I just got finished reading The Shack by Wm. Paul Young, it was very, very good. I would love to hear from others who have read it, what did you think?
On another note...
I got an acoustic bass on Friday. I am trying to learn bass lines to some of the songs that Becky plays on her guitar so that we can have a little acoustic duo. So far so good...
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Sick and Sicker
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING BLOG POST WAS WRITTEN BY A HALF CRAZED FLU SUFFERER AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE READING FOR SMALL FURRY ANIMALS ESPECIALLY KOALAS...YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED...
I have the flu today. I felt slightly queezy last night when I went to bed and wondered if I would be up during the night ralfing. That didn't happen but I did wake up with my stomach bubbling and gurgling; I knew what that meant...
After defiling the toilet for awhile I then realized that I felt as if I had been beaten head to toe with a baseball bat. I have been working out at a gym four times a week and so I expected to be a little sore but this was the "my hair hurts" kind of thing and I haven't been working out my hair lately. I texted my workout partner who is also my boss and let him know that I would not be working out or working today. Then I tried to play Xbox 360 for awhile but just couldn't; it hurt too bad and I couldn't focus. That's saying a lot folks when I don't even feel like playing Xbox. By the way I got rid of my Nintendo Wii. Wii is stupid; the games that are available for Wii are stupid and the people at Nintendo that decided to abondon core gamers for casual "Animal Folk City Crossing" kind of gamers are...well...you get the picture. Not that Animal Crossing kind of gamers are bad or anything but it's that Nintendo went all the way over to their side and left the rest of us in the cold. I am a child of Nintendo; I grew up loving Nintendo...
but...
It just hurts too bad to walk through my local Gamestop and see the shelves piled high with third party shovel ware for the Wii and the ports of games that are actually good but then turn into what I put in the toilet this morning after the Wii gets hold of them. I traded all my Wii junk for A LOT of store credit at Gamestop and promptly bought a real game; Fall Out 3 for the Xbox 360.
Ok; I'll stop now...
So today was terrible. I spent hours in bed trying to sleep but someone was outside mowing and trimming ALL AFTERNOON! It finally stopped around four but I was half insane by then. Holding up my arms to type this blog post really hurts and I have to take breaks every other sentence.
Then I saw that Chrysler and GM are asking for MORE tax payer dollars to survive! Are you serious! The first cash injection wasn't enough? Ok; before I go on let me say that I am not the most intelligent person when it comes to politics and current affairs and all that stuff. In fact I try to keep my mouth shut until Larry Salley says something really intelligent about things and then I just repeat what I understood him to say because it makes a lot of sense.
This junk is just crazy folks! I believe God is in control and all but this doesn't look too good to me. God being in control doesn't mean everything will always be peachy. In fact He made need to grind us into the ground in order to accomplish His purposes and that's cool with me...
Uh...hold on...I might need to go puke now...
I have the flu today. I felt slightly queezy last night when I went to bed and wondered if I would be up during the night ralfing. That didn't happen but I did wake up with my stomach bubbling and gurgling; I knew what that meant...
After defiling the toilet for awhile I then realized that I felt as if I had been beaten head to toe with a baseball bat. I have been working out at a gym four times a week and so I expected to be a little sore but this was the "my hair hurts" kind of thing and I haven't been working out my hair lately. I texted my workout partner who is also my boss and let him know that I would not be working out or working today. Then I tried to play Xbox 360 for awhile but just couldn't; it hurt too bad and I couldn't focus. That's saying a lot folks when I don't even feel like playing Xbox. By the way I got rid of my Nintendo Wii. Wii is stupid; the games that are available for Wii are stupid and the people at Nintendo that decided to abondon core gamers for casual "Animal Folk City Crossing" kind of gamers are...well...you get the picture. Not that Animal Crossing kind of gamers are bad or anything but it's that Nintendo went all the way over to their side and left the rest of us in the cold. I am a child of Nintendo; I grew up loving Nintendo...
but...
