Vagabond Thoughts

"The creator of the universe works in mysterious ways. But he uses a base ten counting system and likes round numbers." - Scott Adams

2012-02-12T18:50:00.000-08:00

click to enlarge

I like Phil Mickelson, virtually everything about him. This afternoon I watched most of his final round at Pebble Beach where he pulled off an almost unbelievable charge to come from six strokes back at the beginning of the round to win by two strokes. His wife Amy was there - they'd arranged to have the grandparents watch the girls - and their post-match hug was one more in the series of those heartwarming scenes that has to warm the heart of even the most cynical. I was happy to hear she's doing very well after a tough battle with breast cancer over the last two years.

Pam turns 60 another year older tomorrow. She shared that birthday date with her dad who died 21 years ago last Wednesday, five days short of his 70th birthday. He was a gem and she is her father's daughter in so many ways.

We both miss him.

Thousands of Americans die every year as the result of drug and alcohol abuse. A very small minority are immensely talented and famous; most are very ordinary people caught in a downward spiral of self-destructive behavior.

All of those deaths are equally sad and unnecessary.

Bruce Springsteen opened the Grammy program. I learned somewhere (Wikipedia?) that his brand of R&R is known as Philadelphia Rock and Roll, characterized by a strong, driving beat, basic chord structures and lyrics about blue collar life. Cf. Joan Jett.

I like Philly R&R.

I worked my rear end off this morning. I hope it never looks like it, but some Sunday mornings just take more effort than others. Philadelphia Preaching. That's OK. Everybody's job is like that some days.

The special treat was seeing Dale & Judy Chaffin and their (adult) daughter Darci walk in. Their family, including the other two Chaffin kids, attended the church I pastored in Prunedale, CA back in the late 70's. Darci was a high school student at the time and she's the same Darci. Same for Dale & Judy. They are here visiting Darci who lives with her husband an hour south of Phoenix. We had a great time at lunch, catching up on each others' lives, talking about good people from back in the day... we were a tight, happy church family, most of us at the same stage in life and growing together. Pam and I have the opportunity to see many of them from time to time and it's always the same - we pick up right where we left off. Today was no exception.

Mondays are a recovery day and I keep my goals very modest. I'll work on the trailer - maybe get the masonite skin installed on the outside. The aluminum goes over that layer. Or I might just work on the cabinet doors. Or (finally) prune the roses. Or sit in my chair and read.

Oh, wait. It's Pam's birthday.

I'll sing to her.

"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death." - Harold Wilson

2012-02-11T18:19:00.000-08:00

No post last night. Pam's birthday is Monday so the eight of us went to Red Robin for dinner, and by the time we got home my brain was asleep. On a Friday night the place is so noisy that it was hard for me, sitting at one end of the end of the table, to hear what was being said at the other end. But I was impressed with the nuts and bolts of the place. Good food, came quickly for how busy they were, and our server did a good job.

Have you seen that TV ad for "Ageless Male," the testosterone supplement for old guys? The creator, Dr. Whatever-his-name, says he has two sons, both in their 20's and he's in better shape than both of them. My question: then why aren't they taking it?

Upper 70's here today, with just a hint of a breeze, but by Tuesday we will have plummeted all the way down to the low 60's. Brutal.

Has anyone else noticed an interesting trend among network financial reporters?

I got a lot done today, including on the trailer. The cabinet doors are sanded and stained, ready to have the edging applied (tomorrow afternoon?), and then three or four coats of varnish. And I installed the cabin floor and trim. Having the 12" vinyl tiles down makes the space look even ... cozier. Just two or three more sessions and the interior will be done with nothing left but making the galley hatch and installing the exterior skin.

In homiletics class we'd talk about sermons being bullets and not shotgun blasts. A message should have a single focus, a thesis or proposition (the technical term used in the field of preaching), and everything in the sermon should flow from and/or support that truth. Good preaching doesn't just bring together a lot of truths, toss them into the bucket and then dump them all out on Sunday morning (shotgun blast). It doesn't matter how biblical and timeless they are, they must support, amplify or in some other way establish that proposition.

That sometimes means leaving out some really good stuff that's in the morning's passage because it doesn't fit the proposition. I gotta do that tomorrow.

