Out Of Barnes

Super Bowl

2012-02-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

I’ve never been a big football fan, and to me the Super Bowl is just another dumb football game, with a lot of commercials and hype. In 2000, I watched the game because the home team, St. Louis Rams, were playing against the Tennessee Titans, and at the time I was living in St. Louis. That year the commercials were all about internet sites, like Pets.com that within the year were bankrupt. The Rams ended up beating the Titans so it was a big celebration in St. Louis for the next couple of weeks. The year 2000 was also a presidential election year and I thought the fact that Al Gore was from Tennessee, and that the Tennessee Titans lost, didn’t look very good for him in November. As it turned out, Al Gore lost the election.

In 2004, the Super Bowl was between the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers. I didn’t bother watching this game but it turned out the New England Patriots ended up winning the game. In November President Bush defeated John Kerry in the presidential election. I didn’t think much of this at the time since John Kerry was from Massachusetts and George Bush was from Texas, so I didn’t see the connection. Then in 2008, the Super Bowl was between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, and the Giants won. In November the presidential election went to the democrat Barack Obama. Since Barack Obama is from Illinois, and John McCain is from Arizona, I didn’t see the connection here either. But now I’m thinking, since the New England Patriots lost in 2008, and a democrat won the presidential election, and the New England Patriots won in 2004, and a republican won the presidential election, then the presidential election in 2012 should go to Barack Obama. Even in the 1996 Super Bowl between the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots the Patriots lost and in the presidential election the GOP candidate lost.

Maybe I’m way off base thinking the presidential election and the Super Bowl are connected in anyway, but wouldn’t it be neat if a dumb football game could predict the winner in the coming presidential election?

Washing Machine Dilema

2012-02-03T04:51:00.000-07:00

The other day when I did my laundry the washing machine was finished but when I went to throw the clothes into the dryer they were still all wet. This isn’t the first time this had happened. Usually when this happened before I just ran it through a second time and they came out a little dryer. It seemed like this was happening more often so I thought I might need to replace the washer, after all I bought the washing machine 10 years ago when I moved to Boise, and it was a cheap washer to begin with.

I did some searching on the web and then stopped at Lowe’s to see what they had. Ten years ago when I went shopping for a washing machine there were only the top loading kind. Now they had all these front loading machines that were able to put a dryer on top. This caught my eye. I came home and figured out I could save some space by putting the dryer on top, even though my current dryer worked fine. I just had to remove a shelf and the washer and dryer would fit in the same space that my washing machine fit.

Still I wasn’t sure I really needed a new dryer, so I thought about just getting the washing machine, and then getting the dryer to put on top later. I looked on the internet some more and thought I found what I wanted to buy, but still wasn’t sure. In Boise there are a lot of different places where they sale washing machines, and I thought I would look at another place, where my parents bought their washer and dryer when we moved to Boise over forty years ago. The place I stopped at was an appliance store that had been in business since 1960, and was locally owned. Not like one of the national chain, big box stores like Lowe’s. I was just looking around and not seeing anything I really liked, when a salesman approached me, and I told him what I was looking for. He showed me a couple of different options, and then showed me one that was on sale. I looked at it a while, and thought about it. For maybe a couple of minutes I thought I should go back to Lowe’s, then I told the guy I would buy both the washer and the dryer.

Now, the morning after, I’m having second thoughts. I did a google search of the model I bought and found that some people had problems with this particular model, and one other person liked it. Then I found a washer dryer combination machine that was one machine that did the drying after the washing without having to take the clothes out. I didn’t even know a machine like this even existed. A machine like this is my dream machine. Why had I never seen anything like this before? Now I’m wondering if it is not too late to change my mind?

Positive Thinking

2012-01-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

On Facebook I somehow became friends with Mitt Romney and I’ve been getting all of his comments about the President, which are mostly all negative. I know the guy is trying to become the President and all, but you would think he would at least acknowledge some of the positive things the President has done for the country and not always be slamming him. I know when Dubya was President I probably didn’t have a lot of nice things to say about him either, but at least I didn’t say them on Facebook.

For the most part I try to look on the positive side of any situation, although this hasn’t always been the case. When I was younger and things weren’t going the way I wanted them to go, I would often get a negative attitude and feel angry all the time. It seems like whenever I get negative, it kind of builds upon itself, and really brings me down, so before too long everything becomes negative. That is why now days I try to look at the positive side of any situation. When I wrecked my brand new car a couple of years ago, I felt really bad and for a few days really got depressed, but then someone mentioned the positive aspects of wrecking my car. Like at least I or no one else was hurt in the accident, and the insurance company would fix it or total it, and I could get something else. The major thing I learned from the experience was to be more careful when I’m driving. I think I had become a little complacent with my driving, and getting into an accident was a wake up to be more careful and pay more attention while I’m driving.

I was thinking the other day maybe this is part of the problem with the country right now. After the President gave his State of the Union address the other night, I felt pretty good about the future and where the President was leading the country. Then when I was working out I happened to see Fox News and of course everything they were talking about was all negative. How the economy was so bad, and the country was broke, and nothing was working that the President was doing to turn things around. It really started to get me feeling down. That’s why I try not to watch the Fox News too much.

Always looking at the positive and avoiding the negative isn’t the easiest thing to do, but it helps me to stay away from negative people, and avoid watching too much television, and reading a lot of negative stuff. I think the one thing that keeps me looking at the positive all the time is knowing that a greater power is in control of everything and He loves us and cares for us, and wants the best for us.

Scam

2012-01-24T16:52:00.001-07:00

The other day at work a woman told me about an email she received from a friend saying she was in Scotland and had lost her credit cards and passport and needed $900 wired to her so she could get home. The woman was in a state of panic worrying about her friend and wondering how she was going to be able to come up with $900 to help her friend. I heard about this type of thing before and told her it was a scam, and not to send any money or even respond to the email message. She at first didn’t believe me. I suggested she call her friend and see if she was actually in Scotland, and after she did this she was relieved after discovering her friend was safe.

This is how the scam works. The scammer sends a generic email message to hundreds of people asking the person to click on a link. Sometimes the email message will say something like see nude pictures of some hot young movie star, or get a free iPad. When the user clicks on the link special software is loaded on their PC. This special software will allow the scammer to access the users email account and send a message to everyone in their address book. When the person receives the message and responds to it, the scammer’s response looks like it is coming from the friend’s email account, so the victim feels secure that their friend is actually in a foreign country and needs money wired to help them out.

To keep this from happening to you the best thing to do is to not click on links in email messages, or respond to email messages from friends who are asking for money. Call your friend on the phone and tell them about the email message, and more than likely they are unaware their PC has been infected. To prevent your PC from getting infected install virus protection and keep it updated. Microsoft offers free Antivirus software for Windows, Microsoft Security Essentials, which will prevent a PC from becoming infected by this type of virus. Other free antivirus software is available from Avast and AVG. In any case, make sure your PC is protected by some kind of virus protection software.

Honesty

2012-01-21T10:06:00.000-07:00

This morning I went to Wal-Mart to buy some cat food and other stuff and while I was shopping I decided to buy an extra recharger for my iPhone. I figured it would be nice to have an extra one that I can take with me when I travel. After going through the checkout, and paying for my purchases, I came home and put everything away, and looked at the receipt and discovered I hadn’t been charged for the recharger. When I was at the checkout I hadn’t really paid any attention to the total, but figured it was correct, so I paid what was due and left.

Anyway, I had to take the cats to the vets, so after I dropped them off, I went back to Wal-Mart and paid for the recharger. The cashier who had made the mistake was surprised that I had come back and I told her she probably got distracted. She scanned the bar code on the packaging and had some problem getting the scanner to read it, and figured that is probably what happened before. I used to work at Wal-Mart and sometimes filled in as a cashier when things got busy so I know how mistakes can be made. I sometimes probably failed to scan something even when I was being a cashier. I’m sure it happens all the time. It never occurred to me not to go back and pay for it, although some people would probably have thought it was their lucky day.

Tax Time

2012-01-15T06:05:00.000-07:00

With the new year comes tax time. I really don’t mind paying taxes, especially since living in the United States our taxes aren’t really that bad and we get a lot of benefits for our taxes. It would be nice though if the IRS made doing our taxes a little easier. I guess I really shouldn’t complain too much since all the IRS used to do is mail you an instruction book with a couple of forms. Now days they have a cool web site where you can find all kinds of ways to file your taxes. Some are even free. When I was a lot younger and didn’t make that much money I used to be able to file the 1040EX form which took about 20 minutes to fill out and figure out how much my tax refund would be. Of course, I also had to do my state taxes too, which involved filling out another form. The thing I really hated about doing my taxes using the paper forms is the state usually wanted me to include a copy of my federal form, which meant I had to find a copy machine somewhere. In the days before Kinko and other copy businesses were around, this wasn’t always the easiest thing to do. Grocery stores didn’t even have a copy machine that customers could use. It sure is nice how technology has evolved making filing taxes so much easier.

The other day I downloaded my W-2s and downloaded a copy of Turbotax. Some years I’m not sure whether to use the H&R Block software or the Turbotax. I usually go with the Turbotax since that is what I’ve been using for quite a while. One year I used the H&R Block software since it was cheaper, but when it came to electronically filing my taxes they charged an extra $20 or so to file, plus they wanted an extra $20 or so to download the state software. So in the long run, I ended up paying more using the H&R Block software. This year I got a CD in the mail from H&R Block that said they wanted to get my business back and the packaging said if I used their software I could e-file both state and federal for free. This looked like a sure thing. I stuck the CD in the computer and followed the instructions to install the software and nothing happened. I waited about ten minutes or so and the computer didn’t make any noise like it was working, and all the screen showed was the same thing saying the software was being installed. I even visited the H&R Block web site to see if they had a tech help number or some other contact information, but after looking on their web site and not seeing any tech support number, I decided to use Turbotax.

After paying $60 and downloading the Turbotax software the first thing the software does is connect to the internet and download the software updates. This ended up taking about ten minutes or so after which a message came up saying no internet connection was available. Being the tech wizard that I am I figured out I needed to turn off my firewall so it could connect to the internet, and after doing this, everything worked out great. I entered all my tax information and was starting to do my deductions and one of the questions was how much I had paid to do my taxes. I entered the $60 I paid for Turbotax and got a message saying that the IRS does not allow this deduction unless the amount is over $1200 or some ridiculous amount. It would seem instead of allowing people to spend $1200 or more to hire some CPA to find all the loop holes to get out of paying their taxes, it would make a lot more sense to let people deduct the $60 for buying the software and letting them do their own taxes.

This is another reason I really love paying my taxes and living in the land of the free and home of the brave.

Macintosh

2012-01-12T18:03:00.000-07:00

Ever since I bought my iPhone I’ve been thinking about buying a Mac. At first I thought I might want to learn how to develop apps for my iPhone. I bought one of those dummy books that explain in really simple terms how to develop iPhone apps, and I have some ideas for the type of app I’d like to create, but when it comes down to spending the money on another computer, and then finding the time to actually use it, I have second thoughts.

In 1986 I bought my first Apple. At the time the Mac was pretty expensive, so I bought an Apple IIc. With Appleworks I was able to do just about everything I needed and was happy until I saw what all the Mac could do. So I saved up my money and finally bought my first Mac in 1990, a Mac Classic that I really loved. This was in the days when the only other options available in the computer world were computers running MS-DOS. After the Mac Classic I upgraded to a Performa with a color monitor, and also bought myself a Powerbook. For the time the Mac was an okay computer, but it was kind of tough sometimes when I needed to buy a printer or software for the thing. I just couldn’t go down to the local Wal-Mart and buy just any old printer, but I had to buy a special one that would connect to the Mac, which cost about double what a regular printer cost.

After I started going to college for a Computer Science degree I needed a Windows PC so I gave my Mac to my mom, and bought a PC with Windows 95. It wasn’t too hard to convert to Windows since I used a Windows PC at work. After a while I soon forgot about the Macintosh world, and at the time it seemed like Apple was going to be bankrupt. This was in 1998, before Steve Jobs returned to the company. Even when the colorful new iMacs came out I never had the urge to switch back, but lately I’ve been looking at the Mac Mini. It is fairly inexpensive, and I can use my existing monitor, keyboard and mouse. I just don’t know if I want or need to have another computer in the house that I may get tired of after a couple of months of messing with.

Mint.com

2012-01-05T16:52:00.000-07:00

The other day I was looking for an iPhone app that I could use to keep track of all of my finances. On my home PC I use Quicken, and have used this ever since I bought my first Macintosh way back in 1990, but I couldn’t find an iPhone app that would sync with the Quicken data on my PC. After searching for about a half hour I discovered there wasn’t anything like this available, but then I discovered something even better. The same people who came out with Quicken, Intuit, are behind the Mint.com web site and the iPhone app that goes along with it. It is totally free. Here is how it works. First I registered on the Mint.com site, and provided all the information on all my savings, checking and investment accounts. This was totally safe, as the site uses the same level of security as any financial institution. After giving my user id and password to all of my financial accounts Mint.com went out and consolidated all of my financial information from 12 different sites, into one, which provided me with a quick look at my financial health. It even asked if I owned a house and when I put in my address it provided the current market value of my house, which turned out to be $30,000 less than what I paid for the house 10 years ago. This was kind of depressing, but it also showed the current balance of my mortgage, which is less than the market value, so at least I’m not under water on my mortgage.

The cool thing with having all this information readily available on just one web site is the way the web site can show me what bills are coming due, based on the past payment of the same bills, and it can project my expenses out for the whole month, and show me where I can save money. It will even categorize my spending so I know how much I’m spending on gas for my car, or utilities for my house. After using my credit card to buy something at Walmart, for example, it will update automatically all of the financial information to show my total credit card balance, although this may take a few days. It will also send me reminders and notices via email about deposits made in my checking account or when a large check clears. Plus having this information readily available on my iPhone with the app makes keeping track of my financial status that much easier. Since I’ve only been using Mint.com for a few weeks I haven’t even touched on the other features it offers that can help me better manage my finances. The way Mint.com is able to offer all this for free is through advertisements. Occasionally, I’ll get a notice or see an ad about some bank or other financial institution offering a service or something, but other than that I really like the whole concept. You might want to check it out for yourself. It may just be what you need to become financially healthy in the New Year.

If I Knew Then What I Know Now

2012-01-01T07:48:00.000-07:00

Most people, I’m sure, would like to be able to turn the clock back and have a redo on one or more choices they made sometime during their life. Whether it be having just one more drink before hitting the road, or deciding to get married, life is full of life changing decisions and choices that we often think about later and say to ourselves, “If I only knew then what I know now.” A few wise people are able to learn from other people’s mistakes and can avoid the same thing happening in their life. Ruby Hillsman’s book, If I Knew Then What I Know Now, gives people the opportunity to learn from other people’s mistakes. She writes, from her more than fifty years life experiences, and shares her insights and wisdom. A lot of us though, have to take a course now and then from the school of Hard Knocks, before we learn life’s lessons. Some think they can do the same thing someone else does and not suffer the same consequences. It’s not going to happen to me, or I’ll never end up like that, are just a few of the things we say to ourselves to justify our behavior. Ruby shares these same experiences with the reader as well.

The only thing about reading a book like this, for me, is that I am at the point in my life that I have experienced much of the same things that Ruby learns from her own experiences and from her encounters with other people, although not all in the same way. Still, reading this book and getting a different perspective on life, broadened my view and gave me some insight that otherwise I would not have. Especially since the writer is an African-American, female who experienced the segregation of the south and gender discrimination during the sixties; an experience she shares in a positive manner and through the eyes of her Christian faith. One thing I wish she had shared more of was how she decided to become a nurse and how she chose the man she married, but other than this the book met all of this reader’s expectations. I only wish I could have had a book like this when I was in my teens, and not in my fifties.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

December 1941

2011-12-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

Perhaps no other event in the history of the United States resulted in such massive changes to the country as the Second World War. Even today, seventy years later, the country still feels the affects of the decisions made during that crucial time. Craig Shirely writes a vivid and detailed narrative of the last month in the year 1941 in the book, December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World. From the very first page, the reader is captivated by being taken back 70 years through the daily events told through newspaper and magazine articles, and the writer’s narrative. The writer relies on newspapers from the times like the New York Times, and Washington Post to small city newspapers like the Yuma Daily Sun and the Atlanta Constitution to report the daily events, one chapter covering each day of the month. Additionally, the writer tells of the advertisements, and news stories reported in weekly magazines of the times, like Life and Look, and conveys what the daily life of the typical American was like.

Nearly everyone is well familiar with the events leading to the entry of the United States into the Second World War, but few know the details, the atmosphere of the country, or the political divisions that sharply divided the nation, before and soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The military was ill prepared, and the congress reluctant to authorize spending or raise taxes to prepare for war. Like today, a conservative movement advocating a smaller role for the federal government and an isolationist position in the world’s affairs vastly divided the country. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor the news of the day was filled with reports of opposition to Roosevelt’s Lend-Lease program and the isolationist movement of America First. This opposition was fast replaced by a united nation and a congress overwhelmingly backing the actions of the President to prepare the nation for war after the attack of December seventh.

The book reports on the mundane events of the times as well as the major ones. Things like the weather, what was playing in the movie theaters, and on the radio, and the fact that people smoked cigarettes and that they smoked everywhere, in movie theatres, airplanes, buses and trains. This added some understanding of the times, and that all the news was not war related, although some readers may find this as being irrelevant to the book, I thought it provided an insight to the times.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, as it provided a different perspective on World War II, from what I previously have read. I don’t think this book is for everyone, but for the avid history buff it is a must read.

Christmas

2011-12-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

When I was a little kid I used to get really excited around Christmas time. Now days I can’t wait to get it over with. I think Christmas is more of a holiday these days for kids and retailers. At least for a kid there are two things to look forward to. One is getting out of
school for two weeks and second is getting presents on Christmas day. For adults Christmas is usually pretty stressful. Trying to find time and money to buy presents for everyone, and then wrapping them all,
putting up the Christmas tree and decorating the house, and sending out Christmas cards. A few organized people start planning for Christmas around Labor Day by making out their shopping lists, budgeting for everything, and getting their Christmas cards, that they bought the year before in January when they were all on sale, addressed. Some people even write a long Christmas letter and make multiple copies to send out with their cards.

For me, I don’t get stressed with Christmas since I don’t really do any of the Christmas things that normal people do. I don’t decorate my house, or get a Christmas tree. I send out a few Christmas cards, but don’t worry if they are delivered before Christmas day. Usually I seldom waste any time shopping for that special gift for someone, when they usually won’t like it anyway. Like most men, I’m not the best gift selector. Instead what I do is buy gift cards for everyone and let them pick something out that they really want, instead of getting them something and hating it, then having to return it to the store and exchanging it. The only thing I have to decide is which retailer to buy the gift cards from.

I guess some people could call me Scrooge. I remember watching the TV version of the Christmas Carol when I was a kid and thinking that Scrooge must have been a pretty sad dude not to have any Christmas spirit, and being so mean spirited. Now that I’m an adult I can understand how the old guy must have felt being all alone and not having any family to spend the holiday with. For the most part
though, I think Scrooge didn’t think of the real meaning of Christmas: that God loved the world so much that he sent his son. By keeping that meaning in mind makes me feel good about this time of year.

Middle Class

2011-12-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

This week the president gave a speech in the small Kansas town of Osawatomie in which he expressed the problem with the middle class being threatened and the American Dream of each generation being better off than the past being no longer the rule, but the exception. I’m sure not many people knew of this speech since it got only a few minutes of coverage on the national news, and just a small mention about it in the Idaho Statesman. Instead the news media is focused on Newt and Mitt and the GOP primary battle and who the good people of Iowa think the next president might be. The president in this speech laid out the primary difference between the GOP and the Democratic party, and explains pretty much why the GOP is all wrong. For me, this just makes so much sense. For anyone thinking about voting for whoever the GOP candidate is next November I’d like to try to explain why it may not be in your best interest to do so.

Unless you are one of the 1% of Americans who earns over a million dollars annually when you cast your vote for the Republican candidate you are actually voting against your own best interest. This is why, to quote from the president’s speech:

“Now, in the midst of this debate, there are some who seem to be suffering from a kind of collective amnesia. After all that’s happened, after the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, they want to return to the same practices that got us into this mess. In fact, they want to go back to the same policies that have stacked the deck against middle-class Americans for too many years. Their philosophy is simple: we are better off when everyone is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules.”

If you have been listening to the debate in the GOP primaries every one of the candidates believe the country is better off without regulations and government involvement in protecting citizens from big corporations. They all vow to repeal Obamacare, and cut whole parts of the government and reduce the national debt by cutting programs like Medicare and Social Security. They still believe a stronge economy can be achieved by cutting taxes and regulations, and letting the free market take care of everything, and jobs and prosperity will trickle down to the middle class. To quote once again from the president’s speech:

“It’s a simple theory – one that speaks to our rugged individualism and healthy skepticism of too much government. It fits well on a bumper sticker. Here’s the problem: It doesn’t work. It’s never worked. It didn’t work when it was tried in the decade before the Great Depression. It’s not what led to the incredible post-war boom of the 50s and 60s. And it didn’t work when we tried it during the last decade.”

After reading the entire speech, which I hope you will take the time to read too, I know why I tend to agree with the Democrats more than the GOP. You can read the entire speech by clicking on this link: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/06/remarks-president-economy-osawatomie-kansas

Let me know what you think. Do you agree with what the president says in his speech, or do you think the GOP has a better idea by cutting government spending and giving the wealthy more tax cuts?

Frontal Lobe

2011-12-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

If you ever wondered what makes teenagers do some of the stupid things they do, or why you acted a certain way when you were a teenager, or even as a young adult in your early twenties, you can blame your frontal lobe. The frontal lobe is the part of the brain that makes decisions and is used to determine what the consequences of a given action may be. The frontal lobe is not fully functioning until the mid twenties, which explains a lot.

When I was in my teens I did a lot of stupid things like normal teenagers do. I remember one time I was driving in my 1968 VW Beetle going downhill with my buddy Dave, and as I was driving the thought occurred to me to see how fast I could get the Beetle going. I put the gas pedal to the floor and as the car accelerated the engine grew louder and the car started to shake and vibrate, and the speedometer slowly reached the maximum speed of 90. Dave and I were yelling and screaming and urging the car on, and when it finally reached 90, we were both surprised and happy to see the car could go so fast and that we both survived.

Another stupid thing I remember doing when I was about 18, and a lot of people have done the same stupid thing, is start smoking cigarettes. At the time it seemed like a good idea. Everyone else was doing it, and of course I had to fit in with everyone else. Regardless of how it made me feel physically or that the awful taste of tobacco and the smell stayed with me all day, I smoked. The frontal lobe wasn’t working properly and I wasn’t able to see thirty years into the future and see what cigarette smoking would do to me. Luckily, I got tired of stinking and tasting tobacco smoke and quit. For other people it is not that easy, since the undeveloped frontal lobe makes addiction more likely. Maybe that is why tobacco companies try to get kids hooked on their products in their teens and early twenties.

