Category Archives: Life

There’s something afoot.

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First apologies to all for my lack of content.  Work has been crazy busy, Upward season is in full swing, and my motivation to bloviate on the blog dwindled.  As apology, not excuse.  Mea culpa.

However, back in the days of old, when I was in sequence, Navigator, Crazy Gator, MisplacedKeys, I felt a desire to opine on topics theological.  I’m feeling a desire to resume such topics, and now that I’ve scared the majority of my readers away, I can safely assume that the readers that still click over, may not be offended by my topic de jour.

The reasons for this is legion.  I’m a better thinker when a write.  It is a time for communing with my Lord.  It makes me get into the word, to either prove my hypotheses correct or invalid.  It opens my thoughts up to the scrutiny of others, and most of all I do enjoy it.

That said, I’ll still hit it with some Lost posts and more pop-cultural stuff.  I’m not going Blog365 and insanely post everyday, because I. MUST. BE. HEARD.  I hope to quietly explain the way I live, and perhaps provide an answer to those with a question.

There is a wind in the air in our family, our church, and even my work.  I want to feel the breeze and enjoy the air.

Today was my birthday…

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Last night at the home of Blogospeer and Debily, we opened my first present (I fergit which was xmas and which was birthday), a black t-shirt with four san-serif characters, and it expressed perfectly about my feelings about the beginning of my 40th year.

meh.

The actual birthday day part was quite pleasant. I spoke on the phone with my parents and all of my siblings. I slept in. I ate at my favorite restaurant (Original Pancake House – Plano) and had a yummy breakfast. Spent money on Wii games at Target. Ate a yummy supper of spaghetti with my family. Played Wii Play with the family.

Time well spent

OMG!! We Gotta WII!!!!!!!

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4a9pCFDa4U[/youtube]

I gotta admit, I was about as excited as the kids.  I knew about it for months, its only that life’s been soooo busy that I haven’t taken it to work to ‘test’ it. 🙂

Grandma Rain was the gracious benefactor, and she included the following games in the take:

  • Wii Sports (included, but cool!)
  • Sims 2 Castaways
  • Madden 2008
  • Avatar – The Burning Earth
  • Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree
  • Super Paper Mario
  • Dewy’s Adventure
  • Donkey Kong Barrel Blast

I got some of the books on my list, a überkool laptop desk (Ikea Dave), shirts and stuff.  But the highlight was watching the kids open that box.  The girls are swooning over their new santa delivered cell-phones, and Dan’s enjoying his MP3, and MJ is now a ninja spy with gadgets and weapons.  MJ’s also the best wii bowler in his age group. 

Merry Christmas!

Love… Dog == God?

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I read Pyromaniacs the other day, and happened upon this post that has a video of Slam Poet, Taylor Mali.

Intrigued, I read more about Taylor, found his blog, and burned my two remaining Audible credits on two of his recordings.

Angie wants me to post, and though I’m unable to start into an appropriate meter, I thought I’d share this poem of Taylor’s.

Falling in love is like owning a dog
an epithalamion by Taylor Mali
www.taylormali.com

First of all, it’s a big responsibility,
especially in a city like New York.
So think long and hard before deciding on love.
On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:
when you’re walking down the street late at night
and you have a leash on love
ain’t no one going to mess with you.
Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.
Who knows what love could do in its own defense?

On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breathes
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.

Love doesn’t like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.
It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.

Is love good all the time? No! No!
Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.

Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper
and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain,
just to let love know Don’t you ever do that again!

Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise.
It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.
It pulls you in several different directions at once,
or winds around and around you
until you’re all wound up and can’t move.

But love makes you meet people wherever you go.
People who have nothing in common but love
stop and talk to each other on the street.

Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops.

It might be better when he speaks it, than when you read it.

TV recaps – delayed

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Much like Angie’s flight home from California, my weekly TV recaps (my most popular posts that nobody reads) are delayed.

Sunday was hectic, Monday was harried, and I ended up watching MNF, and missed all my normal shows (hopefully still safe on the DVR).  So I’ll have to put the recaps on hold until tonight, maybe the morning.

Much like Angie’s flight, and the non-closing/sealing door that ended up canceling her flight, my work projects might curtail how many shows I can watch, and thus cancel some of the regular shows.   So stay tuned.

Last week was Haiku Week, and I had a lot of fun putting recaps into verse.  This week I’d like to try another twist, and write re-caps in Seussian meter (more properly, anapestic tetrameter) but that might be a tad ambitious for this week.

I still aim to get at least one post up daily.   Also, if your bored with me, you can see what my kids are up to at the is-blogging site.  Updating daily, if not hourly, after school and homework, it seems.

Fixerated for 1/4 the cost…

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For about two months our AC has been living on shaky ground. An aging Condenser Fan motor wasn’t keeping the air moving, and the refrigerant pump would trip off on high pressure. So for about six weeks, I’d go out and push the reset button, to get it going, and then will the fan to start turning. I watched the fan motor slowly die. I’d gotten a quote from Service Masters for $400+ to replace the motor, but didn’t have the money to have them fix that, and really we need a whole new condenser since this one is 20+ years old.

