Counter

Once again I have added a counter to the blog. If you scroll way down to the bottom you will see a little bitty multi-colored box. It's just under the TS Elliot quote. Click on the box and you will see our stats. They are small because we're not advertising.

Please, please do not change the template, this kills the counter. You may go into the template and add or delete anything you want, just don't go to the section that says "pick new."

Now that I've said that, is the basic scheme of the template what we want? Do we like the colors? Do we like the basic design. If not check out some of the other templates and see if anything else catches your eye. I'm happy to add the counter coding once more if we decide on something else.

All of this is gearing up to ask if we want to go public. We've been doing some good blogging, and we're writing some good stories, posting some good outside articles/pictures. I think it's a pretty dern good blog, actually. Not a webzine yet, but a fine blog.

I'm thinking about making it a little more public. If we get a few outsiders we could create some good discussion. The easiest way would be to roll through sites like BlogExplosion. I use this on my blog some, and it definitely brings in traffic. If the top article is interesting it will definitely bring in more comments too.

If we all say yes, we can each set up an account with BE, or any of the similar sites. The way they work is you surf various other blogs to earn credits. These credits then get cashed by visitors coming to your site. With as many of us as there are we could easily earn tons of credits in very little time. It would be easy to do at work, simply let it be in the background, and periodically click a link to browse some more.

Yada yada, just a thought.

If we do this, we'll probably want to kill the more personal stuff. Definitely keep full names and any real personal info out. It's up to the individual on whether or not you want to post detailed accounts of your last probe.

Thoughts? Desires? Hateful diatribes?

Spyware..."may the force be with you."

Spyware

trucking

Ok so when my wife reads this she'll freak but that's ok because she loves me. If it works out and we can help this can be my birthday present from her to me.
I was talking with some buddies at work and we all mentioned we wish we could help with out the assistance of corporate crap doing the foot work, you know I'm all about grassroots movements. I called a truck rental place about donating a truck to haul donations down south. Long story short I'm going to talk to the guy tomorrow morning.
So how can you guys help? I need the names of southern Churches of Christ that we could deliver this stuff too. FEMA says to not just drive down and with a truck full of goods so I figured that I could skirt that issue if I had a destination. You guys might have traveled those roads a bit more than me and might know some church contact info near those areas. I know Chuck might have some lines of the P-cola area and that could be a destination but frankly I'd like to head into the abyss to deliver goods, if the whole thing works out.
Let me know what you think or if you have any leads on churches in need.

I got some gas

ok I think we should keep a running tab of gas prices so that we can see where thing whole thing ends.
My Cadillac has an 18 gallon tank Tuesday it cost me $41 to fill up from bottom to top. Gas was at $2.43. I've heard in the hallway the folks at Weigel’s are telling people to fuel up now because it's slated to go up another .30 cents in the next day or so. One of our cheap places was $2.79 this morning. Oh yeah, TN state gas taxes are quite hellish. So where are the rest of you guys at?
18 gallons @ $2.43 = $41

Spashiba bolshoy

Being at Disney World, I had read and heard that you can sometimes get stuff extra, as long as you are nice...
Well, me being nice is different when it is a female and it typically comes across as flirting, which I did in front of my wife, and she thought it was funny because she knew I was just trying to get freebies...

But the Russian and German ladies took to me very well.

Example number 1: (Mullins would be proud). We ate somewhere that offered hamburgers and a bar full of toppings you could go hog wild on to put on your burger.
My wife and I don't eat white bread, and after we had ordered and stood in line to get our food, she noticed that there was a chicken wrap on the menu in a whole wheat wrap... So I turned on my smile and looked at all the gals working back there... one took the bait and came to the counter and I asked her if we could get one of those wrapes to put our burger in... she had a russian accent (MIGHT have been german, but doubtful) and didnt understand me too well, so she grabbed a chicken wrap with all the fixins' and added it to our tray. I said "No no! Just the wrap!" She said "I can not get them, they are in the back, making fresh" (I assume she meant being made fresh). So I said "Did you give me this just because I am so good looking?" TO which she blushed and said "Because you are funny."

Example number 2: In Epcot, we hit the German land so my wife and I could have some braughtwurst which we love. The Sips were in China eating, so we wanted to get it to go. After some chit chat with the German ladies about how much german I could speak (I said alot of common phrases you hear in WW2 movies) we got our food. An older lady handed us the food and I said "Can I get a bag?" She said "We have no bags here" Yet a dark brunette gal said "Ill get one!" and left her post, went to a store about 40 yards away, asked the clerk for a shopping bag, and brought it out to us, to which I replied "Danke " and she laughed...

Example number 3: Nothing free, but flattering none-the-less. We were at Typhoon lagoon. The ride we were in line for had 3 slides at the top. My wife took one, Rach took the other, and I took number 3. The lady standing at the top of the slide noticed a man a few feet back wearing the same swim suit as me, and she pointed this out to me as i was 2nd or 3rd to go down the slide. She had an accent to which sounded very much like Russian. I joked with her and said "Hey! You need to kick him out of the park for wearing the same thing as me!" TO which she replied in broken english "You can take yours off!" I said "And do what with it?!?!" She said "you can give it to me" The light on my slide turned green and I took off...

Bash Bushing

I like Bush, so don't think I am jumping on the bush bashing band-wagon that is so poular these days...

But it is ABOUT TIME that he, or any recent president for that matter, does this:

Click it

Back in WW2, America was asked to do this, and we participated happily! Now we are such a nation of 'give-me-alot-and-give-it-to-me-now' people that I am sure people will call Bush the devil if he suggest we carpool, or turn our AC up a few degrees. People have watched the price of gas go up over the past years and have idiotically went ahead and bought Hummers and other SUVs thinking that oil is infinite.... well, it ISNT!

Again, before I go on... I LIKE BUSH.

However, I am not a zombie, and there are some things about him that has pissed me off (pardon the language, but ive about had it). You Bush bashers may disagree with me on some of these, but this is what I want to see done.

1) AS PROMISED BY BUSH, I want social security reform. He has promised it and promised it, and nothing has happened. Albeit, many democrats call it unethical and use scare tactics to frighten old people, but I still think Bush needs to get this taken care of,despite the others whining. If not, other older folks in the future who actually think they can live off of SS will have NOTHING.

2) Borders/illegal immigrants. Used to in America, you could come here if you had 2 things; a job, and a sponcer; someone who could vouche for you. Now, all you need is two good legs and two good arms and you can walk here. Countless murders have been commited by illegals, and they get sent back to mexico, and no jailtime. Hitting home, an illegal totaled D. Itsons car here in town. The illegal gave the officer a fake name (he didnt have a licesne) and a fake address... it was a total loss for D.s insurance company. And guess what? if a cop finds out he is illegal, he CANT DO ANYTHING TO HIM!

3) Alaska oil. We need it. Bad, we need to stop relying on people who hate America for half our oil needs. The gulf of mexico hasnt suffered any horrible natural disasters BECAUSE of the drilling. The pacific ocean off the coast of cali is fine, people swim and surf it all day long. I cant see any horrible environmental disaster due to more drilling in alaska. Politicians will applaud a walmart being built on top of a once-bird santuary here in montgomery, but gasp at the idea of helping our poor heat thier homes cheaper or our gas prices going down due to drilling in alaska. I mean, dont think the EPA wont monitor every inch they make should htis happen, thats a good thing... itll be okay, calm down... i like trees too... there there...

4) Ironically, environment. Surprised? I mean, I dont want an Al Gore mentality where everytime a hurricane hits Bush will say "yep, thats because we pollute the air too much" (Actually, Robert Kennedy just blamed the Gov of MS for the hurricane for voting down some enviro legislation...wacko See here...) But I do think Bush needs to say things like "conserve more, recycle more". But guys, that wont make a hill of beans anyway to this nation. Remember when we were in high school? Recycling was the thing and everyone did it and alot of companies did it and alot of cities participated in picking it up for you... Now where are all the recycling people??? It takes too much work for the lazy bums of America!

Anyway, I am done. See? I dont blindly follow a man just because of his politcal party... i dont think he needs to be impeached, and many 'hate' him for other reasons... but there are things that tick me off about him...