This may also explain why young people often wear strange clothes, and do other strange things like making holes in their ears, I guess they call it gauging, and get tattoos. Sometimes decisions we make before our frontal lobes are fully functioning can have life altering affects, like getting married or joining the military, or not studying for a final in college and flunking the class. Later we have regrets and wonder, what was I thinking? For the most part we all survive until our frontal lobe becomes fully developed about the time we are 25, and we are rewarded by getting a discount on our car insurance. Hopefully, we can look back on our younger self and be happy with the decisions we made and be thankful we didn’t screw up as bad as some of our friends.

Futon

2011-11-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I bought a new futon. Actually it wasn’t new. I found a futon frame on Craiglist and ordered a new cushion from Overstock.com, and bought a cover from another web site. As you can see from the picture in the middle of the futon there is a big wet spot where one of my cats urinated on it this morning. This has been an ongoing problem I’ve been having since I replaced my old couch with the futon.

This all started back in October when I decided my old couch needed to be replaced since the cats had scratched it up pretty bad, and the cover I had for it kept coming off. I visited a few furniture stores in town to see what kind of futons were available, and decided I didn’t want to spend $500 for a futon, so I turned to Craiglist and found a frame that looked pretty nice. I called a couple of different ads that were listed on Craigslist and the one I liked was in Nampa. I went over and bought the frame for $24, and brought it back to my house. The old couch I moved into my spare bedroom, and I put the frame in my living room and ordered a cushion. About a week later the cushion came and I put it on the frame and about a week after that the cover came and I put that on and everything was fine, except the futon was uncomfortable to sit on. The back went too far back and it didn’t adjust, so it was like I was always sitting in a reclining position all the time. I turned to Craigslist once again and found a different frame, and put my new cushion on it, and took the old frame and the cushion from the new futon to Goodwill. Everything was fine now, except one of my cats didn’t like the changes I had made and showed me by urinating on first the old couch, and now on the futon.

The old couch I moved into the spare bedroom where I keep my cat’s litter boxes. Everything seemed to be working out fine, except one morning when I was cleaning the litter boxes, my Russian Blue cat, Osso, came in and urinated on the couch. After saying a few choice words and cleaning up the mess, I thought everything was fine, until a few mornings later, I was sitting down to eat breakfast and Osso urinated on the futon right in front of me. Again I said a few choice words and cleaned up the mess, and after doing some Googling found that cats that urinate outside their litter boxes may be suffering from a medical condition. A few days later I found another wet spot on the couch so I called the vet and made an appointment to take Osso in. The vet wasn’t sure what the problem was, but thought a urine test would show whether there was an infection. She tried to get a urine sample from Osso but his bladder was pretty empty, so she suggested I bring Osso back tomorrow and leave him for the day. The next day I took Osso back and left him the whole day at the vets, and when it was time for the vets to close I went to pick him up and found he hadn’t urinated the whole day. They suggested I take him home, and try to get a urine sample by isolating him in a room with an empty litter box. After bringing Osso home, I put him in the bathroom with an empty litter box and waited for him to do his business. After about an hour he still hadn’t urinated so I figured I would let him out and try again tomorrow. After letting him out of the bathroom he proceeds to go into the spare bedroom and urinates on the old couch.

I dragged the old couch out of the house and later took it to the dump and thought everything was fine until just this past week when I found another spot on my new futon. Then this morning it happened again. At this point I’m not sure if it is Osso or one of my other cats. Now I’m thinking I should get rid of all of my cats and be done with having pets, or keep the stupid cats and clean up the mess every time they decide to urinate on my new futon.

Execution

2011-11-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, November 18, 2011, I killed a dude. He was a bad dude, who killed three people in cold blood back in 1987. Paul Ezra Rhoades was the dude’s name. I felt pretty bad having to kill him even though he had been convicted and sentenced to death by a jury of his peers. He even confessed to one of the killings, although the other two he said he had nothing to do with. Not only had he been convicted of killing three people, but he raped and tortured two of his victims. The state actually killed the dude, but as a citizen of the state I took part in the dude’s execution. It helps to think of the dude as being less than human and not having any family to mourn his death or to pray for his salvation. Some people wonder why the dude got to live at the expense of the citizens of the state for the past 24 years, while his victim’s lives were cut short. The dude had a painless death administered with a few drugs that made him not feel any pain. His victims suffered and died tragically. The description of one of his victims was that she was shot nine times after being brutally raped. This makes me feel a little better about killing the dude. Sometimes I think the state is wrong in killing people who kill people. Then again I sometimes feel the dude got what he deserved, and it may keep other bad dudes from making the same mistake. Really I think that letting the state kill someone on behalf of its citizens is just wrong, since it gives the state too much power, and we all know how incompetent and corrupt the state can be at times, and how mistakes can be made. It helps to not think of that when killing a dude, but think of how much better the world will be without having the dude taking up prison space, or wasting taxpayer’s money.

The Economy

2011-11-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

I've been folllowing Robert Reich's blog ever since I read his book Aftershock. He really has a lot of good ideas to fix the economy, but the GOP won't allow any tax increases, even tax increases on the wealthy, so most of what he says will never get implemented. When I was working out I saw a segment with him talking about the super committee and how the GOP was blocking any progress in coming to an agreement on the $1.2 trillion in spending cuts. Although the democrats have agreed to cut Medicare, Social Security and other important benefit programs for the middle class, the GOP won't agree to ANY tax increases. I saw this video clip on his blog and thought it made a lot more sense than the talking heads on FAUX News, so I thought I would share it with my few faithful blog readers.

Occupy Wall Street

2011-11-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

Here in Boise a group is camping out on the grounds of the old county court house next to the state capital building in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement. I’ve read some stories in the news about how the Occupy Wall Street movement is unfocused and doesn’t have any real goals or objectives. To tell you the truth, I think most people are too busy trying to maintain their job and take care of their families to really be concerned with what is going on in the country, but this is what has caused half the problems in the country. Some people vote for a particular party or one candidate without really knowing what they stand for, or for one specific issue like abortion or tax cuts or something like that. For some time now I’ve been reading and hearing a lot about the country being on the wrong track and how the election in 2012 will be a real opportunity to set things straight. Then I read an article from the Rolling Stone magazine web site that really has me thinking that unless President Obama and the democrats can keep the GOP from taking over, our country is really doomed.

To summarize the article, it pretty much says that since the time of the election of George Bush in 2000, the GOP has become the party of the wealthy, and have created an economy that favors the wealthy by creating tax cuts and tax shelters, funded by deficit spending that has contributed to the national deficit. Now that the GOP is all concerned about the national deficit they are talking about cutting Medicare benefits, Social Security and other programs that benefit the middle class, while at the same time advocating more tax cuts for the wealthy. If you don’t believe this, read the article and it will give you all the details. I know it is from Rolling Stone magazine, and not from some conservative magazine like National Review or Ladies Home Journal.

I really like President Obama and everything he has tried to do get the country’s economy straightened out. He came into a pretty bad situation when he took office and everything he has done has kept things from getting worse. The GOP is a thorn in the side of the economy by obstructing everything the President has proposed to improve the economy and lower the unemployment rate. First the GOP was against the stimulus bill, which kept a lot of school teachers and police and fire fighters were getting laid off, until it included a lot of additional tax cuts for the wealthy. Now they are against additional spending to improve the nation’s infrastructure and creating jobs because the President proposes paying for it by increasing taxes on the wealthy. The article clearly shows the current economic conditions as being the result of massive tax cuts for the wealthy and a growing government deficit during the Bush years. The sensible thing to do is what the President has proposed, but the GOP’s main objective is to ensure the President only has one term. Depending on who the GOP nominates I doubt things will get better for the middle class, but for the wealthy life couldn’t be better.

Here is the link to the article: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-gop-became-the-party-of-the-rich-20111109

Why Men Hate Going To Church

2011-11-05T13:51:00.000-06:00

Why Men Hate Going To Church, by David Murrow, is a book I read to review for Thomas Nelson Publishers, and honestly, I really didn’t like it that much. Let me tell you why. About the first half of the book is all about the way churches have become feminized and the author uses a lot of statistics and studies to prove the point that churches are not attracting men, or the type of men that churches need in order to grow. In the very first chapter the author points out that men who are attracted to church are often very verbal, sensitive, and relational, traits that are typically associated with women. In one study he cites, masculine men showed little interest in religion, but very feminine men showed great interest. This made me feel like a real girly-man since I attend church on a regular basis.

I could relate to a lot of the book since I have been in churches dominated by women that were not growing. This is one point the author made that really made a lot of sense. Churches that are seeing the largest growth are attracting and getting men involved. Part three is where the book started to get interesting. This is where the author outlines the history of the YMCA, and tells how a group of men during the mid-nineteenth century changed things with church and started to attract men. Then in subsequent chapters he writes how today’s mega-churches are attracting men, and outlines strategies any church can take to become a place where men are eager to attend and get involved. This book would be a great help to any church leader wanting to grow his church, but only the last ten chapters were the most helpful to me. I guess if someone really wanted to understand the problem most dying traditional churches are having the first part of the book would be helpful. My dad never attended church and reading the first half made me understand the reason why, and why I’m not attracted to the more traditional church that I was forced to attend as a child.

Halloween

2011-10-31T16:57:00.000-06:00

When I was a kid the whole thing of dressing up in some stupid costume and going around the neighborhood to get candy seemed like a lot of fun. For weeks in advance us kids would think about what we wanted to be for Halloween, and then we would either make a costume or go to the store and get a ready made costume. By the time I became a teenager Halloween was no longer any fun. In Junior High School we would get dressed up for the Halloween Dance and wear a costume to school on Halloween. By then it seemed like more of a competition to see who had the best costume, or who could come up with the most creative costume. They even had contest where teachers would judge kids and give a prize to the best costume.

In the third grade I remember I got a little excited about Halloween and wanted to go trick or treating as a Pumpkin Man. When kids would ask me what I was going to be for Halloween I would tell them I was going to be Pumpkin Man, and they would give me a funny look and ask me what a Pumpkin Man was. I would tell them it was a man who had a pumpkin for a head. My mom asked me about it too, and I told her what it was, and she helped me make my costume. First we got a balloon and blew it up, and then we wrapped crape paper dipped in watered down Elmer’s glue and wrapped it around the balloon. When the crape paper had dried we popped the balloon and cut eyes and a mouth out of the crape paper so it looked kind of like a Jack-o’-lantern. Then we cut the bottom big enough so it would fit over my head. Next my mom took an old bed sheet and dyed it black and wrapped it around my body and cut wholes for my arms. I remember going trick or treating as the pumpkin man, and a lot of people would ask me what I was, and I would tell them I was the Pumpkin Man. They would usually laugh and say I never heard of the pumpkin man before.

As an adult I really don’t care for Halloween much any more. It seems to be just a way to get people to buy a lot of candy and spend money on costumes for their kids. For a few years I bought a lot of candy and turned on my porch light and would hand out candy when kids would come and ring my doorbell. Usually I would end up having a lot of candy left over and had to eat it, or take it to work and put it out in the break room to get rid of it. Now I keep my lights turned off and pretend not to be home. My cats like this best, so they don’t have to run and hide every time they hear the doorbell ring.

Injustice

2011-10-22T06:15:00.000-06:00

I’d like to tell you about a book I just finished called The Innocent Man by John Grisham. This is the only non-fiction book John Grisham has written and it is about a man in Ada, Oklahoma who is accused of murdering a young woman in 1982. The man, Ron Williamson, is a typical all-American boy who grew up in the small city of Ada, Oklahoma, went to church, played sports in school, and wanted to be a professional baseball player. He graduates from high school, gets a contract with the Oakland A’s and plays minor league baseball. All his dreams seem to be coming true until he gets mixed up with the fast life of alcohol, drugs and women, and an injury to his arm ends his dream of playing professional baseball. He returns to Ada, Oklahoma, gets married, gets a job and everything seems to be going fine, but he still has a problem with drugs, alcohol and women, and soon he gets divorced and his life seems to be at a dead end. He moves in with his mom, mows lawns for extra cash and ends up spending it all drinking in the night clubs of Ada.

I don’t want to tell you the whole story, since you might want to read the book, but eventually the police suspect Ron of murdering a waitress who works at one of the clubs he frequents, and he is convicted of the murder and given a death sentence. The really sad part about the whole book is that it is a true story and happened in the United States of America where we still kill people who kill other people. Not that there is anything wrong with capital punishment if you think it is okay if occasionally someone who is innocent of the crime they are convicted of ends up being executed and somewhere the actual person who convicted the crime is still free. I know the criminal justice system is made up of people, some who are component and know what they are doing, but in the small city of Ada, Oklahoma in the 1980s the police and the prosecutor sent several men to death row who were later proven to be innocent of the crime by DNA testing.

This book really made me think that if something like this could happen to a person like Ron Williamson, it could happen to anyone. Luckily for Ron Williamson, and the other men who were falsely convicted, the mistake was discovered before the state could carry out the execution. I would highly recommend everyone read this book and learn about the criminal justice system, and it may even change your mind about capital punishment.

Blogs I Follow

2011-10-14T18:23:00.004-06:00

Since writing my blog for over a year now I have discovered a lot of other blogs that I now follow on a regular basis. I thought I would share some of these with you and you might find you like them as well.

The blog that got me started in the blogoshpere is Ramblingrhino, written by Jason Hanselman, the pastor of Caldwell Christian Church and one of the people who moved to Boise from Denver to get Canyon Ridge Church started. He showed me how fun and easy blogging could be, and I figured if he could do it why not me. Sometimes he takes a little while to update his blog, but it is usually worth the wait since his topics are very relevant. He once told me he only writes something when he has something to write about. Maybe I should follow his example, instead of trying to put something out every week and ending up writing something stupid about one of my cats.

One of my favorite writers, Don Miller, has a blog where he posts something usually every week. Sometimes he writes about a topic dealing with his Christian journey, and other times he writes about one of his books he is working on or the book he is making a movie into. I find his writing to be very clear and thought provoking, and sometimes even inspirational. Another writer I follow is Kelsey Timmerman. His blog pretty much is used to promote his book, Where I am Wearing, which I read and really liked. His book is all about the places and the people where his clothes and shoes are made. I sent him an email and told him how much I enjoyed his book, and he responded back. I responded to his email and told him he should write a book about the people who make the stuff that goes into making a Big Mac, and call his book Who are You Eating. He never responded to my response. Maybe he thought I was some kind of crazy book groupie, and didn’t want to encourage me to write to him again.

Recently I read a book about a single Mormom girl who moves to New York City to go to college and writes all about her struggles with finding someone to marry. I told you about Elna Baker’s book in a recent blog entry and I found she has a blog too, which I just started to follow. Her blog is pretty funny most of the time. I read a couple of books Robert Reich wrote and now follow his blog. He has a lot of good ideas about how to fix the economy, and since he is a professor at the University of California, Berkley, I have to give him a lot of credence for what he writes about. Sometimes I wish the GOPers would read his blog and follow what he says, instead of trying to make Obama a one term president.

A couple from my church went on a mission to Australia and I follow their blog, even though they haven’t posted anything on it since July. I guess they are pretty busy with missionary work and taking care of their two little kids to be keeping their blog up dated. Sometimes I just happen to wander upon a blog and like it and create a link in my favorites and check back occasionally to see if anything is new. A guy who moved from California to a small Idaho town writes one blog I found this way. He generally posts something every day, and his topics range from how his day has been to his perspective of his neighbors and his new community.

I’ve discovered all sorts of blogs on the internet, some written by professional writers, others by average people who want to share a little about their life with the rest of the world. Often I wonder how my blog fits in with all the other blogs out there and I even wonder if anyone even reads or follows my blog. Not that it really matters to me if anyone reads what I write, but it is just a way I found of expressing myself and sharing a little about what my life is all about. Reading other people’s blogs gives me some idea how other people live, and it also is a good way to waste some time when I would otherwise be sleeping or watching television.

So here are all the links to all the blogs that I told you about:

Ramblingrhino http://ramblingrhinos.wordpress.com/

Donald Miller                                  http://donmilleris.com/
Australian Missionaries                  http://lionsandrhinos.blogspot.com/
Robert Reich                                  http://robertreich.org/
Kelsey Timmerman                       http://whereamiwearing.com/
My Own Private Idaho                   http://www.lostinidaho.me/
Elna Baker                                     http://www.elnabaker.blogspot.com/

Panhandlers

2011-10-10T09:38:00.001-06:00

After church I took Sam to PetSmart to get his nails trimmed. Sam likes jumping on my back and sitting on my shoulders, and when his nails get too long this can get really painful, especially when I’m not wearing a shirt. I captured Sam and stuck him inside his carrier and put him in my truck. He didn’t seem to mind the trip to PetSmart since it is only about a five minute ride. As I was driving through the parking lot I noticed a woman, who I would guess to be in her early twenties, standing next to a stop sign holding a piece of cardboard. When I got closer I was able to see the card board she was holding had something written on it, and it said “Single Mom, Homeless with three kids”. I waived to the girl, and she kind of smiled a little, and then I drove on and parked and carried Sam into the store.

It seems like I had seen this woman before standing in the same parking lot about a year ago. I even gave the woman some money since I was feeling a little generous, and maybe a little guilty about spending so much money on my cats when some people can’t even afford a place to live. I thought maybe after I got Sam’s nails trimmed I would walk over and maybe give her a few dollars. Once inside the store we didn’t have to wait too long before Sam was taken back to get his nails trimmed. While Sam was getting his nails trimmed I read my book on my iPhone, and thought about the single, homeless mother and wondered where she had been living during the time I last saw her nearly a year ago. About five minutes later Sam was brought out and I paid $12 for having his nails trimmed, and bought a couple of bags of cat treats which cost about $5. I was thinking again about the single, homeless mom, and thought I could at least give her $10, since she was obviously in more need than my cats.

I left the store and carried Sam back to my truck and looked to where the single, homeless mother had been standing before, but she was no longer standing where I had seen her before. Instead she was walking toward a dark blue Cadillac Escalade. She opened the back door, folded her sign, and climbed inside. The Escalade backed away from the parking spot and I got into my truck and drove off. The Escalade drove past me in another lane and I tried to see if I could see the woman through the window, but couldn’t since the windows were tinted. I thought about how I had felt about the single, homeless mother, when I saw her before, and how I felt deceived and a little angry now knowing the woman was sitting in the back seat of a Cadillac Escalade. I don’t think I’ll ever feel comfortable again giving a handout to anybody holding a cardboard sign saying they are homeless.

Mormons

2011-10-02T09:26:00.000-06:00

I just finished reading the book, The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance, by Elna Baker and really liked it. For some reason I have recently been reading a lot of books about Mormons. Before reading this book I read Leaving the Saints, by Martha Beck. Elna Baker’s book is more humorous than the book by Martha Beck, but they both deal with women who are struggling with their beliefs and their faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Let me tell you about the Baker book first.

Elna Baker writes about her struggles trying to find the right man to marry. In telling her story she writes about her weight, her family, and her church, and the different men she meets throughout her life and how she can never seem to find the right guy to love her. I found it interesting to see how she deals with these different relationships, and how each relationship affects her. Being a woman raised in the LDS faith she wants to find a man who can help her to reach the ultimate level of fulfillment within her church and become the wife of a god in the afterlife. In order to do this she must find a good Mormon man and become sealed in a temple wedding and produce a lot of children. Since she is an obese girl she doesn’t attract the kind of Mormon guy she finds appealing, so she decides she needs to lose a lot of weight, but after losing the weight and becoming a beautiful woman, she struggles with whether she wants the typical life of a Mormon mother and wife. Through many humorous events and struggles with sex and her desire to experience love (without having sex), she thinks she finally finds the right guy, but the guy turns out to be an atheist, and doesn’t want anything to do with religion. The book really left me with a sad feeling since she cannot leave the church, and be with the one man who she loves and makes her happy.

The other book, Leaving the Saints, is about a girl who is raised in a typical Mormon family, and whose father is a well-known professor and historian at Brigham Young University. Martha Beck leaves home to attend Harvard University where she completes her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree, and during the course of working on her dissertation for her PhD, she returns to Provo, and accepts a teaching position at BYU. She is happily married with a daughter and a new born son with Down syndrome, but is confronted with reoccurring past memories of having been sexually molested by her father as a child. She confronts her father with these memories and publically raises the issue of childhood sexual abuse within Mormon families, which causes her to become targeted by the church hierarchy. She writes about other BYU professors who are targeted by the church for writing controversial scholarly articles, and who are threatened with being excommunicated. She tells of having her phone tapped, and being shunned by the local community, and eventually she relocates to Arizona and leaves the church.

By reading these books I gained an insight in the faith and beliefs of the Mormon religion, and the struggles that some people confront on their path to finding God and living life. I think the book Sex on the Moon is probably what prompted me to read more about the Mormon Church, and how as a Bible believing Christian I can understand many of my neighbors. It is strange having grown up in Idaho and going to school with a lot of Mormon kids, and not really understanding what their church really is all about. I even dated a few Mormon girls in high school and had a few encounters with Mormon missionaries who tried to convert me, but for some reason their church never really seemed “right” to me.

iPhone

2011-10-01T05:36:00.000-06:00

About a month ago I finally broke down and got an iPhone. It was a major decision that I had been thinking about for almost a year. It wasn’t just getting an iPhone, but the whole thing of dropping my landline and going completely wireless. Now that I’ve had the iPhone for a little over a month I think I made the right decision, but I think I’m becoming one of those people who are obsessed with their cell phone. It won’t be long before I’ll be texting while driving and driving with one hand stuck to my ear.

The thing that finally tipped the scales in my decision to get rid of my landline and go strictly with a cell phone was all the telemarketing calls I used to get. Even after registering my number with the no call list for some reason I still got bothered with phone calls from solicitors. Not that there is anything wrong with phone solicitors. I guess in some way they are doing a service, and at least they are gainfully employed and aren’t standing on a street corner with some stupid sign asking for a hand out. They always seem to call at the most inopportune time though, like when I’m in the middle of taking a pee, and I have to run to the phone with my cock sticking out of my fly to get the phone before the answering machine picks up just to find out it is some guy selling tickets to the Shrine Circus. Now with my iPhone I know who is calling and it gives me the option of declining the call. The really neat thing I figured out about my iPhone is once I have the phone solicitor’s number I can program the number as a blocked call and set the ring tone to silent, so next time they call I’m not bothered.

The iPhone though is so much more than just a telephone; actually it is a mini computer that I can carry with me all the time in my pocket. The other day I had to have some dental work done, and I had to wait for about an hour while the dentist finished with another patient and the stuff they inject me with to numb my mouth took effect. While I sat in the dentist chair I pulled out my iPhone and clicked on the iBook app and read a book I downloaded from the public library. Instead of having to lug my Kindle with me, all I need is just my iPhone and I’m all set. I’ve just barely touched all the apps that are available in the apps store. So far I found one that keeps track of my checking account, lets me connect with my bank to transfer funds, and see what checks have cleared, and I even found an app that turns the iPhone into a flashlight.