It just hurts too bad to walk through my local Gamestop and see the shelves piled high with third party shovel ware for the Wii and the ports of games that are actually good but then turn into what I put in the toilet this morning after the Wii gets hold of them. I traded all my Wii junk for A LOT of store credit at Gamestop and promptly bought a real game; Fall Out 3 for the Xbox 360.
Ok; I'll stop now...
So today was terrible. I spent hours in bed trying to sleep but someone was outside mowing and trimming ALL AFTERNOON! It finally stopped around four but I was half insane by then. Holding up my arms to type this blog post really hurts and I have to take breaks every other sentence.
Then I saw that Chrysler and GM are asking for MORE tax payer dollars to survive! Are you serious! The first cash injection wasn't enough? Ok; before I go on let me say that I am not the most intelligent person when it comes to politics and current affairs and all that stuff. In fact I try to keep my mouth shut until Larry Salley says something really intelligent about things and then I just repeat what I understood him to say because it makes a lot of sense.
This junk is just crazy folks! I believe God is in control and all but this doesn't look too good to me. God being in control doesn't mean everything will always be peachy. In fact He made need to grind us into the ground in order to accomplish His purposes and that's cool with me...
Uh...hold on...I might need to go puke now...
Monday, July 14, 2008
PBC 2008 - Pursue_
Wow, lots of things have happened since the last time I posted here so I will start with camp and add a few more new posts in the near future.
I thought camp went really well this year. For the past few years Curt has sort of been running behind us with his hand still on the bicycle seat but this was the first year that he let go and we pedaled away on our own. I thought that Danny and DK did a great job this year! I know they were busy because it seemed as if I didn't see them much. We tried some new things this year that I thought went reasonably well, dinner theater talent show being one of them. I want to give a big round of applause to Stephen for designing and building the wooden structure that protected our audio table. It was great to be able to mix from a more appropriate location within the Ark. I have to admit that I was hesitant when he first approached me with the idea, but it turned out great! I look forward to using it for many years to come.
I think the best part of the week was the campers! I was really impressed with them. I think we had a really great group of kids this year. They all seemed to be really active and involved in whatever was going on. The Ark was always full of kids playing basketball or four square (a game I played in middle school). I am really looking forward to our next meeting so I can read all the camper surveys.
We already have some working ideas for 2009 and I think it's going to be really cool! I took one of the stones that we wrote the word Pursue on and placed it on my desk at the office. It is a great memento from our week but better yet it really does help me to focus on pursuing the way of Christ (thanks Mike D). Speaking of Mike Darling, the worship rocked! Worship at camp is always excellent, but Mike Darling did a great job leading us into His presence.
Oh yeah, and Robin's cookouts were very excellent as well. Thanks for sharing your gift of hospitality!
I really am looking forward to 2009 already although I admit it's nice to have a break from that feeling of "I really need to be working on camp!".
More posts to come...
- My trip to New Orleans with CNN
- Wrecking a 26' truck loaded with gear on the way back from my trip to New Orleans with CNN
- Maybe I'll buy a motorcycle
See you soon!
TB
I thought camp went really well this year. For the past few years Curt has sort of been running behind us with his hand still on the bicycle seat but this was the first year that he let go and we pedaled away on our own. I thought that Danny and DK did a great job this year! I know they were busy because it seemed as if I didn't see them much. We tried some new things this year that I thought went reasonably well, dinner theater talent show being one of them. I want to give a big round of applause to Stephen for designing and building the wooden structure that protected our audio table. It was great to be able to mix from a more appropriate location within the Ark. I have to admit that I was hesitant when he first approached me with the idea, but it turned out great! I look forward to using it for many years to come.
I think the best part of the week was the campers! I was really impressed with them. I think we had a really great group of kids this year. They all seemed to be really active and involved in whatever was going on. The Ark was always full of kids playing basketball or four square (a game I played in middle school). I am really looking forward to our next meeting so I can read all the camper surveys.
We already have some working ideas for 2009 and I think it's going to be really cool! I took one of the stones that we wrote the word Pursue on and placed it on my desk at the office. It is a great memento from our week but better yet it really does help me to focus on pursuing the way of Christ (thanks Mike D). Speaking of Mike Darling, the worship rocked! Worship at camp is always excellent, but Mike Darling did a great job leading us into His presence.
