The Week of Fun, Heaven, and then Hell

In chronological order:

January 5th, 2009: Email, Talk Radio Version 2...  Rejected by Apple iTunes and sent backto us for fix and re-submission. I was told it could take up to a month for release.

January 6th, 2009: 

Snow, Lots of snow fell!  Over a foot of snow fell in the valley's of Northern Utah.   Ryan Williams, a friend, was going to be flying into Utah from Kansas for a week of skiing and fun the next day.  The plans all in place for free skiing at Sundance Ski Resort Thursday and Friday using Western Wats Corporate Ski Passes available to corporate employees and clients. I reserved a rental, A New Nissan truck for transportation as I couldn't take my Delorean up the mountain. 

January 7th, 2009:

My first day off of my vacation, Ryan was flying in at 7:00 PM and I had allot to do to get ready! Car rental, reserve Ryan's skies, find a place that does same day binding adjustment, pay my bills, extra... most of what was on my list was allot harder to do then it should have been!  All was done by 6:45 PM and I raced to the airport at light speed. Once back at my place I introduced Ryan to my favorite of TV Show; Boston Legal.  Which I just happen to have on DVD and in no time became his favorite.

January 8th, 2009:

The snow from 2 days prior made skiing incredibly awesome!   Ryan was receiving ski lessons and I was on the slopes for the first time since tearing my ACL the year previous.  I had a minor incident half way through the day, my binding in my right ski broke.  I got lucky in that I was mostly down the hill when it happened.  I spent the remainder of the day sipping over priced hot chocolate and eating way overpriced food while Ryan was having the time of his life! 

I did not mind the down time, it was actually really relaxing, and I really needed it.  Afterwords dinner and more BL (Boston Legal).

January 9th, 2009:

A full day of skiing, all went well and another friend, David Richards and his son Taylor joined us for the fun.  The lessons paid off - Ryan skied like a pro and I made my first jumps.  Afterwords, out to eat, tour the Space Center and... more episodes of BL that night per Ryan's request.

January 10th, 2009:

When you visit Utah, how can you not go to Temple Square, Conference Center Park City and the Olympic Park!?  The day was perfect, and the temperatures and sun was like spring.  Do I need to mention that we watched more BL?

January 11th, 2009:

Church and a relaxing Utah Sunday.

January 12th, 2009:

Picked up the Delorean, took back the rental, wired a call center (yes, I went into work on my vacation days, but Ryan wanted to help and put in some hours).   Family Home Evening at my place, yea!  and then more BL!

January 13th, 2009:

Last full day, Ryan and I  are still having a blast!  We took it a little easy today and have been hanging around in Utah County.  I taught Ryan how to drive stick and we had dinner at my parents place.  On our way to my Parents place Ryan and I got into a serious discussion about life, and I made an infamous statement about good vs. evil and opposition in all good things.

Later that evening we deiced to go Hot Tubing, who knows maybe we could find some girls?

Before entering I checked all my pockets, emptying all of them onto my towel. However after about 5 minutes in the Hot Tube I found my iPhone in my pocket!  My reaction was calm, but frustrated.  I received  my phone as a gift for Christmas last year and now their it was lifeless!  It had all my business contacts, my calendar, my life!   Before sleeping Ryan logged into his school account to see the status of his grant and found he was denied. What was a sure thing and some how done a 180!

 January 14th, 2009:

 I took Ryan to Kneaders for the best breakfast found on the face of this planet!  Ryan had to be to the Airport by 12:30.  We arrived late, Ryan's plane was leaving in 35 minutes, and so I thought that the best thing was for him to use SkyCap but he didn't even know what SkyCap was!  So I parked in short term and took him to where he needed to go... When we proceeded to check him in and he was asked for the baggage fee of $10, he handed over his card to the man and was shortly told that his card had been frozen. I have had that happen to me before, it takes 24 hours for the card company to unfreeze your account after you prove to them who you are and tell them that your on vacation and your card isn't stolen!  Luckily I was with him and I had cash, so all was well.  I said goodbye and off to security he went.  Little did I know the day was just beginning...

While proceeding to my car I felt a sense of loss, Ryan and I had allot of fun and became like brothers but what I must admit is that the loss of my phone had me completely off balanced!  

I knew I had to be places but couldn't remember!  I missed 3 appointments that day, and one of them was with an official from the CIA!  I needed help, I needed phone numbers so I went to Dave Richard's, Dave invited me to go to dinner with the family, I declined and left to go home.  Not more then 60 seconds had pasted and was being pulled over by a Orem Police.  My back tail light I thought, well come to find out not just my back tail light but I had a suspended license!  Apparently the State of Nebraska never received my check from last September, I was furious!   Luckily the cop let me go on my way but gave me a ticket.  He could have impounded my car!   When I got back to my Condo, I was disoriented, and could not call anyone for help or even arrange a ride to work!  Later my room mate came home and used his phone to call my parents.  