Maybe now instead of texting while I’m driving you might see me with my iPhone flash light trying to change a tire on the side of the road. I don’t think there is an app that will change a tire, but give the guys at Apple a little time and you never know what they will think of next.

Microwave

2011-09-12T09:31:00.000-06:00

Last week when I was making dinner I discovered my microwave oven didn’t work. The light worked and the little thing inside turned around, but after five minutes I took my dinner out and it was still frozen. I bought this microwave at Walmart a couple of years ago and just used it a couple times a week and couldn’t figure out why it would quit working. I got out the manual that came with it with the directions and read about the one year warranty, and how to get it serviced. Since it was no longer under warranty I went to Google and looked up the model number and found all sorts of other people who had the same problem with this microwave. I remembered paying about $50 for the microwave so I didn’t think it was worth getting fixed, but still I contacted an appliance repair business to see if they would look at it. Their minimum charge was $50, so I figured I would just get a new one.

During my weekly trip to Walmart I stopped and looked at the different microwaves they had on display and they were all pretty much the same as the one I had. The cheapest one was about $40 and was something like 600 watt. I really didn’t see one that I liked at Walmart, so I figured I’d look around a little before buying something. Later I went to Kmart and looked what they had to offer. It had been years since I visited Kmart and I really didn’t remember why I never shop at Kmart anymore. Boise only has one Kmart left, and it is not the best. It was built back in the early 80s and it looks kind of dingy, with low ceilings and bad lighting. The place was nearly empty and the people who work there just seemed to be wandering around aimlessly, avoiding any eye contact with customers. I thought I would go to Best Buy and see what they had before making a decision.

At Best Buy I found a good variety of microwaves at good prices, and decided on one made by Frigidaire. At one time Frigidaire was a good American company. It may still be an American company, but all of the microwaves are now made in China. The particular one that I found was on sale for $49.99, and I thought this was a pretty good deal. When I went to pay for it the total came to $63.59. I thought this was a little bit much, but didn’t question it since there were other people waiting behind me and there was only one cashier. I took the microwave out to my truck, looked at the receipt and saw they had charged me $59.99 for the microwave. I went back into the store to make sure I wasn’t mistaken about the price, and confirmed the sign on the display said $49.99. I took a picture of the sign on the display with my iPhone, and proceeded to the customer service desk. Of course there was a line, and only a couple of people working behind the counter. The guy who assisted me was Jason, a twenty something looking guy, with ear piercings and dyed hair. I showed him the photo I took of the sign and told him I was charged $10 more than what the sign said, showing him my receipt. He mumbled something, and then started punching a keyboard, and finally asked for my driver’s license before handing me the receipt showing a credit made to my credit card. I thanked him and left the store. I know there is some reason why I seldom shop at Best Buy. I haven’t always had the best luck with Best Buy. When I bought my Kindle I went to Best Buy but they were all out of stock, so I ended up buying my Kindle at Target. When I got my iPhone I went to Best Buy, but they were only selling iPhones with AT&T service. I had heard Verizon was better.

Finally I got the microwave home and opened the box and lifted the oven out of the packaging. As soon as I got the oven out of the box, the door flew open and when I tried to close it again it wouldn’t close. I then noticed the door was banged up and a plastic piece on the top was broken off. After saying a few choice words under my breath, I returned the microwave to the box and put it back in my truck to return it to the store. Once I got back to Best Buy I went to the customer service desk and told the girl that the microwave was damaged, and I wanted to exchange it. She told me fine, and to leave the broken one with her and go get another one. When I went to where the other microwaves were on the sales floor I noticed several of the boxes looked like they had been banged up quite a bit, with broken corners, and collapsed sides. I found one that looked like it had the least damage to the box, and returned to the customer service desk. The girl who assisted me before was working with another customer and Jason just finished helping a guy, so I was next in line. Jason asked how he could help me, and I told him I bought the microwave and when I got it home and took it out of the box, it was damaged, and I was exchanging it for the one I was holding. He looked kind of annoyed, and turned around and took the damaged microwave from the box and examined the damage. Then he looked at the box, and said the box doesn’t look damaged at all. I told Jason that the door of the microwave was damaged when I took it out of the box. I thought Jason was going to dispute my claim, until another guy said something, and then Jason started punching a keyboard and asked for my driver’s license again, and gave me another receipt. Before I left the store I asked the guy at the door if I could open the box to make sure it wasn’t damaged. He handed me a box cutter, and I cut through the tape and opened the box and everything looked okay.

Once I got the microwave home, unpacked and set up in my kitchen I got the frozen entrée out of the freezer I had tried to have for dinner earlier in the week and stuck it in the oven, set the timer and hit the start button. Five minutes later I was able to finally eat dinner. I thought to myself I should have just bought the microwave at Walmart and saved myself a couple of hours, a couple gallons of gas, and a lot of frustration.

Sex on the Moon

2011-09-09T18:14:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago I finished reading the book Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History, by Ben Mezrich. This is the same guy who wrote the book about Facebook, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal, later made into the movie The Social Network. Usually after I finish reading a book I soon forget about it after I start reading something else, but with this book something about it really bothered me. If you aren’t familiar with the book, it’s about a guy, Thad Roberts, who in 2002 steals a bunch of moon rocks from NASA, and tries to sell them. He gets caught and ends up spending seven years in prison. The thing that bothered me about the book and about this guy Thad Roberts is what happened before he steals the moon rocks.

Thad Roberts was raised in a Utah Mormon family and after high school he went to the Missionary Training Center to prepare to be a Mormon missionary. One night during the first days of the training about 18 guys are sleeping in one big room and one of the guys confesses to the other guys that he doesn’t feel worthy to be a Mormon missionary since he had sex with his girl friend. Each of the guys confess to each other that they too have had sex before, but Thad is the only one that feels so conflicted that he goes to one of the leaders of the Missionary Training Center and talks to the guy about his past sexual experience and not feeling pure enough to be a missionary. Because of this Thad ends up getting kicked out of the Missionary Training Center and he goes home to his family afraid that his father is going to kill him. Instead of killing him, his father kicks Thad out of the family, and basically tells him he is going to Hell for having sex outside of marriage. After this Thad marries the girl he had sex with, and he goes to the University of Utah, and decides he wants to become an astronaut.

First off, the thing that really bothers me about Thad’s story is how his church and his family react to his transgression. Whatever happened to forgiveness and reconciliation? Even after Thad marries the girl his family still doesn’t have anything to do with him. Maybe this is because of the shame Thad brought upon his family because of being kicked out of the Missionary Training Center, not because he had sex with his girl friend before they were married. The other thing that bothered me about this, is the other guys who confessed they had sex before too, but they kept it secret and didn’t talk to anyone else about it. The book doesn’t say what happened to the rest of the guys in the Missionary Training Center, whether they eventually went on to become Mormon missionaries, or whether their conscience got the best of them, and they finally told someone about their past transgression. It seems, at least in Thad’s situation, it was probably best to keep certain things private, especially when attending the Mormon Missionary Training Center.

After all this Thad is able to turn his life around and he does some really amazing things. Since you probably haven’t read the book I won’t tell you anything more, since I don’t want to give the whole story away. You may want to read it for yourself, or wait until the movie comes out. I think the biggest thing I got out of the book is that I’m thankful that my family and my Father are the forgiving kind, and no matter what I may do, I know that I will always be loved and welcome home.

Windows

2011-09-01T16:58:00.001-06:00

I didn’t really think I needed new windows. My house was built in 1998 and the windows were vinyl, double paned. I didn’t have a draft or high utilities bills or anything like that, but when a cute girl came to my house and asked if I would like to have someone visit me about new, energy efficient windows, I thought, sure why not. A few days later a guy called to set up an appointment, and a couple days after that a salesman came and told me all about the company, American Exteriors, and how they are different from other companies selling vinyl siding and vinyl windows. I listened to the sales pitch thinking I really don’t need new windows, and then the salesman showed how inefficient my windows are compared to how the new windows will be. He placed a heat lamp on the inside of my windows and I went outside and felt the heat coming through the glass, and then he did the same thing with the American Exterior windows, and there was such a big difference. He then measured all the windows and gave me the cost to replace them, and I really thought the cost was pretty reasonable. Considering the windows were guaranteed for life, and the replacement cost would be recouped through savings in utility bills and if I ever sell my house. Altogether I thought it would be a good investment.

A couple of days later another guy called and told me who the installer was going to be, and that the installer would be contacting me to measure the windows. That same day the installer called and came out and measured the windows. About two weeks later, the installer called to tell me the windows were in and scheduled a time to install them. I was totally amazed that the windows were in already, since I expected it would take about six weeks or so before they were ready. It was actually a little over three weeks from when the salesman first came to when the windows were installed.

The old windows were quickly removed and the new ones installed. When the old windows came out I could see how they were put together and the way they had been installed. Along the edge of each window was a thin piece of fiberglass installation. When the new windows were installed insulating foam was sprayed between the window frame and the window, and over this a vinyl edging was placed, and caulking was applied all around to ensure a sound seal. After the windows were completely installed I could immediately tell there was a major difference from the lack of noise in my house when the neighbor’s air conditioning unit came on, or when cars passed by on the street. With my old windows I could hear crickets chirping, dogs barking, and the roar of the neighbor’s lawn mowers. With the new windows I barely notice when a car passes by, and no longer can hear the neighbor’s dog barking. Also I immediately noticed my air conditioner wasn’t running as often, and I could no longer feel the warmth of the sun coming through the windows. My cats used to lie in the windows enjoying the heat from the sun, but not anymore. And to think I thought I didn’t need new windows before I discovered American Exteriors.

Princess

2011-08-26T16:59:00.000-06:00

My niece posted on Facebook that every girl is a princess. I commented that some princesses are from poor kingdoms. Some girls and women have a princess complex where they think just because they are female they deserve whatever they want, and the King and Queen, or their Prince must provide for them. Maybe this works in some kingdoms, like with Charles and Camilla or Will and Kate, but in other kingdoms, like the one most people are from, this isn’t always the case.

Each kingdom is different, some kingdoms are better than others, and some are able to provide more for their princess. Sometimes the princess looks at other kingdoms, and other princesses and they think because some other princess live in a big, fancy castle, they should be able to live in a big, fancy castle too. Of course, in life, everybody’s castle is as big and fancy as the King and Queen can afford, and some Kings and Queens are not endowed with jewels and other riches, but have to work at a job. Some princesses are able to go to college, and their King and Queen gives them a credit card and pays all the bills, while other princesses have to get a job and struggle to pay the bills. Sometimes a princess will meet a prince who can fulfill every desire of the princess, but most of the time the prince and the princess have to struggle to make ends meet, and can’t always rely on their King and Queen for support. A lot of kingdoms now days are bankrupt with their castles in foreclosure, and the King and Queen are looking for work and the princess and prince are happy just to have something to eat and clothes to wear. When we look at other kingdoms that don’t have it so well, we are more thankful with what little we have, than when we look at kingdoms with a fancy chariot and a big castle.

Life isn’t always like a fairy tale, and doesn’t always have a happy ending, but sometimes bad things happen. Maybe the bad things are because of something we don’t have any control over, like a blizzard or a hurricane, but a lot of times the bad things are the result of some decision we made, like smoking or tailgating, or joining the Coast Guard and living in areas with blizzards and hurricanes. Life isn’t always fair, and shit happens. We just have to live with it and do the best we can.

Kneaders

2011-08-20T09:43:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I had dinner at a new place that just opened near my house. Not too long ago an Iceberg Restaurant was at this location near Lowes on Eagle and Ustick . The place sat empty for about six months after Iceberg relocated to Milwaukee Street near the Target store. Then a couple of weeks ago I saw a sign saying Kneaders was going to open there. I Googled Kneaders and found that it was a bakery with locations in the Salt Lake City area that also served sandwiches. It kind of reminded me of Panera Bread places that I used to visit when I lived in St. Louis. When I stopped by Friday it wasn’t too busy, and the place had been completely remodeled from when it was an Iceberg. The sandwich I ordered was a Turkey, Bacon Avocado, and I ordered the combo which came with a side salad and a drink. I choose the pasta salad as my side, but could have picked several other different salads. I paid and was given a cup, and was told my order would be ready in a few minutes. I filled my cup with Diet Coke, found a table, and in about five minutes a guy brought out my sandwich and pasta salad. The sandwich was served on fresh baked Focaccia bread, and came with lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, avocado slices, salt and pepper and provolone cheese. It had a kind of a mayonnaise tasting spread that the menu called Kneaders sauce. The sandwich and salad were both very tasty, and after finishing I thought of going back for a cookie, slice of cake or pie, or some other pastries that I saw in the display cases before ordering my sandwich. My appetite was satisfied and I decided maybe I would come back Saturday for breakfast or lunch and get a treat then.

I thought this would be a great place to come Sunday after church for lunch, or to drop by for breakfast sometime on my way to work. As I left the place I noticed the sign on the door with the hours showed the place was closed on Sundays and opened for breakfast at seven. Since I have to be at work at seven, guess I’ll still be going to McDonald’s for breakfast and some other place Sunday after church.

Crazy Cat People

2011-08-18T18:56:00.000-06:00

Now that I have five cats I often wonder if people think I’m like a crazy cat person. You know the type you see on TV every now and then when the police go into a house and have to call the animal shelter to come out and take away hundreds of cats. That happens around Boise every now and then. Sometimes the person will have a lot of dogs too. I think the term they use for these people are animal hoarders. I don’t think I can be considered an animal hoarder, but having five cats may seem to be a lot to some people. I think people with a lot of kids, more than two, are a little crazy myself. I know kids and cats are two different things, and at least with kids the government will give you a tax deduction, but really who needs more than two kids. Having just one proves you can procreate, and two kind of gives you an opportunity to have at least a boy and a girl, but anything more is just over doing it. Anything more than two kids and you run into the problem of having the dreaded middle child, who will always feel cheated by not being the oldest and not being the youngest.

I know cats aren’t for everyone. Some people can’t handle owning something that ignores them when they talk to them, or messes up their house, or ruins the furniture. Isn’t that what a teenager does? But then again, I think most parents of teenagers would prefer a cat. At least a cat doesn’t always want to borrow the car, or needs braces on their teeth or has to have a college fund. My cats are pretty simple creatures. All they need is a clean litter box, fresh water, and a dish full of cat food. Every now and then they may need to visit the veterinarian for shots, or some other thing. Lately it seems I have been taking my cats to the veterinarian just about every week. First it was for the new kitten’s shots, then it was shots for the older cats, and then they needed booster shots, and then two of the older cats needed their teeth cleaned. I think sometimes the veterinarians are like auto mechanics; they find something wrong just to stick you with the extra bill. The veterinarian I take my cats too now aren’t that way. At least it doesn’t seem that way. The first time I took the cats in I purchased the annual wellness plan which covers their shots and all the office visits, and the only thing extra I end up paying for is for any tests or medications they may need. With the kitten the plan even covers the cost of the spay or neuter, and the older cats have one teeth cleaning included. The costs is close to $1000 for the year for the five cats, but it sure is a lot cheaper than any health insurance plan for five kids.

Injuries

2011-08-14T09:42:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday Osso somehow injured his eye. His left eye was swollen and he kept it closed, and it was watery. I thought he might have run into something while playing with Sam. Then Monday when I got home from work Coconut’s left eye looked like Osso’s. However with Coconut’s eye I could definitely see where she had been scratched on the side of her eye, and it looked like she had been rubbing it. I soon figured out that Sam was the culprit, the way Osso hissed and batted at Sam whenever he tried to play with him, and how Sam jumped at his face as he tried to play. New kittens are just really playful, but they don’t realize sometimes how they can hurt someone if they aren’t careful. Friday Jody and Osso went to the vet to get their teeth cleaned and Osso’s eye is a lot better. I took Sam in too and got his nails trimmed and now he doesn’t hurt so much when he jumps at my leg or climbs on my shoulder. Jody had to have a tooth extracted and he was given pain medication and an antibiotic which he refuses to take, and I don’t want to fight him to take it.

This experience with my cats getting injured and having to have teeth extracted reminds me that life sometimes is not always pleasant and everything doesn’t always go the way we plan. Sometimes we get hurt from time to time, and we have to take the awful medicine that helps us get better. Sometimes when we play or are just having a good time, we can injure ourselves or hurt others with words we say or from crashing into something or just falling down. This is just a part of life. The sooner we can get up, brush ourselves off, and take the nasty medicine, the sooner we are to getting better, and moving on with our life.

Patience

2011-07-25T17:29:00.002-06:00

Having a new kitten in the house is really testing my patience. This became most apparent over the weekend. During the week my alarm goes off at 4 AM, and often I have to wake up the cats before I can get out of bed. On the weekends I usually try to sleep in, at least until about 6 or 7, but with the new kitten in the house it is nearly impossible. Sam is like a rooster. When he sees the first light of the new day he jumps up and begins running all over the bed and all over me. He jumps from one sleeping cat to the next to get everyone awake, and if a cat fails to respond, he returns a second time. It took me several times of feeling him jumping on my head before I finally decided to get up and start the day.

Throughout the morning Sam continues running throughout the house. He chases the big cats all over the house, jumps from the floor to the kitchen counter, and back to the floor, runs over the couch and jumps from chair to chair. All of the cat toys are scattered throughout the house, and he swats a ball and chases it, before moving onto the scratching post. I go outside to bring in the morning paper and he tries to follow me out the door. When I come back in, he attacks my shoestrings and runs in front of me trying to trip me. I try to read the paper but Sam continues to run over the paper. Each time I throw him off the counter he jumps right back and runs over the paper I’m reading. He isn’t happy playing with the advertisements sitting in a pile off to the side, but must be in the center of the paper that I’m trying to read. Finally, I throw a ball in the living room and he runs after it and leaves me alone for a few seconds.

From my past experiences with kittens this stage doesn’t last too long before they get bored annoying their human. I’ve learned not to leave toilet paper, paper towel, and Kleenex out in the open unless I want to clean up shredded pieces of paper strewn all over the house. At least Sam hasn’t learned how to open the cupboard doors or pull out the kitchen drawers yet, but I’m sure one of the older cats will show him soon. At least the older cats are showing Sam a lot of patience. I can learn a lot from them.

Coincidence

2011-07-17T19:48:00.002-06:00

Having Sam in my life now has caused me to wonder how I happened to adopt this new kitten. The last thing I was looking for was a new kitten. Ever since my old cat Boris died 2 years ago, I toyed with the idea of getting another cat, but introducing a new cat to an already established household of four older cats is often asking for a lot of problems. Cats are creatures of habit and like some people I know they don’t accept change very well, especially when it involves an active, playful kitten. Now that it has been nearly two weeks the older cats have accepted Sam, and life is back to normal, except for getting my legs scratched all the time, and being woken when I happen to move my feet in the middle of the night.

I wonder now if it just happened to be a coincidence that Sam was found by a friend of my niece, and that my niece offered to find a home for Sam, after her friend’s parents were going to take Sam to the animal shelter. After Sam tested positive for feline leukemia I started to think that maybe it was more than just coincidence that Sam came to live with me. I’m one who believes that everything happens for a purpose, and even though we don’t know what that purpose is at first, eventually we discover why certain things happen. With Sam I think he was meant to have a nice home and a chance at a life, and had he been taken to the animal shelter he would have been put down because of his having feline leukemia. I still haven’t figured out if there may be a larger purpose for me having a special needs cat to take care of. Maybe I’m being tested or prepared for some future event in my life, or perhaps I need to accept people with special needs as being worthy and of having a chance at a life like everyone else. Everyone has some sort of disability, some are visible while others are hidden, but no one is perfect, and maybe that is the lesson that I’m learning by being given Sam.

Thunder Dog

2011-07-17T19:04:00.001-06:00

Most people would think being blind as a disability, not Michael Hingson, the author of Thunder Dog. Although he has been blind from birth he has learned to ride a bike, drive a car and even fly an airplane. In the book Thunder Dog he tells the story of his amazing life and how he survived the attack on the World Trade Center with his guide dog Roselle. What is most amazing about his story is not the way he survived the attack, but how throughout his life he overcame obstacles and other people’s misperceptions. From the doctors who recommended he be placed in a special school for the blind, to the neighbors who phoned his parents when they saw him riding his bike through his neighborhood, most of the obstacles he faced were from the sighted world who limited him from their own ignorance of what a blind person is capable of. The attack on the World Trade Center is recalled through the sounds, smells and feelings as he walks down 78 flights of stairs with his guide dog Roselle and hundreds of other people, passing fire fighters on their way up, as they progress slowly down and out of the building before it collapses around them. As I read the story of how Michael overcame these obstacles I was left with the feeling that anything is possible, that it is only our self and our thoughts that prevent most of us from reaching our goals, and achieving our full potential.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Feline Leukemia

2011-07-10T16:25:00.000-06:00

My new kitten Sam tested positive for feline leukemia when I took him to the vet on Monday. The vet said sometimes kittens will get the disease from their mother, but then by the time they are eight months old their immune system will be strong enough so that they no longer test positive. However, if the disease is in the bone marrow they will have the disease for life. Thursday when I took Sam in for a follow-up exam the vet suggested a more extensive blood test to determine whether the disease is in the bone marrow. I went ahead and agreed to that test, and the vet took a blood sample and sent it off to the lab. Saturday I found out this test came back positive, so Sam will have feline leukemia for the rest of his life.

Feline leukemia, I discovered through doing some research on the internet, is different for every cat. Some cats that get the disease will get sick and die within the first months of getting the disease. Other cats will live with the disease for nine or ten years, and then get sick and die, while a few others will have the disease their whole life and will never show any signs of the disease. All cats that test positive for the disease will be able to pass the disease on to other cats, mainly through saliva and urine. For any cats living in the same household as a positive cat, it is important that they get the feline leukemia vaccination and to keep the vaccination up to date. My four other cats received the vaccination several years ago, but I neglected to get them revaccinated, so I had to take them all to the vet to get their shots.

All of the cats have accepted the new kitten now and they tolerate the kitten chasing them and running around and jumping on them. One of the articles I read on the internet concerning kittens with feline leukemia suggested isolating the kittens from other cats, or even euthanizing the kittens. Through a series of events Sam came into my life and I was compelled to accept him as he is, with his feline leukemia and all that entails. Every one of us comes into the world with a limited number of years, some of us have more than others, but we all know this life is only temporary. Sam is the same, however not knowing he has feline leukemia he doesn’t limit his life, but is just a carefree kitten, doing things that kittens do, and teaching his people the way they should view life as well.

