Sounds like there is much more of a need for dentists in West Virginia, Kentucky, & Tennessee than in California, Utah, & Connecticut...
— Michael A. Cleverly
Wednesday, June 07,
2006
at 19:07
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I completed typesetting my third book earlier this month, and the first printing of Romantic Tips for Married Couples is now available.
This book is a collection of some of the best of my friend Matt's blog entries that share ideas on how to keep the flame alive between you & your spouse inspite of the daily grind. In order to convert it from blogspot-html (and do some light editing/corrections) I ended up reading the entire thing several times over. I came away with new insight into relationships and ideas of fun things I could do at home to strengthen our family ties. A lot of it is based on common sense and courtesy (dare I say cherishment?—which is a real word incidentally!), but sometimes it helps to have someone point out the obvious.
For this book, instead of using LaTeX (as with Mormons Book) or XeLaTeX (as with Secrets of Success, Happiness, and Failure) I decided to go with ConTeXt (but rendered via XeTeX so I don't have to bang my head against the TeX-font wall).
Rachael came through in a pinch and designed the cover in a single evening. Kudos to her!
Note to family members: this means now I've actually got experience turning a blog into a book. The long anticipated and very belated 2005 Christmas gift will soon be going into production!
— Michael A. Cleverly
Thursday, June 15,
2006
at 20:27
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Interesting news out of my former employer today...
Today at high noon (on the anniversary of the martyrdom) Deseret Book management, in their regularly monthly Q&A session with employees, announced that they were terminating their business relationship with Seagull Book & Tape. Seagull was given written notice yesterday that thirty-days hence Deseret Book would no longer offer them their product line (at wholesale), and that in the interim they would only be able to place orders for product on-hand/in inventory (i.e., no backorders or pre-orders for products coming out this fall).
This is going to be an interesting situation to observe as it unfolds. Obviously Deseret Book has every right to choose who they want to do business with. However, I think this change will (eventually) rival the Bookcraft acquisition in terms of the rippling repercussions it will have on the industry.
Disclaimer: I've heard from multiple people who were present at the Q&A, and while employees were asked to direct any questions/inquiries to a member of the executive team, they were not asked to keep the news confidential/in-house. (Which makes sense since barring any last minute changes or negotiations by the parties it'll become quite obvious in the marketplace in at most a couple of weeks.)
— Michael A. Cleverly
Tuesday, June 27,
2006
at 21:27
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Perusing the primary election results (at KSL.com) for Davis County, I noticed that in Daggett County, with 100% of the votes in, candidate Matthew Christensen received only one vote in a four-way race.
<rant>(I can't link—effectively—to the states website because their use of iframes and xml results in a non-RESTful way means I can't link directly to the Daggett County results.)</rant>
How sad. I hope he isn't married. Otherwise even his own wife must have voted for Rena, Jill or Jessica instead!
Might he be (distantly) related to my wife's family? Apparently in Daggett County candidates don't need to have websites (nor does the County appear to have a website with election information), so I haven't been able to find out any more information about him. I imagine everyone in the county knows everyone else so websites aren't needed...
— Michael A. Cleverly
Tuesday, June 27,
2006
at 23:17
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The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that the (soon to be former!) head of the Utah Highway Patrol's DUI efforts, Lt. Fred Swain, was himself arrested for driving under the influence recently after he crashed an unmarked patrol car late at night.
Lt. Fred Swain was westbound on Bangerter Highway, near 400 West, about 2:25 a.m. on June 23 when he veered off the right shoulder, overcorrected and hit a concrete barrier that separates the east- and west-bound lanes, UHP Lt. Doug McCleve said.
While Swain said he fell asleep at the wheel, officers suspected he had been drinking, said Draper police Sgt. Scott Peck.
Swain, 41, declined medical attention several times and said it wasn't necessary for him to contact his UHP supervisors about the crash, said Peck.
Draper officer Kevin Easter stated that Swain was "acting strange" and wouldn't stand near officers or troopers as they questioned him. Easter detected an odor of alcohol about Swain, who was "very impaired" as he filled out a statement, according to Easter's written report.
Swain, who denied he had been drinking, initially refused to submit to a field sobriety test or a portable breath test until two UHP captains talked to him, stated the report. The test, taken about two hours after the crash, showed Swain's blood-alcohol level was nearly 0.12 percent - well above Utah's legal limit of 0.08 percent.
As far as possible punishment the article goes on to quote Draper City Prosecutor Melanie Serassio:
The maximum punishment for a class B misdemeanor DUI is 180 days in jail and a $1,850 fine. But Serassio said the standard punishment for first-time DUI offenders is two days in jail and a $1,400 fine. She said the judge may order community service in lieu of the jail time. Swain also could lose his driver's license.
I hope the judge imposes the absolute harshest penalty allowed under the law once he is convicted, even if he is a first time offender. Someone in such a public position of trust should be held to the highest standards.
— Michael A. Cleverly
Friday, June 30,
2006
at 19:57
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