Oh yeah, and Robin's cookouts were very excellent as well. Thanks for sharing your gift of hospitality!
I really am looking forward to 2009 already although I admit it's nice to have a break from that feeling of "I really need to be working on camp!".
More posts to come...
- My trip to New Orleans with CNN
- Wrecking a 26' truck loaded with gear on the way back from my trip to New Orleans with CNN
- Maybe I'll buy a motorcycle
See you soon!
TB
Saturday, April 12, 2008
The Right To Arm Bears
This came up the other night between Becky and myself. We were talking about gun laws and concealed weapons permits and the like and I came up with this question...
"We have the right to bear arms; but does that also mean that we have the right to arm bears?"
Imagine all those grizzlies sporting Glock semi-auto pistols or polar bears with sawed-off shotguns to use against the environmentalists. Quite honestly most bears are already armed to the teeth; or should I say armed with teeth. Anyway; that was the introduction to my latest topic of interest...guns.
I used to shoot shotguns and rifles with my Dad when I was younger. We would hunt squirrels and doves (the ugly brown/gray doves; not the pretty white "peace" doves). I never wanted to hunt deer since they were quite bigger and would have way more messy guts to deal with after you shot them. Let me also say at this point that everything I ever shot was then used as a food source. I do not condone the killing of wild animals if all you are going to do is leave it on the ground to rot. If you kill it, it should be on your wall or in your stomach.
So I have some background with firearms of the rifle/shotgun type but not handguns. A month or so ago I went on an Appalachian Trail hiking trip with a friend from work who brought along a small semi-auto pistol. Carrying guns on the trail is a pretty hot topic in the trail community; some people for it; some people very much against it. The best way to carry a firearm on the trail is very much concealed. It is not illegal to carry a firearm on the Appalachian Trail unless you are in a National Park (Great Smokey Mountains National Park is a good example). My rule of thumb is that the only person on the trail who should ever see your gun is the person on the trail trying to kill you. I wish the world were a safer place, but alas it is not. A young woman was abducted from near the trail in Georgia and then murdered not too long ago. But I digress; this is not a post about the safety of the world or carrying guns on the AT, I'm just trying to explain what has prompted my new found interest in firearms.
So after our trip my buddy offers to let me borrow his Smith and Wesson .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol. I said, "heck yeah!" and took it to a gun shop/indoor firing range that is near our dwelling. I had a blast (no pun intended) as I fired 50 rounds through it. It was a great gun to shoot and recoiled enough to let you know if was a .45 and that you didn't want to be on the receiving end but not enough to warrant two hands recoiling over the head; hand cannon type of force.
I was back at the range this week and was ready to try something different. The range offers weapons that you can rent in order to shoot many different calibers and try out weapons from different manufacturers. This time I went with a Glock 9mm with a longer, ported barrel. The longer barrel and the ports cut into the end of it enable the shooter to achieve more accuracy. I fired 100 rounds and was able to deliver multiple shots to the target while keeping them in a tighter cluster. With the .45 my shots were more spread out (out of 50 rounds, 46 of them went into the target, 4 went elsewhere). As far as recoil goes; I was expecting the Glock 9mm to be considerably easier to handle than the Smith and Wesson .45, it was not. Don't get me wrong, I experienced less perceived recoil with the Glock; just not that much. It is either a testament to the good design of the Smith and Wesson or the poor design of the Glock. It's hard to say and I am so new at this that I probably shouldn't make too many judgements. What I can say is that I am happy to be able to shoot a .45 caliber handgun without it recoiling back into my face and breaking my nose or causing me to drop it on the ground and being shot by the resulting round that fires upon impact.
So let me show you two firearms I am interested in owning...
The Walther P22 .22 caliber semi-auto pistol
"We have the right to bear arms; but does that also mean that we have the right to arm bears?"
Imagine all those grizzlies sporting Glock semi-auto pistols or polar bears with sawed-off shotguns to use against the environmentalists. Quite honestly most bears are already armed to the teeth; or should I say armed with teeth. Anyway; that was the introduction to my latest topic of interest...guns.