My New Kitten

2011-07-04T20:43:00.000-06:00

A little kitten was found alongside a road and a teenage girl took it in and gave it a home. Her parents wouldn’t let her keep it and told her she had two weeks to find a home for the kitten or the kitten would be taken to the animal shelter. When two weeks passed and the kitten still didn’t have a home, my niece Paige offered to find the kitten a home. The kitten was left in a box on Paige’s front door step. This is how I ended up getting my fifth cat. Today I took the kitten to the vet and learned the kitten has some health issues that need treatment. I brought the kitten home with antibiotics and eye drops, and introduced him to my four older cats. The kitten made himself right at home, and the older cats seem a little disturbed and not too happy at having a new member to the family. Sam is the name I gave the kitten after a black stray cat that my family adopted nearly thirty-five years earlier. I’m sure after a few days the older cats will accept the kitten, just as they were accepted when they were brought into the family.

Sometimes I think cats are just like people in many ways. People aren’t always accepting of other people, especially when they are brought in off the street and aren’t in the best of health. After a little while of being together the new stranger is welcomed, and the older folks accept the newcomer. A lot of times when I see kids with all sorts of things pierced in their face, and tattoos all over their bodies, with their pants hanging half way down their butt, or half their tits exposed to the world, I sometimes respond like my older cats and reject the younger kids from my world. Some of the lessons our animal friends can show us, and the people who love and care for the unwanted among us are oftentimes a blessing in disguise.

Random Acts

2011-06-24T15:30:00.000-06:00

Recently I had to travel for work and for some reason when I went through the security screening at the airport I had to go through the x-ray machine instead of just the metal detector. The x-ray machine supposedly can see through a person’s clothes and can detect any thing the person may be carrying that the metal detector may miss. A lot of people call it an electronic strip search, since the person’s private areas are revealed, but no one sees it except for a hidden government employee. Before going through the machine I was instructed to remove everything from my pockets. I already took off my belt and shoes, and thought I removed everything from my pockets, but after going through the machine, I was asked what I had in my front right pocket. Usually I carry my car keys in my front right pocket, but when I got to the airport I put my car keys in my carry on bag. I reached in my pocket and discovered I had placed my driver’s license in my pocket after showing it to the guy at the beginning of the screening. Going through the airport security is probably the worst thing about traveling these days.

After I got my shoes put back on, and gathered up all of my things, I proceeded to the gate, found a seat and pulled my Kindle from my bag. As I was starting to read, I looked up and noticed a rather frazzled looking younger woman sit down across from me. She had a rather angry look on her face, and she asked, in a rather loud voice, if anyone else had to go through the x-ray machine. No one else sitting around me said anything, but everyone looked at this woman, and I kind of felt a little sorry for her. After a few seconds, I said I had gone through the x-ray machine. The woman said she heard it was supposed to be random, but she thinks they pick out only the good looking people to go through the x-ray machine. I kind of just shrugged my shoulders and told her I didn’t think that was the case. She kind of looked a little puzzled, and then said, maybe not. Probably after taking a good look at me she changed her mind.

After this I started to think about how some random things in life aren’t really that random after all. I like to think my days are pretty routine. I get up and go to work and pretty much do the same thing nearly every day, but the way a traffic light turns green or red as I approach an intersection, or how I encounter a different person behind the counter at McDonald’s in the morning, is not always just a random event. Although to me they seem to be random, but in reality they are planned events that I don’t have any control over. Maybe the woman at the airport was right about only the good looking people getting singled out for the x-ray machine. From her experience she always gets picked, and the last four times I went through airport security I got picked too.

Coconut

2011-06-13T18:08:00.000-06:00

I’ve had Coconut now for two and a half years. It is funny how each of my cats came into my life. My sister Luann found Coconut one day when she was walking her dog Zoomer in her neighborhood. December 15, 2008, was an especially cold day. It had snowed overnight, and the temperature in the morning was well below freezing. I think it was about 7 in the morning when I was at work and my phone rang. Luann was upset and told me a kitten had followed her and Zoomer home and was sitting outside her front door meowing to get in. Without thinking, I told Luann to put the kitten in the garage and I would come over after work and get it. The last thing I needed was another cat. Natasha had died four months earlier, which left me with four cats, and bringing a new kitten into my household with four adult cats can sometimes cause a lot of disruption.

After work I drove over to Luann’s and she was out shoveling snow when I arrived. She explained how she was out walking Zoomer at about six in the morning and saw a little white kitten sitting in the street. When she got closer to the kitten she tried to keep Zoomer away from it, but the kitten ran up and began to run after Zoomer. Zoomer, a big Chesapeake Bay Retriever, kept trying to go after the kitten, but Luann used all of her strength to get Zoomer home without hurting the kitten. The kitten followed them all the way home, and Luann gave the kitten the name Coconut, since she was the color of coconut and was crazy and not afraid of Zoomer. I opened the door to the garage and heard the whine of the kitten, and she ran to me. I picked her up and held her in my arms. She had the most beautiful blue eyes, and she looked at me with a look that said she was afraid, which made me fall in love with her. As I began to pet her she started to purr and quit whining. On the way home in my truck I talked to her and told her about the other cats who would take care of her and keep her from getting lonely. She whined and looked out the window and climbed in my lap and I petted her, and she quieted down, until we got home.

I wasn’t too sure how the other cats would respond to this new addition to the family, but they seemed to accept her after they sniffed at her. I was a little afraid my Russian Blue, Osso, who was only a little over a year old and was still a big kitten, might play a little too rough. Coconut would run, and Osso would chase her, and they would wrestle together, and when Osso got a little rough, Coconut would let out a little yelp, and give Osso a little bite, and Osso quickly learned to be a little more careful. The older cats, for the most part, ignored her, until Coconut got the courage to introduce herself, and then they cuddled together and groomed each other, and now they all seem to get along. Even though I really didn’t need another cat I’m glad now that I gave Coconut a home.

Quail

2011-06-05T16:35:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I was out mowing the lawn and I discovered a Quail family living in my back yard. The sound of the lawn mower scared the family and they ran into the bushes, all the little ones following behind the mom and dad quail. I had seen the mom and dad quail around my house before but had never seen the little chicks. There must be about eight or nine little chicks, and they look like they must just be a week or so old. Although I have no idea how to tell the age of quail chicks. My cats sit at the window watching them from time to time when they venture out from the protection of the bushes.

GOP

2011-06-02T17:10:00.000-06:00

When I was in the seventh grade, or around that age, I started reading the newspaper. I remember one day I was reading an article when I came across a word I wasn’t familiar with, so I asked my dad what the word meant. The word was a three letter word spelled in all capital letters – GOP. When I asked my dad what the word meant I pronounced the word like the sound one makes when swallowing a glass of water hard, or like a loud burp. He asked me how the word was spelled, and I spelled it to him: Gee – Oh – Pee. He kind of chuckled, and then told me that wasn’t a word but an acronym, which was just another name for the Republican Party. I asked him what an acronym was and he told me, and then I asked him what the letters Gee – Oh -Pee meant. He told me it stood for Grand Old Party. This would have been about 40 years ago or so, before Al Gore invented the internet, and Steve Jobs created the home computer, so to find out anything more about GOP I went to the library and picked a big old book off the shelf that weighed about 10 pounds. I thumbed through the pages until I got to the word GOP. Since this was about 40 years ago and my memory isn’t like a modern day computer I don’t exactly remember what the encyclopedia had to say about GOP, but it must have been something not too good since I never really liked GOP. Then again it may have been Dick Nixon and Watergate that turned me sour on GOP.

Now days I think GOP must mean Greedy Old Politicians since it seems like GOP is a little too tight with their money and they are afraid of giving a poor college kid a break with a Pell Grant, while at the same time giving the big oil companies billions in tax breaks. They are more worried about the national debt than they are about the price of health insurance for senior citizens without Medicare, or whether a poor family can even afford to get their yearly flu shots without Medicaid, or a job to get insurance with. They would rather not raise taxes on the billionaire bankers who gambled with the economy and cost millions their jobs, and billions of dollars lost in people’s retirement accounts.

Today GOP leaders talk about creating jobs and fixing the economy, but it seems to me that the current state of affairs was caused by a GOP leader who never vetoed a budget bill, and pushed through a big tax cut for the wealthy since the country was running a budget surplus at the time. I remember a time when GOP leaders had big ideas and bigger dreams and built the nation by building the interstate highway system, eliminating slavery, and creating the National Park System. Now a lot of GOP leaders think big government is evil and doesn’t do anything for anyone. They always preach about the private sector and the free market being the answer to all the nation’s problems. It would have been nice if GOP had the foresight to worry about the national debt ten years ago before it became a major problem. Instead of giving a big tax cut, starting a war, and creating a new Medicare drug benefit without funding it, GOP could have paid off the national debt by now.

Now the country is being held hostage by GOP who refuses to increase the debt limit until they get a lot of spending cuts without raising taxes, or cutting benefits to the big corporations, and fat cat Wall Street bankers. Part of me thinks GOP is just playing a game to try to win the next election cycle, but another part of me thinks GOP wants to dismantle all the New Deal and Great Society programs that have helped the common people make a better future for themselves and their kids. Not that I’m against lowering the national debt, but I just think there needs to be some balance between tax increases and spending cuts.

Bumper Stickers

2011-05-10T20:10:00.000-06:00

As I sat waiting for a green light I saw a license plate frame on a car from California that read RULDS2?, and on the bottom it said Families R Forever. On other cars around Boise I’ve noticed license plate frames that say Boise State Broncos, or Boise State Alumni, and there are some that say BYU, ISU or U of I, alumni. Mine say University of Maryland University College Alumni, and on the front I have one that says Retired U. S. Coast Guard. I like looking around and reading the backs of people’s cars when I’m sitting at the traffic light waiting for the color of the light to change. This lets me know a little bit about the people sitting behind the steering wheel. Some people like putting bumper stickers on the backs of their cars. I used to see a lot of McCain-Palin bumper stickers and even Bush-Cheney bumper stickers, which are typical for Idaho, but you’d think after the election people would take the things off. Before the 2004 presidential election I had a bumper sticker that said Kick the Son of a Bush Out of Office, but after the election I took it off. The other day I saw one that said “Gingrich Palin 2012. At first I thought you’ve gotta be kidding, then I thought they must really want Obama to get reelected. At my veterinarian’s office they were giving out bumper stickers that said, “My Cat was cat of the Month at the Cat Doctor’s”. I left it on my pickup truck and thought it was pretty cute until someone gave me the finger and I took it off. Guess they weren’t cat lovers.

I’ve seen a lot of cars with figures of people on the back of their window. They have a male figure, and a female figure, and then two or three smaller figures of their children, and sometimes they have a dog or a cat symbol. This is kind of nice to let people know they are married and have a family, and depending on the number of kids they have, I can kind of tell if they use birth control. Once I even saw a minivan that had a bumper sticker that said BMW in big letters, and then when I got closer I could read the rest of the letters that made the BMW say Big Mormon Wagon. Some people like putting their faith on the back of their car with a fish symbol. I have a sticker on my car that says Canyon Ridge Church. Not that anyone really knows what Canyon Ridge Church is all about, but at least it answers the question RULDS2?

Monday Morning

2011-05-07T21:26:00.000-06:00

Monday morning when I got up at 4 AM I turned on the TV to watch the news while I ate my Bare Naked Granola. This was the first I heard about Osama Bin Laden being killed. At first I had a sense of pleasure and joy, which soon turned to a sense of sadness when the news showed all the celebrations in front of the world trade center site. Just seeing the site of the world trade center brings up unpleasant emotions in me. I once lived in New York City back in 1989 and used to go to the world trade center to catch a train to New Jersey. Sometimes I would stop at the Mrs. Field’s cookie shop and get a couple of Debra’s Specials before going down the escalator to wait for my train. The world trade center buildings were so fascinating to me. The immense size of just one of the buildings was overwhelming. One weekend I took the elevator to the observation deck and looked out over the city and out to the ocean. Riding on the elevator was quite the experience in itself. From the ground floor to the very top it seemed like it took just seconds, the elevator moved so quickly. On the day I was on the top of the world the city was covered by a thick grey cloud that made everything look dark and dreary. This is how I remembered the world trade center and New York City.

Now that Osama Bin Laden is gone from this world I can only hope that the world may become a less dangerous place. However, I know things will never return to how they once were before the country was attacked. Sometimes I wonder why evil people are allowed to be born into the world, and then I think back to the beginning when Satan deceived the first man. Every child is born with the same potential as Osama, and also has the potential for good. Despite what some people believe God has given each of each the freedom to decide to follow Him or fellow the evil one, and Osama obviously made his decision. Many innocent people suffered because of Osama, but God and justice always win in the long run.

Colors

2011-04-27T18:02:00.004-06:00

I’ve discovered that I perceive colors differently than most people. Whereas some people see a color and can name the specific color, I see a color and can only name the general name of the color. For example, my sister recently painted her bathroom and I asked her what color she painted it, and she told me sage. I told her I wasn’t familiar with that color and she told me it was kind of a light green color. When I actually saw the bathroom it turned out the color was a really light shade of green. I asked my sister why she called it sage, and she showed me the can with the label that said sage. To me sage is not a color but a bush that grows out on the desert here in Idaho. I have some sage bushes in my front yard that get purple colored flowers on them during the summer. I guess they are purple sagebrush, but I wouldn’t call the color of the flower purple sage, I would just call it purple. I guess some people call purple violet, but to me violet is a flower not a color.

When I finished Coast Guard boot camp I had to wear my uniform home on the airplane, and for days afterward my mother kept telling people I looked so sharp when I stepped off the plane in my Navy uniform. I told my mother that it was not a Navy uniform, but a Coast Guard uniform, but she kept referring to my uniform as a Navy uniform. Finally, I asked my mother why she kept calling my uniform a Navy uniform, when she knew I was in the Coast Guard. She said it was because of the color. I had never known the color blue to be called Navy before, but apparently that is what some people call dark blue.

Maybe I have color deficiency because when I grew up I always had the small box of crayons with only the basic colors. Some kids had a big box of crayons that had more colors with different, exotic sounding names like aquamarine and turquoise for the different shades of green. To me if a green color is lighter or darker, I’ll say dark green or light green and not confuse people by calling it evergreen or aquamarine, or sage. Some people however are more fluent when it comes to color and they don’t just see the color pink, when I usually see pink, but they see salmon or peach or coral or some other name for the color pink. I once bought a red shirt that after washing a few times the color faded and someone called it fuscha. To me fuscha is a type of flower, but to some people fuscha is also a name for a color. I guess I skipped the class that some people took in school that taught them all the different names for all the variations in colors.

A couple of years ago I had my house repainted and I picked a dark brown color for the house with a darker color brown for the trim. I told people my house was a dark brown with a darker brown trim, and most people knew what I was talking about. Some people would probably say my house was chocolate and ash for the trim, but I just call it dark brown and darker brown. I like keeping things simple.

CISSP

2011-04-23T15:33:00.000-06:00

Now that I completed my Security+ certification the next certification I’m working towards is the CISSP, which stands for Certified Information Systems Security Professional. I bought a 1200 page book that I’m reading and after I finish reading this book I will probably request to attend a boot camp before taking the test. The test consists of 250 questions and I’ll have six hours to complete it. I’m not sure if I’ll pass the test the first time I take it, but at least it gives me something to do with all of my free time and a goal to shoot for.

Ever since I finished my first Bachelor’s degree in 1993 it seems like I have been obsessed with learning and at achieving my next goal. I used to not be that focused on my education. In fact, I kind of hated the whole idea of going to school, and learning. Maybe that is why it took me so long to get my first Bachelor’s degree after I graduated from high school. I still have a hard time with tests and sometimes I wonder if I might have some kind of learning disability since it takes me a long time to learn new things, and to remember everything I learn. I guess I might just be a slow learner, but with persistence and a little drive I’ve achieved nearly everything I set my mind to.

Chocolate Milk

2011-04-21T18:36:00.000-06:00

Today I read an article which said some school districts in the country are considering banning chocolate milk from their school cafeterias. I found this an odd thing to do, considering I grew up on chocolate milk. I guess with some kids putting on weight at a younger age these days the schools have to do something about this problem, but you would think they would have other things to ban than chocolate milk.

I remember when I was in the first grade back in 1966. My mom packed my lunch some days, and other days I ate whatever the cafeteria served that day. One day I remember I went to school with my Munster’s lunch pail with a thermos of chocolate milk. My mom usually packed a sandwich and some cookies, and always mixed the chocolate milk in the thermos. Sometimes she would use Nestle’s Quik and other days she would use Ovaltine. I was surprised on this day when I opened my lunch pail and unscrewed the lid of the thermos bottle and found what I thought were small ice crystals floating in the chocolate milk. On a closer look the ice crystals turned out to be small pieces of glass. The thermos bottle had broken when I threw my lunch pail over a fence on the way to school. I raised my hand and asked the teacher what I should do with the broken glass, and she took it from me and emptied the thermos in the trash. Later my dad put a new lining in my thermos bottle.

Some kids liked plain old white milk, but I preferred chocolate mixed with my milk in those days. I was never really sure where chocolate milk came from when I was in the first grade until we went on a field trip to the dairy. The guy showing us all around the dairy told us chocolate milk came from chocolate cows, and he even showed us the brown cows that produced the chocolate milk, and the white cows that produced the white milk. Later he leveled with us and showed us how they mixed the chocolate syrup with the milk before the milk went into the bottles and containers on the assembly line. We even got to sample some of the milk at the dairy, and it was probably some of the best milk I had ever tasted. The guy asked everyone what kind of milk they wanted to drink, and I of course asked for chocolate milk. One kid asked for plain old white milk, and the guy pointed out that drinking the white milk gave the kid his blond hair and I got brown hair from drinking the chocolate milk. Before we got on the yellow school bus and left the dairy we all got to walk by and see a cow giving birth to a calf. The cow was just standing there with a huge slimy, brown mass coming out of its backside.

The only thing I hope if they end up banning chocolate milk from schools is that they at least let the little kids visit a dairy so they know where milk actually comes from and maybe every once in a while let the kids have a little chocolate milk so they know that life isn’t always plain old white milk, but sometimes it can have a little extra flavor to it.

Nilla Wafers

2011-04-10T20:37:00.005-06:00

Last week I was in Atlanta, Georgia, and one day for lunch I had banana pudding, which I have had many times before. This time however the banana pudding had Nilla Wafers mixed in with it. I have never had Nilla Wafers mixed in with my banana pudding before, and asked somebody if this was a southern thing, but they didn’t know. To tell you the truth, I have never really thought about Nilla Wafers much before this, but then I remembered a time when I was aboard the SUNDEW that I thought something about Nilla Wafers.

The SUNDEW was an old buoy tender that I served on in Duluth, Minnesota, when I was in the Coast Guard. This one day during August 1989 the ship was out in Lake Superior working on some old light houses. The ship would anchor off the light house for a couple of days while a crew took the small boat over to the light house to do some maintenance work on it. After working on the light house, the ship went to Isle Royale, a national park, for the night. Being August at a national park there were a lot of tourist around, and most of the crew went ashore and hiked around, and sat around a camp fire smoking cigarettes most of the evening. I had duty so I wasn’t able to go ashore. The next morning I was on the bridge getting ready to get underway as the sun was just coming up and it was quite beautiful looking out over the island and Lake Superior. A ways in the distance I noticed a young girl sitting alone on a pier, and I looked at her through the binoculars and noticed she was quite beautiful. Andy Ellingson and Jason Bell were standing with me watching the girl, and Andy mentioned that she was eating Nilla Wafers. I thought this was rather odd that a girl would be sitting alone on a pier on a small island in Lake Superior, eating Nilla Wafers and watching the sun come up. In 1989 I kind of liked to write stupid little poems, so on this occasion this is what I wrote:

Sitting on a pier.
Eating Nilla Wafers.
Being watched by the Coast Guard.
Making faces at the boys in blue.
Trying to be funny.
They turn and blush embarrassed by their peeping.
Oh, how fun it is to be beautiful and young.

Later another guy from the ship, Mark Knapp, told me he talked with the girl the night before and she was 19 and was from somewhere in Iowa. The ship left Isle Royale about an hour later and a crowd gathered to wave as we pulled away from the island. Now after 20 years have passed I wonder what became of the girl from somewhere in Iowa eating Nilla Wafers.

Thirty-Seventh Drive

2011-04-04T18:43:00.001-06:00

When I lived in Phoenix before my family moved to Boise, we lived on 37th Drive in a house on a cul de sac. I remember when we moved into this house. My mom and dad had been looking for a larger house since our family was growing. Their real estate agent, Hans, showed them a bunch of different houses. Hans was a tall, bald man who talked with a funny accent. My dad said he survived the concentration camps in Germany before he came to this country. The house on 37th Drive was just like every other house in the neighborhood. It was built in a housing development with winding streets, with a few shade trees, and a small patch of yellow lawn in the front and a fairly large backyard. Most of the houses had a fence in the back yard, but our house had a chain link fence in the front yard, and one in the back yard too. A single China Berry tree stood in the center of the backyard, and I thought at the time we had the largest tree of all the houses in the whole neighborhood. Under the tree the grass wouldn’t grow because the tree provided too much shade. When my parents first bought this house in 1963, a carport was on the side of the house where my dad would park his 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air at night. Later when he bought a Pontiac Tempest station wagon the new car got to sit under the car port and my dad parked his old car out on the street. My dad and a friend later enclosed the car port and made a family room, so the station wagon was later parked in the drive way. One day while riding my tricycle in the drive way around the new station wagon I scratched the paint with the handlebars of my tricycle.

Our block had lots of families with kids about my age. We would ride our bikes around the neighborhood together, play touch football on the front yard next door, and build tree houses in the China Berry tree. In the house behind our house lived a family with three boys and a little girl. The oldest boy was about my age. His name was Billy Sterner. He had a German shepherd dog named Lady. On Christmas Day in 1963, I was in the alley. I don’t know what I was doing in the alley, but I was probably messing around with Billy. Lady was pregnant and she had her head in a garbage can and as I was petting her she turned around and bit me in the hand. I screamed and ran home and my parents took me to the doctor’s office. Later when Lady had her puppies I got the pick of the litter, and we named our new puppy Duke, after a dog my mom had when she was a kid. Later Billy Sterner and his family moved to Henderson, Nevada after his dad was killed. Billy's dad was a painter and he was painting a bridge and fell. Billy and his mom and brothers came and visited a few years later. They had a brand new car with electric windows that went up and down by pressing a little button. While my mom and Billy’s mom visited in the house we kids played in the car pushing the buttons and making the windows go up and down, until they quit. Somehow we broke the windows because when it was time for them to leave the windows wouldn’t go up any more.

I was thinking about our old house on 37th Drive the other day when I flew to Phoenix to catch my connecting flight to Atlanta. As I sat and waited for my plane I thought about the old neighborhood and all the memories that suddenly flooded my mind. For a brief moment I wish I had taken a little extra time to rent a car and drive by the old house to see what it was like after we moved from it over forty years ago. The last time I had visited Phoenix in 2001, I drove around the old neighborhood and parked my rental car where my dad used to park his old 1956 Chevy. I walked down the street and back down the alley and saw the old China Berry tree that I had fallen out of, and thought was the biggest tree in the whole neighborhood. The old China Berry tree had been cut down and all that remained was a stump, sticking only about three feet out of the ground.

