29

It's hard to believe that this year has come to a close. So many things have happened to me since my last birthday--so many big, life-changing events. I finished one of the hardest semesters of my life, I got serious with a girl, I finished my law review note, I started p90x, I worked at a job that furthered my career and paid me for it, I got engaged, I made an iPhone app, I almost died, I saw my sister get married, I helped write an amicus brief, I finished the formal part of law school, I got the go-ahead to take the USPTO Registration Examination, I got married to a beautiful girl, I moved in with said girl, I started my externship, I filed my taxes after taking the class personal finance tax (Btw, big difference in understanding terms after taking that class), I experienced a sad passing with my grandmother, and I started once again maintaining my professional blog (click here to see). (My goal is to make my professional blog come up as the number one hit when you google Trent Ostler, but as it is now it's still this crazy blog.)

In sum, this year was CRAZY. But you better believe that's the way I like it. Life is not something that should be lived casually. You've gotta live it up to the fullest. That's what I did in year 28 and I show no signs of letting up. Watch out world, cuz I'm older and I'm wiser.

The General of the Ostler Family

My grandma passed away Saturday morning. I have had her on my mind ever since. I don't think I've known a better representation of the goodness of humanity than grandma. She she was always content with life, was the hardest worker you'll ever know, was patient and courageous in her afflictions, cared about people, and had class in all situations, even when dealt a bad hand.

She was always happy with life. When she was in school, the cool kids would wear their fancy clothes and my grandma wanted to fit in with them, but she couldn't afford it. So she would make spin-offs herself and be perfectly fine with it. She went her entire life with only one vacation. I sometimes get caught up thinking about exotic destinations and luxurious accommodations. My grandma probably had hopes of going somewhere nice too, but she was fine when that didn't happen.

My grandma always worked hard. Always. She started working at her dad's fruit stand and starting at age 12, she would even drive her dad's car to pick up supplies. Orem was a different place back then. I remember her looking after us shortly after my mom passed away. One time while my dad was away, she came over and cleaned the entire house. Then she just sat in the dining area while we slept because she wasn't tired.

Jennica was only a month old at the time of my mother's passing. My grandma and grandpa were preparing to go on a mission with my grandpa, but my grandma took it upon herself to raise Jenny.

When I got back from my mission in 2003, my grandma was in a wheelchair. A slip resulted in a series of surgeries on her knee, eventually requiring her knee to be fused. For the next 8 years, she would deal with the consequences of that slip. It was extraordinarily painful for her, but she hardly complained. She was a champion of champions. She was a fighter though, and showed us all what it means to not take life for granted.

My grandma had a humble sense of pride. She was always aware, even in her jazzy-ridden condition, of how her house looked. She would have me come over and take out the weeds that had overrun her bushes. You would think that at that point in her life, she wouldn't care about how the front area looked, but not grandma. She had us plant a patch of flowers right next to the garden, and directed where they needed to go.

At social gatherings, grandma wasn't the most prominent. But she did her work behind the scenes. She was the peacemaker of the Ostler family. She was intricately involved in her family's lives. She was on everybody's side, even when there were conflicts within the family. Everyone came to her with their problems and she gave her undivided attention.

My grandma had been struggling a lot lately and she's in a better place right now. But it'll still be hard going without her.

DonorsChoose Shoutout

I love education. I love learning and gaining skills that can be used in the real world. It’s sad to see that much of the world does not have opportunities for getting an education. It’s doubly sad to see that right here in the USA kids are getting lousy educations. I’m sure that politicians will continue to talk about investing in education and improving our system, but the reality is that our education system has many problems and a simple silver-bullet fix is not possible. That being said, I recently came across a program that aids in one of the system’s problems: lack of resources for teachers.

Very simply, our public education system is funded by allotments of money based on how much money the taxpayers pay in that particular locale. This system leads to disparity in different communities. It also leads to some school districts without sufficient resources for kids to learn.

