I'm back...

It's been a little while since I posted. It would be nice to be able to report about the crusie we took to the Caribbean last week, but, since we didn't take a cruise it would be hard to say much about it. In fact, I spent most of the week in bed trying to shake this cold. Still no luck, but I'm back at work anyway so I don't get too far behind.

While sick, though I managed to make it to the Aussie Pink Floyd concert Thursday night with some guys from my ward (imagine rocking out to Pink Floyd with your Bishop and Elders' Quorum President...) I'm not sure if it was the cold medicine I was on or just something in the air, but the show was excellent. If you don't know much about Pink Floyd, there are some songs to the right (and down a little bit) on my blog that you can listen to. It's not as good as being at the concert, but not bad.

In other news:

• My hearings for both today and tomorrow have been cancelled, which is good.
• I spent last Monday and Tuesday touring natural gas pipeline plants all over the state of Utah. It was interesting to see it all, but it was really good to be back home, too.
• I have to give a 15-30 minute presentation to all the county assessors in the state next week. Maybe I should start preparing for it...

Mmm

So this is what Annie's been doing while I'm at work...

Coincidence?

I'm not sure it was coincidence that this turned up on a bulletin board at work the same day Obama won the election...

Either way, I was relieved to see that they're just selling posters, not the originals.

Rome Temple

I'm pretty sure that if you didn't hear the conference announcement of the Temple in Rome, Italy, you've heard about it since then.

Well, through the miracle of the internet I can show you where it's going to be and what the site currently looks like. Unfortunately I can't tell you what it will look like when it's completed; you'll have to rely on your imagination for that.

Here's a screen-shot from Google Earth of the area:

The site is in the Northeast section of the city, just inside the Grande Raccordo Anulare (the ring road around Rome). The pushpin at the bottom of the screen is La Villa (the Mission Home).

The lot that the church owns is beautiful. There are many trees that I hope will be kept and incorporated into the finished product. Those tall trees in the background are Stone Pines, also called Umbrella Pines 'cause they look like giant umbrellas. They're all over the place in Italy, and really give the area a cool feel. The trees below the pines are Olive trees.

Apparently there's a small building on the site currently. I don't know what the plans are with it, but I imagine it'll probably be in the way.

Can't you just imagine a temple there?

Here's a close-up of the olive grove. My sources tell me the trees are protected and can't be removed--they can be moved, but can't be REmoved.

Annie and I both are excited to attend the dedication of the temple. It'll be great for the members over there to have a temple so close... and great for us to be able to attend the temple on our vacations over there.