Thursday, February 9, 2012    

Sharing a Funny Website

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

Someone sent me a link to a funny website a few weeks ago and I need to share. I actually visit this site first thing in the morning to get my day started at work on the right foot. The site is called:

Awkward Family Photos

People post family photos and candids and share awkward family stories. The photos are sometimes scary and often hilarious. We can all relate. We’ve all taken photos we wish had never been taken. We all have people in our families that look and act like these people. This is simply a reminder that we are part of one big happy family. We’re all a little weird. We’re all a little awkward. Welcome to the human race. Enjoy the website…

07.07.2009 Humor, Misc Ramblings No Comments

Upgrade Pain

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

I upgraded my blog to the latest and greatest version of WordPress today (version 2.8 for those of you keeping track), and it has been nothing short of a royal pain in the back side. I somehow even managed to create some massive error condition that prevented the site from loading at all. I couldn’t even get into the admin page to fix anything…ended up reverting back to an older version and re-installing once again.

As a result, my sidebar isn’t fully up-to-date yet, but it’s in progress. This is the first time I’ve had these types of issues attempting an upgrade and I am reasonably sure that all of the customizations I’ve done played a key role in the issues I had today…but I can’t help the tinkering. And I do like this new version. The readers may not see much difference, but I can see a difference on my side of the website.

Heading off to campi this weekend so there should be plenty of pictures when we get back. Five families. 10 adults. 14 kids. We’ll see how many kids make it home! ;-)

01.07.2009 Blogging, Misc Ramblings 2 Comments

Re-entry

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

School is over. Homework is done. Graduation is complete.

It’s hard to believe. I am still in “re-entry” mode to a large degree…even blogging again is a little therapeutic. The past month has been so full…so busy…that blogging has taken a backseat. But I’m back now. And I need a place to work through my thoughts and feelings…and God’s workings. And He has been working, I just haven’t been writing about it.

Now that school is over there is The Big Question: What’s next?

I started reading Jeremiah this week and came across this passage:

This is what the Lord says:
“Stop at the crossroads and look around.
Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it.
Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.”
(Jeremiah 6:16, NLT)

That’s how I feel right now..like I am standing at the crossroads looking around. And I want to take the “godly way” and walk in it and find rest for my soul. So I have been praying for God’s leading and direction for the “What’s Next?” question.

Here’s what’s clear: My education may be done, but He’s not done working on me yet. There is more internal work left to be done. I may have some book knowledge but God wants my heart…He wants me. And He has more to do within me. As His child. As a father. As a husband. I need to take some time to be sure my heart and soul are ready for whatever is next.

And I am ready for this part of the journey as well. I get the sense that it will be this way for a couple of months. I submit to this process. I need this. So I stop and look down the crossroads. I ask for the Godly way. I will walk in it. I will travel its path. I will find rest for my soul.

27.05.2009 Misc Ramblings, School, Spiritual Musings No Comments

The End of Civilization…

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

I have been thinking about this particular issue for a few months now but am only just now getting around to blogging about it. Do you see that dispenser in the picture to the left? It is the end of our civilization!

I mean…come on…just how lazy have we become that we need pre-foamed soap? Isn’t the act of rubbing our hands together to create lather part of the cleansing process? Has it become too much work for us to perform this simple task? We just had to come up with a more efficient way to create soap lather?

It makes me wonder what’s next…but I can’t come up with anything more lazy than this (except perhaps a way to make sleep more efficient?). I know it’s petty and you probably think I’m a little weird (which is true by the way)…but every time I have to use one of these stupid devices it just irritates me.

So, now I am opening up the floor…what irritates you…what device, or action, etc. do you think is going to be the cause of our eventual downfall? Perhaps it’s the burr-grinder or the Pez dispenser? Let’s here it…I can’t be the only one (and I feel better now)…

07.05.2009 Misc Ramblings, Soap Box 1 Comment

The Power of Brevity

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Ernest HemingwayI read an interesting and powerful story today about Ernest Hemingway. Yes, I checked it out on scopes.com and it is unverified…could be true, might not be. True or not, the point still remains.

The story goes something like this: Hemingway bets a group of fellow writers—while sitting in a bar—that he can write a great short story in six words or less. They all pony up $10 and Hemingway writes this story:

For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.

He won the pot. Not only is this technically a story (with a beginning, middle, and end) but it tells a powerful story because we fill in the sad details.

It’s powerful because it’s brief and makes us think. We process the story…we fill in the blanks (sometimes with our own life experiences). This is a lesson I am trying to learn and put into practice in my own life. Too often I prattle on beyond what’s necessary.

I will take this lesson from one of our modern-day masters…there is power in brevity…I don’t have to say it all.

06.05.2009 Misc Ramblings No Comments

Hazel the Guinea Pig

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

Lindsay had a tough night last night. One of those “life lesson nights” your kids need, but that you hate to see them go through. She has had a guinea pig, Hazel, for about two years.  And the guinea pig loves her…anytime she walks in the room would go crazy squeaking and run around the cage.

Last night Lindsay went to check on her and she didn’t have that usual reaction–she just laid there. So Lindsay picked her up and still not much reaction, but she was breathing. She tried to give her some water…nothing. She brought her downstairs and she was moving a little but it didn’t look good.

Lindsay even asked me if Hazel was “mad at her”. Poor thing! She hadn’t put the pieces together yet. after some quick Internet searching it appeared hazel had an upper respiratory problem–which they simply do not recover from. So we broke the bad news to Lindsay that Hazel was dying and probably wouldn’t last long.