I think I'm going to cry

I've mentioned the Child Development class a few times, and you may wonder, sheesh, is Diana taking any other classes. Well, sirs, I am but this one is my most challenging and everyone has warned me about my teacher's test. Seriously, though, I'm the nerd in the front seat asking all the questions because I'm so intriqued by it all. So even though it's my hardest class, it's hands down my fave. And folks have said that her tests get you ready for PRAXIS II, which made me nervous.
Monday we took our first test. I think I did ok.
Yesterday one of the other teachers said that the Development teacher was dissapointed in us.
Today we got the test back. I saw her handing tests to my friends... 64, 72, 70, 61.....
And then she gives mine back.....
I got a 94, babies.

Best Vacation Ever - Day 1

Rachel posted this to her blog, so I just copied and pasted over:

This is what I posted on the TourGuide Mike website as my trip report. For anyone who cares, I will try my best not to give away any TGM secrets here!Our group: 2 couples and a baby (18 mo)Day: Sunday 8/21/05Actually, let me backtrack to the previous day, Saturday 8/20. On our way to FL, we had a major tire blowout on the interstate going 80mph. I thank God no one was hurt. Also that we were close to a city with a Sam's club where we could buy 2 new tires. So, our requisite Vacation Disaster is now out of the way.So, on to Sunday!We arrive at the All Star Music about 3PM, check in time for everybody and therefore quite busy at the front desk. Longest line we will experience at Disney. ;)Our room, though we requested several times and months in advance, is nowhere near the buses. Ah, well. We have been walking miles and miles to train for the parks, a little extra won't hurt. Did get adjoining rooms with friends/other couple, henceforth to be known as DFs (dear friends). What?! No crib? We also requested that months ago, confirmed by phone and in person at front desk. I call, they say it'll be right up.Time for dinner, no crib, oh well. No biggie. Let's drive over to the Poly and 'Ohana! Alas, we get slightly lost. No worries, we make it in time anyway. Lesson Learned: At the entrance to the MK parking lot/resort area, keep as far right as possible. Will have to make a quick merge to the right to get to resorts. Otherwise must circle MK parking lot and find our way back.Wow! Was 'Ohana the right choice to start of our Disney Dining! A feast. Truly. FYI we were on the Dining Plan and you do have to get pineapple as your dessert. But you will be too full to care by that time. More details in restaurant post later. Monorail to MK an hour or so before Wishes. Tried to hit Toontown but too crowded by TGM standards. Will see later. Wander over to Small World. No line, DS loved it! Revamped song is less irritating. Side note: DF has slight fear of dolls.Wandered a bit more, killing time before Wishes. Found our place in rose garden off Tomorrowland Bridge. No crowd, just a few wise people. My DS toddles up to me with his 1st flower-for-mommy. Sniff!Wishes. A little dissapointing. Did Disney cut back for the off-season? No Tinkerbell at all. 8 minute show. Is this right? Maybe my childhood memories have blown the fireworks out of proportion. Others enjoyed thoroughly anyway.Very sleepy crowd takes monorail back to Poly, takes car back to ASMu. Still no crib. Say they'll have it right up. Doesn't come till 11:30 PM. Wakes up baby, who wails for an hour. First day has me a little stressed. No, pretty darn stressed. By the way, the manager apologized profusely about the crib thing. Couldn't really do anything about it though.On to sleep.Fear not gentle reader! This does get better tomorrow!

Destin Connection

When I blog I blog...Long read and possibly boring.

Jodi and I want to take a break for our 10 year anniversary of our first date. We decide to go to Destin. The main reason is it's near my folks and they agreed to take care of Alexandra for 2 nights. :)

We stay one night at my parents to get Alexandra accustomed to the "new" faces. She attaches to my mom. Alexandra has never done that. She is very independent and only attaches to us. Even at day care she rarely asks to be held by the teachers. Maybe it was a blessing from God; we were afraid she wouldn't adjust too well.

The next day, she barely notices us leaving. We get to the hotel at 3:30 to check-in. We asked to upgrade to a gulf-front view. The dude behind the counter said, "sure but only because you are wearing a Bama t-shirt." He was kidding a bit they weren't full that weekend and had rooms to spare. It was a standard double-queen room that showed all the sings of salt water decay. Everything stuck, doors, faucets, and the pull for the shower.

That night our AC goes out in the car, and I don't have to tools to fix it. We decide to "live with it" and find the part on the way back to my folks and fix it at their house.

We have a great time until our second night. I'm pooped (or so I thought). It was actually the beginning of a 4+ day battle with a virus that made me ache, wouldn't let me sleep, and made me sweaty and hot. The only benefit of this was on that second night. At about 1 o-clock in the morning I was treated to an hour long x-rated audio presentation courtesy of our next door neighbors. I almost woke Jodi up to compete with them, but I was afraid she'd make fun of me after we were done (I wasn't feeling to hot either). By the way I think this guys girlfriend was faking.

The next day we get up to check-out and get breakfast. I'm still sore and tired. Jodi drives. We finally find an auto-parts store. The part is about $100. I buy it and install it when we get to my parents (took about 20 minutes).

When we get ther, Alexandra is spoiled to a fine "T" and decided to start teething at "Maw-maws". She was super clinginy for the next two days.

I don't go to Church on Sunday. On Sunday night, Jodi starts to have some symptoms. On Monday morning, I'm out again, and Jodi had an extra-concentrated version of my virus. She was literally stooping all the way to the couch as she was taking Alexandra there to feed. I'm not feeling as bad as she, so I get everything ready to take her to day care. I drop her off, return home, plop in bed.

I'm jealous of Jodi, She was felling pretty good this morning. I was able to keep pace, but by the time I got to work. I was pooped.

I hope this virus is finally gone.

A text book discussion: Rebates

I order electronics alot here for work. Occationally, to my delight, many of these big ticket items come with rebates in the form of electronic 'toys'. For example; I recently bought a few giga-speed switches, to which I learned I was entitled to an iPod shuffle (512 mb). When I got it, I gave it to my wife, and she loves it.

Is this a 'perk' of working in the industry and the position I work in? Am I entitled to give the iPod to the school?

If this is okay, is it less 'okay' if I seek out products that offer rebates for the sole purpose of getting the rebate? Naturally, the products I buy would be needed for work. But would it be wrong to spend a few $1,000 more just so I can reap the benifits?

Example; I need to buy a few new switches for work, so our network will be faster. I can get switches for about $1,000, but if I buy 5 HP switches that run just under $1,400, then the rebate I will get is a 30 inch LCD tv...

Naturally, these HP switches will out perform the $1,000 that I could get by leaps and bounds...

Is this wrong?

If you say yes, what if I asked the controller/accountant "If I buy something, and get a rebate/prize in return, can I keep the rebate/prize?" and he says "Sure!"... would it be wrong then?

Phwew!

Well, the hurricane has apparently passed us by with some fairly minor rain and wind. Unfortunately, it smacked one of my favorite places in the world, New Orleans. I saw some photos online of the flooding there and it is catastrophic! Some areas are more than 20 feet underwater. Apparently, they had 2 levees burst and tons of rain there. I remember the last time we were there, we were in the French Quarter and a heavy rain came up. We saw people wading knee deep in the streets then! I can't imagine what a hurricane looks like. Please pray for all the people there.

Movin' On Up

So here's an interesting little tid bit.
I'm getting a promotion.
Well, sort of. It's a temporary promotion. We just lost one of our managers, and since the district is a little crazy right now, me and one other girl are going to be temporary key holders for the next two months. We'll sort of act as the third person. It's not many more hours, so it shouldn't interfere with school, and I get a nice little raise too. I'm excited about it, needless to say.
Schools going well. I love love love my classes. If I had it my way, I'd be there all day, learning about children and their minds. I had my first test today in my hardest class and I think I did pretty well.
Love you guys very much,
Di

the game you'll hate me for

http://laser.narr.as/

here it is. You may not hate me. To ensure you hate me a bit less here are the passwords.

Picture page its picture page

Go here for all of my pics, and a bit of story time with each picture...

http://community.webshots.com/user/jamisonab

We Made It!