Cell Phone

2011-04-01T17:09:00.000-06:00

After I left my cell phone in my pants pocket and put my pants in the washing machine I had to go out and buy another one. For nearly 10 years I’ve had a cell phone that I usually just leave in my car and use for emergencies. I’ve never had a real emergency that I needed to use my cell phone for. I started to carry it in my pocket after I was told that sometimes other people might have an emergency and need to contact me. This is why I forgot to take the cell phone out of my pants pocket before I put my pants in the wash.

When I needed to buy a new cell phone I considered the many options available in the market from all the cell phone providers. The so-called smart phones, the iPhones, and the cell phones that can do more than just make phone calls. The options were pretty limitless, and along with the different options came the monthly fees and the initial cost of buying the phone. Some of the providers told me the phone was free, but I had to pay $50 a month for the next three years for the service. I did the math in my head really quick and figured the phone actually cost $1800 and the service was free. I strongly considered getting an iPhone after seeing all the different things these little devices could do. Apple was coming out with a newer version of the iPhone at the time and Walmart advertised the older version for only $100. After looking at the iPhone and talking to one of the sales associates at my local Walmart, I decided against getting an iPhone. As a basic phone, the iPhone was fine, but in order to get all the extra stuff, like accessing the internet and my email, it would cost over $100 a month. In the end I bought a little $20 phone and paid $100 for a year of service and 1000 minutes. The phone is pretty basic, but it can take pictures, and I can text if I wanted to learn how, and had a reason to. Why would I ever bother typing out a message on a phone when I could call someone and talk in the amount of time it would take to figure out how to type OMG using just ten numbers?

One thing I still haven’t figured out is how people can drive their car with their cell phone stuck to the side of their head and not get in an accident, let alone try to text someone while driving. Maybe I’m just old fashioned or something, but when it comes to driving a car, I think I would rather give 100% attention to something that could kill me or someone else. I wonder if anyone has ever thought of creating an app for a cell phone that would shut the thing off whenever the person was driving a car. If I could figure out how to develop an app like this it would probably make me a millionaire.

Family

2011-03-18T17:15:00.000-06:00

God created each individual different and then He put us all together in a family. Some families have more than one kid, and some families have both a mom and a dad. Other families have one mom or one dad, or sometimes there may be two moms, or two dads, or sometimes there is a mom and a grandma, or a mom and a grandpa, or any other combination. Then God put all of these families together in a community of all different people with different colors, and different beliefs and feelings, and religions, and He made some of them Republicans and some of them Democrats, and He sat back and told all of these people to just get along. He even gave us a guidebook that showed us how to get along with each other, but instead some people read the guidebook and didn’t think some other people were following the rules the way they saw it, and then things got really nasty when people thought they were better than others because they thought they were following the rules the way God had intended.

I often have to stop and wonder what God was thinking when He did all this, and the only conclusion I have figured out so far, is that this thing we know as life is one big test to see whether we can all get along with each other. It isn’t like a test from school where it is a pass/fail or we are graded on a scale from A to F, minus the E, or we are given a percentage of what we got right and what we got wrong. At least I don’t think it is that kind of a test. The type of test that I’m thinking about is one where we have to muddle our way through it, without getting a study guide or any time to prepare, and through the test we learn what is right, and what is wrong, and when we make a mistake and get an answer wrong, we get immediate feedback, and have the opportunity to go back and correct our mistake. Sometimes though, we get the answer wrong multiple times before we figure out the correct one. Then at the end of the test, we have a better idea of what it takes to get along with all these different people we encounter in life. When we all get to heaven we will know all the right answers and there won’t be anything to cause someone to say something and hurt someone’s feeling, or do something that someone may perceive as being bad or wrong.

Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I had been an only child, or instead of having three sisters, and no brothers, I had a brother and two sisters, or two brothers and one sister. Having three sisters and me being the only brother sometimes was a lot of fun, and other times it was just too much emotion and screaming, and dolls and pink, and other girlie things. Not that any of that stuff is bad, but it is just different. Sometimes when I used to get in trouble for leaving the toilet seat up and my mom would tell me to remember to put the seat down, I would think what difference does it make. Then after I grew up and realized little things do make a big difference I started to put the lid down, so the cats and dog wouldn’t be able to drink dirty toilet water, not that this mattered to the dog or cats, but just because it made it harder for my sisters to take a leak.

In most families with more than one kid sometimes sibling rivalry happens when one child perceives a parent treating the child differently or showing favoritism. Children in a family often will compete with one another to gain the parent’s affection and to become the dominant child. Sometimes the parent has little control over this, since the child’s perception often causes the issue, and not the parent’s treatment of the children. This in turn can result in a strained relationship between the parent and child, and with the other siblings. Often the child feels neglected and isolated and carries resentment for the sibling perceived to be getting the parent’s attention. Children often will continue to have this feeling into adulthood as the result of these unresolved issues. Two of my favorite television shows are Leave It To Beaver, and Everybody Loves Raymond. Although these shows may seem to be very different on the surface, they each deal with the issue of sibling rivalry, however in a much different way, and in different stages of life. What is most enlightening watching these shows is how each character resolves the issues, and at the conclusion of the show everyone is happy and feels better. If only life were so simple. In God’s guidebook it shows in most situations the best way to resolve issues between one another is by saying sorry, asking for forgiveness, and forgiving each other. In the big test of life, this is always the right answer, even though sometimes it takes us more than one wrong answer before we get it right.

Japan

2011-03-14T17:22:00.001-06:00

When I was stationed in Guam way back in 1992, I had the opportunity to visit Japan. It was only for a few hours while I was waiting for a flight to Seattle. I arrived early on a Saturday morning and my flight to Seattle didn’t leave until later in the afternoon so instead of just hanging around the airport I thought I would do some exploring. I found my way to the train station within the airport and got a ticket for Tokyo. The train took about forty minutes or so to get to Tokyo, but it passed through some really beautiful countryside. In the distance were snow covered majestic mountains and along the tracks were rice paddies, and small houses. As the train got closer to Tokyo, the houses started to get closer to each other and the rice paddies became fewer. The train started to get more crowded with school kids in their uniforms sitting alongside older people with shopping bags. I really stood out as the only American on the train. At one stop an older couple came on the train and I noticed none of the kids were standing up to let the couple sit down. I stood up and motioned for the older lady to take my seat, and she gave me a puzzled looked, as the old man sat down. When the train stopped in Tokyo nearly everyone got off and a large crowd waited to get on. I wandered around downtown outside the station looking up at all the tall buildings and wondering why the streets were nearly empty of people and traffic. Apparently I was in the main business district of Tokyo but early Saturday morning there was not much going on. I saw a familiar sign and walked towards it, and thought I would get something to eat. As I walked into the restaurant with the golden arches and approached the young girl behind the counter, I had no idea what to order since nothing was in English. I pointed up at the menu and asked the girl if she knew English, but she just shook her head and smiled. It started to rain as I returned to the street and briefly I wasn’t sure which way to go to return to the train station. As people approached I asked for directions, but all I got were a few funny looks. Eventually I found my way back to the train station, and got on a train going back to the airport. Once I was back at the airport I found a place where I could get something to eat.

For my brief time in Japan I really liked what I saw and would have liked to have spent a little more time there. Next time I leave Guam I’ll take an extra day and really see more of Japan, I thought, but I never did. I was always in too much of a hurry to get where I was heading to stop and play the tourist.

Topeka

2011-03-07T17:18:00.001-07:00

When I was in the Coast Guard one of my favorite places I was assigned to was Topeka, Kansas. Most people who know anything about the Coast Guard would never imagine the Coast Guard being located in Topeka, Kansas, but because of the influences of Senator Bob Dole and his wife Elizabeth, who at the time was Secretary of Transportation, the Coast Guard located the Pay and Personnel Center in Topeka in 1984. In 1993 when I transferred to Topeka from Guam I didn’t know that much about Topeka. I had driven through Kansas before, and remember it being flat and barren, but Topeka, being the capital city and being fairly close to the metropolis of Kansas City, had a lot more going for it. I arrived in Topeka in June after visiting family in Boise, and liked what I saw of it when I drove around the first day. Prior to leaving Guam, I contacted a real estate agent, and on the second day after I arrived, she drove me around the different neighborhoods looking at different houses. The low cost of housing and the opportunity to own a house, was one of the reasons I put Topeka on my dream sheet. The first day of house hunting I didn’t see much that I was interested in. Most of the houses I could afford were older houses that needed a lot of fixing up, and most of the places I looked at the first day required a little more work than I wanted to do. Later that evening I drove around the neighborhoods looking at all the different houses and the nice tree lined streets and noticed a few for sale signs on the front lawns. The houses that looked promising I wrote down the address, and the next day I visited my real estate agent and got additional information on the places, and we visited the ones I could afford. The house that I really liked was a 2 bedroom, one bath, with a detached garage. It didn’t need too much work on it, and had a nice yard with big shade trees and was in a nice neighborhood. I made an offer on the place, and later that day the real estate agent called and told me my offer had been accepted.

After getting settled into my house I really liked Topeka. Working at the Pay and Personnel Center was pretty nice too. I began a Masters program at Baker University, and slowly started fixing up my house. Every once in a while when I drove around town I noticed a group of people standing on different street corners with big signs saying things like God Hates Fags, and Fags Burn in Hell. Later I was told that this guy was Fred Phelps and he was the leader of a group called Westboro Baptist Church. Most people didn’t pay too much attention to this guy or his stupid signs, but some people gave him the one finger salute as they drove by, or shouted obscenities at the guy. The local paper had stories about the city trying to pass laws to restrict the guy from protesting in front of the Episcopal Church during church services, but the Kansas Supreme court ruled against the city saying the law violated his freedom of speech. After I had been in Topeka for nearly five years, I got transferred again and had to sell my house and move, and didn’t think much about the guy and his signs. Occasionally I heard about the guy taking his stupid signs on the road to protest at a funeral of a soldier killed in the war in Iraq or Afghanistan, and I thought to myself I sure am glad I’m not living in Topeka anymore. This guy gave Topeka a really bad name. Last week the guy was in the news again when the Supreme Court ruled in his favor. Now I’m thinking the Supreme Court just made the whole country look bad.

Teacher

2011-02-23T16:20:00.001-07:00

At one time in my life I wanted to be a teacher. This was when I was working at Walmart and was looking for something meaningful to do with the rest of my life. When I was in the Coast Guard I often thought about being a teacher when I retired but for some reason or another I never pursued it. After I finished my Bachelors degree and thought about continuing on for a Masters, I thought it would be nice to teach part time at the college level. This was one reason I decided it would be good to get a Masters degree. After finishing the Masters degree, instead of teaching I decided I would try to do something to maximize my income potential so I went on to get a degree in Computer Science. After the tech bubble burst there was a glut of unemployed people with Computer Science degrees, so this is how I ended up working at Walmart after I retired from the Coast Guard.

At the time when I was thinking of going back to school to get my teaching certification I read all sorts of articles predicting teaching jobs would be in high demand since the majority of current teachers were soon going to retire. The University of Idaho offered a program in Boise I looked into where I could become a certified teacher, and earn a Masters degree in Education in a part time program that would take a little over two years. After talking to a counselor I applied for the program and got my letter of acceptance, and was ready to enroll and begin taking courses, when I had second thoughts. What gave me second thoughts about becoming a teacher is after I actually talked to some teachers. They told me it was great working with the kids and the summer vacations were nice, and everything, but they told me dealing with the administration and the kid’s parents, and all of the staff meetings and extra things they had to put up with, like the No Kids Left Behind Act, and preparing kids to take the test to measure their progress, was something they could do without. I guess with every job there is always a lot of extra stuff that comes along with the position that makes a job miserable. After this and considering I would be paying about $15,000 to get a teaching certification for a job that would pay about $40,000 a year, I figured there were other things I could do.

It seems now like I made the right decision. Teachers today are under attack by state governments trying to balance their budgets by cutting back on teaching positions and benefits, and limiting teacher’s rights to collective bargaining. Here in Idaho the state superintendent of education is looking to increase classroom size, eliminate 700 teaching positions, and give every ninth grader a laptop computer so the kids can take classes online. The way things are going teachers may be better off working at Walmart.

Imaginary Jesus

2011-02-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

Last night I finished a pretty amazing book entitled Imaginary Jesus, by a guy named Matt Mikalatos. Since I bought my Kindle I’ve been getting a lot of free books from Amazon.com in their Kindle Limited Time Offer section, under Free eBooks Collections, and this book was one that caught my attention. I wasn’t really too sure what it was all about but since it was free I figured I’d download and read a little bit and if I didn’t like it I could always just delete it from my Kindle. After the first chapter I couldn’t stop reading it. It starts off with a guy sitting in a café in Portland, Oregon, having a casual conversation with Jesus. The Jesus in the book physically looks like the Jesus from the Bible, and it turns out the guy is the only one who can see him, until another guy in the café, who turns out to be the apostle Paul, comes over and confronts the guy and gets in a fight with Jesus, saying he isn’t the real Jesus. The rest of the book is a kind of a wild, weird, adventurous journey of the guy looking for the real Jesus. He has encounters with a couple of Mormon missionaries, a talking Donkey, and a whole bunch of other fake Jesuses. The book is quite entertaining and humorous, and tells the whole gospel of Jesus in an exciting and fun way. I would highly recommend this book to everyone.

After finishing the book I thought about Jesus in a different way. Is the Jesus I know, worship and love, the real Jesus or just an Imaginary Jesus that I constructed in my own mind to make me feel better about life? The Bible Jesus is the Jesus most of us think of, but some churches and different faiths take one part of the Bible Jesus and seem to focus on just that one Jesus, disregarding the rest of Jesus from the Bible. I’ve been to churches where Jesus is a staunch Republican, who hates Gays, and rock music. Other churches I have visited seem to worship the Jesus who blesses the wealthy, takes care of all their problems, and judges people by how they dress and wear their hair. This book really made me think of Jesus in a different light, and to consider how some people may think of Jesus differently.

Fix You

2011-02-11T17:25:00.001-07:00

As I was driving to work this morning I was listening to Coldplay. All of the Coldplay albums I copied onto a one-gigabyte flash drive that I have randomly play on my car stereo. The song Fix You came on and for the first time I really listened to it and thought about the lyrics and how they made me feel. The song starts out with an organ playing a kind of dreary sounding tune, and then the singer sings:

When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

This made me think about my life and how it seems like no matter how hard I try to accomplish things, and make some headway toward my goals, I never seem to get anywhere. The song continues with these words:

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

This part of the song made me think of when my mother died recently and how awful I felt and how I knew there was nothing I could do to bring her back. It also made me think of the times when I fell in love with a girl but she never seemed to feel the same way, and how awful it made me feel. Then the song changes tempo and the singer sings:

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

And high up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

At this point I’m wondering what the lights are that will guide me home and ignite my bones. The song changes with electric guitars, and the beat of a drum, and the singer continues to sing:

Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face
And I

Tears stream down your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face
And I

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

The song ends, and I’m still wondering about what the lights are that will guide me home, and ignite my bones, and then in my mind I get an image of Jesus standing in the clouds with the sun behind him, and I know He is the light that will guide me home. This song makes me feel sad listening to it and really thinking about the words and how my life is meaningless, until the end when I think of Jesus and it gives a lot of hope. I don’t know if this is what the writer of the song intended when it was written, but I think different people probably get a different meaning for nearly any song they hear. Before when I heard this song I thought it was about some little kid who was crying because they didn’t get what they wanted, or lost their balloon or something, and the Dad was telling the kid that he would try to fix it and make everything better. In a way, Jesus is like the Dad who guides his children and tries to fix things and make us feel better when we are feeling bad.

Sleep

2011-02-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

Most nights I wake up and have to get up to use the bathroom. This happens no matter if I used the bathroom before going to sleep or not. After using the bathroom I usually can’t get back to sleep, or if I do, it isn’t the deep sleep that I experienced before I woke up. The cats always get disturbed and they usually get up when I do and sometimes they don’t come back to bed with me. Sometimes I hear a ball rolling around, or a little bell ringing in the middle of the night, or sometimes Jody will come up and cuddle with me, and purr, and as I’m falling back to sleep he’ll put his cold nose on my check just to make sure I’m still awake. When I was in the Coast Guard I think my sleep habits became somewhat established. At least for me that seems to be what happened. While serving aboard ship my sleep was never really lengthy. Even if I was in a light sleep I usually would hear the smallest little noise, like one of the watch standers walking through the berthing area, or a pump below decks starting up. Even when I was sleeping off the ship I would often awake when I heard noises, like the click when the furnace goes on, or the sound of a car driving down the street.

Being a light sleeper and having to get up to go to work seems to work out best for me. Even though I set my alarm clock before going to sleep I usually wake up and am out of bed before it is scheduled to go off. Occasionally I’ll forget to turn it off and I’ll hear the buzz when I’m eating breakfast or in the bathroom. In all my years of working I can say I have never been late to work because of my alarm clock failed to go off. Most of the time on the weekends when I don’t have to get up, I still do. I’ll wake up in the middle of the night unable to fall back to sleep. I’ll usually turn on the light and read for a couple of hours and then get up and get my day going. Later in the afternoon I’ll feel tired and take a short nap with all of my cats cuddled around me.

Most mornings when I have to work I get up before 0400, that’s 4 AM civilian time, and check my email, and eat breakfast, and then shave and shower before leaving the house. Since the newspaper doesn’t arrive until 0530, I usually leave the house sometime a little after that and on my way to work I’ll stop at a McDonald’s and have a diet Coke while reading the Statesman. Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi is my beverage of choice. I know most people like coffee, but I have never been able to stand the taste, let alone the smell of coffee. Just a couple of diet caffeinated beverages in the morning are all I need to make it through the day. Then by about 2100 I’m ready to turn out the lights and do it all over again.

Beatles

2011-01-29T07:27:00.000-07:00

One time when I was in the second grade, this would have been around 1967, I remember hearing the Beatles for the first time. The song was Yellow Submarine, and it was playing on a radio somewhere, and the music and the words of the song just stuck in my head, and I remember singing it on the playground during recess. I was too young to have watched the Ed Sullivan show when the Beatles first were on in 1964, and the whole Beatlemania thing was something I wasn’t really aware of at the time since I was just a kid. It was after they were no longer a band in the 70s that I became a big fan.

The first Beatle album I bought was a double LP of their songs from 1967 to 1970. The album started with the song Strawberry Fields Forever on one side of the first record, and it ended with The Long and Winding Road on the second record. I played that record constantly for probably the next couple of years. I even recorded the album on cassette tape so I could listen to it as I went to sleep at night. This was in 1974, before iPods and CD players. Most music at that time came on large round plastic disks that had maybe five or six songs on either side and it had to be played on a record player that my parents had in the family room. My mother hated the Beatles at that time and called their music trash, and thought they were just a bunch of hippies, but that made me like them even more. During my rebellious teenage years I found a lot of pleasure listening to the Beatles and making my mother scream about the song Back in the USSR being about the Beatles endorsement of communism, and All You Need Is Love, being about the joys of free sex.

Before buying their first album I remember getting all excited when the movie Yellow Submarine was being shown on television for the first time. I sat and watched it on our small black and white TV and listened to the songs. Even though this was only a cartoon and the characters were just drawings of the Beatles and the voices were just actors, I thought the Beatles were the best. For a long time when anyone asked me what my favorite movie was I would always tell them Yellow Submarine, and get a funny look from whoever asked me that question. I didn’t care though because it was the Beatles, and I hadn’t seen their other movies yet. When I got older I heard about their movie Hard Days Night, Help and Magical Mystery Tour, but didn’t get to see them until they were released on VHS tape. When I was stationed in Alaska in 1979, and came home to Boise on leave I saw the movie Let It Be for the first time during a midnight showing at the Ada Theatre. I went with an old high school friend and a friend of hers visiting from Buffalo, New York, who wasn’t a big Beatles fan and said the movie was “weird”, but I loved it.

One morning in 1980, when I was living in Seattle I was eating breakfast before catching the bus to work. I think it must have been five in the morning and I had the radio on and a Beatles song was playing. After the song was over the radio announcer said that John Lennon had been shot the night before in New York City. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. On the bus to work everyone was talking about it and no one could believe it was real. It was hard to believe that a person who had brought so much joy and happiness to the world through his music and later talked about peace and love and protested against war would end up being shot by a man who hours earlier had asked for his autograph outside his apartment. I think other than my parents and Jesus, the Beatles probably had the biggest influence on my life to that point, and I felt a little part of me died that day.

Debt

2011-01-27T18:09:00.002-07:00

Last night was week two of Financial Peace University and Dave Ramsey talked about how money issues are the major cause of divorce. He explained how men and women have a different relationship with money. Women look at money as a form of security whereas men look as money as a form of achievement. He then explains how in a relationship both partners have to agree to the same financial goals, and to live within an agreed upon budget. The problems happen when one partner is what he called a free spirit and the other partner is a nerd. He describes a free spirit as someone who doesn’t like to plan ahead or think of sacrificing, and a nerd is kind of the opposite. The nerd likes to feel in control and take charge. After last night’s class I consider myself blessed not to be married.

One other thing he said kind of struck home with me. He said people can either be a slave or a master to money. You become a slave to money by taking on debt, and are a master of it by saving and investing. I got to thinking about everything he said last night and wish I had learned some of this stuff about 30 years ago. For a long time I struggled with credit card debt, student loans, a car payment and a mortgage, but I’m finally getting control, and am becoming the master of my money.

About the last half of the class last night Dave talked about how important it is to teach good financial values to your children. Growing up my parents taught good values to us through example. They had lived through the Great Depression and didn’t have a whole lot growing up, and they rarely used credit, or spent on frivolous things. My dad brought home his pay check and my mom handled all the bills, and took in ironing and baby sat to make ends meet. As soon as us kids were old enough we were expected to help out and work for what we wanted. I mowed neighbor’s lawns and did other odd jobs to make a few bucks, and after several years of saving and not spending everything I earned I had enough to buy a car. In Dave’s family he made a deal with his kids that for every dollar they saved for a car, he would match it. He never gave his kids an allowance, but made them work on commission. Each kid was given a number of assignments they had to complete to earn their commission. If they failed to clean their room, or mow the lawn or some other thing, they didn’t get paid. Soon the kids knew they had to work to make a dollar. Too often these days’ kids never learn how to handle money because their parents become like an ATM and hand out money whenever their kids ask for it. Kids learn they don’t have to work for what they want, and they never learn the value of money. The schools don’t teach the importance of savings and too often kids learn by making stupid mistakes. I’ve learned by making many mistakes in the past with my money, but hopefully I’ve gotten to the point where I can now maybe teach the next generation how to better handle their finances. One thing I would highly recommend is to take Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University.