One program that allows for teachers to bridge the lower-income gap in some districts is “DonorsChoose.org.” Teachers who are in need of a particular classroom item(s) post the item and donors donate money to it. This lets you donate money to projects you think are a good idea . Plus, organizations help out in the funding. Bing.com, for instance, will donate $3 if you fill out a survey. I did this the other day, but you can donate according to whatever means you have. This program is a way to concretely help students right here in the United States.

My wife teaches eighth grade special education. Special education is especially hit hard when districts are already struggling to come up with the resources to distribute. This, for the simple reason that kids with mild learning disabilities require more time and tailored education. Amy’s DonorsChoose project involves getting a digital projector for her students. This will aid in better interaction and better learning. To donate to her project, click here. It is named "Make Us Equal!"

Blog Post about My Blog

This is a short and sweet blog post about a recent change to my blog name. For the longest time, my blog has been called “My Stories.” Today I started thinking about my blog, and realized that a better name for it is “Me” because my blog really gives you a flavor for who Trenton Bradford Ostler really is. There are the philosopohical posts on life, the business-y posts, the spirtual posts, the stories of adventure, the posts on love and family, and the opinions on random topics. I would rename my blog to “Me,” but that's not too terribly creative so I decided to translate the word "Me" into Russian giving as an end result "Ya." I hope you continue to enjoy the posts.

My Business Advice for Customer Service Departments

I heard on the radio not too long ago that companies save huge amounts of money by not talking directly to the customer. It’s true. A company can save upwards of $6 per call. That is why automated directories are now widespread. But people still just want to talk to real live people to resolve their issues. I, for one, have gotten quite good at pressing the right keys to get to a person the fastest. The number 0 usually does the trick.

Today was different. I decided to try the website approach. You know those "email a representative" links on websites that nobody ever uses? Yep, I clicked on that and asked my credit card company a total of two questions, which were in turn promptly answered. This experience restored my faith in alternatives to calling humans. Indeed, using websites gives you access to more helpful and better organized information than is possible by talking to someone over the phone.

But here’s the problem: people are going to need an incentive to switch to addressing their problems online because it takes time to search the website, figure out their organization and wait for a response (which could take upwards of a couple days). The only reason I tried the email approach today is I was curious. Notwithstanding this problem, I think I know of a way that companies can incentivize customers to email them: pay them cash to resolve their complaints online. I know, you’re thinking that there’s no way to prevent abusers from gaming the system to get money. But the solution lies in making the price low enough that people won’t want to ask questions, but high enough that will attract people to go online.

I will be the first to say that I hate waiting for answers. When I have an issue, I want it resolved right then and there. But in reality, in a lot of instances, the problem is not immediate and going online can be much more efficient. I would be willing to jump through some hoops and be patient if the price is right. I think a lot of others out there are too.

That was scary

I nervously stalled in the stairwell. I knew the gist of what I wanted to say, but as I came to the second floor, I started getting nervous. I went over some thoughts that I wanted to say in my mind again. Then I started walking to his office. The door was locked--he wasn't there. Shoot, I'll try back later. After about 20 minutes, I got a text from him. "Come on over for a visit before 10." It was 8:50. I immediately started walking back over to the Benson building. This time I was not as nervous; after all, he was basically beckoning me to come over. I also had been thinking about things to say for the past half-hour. I made it to the second floor of the Benson. He was with what looked like a colleague and a girl who was talking about her engagement or something. I retreated out of sight. I was sure that he didn't see me because his back was turned on me. Then I waited until the conversation ended and I made my move. He was in his office, but was on the phone with what sounded to be his wife. He motioned for me to come in, and I sat down on the couch and waited for the conversation to end. Then it was me and him. We small-talked around for a little bit, but we both knew what we were there to really talk about. In essence, I told him I wanted his permission to marry his daughter. Then I waited for his response. And waited. It seemed like an eternity. I am exaggerating, but at the same time I'm not exaggerating because he seriously paused for about 15 seconds. Then he started talking about how I would be so good for Amy and that he is really impressed with my appreciation for his daughter. A wave of relief spread throughout my body. What a nerve-wracking experience! And even for someone that I thought had shoe-in support for me. It was at that moment that my desire to have girls began as I would have the opportunity to have lots of fun with their potential suitors!