January 15th, 2009:

My mother gave me a ride to work.  Still with no phone I was of my rocker but I convinced myself that today was going to be a great day and it was for most of it.  My boss Kirby laughed at my misfortune that morning and sent me on my way to the Orem Call Center to continue my network additions and upgrades, I was also asked if I could go to Salt Lake that afternoon and with out my calendar to tell me no, I said yes!  Why not, after all the place I am going is only 5 miles away from the Apple Store and a new iPhone.  I said heck yes!  What I forgot is that I was suppose to teach 2 classes at 4:30 & at 7:00!   I got my new phone at about 6:45 pm and that thing went crazy!  I had twenty plus voice mails, 75 plus missed calls and 2 mad bosses because none of them could get in contact with me!

January 16th, 2009:

I was bound and determined that this day was not going to be like the others!  It started out great, I had unexpected help from the corporate office in finishing the wiring of the Orem Call Center.  At 11:45 I received a phone call from my supervisor saying I was needed "El - Pronto" back at the Corp. Office.  I was invited into Kirby's office, with my suppervisor for what I thought was a planning meeting, which turned into a "We are laying you off moment".  I have never - ever been laid off before, after almost 13 years in the workforce this was a first.  Kirby, asked if he could take me out to lunch, I said yes commenting that this had to be a first in human history "Boss laying off an employee and then immediately after taking employee out for an enjoyable lunch."  

My Father picked me up from work after lunch and a quick clearing out of my desk.  He asked where I wanted to go?  I had no idea, I was unemployed... What does an unemployed person do?  I had never been unemployed!   I ended up going home with him, I had to restore my iPhone with the backup at my parents house.  Later about 3:00pm my parents dragged me to Sams Club.  Normally, I love Sams Club but this time I couldn't afford to buy anything, I just spent a week playing and partying, while looking at DVD's the phone rang - Tod was on the line, with news about Talk Radio, version 2 had released.  That evening Ryan and I talked, he told me that he was able to get his grant money and I told him of the events of the last 2 days.

Over the next few weeks all the spare time I devoted; weekends, evenings, time with friends-family that I previously sacrificed to get Talk Radio 2.0 ready had paid off with thousands of sells of Talk Radio iPhone App and over 10,000+ hits to our website.  I was officially successful in my new business.  

If your wondering why I type this, it is so I will always remember where I came from and the blessings God has been so kind to bestow.

Talk Radio Version 2.0

It's time to post again and what a crazy time we live in.  The Stock Market continues it's up and down roller-coaster ride, Israel and the Palestinians are at war again, Senitor Barack Obama is about to become El' Presidente'  (little Spanish lingo there) and I am preparing for the release of "Talk Radio, Version 2.0!"

We have had a rocky road with version 1 of Talk Radio.  Most people downloaded the program without reading the program description, which lead to many upset customers who thought the program streamed their favorite talk shows.  So my program that was originally just for finding radio shows, now with version 2.0 will be connecting our customers with the very best streams found on the internet!   

Our database of shows available on Talk Radio continue to expand with the aid of our user feedback.  New shows added include;  Ed Schultz and Coast to Coast AM, Bill O'Rilley and coming soon Michael Savage. 

Happy New Years Everyone and Many Returns!

David Kyle

My Fellow Conservatives,

This is not a time to be morning! This is a time to take action, rebuild our movement! Liberals morn by wearing ribbons, holding hands and flying kites on earth day to make themselves feel better - We are better than that!

Hold your head up high, do what Ronald Reagan would do and flight, fight for what’s right, educate people about Freedom and the Constitution, donate money to the cause, make a new friend to convert! Come on, let’s take back our country, let’s rejoice we still live in the greatest country known to man!

God Bless the USA!
David Kyle

Talk Radio! find it with your iPhone

In July I was driving home from Idaho back to Utah after a work trip, when I came up with an idea. Not unusual for me, I’m always thinking deep about something, but on this occasion I was just ticked off that I couldn’t find Rush Limbaugh on my radio dial! I was wishing that I could listen to him on my iPhone, but I knew that was impossible because of the little or no phone signal found as I traveled. Then it came to me… What if, Yes… Brilliant! An iPhone app that finds your location and nearest radio station that played Rush!

Now 3 months later and a lot of hard work invested; behold I present to the world my invention, “Talk Radio” for the iPhone!

Why I love talk radio?
In 2001 I was diagnosed with Chrones Disease, a disease that for almost 3 years kept me on the brink of death. During this time I kept working as hard as possible not only to live but to live with honor. Several times I was confronted with social workers and even family that urged me to stop working and enroll in Medicaid. I was earning too much to enroll and not enough to pay my mounting medical bills. I refused because 1. I hate government social welfare programs. 2. I was not going to quit working and become a slave to Demorat politicians. 3. I despise the idea of government taking other Americans money and giving it to me.

Every morning as I struggled to work Rush was there encouraging me to work harder on my business and be the best I can be. I count my blessings that so many doctors, hospitals and drug companies have been willing to work with me to establish payment plans and even giving me thousands of dollars in gifts of medicine. I am a testament to the generosity of Americans and a free people.

Rush not only kept my hopes alive, he also kept me working, fighting and brought out my passion for life.

This innovation is my gift to Rush, a man that inspires me and 20 million others to seek after and achieve the American Dream! God Bless Rush, God Bless the USA!