I used to shoot shotguns and rifles with my Dad when I was younger. We would hunt squirrels and doves (the ugly brown/gray doves; not the pretty white "peace" doves). I never wanted to hunt deer since they were quite bigger and would have way more messy guts to deal with after you shot them. Let me also say at this point that everything I ever shot was then used as a food source. I do not condone the killing of wild animals if all you are going to do is leave it on the ground to rot. If you kill it, it should be on your wall or in your stomach.
So I have some background with firearms of the rifle/shotgun type but not handguns. A month or so ago I went on an Appalachian Trail hiking trip with a friend from work who brought along a small semi-auto pistol. Carrying guns on the trail is a pretty hot topic in the trail community; some people for it; some people very much against it. The best way to carry a firearm on the trail is very much concealed. It is not illegal to carry a firearm on the Appalachian Trail unless you are in a National Park (Great Smokey Mountains National Park is a good example). My rule of thumb is that the only person on the trail who should ever see your gun is the person on the trail trying to kill you. I wish the world were a safer place, but alas it is not. A young woman was abducted from near the trail in Georgia and then murdered not too long ago. But I digress; this is not a post about the safety of the world or carrying guns on the AT, I'm just trying to explain what has prompted my new found interest in firearms.
So after our trip my buddy offers to let me borrow his Smith and Wesson .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol. I said, "heck yeah!" and took it to a gun shop/indoor firing range that is near our dwelling. I had a blast (no pun intended) as I fired 50 rounds through it. It was a great gun to shoot and recoiled enough to let you know if was a .45 and that you didn't want to be on the receiving end but not enough to warrant two hands recoiling over the head; hand cannon type of force.
I was back at the range this week and was ready to try something different. The range offers weapons that you can rent in order to shoot many different calibers and try out weapons from different manufacturers. This time I went with a Glock 9mm with a longer, ported barrel. The longer barrel and the ports cut into the end of it enable the shooter to achieve more accuracy. I fired 100 rounds and was able to deliver multiple shots to the target while keeping them in a tighter cluster. With the .45 my shots were more spread out (out of 50 rounds, 46 of them went into the target, 4 went elsewhere). As far as recoil goes; I was expecting the Glock 9mm to be considerably easier to handle than the Smith and Wesson .45, it was not. Don't get me wrong, I experienced less perceived recoil with the Glock; just not that much. It is either a testament to the good design of the Smith and Wesson or the poor design of the Glock. It's hard to say and I am so new at this that I probably shouldn't make too many judgements. What I can say is that I am happy to be able to shoot a .45 caliber handgun without it recoiling back into my face and breaking my nose or causing me to drop it on the ground and being shot by the resulting round that fires upon impact.
So let me show you two firearms I am interested in owning...
The Walther P22 .22 caliber semi-auto pistol
This would be a great pistol to "plink" with (shoot targets, tin cans etc.). The ammunition for .22 caliber weapons is pretty cheap compared to the larger calibers. .22 caliber makes it affordable to go to the range and expend 500 rounds or more. However; .22 caliber is not at all an ideal sized round for home defense or concealed carry. I read that the best way to end a hostile situation with a .22 is to fire it up the nose of the person trying to take your life or cause you severe bodily injury. So far I've been reasonably accurate at the range; but I don't think I would ever be able to place a round that well.
Which brings me to my second weapon of choice...
The Taurus PT-145 Millennium Pro
This is a compact .45 caliber semi-auto pistol. It is ideal for home defense or concealed carry since it packs the stopping power of the .45 caliber round. If you can't end a hostile situation with two .45 caliber rounds properly placed into the target; then your target is on some pretty scary narcotics and you will probably need to empty the whole gun into said target and then proceed to beat the target in the head with the empty weapon in order to neutralize the threat.
Let me end this post by saying that guns are not toys and are extremely dangerous when not used with knowledge and respect. Anyone using a firearm should be familiar with how that firearm operates and with all applicable safety procedures and all local, state and federal laws that apply to the ownership and use of firearms.
So what are your thoughts? Guns are good, guns are bad, guns are scary? I would be interested to know.