She stayed up with her for the next couple of hours until Hazel moved on at around 11:30 pm. It was a long night and a hard lesson, but she handled it very well. She stayed with Hazel through the end and was able to grieve. She was still in a haze this morning…but time heals all wounds. I am just glad we were there to help her through it. A small lesson now for bigger lessons coming…

02.04.2009 Family, Misc Ramblings 1 Comment

C.C. and DST

Monday, March 9th, 2009

Two quick topics this morning…

Topic #1: Closed Captioning

Anita and I went and saw the movie Taken last night for our date night. (Which, by the way, is a good movie. It’s fast-paced and has a good plot. It’s one of those action films that has you on the edge of your seat for 90% of the movie…giving you a few breathers here and there. It’s worth the $10). Anyway, I get to the counter to buy the tickets and the lady behind the glass says, “This showing has closed captioning; is that alright?” We couldn’t wait for another showing and it’s the movie we wanted so I bought the tickets.

Here’s the thing…you can’t not watch the captions! I was able to force myself not to read them for about half of the movie…but that other half had me reading instead of watching the movie. Annoying! Can anyone not read the captions? Anyone?

Topic #2: Daylight Savings Time

This one makes me want to move to Arizona. Why, oh why, must we mess with the clocks? On the way to church yesterday we were explaining DST to the kids and Kyle flat out did not believe that everyone changed their clocks ahead at the same time. “No way!” And he’s right, it’s stupid. All it really manages to do is make everyone look forward to “falling back” and dreading “springing forward”. Dumb. But I’ll be used to it in a few days…just wish we could stay on this time schedule forever. :roll:

09.03.2009 Humor, Misc Ramblings, Recreation 3 Comments

Which One Are You?

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

I heard a good comment on the radio yesterday that was directed toward business, but i think it applies to life in general. I can’t even remember who said it (so i should probably be taking credit for it myself right?), but it stuck with me and the more I think about it the more true I think it is.

He said that in business there are two types of people:

  1. Complicators: These people make your life more difficult. You should rid yourself of these people as quickly as possible. They are not worth the trouble.
  2. Simplifiers: These people make your life more simple. You should reward these people and seek them out with everything you have. They are worth their weight in gold.

As I apply this principle to my workplace I see a lot of truth here. But I started thinking beyond work and it applies in life as well. People either complicate your life or they make it more simple…and we can all name people in both categories!

Of course, it’s easy to look at others. Much harder to point that mirror at yourself.

I like to think I am a simplifier…but I can’t say for sure. Is this one of those self-evaluations that you can really be honest about? Would anyone say, “Yep…I’m a complicator!”? And it would take real guts to ask people to honestly evaluate you.

So…which do you think you are (at work and in life)?

And yes…I’m going to ask…which do you think I am? Let the comments fly! :neutral:

04.03.2009 Leadership, Misc Ramblings, Work 1 Comment

He’s All Boy!

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Last weekend Anita took Lindsay to the Revolve Tour—a Christian mother/daughter conference. They even spent the night downtown, which meant me and the boys were on our own for Friday night and all day Saturday. I was actually looking forward to it…two days to spend with just the guys.

So on Friday morning I got Logan and Kyle together and asked them what they wanted to do together for the weekend since it was “just the boys”. Kyle did not hesitate for one second in exclaiming: “I know! Let’s take your sword and destroy everything!!!” (And he said it while sweeping his arms in a wide arc to indicate the entire house).

He…is…such…a…boy! And I must admit that the thought does hold some appeal. :wink: 

Although it sounded like fun, we channeled his energy into something slightly less destructive. We ended up going out and getting some movies and a game for the Wii (Ghost Squad) that we played together for hours! A little eating out rounded out the two days together. We had a blast. And yes, Kyle is all boy..through and through…

 Doing what he does best!

 

26.02.2009 Family, Guy Stuff, Misc Ramblings 2 Comments

Sick…and tired

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

It started Friday afternoon…I could feel that I was getting sick. It got bad enough that I left work early to take it easy—maybe even forestall the inevitable. It didn’t work. That night my tonsils exploded! By Saturday morning they were so bad I actually went to the ER (I started out going to my Doctor only to find out they are no longer open on Saturdays).

After 2.5 hours in the ER the rapid strep test came back negative so I was sent home with antibiotics and told that if it didn’t get better in 24 hours they wanted to see me again to be sure there wasn’t an abscess developing. It got worse…much worse! My tonsils grew so much it was hard to breathe through my nose—and those suckers in the back of my throat looked N-A-S-T-Y!!

I was absolutely worn out too. But Sunday I did what I was told and headed back to the ER. After a CT Scan that came back negative, and IV drip, some steroids to shrink the tonsils, and 4 hours later I was headed home again with a scrip for vicodin and instructions to see my doctor on Monday. Still no real idea what I had (no abscess though) and I had spent 6.5 hours in the ER…good times!

The doctor on Monday was no help either. Just wait it out and follow the antibiotic program to the end. My throat feels a little better, but I am dragging a bit still. Thankfully I had yesterday off and mostly took it easy. I forgot to ask the doctor yesterday about yanking these tonsils out…maybe next time.

All I know is that the ER is no place to spend the weekend. I am sick…and tired. :wink:

17.02.2009 Misc Ramblings 2 Comments

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