This weekend the motor finally died. It no longer went roundy-roundy with any type of power applied. It was totally frozen, couldn’t even turn the motor by hand.  Since I can’t afford the several hundred dollars it would cost to replace the whole condenser to keep us cool for the next couple weeks, until fall finally comes, I tried to find a replacement motor online. Found a few, but lacked the confidence to really do the replacement myself. After I talked to a friend, Mark, at church on Sunday, and having him confirm my plans, I was much more confident that it could be done.

So yesterday, after I’d picked up Angie from the airport, I called up Mark, and we started searching for the motor. The first couple places we found only sold to licensed contractors (what a messed up racket that is) but Mark was able to track down a hole-in-the-wall little AC replacement parts place in Garland, that had what we needed in stock. Thirty-minute drive into the heart of Garland, to Tolbert Electric Motor Company and we had the motor for 1/4 of the Service Master’s quote. We just had to get fan-blades, since the old blades seemed welded to the shaft. (I say ‘seemed’ for a reason, its called foreshadowing) The helpful guys at Tolbert went back to find comparable blades, and came back with a set that was bent on one blade, then went back to find their whole stock was bent.

This is why the whole experience was great. The three guys in the store made it their personal mission to get my old blades off the old motor. The put the old motor into a vice grip, and with a hammer tried to loosen the blades by striking the shaft. That only drove the shaft through the bottom of the motor housing. So they cut off the shaft, and put it in a pipe-jig they had handy for just this type of thing, and proceeded to hammer away at the shaft — no dice. The blades weren’t moving. So they take it in the back and grind away at the shaft to finally free the blades, and give them to me. The cashier joked that was $119 for the labor, the motor was free. But seriously. You don’t get that kind of service at the big stores. So remember that when you’re looking for repair AC parts, Tolbert goes the extra mile.

30 minute drive back, and 15 minutes of wrench turning had the new motor and blades installed, and we packed up our tools and headed inside, just before the rain hit. A few hours later, the inside temps were 80 degrees and falling, and I went over to Mark’s house to watch MNF. But that, my friends is another story.

Why my garage door stopped working

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10-05-07_1514

Before:  This is from 7 years of wear, original cheap rollers, a under-powered spring, misalignment, a mini-van strike, under supported door panels and just general wear and tear.  All the teeth have been totally worn down on the teflon gear.

 

10-05-07_1513

After:  New teflon gear, just look at those sharp teeth.  Also added more support to the door panels, an addition spring (actually replaced the old one and added two new ones).  When finished the door will work, and then we’ll have to clean.  That is for another day, and — NO THERE WILL BE NO PICTURES!!!

Golf Balls & Coffee

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image When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee…

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some imageitems in front of him. He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and filled it with golf balls. He asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly and the pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. image

Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous, “YES!” The professor then produced 2 cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

As the laughter subsided, the professor said, “Now, I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things – your family, your children, your health, your friends, your passions. And, if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else – the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life. If you spend all of your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with your grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse to out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, “I’m glad you asked. The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.

 

got this in an email, the original author is unknown to me. The concept isn’t new, the moral was taught in a Seven Habits of Highly Successful People class that I attended 8 year ago. I’m not a master at keeping the balance, so any reminder is welcome.

On Schedule Tonight

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If my words are your words, can you hear my father? – John from Cinncinati

Since y’all admit to not watching ‘my shows’, I’m gonna give you notice in advance. Please study well, there will be a test. On tap for tonight, time willing:

  • Beauty and the Geek – The CW 7PM
  • House – Fox 8PM
  • Reaper – TheCW 8PM

You’ll need to have a dual tuner or two DVRs to keep up on your homework. Late work will be accepted if you need to access alternative viewing means.

image I watched the Pilot for Reaper Saturday night, and I was impressed. The premise is a slacker guy Sam (Bret Harrison)works at The Work Bench (a spoof on The Home Depot) finds out his soul has been sold to the Devil. Upon turning 21, the Devil (played wonderfully by Ray Wise) lets Sam in on the secret, and because of the over-crowding problem in hell, wants Sam to help him track down and send back the damned that have escaped hell.

Though nothing like Dead Like Me, the dark reaper comedy works well, though the reaping reminds me of Danny Phantom. Not entirely a willing servant, Sam decides to do the devil’s bidding to keep the devil from taking his Mom. Sam’s group of friends are funny, Sock (Tyler Rabine) is his irreverent best friend, and he has a crush on Andi (Missy Peregrym – was shapeshifting hero last season)

Each week’s plot will be the tracking and capturing the escaped damned, and depositing them in a portal (which ca be identified as any place like ‘hell-on-earth’, like the DMV). Also Delores from DLM makes a great cameo, on the other side of the reaping fence.

I’m watching it, you should too.

Hello new office, same as the old office

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except with a different view…

19-09-07_1136Old view: Central Expressway (US-75) southbound dominates the view, with a small field, and parking lot (sometimes fun to watch the coppers nab the speeders on the road that parallels the expressway. Beyond that, I can sometimes see the Dallas skyline, and any weather that approaches from the south.

19-09-07_1147 New View: The building next door dominates the view, with Old Glory standing watch. View of the park and water features across the road, and the loop near our office park. Northern view means less sunlight, and if I look off to the left, ad squint I can see the steeple of my church. Lots and lots of water towers too.