A Friendly Rant About the Second Law of Thermodynamics

This is a rant about ENTROPY (defined as a measure of disorder in a system).

It stems from 2 recent experiences.
1. First, I took my car in for an oil change, and they told me I needed to spend $500 for rear-wheel brakes and rotors. Then about 2 weeks later my engine light in my car came on and is staying on.
2. Second, my computer contracted a virus and spyware that completely stopped my computer. So I had to pay to get it repaired. They warned me that my computer was about 4-5 yr old and will probably die soon and when it does I will loose all my info so I better buy one of their computers instead of spending money to fix the old one I have. Yeah, no problem. Like I have $1000 sitting around to buy a new computer out of the blue.

Which brings me to ENTROPY and probably one of the worst concepts in physics - The Second Law of Thermodynamics. Now it is confusing, a little like fixing a car or computer, so I may not be totally correct on all details, but the basic idea of the Second Law of Thermodynamics is this. If a system, like a car or computer or glass of ice, is left alone then the amount of disorder will either remain constant or increase. (And it seems like it always increases) Another way to state this is that all things tend to break down and have less energy to work. It takes energy from an outside source (aka - my bank account) to keep them running. Thus, I summarize this as - all things tend to chaos. This last statement is not totally correct because chaos, disorder, and randomness are not the same. But it is easier to remember.

And so, I have to pay out of my nose to have my systems, car and computer, fixed so that later on they can break down again, and then I'll buy a new system that needs more money to prevent it from breaking down again.

And so, I think to myself that the basis for consumerism is actually the Second Law of Thermodynamics and that all things tend to randomness (breaking down).

And that really really sucks.

A Wilson Wonderland

We met up with the Wilsons last weekend and went boating at Jordanelle. We had so much fun that we wore the poor boat out. Thanks to Kathy and Greg for the delicious dutch oven dinner. (I appologize for any spelling errors on names)

Brad and Steph's twins

Ben and Annie

Carol and Steph

Kasididle

Torinna

Vivers

Brov and Elora

Mom's kids (minus Em and Jonah who were stuck out on the boat after it broke down on the lake)

Jared, Tori, Kasidy, and Me playing in the water.

Boat Bow Beauties

The fabulous Mr Benard

Jared tearing it up wakeboarding (OK just crossing the wake) Sorry I did not get a picture of the flips he was doing.

Tori's FIRST wakeboarding attempt!!! Yeah!!!


My cutest nephew in the whole world

His cute dad - Brovwa

The Coach

That's a wet wet dog dog. (Ask brov about the shaggy dog joke)

Me taking Jonah in some nasty dirty water to play and splash. He is still not quite sure about going in the water but I am quite sure I like my cleavage.

Wakeboarding Mania

Tori on the Alpine Coaster. Luckily the guy at the ride told us the carts were attached to the track so we shouldn't worry about falling off the track. Whew.



Cute girls roughing it on the Provo River. Tori astutely said, "it ruins the feeling of being away from it all when your cell phone rings." Unfortunately she meant my cell phone, not hers.



Boating on Deer Creek Reservoir.




Vivian wakeboarding. YEAH! I did not get the picture of her singing and dancing WHILE wakeboarding to one of her favorite songs. -darn

Viv, Tori, and I have had tons of fun hanging out.
1. We went to Raging Waters (yes, it was my chance to be young again) with Kasidy. Everyone got along. Everyone was safe. It was a good day.
2. We went shopping at Gateway and I was able to see teenage girls in action without parents to supervise shopping. I was a little intimidated and confused. All I really remember was the strong smell of cologne and loud music.
3. We went to the Alpine Slide and went on the coaster. Very fun. Then I encouraged (forced) the girls to go on a walk by the Provo River in Heber. They did not think this was the best idea until we saw a moose. I'm just happy I got some cute pictures.
4. We went boating (twice) with my dad and Linda. Viv is a wakeboarding maniac. She LOVES it. She did such a great job and got up on the FIRST try.

Last night they slept at Aunt Kathy's house. They went horseback riding this morning. Now we are going boating with the Wilson's. We will post those pictures later.

Party at Aunt Vickie's House

Summertime! Vacations! Family!

Vivian and Tori here in Utah visiting family. We went to Aunt Vickie's house to see cousins and our cute aunts, Karen and Vickie. We had a very fun and relaxing day eating lunch and practicing the art of conversation. Dan, Kelsey's husband, put together a wading pool and water slide for the kids. What a cool dad. Jonah loved the swings and trampoline also. He was pretty cute running around the huge yard with the big kids.

During Viv and Tori's vacation we went to the Alpine Slide, watched football scrimmage (not their favorite), went boating, visited Matichs and sang karaoke, watched movies and played games with Brov, visited with Vickie/Karen and played with Kassidy, and ate at fav Mexican restaurant. We still have more boating and more boating, maybe hiking, 4-wheeling, shopping, Alpine coaster, and an outdoor concert.


I need to post all of the pictures, but here are some with Vickie and Karen. Unfortunately a few pictures were blurry because my camera was in the wrong mode. They were cute pictures so I posted them anyway, sorry.