This post was brought to you by Michael Polutta, Pete Goode (thanks for the encouragement there guys) and the letter LMNO. Not familiar with that letter? Sing the alphabet song and you'll find it.
See ya next time!
Let me end this post by saying that guns are not toys and are extremely dangerous when not used with knowledge and respect. Anyone using a firearm should be familiar with how that firearm operates and with all applicable safety procedures and all local, state and federal laws that apply to the ownership and use of firearms.
So what are your thoughts? Guns are good, guns are bad, guns are scary? I would be interested to know.
This post was brought to you by Michael Polutta, Pete Goode (thanks for the encouragement there guys) and the letter LMNO. Not familiar with that letter? Sing the alphabet song and you'll find it.
See ya next time!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Drum Roll Please....
Wow! A record setting 17 comments! It started out kind of slow but you folks really came through in the end! Here's the rest of the story...
So I got dressed in the dark the other day; no problem right?
I went to work and started doing my thing and about mid-morning realized that I needed to use the restroom (#1). So I pulled up the large jug that I keep under my desk just for such an occurrence...
Just kidding...sorry....
I left my office and walked down the hall to the men's restroom which at our company is marked only by the "male sign". You know, a circle with an arrow coming out from it. I can't tell you how many times I have had to instruct bewildered visitors as to which door they should go through to use the room that is for their particular gender. I'm amazed at how many people don't know what those signs mean.
Anyway....
I walked up to my favorite urinal (there's only one), unzipped my pants and started searching for my...you know...
I couldn't find it!
The fact that I would even say that speaks volumes to the security that I have in my own masculinity but I guess what I really mean is that I couldn't get to it. It was still there but I couldn't find the fly in my boxer shorts (Ah Ha! now you all know what kind of underwear I wear). I kept digging around in my shorts trying to find the opening but it wasn't there; it was very surreal! I figured for sure it was there and my shorts had just gotten twisted around a bit but no, I couldn't find my fly!
After a few really weird minutes I realized what had happened...
I put my underwear on backwards that morning when I got dressed in the dark!
I felt very silly but I have to admit that I was too lazy to worry about fixing the problem. I bought this new pair of hiking boots and I have been wearing them to work everyday in order to break them in for an Appalachian Trail hike that I am going on this weekend. The laces are kind of a pain to do and un-do so I decided to just leave my underwear the way it was. Besides, with my fly on the other end of things, if I needed to go #2....never mind....sorry....
So the winner is...
Shelia!
Congratulations! I will have to figure out what you're prize is and deliver it to you ASAP!
Pete buddy...you really need to get off the pipe...
Until next time...
So I got dressed in the dark the other day; no problem right?
I went to work and started doing my thing and about mid-morning realized that I needed to use the restroom (#1). So I pulled up the large jug that I keep under my desk just for such an occurrence...
Just kidding...sorry....
I left my office and walked down the hall to the men's restroom which at our company is marked only by the "male sign". You know, a circle with an arrow coming out from it. I can't tell you how many times I have had to instruct bewildered visitors as to which door they should go through to use the room that is for their particular gender. I'm amazed at how many people don't know what those signs mean.
Anyway....
I walked up to my favorite urinal (there's only one), unzipped my pants and started searching for my...you know...
I couldn't find it!
The fact that I would even say that speaks volumes to the security that I have in my own masculinity but I guess what I really mean is that I couldn't get to it. It was still there but I couldn't find the fly in my boxer shorts (Ah Ha! now you all know what kind of underwear I wear). I kept digging around in my shorts trying to find the opening but it wasn't there; it was very surreal! I figured for sure it was there and my shorts had just gotten twisted around a bit but no, I couldn't find my fly!
After a few really weird minutes I realized what had happened...
I put my underwear on backwards that morning when I got dressed in the dark!
I felt very silly but I have to admit that I was too lazy to worry about fixing the problem. I bought this new pair of hiking boots and I have been wearing them to work everyday in order to break them in for an Appalachian Trail hike that I am going on this weekend. The laces are kind of a pain to do and un-do so I decided to just leave my underwear the way it was. Besides, with my fly on the other end of things, if I needed to go #2....never mind....sorry....