NT Greek has some powerful words that pack a lot more punch than English words. Ours is a wimpy language compared to Greek. One of those words-on-steroids is logizomai (that's the best you can do with English letters), a word that means to reckon, figure, consider. The logi part of the word gives us our word logic, and means deliberate, thoughtful consideration that takes into account all the relevant data. In 1st century secular literature its uses included doing math problems, which were "figured." Someone who has logizomai'd an issue has taken everything into account and come to a reasoned conclusion.

What I won't talk about tomorrow:
"I logizomai that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." - Rom. 8:18

I'm not sure people do a lot of logizomai-ing these days. Most are in too big a hurry to take the necessary time. Sound bites, bumper stickers, and sloganeering. Get 'er done and move on to the next thing. Establish and resolve a crime or four medical issues in 60 minutes or less. Drive on the freeway with the radio on... and talk on the cell phone.

Logizomai takes sitting in a chair with a cup of coffee, or going for a walk. It requires reading and cogitating, maybe working the issue with a thoughtful friend.

We're in too big a hurry, moving too fast.
I reckon.

"I like life. It's something to do." - Ronnie Shakes

2012-02-09T16:43:00.000-08:00

Jim sent me another addictive site about cars called Bring a Trailer, so named because the cars they post are so sweet you might as well bring a trailer when you go to look at any one of them because you'll want to take it home. One of today's featured autos is a '93 Lancia for sale in Canada. The car isn't legal here in the States because it lacks some of the smog and safety features our laws require, but will be in 2018 because cars 25 years and older get a waiver. Someone posted a comment saying they find it ironic that in the U.S. you can legally own an entire arsenal of weapons designed solely for the purpose of killing the maximum number of people in the minimum amount of time, but not a '93 Lancia.
Agreed.

Which is to say I support the Second Amendment, but common sense should prevail here as elsewhere. Just as free speech doesn't extend to yelling "Fire" in a theater the right to bear arms has - or should have - reasonable limitations. We prohibit private ownership of hand grenades but not assault rifes. Huh?

I almost did it. Almost.
I went to the wood shop at lunch to cut the six 3/4" birch ply doors for the trailer cabinets. Two of the smaller doors came out of "drops" - pieces left over from cutting something else, in this case the two sides. That meant curved edges that had to first be squared. I was nearly done with that part of the process when a guy came over to tell me I should have done it differently.
The other four doors were cut from a 3'x4' sheet, the remnants of a 4'x4' sheet from which I cut the rear bulkhead. That sheet was too big for me to efficiently handle on the table saw so another gentleman helped by standing on the back side of the table saw and receiving the pieces as I passed them through. He was friendly and gracious.
They're not all grumpy and condescending.

I don't know why my mind went there, but it occurred to me this morning that tsunami's never happen on their own. There's always a precipitating cause like an earthquake, or Godzilla stomping his foot in the harbor. So the tsunami is always the second half of a one-two punch, but sometimes the first punch falls short.
I know, it's meaningless. But most of what runs through my brain is.

Or, I could have spent my time doing this.

Stupid, Part One:
Name your kid "Blue Ivy" (Beyonce & Jay-Z)
Stupid, Part Two:
File paperwork to trademark the name.
'cause we all wanted to use that one.

I read today that Mexican authorities seized 15 tons of pure meth at a ranch in the State of Jalisco. The article said meth is usually cut with three to five times of filler, so that's an incredible amount of street-grade product, over $4 billion. Incredible.
But one of the things that struck me as I read the article is that no arrests were made because when the authorities arrived at the ranch no one was present.
Am I the only one who has trouble believing a drub cartel leaves $4 billion of anything laying around without at least a small army to guard it?
I'm thinkin' somebody got a phone call.

I need more R&R on my iPod for workouts. Queen is great for that purpose but I've listened to them too much. I'm inclined to get an entire album from iTunes but most come with non-workout cuts - too slow.
Recommendations?
Joan Jett?

Respondez s'il vous plaid. (Honk if you're Scottish.)

2012-02-08T18:26:00.000-08:00

(street view)

Interesting factoids:

Before it was a VW model, Toureg was (is) a nomadic tribal group from North Africa. They fought in the pro-Gaddafi forces and are now causing trouble as that country tries to establish a new government. They're also known as Berbers, which is an optional carpet choice in Touregs.
Those big "bullet" bumpers on a '54 Caddy (and other cars from that era) are called "Dagmars" after a popular and well-endowed actress of the era.
In Greece gasoline is currently $10 a gallon.