Christmas 2010

Every once in a while, I get genuinely complimented on my blog. I'll have to admit that such compliments are my favorites. They make me want to blog more frequently.

Christmas this year was amazing. I would like to share with you why it was so good.

1) Time to unwind. I consider myself a pretty intense individual. I work hard and get a lot done. But I have noticed that when I am intense for too long of a stretch of time, I tend to go a little crazy. So starting Christmas Eve, it was so nice to just relax and not worry about stressful things.

2) Carrying on good traditions. We spent Christmas Eve at Amy's place, which involved fun and interesting activities. From reading the Polar Express, to reading the scriptures, to seeing the lights around Orem/Provo, I was introduced to some pretty great traditions that I would love to continue in the future.

3) Spending quality time with family. Amy and I were able to spend lots of time with each of our families. When you have families as cool as ours, this translates into a lot of happiness. It was funny how back and forth we were on Christmas, but it wasn't that funny considering our two homes are literally a half-mile away from each other. I felt very at home at the Burton residence and at least in my mind, Amy felt very at home at the Ostler's.

4) Meeting new family members. I have talked to Amy's sister Eli on the phone a couple times before, but never face-to-face. Christmas day changed that. I got to meet Eli and her boyfriend Jimmy. These were very intriguing people and I only wish I had more time to interact with them. Thanks to them, I was introduced to some vegan dishes that were not bad at all.

5) Getting good presents. Christmas should obviously not focus on getting presents, but good presents is definitely not a bad thing. This Christmas I got great presents that were well-needed and from the heart. Haley gave me socks, Graden gave me a Nordstrom rack Groupon, Ben Bernanke gave me an interesting mountain man book, and Amy gave me some rockin' shoes. I also got hooked up with cash from both parents. I. Am. So. Grateful. (I usually hate doing the sentence split up by periods, but it does add a little dramatic effect.)

6) Going on a run. I don't know about you, but I have been eating far too much garbage food lately. Obviously it's unrealistic to completely bypass such delicious food (especially when it is abundantly available everywhere you go). But it is realistic to burn away some of these calories on a nice jog to Will's pit stop. It was pretty cool going on this run also because a fog was setting in and I could see the fog-like wave formations coming down.

7) Watching LOTR. At first glance, Lord of the Rings may not seem very appropriate for Christmas. But with the context of Race calling me up late to see if I wanted to watch the Fellowship of the Ring with Scott, it was a perfectly appropriate way to end Christmas.

8) Amy. Amy and I will officially be family in just a few short days. This truth kind of blows me away. At least in the back of my mind, I have been waiting to find the girl that I would marry for quite some time. This year, I realized that I had found this girl and it was only a matter of time of waiting for the wedding date to arrive. But this date seemed so distant. Now it is not distant at all. Christmas was such a great day for us, me especially. When you are a thinker, such as I am, you sometimes let the gravity of marriage overwhelm you. But as with all seemingly-overwhelming aspects of life, you just kind of take things one step at a time. Christmas was great in that regard. It was an excellent illustration of how fun life is with Amy when we just enjoy things in the moment. I am so in love with this girl. We had plenty of funny moments today, inside joke moments, serious moments, and even moments where I beat her consistently at Othello. Best of all, as I've gotten to know Amy better, my love for her has grown. For me, that is the most impressive thing because love has historically been such a fickle thing. With love, things can fizzle, things can come to a screeching halt, or things can just not progress, for little or no reason, and on either end of the relationship. But this has not been the case with Amy, where my love for her has matured and grown. Ironically, it has become more difficult to express my love but as I better understand her personality, complement her, and get complemented by her, we climb higher and higher. I know I have a long ways to go in truly becoming unified with my sweetheart, but I am going to take things one step at a time. I feel very optimistic about this.