Well, we're back from Disney World! Several related posts are imminent, but I just wanted to say that we had an amazing time aside from one particular incident with a rear tire on our way down! We ate the best food I've ever had at a restaurant. We waited in NO lines. We had much fun and many laughs. That's my basic synopsis. Rachel planned it all perfectly and it turned out awesome. I'll let her give the full report. I just had to throw in my 2.5 cents.

Blast From the Past

Kristen Eidesmoe got married. You may remember her from such plays as Narnia, the Sound of Music and Chris Roquemore's Girlfriend. For pictures, click here.

Congregational Differences

Amy and I decided to attend the North Central congregation this morning. It is the largest congregation in town, averaging somewhere around 300 people on a Sunday morning. The difference in this service and the worship assemblies we've become accustomed to was striking.

The congregation we are members at, Highland Village, has about 70 members. Many of them are related, and the average age hovers around 60. It is a perfectly nice congregation, and we call it home.

Sunday morning Bible class at Highland Village consists of one of the elders reading from the Bible. For as long as I can remember we've been going through the Old Testament, we're up to Deuteronomy now. The elder literally reads a few versus, sums up what was just read, and then asks for questions. Sometimes someone will pipe in either with another summary of the passage, or will make broad generalizations with an application of the passage. It never seems that the elder has done any preparation for the class. Rarely are there cross references or detailed mentions of any scholarly commentary.

Boring is the word.

This morning we caught the last class of what sounded like something very interesting. The class dealt with a history of the church. Today's lesson dealt with the changes of the church over the last few decades. There was discussion on changing attitudes over instrumental usage and women's roles.

Interestingly it dealt with the issues on a strictly historical basis, and didn't get into any of the actual theology. There also wasn't a lick of scripture read.

Worship was lively. As mentioned Highland Village is smaller and consists of mostly elderly folks, who, I must say can't hold much of a tune. Song services are lead out of the old books filled with the classic standards of Church of Christ hymnology.

This morning's song service was lead by a beautiful baritone with some southern soul. The congregation followed suit and sang passionately and in tune. We sang a good mix of the classics and some more contemporary songs. It was all quite moving.

Although being a larger and more "progressive" church we got the occasional hand rising from an audience member and there was a clap filled song or two. In order to keep the beat, the song leader tended to snap his fingers from time to time.

I've had various thoughts about these issues, and I don't want to get into them here, but needless to say I have not been a part of these things in a long time, and it was quite shocking to see them again.

Highland Village's preacher is a very intelligent (he has a couple of Harvard degrees) and interesting man who prepares very good sermons and well researched Bible classes. He actually reminds me of Dr. Morris, who some of you will remember, in that he often seems to think on a level well above the rest of the room. He also often tells jokes that leave most of the audience staring blankly while I try to suppress my uproarious laughter.

Today's sermon was from a guest speaker, a high school senior, about to embark to college. While he did an admirable job, it definitely seemed like a high school senior preaching for the first time.

North Central had several greeters lined at the doors, who met us with outstretched hands and a warm smile. We were asked a few questions as we introduced ourselves in order to lead us to the proper Bible class. Afterwards many of the members came up and introduced themselves.

At Highland Village, though we have been members there for several years, and the congregation is quite small, we still do not know many of the other members well if at all.

I'm not trying to make judgment on either church. There are very good things, and not so good things at both congregations, as with every congregation throughout the world. Having been a member at Highland Village for many years, and attending a very small church in France the differences with a larger congregation made a big impression on me today. I thought I'd share.

hairy situation

Well it’s pretty quiet these days around the old blogging hole so I’ll fill the gap with a realization I had recently. This past Friday Jules and I went to her 10 year reunion and I have to say all together it was pretty fun. The graduating class of 1995 from Madisonville HS was around 100 folks and there were maybe that many that showed up including the spouses. Summer casual was the dress code and that means that I wanted to look nice but casual and debated leaving the house without a coat. I should have followed my instincts a bit closer because when we did show up not only was I relieved that I didn’t wear a coat but I was the only one who had on a tie. One guy showed up in shorts and a t-shirt forcing me to realize that for once in my life I was indeed over dressed. So we walked in and Jules saw several folks she knew and started to gab away as the evening began. I got the chance to talk to a few folks before too long and asked what they did. Outside of a salon I have never come across a larger collection of hair dressers and stylists in my life. In my graduating class more than double my wife’s I never knew anyone that ever dreamed of becoming a hair dresser. Even at my reunion I never came across anyone in this field who just happened upon it. It must be something about smaller towns that makes this the highest aspiration someone can tangibly reach for without having to push the imagination. One of Jules friends was working as a civilian, communications, IT tech with the USAF out of Tampa and another was about to begin her masters work in PR or politics after having worked for the Mayors office in Chicago and there were a few other folks who seemed to be doing pretty good but with all the stylists and insurgency force could have accomplished a successful coupe de ta locking the rest of the guests in the hall until everyone had a wash, cut and curl. I go to a barber and pay a total of $9 for my hair cut and I know hair technicians can make really good money I just thought it was strange almost 1/10th of the guests had all chosen the same career path.

Animal Rights?

Graffiti, threatening phone calls, hate mail and grave robbing. Sound like the work of tree hugging, dog-kissing, animal rights hippies? Think no? Just ask the owners of this guinea pig farm.

Watch It If You Dare

Or have too much time on your hands.

For a video of a guy winning Super Mario Bros 3 in 11 minutes, click here.

weird russian computer junk

I got this from a friend of mine and it's a bit too weird to not pass along. If she gets stuck click on her and drag n' drop her. It's sort of mesmerizing.
http://www.izpitera.ru/lj/tetka.swf

I'll try and respond to stuff and fill you in on the actual vacation we've taken over the past week.

Intrigue and Disgust

Sounds like a commentary on a recent movie I watched or something, but it's not. It's about Jodi's car a 1999, Oldsmobile Intrigue. This might be a long one so go potty before you read it.

Anyway, I've been chasing a problem with it for a while. The right, front passenger side keeps filling up with standing water. I've taken it to 2 places and consulted with two others.

The first repair shop said that I had a leak. $200 later a plastic piece on the passenger side called a "cowl louver" or something like that could have been "cow lover" for all I know. Two weeks later the problem returns. I call them they say, "well you definitely had a leak; anything else we find will cost more." Won't be going back there.

Take it to an air conditioning specialist. He looks it over and says he can't find anything. He suggests that we should try not turning on outside air for the AC and only use recirculate. He claims it could be because of all of the humidity in the air. I don't agree with him, but I don't argue either because he didn't charge us a cent. The reason I don't agree with him is that it started all of the sudden. I figure either something is broke with the AC or it must be something else entirely.

Well we try his suggestion anyway. Here's what sucks. Jodi's car defaults to "outside air" every time you start the car. So we might forget to turn on the recirculate or have doubts as to whether or not we did once water starts filling up the floor board. We watch the problem for several months anyway. It seems to be working, other than when we "forget" to turn on recirculate.

Fast forward last week. I have the car for a couple days. I'm religiously checking to turn on recirc. Sometime during the week I make a hard left and water starts gushing onto the floor. I know it's not the AC now. I call a body shop thinking it must be a seal or something; they send me to a windshield place. After talking to them I get "9 times out of 10, it ends up being a 'body shop' problem." They tell me it will be $30 for a leak check. My appt. is Monday at 12:15.

Well here's the point of all of this. Today I Google a search for my problem. I click on the first link, my problem is described exactly in a forum thread. A few moments later I found a possible solution.

I go outside. 15 minutes later I pull a hook-shaped tube from behind the tire well. Water comes gushing out; I flush the tub with water to clear the gunk that had built up...Problem Solved.

Here's a question, why wasn't that in a repair manual on-line or otherwise for these mechanics. And should I go get my money back for that "cow lover"?

Look Who Is Famous

Browsing today I came across this article, which proclaims to be originally from the Wall Street Journal online! Why were we not informed of this semi-famousicity, Ms and Mr Braly?

teasers...

we finally made it to gainesville, FL in one piece.
Id write more but i am too tired...

just look for pics and stories about a tire blowout and me and sip having to change a tire on the side of the freeway, then a nice story about sips own little internal "blowout"...

stay tuned!
jamison

Mr Braly Goes To Washington

By the way, my wife has to go to DC for work in mid september... long weekend basically.
Im tagging along and just having to pay $150 for the plane ticket.. if anyone wants to come you can stay with us, but you may have to stay on the floor of the hotel room... for free though, of course.
While my wife is in meetings all day, Ill be bored stiff in the hotel room, unless someone comes with us...

