The CragBaby

I rarely post the same information, let alone the same post, on both the Wasatch Girl and the Crag Baby. I like to keep the sites distinctly different, but make an exception on certain occasions. I consider this to be one of those occasions. Here is the last post from the Wasatch Girl .

As many of you local readers and twitter-ers already know, one of the fellow technologist in the area, Phil Burns , learned this past week that his 22-month-old daughter, Serenity, has leukemia. Incredibly heart breaking news, but with the upside that she has immediately started chemotherapy and should be able to survive. His previous business partner, Jesse Stay , has created the Chip In Widget where donations are directly deposited into the Burns’ paypal account. The goal has been increased to raise $1,000 by June 23 and Jeff Barr has committed to donate an extra 15% to the final amount. I have integrated the Chip In Widget on both of my blogs on the right hand column.

I have gotten to know Phil through a handful of his startups and by following his online presence. He is a good guy willing to take the continual risk of being an entrepreneur in order to provide innovation to many. I would urge you to help him out in this time of need.

I strive to volunteer on a weekly basis but am looking for some new volunteer opportunities. The places with which I currently affiliate my time include:

ARUP - I like to donate platelets on a bi-weekly basis, albeit I feel well. This is my favorite volunteer service because by sitting and watching a movie, I can directly impact a life. I choose to donate through ARUP because all donations are used at the local hospitals and very rarely do they receive enough donations to fulfill demand.

Climbing - During the summer I like to donate a climbing day a week to taking out climbing newbies. I do this because I used to be one of those newbies who couldn’t find a partner. And it sucks. By taking them out I can still have a beautiful day in the outdoors, teach proper safety techniques (keeping the climbing community safe) and allow someone else to enjoy the sport I love.

KCPW - I volunteer often during the KCPW pledge drives. KCPW is Salt Lake’s independent national public radio station (that barely escaped from being turned into a Christin station. Thank you again KCPW board members). I really love the programming, the KCPW crew and the point that they brought the BBC to its own frequency so that listeners could have BBC news 24/7. This volunteer opportunity is only on a semi-annual basis.

Ten Thousand Villages - I used to volunteer weekly with Ten Thousand Villages but have now put this on the back burner. I still really like the organization, but didn’t feel completely needed when I was there. I felt as if I didn’t show, the job would still get done… so why not spend my time elsewhere?

I have also looked into working with the Literacy Center of Utah, but have not started on with them as I just think the time commitment is too much for me to take on right now. I have also looked into NAMI (the National Alliance of Mental Illness). I was so jazzed when I found NAMI because I feel like mental illness is a prevalent disease that many people do not understand and I was hoping I could help with social awareness. I was so psyched for their cause I offered a year of my time, but they just didn’t know what to do with me. Thought their cause is good, at the time that I talked with them they seemed to still figure out how to operate, so I stepped away.

I would love to hear where you readers affiliate your volunteer time and why. I am looking for something that I love as much as platelet donation. Some form of service that is really needed and appreciated.

Within the last couple weeks my little Honda has had some hiccups where I had to frequent a mechanic. My usual mechanic is now, unfortunately, retired, so I at first was at a loss of where to take my car. But then I remembered that on the NPR show Car Talk I’d heard mention of their mechanic files where listeners have submitted names and comments of good mechanics. I thought I would see if there were any mechanics listed for the Salt Lake area and ended up with a great handful of results. I picked out a couple and called around to see who had the earliest opening, ending up making an appointment with Clarke’s Automotive.

The car problem ended up being my lil’ Civic needing a new alternator. The shop called me with a quote, fairly priced the piece and labor, and completed the work in the expected time frame. So when my car was having a starting issue a couple weeks later I took it back to Clark’s. They were honest and told me they couldn’t find the source of the problem besides some corrosion. They cleaned the battery off for free and sent me on my way.

I was real happy with my experience and would highly suggest Clarke’s Automotive Shop. They are located on the corner of 17th South and 500 East and their number is 801-485-2858.

The semi-annual KCPW Pledge drive is underway. Please take the time to pledge your support by calling 801-359-5279 or visiting their site. Being a phone volunteer for this event is actually one of my favorite volunteer opportunities due to the interesting people involved with the drive. If interested in volunteering in the future, fill out this form.