Dad, Tell Me About the Time (74)

Tuesday, September 23, 2025

Was there ever a time when you doubted yourself or your worth?

All the time. When that happens I force myself to take a moment and reevaluate my life or the project I am on and I try to honestly ask myself if my doubts are valid or if my insecuraties or fear are making me feel that way. If my doubts are valid then I do my best to change, if I decide that it is fear taking over, then I recommit myself to what I am doing and carry on.

How did you rebuild your confidence and self esteem?

I answered this in the previous question but I will add that sometimes a lot of prayer is also required.

What is something that you took for granted in the past that is special to you now?

Looking back I am unsure why I’ve never had a lot of friends and really, until recently I’ve never had any close friends. I don’t know if I never had friends because I didn’t care to, or if I decided I didn’t care about friends because I never had any. I have always had people I related well with but I would see them once a week on Sundays and that was it.

Curtis McConnell was probably the closest I came to a close friend because our callings forced us to get together outside of church. Looking back I recognize several opportunities I missed when we could have been better friends. I didn’t see it and those are missed opportunities.

And then Jeff Andrew came into my life. He kind of forced himself onto me, presumably because we have so much in common and I am so grateful he has done that. Even now as I write this, I can see that I still take this for granted and I need to reciprocate that effort. I love the entire Andrew family and they are a blessing I should appreciate better.

In what ways has the world changed over your lifetime?

It would take volumes to repeat everything that comes into my mind when I read this question. I will just give a couple of examples and leave it at that.

When I was a kid the only rule I had (other than my chores of coarse) was that I had to be home before it got dark. On the other hand, I had to know where my kids were every day of their lives until they left home. Even then I wanted to know where they were but at some point you’ve got to let them go.

When I was a kid, it was a big deal if a car could reach 100,000 miles and starting the car was often an ordeal. Today it is common for a car to exceed 300,000 miles and it always starts with the push of a button.

I have actually seen a pornagraphic magazine maybe three times in my life. Today anyone with a cell phone can have unlimited and extremely graphic pornography in seconds.

When I was a kid about 8% of Americans had a college degree, today it is nearly 40%.

Of the top of my head I can name the following things that were invented or became popular during my life time. I clearly remember when each of these things happened or were introduced to the public.

Color TV                  Computers
Microwave ovens     Induction stoves
Self-driving cars      Cassette tape recorders
VCR’s                     CD’s
USB drives             8 tracks
Cell phones             Flat panel TV’s
Hard drives             Internet
Robots                    Artificial turf
Remote controls     Wireless remote controls
Digital camera’s     Digital calendars
Man on the moon   Digital maps
LED lights             Computer models (FEA, CFD)

And now there is artificial intelligence.