Babies and Balding

Squeezing two posts into one here....
Just got back from the hospital. Ryan had a baby! Well, his wife did. It was really amazing because I was standing outside the delivery room with his parents and her parents. I didnt hear any grunts or anything like than. Then, out of no where, you hear this child crying and screaming! It was amazing! I've never heard a birth live before!

Then, after all the pictures were taken and junk, I am standing out in the hall and Ryans father in law, a man I have spoken two complete sentences to (or less) in my life, nudges me in a jovial (correct my spelling please if need be) way and says "Hey, I think that baby has more hair than you do!" And laughs...

To which I do not laugh, roll my eyes and look away...

WHAT IS IT ABOUT ME?!?!?!

I soon there-after left, without saying much to anyone. But what is it about me that makes virtual strangers comfortable enough with me to feel like they can joke on me about that. I wish I had, like, a deformed hand or something so they could at least make fun of that...

So first one of my wifes cousins who I dont know, now my friends father in law who I dont know.... WHOS NEXT?

I got back to my truck and looked in the mirror and I was thinking "yeah, im balding, but it really doesnt look that bad!" I dont get it, i suppose i should have turned around and joked on him about the big mole on his nose...

A Blog for Luke

I just made a blog for Luke. I think it will be a great way to document his babyhood; I'm much more likely to post than to write in his baby book. Plus I can add pictures and share with everybody! Cool beans!

http://babysip.blogspot.com

Environment

The C&H post and the last post I made got me thinking about another aspect of the emergent conversation/postmodern thought pattern that has come to light recently. One aspect of this philosophy is environmental conservation. However, the idea isn't spoken of in a secular way. What I mean is that these guys believe that we are supposed to turn the world into some sort of utopia so that Jesus will return and set up His Kingdom on Earth! It all sounds very Jehovah's Witness if you ask me. My view is that we shouldn't go too far either way. To be focussed on the world is not what we are called to do in the Bible. We are to look forward to Christ's coming and the end of the world, or as it says at the end of Revelation "Lord, come quickly" (marana tha). Yet, God has given us many blessings and we are to be good stewards of these. So, we have to strike a balance. If you go too far toward the world beeing our home, you can't set you mind on "things above" and if you say, "Well, this place is just temporary, we can trash it," then you're making light of God's blessings to all people. Anyway, it just got me thinking and so I posted this rambling.

Truth

I have been doing some personal research concerning postmodernism. Here is a link to an AP article written several years ago about this very subject. Postmodernism says "there are no absolute truths" which is a ridiculous statement since it is an absolute. Unfortunately, many people are being taken in by this mindset without even realizing what they are doing. They think it's "new" and "cool", but it is all about forming a religion of humans by humans. The primary premise of postmodernism, from a christian perspective, is that the scriptures are there solely for our interpretation and we create our own "truths" from them. This is a completely untenable position when you consider that the Word is Jesus and He is the only way to Heaven. Personal objectivism (the idea that we create truth) therefore becomes more about selling books and patting one's self on the back because of how new or cool an idea is. Christianity was about Christ last time I checked. How do we know Christ if not through His Truth in the Word which is Christ? We can't. That's the truth.

What I Want for Christmas

Every strip Bill Watterson wrote for Calvin and Hobbes is being released in a beautiful looking boxed set. Far Side did something similar last year, and though I'm not that big a fan of the strip I continue to salivate over it.

I own nearly every Calvin and Hobbes book already, but the packaging of the boxed set is enough to make me want them again. I'm surprised by how good the strip really is. Though I've read them a million and a half times I still find myself amazed and in awe of the genius of Watterson. The jokes aren't always funny anymore, but the manner in which he leads up to the jokes is pure genius. But the joy of any Calvin strip lies within the artwork. Watterson is a true artist, and made some of the most visually stimulating images I've ever seen in a strip.

So take out your old, tattered copy of "Revenge of the Baby Sat" poor a glass of Earl Gray, and enjoy a bit of pure comic genius.

Then purchase the boxed set to put in my stocking this Christmas.

Aloha

We arrived home at about 11 last night. Our trip was a good one, a little rain, but that's it. The air was stinky yesterday. I think we smelled about 10 different items. It became an interesting car game to name them.
My last day of school is December 9. The Sippers are going to come visit in December and if anyone else wants to make the trip it will be great. The beach, of course, will be out but there's lots of other great things to do when it's not so crowded. The aquarium, Brookgreen Gardens.
*sigh*
School has started in Myrtle Beach. So far all I've had today is my child development class. I think I'm going to enjoy it, because I love psychology. I have a whole hour after that and my edu building is right next to the library so I'll be able to get in lots of peace and quiet.... I'm really looking forward to this semester.
I love you all,
D

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

I simply adore The Chronicles of Narnia! I just checked the movie site and found out that WETA workshop (the same special effects, costumes, etc. company that did the LOTR films) is handling all of the same stuff for this movie!!! They are also filming in New Zealand. I can't wait to see it! Go to the site and check out the trailer and behind the scenes stuff. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Disturbing

I am disturbed by these 2 articles. Do most people really think this way? Very sad.

10 Things Every Single Girl Must Own

10 Things Every Single Man Must Own

Joy beyond joy!

Happy Birthday Sippie-pooh!

A Rude Awakening

Last night Amy and I stayed up later than usual watching movies (Amy) and enjoying our new entry into the broadband world (me). About 12:30 we found the bed to lie in and began to drift off to sleep.

Just after 1 am, the doorbell rang in three quick bursts. I had not quite fallen asleep and readily realized what the noise was, but had no intentions of doing anything about it. It was as if my barely conscience brain couldn’t process any possible reason for someone to ring my doorbell at that hour and decided it was best to pretend nothing had happened.

Amy rolled over and I knew what was coming. She was going to tell me someone rang the doorbell. While I was trying to decide what I would tell her I would do about it (nothing) she did indeed tell me that the doorbell had rang. I sighed knowing full well I would now have to get up and investigate.

As I got up, the doorbell rang again, followed by a loud pounding on the door.

I got out of bed, pulled on some clothes and walked to the door. Running through my head were possible reasons why the bell had rung. With the exception of Amy’s folks, nobody knows where we live, and her folks certainly wouldn’t be here ringing the bell. It could be the neighbors, but it was a little late to be ringing to borrow some sugar, and any emergency would better be remedied by a call to 911 than by a ring to our door.

I began to expect some shady character at the door giving me some quick sob story so that I would open the door allowing said shady character to stick a gun in my face and rob me. I had no intentions of opening that door.

I looked through the peephole and found nobody standing outside. My first reaction was to check the locks and make sure they were secure.

UNLOCKED

Both bloody locks were open! How did we forget to lock the front door on this night of all nights? As silently as I could (for this robber-killer could be standing just to the side waiting to bop me on the head) I locked the door and began imagining this goon to have already slipped inside. Could he be right behind me in the closet? No, I didn’t hear the door open after the ringing of the bells.

I checked the back door to ensure it was locked. It was. Then I began to hear sounds outside the apartment. I peaked out the window and saw a couple of people standing around. I overheard a woman saying that she was trying to rouse everybody out of bed.

I threw on shoes and yelled to Amy to come out. This time a lady was standing in her pajamas on the front walkway. She said to me that there was a fire in the woods behind the complex and that it had caught one of the buildings porch on fire.

The fire trucks had arrived, and everyone was out in the parking lot trying to decide what to do. I decided I wanted a better view and walked through the apartment to the back porch.

FIRE

One of the porches to the apartment building next to us was ablaze. Holy Crap! That’s right next door! I yelled at Amy to come watch and like a typical male, grabbed my camera.

The firemen seemed to be standing around looking at the fire without actually doing anything to put it out. Eventually someone came with a hose and they killed the blaze. Since the porch is nothing but wood planks they spent the next half hour with a chainsaw cutting it to bits and then hosing down the smoldering lumber.

It was a rough nights rest after being awakened by a near disaster so close to home.