Dad

2011-01-25T16:37:00.000-07:00

My dad died a couple of years ago, and I’m just starting to feel okay with it now. Not that I’ll ever stop missing him or thinking about him, just that I’m feeling better about him not being here any more. Growing up I always looked up to my dad and wanted to be just like him. Then when I grew up and discovered some things about him that I didn’t like, I thought maybe I don’t want to be like him after all. I guess that is the way it is with most boys growing up with a dad that they look up to. When I went in the Coast Guard and left home for the first time I took up smoking cigarettes and I chose to smoke Camel non-filtered cigarettes just like my dad had before he switched to smoking a pipe. Instead of following in my dad’s footsteps when it came to smoking a pipe, I just gave up the whole idea of smoking and quit cold turkey after I couldn’t stand the smell it left on my clothes. Sometimes I think kids do things their parents do because they want to be like them, when what they are doing isn’t really the best thing for them to emulate.

My dad was pretty good fixing things. When I was a teenager and had my first car, he and I spent a lot of time working on the car. The car was an old Fiat that was probably not worth the $300 we paid for it. It constantly needed something repaired. First it was just simple things like changing the oil, and doing a tune up. After we had the car for a few months the clutch went out, and after towing it home, we had to remove the engine in order to replace the clutch. Instead of taking the car to a mechanic and paying more than the car was worth to fix it, my dad went to the library and found a book that showed in detail what needed to be done. We then spent a couple of weekends working on the car together. Apparently, I never picked up the skill that my dad had with fixing things. Once I tried to change the oil without his help, and ended up losing the drain plug. I discovered it is cheaper and saves a lot of time in the long run by just taking the car to Jiffy Lube.

Some of the things I picked up from my dad I wish I hadn’t. Both my dad and I are introverts, and I’m not that comfortable in social situations, just like my dad. I’m more comfortable staying home reading a book with my cats, than going out somewhere being with people. Both my dad and I never followed sports or watched television football games, instead we both like watching old movies and reading books. Even though I have tried to be more outgoing and attempted to enjoy football games on television, for some reason I just can’t.

When my dad had a heart attack when he was just 57, I first realized that he was probably not going to be with us forever. Then after he had a stroke, it seemed like he would never be able to walk again or take care of himself. After going through rehabilitation he struggled to be able to walk, and after a while he walked around the block all the time to build up his strength and exercise. As he got older he struggled with other health issues, but always over came these obstacles. Finally, after he turned 80 he just seemed to give up and no longer had the drive to fight or struggle any longer.

Millionaires

2011-01-21T17:05:00.003-07:00

I once had a chance to be a millionaire. I found this out Wednesday when I started Financial Peace University. If you aren’t familiar with Financial Peace University you should really look into it. One thing they never taught us in school, at least when I was going to school, was the secret of becoming a millionaire. They might have covered this, but I was probably day dreaming or skipping class when they talked about how to become a millionaire. It really isn’t that difficult. Most people think they have to create some kind of super cool device like an iPad, or write a best seller, or win the lottery to become a millionaire, but actually everyone has the same opportunity, at least in America, to become a millionaire. I’ll share this little secret with you and maybe you won’t make the same mistake that I made.

The little secret is called compound interest. Here is how it works. If you start saving $1000 a year and put it in a money market account earning 10% interest, in fifty years you will have $1,397,690.23. If you don’t believe me see for yourself. Here is a cool compound interest calculator I found on the internet: http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/compound_interest_calculator.htm

So when I was one year old I should have had the foresight to invest $1000 a year, or only $3.00 a day, and I could now be retired and living happily ever after. Even if I start now by the time I’m 81 I’ll have only $198,392. The difference in 20 years makes a big difference when it comes to compound interest. Even when I was 20 years old and started putting away $3.00 a day I would now have $219,332.11 more than I have now. When I think how easy that could have been now and look at all the money I wasted over the years, on stupid things like, eating lunch in the cafeteria every day instead of bringing my lunch from home, buying a new car instead of buying a good used car, or even wearing Levi jeans instead of buying fancy overpriced jeans from Abercrombie and Fitch, I really could kick myself. So, if you are only 20 years old now and want to be a millionaire by the time you are 70 you now know the secret.

Of course life isn’t that easy. Even if I had started saving $3 a day when I was one year old I probably would have spent the money on a car, or college, or a house, or some other thing that I thought I needed at the moment and not let it sit in some savings account. Another thing I learned during the first class of Financial Peace University is how much money I wasted over the years by using things like credit cards, and not paying cash for major purchases like cars, and even going to college. During the next 11 weeks of Financial Peace University I’ll probably learn a lot more and maybe I’ll be able to retire a few years earlier than I could otherwise, but I’ll probably never be a millionaire.

Last Week

2011-01-16T16:28:00.002-07:00

Last week was not one of my best weeks. I was feeling a little depressed about the shooting in Tucson and the senseless deaths of so many good people and the suffering caused by one mad man with a gun. Every time I watched the news and heard more about the gunman, and why and how he did what he did I felt such a strong hatred toward this man, and was left with a deep sense of loss as to why something like this happens. After the shooting at Virginia Tech, and Columbine I had the same feelings, but this time the feelings were stronger and more severe since a small child was killed in the shooting. Not just any small child, but a child with such promise and hope, and symbolically one who had been born on 9/11/2001.

Last Sunday at church the preacher gave us all a home work assignment. I know it is not a common thing for a preacher to give home work, but Dennis, our preacher, is not your everyday common preacher. He told us during the coming week when we got up in the morning to say that this day is God’s day, and allow God to have control of the day. I tried to remember to do this each morning when I got up. Sometimes it wasn’t the first thing I did, but sometime during the morning I remembered to say that this day was God’s day. At first I didn’t think anything would happen out of the ordinary, but as the week progressed I became aware of a feeling and a thought that I was having that everything was okay. God was in control and He had a purpose in what was happening in the world. Although I still didn’t understand the purpose or the reason why some people have to die, I came to the realization that death in the big scheme of everything isn’t the end but a new beginning. What we sometimes see in death as being a negative force, in the big picture of the entire universe, death can be a positive force. Sometimes I think it may take a while before we can see the positive in what initially looks to be a very negative thing.

As I thought about this I was reminded of a story from the Bible about a shepherd who leaves his flock to search for one lost sheep. At first I really wasn’t sure why I thought of this story, it seemed to not have any connection with what was happening in the world, or the events in Tucson. Then I remembered that God loves every one of us so much that He will risk the safety of the flock, to save just one lost sheep. Maybe this is what God was trying to tell me. Even though the focus of my hatred was directed to the gunman, God was telling me that all of his children are important and loved by him, and that I should not hate the gunman but to love and pray for him. Maybe with time I will be able to understand the purpose behind what happened in Tucson, but for now my hatred toward the gunman has been replaced by a deep concern for people who are suffering and lonely and may be mentally ill like the gunman who caused so much suffering last week.

The Faith of Ronald Reagan

2011-01-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite presidents, Ronald Reagan, was not only a great communicator and an astute politician, but also a man of deep faith. His mother Nelle bestowed her strong Christian faith on her son, and throughout his life his faith grew and guided him. In the book The Faith of Ronald Reagan, by Mary Beth Brown, the life and faith of Ronald Reagan is told through various stories from different sources, to show how the Lord protected, directed and intervened throughout Reagan’s life to change the course of America and the world. The book is written in a biographical style with references to how faith and strong Christian beliefs guided his decisions, and played a constant role throughout his life. The book lacks a lot of detail in certain areas of his life, and doesn’t even mention major events, like the Iran-Contra scandal, or the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, that deeply impacted his presidency. The election of 1980 is described as having been the result of Reagan bringing together the Catholic and Christian voters to the Republican Party, and fails to even reference the role that the Iran Hostage crisis played during that election, and on the mood of the country. From an aspect of an inspirational book, this book was very well written, however from a historical perspective, it leaves much to be desired.

Reading

2011-01-07T17:08:00.000-07:00

When I was in the first grade I had a really hard time learning to read. I’m not sure what the problem was, but I think I might have been a little dyslexic or something. In the fourth grade I got to go to a special reading program with a bunch of other kids from my school where we sat in a big room and listened to audio tapes of stories while we silently read along in books. Each of us had our own little head phones we used that we plugged into our desk. I think I went to the special reading program for a couple of years or so. One of my favorite books in the first grade was Curious George. At one time I even remember wanting to get a monkey as a pet. I bugged and bugged my dad about getting a monkey, but he told me monkeys were mean and dirty. Once when we went to a pet store to buy some rabbit food I saw a little monkey in a cage. I stared at it and it stared at me, and made a little chirping sound. It kind of smelled bad, and it didn’t look friendly like Curious George, so I figured maybe my dad was right.

After going through the special reading program I guess I did better reading, but I still didn’t like reading all that much. None of the books I found in the library seemed to be that interesting. By the fifth grade I had discovered the Hardy Boys books and probably read all of the ones from my school library. Later I read books about the FBI and mystery and detective stories. Usually I would have periods where I would read a few books one after another, then for periods I didn’t read anything. Sometimes I would check a book out of the library and take it home with every intention of reading it, but never got around to starting it, and then just returned it. I would browse in a bookstore and buy a book and take it home and read the first couple of chapters and then lose interest in reading any more. The book would sit on my bookshelf for years until I decided to clean house and get rid of it.

Now days it seems like I’ve become obsessed with reading. I seldom read fiction anymore, but enjoy just about any non-fiction book on the bestseller list, or even books I hear about from reading a magazine or some blog on the internet. The cool thing about the internet is how easy it is to find and get a book. The other day I discovered eBooks are now available from the local library. At four in the morning I browsed the library’s web site and found a book I thought looked interesting and checked it out and had it on my eReader within minutes. The only thing about checking out an eBook from the library is that it will automatically return itself in 2 weeks. Which I guess gives me an added incentive to start reading the book and finish it before it returns itself. When eReaders first came out I thought to myself why would anyone want to read a book on a little screen like that. Now that I’ve used one for a while I can’t think of any reason why someone wouldn’t want to read a book on one. Although I don’t think Curious George would look that interesting to a first grader on an eReader.

Kindle

2010-12-30T17:10:00.000-07:00

Back in May I bought a Sony eReader and really liked it, but after a while I found I couldn’t get some of the books I wanted on the Sony eReader that were available on Amazon for the Kindle. It was weird. I did some Google searching and discovered that Amazon uses a different format for their Kindle eBooks and all the different eReaders uses a Digital Rights Management (DRM) system to restrict their eBooks from being accessible to other eReaders. This reminded me of what happened in the 80s with the Beta and VHS videotape format. After a lot of debating and researching I decided to buy a Kindle.

I went to Target to buy one, but they were all out of stock. A couple of days later I stopped at Best Buy, but they were all out of stock too, so I went to a different Target and they had two in stock. The only ones they had were the 3G version so that is the one I bought. The Kindle comes in two versions, the 3G version and a Wi-Fi version. There isn’t really a whole lot of difference between the two, the 3G costs $50 more, and can access the Kindle bookstore by accessing the nearest cellular tower, while the Wi-Fi version needs to be within close vicinity of a Wi-Fi signal. After getting the Kindle home and charging the battery, which took about a half hour, I went to my PC and visited the Amazon site and bought my first Kindle eBook. After turning on the Kindle and enabling the wireless connection the book appeared on the Kindle a few minutes later. It was like magic.

I’ve now become rather addicted to my Kindle. After using it for the past few months I hate reading paper books. The Kindle is so much lighter and easier to hold than a paper book, and the option to increase the size of the font makes it much easier to read too. It also has a neat feature where if I come upon a word I’m not familiar with, I can move the cursor to the word, and the built in dictionary will pop up with the definition. On the Amazon web site there are hundreds of free eBooks, some are old classics, and a few are newer releases that are free for a short time period. Most of the books in the Kindle bookstore allow the first couple of chapters to be read for free. Recently I was interested in Sarah Palin’s book Going Rogue, and read the first chapter before deciding to purchase it.

I’m pretty sure the Kindle has already paid for itself in the number of books I have bought that were half the cost of the paper version, plus all the free books I’ve read. When I first heard about the eReaders a few years ago I thought I’d never want to read a book that way, but now that I have used the Kindle and the Sony eReader, I think eventually they will revolutionize the way people learn and read. I can imagine college students one day having all of their books for the whole semester being available on one eReader. That may be a few years away, but eventually it could happen.

Resolution

2010-12-27T17:46:00.001-07:00

Usually I don’t make New Year resolutions. Sometimes I’ll think to myself about some of the things I’d like to do in the future, but I rarely make them into a resolution. I remember one year I thought it would be nice to be debt free in 2003, and I worked to pay off my credit card balances at the end of each month for that year. It worked out pretty well for me that year, and since then I have always paid my credit card balance in full. I still can’t live without my credit cards though.

In 1984 I decided I wanted to learn how to play the violin so I went to a local music store and rented a violin and took lessons for about three months. I soon decided the violin wasn’t something I really enjoyed learning to play. In 1999 I thought I needed to get into shape, so I joined the YMCA and started visiting the gym nearly every day. I first just rode the stationary bike, then moved up to the treadmill and then later I started to use the elliptical machine. Sometimes I would lift some weights, and other times I would use the pool and sit in the Jacuzzi and the sauna. After a while I got athletes feet, so I thought I better wear my flip flops, and another time I got a back strain, so I stopped lifting weights for a while. I like the idea of setting a goal and then establishing steps to reach the goal. I remember quite a few years ago I made a goal to get a college degree. I started taking a college course, and after I finished that one, I took another one and eventually after taking enough courses I had enough credit for a degree.

The few times I have made a resolution I usually just start doing something different but then after a while I get tired of it and go back to my normal routine. This usually happens when I make a resolution to lose 10 pounds or something like that. At first I’m able to change my diet and exercise more and I start to lose a few pounds, then I decide I really don’t need to lose 10 pounds, and I stop after losing 3 pounds. I think a lot of people must do that since the gym usually gets really crowded right at the start of the new year, but by the time March rolls around it is back to normal. I think this year my resolution will be to make it to 2012.

Work

2010-12-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

Nearly every day now for the past 30 years or so I get up and go to work. For most of my life work has been my reason for getting up in the morning. Sure, there are some days when I get to sleep in, like on the weekends and on days when I’m on vacation, but I rarely sleep in on my days off. Usually what happens is my internal alarm clock goes off at the same time every day and I wake up whether I have to get up or not. Sometimes on Saturday I’ll get up at the same time I do every day, take a shower and shave, and get dressed and head to Wal-Mart to do my weekly shopping before the crowds inundate the store. Then on my way home from Wal-Mart sometimes I’ll stop at the new McDonald’s they just built near my house (just for me, I like to think) and I’ll read the paper and have an Egg McMuffin and a Diet Coke.

For most Americans these days having a job is a real blessing. I’ve been unemployed a couple of times during my life after leaving the Coast Guard, but usually I was able to find something after a few months of job hunting. Looking for a job is probably the most frustrating experience I’ve ever had. The whole thing of finding a position that matches my skills and then putting in an application, and then waiting for the phone call. Then if I’m called for an interview, the anxiety of figuring out what to wear, and what to say, and how to act. Then after the interview having to wait again for another phone call, or worse, being told at the end of the interview that they will keep me in mind for any future openings.

I remember one time when I was going to Boise State and was looking for a part time job to help pay the bills. In the local paper I saw a listing for a part time accounting clerk. At that time I was majoring in accounting and figured it would be the perfect position for me. I put on my best pants, and a shirt and tie, and went to the office to apply for the position. The woman gave me an application and I filled it out, and then handed it back to her. She looked it over and she started asking questions, like what times during the day I had school, and if I was open to working in the evenings, and on weekends. I figured the next thing she was going to be offering me a job, but then she asked me what ward I belonged to. I wasn’t really sure what she was asking, so I said what ward? She kind of looked a little surprised, and then said you are LDS aren’t you? I told her no, and she apologized and said I looked like a Mormon. At that time I wore my hair really short since I was in the reserves. She told me she would be considering other applications, and she would contact me. I never heard from her again.

Sometimes I look forward to retiring and being able to do whatever I want, but then I think I’d probably get pretty bored pretty fast. I’ll probably be working for the rest of my life, but hopefully I’ll never have to go out looking for a job again.

The Power Based Life

2010-12-18T19:15:00.000-07:00

Imagine being 59 years old and playing college football. That is what Mike Flynt, the author of The Power Based Life did. Through this experience and many others throughout his life, he has gained insight and wisdom on how to get the most out of life. He uses a lot of sports metaphors and Biblical truths to tell the reader how they can achieve their goals, work to become stronger and have richer relationships, and how to get through the tough times in life and appreciate the lessons these times teach us. One of the stories that he tells to convey the power of teams is through the example of a flock of geese in their migration south each autumn. Throughout the book two powers that seem to dominate in achieving the Power Based Life are attitude and discipline. He shows how a positive attitude and a strong discipline are necessary to achieve a better life, and he shows how the reader can achieve and maintain these essential forces. This book may not be the best for the reader who may not relate to the many football stories, but for the life lessons the book contain it is well worth reading.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Lies The Government Told You

2010-12-12T07:36:00.002-07:00

Judge Andrew P. Napolitano, in the book Lies The Government Told You, writes about the founding fathers and the history of the United States and all the mistruths that were conveyed by the nation’s leaders to consolidate power by the federal government. The book starts with the biggest lie in American history, that all men are created equal, and explains how when Thomas Jefferson wrote these words in the Declaration of Independence he was the owner of over 200 slaves, and the majority of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, were slave owners as well. In subsequent chapters he writes of the lies that took the nation to war, steals the people’s money and property, and slowly erodes the constitution and the freedoms that the founders envisioned. One of my favorite chapters dealt with the presidential election of 2000, and the lie that every votes counts. The book was a real eye opener to me and helped me to understand the current state of the country and the issues that divide our nation. The most enlightening chapter was about the Federal Reserve system and how the economy is controlled by a few bankers who are not beholden to the best interest of the country and have no accountability. Throughout the book various judicial rulings and court cases are used to explain how the constitution has evolved throughout history and how politicians used fear and national emergencies to gain additional power and erode American’s freedoms. The one thing I didn’t like about the book is the way it is written from a biased, conservative perspective, and vilifies the New Deal and the progressive movement. The most disturbing account that the book tells is how FDR provoked the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and prevented the military from preventing the attack. For this one remarkable revelation the entire book was well worth reading.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Start: The Bible for New Believers

2010-11-26T05:31:00.001-07:00

This is not a typical Bible or even a typical study Bible. This Bible is written in the New King James version making it really easy to read with common every day words. The part that makes this Bible special are the introduction to each book, and the short articles that are gray boxed throughout the book and focus on a different aspect of a verse, or provides tips to help the reader understand and learn from the scripture. The preface to the Bible is also very helpful to a new believer where the plans of salvation and secrets to spiritual success are laid out in plain terms. In the back of the book is a section called Essentials where the basics of the Bible are summarized using an easy to understand language. Greg Laurie, the General Editor, provides great insight into the Bible and what it is all about to be a Christian, and to grow in faith. The commentary he provides in sections called Know and Grow are like mini Sunday school lessons that clarifies the meaning of the scripture in today’s world. This Bible would be idea for any believer who struggles with finding the true meaning of the scripture. The only thing I wish this Bible had is a Kindle version. At over 1300 pages it is much too bulky to easily carry around, and it is awkward at times to comfortably read with the small type and flimsy paper.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

PC Virus

2010-11-19T18:25:00.001-07:00

This morning when I checked my email I received an email message from a friend with no subject line and the contents had just a link. I don’t remember what the link was to, since I automatically deleted the message, and sent the friend a message advising them that their computer may have been infected with a virus. A lot of people who generate spam email messages are getting wise to the use of spam filters and are now attacking unprotected computers with viruses that will automatically send spam from an unsuspecting friend to all of the people in their contact list. Spam filters know to not block email messages from a known originating email address, and this is how the spammers are able to get past the spam blocker.

One of the best ways of preventing this is to use some form of virus protection and keep it up to date. I use one called Avast that you can get for free or you can pay just $30 a year and get an enhanced version. Even Microsoft offers free virus protection software you can get to protect your PC from viruses and other junk being spread through the internet and email. One thing I really like about Avast is when the update is complete it actually tells you with a sexy female voice that says your virus database is updated. When Avast recognizes an email message that might have a virus attached to it, it tells you with a loud alarm, and a voice that says a virus has been detected. I received a warning this morning when I got an email message with the subject line saying my Facebook account password had been changed. I immediately deleted the message without even opening it. If you aren’t protecting yourself with good virus protection software on your PC you might get by for a while without getting infected, but sooner or later you are bound to catch something.

In life we all need to have some kind of protection to keep us safe from attacks. Some people use locks on their doors, and even have security alarms. This protects them from physical attacks, but what are they using to protect themselves from spiritual attacks? Like the novice computer user a lot of people think they can get by without using any fancy protection. While others use whatever protection came with their PC and don’t bother to keep it updated. They don’t realize they need protection until they get infected or their PC no longer works like it was designed to. Spiritual attacks occur on a daily basis and can come from nearly anywhere. You can try to avoid these spiritual attacks but without protection you will be unable to protect yourself. God has provided us with protection from spiritual attacks but like the PC protection we have to use it and keep ourselves updated. This protection is the Bible and we need to read it on a daily basis to keep our protection updated, and allow it to protect us from spiritual attacks. Satan is like the spammer who can find clever ways to get through to us, but the Bible is designed to protect us and tell us when we are under attack and how to defeat the attacker.

SPAM

2010-11-09T17:15:00.001-07:00

On my email account I have a spam filter that keeps me from getting a lot of junk email. Every now and then I go through the junk bucket to see if something that isn’t spam got stuck and once in a while I find an email from an old friend. The majority of the messages I find in the junk bucket are genuine spam and I just delete it. For the most part the spam filter does its job and keeps the junk email from getting to my inbox.

I was thinking the other day that in a way I have a spam filter in my head that keeps certain people from getting too close to me. This spam filter protects me from people who may be harmful to me, like teenage girls, and cigarette smokers, and some people who just don’t look right. Another word for this kind of filter is often called prejudice, or intolerance. I know it isn’t always good to have prejudices against certain people, but there are just certain people that I don’t like to associate with. The thing with teenage girls is pretty obvious, to keep me from getting into serious trouble and going to jail, but some of my other prejudices may keep me from getting to know someone who may turn out to be a pretty good person. Sometimes I think I may need to adjust my filters a little bit and not be so restrictive. This is often easier said than done, and I’m slowly working on this in my daily life, to see each individual as a child of God, and not put a label on him or her as being worthy or unworthy of my friendship.

