Never Forget

Touch PRO

One more month :)

In Review

Went to the gym this morning - the crowds are starting to thin out a bit :) There is something satisfying about getting up and out the door before 5 and exercising hard. I have more energy and need less sleep (which is good as the insomnia is starting up again).

I had my mid-year review yesterday (3 months late). Basically I am doing my job very well but am failing miserably at all the nit-picky goals that are easy to measure. I am actually rated based on whether I take 2 days off to do volunteer work in the community (which is about the dumbest thing I have ever head - imagine getting your raise reduced because you did not take extra time off).

My grandson is doing well but had another rash yesterday :( He and his mom ran errands all morning with E. E is working day shift today so I get to see her for dinner 2 days i a row :)

blessings on your day

BBC

#rant-on#
Ok, one of the best SciFi series on TV (one of??? THE best) is Torchwood. When it started it was on BBC3 (meaning not sure of who will watch this). It then moved to BBC2 (edgy but popular). This year it will be on BBC1 (family friendly, very popular). The move means it will be less edgy obviously which is probably not a good thing as much of its' popularity is due to its edgy-ness. Besides which only 5 (five?!?!) episodes are scheduled. You would think that with the popularity of the show and the move to BBC1 they would schedule even more this season.

To make things worse, the official BBC website is blocked unless your 'puter is in the UK. Huh???? How does that make any sense? Since when do major websites care if you are a "native" or not?

Grrrrrrr

#rant-off#

Frenetic Saturday

Went for coffee this morning with my wife and then over to Triad Fabrics to find new fabric for the kitchen chairs (everything is half off). While there work called E and asked her to come in early so she is already gone for the day. In a little bit, we will head over to our friends, the Browns for a BBQ. I will pack dinner for E there and drop it off at the hospital on our way to drop NoDogs off at his party.

Nate and I had a nice ride up from Salida. He told me all about his black-market soda business. Hopefully tonight we can relax and watch a movie.

blessings on your day

Many Plans

This will be a busy weekend. It starts with me driving to Salida to pick up Nate (yup, he is the last one that still comes to visit regularly). Tomorrow is my company picnic at 11, then the BBQ for the church volunteers (I am a leader so I kind of need to be there) at 1. NoDogs has a birthday party at 3 (? or 4?). To make it even more scrambled, E works both Saturday and Sunday. Guess I won't be seeing my wife this weekend :(

Got Milk?

For years, we have been hammered about the need to keep calcium in our diets. Not once have I ever heard about the dangers of too much calcium for men. A couple of weeks ago, my urologist pointed out that the most likely reason I get kidney stones was that my "blood calcium" was a little high. Yesterday I stumbled over the following article: Blood calcium tied to lethal prostate cancer

As a cancer survivor, I have to wonder what part this played in MY cancer. The bottom line is that for men, too much calcium may be worse than not enough. Every (every!) guy should start getting tested for prostate cancer by age 40 (younger if there is a history of prostate and/or breast cancer in the family). This allows the doc to establish what is normal for you and makes changes much more obvious.

blessings on your day

BFF

It is such a blessing to have close (male) friends. There were a lot of years where I had people drift in and out of my life but never got terribly close to any of them. In the last few years I have been blessed to have several guys come into my world that have turned out to be awesome friends.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

Success :)

Well we are 3 for 3 on new recipes this week. SE made the chicken-pitas last night and they were seriously yummy :) All 3 recipes were from the Raleys/BelAir magazine. The eat thing is that I hardly modified the recipes at all (well I forgot the apple juice i the ginger-apples, added roast garlic and fresh 'shrooms to the marsala chicken and left off the olives on the chicken-pita).

Ouch!

From the files of "cure is worse than the disease"...

Monk burns down temple while trying to oust hornets

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- A Japanese monk trying to rid his temple of a hornet's nest panicked when the hornets attacked him and dropped a torch, burning his temple to the ground, police said Thursday.