So the winner is...
Shelia!
Congratulations! I will have to figure out what you're prize is and deliver it to you ASAP!
Pete buddy...you really need to get off the pipe...
Until next time...
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Orchestral Movements in the Dark
So I got dressed in the dark the other day...
OK; that's all you get on this one. Everyone now gets the chance to finish my story with what you think happened. The opening line here is a true story; I want to see how the rest of you finish it. I will give a prize to whomever gets closest to the real deal. I will update later with the remainder of the story after I see what the rest of you come up with. Becky and anyone else whom I might have told this story to already are ineligible to play. Good luck!
OK; that's all you get on this one. Everyone now gets the chance to finish my story with what you think happened. The opening line here is a true story; I want to see how the rest of you finish it. I will give a prize to whomever gets closest to the real deal. I will update later with the remainder of the story after I see what the rest of you come up with. Becky and anyone else whom I might have told this story to already are ineligible to play. Good luck!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Clients
I would get so much more done at work if clients would stop calling me and wanting our company to come and do things for them in exchange for money. Even better would be if the crazy, confusing, don't know what they want clients would forget that our company even exists all together. I know, I know, it's because of these people that I have a job....
Today was busy and stressful and I had to deal with people who made me cra-z (that's my DJ name; not that I am a DJ mind you; but if I was that would be my name, DJ CRA-Z). I am taking on some new responsibilities at work and am now learning to operate in a slightly different circle that I was previously. Mainly it means that I have more direct contact with clients. This is a little bit of a stretch for me since I don't really like people (just kidding). I have some learning and stretching to do, but I'm sure it will all work out.
I finally got a Wii the other day! It is really cool! So far we have had a lot of fun playing it. You can create these little people on your Wii; they are called "Miis". You can make the Miis look like whoever you want. So, we currently have a Mii that looks like Me, Becky, Ann, Larry, Jacob, David, Mary and two guys that I work with. Whenever you play Wii Sports; the game populates the game with your Miis. So if you look in the background when I bowl you will see Ann, Becky, Larry or whatever assortment of Miis that the computer decides to have sitting in the booths behind me. We took the Wii to the company SuperBowl party the other night and hooked it up to a projector that was showing on a 10.5' x 14' screen. IT WAS HUGE!!!! We had a really great time; although I hated to miss the party at the Hunters' house at the same time. Another guy brought his Xbox 360 and we hooked it up to a projector and a massive sound system and played Guitar Hero. I am spoiled now, playing it at home on my tv just isn't doing it for me anymore. I guess I will have to get a projector, huge screen, line array audio system and 8 subwoofers for my living room.
Today was busy and stressful and I had to deal with people who made me cra-z (that's my DJ name; not that I am a DJ mind you; but if I was that would be my name, DJ CRA-Z). I am taking on some new responsibilities at work and am now learning to operate in a slightly different circle that I was previously. Mainly it means that I have more direct contact with clients. This is a little bit of a stretch for me since I don't really like people (just kidding). I have some learning and stretching to do, but I'm sure it will all work out.
I finally got a Wii the other day! It is really cool! So far we have had a lot of fun playing it. You can create these little people on your Wii; they are called "Miis". You can make the Miis look like whoever you want. So, we currently have a Mii that looks like Me, Becky, Ann, Larry, Jacob, David, Mary and two guys that I work with. Whenever you play Wii Sports; the game populates the game with your Miis. So if you look in the background when I bowl you will see Ann, Becky, Larry or whatever assortment of Miis that the computer decides to have sitting in the booths behind me. We took the Wii to the company SuperBowl party the other night and hooked it up to a projector that was showing on a 10.5' x 14' screen. IT WAS HUGE!!!! We had a really great time; although I hated to miss the party at the Hunters' house at the same time. Another guy brought his Xbox 360 and we hooked it up to a projector and a massive sound system and played Guitar Hero. I am spoiled now, playing it at home on my tv just isn't doing it for me anymore. I guess I will have to get a projector, huge screen, line array audio system and 8 subwoofers for my living room.
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