Blogging

We've been doing a great job of blogging, guys and ladies. I had over a hundred messages in my box from the blog today, and that' only two days worth of not being checked! I think we have certainly proved we can keep up with the blogging.

My question now, is what do we want to do with it? Pretty much we have simply moved our e-mailing to move into blogland. We have each added a few new flourishes with reviews, stories, news commentaries and that is excellent. But for the most part we're just rattling off bits of personal information about ourselves. Not that this is bad, for I am perfectly fine with this. But, we originally created the blog as a precursor to some webzine.

The blog can be manipulated in small ways to combine certain types of material together. On my blog I have links to lists of my movie and book reviews. We could create categories for Jamisons reviews, Josh's stories, Mullins' conspiracies and what not if we like.

I guess I'm just curious if we still want to try for a web zine or not. It seems we're doing pretty good at the blogging concept, and I'm interested in taking it a step further and making it something for the public. Not necessarily now, but let's put in some feedback as to where we are going.

I'm Back, For Real This Time

Got the DSL hooked up just now. So I am good to go with hard core e-mailing and blogging. Um.......that is all.

This Weekend

Are we still planning to do karaoke sometime while the Stubbs are here? We might need to reserve that room if so. Is there anything else that needs to be taken care of before we kick this thing off? Planning now=fun later. That's my dorkish motto anyway. Not to be confused with my Orkish motto, which is "Cut down all the trees and build that WalMart."

The Jamison Cafe Collection

So I've got some 2048 songs on my iTunes at work and they are on a constantly rotating play list. At this moment Steve Miller's Winter Time is playing and I can only think of my pal Jamison. Steve Miller's Greatest Hits have been burning into my mind as a Jamison album because once upon a time we went driving around Chatt-town in his old jeep and listened to this album the whole time, good times cruising around and hanging off mountain tops.

footing the bill

This is worth blogging I suppose...

Yesterday was the day of all days for me at work... it all started at 3pm.... that’s when all faculty got out of an all day thingy in the theatre... in fact, they are doing another one today, so today may be busy too....

Anyway, I was at work late. At 6 or 7pm, I was taking a computer off of my worktable that I had unsuccessfully tried to fix (but did eventually get fixed before I went home). As I slid this computer off the table into my arms, I suppose the exhaustion from the days work got the best of my and the computer fell right on top of my left foot. Not in a way so that the weight was distributed, but rather the smaller side of it hit my foot so that the rest of the computer was directly above my foot.

It smarted, but rather than yell curses and scream in pain, I yelled at the computer saying "AH HA! Not gonna work for you this time is it!?!?" Okay, I had lost my mind at that point. But I was rubbing it into this inanimate object that it was unable to break on me. See, if my foot hadn't been there, the computer would be broke beyond repair.... In a way I was happy for the injury... but today it kind of hurts to walk on.

Then around 8:30pm I headed home... yeah, I kept working after the injury, what an idiot...

Break A Leg

My Mom (Olivia) and Dad (Charles) met at Faulkner University back when it was Alabama Christian University. Charles was enamoured of Olivia, but Olivia only thought he was nice and wasn't really marriage material. Charles was a Bible major on his way to becoming a preacher and was a good guy, but she thought he was a little too enthusiastic about their burgeoning relationship. Charles, relaizing that he was not impressing the young lady, did everything he could to make her like him more and perhaps even fall in love with him. He sold all of his Hank Williams records (originals) since she detested country music. He gave her his high school class ring as a token of love. But, nothing seemed to faze fair Olivia. But, Charles was not one to give up so easily. He talked to Olivia often and, through his keen mastery of conversation, discovered that Olivia adored horse-back riding. She had ridden horses since she was a small girl and desperately wanted to ride again since she had been far from her South Carolina home for many months with no horses to carry her thence. "Aha!" said Charles, most pleased. "Come with me to the farm where my folks live and we can ride horses until your little heart's content!" Alas! Students at ACU were FORBIDDEN to do such a thing. For a young man and woman to go off for a weekend together, even to the young man's family's house, was scandalous! But, the die had been cast and away they went, signing out of their dorms with riding intent. The next day, they went out and saddled the horses. Charles rode a stallion named Bill. He was a brute and vehemently disdained Tom, the gelding Olivia rode. Yet, Charles was confident that he could control Bill, being a competent horseman himself. They rode for an hour or two and then decided to return to the stable. But, Bill had different plans. He kicked at Tom, trying his best to damage his castrated foe. However, as fate would have it, Olivia's leg was in the path of Bill's kick and was shattered about the shin when his hoof met the graceful spindle below her knee. She cried out and fell from Tom's back as Charles dismounted in an effort to comfort and care for his wounded love. Bill and Tom ran back to stables with Bill chasing Tome down and nearly kicking him to death! Olivia swooned at the horse battle and her wound. Thus Charles swept her up and carried her forthwith to the physicians. After that day, Charles was left alone. Olivia's family came and took her back to South Carolina. She was severely broken by Bill's ill-favored kick. Olivia, lonely and deeply hurt, slept alone in the hospital, unsure of her fate and wishing for her loving Charles to come and lift her spirits. And came he did! Charles, among working three jobs and going to college full-time still visited Olivia, making the eight-hour trek from sout Alabama to South Carolina at least once a month for two years. Upon seeing Charles' devotion, Olivia loved him all-the-more. There, the love story ends and begins...

Epilogue:

Olivia and Charles have been married for over 35 years. Olivia still has a huge dent in her shin from the kick and walks with a can due to her injury, but the doctors saved her leg. Charles is a preacher and a carpenter. They still love each other and, since the horseback riding incident, have not ridden horses.

out of office response

So it's old news that I'll be out of the office next week for you guys. Here in happy-go-lucky work land not a ton of folks know so I'm going to set my out of office email reply. This is what I'm considering putting down as the response, please tell me what you think...

Hello and I hope you’re doing just fine.
I’m sorry that you have tried to contact me because I’m on currently on vacation. Yes I have left my work behind and I’m taking Matt time. I will be gone from Aug 15th until the 19th. During this time I will surely be traveling to Nashville to collect my $80 Million Dollar Lottery Winnings! When I get back I’ll tell everyone about it!

If you need to contact me and you are from the law firm of Jacobson, Lowery and Black, concerning the KFC “Finger Licking Good” incident: The term “Finger Licking Good” doesn’t differentiate between licking my own fingers and someone else’s as being “Good” or bad. In response to your previous query, I am not at liberty to divulge information to my prior whereabouts before entering the noted eatery.

If you need to contact me and you are from the law firm of Barry, Davis and Gershwin: the Davis Pub is responsible for over serving me during my visit. Their dogmatic service is threatening and overwhelming to those who are susceptible to the energetic and vigorous sales-personship of youthful females. I am also pursuing litigation based on the mental duress of their misleading and false advertisement of their chicken menu not stating “while it lasts”.

If anyone else needs to contact me for a Scripps related question Johanna Hoover is your best bet 865 560 4588.

If you need to contact me in regards to the missing Wells Fargo truck you can call me directly at 1-800-973-1768.

If you are looking for my tour dates, they will be updated when I get back.

If you are emailing me in regards to chartering opportunities rotary-wing exercises will begin September 3rd.

If you would like some interesting reading I would like to recommend the following websites.
http://www.keelynet.com/leed.htm
http://www.escapeartist.com/
http://www.apologeticspress.org/
http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage
http://www.boneroom.com/

If you are bored and looking to kill some time I would like to recommend this website, it’s too much fun.
http://www.teagames.com/

If you would like to know the atomic weight of matter… Actually let's be careful with the use of the term weight. Some tend to get a little loose with the terms atomic or molecular weight, what is technically more correct is terminology reflecting the atomic (molecular) mass. I mean obviously weight is the pull of gravity on an object's mass, so it varies from location to location on earth, though it's not a great variation. Mass is a measurement of the quantity of matter in an object. So HA! This is actually a trick, the “matter” has yet to be compartmentalized as an object there for setting a scale to determine what sort of mass the matter actually is. Just for kicks rice has a mass of 7.23g while Hydrogen has a mass of 0.23g. There is no way to find the weight or mass of matter that is not formed into a category of mass, gas or liquid.