The other day I was coming out of a parking lot of a shopping center and saw a person standing on the sidewalk holding a sign. Here in Boise there are quite a few people who stand outside of Wal-Mart or some other shopping center on a busy roadway holding a sign asking for money. I usually just ignore these people and don’t give them a second thought. For some reason, I took a second glance at this person’s sign and it really struck my heart. The sign said something like “Single Mom Without a Job - appreciate anything you can give”. I’m not sure if this person was a meth addict or a scammer, but I reached in my wallet and pulled out a bill and handed it out the window and drove off. The women said God Bless You, and I said the same thing back. As I drove home I thought about how the Lord uses different people to serve one another, and how people have served me in the past at different times, and how I serve different people too. I think this is what the Lord means by loving your neighbor as yourself.

Heaven Is For Real

2010-10-20T21:50:00.000-06:00

If you have ever questioned the existence of Heaven or God, and wondered if angels are real or what happens when we die, the book Heaven is For Real, by Todd Burpo, will answer all of your questions. Todd tells the story of his four year old, blue eyed son Colton and the experience of his son’s visit to heaven during a major medical emergency. Throughout the book Todd struggles with the truth of what his son experienced with what the Bible reveals to us, and tries to understand the true meaning of what Jesus has shown his son. The story is powerful in the manner it is told from the eyes of a child, through the lens of an adult, and the faith of a father guiding his family and the reader through a tragic experience of nearly losing a child. The power of this story is one that every person should experience, and will change their life and strengthen their faith. To the non-believer, this story will provide the proof that God and Heaven are real, but one must accept the truth like a little child. This is one of the best books I have read all year!

The Grace of God

2010-10-19T04:30:00.002-06:00

Whenever I used to read the Old Testament I got the impression that God is an angry, vengeful God. The way He destroyed entire communities for the transgressions of just a few people, seemed pretty harsh to me. After reading Andy Stanley’s latest book The Grace of God, I have a better understanding of the God of the Old Testament. The book starts with Adam and Eve and their time in the Garden of Eden, and how God dealt with their transgression with love and mercy, and not by giving them the punishment that they deserved. Different incidents throughout the Old Testament and New Testament are used to show God’s Grace. Andy describes the background of each situation with detail and insight that the casual Bible reader is probably unaware of. At the end of each chapter the reader is forced to reflect upon their own life and contemplate the many times God has shown them grace. The book is very well written and easy to read. It will challenge the reader to become introspective and to consider whether we show the same grace as God in our relationships with others. I really enjoyed reading this book and it helped me to understand that an obsession with trying to avoid sin and being good to get into heaven isn’t what God intends life to be about.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Turtles

2010-10-14T17:11:00.001-06:00

When I was living in Topeka, Kansas I remember one day I was driving with my little brother, I was part of the Big Brother/Big Sister program, when I saw a turtle crossing the road. It was a rather small turtle, and he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to cross the road. I was a little concerned he would get run over, so I pulled off to the side of the road, and got out and picked him up. The turtle pulled its little head and legs back into its shell and looked a little frightened. My little brother Kirk was still in the truck as I returned and I showed him the turtle that I found. Kirk got a little excited and asked me what I was going to do with him. I thought for a few seconds, and then said why don’t we take him to my house and put him in my backyard. Kirk held the turtle as I drove to my house, and the turtle seemed a little less afraid and popped its head out and was looking around. Donatello is the name Kirk gave him, and I asked Kirk why he decided to call him that. He told me that was the name of one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. When we got to my house Kirk carried Donatello to my back yard and put him on the ground, and told him he would be safe in my yard. We watched the little turtle as it got familiar with its new home and began to walk around on the grass. Kirk and I had planned to see a movie that day, so we got back in my truck and left the turtle in my backyard. Kirk asked what I thought the turtle would do in my backyard, and I told him he probably would just walk around and find some grass to eat and then maybe take a nap or something. I wasn’t really too sure what turtles do with their time, but I knew it would be safer in my backyard than in the middle of the road. After the movie Kirk seemed to have forgotten all about the turtle and instead was talking about the movie. I suggested we stop by and see if the turtle was doing okay, but when we got back to my house and looked in the backyard we couldn’t find the turtle anywhere. It had only been about three hours since we put the turtle in my backyard, and I didn’t think it could have gotten too far, but we looked maybe fifteen minutes or so before we gave up. I told Kirk maybe the turtle had somewhere else it needed to go. At least the turtle hadn’t gotten run over in the road.

Some neighbors of ours in Phoenix had turtles they kept in their backyard when I was a little kid. One day the neighbor kid and I were doing something in their backyard and we found a couple of eggs just lying in the grass. One of the eggs was busted open and we could see a little turtle breaking out of it. We ran in the house and told the kid’s mother about finding the eggs and she came out to see. She told us not to touch them, and went back in the house and returned with a little shoebox. She then gathered up the little turtle and the egg and put them in the box. She took the box in the house and put them under a light so the little turtle would stay warm. I remember the little turtle died not too long after we found it, and the other egg finally hatched and that little turtle lived a while and died too.

Turtles have always fascinated me for some reason. I often wonder what God was thinking when he was designing the turtle, or how the turtle evolved over time and became the creature they are today, if that is something you believe in. What amazes me most about turtles is how they even are able to survive with such little bodies and no real defenses other than their hard shell. Sometimes I wonder if there is such a thing as evolution why turtles haven’t grown longer legs so they could move faster, and adapt to their environment better, and could cross the road faster and not get run over by cars.

Pets in Heaven

2010-10-05T18:18:00.001-06:00

I was on Facebook recently and got a friend request from a guy I was stationed with when I was in the Coast Guard in Topeka, Kansas. The guy wasn’t really a friend, but someone I knew and worked with on occasion. I accepted his friend request and looked at his wall and saw that he had written a book. I Googled his name and found he had written a book about how the animals we have loved as pets will be waiting for us when we get to heaven. The book’s title is Cold Noses at the Pearly Gates, and is written by Gary Kurz. I tried to find the book for my Sony eReader but it wasn’t available, so I went to Amazon to see if I could find it, and I ordered a copy. The other day it arrived in the mail and I just finished it last night, and really enjoyed it.

The whole idea of animals going to heaven and spending eternity with us is pretty controversial in churches. Not many preachers that I have encountered believe that animals have souls or that they can go to heaven. I don’t know if this is what they teach at preacher school or what, but I tend to think that heaven would be a pretty empty place without any animals. In my own little mind I really believe that God wants everyone to be happy in heaven and here on Earth too, so that is why He made animals and brought the dogs and cats that I have loved into my life throughout the years. In the book Gary lays out his proof from the Bible that shows that God created animals and all living creatures with a soul. Humans are the only creatures that have both a soul and a spirit, and it was by the human’s disobedience to God in the Garden of Eden, that requires humans to seek reconciliation with God in order to receive salvation.

Throughout my life I have always known that animals were pretty special and they would be in heaven, but Gary reaffirmed this belief. I ordered a book from Amazon for my preacher and I hope he reads it with an open mind and changes his view about animals going to heaven. I think it would be a good idea if they taught Gary’s book at preacher school too, so other preachers will know about animals and their special place in heaven. I’m sure if more people knew that their pets would be waiting for them in heaven they might even be more receptive to letting Jesus into their life.

Suicide

2010-10-02T13:14:00.000-06:00

Lately I’ve been thinking about suicide. The news about the college kid who jumped off the George Washington Bridge really made me think about what the poor kid was going through to make him do such a stupid thing. Really that is all suicide really is, just a stupid mistake. When I was 18 during my first year in the Coast Guard stationed at a remote location on the Bering Sea eighty miles north of Nome, a guy there attempted suicide. Everybody just thought he did it so he could get reassigned, but the guy came back after spending a couple of weeks in the hospital going through therapy. He told us he was given the choice of getting out of the Coast Guard or returning, and he didn’t want to get out of the Coast Guard so he came back. He was a little bit older than me, maybe 22, and he was a big guy who lifted weights and had played football in high school. He was from Georgia and talked with a southern accent, and he was a nice guy with an easy going manner about him. His name was Don Rogers and I remember when he first reported to the station. I had been there maybe two weeks before he arrived, and he had just finished cook school and hadn’t been in the Coast Guard for much longer than I had.

The first time Don attempted suicide was after he received a letter from his girlfriend. Don told us all about her, and how he was going to get married as soon as he finished his year tour at Port Clarence. He showed us her picture and she was quite a beautiful girl. I could tell he really missed her by the way he talked about her. The letter he received from her was a letter telling him that she had found some other guy and no longer wanted to get married to him. On the day he attempted suicide I remember it was quite a normal day. Everyone was in pretty good spirits since the mail had come and nearly everyone had received a letter from home. That evening after the movie was over on the mess deck, everyone had pretty much gone to bed. I was in bed when suddenly an alarm went off and everyone was told to gather on the mess deck. I got up and put on my clothes and hurried down to the mess deck. The skipper, who was a 24 year old graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, looked worried and tired, and told us that Don was missing and he needed everyone to search the whole station for him. He told us how Don had been talking about his girlfriend and the letter he received, then was talking about suicide and then was gone. We all split up into different groups and went throughout the station searching for Don. It wasn’t long before an announcement was made that Don had been found and the search was called off.

The next day a C-130 came up from Kodiak and took Don away. He had slit his wrists and was found before he bled out. I mopped up the dried blood on the floor of the empty room where he was found. A couple of weeks later Don came back and seemed like he was back to his old self again. To make a long story short, Don attempted suicide a second time and was transferred to Kodiak permanently. I was later transferred to Baltimore and about a year later ran into a guy who was stationed with me in Port Clarence who told me that Don finally was successful and killed himself in Kodiak. All I could think about was what a waste. The same thing I thought when I heard about the kid jumping off the George Washington Bridge. I don’t think I’ll ever understand why some people think their only solution is to end their life. For myself whenever I get to thinking that way I always can think of reasons why I should continue living. I kind of have suicide insurance by believing that God has a reason for everything we go through, and nothing is bad enough that God would abandon me. Besides, I also buy a lottery ticket and knowing my luck I would win the lottery after I committed suicide.

Blogging

2010-10-01T16:46:00.000-06:00

When I started writing this blog I had no idea what I was doing, and I probably still don’t. I thought it would be cool to write some little stories and thoughts to share with the Internet world. I’m not sure if anyone even reads what I write. Since I started reviewing books for BookSneeze I have a reason to continue blogging, so I can get lots of free books. After I added a little hidden code to the blog from SiteMeter, I began to track how often people visit, how long they stay, and where they are from. When I wrote a review of a biography of William F. Buckley, I noticed I had some people from the House of Representatives and the National Review reading my blog. On some blogs that I read the blogger posts nearly every day, but I find that if I can write something once a week I’m doing pretty good.

The hardest part of blogging for me is thinking up things to write about. Usually when I’m at the gym working out is when I get most of my ideas. I sometimes watch different people and think about what it might be like walking in their shoes and writing from their perspective. The overweight dude who is watching the Fox News station while using the elliptical machine, or the hot young thing wearing sweat pants with the word HOT on her behind, using a weight machine to develop her gluts. Other times I see something on the TV about the Tea Party, or Iraq or the mosque being built in NYC, and I think I could write something about that. A lot of times when I can’t think of anything to write about I just take a nap for a little bit and in my sleep my mind gets to working, and I think of some incident from my past that had some meaning to me, and I decide that is what I want to write about. I’ve noticed that my writing isn’t the best, but the more I write the better it seems to be getting. I’ve heard from people who read something I wrote and they tell me they got a laugh from something I said, or how they liked the way I expressed something or another.

For the most part I just enjoy writing to express myself. I can’t always verbalize my thoughts and feelings all that well, and when I talk to people sometimes I’m at a loss for words and can’t speak a coherent sentence, but when I write I don’t suffer those problems. The one time I wrote about tattoos the words just seemed to flow from my mind, and other times I really struggled writing about some experience I had from boot camp or when I was a little kid. An Army recruiter who was trying to get me to join the Army once told me the Army is what you make of it. I guess that could be said about anything in life. Whatever you put into something is what you get out of it. I guess the same thing could be said about blogging too.

The Gospel According to Jesus

2010-09-29T16:39:00.002-06:00

The book, The Gospel According to Jesus, starts out by asking the question “What is righteousness?” Chris Seay explains through stories, scripture and interviews the meaning of righteousness. The book shows how many Christians struggle with the term righteousness, and how even some seminary students aren’t aware of the true meaning of the word. I wasn’t even aware of the importance of this word, but this book showed me that misunderstanding the meaning of righteousness can fog one’s relationship with other people and divert us into the kind of people that Jesus struggled with during his encounters with the Pharisees. At the end of each chapter the writer introduces the reader to different people, theologians mostly, who share their perspective of righteousness in the form of an interview. The book presents several different concepts such as how some church people create different boxes to put people in, and how we have replaced God from the center of our lives with other forms of worship. These concepts were a real eye opener to me and forced me to reconsider some of the priorities in my own life. Overall, the book is very well written, and is easy reading for most readers.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Tooth Fairy

2010-09-24T17:05:00.000-06:00

When I was a little kid I believed in all the little things that my parents told me about. Things like the Easter bunny, Santa Claus and the tooth fairy. I even believed every little thing about each one of them too, like the one about Santa Claus coming down the chimney, even though our house didn’t have a chimney. I asked my Dad how Santa Claus gets into our house since we don’t have a chimney, and he told me he comes through the front door. Like the little kid that I was I believed him, and even checked the door on Christmas Eve night before I went to bed to make sure it was unlocked so Santa Claus could get in.

When I got older and had my doubts about these things, I still kind of believed, but in the back of my mind I kind of thought they were made up fairy tales. One time when I was about ten I remember losing one of my molars, and my Mom told me to put it under my pillow when I went to bed and the tooth fairy would come and give me a quarter for it. So that evening when I went to bed I put the tooth under my pillow like I was told and went to sleep. I’ve always been kind of a light sleeper, and when I was 10 I think I used to go to bed at around eight o’clock in the evenings. Kind of like I do now days. Well for some reason I woke up and I checked under my pillow and the tooth was still there. I rolled over on my side to go back to sleep and I could see a light coming under my door, so I knew my parents were still up. I closed my eyes and started to drift off to sleep when I heard the door open and I could smell my Dad’s after shave as he came closer to my bed. I felt him reach under my pillow, and then I heard the click of the door as he left. I reached under the pillow and felt a quarter where the tooth had been, and I realized the tooth fairy was my Dad.

The next morning I got up and my Mom asked me if the tooth fairy had come. I told her no, but I found a quarter under my pillow. My Mom told me that was the tooth fairy, and I told her it was my Dad and that I smelled his after shave. She leveled with me, and confessed that it was my Dad, but told me to keep it to myself and not ruin it for my little sisters. So I asked her about the Easter bunny and Santa Claus and she told me that wasn’t real either. In the back of my mind I wondered about Jesus and God too, but for some reason I didn’t ask my Mom about that then. Later when I was in my late teens I asked about Jesus and God, but I didn’t ask my Mom since I figured she wouldn’t know. I asked a Catholic priest about it. He told me that at times he too had doubted about the existence of Jesus and God but all he had to do was look out the window and he saw God all around. I asked him what he meant, and he explained to me that God is everywhere, in the trees and the birds and the people, and everything. Although at the time I quite didn’t understand but over the years I realized what he meant. By just looking at the world with all its wonderful diversity and beauty and the whole of God’s creation, with the entire universe and all, it is hard to imagine that all of this just happened like Stephen Hawkings seems to think. I sometimes wonder if Stephen Hawkings ever believed in Santa Claus and the Easter bunny, and the tooth fairy when he was a little kid. Maybe he did and when he found out they weren’t real he quit believing in God and Jesus too. Sometimes I wish I was really smart like Stephen Hawkings, but I don’t think I’d want to be so smart that I would stop believing in God.

Uncle Sam's Plantation

2010-09-20T16:44:00.002-06:00

Uncle Sam’s Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America’s Poor and What We Can Do About It, takes a critical look at welfare and other big government social programs. The book shows how the government attempts over the past 70 years at social engineering created a permanent state of poverty. Star Parker writes from her personal experience of being an unwed mother and welfare recipient, and how a temporary part time job and the words of an intercity pastor, turned her life around. Writing from an ultra-conservative perspective, bashing liberals, and promoting the free market, small government agenda of the Republican Party, she explains how the current welfare state with its multitude of rules and restrictions causes people to become dependent on big government. The book fails to offer a fair and balanced perspective on the issues presented, and overlooks the contribution the many conservative policies of the Bush years has had on the current state of the economy. She offers instead the elimination of the minimum wage, abortion rights, the corporate income tax and capital gains taxes, and social security and Medicare programs as solutions to solving the country’s social problems. Much of the book focuses on the problems facing the inner city black community, the poor quality of public schools, and the destruction of the traditional family. The book leaves the reader with little hope of change with the election of President Obama.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Wal-Mart

2010-09-18T07:49:00.000-06:00

Sometimes in the middle of the night I wake up and can’t get back to sleep so occasionally I’ll get up and put my clothes on and go shopping at Wal-Mart. Usually in the middle of the night, or early in the morning, depending on one’s perception of time, very few customers are in my local Wal-Mart. This is around 0500, or 5 AM if you prefer civilian time. Just this morning I did my weekly shopping and it was nice being able to wander around and not be disturbed by some screaming kids, or people who leave their shopping cart in the middle of the aisle so no one else can get by.

The only problem I’ve had is when I’ve tried to find an associate for some assistance. This morning I found a pair of pants I wanted to try on so I went to the area where the dressing rooms were located. No one was around. I tried to get into one of the dressing rooms but they were all locked. I wandered around a little more looking for someone but it seemed like everyone was on a break. The only person I found was the cashier at the front of the store. She confirmed what I thought, that everyone was on break. I walked with her back toward the dressing rooms and the person with the key suddenly appeared. This isn’t the first time I have had problems finding someone to help. In the Electronics department quite a few of the higher priced merchandise is inside a locked display cabinet, or is on a hook that needs to be unlocked. One morning I wanted to buy a 4 GB USB flash drive that was on one of these locking hooks, but there was no one around. Instead of just waiting or looking for some associate with a key I just tore the card board packaging off the hook and when I checked with the cashier she said it is sometimes hard to find someone during the change of shift.

At one time I worked at Wal-Mart so maybe that is why I like shopping there so much. Really though, I think to really appreciate a business like Wal-Mart it helps to have worked there for a different perspective. Considering everything it takes to run a store like Wal-Mart I’m always amazed at how things are done, and the people who make it all happen. From the cashiers to the stockers, and all of the management, the people working at Wal-Mart are probably some of the best people around. They aren’t paid the best and they don’t always get treated the best by the customers or the management, but they really do care about the customer. Sometimes it isn’t always easy working at a place like Wal-Mart or in any retail business. Believe me I know from experience. Customers are sometimes the worst people anyone has to deal with. They are oftentimes very demanding and they think they are always right. I read the book about Sam Walton and how he started the company and I remember he had a sign on the wall in his office that said something like “Rule number one, the customer is always right. Rule number two: when in doubt refer to rule number one.”

The Butterfly Effect

2010-09-07T01:25:00.002-06:00

This book is totally amazing! Through several true life stories of how one individual’s simple, unselfish act makes a major impact on the history of the world and billions of people, is truly amazing. The author, Andy Andrews, tells the stories in such a style that creates suspense and anticipation with the turn of each illustrated page. Most of the people in the stories are not well known and their actions appear to be trivial, but their impact is shown to be monumental. This book will change the life of every person who reads it. No longer can anyone say that one person can’t make a difference, or one act can’t change the world after reading this book. In the first story the reader experiences a fierce battle during the Civil War. The writing is vivid, allowing the reader to hear the canons explode and the screams of the soldiers. Each following story is told in the same vivid style, and at the conclusion the reader is left with a sense of disbelief and amazement.

Your Money God’s Way

2010-09-04T09:10:00.002-06:00

This book provides a wakeup call to anyone who is over their head in debt. The author, Amie Streater, writes from her own personal experience of how she got caught up in the belief that she had to maintain a certain lifestyle and finance it all on easy credit. Then she explains how she came to the realization that God had a better plan for her and how she overcame her addiction to debt. In her ministry as a Financial Pastor she helps others who have gotten into the same circumstances, and explains how Christians often are misled by Biblical passages and through the false teaching of some churches. She uses scriptural references, and explains the true meaning of the passages some preachers use to fatten the offering plate. The book then lays out a plan to help people get their financial lives in order, and shows how tithing 10% of one’s income should be a natural and loving gift to God. Many of the real life examples in the book should relate to personal experiences of many readers, and offers a warning to the pitfalls of student loans, and easy credit. This book is not your typical financial self-help book, but deals more with the spiritual void that causes people to misuse their financial blessings.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Police

2010-09-02T20:52:00.000-06:00

When I was about 12 or 13 I remember I wanted to be a policeman. I guess every boy at one time or another thinks about different things he’d like to be when he grows up. For some reason I thought being a cop looked like a fun job. I told my dad I wanted to be a cop and he told me I watch too much TV. At that time my favorite shows were cop shows. Adam 12 and Dragnet and The Rookies with Kate Jackson. Maybe it was Kate Jackson that made me want to be a cop.

At one time I thought being an FBI agent would be neat too. I used to watch the show The FBI back in the sixties, and the way the agents went around and showed off their little badges and talked to different people to solve a crime and catch the criminal was pretty intriguing to a young kid. When I got in the Boy Scouts I met a real life FBI agent who carried a gun and had a real badge. I asked him about being an FBI agent and he told me I had to do really well in school and go to college, and then I had to go to law school. After that I thought I would try to be something that didn’t need to go to college since I knew college was real expensive and I couldn’t afford it. I asked my dad what he thought I should be and he told me I should be a plumber or a bus driver. I had no idea what being a plumber or a bus driver was like since there were no TV shows about plumbers or bus drivers, so I didn’t think too much about those jobs.

In the eighth grade I took a class that was called Career Objectives or something like that. I remember the teacher’s name was Mr. Bronner and he gave us an assignment to write about different occupations we thought we would be interested in and write a report on each one. I remember I wrote a report on a plumber and an electrician, and I found out what kind of training they needed and how much money they make and all the important stuff like that. Later in the class we went on a field trip and visited a bunch of different places to see what real jobs are like. I remember we went to a bank and the bank president gave us a tour of the vault and let everyone touch a one thousand dollar bill. Then later we went down to the basement of a big office building and we got to see the computer room and a guy talked to us about what his job was like working with computers. In those days the computer room was about the size of a basketball court and it was filled with big boxes that looked like refrigerators that all made a loud humming noise.

As I drove to work the other morning I saw a guy on a motorcycle and when I looked closer I could see the guy was a motorcycle cop. I’ve never really liked motorcycles much, but the thought of being a cop and driving around town all day stopping speeders, and other criminals seemed like a lot more fun than sitting in an office in front of a computer all day. I guess I should have listened to that 12 year old kid who watched too much TV.