The Buddhist monk had put lighted rags on a stick into the nest in the temple, but dropped it and ran when the hornets flew out and attacked him, Niigata prefectural police official Yuichi Ozaka said. The fire occurred Wednesday.

He said the monk, Atsushi Sato, 41, suffered burns on his ears, face and left hand, but was not stung.

The temple in Ojiya City, northern Japan, was burned to the ground, along with the nest, Ozaka said.

Police said Sato's burns were not life-threatening.

Slow Starts

It has been a struggle to get started this month. It seems that everything I touch turns to molasses :) The sermon Sunday was simply amazing, Nick Vujicic is an incredible speaker. Check out his ministry of Life Without Limbs.

My projects at work seem stuck in low gear right now. Every time I seem to make any headway, I get set back 2 steps. At least my boss is back this week so I am less buried by panic requests from the development staff. It is also password-time again so I will have to reset all my passwords before the end of the week.

blessings on your day

Last Scrimmage

Last scrimmage of the year. Next weekend they start preseason play.

A Whole New Game

Up until this morning, I had intended to more or less ignore the upcoming election. All things considered I felt that voting for Ron Paul was my only option as Obama annoys me and McCain bores me.

This morning, the news wires are buzzing with the news that McCain will choose the Alaskan gov., Sarah Palin as his running mate. Who could have guessed that he would have pulled that out of his hat? Not only is she a woman (duh!) but a strong (strong!) pro-life supporter. In one stroke, Mr. McCain has captured the interest of a lot of people that were slipping into voter-apathy.

Regardless of your political position (or the outcome), this election will be one for the records books.

A Disappointing Discovery

Disclaimer: As a general rule, I post what appeals to me. I avoid making assumptions as to the relevance to others. I don't preach at people nor do I post with the intent to "send a message."

I subscribe to a number of devotionals by email. Lately Swindoll has been sending messages based on Job (which is interesting as that is were I am in my daily readings). The devotional spoke deeply to my heart. Often I will post fragments of studies and then comment on them. In this instance, I will post the entire devotional and leave it to the reader to apply. (The link to the original is embedded in the title below)
_____________________________________________________________

August 28, 2008

A DISAPPOINTING DISCOVERY
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Job 14:1--22

Will it be well when God examines your life, or will it be a disappointing discovery? I can't speak for you because I have no idea. But I do know "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10). Is that going to be a disappointing discovery, or will it be well with you? Probing thought, which is why I've urged you to give these questions such serious consideration.

Look at Job 14:14: "If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait until my change comes."

Here's what I'd like you to think about: When you die, where will you live again? Will it be with the Lord or away from His presence forever? The choices are heaven or hell. Will it be eternal bliss filled with joy and relief and the rewards awaiting God's people? Or eternal judgment, away from God and all those things you hold dear? Only you can determine which.

C. S. Lewis wrote this:

There's no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than the doctrine of hell, if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and especially of our Lord's own words; it has always been held by Christendom and it has the support of reason.¹

C. S. Lewis was no intellectual pushover. His words deserve serious consideration. Problems have a way of multiplying. The good news is---that's true only in this life---"How frail . . . how few our years . . . how full of trouble." But once we're in our Lord's presence, all that changes.

However, should you choose to ignore this opportunity to secure such hope, the alternative results will be dreadful beyond imagination. Come to think of it, that kind of future would make Job's trials seem like a piece of cake. Who wants a destiny like that? Don't go there!

1. C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed (New York: Harper & Row, 1961), 17-18. C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. 1961. Extract reprinted by permission.

Taken from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

Windows et al

Saturday we will be washing windows. They haven't been done for several months so it is time. I need to get a long ladder to reach the back side of the house as those did not get very well done last time. The grass needs to be fertilized and some of the beds need to be cleaned up. Looks like the 'maters are almost done for the year as well.

Tonight is "Meet The Tigers" at RHS. E wants to hook up with some of the other football parents and all 3 teams will be running scrimmages.

blessings on your day