If you would like a riddle please consider enjoying these.
1. No visible flesh,
Nor blood,
Nor bone.
But within time,
Will walk alone.
What are they?
2. I am just two and two, I am hot, I am cold,
I'm the parent of numbers that cannot be told.
I'm a gift beyond measure, a matter of course,
And I'm yielded with pleasure when taken by force.
What am I?
3. I have thousands of eyes,
yet I live in darkness.
I have thousands of ears,
but only four lobes.
I have no arms or legs,
and still I rule two hemispheres.
What am I?

If you would like the answers I’m sorry but I’m not sure what they mean either.

spanglish

just a note about a great movie matt and i watched the other nite. "spanglish" proves that adam sandler can go beyond "little nicky" and "the waterboy" you all need to check this one out if you haven't seen it. all i can say about it is he (adam sandler's character) does the right thing. watch and find out what it is.

gently apply breaks

Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I must. Jules, Isaac and Caleb and I aren't going to be able to make to Montgomery. We're all really bummed but if we had made the trip we would have been so strapped coming back home that I would have turned into Jules term a "money nazi" So making the call of good financial management we're staying in Tennessee. We're heading to Braly's stomping grounds, Chat-town for a night and taking the kids to various things like the aquarium, kids discovery center and the choo choo. I really can't tell you how ticked I am at this but sometimes you just gotta cut and run with what you've got. I love you all dearly and am saddened that we won't be able to hang out.

We'll go honky tonkin' 'round this town

Forgot to mention this...
In Fort Worth, TX (just a few miles from Dallas, but, with Dallas traffic, it takes an hour to get to) is a place known world-wide as Billy Bob's .

It claims to be the worlds largest Honky Tonk. They have live music every night. The day we went in to look around, Dwight Yokam was to play that night at 8pm. Willin Nelson comes and plays every 4th of July, and apparantly has for decades.

This place was huge! It had an arcade, it had like 4 giant line-dance floors, TWO stages for bands, and (get this) an indoor bull riding ring. Not mechanical bulls, REAL bulls... it was amazing.

I won't say much for Dallas, or that area. There isn't much to do, and if there was, you'd spent half the day driving to it. BUT, if you are ever in teh Dallas/Ft. Worth area, Billy Bobs is worth hanging out at on a weekend night from say 7pm till 1am... Next time we go, we are going to make actual plans to go there.

Mullins get the mind thinking...

A few weeks back, Mullins linked us to come conspiracy links that a plane never hit the pentagon. Sitting here at work, I decided to google this and learn more. Of course the first results convinced me of this as well! I had convinced myself that no plane hit the pentagon!

Okay, I researched further, and found some interesting links that debunk this conspiracy theory (even though it was a very cool one to beleive!)

Click Here TO read a short CNN report and to see actual pentagon security camera footage of a plane hitting the pentagon at low altitude...

Click Here To read an urban legend site debunk this story to a convincing degree...

But the most convincing one is this site that shows actual wreckage inside the pentagon... Click Here

But honestly, who cares... Just thought I'd make us all smarter...

Changing of the pick gaurd

got my new mandolin yesterday. Very loud, very black, and very nice. Next time I see you, Mullins, you may have your Gibson back. Thanks for letting me barrow it. Without your friendship (and your mandolin) I would never know the joys of playing this instrument.

one last song

After I finish listening to Bruce Hornsby's Mandolin Rain I'm leaving work for the day. This will put me around 5:15 and I can easily leave then and not feel bad. Actually I can leave earlier without guilt, wait. I can listen to this stupid song any...

Good sign or bad sign

At the place I work for, one of the instructors left mid-year.
We got an instructor to take that persons place.
It is for a computer teacher job.

Is it a bad sign when the new comptuer teacher refers to "Yahoo" as "Yohoo" with a straight face...?

The second is like unto it...

Should I love my users?

I have about 300 computers, and maybe 100 - 150 users (not counting the students).

Should I protect them, and shield them? I guess I do that with my email filters and firewall, but do I do it because I love them or because I want as few problems FOR ME as possible? I submit that it is for the latter.

Most of the users here are so nice to me. In fact, most are so nice that it sickens me, and annoys me ("...for in so doing you will reep hot coals upon their heads"). So I try to avoid them.

They may all think that I love them. Why? Because when they email me with a problem; whether it is big or small, I RUSH to get it done. For them? No. For me. To get it out of the way and off my plate. They exclaim "Bot, that was fast." and I hear them brag about how fast I solve problems for them.... but it is FOR ME!

In fact, I cant think of any user that I ENJOY helping. Well, there is a new 3rd grade teacher that is very hot. I hope she doesn't need too much help, but there again, it would be for selfish reasons that I would enjoy helping her. The band director is a cool guy, but I enjoy just talking to him, and not helping him. Funny thing is that the people who require the most of me, I like to avoid contact with and the people who are nicest to me I like to avoid contact with. But I enjoy being around the people who are right there in the middle. Nice enough for me to think "okay, they enjoy my company and arent being fake" and need help with real problems and not the "Yahoo is down" problems.

I have no friends at work. By my design. In fact, the only friends I have ever had at any job were friends that worked there before I started working there. I guess I make it a point not to make friends with co-workers. I want a seperation from work and play. I dont go to xmas parties at peoples homes for work events. I dont go to birthday celebrations in the break rooms for co-workers. I dont sit in the break room and eat food with others when the PTO has brought food. I take it to my room.

Am I a hermit? I like people. All of you know that. At church, I buzz around all over the place talking to people. At social events outside of work (weddings, funerals), I meet new folks and get to know them.

As Jerry S once said (okay, he said it alot) "What's the deal...?"

Bible question

Ok do Drudgereport.com has a report today about finding the well where Jesus put the mud on the blind guys’ eyes allowing him to see. This well has been lost for some time, in fact it's been lost long enough for someone else to claim they have that particular well. At any rate how does a city that's several thousand years old and with so much history continue to build on its self to the extent that they have covered over enough artifacts to where any place they dig they are going to find something else that's several thousand years old. I guess I don't understand how a city can continue to rebuild its self so many times that it is continuity coving over locations that are key to the propagation of its faith and that of Christ's time on Earth. Maybe it's a Judaic cover up to destroy all the places Jesus went and discredit that fact he was in that city, who knows. I understand that not everyone thinks Jesus was real and those who do haven’t always thought he’s worth the acclaim and of course the march of time and progress. Still it’s amazing that this city is literally built on top of the structures from centuries ago. San Francisco and parts of New York are built on a garbage heaps so maybe it shouldn’t surprise me that Jerusalem is too.

"Our D-I-V-O-R-C-E... Becomes Final Today"

Name the singer of the title and you win...

Here is something that depressed me. Working in a school, I see this more than most of you. Most folks who aren't in circles where divorce happens alot probably think that it DOESN'T happen alot. But it does.

We have an online program at school that interfaces with our gradebooks and teachers ciriculums so that parents can keep a close eye on their kids grades and homework. Parents love it.

Each student has a login account, and there is generally one login for the parents. At least once a week, I have a "newly divorced" parent contact me wishing to have their own login account for this program, because they just got divorced.

I must have 1.5 times more parent logins than student logins. No lie, WELL over 50% of the families in this school are either divorced, or remarried.

What will it be like when this generation grows up. Heck, my niece is one of these kids now! It is like a fad! My wife works with a guy who got married and then divorced a week later!

AUGH!!!

And what is with these "Interest ONly" mortgage loans? A $200,000 homes payment is like $400 a month?!?!? When do you pay it off? And a house is an investment for most folks, for these people, they will have to die in the home to make it worth the purchase!!!
Sorry, little rant there. ALl this land being torn up and getting cheaply-built homes slapped on top of them because of all these insane loan scams.

travel news

Hey guys I just wanted to give you some sort of update on our tip south. Everything is in limbo.
If we are still able to make the trip it won't be until later Sunday because we've happened upon a planned family activity and if we bail on that as Uncle Owen said, "There'll be Hell to pay".
That leads to this, our books are really tight right now and we really don't need to press our finances to such an extreme to cover tip costs and what we need to take care of here.
We're going to do our best to get things arranged and do a final analysis on costs and such but as you money geeks know you can't spend what you don't have and it's no fun having too much month at the end of your money.