P.s. I’m a proud Rush Baby who started listening at the young age of 16!

America, I am so proud of my country!

My country and I stand for the values of God given individual freedom and justice for all, not just few, many, rich, poor, white, brown or black are god given equally and should not be slanted in any way to any group or person.

In America no one should be treated any different then another. The American Constitution stands for limitless opportunity for everyone, nothing is impossible! No one is entitled to his or her neighbors land or moneys.

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

- I give Patrick Henry credit for the last sentence!

What I learned from Senitor Obama’s speech at the DNC Convention

The government should let no one fail or fall, he says... Because letting people fall or experience any hardship is heartless... Isn't it? And less we forget all the hardship experienced over the past 8 years is President Bush’s fault, at least that is what he wanted everyone to believe.

I believe that we all have to fall and experience hard times, it is the only way we can truly learn and discover what we are really capable of in this life. It is the real reason for our existence. We all have to learn to dust ourselves off and pick ourselves back up in the hardest of times, learn from our mistakes and or be persistent in our goals.

The theme of the mega box office hit Batman Begins and Dark Knight stated my point many times and drove it home to the audience; "Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up!" Our government's artificial safety net (that most of the time becomes a hammock) leaves people with a sense of entitlement and, most importantly, robs them of a chance to learn, to better themselves, earn self-respect and a real self-esteem.

Parents, family and friends sometimes have to learn this lesson the hard way when they are dealing with a family member who has become an addict to drugs or alcohol. The only way to cure them of the addiction is to watch as their love one slowly moves and finally hits rock bottom. Only then are they able to be helped with their addiction.

Celebrity?

It does not matter if you want it or not, it may be unavoidable.

As with any celebrity no matter how big or small you might have to get use to the requirements of that celebrity. In some cases you might be as big as SuperMan to your nieces or nephews, maybe you’re a church leader or "Big Man on Campus."

Some big celebrities like Brittany Spears, can't handle the cards life dealt. Brittany in particular makes 1 million a month and spends every penny as she earns it. On a side note I do applaud her for keeping the economy afloat. Brittany lacks self respect because she doesn't care about herself or what she does, she has not the ability to care about others and like so many very popular celebrities; they are willing to do anything to further their celebrity and thus lose touch with their moral base, if they had one to begin with.

Most people these days don't aspire to lofty goals of joining in some great cause, like the military or red cross, or even having a family and a great job. When asked by survey after survey kids, teens and even adults say they want to be famous... As if it means something to be famous.

In a age where MySpace and Facebook are making people feel like they are famous and popular, where dreams of stardom are replacing honor and respect as the badge of choice, it’s about time for a reality check!

In my case I am a part time teacher, what I say and do does matter because kids ages 10 - 18 are always watching, steeling my iPhone to look and see what Mr. Herring has been doing, observing how I handle problems and conduct myself.

Sometimes I notice that parents and even students are watching or total strangers somehow know my name and things about me. The other day a student (who I have worked with occasionally) and his parent passed me in the hallway. I never remember seeing the parent before but I can't remember what I did yesterday so that might be a mute point. But as I was saying... The parent called me by name and acted as though we had known each other for years. It never stops surprising me when that happens, and I hear about how much I'm talked about at kids homes? "What are they saying?" I'm always thinking to myself, it always makes the brain go crazy! Well whatever they are saying I hope it's good!

Last Friday I had an precious hour to spend at the mall, relax, pay my cell phone bill and go to the Disney Store. While walking though the mall a punk kid stopped me to say “Hi”, I tried to be nice – polite but I didn’t think I knew this kid from Adam! He said; “Don’t you remember me?” No, I replied. He said “I worked with you last night in the Voyager!” My brain started racing at a thousand miles per second as I tried to pinpoint if I had worked with a Goth last night?... He then stated his name… It all came to me, I couldn’t believe it was the same kid, last night he looked normal and was a hard worker. Then he told me that he was doing his part in a Where’s Waldo game for his sisters barfday party. “Oh, awesome.” I replied. His next statement is what floored me; “I would never expect to see you here!” I was stunned, and actually said “You would never expect to see me here? Do you think I live at the Space Center all day, every day?” he smiled and was trying to take back his statements … “No that’s not what I meant”… “I mean” In my head I started imagining what he meant, but I did smile and joke around with him for a few minutes before we parted.

Every week I interact with 40 - 200 kids from all across our school district and state and during each “Mission” that’s what we call them, I have the privilege to get to know 3-4 volunteers and 2 teenage staff, we almost become like family. These kids are excited about working hard, acting, science fiction and telling compelling stories. Each have parents willing to drive them sometimes as far as 45 miles to work/volunteer at the place we call the Space Center.

The Space Center has hosted over 220,000 participants and has been operating for over 17 years. I have had the privilege over the past 10 years of building and designing 3 of the 5 simulators in operation at the center and being a Flight Director, Operations Specialist – even an assistant to the Director.

I feel blessed for my abilities in construction, management, and even acting/voices that allows me to be a flight director but still I’m just an ordinary guy doing the best I can in a job that I love, no different than anyone else.