January is over at last!

 Some people enjoy the coming of a new year.  For many, it is a time to reflect on life, and to resolve to improve.  

I am not one of these people.  For me, January is like the Monday of the year.  It means the holidays are over, and it's back to the grindstone.  In my profession, this means a larger and more impatient group of people are seeking help with a variety of technical questions.

Don't get me wrong, I find it extremely rewarding after spending some time on a computer issue to discover the real problem and deliver a solution.  I do not enjoy listening to people complain about how they have to wait forever and all of the techs they talk to are idiots.  

To make this January even worse, we exchanged one President that did not keep his promises to adhere to conservative principals for a President that made so many promises it is not humanly possible to keep them all.  Barack Obama has started his tenure as commander in chief by trying to persuade America that in order to get out of recession, we should spend our children's money.  

I can't help but wonder where are all the Democrats are that told President Bush it was irresponsible to spend a lot of money on war when the deficit was so large.  Can't they tell President Obama that it's irresponsible to spend a lot of money on banks and businesses when the deficit is so large?

I was also underwhelmed when Obama showed his willingness to reach across the aisle and work in a bipartisan effort to fix problems by meeting with Republicans and telling them they need to stop listening to Rush.  Don't get me wrong, I don't subscribe to everything the EIB network endorses, but it seems like the only reason Obama reaches across the aisle is to slap conservatives.  Not quite the bipartisan effort I expected.

I have also been repeatedly shocked by the dissent among members of my own faith concerning the role of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in supporting California's Proposition 8.  Some of these individuals were also firm believers in Barack Obama, who said the following in his famous interview with Rev. Warren "I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Now, for me as a Christian, it's also a sacred union. You know, God's in the mix."

It seems like it shouldn't be too outrageous for a Church leader to promote this view if it is not too extreme for the President of the United States.  I fear that even among conservatives, the number of people that define their political views based on good and evil is waning.  Is it so hard to see that God gave men freedom so that they could choose good over evil, not so that they could have civil liberties?

To top off January, the check engine light in my car came on, and my wife and I have struggled dealing with transportation in nasty weather while hauling our surprisingly cheerful one year old boy all over Utah County.

Now that January is over, all my problems will be solved.  The weather will warm up to a comfortable 75 degrees, I will finish my screenplay, my son will potty-train himself, Barack Obama will stop spending government money on worthless leftist programs, homosexuals will realize that homosexuality is evil, and all the terrorists that are trying to kill Americans will catch the bird flu and die.

Probably not.

But perhaps January being over helps me remember that it wasn't all gloom and misery...  My son had his first birthday, USC won in an amazing Rose Bowl performance, Taylor Mays is staying for next season, I realized that Boston wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, I read some of the most awesome Naruto chapters ever, I still have a job, we learned we will be getting a 2-bedroom apartment for a great rate, and Barack Obama has not pulled a Palpatine and eliminated congress... yet... :)

One way or the other, I am looking forward with cautious optimism to the rest of February!