Constantine/The Jacket

Rachel and I rented a couple of movies this weekend:

Constantine was much better than we had expected. I keep hearing the same thing from just about everyone I have asked about it. The movie took some liberties from a religious/Biblical perspective (as would be expected with all the Catholic dogma), but it was fun to watch and the characters were pretty well-played. Keanu Reeves even managed to be someone other than Keanu Reeves in the movie.

On a very different side of the coin, The Jacket was prime independent film material. The cast was an odd collection of talent with Adrian Brody, Kira Knightly, Kris Kristopherson, and Jennifer Jason Leigh, but they worked their characters to the bone and made you think. It's rated R and has some bad language and situations, but was compelling and well-conceived.

I would recommend The Jacket over Constantine, but both were interesting to watch and enjoyable in their own way.

THAT'S how they getcha! They give you the soup, the salad, the bread... don't eat the bread! Don't eat the bread!

This is how they getcha... take a few days off work, and the monday I get back im here for a bit over 10 hours working non-stop... THAT'S how they getcha.

Just wanted to post a blog while I wait on a server to reboot.

FYI, keep Lisa B's mother in your prayers those of you who know her. Her mom had another stroke (I am assuming her mom has had a stroke in the past)

The B I B L E

I was just looking at another blog. The owner is a youth minister at a cofC and grew up in the church. The latest blog he had was titled "5 Books that Changed My Faith". None of the books were the Bible. It hurt me to see that. He talked about reading these books to see your faith through "new lenses". But, aren't we supposed to see the world and ourselves in the "mirror" (James 1:23-24) of the Bible? I'm glad we still sing the kids' song "The B I B L E, yes that's the book for me. I stand alone on the Word of God, the B I B L E." I just hope the impetus of the song isn't changing from standing on the Word only to standing by yourself on the Word. Yet, being a Christian and standing only on God's Word can be lonely. I suppose that realization is beginning to hit me now.

All Apologies

Sorry I've been so neglecting of the blog lately. One day I'll be all settled in and will start posting more. We moved this weekend. I have decided we own way too much crap. We're on the second floor and every muscle I have just aches from all the lifting.

Unfortunately the DSL won't be connected until like the 17th so any home interneting is out. I might do some from work, probably so. They frown on internet while at work except on breaks, which I get none but a lunch. I am unsure if they still have break computers to use. If not we can forget about it because if I tried to use my desk during lunch I'd get bothered with work stuff. But I can probably squeeze some time in somewhere to say hello.

I know I've asked for prayers for Amy's studies before but this time is for real. She didn't take her exams twice last year and this time she absolutely must take them. They are in early September and they are killer. Five tests over three days at about 3 hours a pop. They give her a broad subject like phonetics and make her study everything possible concerning that subject. If she fails any subject she will get one more chance at it. If she fails that the last several years are all for naught.

Amy is procrastinator queen so please beg God that she will get down on it. She has plenty of distractions with an apartment that needs to be unpacked too so she needs extra pushing.

I start work Tuesday, joy of joys.

Brew-esque long weekend...

I've been left alone in my in-laws home...
I woke up at 9am... walked to the neighborhood pool at 9:30 (no one but me was in it).
At 10:30, someone showed up, so like a hermit, I gathered my things and left...
watched TV, moved our stuff to a different bedroom (let the new guy, her sisters boyfriend, have the old bed, hahaha!), ate lunch, and freed my in-laws computer of 72 viruses...

It aint France, but there isn't much for me to do here except be a bum... maybe I'll go to the pool later... I feel exactly how I felt when I was 14 years old in the summers... Cause at 15, you had to get a job, and summers weren't free anymore, but I am here, back in my pajama pants, with nothing to do. Even if I wanted to go to work (which, in a way, I do) I can't!

Back to School?

All of Diana's looking for schools down in this area sent me on a bit of a research spree. In the looking about, I saw that Alabama State offers an education Doctorate. I worked on my Ph.D. in education (emphasis in Instructional Design) for a couple of semesters before Luke was born. I was going through Capella University online and I liked it, but the degree included practica that required you to take an entire week and travel to a designated city. If I go through ASU, everything would be done right here in Montgomery and my G.I. Bill would totally cover it. I'm just not sure if I want to go back or not. We'll probably get pregnant again soon and I don't know if I want to sacrifice the time. Perhaps I'll wait a year and then see how things look. Anyway, have any of y'all considered more school time? I think I'm addicted...

Tattoo

I think that I might get this tattooed on my forearm.

Drum roll please

I have names the guitar!

.........

Phoenix!

Toiletries

I don’t think that I’m too far off base to say that it’s ok to be particular about where one chooses to use the facilities right? At work I know that I shouldn’t worry too much because every evening there is a crew that comes in and cleans the building from 6pm until 2am. Going “one” isn’t really a problem because I’m a guy and I can literally go anywhere and not touch anything. For “two” I’m a bit paranoid. There is a bathroom that is half way across the building that’s connected to the guest green room and make up area. This is a pretty low traffic area and where I chooses to go should the need becomes apparent. With this back story I feel the need to discuss the simple joys of a business toilet. I asked Jules about this and she’s never encountered this but I take great joy in my private time when I find that someone has left a magazine or newspaper in the stall. I’m not sure if it’s the joy of having the fruit and nuts out and unconfined that makes guys spend so much time on the head but it is comfortable. Reading while your body works is nice because it breaks up a rather mundane and necessary task. Where there is a periodical available it’s usually a newspaper or broadcasting magazine, sometimes it’s a home style magazine which no straight man should be reading but that’s part of my business and makes me consider doing my business in another location. So I pose this to the rest of this board, ladies do you ever come across magazines in b-room stalls? Guys, what do you happen across. I sometimes wonder why there are not more risqué items in the stalls considering all the crackpots in the building. I guess it’s better to not find more typical “male” mags while inspecting the facilities, I mean how much time do you need to spend “reading”.

Like Father, Like Son

well, it has begun. my firstborn child is following in his dad's footsteps. now you must realize that he already says "hubba hubba" whenever he sees a pretty girl, matt taught him this. but yesterday was the kicker. as you know he just started preschool and is apparently fitting in just fine. when i went to pick him up his class was outside playing. i was signing him out and he runs up to me and says "mommie i have a girlfriend!!" and i am thinking, "oh boy..here we go..." he tries to point her out to me and i tell him i see her. i start to walk to the car and he says "nooo, i want you to come meet her!!" i told him i would meet her some other time because we were in a hurry, but he is insistent that i go and see her. sooo..i walk over to where the kids are playing and the teacher asks me if something is wrong, while at the same time the cutest little girl comes running over to isaac and says "hey buddy!"
i told his teacher that nothing was wrong, i just couldn't leave until i until i met his girlfriend. of course this gets a huge laugh. so we were then able to leave because i had met her.

i should of known he would start this early....i mean look at what a cassanova his dad was(is)!!!

Greetings from Dalla TX, and "tatawillies"

I am in Dallas using a wireless internet connection belonging to "tatawillie".
Tip; if you go wireless in your home, please secure it. There are like 9 to chose from in this neighborhood... 2 of which are secured.
Had dinner with Catherine and her hubby and J. Gayton and his wife. More to come. Fun time was had.
Love yall, planes landed safe and sound, have seats all to myself on both flights.

You've got to really like cotton candy...

so the bank where i work had a booth at the anderson county fair a few weeks back. my friend kristina and i worked it the last nite, which was a saturday. after we finished handing out snowcones to the massive crowds of white trash and rednecks, we decided we were hungry. she and i wanted some cotton candy real bad and she also wanted to take some home to her mom. we walked up to where the guy was selling it, and he told us and the gal in front of us that it would be a few ninutes before it was ready. we decided to wait, thinking about how wonderful the spun sugar would taste. a minute or two passes, and it is ready. he puts his hand (no gloves or stick) directly into the candy and spins it up into a ball. he places it in a plastic bag and hands it to the girl in front of us. as our mouths are watering in anticipation for the stuff, he proceeds to glance at his hands, realize they are sticky, AND PUTS HIS FINGERS IN HIS MOUTH AND LICKS THE COTTON CANDY OFF OF THEM!!!!! i looked at kristina in disbelief, wondering if she has seen this, and she has..so we say to one another, "let's see if he washes his hands, or at least uses hand sanitizer..and of course he didn't. so needless to say we didn't have any cotton candy, but it was ok with us!! i thought later i should of said something to him because there were folks behind us but i didn't. hope he wasn't sick!!!

