snickerdoodle recipe is from a Nordstrom recipe book. If you want the recipes for the cookies and buffalo wings let me know and I can post them.

Making Memories

matt — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 01:42:10 GMT

Tonight I went through our pictures over the past couple of months and uploaded about 15 different albums to catch us up through December. I love taking pictures of the girls. I'm sure once they are older they will enjoy having so many pictures to look back on. I know that the grandparents love looking at all the photos as well. I'm guessing that Grandma Griffith will be in heaven once she views the pictures that I took of her and Macy, what a cute pair! :) Here are a few of my favorites:

Let me burn you a CD

matt — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 12:29:44 GMT

I was looking through the HP Ad/Magazine that I get on a monthly basis and noticed they just came out with a printer (HP Photosmart C8180 All-in-One) that can burn CD's. I told my wife I can't remember the last time I burnt a CD. She reminded me that I did it back in June! Wow, talk about a technology that came along and that has died off. I never burn CD's because of having a home network. Also having all kinds of ways to send and receive files from people have increased substantially. Here's a list of a few different ways I transfer files to myself or others:

Windows Home Server

This is by far the best way since the server is on my local network, I have access to all my files after I've authenticated myself. It has a very slick ASP.Net UI as well.

Windows Live Skydrive

This service is free and offers 1 GB of storage. I like it because it has a nice user interface. There is also a Windows Live Writer plug-in for it.

Email

It's simple and fast, if I only have to transfer file(s) smaller than 1 MB I will send them in email. A couple of different ways I send email are Microsoft Outlook for work, Windows Live Mail Desktop version for home, and if I'm on a computer that I don't own then I use Windows Live Mail online.

Messenger

If the files that I'm sending are not sensitive and not large then I will send the files through Messenger. I like to use Windows Live Messenger. It's easy, simple design, and straight forward to use.

Christmas Letter 2007

matt — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 17:02:47 GMT

Dear Family and Friends,

I'd like to start this letter off by letting you know that I'm writing this from my Smartphone (I'm such a geek!) while riding in the vanpool that takes me to and from work. Well life has changed for us in a big way this past year. We have a new addition to the family. Macy Savannah Griffith was born in January of this year. She reminds us of one of her cousins Taelor, in that she is an SP! (i.e. “Stinky Princess” for those of you not "in the know"). Macy is a wonderful addition to our family. She is especially wonderful for Maddie’s sake. I really can see that they will be very close throughout their lives, much like Jim and I are. The reason I say this is a big change for us is because our girls are very close in age. It's like having twins! In fact people ask us if they are twins all the time. I think it’s because they are about the same size and we have a twin stroller.

Both Maddie and Macy are stubborn like me but very sweet and loving at the same time like their mother. Macy has developed at such a higher pace then Maddie we almost don't like it because we cannot enjoy and celebrate her developmental accomplishments as much as we can with Maddie because before we know it she is on to the next new thing. Macy is already pulling up to standing and she is starting to go up the stairs too. She can't walk but the stair climbing is a little scary. She crawls all over the house, following her sister around and saying “mama” all day long.

Maddie is on track with her development. She knows over 150 sign language signs! We are so proud of her! She is starting to pronounce words. We will ask her to say a word like grandma and she will sign grandma and say "ma ma". It is the cutest thing ever. Over the last few months Maddie has started walking! She is still a little unstable but for the most part she is doing great! She will even walk faster when she uses her little lawnmower toy. She will be running before we know it.

Meag has been extremely busy to say the least. These girls keep her way too busy. I'm so impressed that she is able to get the things done that she can. I have to say I'm the luckiest man on earth and our kids are the luckiest kids on earth because we have a wife and mother who does it all. She is the most unconditionally loving mother and wife. She is constantly working on our girls’ development. The girls are going to grow up and be very smart like their mother. Maddie attends four different development classes/therapies. I know that if Maddie didn't have her mother she wouldn’t be where she is today.

I have started to fulfill a long time dream of mine, coaching football. I started to volunteer coach at Kentridge (my alma-mater) this year about 4 games into the season. I can’t tell you how much enjoyment I get out of helping those kids improve not only their skill on the field but their character off the field. I hope that by setting a good example as a coach I can have an effect on the kids that I coach. My job is doing well and I’m setting myself up for a lead position within the next year.

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Matt, Meag, Madison, and Macy

Windows Mobile Live Search

matt — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:06:35 GMT

The latest killer application for the Windows Mobile phones is the newly updated Windows Mobile Live Search. Some of the key features that I like are:

Speech recognition - no typing required, nice when your thumbs are not available :)
Gas Prices - A new icon on the icon bar that lists all the best gas prices for gas stations surrounding the location that you specify
Movies - You can view a list of all movies and narrow down where you want to go watch a movie from there or you can view all movie theatres and view the movies that are showing.
Traffic - Real-time traffic report - I do prefer the detailed views (i.e. carpool) of ASI SmartPhlow (Internal Microsoft Application) but it only works for the Seattle area. This is a great alternative.
Driving Directions - I love this because I can be in downtown Seattle and type an address and get turn by turn directions. I can also select a step in the direction and view a map of those directions, it's really slick.
Installation - You can install this directly from your windows mobile phone by selecting the link titled "New! Search Download" on http://mobile.live.com - No need for a PC to sync your phone, this is how all applications for mobile phones should install, I shouldn't need to connect my phone to a PC to install any applications for it unless that application requires synchronizing to my PC.
Automatic Updating - I launched the application the other day and was notified of the update which included the new Speech recognition.

This application blows all other search applications for mobile devices out of the water. I have to say this is one of the best Windows Live applications across all platforms (i.e. PC, mobile, etc.). Congrats Windows Live on a hell of an application.

Windows Mobile Live Search

Costco milk jug

matt — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:08:16 GMT

If there is one thing I've always enjoyed it's been milk and cookies. If I dressed up in a red suit and had a white beard you couldn't tell the difference between me and that old jolly man that comes down your chimney and steals all your cookies. I love the cookie milk combo but a few months ago Costco came out with a newly designed milk jug. I don't understand it. Why is Costco (a store that Meag loves to spend all my money at) trying to re-invent the milk jug? It's more of a milk block. Also, Costco why seal the milk jug? It took a few minutes to open the new Costco milk jug the other day. Man! That is frustrating! I can understand being innovative with products...but milk jugs? The other problem I have with the design is pouring the milk into a cereal bowl or baby food (if you have kids, or old parents LOL). Be forewarned! You only have to slightly tilt the milk jug to get some to pour out. I remember my first experience with the Costco milk jug ended up with 1/4 of the milk on the floor. The milk just gushed out. C'mon Costco go back to the "old school" milk jug. PLEASE! :)

XBOX 360 Fall 07 Dash update

matt — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:25:12 GMT

Finally I can talk about this update! I love this update for a few reasons, "XBOX Originals" where you can purchase and download XBOX 1 games. XVID/DIVX support, finally we deliver the video format that everyone wants, including me! I have a Windows Home Server setup with WMP11 and it streams DIVX/XVID and MP4 videos right to my 360. Once setup this thing just works. It is so easy to use my daughter could run it...well maybe in a couple of years. :) Also the backwards compatibility team released an update as well which now support ESPN NFL 2K5. THE BEST FOOTBALL GAME OF ALL TIME! I'm excited about these updates and you should be too. The 360 really is the all-in-one media hub.

Here is the link to the details of the Fall update:

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/personality/elle/20071130-systemupdate.htm

Video of Maddie Walking

matt — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:08:58 GMT

I finally got around to capturing the video of Maddie walking and posted it on the web for your viewing pleasure. :) She is such a big girl!