Did you live during a major war? If so, what do you remember during that time?
My dad was in World War 2 and my Uncle died in that war but the only major war I actually remember was the Vietnam war and the Gulf war.
I remember little of the Vietnam war because it started before I was born and ended when I was in high school. I lived in Canada and so paid little attention to it. My main memory is that people defecting from it would come to Canada. I remember quite clearly when it ended though. I was seventeen and found it horribly sad that the North Vietnamese were moving in as the Americans left and slaughtering entire families if a member of the family had been friendly to the Americans. I remember helicopters evacuating the embassy. It wasn’t really a war (technically) but try and tell that to anyone who fought in it. It was also far too politicized and it was fought poorly. There was no exit strategy.
The Gulf war on the other hand was handled extremely well and had a clear exit strategy. It started in August 1990 when Iraq invaded Kuwait and cut off our oil supply. President Bush didn’t want this to be an American war so he wisely involved the United Nations (even though it was still pretty much an American war).
It took until January 1991 to gather our troops in the Persian Gulf and to try every possible means to come to a peacable resolution before we sent in the troops. Meanwhile Iraq is lobbing scud missels into Israel and we’re doing all we can to keep them from retaliating and to their credit they didn’t.
To try and taunt us, the Iraqi’s set fire to all the oil wells in Kuwait and dumped millions of gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf.
Finally on February 24 we moved into Kuwait and by the 27th Kuwait was liberated. That war went as a war should, the problem began when we decided we also needed to free Iraq. I personally think we should have freed Iraq, but once again we got all political and tied the hands of the armed forces.
What single invention has had the most significant impact on your life?
If we are talking about the most significant invention of all time, I have to go with the light bulb. Can you even imagine what life would be like if we had to rely on kerosene lamps and candles?
The most significant invention during my life time would be the computer. I saw my first computer in 1976 at BYU, it filled an entire room and used punch cards. Have you ever wondered where the term “bug” came from, when you have a problem with a computer? It is because these early computers used vacuum tubes for their logic and it took a full time employee to keep replacing blown out tubes. A common problem was that “bugs” would fly into the electronics and short out the circuits. The bugs had to be found and removed.
I wrote my first computer program on punch cards exactly like the ones shown. Each card is a few “bytes” of information and it took a stack (or sometimes many stacks) of cards to write a program. That computer had less power than a simple calculator.
Today there isn’t a single workday that goes by that I don’t rely on a computer for something. Technically, a computer runs my house. Her name is Alexa.
Who would you like to meet in person if you had the chance?
That is a tough question, other than the obvious answer of Jesus Christ I really don’t know.
I’d like to meet my ancestor who first joined the saints in 1841. It wasn’t until I looked this up that I found out that Sarah Sturdevant was never baptized. Her work was done in 1992. From reading her journal, I think Sarah was probably an odd one, but I’d love to talk to her.
On the other hand, I would love to ask someone like Moses what life was like back in 1,500 BC. 
My dad was in World War 2 and my Uncle died in that war but the only major war I actually remember was the Vietnam war and the Gulf war.
I remember little of the Vietnam war because it started before I was born and ended when I was in high school. I lived in Canada and so paid little attention to it. My main memory is that people defecting from it would come to Canada. I remember quite clearly when it ended though. I was seventeen and found it horribly sad that the North Vietnamese were moving in as the Americans left and slaughtering entire families if a member of the family had been friendly to the Americans. I remember helicopters evacuating the embassy. It wasn’t really a war (technically) but try and tell that to anyone who fought in it. It was also far too politicized and it was fought poorly. There was no exit strategy.
The Gulf war on the other hand was handled extremely well and had a clear exit strategy. It started in August 1990 when Iraq invaded Kuwait and cut off our oil supply. President Bush didn’t want this to be an American war so he wisely involved the United Nations (even though it was still pretty much an American war).
It took until January 1991 to gather our troops in the Persian Gulf and to try every possible means to come to a peacable resolution before we sent in the troops. Meanwhile Iraq is lobbing scud missels into Israel and we’re doing all we can to keep them from retaliating and to their credit they didn’t.
To try and taunt us, the Iraqi’s set fire to all the oil wells in Kuwait and dumped millions of gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf.
What single invention has had the most significant impact on your life?
If we are talking about the most significant invention of all time, I have to go with the light bulb. Can you even imagine what life would be like if we had to rely on kerosene lamps and candles?
The most significant invention during my life time would be the computer. I saw my first computer in 1976 at BYU, it filled an entire room and used punch cards. Have you ever wondered where the term “bug” came from, when you have a problem with a computer? It is because these early computers used vacuum tubes for their logic and it took a full time employee to keep replacing blown out tubes. A common problem was that “bugs” would fly into the electronics and short out the circuits. The bugs had to be found and removed.
I wrote my first computer program on punch cards exactly like the ones shown. Each card is a few “bytes” of information and it took a stack (or sometimes many stacks) of cards to write a program. That computer had less power than a simple calculator.
Who would you like to meet in person if you had the chance?
That is a tough question, other than the obvious answer of Jesus Christ I really don’t know.
I’d like to meet my ancestor who first joined the saints in 1841. It wasn’t until I looked this up that I found out that Sarah Sturdevant was never baptized. Her work was done in 1992. From reading her journal, I think Sarah was probably an odd one, but I’d love to talk to her.
And then there are the scientists, I really think Thomas Edison and I would have a lot in common.
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A light bulb in a fire house in the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department
in California has been burning continously since 1901.
This isn't as dramatic as it may first seem since
it is burning at a very low wattage.
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