"The human equivalent to sewage sludge"

I had a dream last night... So, before I head to the airport to go to Dallas, I shall tell it to you all...

Me and Tim D were practicing "Dust in the Wind". Me playing the mando and both of us singing.

After we practiced, I had to walk from his house to my house... I had no car, nor a cell phone, and the trip took me through deep dark woods, and I was afraid.

I come to a little country shack, and there is Chuck and Mulls sitting on the porch. The sun was slowly rising behind me, I guess I had walked all night.

Chuck looks sad. Turns out, he is about to get married. He has 3 kids from a previous marriage (I am assuming) and the woman he is marrying has 3 as well.

He is talking to Mulls about how sad he is. I arrive and ask him why? He says "I am about to marry the human equivalent to sewage sludge". In those exact words.

Turns out, the chick is a fat tub of lard, disgustingly fat. I never saw her in my dream, but my dream-self remembered seeing her at one time and wondering why Chuck was marrying her. I asked him why he just doesn't back out and he says that his children have already started calling her mommy...

Such an odd dream.

Hallelujah!!!!

We got an offer on our Georgia house! A lady who already has the loan approved and has signed the offer letter is going to buy it. The realtors even lowered their commission to 5% to allow us to seel it and break even! Thanks again and again for all the prayers. Please say some prayers of thanksgiving, too.

Redneck scrap book

Thought this page of pics would be good for a few laughs...

Click Here...

My favorite...

Strip mall....

Triscadecaphobia

I think I fear the number thirteen. When there is a post on this blog that has 13 comments, I have to make it 14. If it is at twelve and I make it 13, then I have to make another comment, no matter how trite or obligatory, to make it be 14! Somebody please help me! This is Brewster's fault for ever playing that card game...CURSE YOU, Brewster!!!

Lost in My Neighborhood

So, I went for a jog yesterday since I got home after Rachel and her brother, Paul and Mom, Vicki took Luke to the doctor (only to find he has a virus that must run its course). I took the dogs around a couple of blocks and then came back, dropped them off, stretched, and stared my jog. I figured I'd go over by Huntingdon College, which is just over from our house a few blocks. I ran over there and noticed a neighborhood on the south side of it that looked interesting. As I jogged through this part of Old Cloverdale, I got to see many beautiful historic homes including one built in 1821! It was truly a cool area to go through and view. However, as I went farther down into the neighborhood, I started to get a bit hot and tired, so I decided to head back home. Only problem was that I had no idea where I was. So, I wandered the neighborhood in classic-male form, not asking for directions and finally found my way back home. All in all, I had jogged for a little over half an hour and have no idea how far I went. It was an adventure I don't think I'll repeat.

Sleeeep!

Luke has had a virus of some type for the last couple of days. As a result, he has been waking up in the night every couple of hours and screaming. I have been able to get a broken 6-7 hours of sleep, but Rachel (oh, you wonderful woman!!!) hasn't been quite so lucky as she gets up for each whimper and snurp (a favorite term from Knuffle Bunny). Anyway, I think he is on the downhill side of the virus now and will be well by the weekend so we can go celebrate my birthday early with Mom and Dad (my B-day is actually August 15th...I'll be 31). There is nothing quite as heart-breaking, nerve-wracking, and sleep-depriving as a sick baby. I'm glad to help take care of the poor little guy and just hope he gets better very soon.

Messin' with your minds!

Sorry to try and foul things up here.
There may be a slight change in plans regaurding the trip that everyone (except Brew, nyah nyah) is planning to take to FUNgomery.
The Mullins clan has opted to stay with one of us here in town, which is absolutely fine.
Due to the amenities avaialable at the sippers (for not only guests, but also for babies) we have decided that the Sips will keep the Mulls and we will keep the Stubbs.

The Mulls keep Lairssa and I each and everytime we need to be put up when we pass through their neck of the woods, so I feel bad about this in a way. But I am almost certain they would be more comfortable with the Sips. Plus, we are like 30 minutes away from the Sips, so the Mulls are probably better being close to ground zero, since thats where the cookout of magnificent proportions will be held (of which I am looking forward to!)

I head out Wednesday afternoon to join my wife in Dallas! He sister will arrive soon there-after bringing her long-time boyfriend that none of us have met in person because he is "afraid" to meet her family members... probably because he has dated her for many years and dodges the marriage issue each time it is brought up... maybe he is afraid of a shotgun wedding. He is Armenian too, I don't know what that means though...

Oh, Stubbs, while there is not much to do at our house, there are some horse stables we walk to, so maybe we can pet horses or something.

Mulls, go on a walk with the Sippers through their neighborhood, there are some SWEET looking old homes in that area... but opt for the 2 mile walk rather than the 3 mile walk....

Keeping Up With The Brewsters

As requested, here is a brief rundown on the Brewster’s lives over the next little bit. Today we are headed to Bloomington to do a little house hunting. Unfortunately, this may be difficult. Being a university town, any rental choices are taken pretty quickly by students. In fact, pretty much everything is rented on an August to August basis because of the university. Which means that if you want to rent a house, you need to start looking in May for an August rental. At this point most of the good places shall be rented already.

Tomorrow I will be talking to my old boss to see if I can have my job back. It looks like she doesn’t have a supervisor position available, so I may have to go back to the phones. Although she did state that two of her supervisors were out on maternity leave, so I may be able to pick up some non-calling duties. It’s funny though, because as much as I don’t want on the phone, the idea of doing supervisor duties with non-supervisor pay irks me to no end. I’m going to push for a higher pay rate considering my three years of experience.

Amy has one last year of course work. She actually only has two classes left, German and Latin, I think. In September she will be taking the exams she put off taking from last September and then again in January. These are big time exams. She has to take 5 of them at about 3 hours per exam. If she fails any of them she will have retakes in January. If she fails again she is out of the program. She has done a fairly poor job of studying so far, so keep her in your prayers so that she can get down to it in August.

Passing her exams she will have completed her studies in May. All that she’ll have left at that point is the dissertation. She will also be out of funding in May as well, thus will begin the job searching. Many universities will hire professors when all they have left is the dissertation with the caveat that the dissertation will be completed within a certain time period.

Landing a professor job is pretty tough. It is a very cut throat field. Generally it works to where a new professor will take a two year position at a university to get some experience and then move somewhere else for a couple of more years. After about ten years, if you have continued teaching, and managed to get a long with a department you might be able to land a tenured position. It is at this point that the money becomes reasonable. Of course, though all of this you must be publishing articles in various journals.

Amy is looking to not get to involve in all of those aspects. She wants to teach at a smaller university, or at least one that has a smaller language department. She really just wants to teach, and not deal so much with anything prestigious or demanding. Ultimately, she’d love to get a job at Freed Hardeman, or any of the C of C schools. The problem with all of them is that they usually have little to no language departments. This is partially why she wants to get on at one of them. She has always said it is foolish to have large departments dedicated to missionaries, but not actually teach them the language to the culture they will be doing the work in.

Barring a Christian school, she will look at any of the smaller universities around the country, or even larger universities with more humble language departments. Hopefully, somewhere in the south.

Me, I’ll just tag along wherever she goes and land one job or another. Being in France have given me the itch to do “something.” I’ve pretty much given up on finding a job I love and all that. But I would like to start taking some different classes, maybe in writing or film studies. Not for anything but my own pleasure.

Well that’s our little bit of life.

The Future

The young men led the worship service at Dalraida c of C last night and it was a truly heartening experience. They led singing (which they need a little help with), read scripture, said prayers, carried the Lord's Supper, and gave reports on their mission trip to Jacksonville, FL. Afterward, I went up to Brian Wakefield, the youth minister (who some of you might remember from Faulkner...he married Liz Compton, Melanie's and Alison's younger sis). I just had to let him know how much I appreciated his hard work with those young guys. Young men and women are the future of the church. It was just awesome to see them in action and know that the church's future is bright!