Patton: The Pursuit of Destiny

2010-08-22T15:46:00.001-06:00

General Patton is a historical character I learned about in school but I didn’t really know all that much about him as a man. I had seen the movie Patton with George C. Scott back in the 70s, but the movie was more about him as an Army General who got into some trouble and was instrumental in defeating the Germans during the Second World War. This book by Agostino Von Hassell and Ed Breslin, provides a full picture of the man, warts and all. From his early childhood, through his death, the book tells of a man who struggled through school and overcame his academic short comings, and later faced his fear of death and cowardice. The occasional bouts of depression that haunted him, and clouded his behavior, to the strained relationship he had with his superior officers, shows that Patton was an imperfect man, whose military genius and devotion to duty helped the country defeat the Nazis. In the first part of the book the authors write briefly of Patton’s family and his wife, but later in the book the only reference to his wife is through the many letters that he writes her. The book may have been improved if it devoted a little more to Patton’s family life.

Marriage

2010-08-18T05:00:00.003-06:00

My little six year old niece Skyler asked me the other day why I have never been married. I’ve been asked that question quite a bit over the years and never know what to say. I couldn’t tell a six year old my hemorrhoid joke, so I told her that I’m just smarter than the average bear. She looked at me with a puzzled look and then asked me if I ever want to have any kids. I told her sure, one of these days, which seemed to satisfy her curiosity. To tell you the truth I really don’t know why I’ve never been married. When I was younger I just assumed that marriage would happen to me one of these days. I had this impression that marriage is kind of like something that naturally happens when we grow older, kind of like puberty, or getting a driver’s license. It isn’t anything that we plan to do like going to college or finding a job, but it just happens naturally. At least that is what I thought when I was younger. Now that I’m a lot older I know that it takes a lot of work to find just the right person to ask out on a date, and then after a while of getting to know one another it takes a lot of courage to ask that question that will change two people’s worlds.

When I was in the third grade I asked a girl to marry me. She was the cutest little girl in the class, and I had known her since first grade. It was quite an impulsive thing on my part. She was playing on the playground and had just slid down the slide and I approached her and asked her if she would marry me. Before I knew what happened my cheek was burning hot and she had a look of total disgust on her face, and she said something like never, and stormed off. I rubbed my cheek to get the sting of her slap to go away, but I never had the impulse to ask a girl to marry me again.

When I’ve been in relationships before and things looked like they were heading toward some kind of long term relationship either I or the girl would broach the subject of marriage. We would talk about what we would like to do in the future and where we saw the relationship going, and it usually was the girl who would say something like I could never marry you, and then would follow with some lame reason like I wasn’t willing to convert to her religion, or quit my job and settle down in the town she was born in, or that I didn’t make enough money or something like that. After this I kind of got the feeling that I wasn’t good enough for marriage. Each of these women probably settled for some other guy who was willing to convert to their religion, or stay in the dumb town the girl was born in, but I wasn’t about to change my life just to get married. I guess when it comes down to it I’m just not willing to make the sacrifices that marriage entails.

One of these days though I have a dream of finding the right woman and getting married and having some kids, but at my age I know there aren’t a lot of 25 year old women out in the world who are willing to settle for some old guy with four cats. Sometimes just the thought of getting married scares me, and keeps me from searching for someone to get married to. People probably think I’m Gay or something since I’ve never been married and don’t have a girlfriend, but let them think whatever they want. The Lord knows why I’m not married and if He wants me to get married then He will provide me with a bride.

Tests - Part 2

2010-08-10T13:19:00.000-06:00

For the last few weeks I’ve been preparing for the Network+ certification exam. Spending pretty much most of my free time reading and memorizing and taking practice exams. This morning I took the test and I passed. I felt pretty confident when I started the test, but the first question threw me a loop since it was worded kind of strange and none of the four choices popped out at me. I hit the mark button and went on to the next question. After I made it through all 100 questions I went back to the questions I hadn’t answered and marked, and then spent a little more time on each of the questions. Some of the questions were ones I had seen before in the practice tests, but some of them were worded strange with abbreviations I forgot. Some of these questions I was able to reduce the number of choices down to a couple so in the end I kind of made the best guess I could.

Taking this test reminded me of when I had my colonoscopy. When I visited the doctor for a routine checkup he told me it was a good idea to get a colonoscopy around my 50th birthday. I told him okay, I’ll wait until next year when I turn 50, and he suggested I get it scheduled before then because of some problems I’ve had with hemorrhoids. I got it scheduled and the nurse told me to come in a few days before the test to get the stuff to prepare for it. I went in a couple of days before and was briefed on how to prepare for the test. Things like don’t eat anything solid the entire day before the test, and only drink clear fluids, and then the night before the test, take a couple of pills and drink some stuff that is mixed with water. That didn’t sound too bad. The night before the test I mixed the stuff with water, and the instructions said to mix it in a two quart container and drink the entire two quarts in about an hour’s time. I thought no problem, until I started drinking the stuff, and after the first couple of sips I felt like throwing up. The stuff was really salty tasting, and was like the first time I went swimming in the ocean and got a mouth full of salt water. I was able to get most of it down in the hour, but it took me a little bit longer to finish the whole two quarts. After getting all of the stuff drunk I didn’t feel like doing much other than sitting on the toilet the rest of the evening.

At the clinic the nurse took me to an exam room and told me to undress, and put on a gown. She had some trouble trying to get an IV started since I was all dehydrated even after drinking the two quarts of water the night before. After I laid down on the exam table and the IV started, the next thing I remember was waking up and the doctor was just about finished and told me everything looked great. Anyway, the Network+ exam reminded me of this since all the preparation and the worrying was a lot worse than the actual test.

Impressions

2010-08-08T09:51:00.001-06:00

Sometimes people get the false impression that I’m Mormon. It may have something to do about being from Idaho, and that I don’t smoke or drink, or have sex with women I’m not married to. At one conference I went to a guy asked me if I went to church. I told him I did, and he asked what kind of church I went to. I told him the church I went to played loud rock music and the preacher had a whole series where he preached about tattoos. The guy had a look of shock on his face, and he told me he had the impression that I was pretty conservative and wouldn’t think I would go to a “liberal” church. It’s funny how some people get the wrong impression about me.

The church I go to isn’t really all that liberal. Maybe from first appearances it may look like we are liberal, since we do play loud rock music and some people do have tattoos, but the preacher preaches from the Bible, and teaches about how to have a better relationship with Jesus, and how to get along with other people and to deal with all sorts of problems that come up in life. The whole thing about church is kind of funny to me. Some churches I have visited the preacher is the only person in the whole building who wears a tie, and everyone else is dressed really casual. Then some other churches I have visited seem to have some kind of dress code where everyone has to wear a tie, and nice slacks, and all the women have to wear dresses and the little kids have to have their best clothes on and they have to wear shoes that make their feet hurt. This seems funny to me because I don’t think Jesus really cares what people wear when they come together to worship him.

When I was in the Coast Guard I used to call the uniform we all had to wear a costume. Although everyone looked pretty much the same when they put on their uniform, because of all the pins and ribbons and patches on their uniform, which signify their rank and position, they all had to assume the role of their position. The officers had to act like officers, and all the enlisted people had to assume their roles, kind of like some kind of play. Churches can sometimes feel this way too. When I was a kid we went to a Methodist church and I remember my mom took me down to the JC Penney’s store to buy me some church clothes. I had to wear a suit with a tie and a vest to church just so I wouldn’t look like some heathen kid. Sometimes I wonder what God sees when he looks at each of us. Does he see us all dressed up in our fancy clothes, and our polished shoes, or does he see everyone naked, with all of our scars showing, and little moles, and our hairy backs, and protruding midsections? I think God sees through all the physical aspects of who we think we are and just sees our hearts.

Giving Blood

2010-08-07T15:02:00.001-06:00

When I was a junior in high school I first gave blood during a blood drive sponsored by the Key Club in the Boise High gym. I remember I got out of Mr. Bell’s U. S. History class to donate. Afterwards I remember feeling kind of faint and dizzy, and I was told to lie down and rest a little bit. Ever since then I have been donating on a pretty regular basis. My blood type is fairly rare, O-Negative, and at one time I could even donate blood for new born babies since my blood lacked some kind of anti-body that is fatal to new borns. Being O-negative I’m what they call a universal donor since O-negative blood can be used in transfusions with people with all the other blood types, but O-negative people can only receive blood from another O-negative donor.

Just this past Monday I gave blood. I usually go right after work, and sometimes I have to wait and other times there is no waiting. This time there was no waiting. A girl came and took me back to one of the cubicals and asked me a bunch of questions. She took my blood pressure, pulse, and temperature and poked my finger to test my blood iron level. Everything checked out okay. She gave me instructions on answering the questions on the computer and left and I answered all the questions. Since I’ve done this so many times before it is all pretty routine, but to someone who has never given blood before, some of the questions would seem pretty personal. Questions like if I have ever paid for sex, or had sex with another man, or had sex with someone from Africa, or if I had a tattoo or had my ears pierced in the past year. Those questions were pretty easy for me to say no to. For some reason they need to know if I served in the military from one period to another, or if I traveled to certain European countries. Then after I finished answering the questions, a different girl came and asked me the same questions, but only the ones I answered yes to. She then asked if I have any questions, and I tell her no, and she takes me to the place where the actual blood donation takes place. Sometimes I think the worse part about giving blood is all the questions they have to ask.

A few other people were lying on lounge chairs watching some show on cable I’ve never seen before, while they were going through the blood donation process. The girl asked me if I’m allergic to iodine, and I tell her no, and she puts a blood pressure cuff around my arm and hands me a round sponge ball and tells me to squeeze it a few times. She feels around my arms and makes a couple of marks with a purple Sharpie. While all this is taking place I’m watching some guy on TV cut up a bunch of fish and throw it into a bucket. Then the girl rubs iodine on my arm and tells me to hold still. Then she tells me I will feel a sting and a poke, as she sticks the needle into my arm. I’m still watching the guy cut up fish and don’t feel the sting in my arm. By the time the guy on the TV show is throwing the buckets of cut up fish off some boat, a buzzer goes off, and the girl comes over and says I’m all done. She fills a couple of small tubes with my blood and then she takes the blood pressure cuff off my arm, and removes the needle, and tells me to hold my arm in the air while holding a piece of cotton gauze to my arm. She takes some red tape and wraps it around my arm and the cotton gauze, and tells me a bunch of stuff I don’t even remember. Things like drink lots of water, and don’t exercise for the next five hours and don’t remove the bandage for the next five hours, or something like that. She gives me a piece of paper and tells me to call if there are any problems, and then she tells me thanks, and I go into the other room and grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator and sit down and open a packet of cookies.

The whole thing took maybe a half an hour, and all I had to do was answer a lot of questions, lie down and watch some TV show without the sound, and eat some cookies afterwards. Then I went home and had something to eat and drank a little more water than I usually do, and had to get up in the middle of the night to pee, because of all the additional water I had to drink. For the next few days I drank a little more water than I usually do, and didn’t quite feel like doing five miles on the elliptical machine at the gym, but I did maybe three miles instead. Hopefully, maybe someday, a kid who needs a blood transfusion or some old guy who is having heart surgery will be able to get some use out of my blood.

William F. Buckley, by Jeremy Lott - A Book Review

2010-08-05T21:13:00.000-06:00

William F. Buckley, the founder and publisher of National Review, and the host of the PBS show Firing Line, is one of the many biographies in Thomas Nelson’s Christian Encounter series. The book, written by Jeremy Lott, provides a brief overview of Buckley’s life without going into too much detail. For example, he was a second lieutenant in the Army, and had served in the honor guard for Roosevelt’s funeral, but the reader doesn’t learn of any experiences he had during the two years he served in the military, or how this may have formed his conservative views. Although the book tells how his strong Catholic beliefs formed his conservative thinking, it doesn’t touch upon the issues of prayer in public schools, or pedophile Catholic priests. The book instead detours these topics and plays into the politics of the past 50 years, and the positive impact the conservative movement has had on the country, and the role that Buckley played in it. This book is a fine telling of the life of William F. Buckley, but the reader is left wanting to know more of the details that shaped the man.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Phoenix

2010-08-02T04:41:00.001-06:00

Recently I’ve been thinking about Phoenix for some reason. Maybe it was because of the recent news about Arizona and the pictures of all the protestors on the news about the new anti-immigration bill, or perhaps it was because of the conference I might get to go to in December that might be held in Phoenix. Phoenix has a lot of old memories for me since I used to live there when I was a kid. I really don’t remember much about Phoenix until I was about 5 or 6, and those memories are a little vague at best. I remember a lot of the kids from the old neighborhood, and the times we spent at the neighborhood swimming pool, and all the time at school. Some of the teachers I remember their names and their faces and looking at the old school pictures I can remember some of the kids but most of them I can’t remember their names. I wonder sometimes what happened to the kids I knew in school and some of the teachers.

I’ve only been back to Phoenix twice since me moved from there in 1970. It’s funny because I can remember how it felt moving from Phoenix and saying good bye to all of my old friends and how we thought we would visit more often, but we never did. In those days we didn’t have the internet with Facebook to keep in touch with people, or cell phones to call anyone anytime we wanted. We used to write letters on pieces of paper and send them through the mail, and sometimes we would get a letter back and sometimes we didn’t get anything back. That is just the way things were done in those days before the internet and email and everything else that has changed. The two times I went back to Phoenix I visited the old neighborhood and saw all the changes and some of the things that had stayed the same. I even got to visit some of the old friends I knew and had kept in touch with over the years. It was nice, but I never had the feeling that Phoenix was somewhere I would ever want to live again.

One of the biggest changes that I noticed was how the place had grown. It used to be such a small city to me, but driving on the freeway what once was only desert was now big housing developments with shopping malls and gas stations and everything else that comes with development. The other thing that I noticed that I had long forgotten about was the sun. It is always bright and hot in Phoenix.

When I used to live in Phoenix the people seemed to be more friendly than they seem today. Maybe it was just because I was a kid back then, and everyone is nice and friendly to kids. The Phoenix I remember had a lot of different people. In school we had kids from all over the place. There were Mexican kids, and black kids, and white kids, from Arkansas and some from New York and other places of the country, and everyone got along pretty well and didn’t worry about how they got there or where their parents worked or anything like that. This was during the time when the country was at war in Vietnam, and with several military bases in the area there were kids whose dads were in the Army and some were in the Air Force, and one day a kid would be in school, and the next day he wasn’t because something happened to his dad. Now days it seems like people are more concerned where someone came from and whether they are legal than whether they have a place to live, or food to eat or their kid gets to learn. That seems wrong to me. I seem to remember reading something about how we should love our neighbor and treat others like we would like to be treated. I guess that kind of thing is old fashioned and no longer in style.

Same Kind of Different As Me

2010-07-24T20:09:00.002-06:00

You know the old saying about judging a book by its cover; this book fits this to a tee. When I saw the title of this book I wasn’t sure what it was all about, and the cover said the book was about a modern-day slave, an international art dealer, and the unlikely woman who bound them together. Written from the perspective of the two primary characters, a homeless black man, and a rich white man, the book develops slowly as each character tells the background of their life and how they happened to end up at the same Fort Worth, Texas, homeless shelter. Then as each character breaks down the stereotypes they both have toward each other, a relationship slowly grows and reveals God working through each of them. The book becomes a testament of how God works through people and events to change lives and answer prayers. The reader is inspired by the faith of the characters and their devotion to helping others by becoming a servant to man and God. Throughout the story the reader feels the same emotions and pain of the characters, and is left with the same inspiration each character receives. This is a truly inspirational, heartwarming book that will change the life of the reader.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Tests

2010-07-22T17:11:00.000-06:00

Tests are a necessary evil in life, and to tell you the truth, I’ve never really been that good at them. Even the multiple choice tests with the four or five options to chose from can be really confusing when a couple of the options are very similar and the test writer is trying to make it confusing. In the question, the term chose the best answer, is a clear sign that there are two possible correct answers, but only one is the true correct answer. When I was in high school I thought I would never have to take a test again once I graduated, but life is full of tests. To get a job most of the time I had to take a test, which were sometimes called a survey or a questionnaire to make it seem like it wasn’t that important.

Now that I’m finished with college and have a job, I still have to worry about tests. Right now I’m preparing to take a certification test, which is the worst kind of test. The reason this is one of the worst type of tests is because anything can be on the test that is covered in the objectives. Even reading the objectives makes me afraid of the test. The objective has things like “Given a scenario, differentiate and implement appropriate wiring standards.” This test is one I have spent over a year preparing for, and have purchased books to study, and have sample test questions to prepare with, but still I am not sure if I will be ready to take the test in a couple of weeks when I’m scheduled to take it.

Preparing for the test is sometimes worse than actually taking the test. At least this has been my experience in the past with some tests I have taken. Tests in school were always really stressful because the fate of my life usually depended on the outcome of the test, or at least it felt that way. Somehow I usually got by. Sometimes I think I’m ready for the test and then when the test is in front of me I have a brain fart and can hardly read the questions, let alone pick the right answer.

I think I may have a test phobia.

The Jesus You Can't Ignore: What You Must Learn from the Bold Confrontations of Christ, by John MacArthur

2010-07-09T18:28:00.000-06:00

I thought I knew Jesus pretty well until I read John MacArthur’s book “The Jesus You Can’t Ignore”. The book reveals the more aggressive, confrontational Jesus that the Bible hints at, and provides the details of the many encounters Jesus had with the false teachers and religious leaders of His time. This is to show, using Jesus as an example, how the modern church should confront directly the false teachers of our time. This is a book that I plan to read again and again to gain a fuller understanding of the Bible and of Jesus. Reading this book is often quite difficult since the author uses words that may not be familiar to the average Bible student, and some of the concepts he introduces are difficult to comprehend at first, but the detailed description of each scene and the setting of the events make Jesus come alive. This book provides a clearer understanding of the scriptures and their true meaning in today’s modern world. It is a must read for anyone who seeks to know and understand Jesus.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Road Trip

2010-07-06T16:48:00.002-06:00

The summer brings back a lot of memories for me. This might be because a lot of life changing events occurred during the summer months. Usually during the summer is when I was transferred when I was in the Coast Guard, and with each transfer came the opportunity to get a fresh start, and leave old problems behind, and start some new ones.

During the summer of 1980 I was stationed on an old tugboat in Baltimore when I got orders to Petaluma, California. About a month before this I drove my 1968 VW Beetle from Idaho to Baltimore, and now I was going to drive across the country again to California. When I drove my car to Baltimore I didn’t have any problems, except the wind shield wiper quit working as I drove through Indianapolis, but I fixed this, so I wasn’t expecting any more problems. I left Baltimore late Saturday night, and as I drove along the interstate highway about two hours east of Baltimore the engine started to make a strange noise. I pulled off to the side of the road, got my flash light out, and checked the engine when it was running, and found that one of the spark plugs had popped out of the cylinder head. I tried to stick it back but the threads of the cylinder head wouldn’t hold it in place. About this time a state trooper pulled in behind me with his lights flashing and asked me if I needed any help. I told him what the problem was, and he asked where I was heading, and I told him California, and he suggested I get it fixed before going any further.

At the first exit I left the highway and found a gas station that was open in the town of Cumberland. The guy at the gas station told me there was nothing he could do to help me out, since the mechanic wouldn’t be in until Monday. He said I could find a motel down the road but didn’t think I could get a room this late and told me I could sleep in my car if I wanted to park it over on the side of the building. I crawled in the back seat and got some sleep, until the sun came up and I heard some kid questioning her father about Famous Potatoes that she saw on my license plate. I was starting to get a little hungry, so I asked the guy about a good place to eat, and he told me about a place down the road. I started the car, and drove down the road with the engine making the strange noise and found a place to eat next to a little motel. After eating breakfast I walked next door and got a room, and lay down and slept most of the morning. When I got up I looked in the phone book to see if I might be able to find a place that could fix the car on a Sunday, and called a couple of places, but only one guy answered the phone and told me to bring it in first thing Monday morning and he would take a look at it. The place opened at 8 and I was waiting outside before the place was open. The guy looked at the engine and said he could fix it to get me going, but to really fix it he would have to tear the whole engine apart and replace the cylinder head. I told him just do what he could to get me going, and I would get it fixed when I got to Idaho. It took him about a half hour to fix it, and I was on my way. The rest of the trip I stopped only to eat and get gas, and when I got tired I pulled off at a rest area and took a nap. I ended up getting into Boise before lunch on Wednesday.

Sometimes I think my life has been like that trip. Usually when I encounter a problem I’ll do whatever it takes to fix it to keep me going, and then later when I have time I’ll deal with the bigger issue. It also seems like I’ve been in a hurry to get to wherever I’m going, and have been too busy to take time to see the sights and stop for too long. Maybe now that I don’t have any place to get to I can take things a little slower and experience some different things along the trip of life.

Port Clarence

2010-07-05T18:54:00.000-06:00

The other day I was going through some stuff in the garage and found some things from when I was stationed in Alaska. Stuff that I had long ago forgotten about, and stuck in a box and hadn’t remembered I had even saved. Things like letters and pictures. It made me realize I really need to stop saving stuff like this that I’ll just one day throw away anyway. But it did bring back a lot of memories of when I was a lot younger.

Port Clarence was the first place I was stationed after going through boot camp in the Coast Guard. It is located on the Bering Sea about 80 miles north of Nome, and about 30 guys, and no women, were stationed there with me. The thing I remember most from my days at Port Clarence are the different guys that were there and some of the things we used to do to pass the time. I was there for only 9 months, from September to June, but that is probably the worst time to be in that part of Alaska since it is the coldest part of the year and most of the time the wind is blowing and the temperature can get as cold as 30 degrees below zero. The purpose of the Coast Guard being in this part of Alaska is to transmit a radio signal used for navigation. One of my jobs was to stand watch in the timer room, and make sure all the equipment was working the way it was supposed to. But most of the time I was just cleaning, and painting, and doing a lot of the grunt work since I was just a guy fresh out of boot camp. We had a regular routine where we had to get up and work during the day, but in the evenings and on the weekends we pretty much had time to ourselves. Every night we had a movie shown on the mess deck, and sometimes we would have a double feature on the weekends. There was a bar and we had beer and soda pops we could buy, and there was a small library and a rec deck with a pool table. They also had college level courses they offered on station. A professor from Chapman College would come and live on station for the duration of an 8 week course. I took my first college level courses here and by the time I left I had about a year of college completed. A lot of time was spent with just a bunch of guys sitting around, drinking beer and listening to music, and telling stories. When the weather was not too stormy we would go out hiking in the tundra. A few guys had rifles and we would go target shooting, and look for wildlife. About the only thing I saw of wildlife was an occasional fox, and some mice, and the dogs that the station had as pets. About the only thing I really missed were women and television, but after a while I got used to this.

Along with the photos in the old box I found a computer printout that showed how much I was paid. It was hard to believe my pay checks were only about $200 every other week. But this was in 1979, and I didn’t have any real expenses, other than the books and the tuition I had to pay for the college courses. I remember I would save up a couple of checks and then have to mail them home so my mom could deposit them in my checking account. By the time I left Alaska I had a lot of experiences and memories, and a little savings put aside for the future. Not a bad way to spend my first year in the Coast Guard.