A North Phoenix resident found a newborn in her front yard yesterday, with the placenta and umbilical cord still attached. The baby girl is doing fine, though had she been there much longer medical experts say things would not have turned out as well.

It's a top news story here, getting lots of coverage in print and broadcast media. I think about the mom, who must be watching the coverage, including footage of her baby at the hospital. She must be hurting something fierce.

Arizona has a "safe haven" law that allows mothers to drop off babies at specific sites - fire stations, hospitals, and the like - with legal impunity. So one of the questions is why this mother left her baby wrapped in a blanket and laying on a lawn. Panic? Immaturity? Ignorance?

Up until recently two of the Presidential candidates were Mormons, and two still in the race are Roman Catholics. And this in the Republican Party, not known for bold forward thinking.

I'm old enough to remember when a large segment of our country questioned whether we could or should have a Catholic President - John F. Kennedy, a Democrat.

Did Rick Santorum, a Catholic, get any bounce from the President's order re. providing contraceptives?

Today is my daughter's birthday. Happy Birthday, Aubri! Love you.

Yesterday's CA Court of Appeals verdict re. Prop 8 was:

not surprising. Anyone paying attention could see this coming sooner or later. The decision was very narrow, affecting only CA and its unique recent history re. gay marriage, but it's an indicator of what lies ahead. Similar decisions will follow in the not distant future and gay marriage will eventually be legal in all 50. The President overturned DOMA by executive order and Congress hasn't put together any meaningful resistance.
indicative. In every state where gay marriage has appeared on a ballot the voters have said no, including CA, with a city that boasts the highest per capita number of gays in the country. I'm not sure what to do when the citizens repeatedly and clearly say one thing and the courts rule the opposite. The citizens get it wrong (blue laws, literacy tests) and if their will doesn't stack up against the constitution the job of the courts is to stand in their way. But the courts aren't infallible, either (Dred Scott decision) and lately have shown a tendency to "legislate from the bench." I think I think that unless there's a clear Constitutional directive, unless it's very clear the founding fathers would have come down on one side or another, the will of the people should prevail and the courts should stay out of it. But they're not going to, in this or several other issues facing our society. The courts may not be infallible but they are nearly omnipotent in a situation like this.
complicating. The logic behind the gay marriage movement is that two consenting adults should be allowed the same rights as everyone else without regard for their sexual orientation. Three days ago a federal judge ruled that a lawsuit against the State of Utah brought by the family made famous by the TV show "Sister Wives" could continue, despite an effort by the Utah governor and Attorney General to get it thrown out. If I were a lawyer representing that "family" I'd be thrilled with the CA decision. How do you argue against polygamy when it also involves only consenting adults? How do you say "marriage" can include same sex couples but not heterosexual 4-somes? The camel's nose...
sad. I believe the Bible is God's Word, infallible and authoritative. Accordingly, I accept the Genesis record as historical and reflective of God's design. I reject the exegetical smoke and mirrors that makes central passages on homosexuality say something other than they clearly do - that homosexual behavior is morally wrong. (Note the important distinction between orientation and behavior.) Accordingly, I see this movement toward the de jure acceptance of gay marriage as a significant step in the continuing moral decline of American society.
congruent. We are not a Christian nation, as the Bible defines that term. I don't know if we ever were. I suspect at most we were a religious nation, something very different. Anyone who knows the Bible understands that any significant and continuing conformity to God's moral will comes not from external rules and regs - or laws - but from a renewal that starts on the inside and works its way out. If the majority of a society haven't experienced that renewal it's unrealistic to expect them to conform to biblical moral standards. Which is why the NT doesn't speak to society, just to those who call him Lord.

So, the sky isn't falling. The U.S. isn't what it was but it also isn't what it will be. Our societal mores will continue to deviate further and further from the biblical standards that formed the tacit underpinnings of the better part of our first two centuries. Truth is, our country is just living out its reality. They've decided in true post-modern fashion (pun intended) that there are no fixed rules. Each man is a law unto himself in key moral matters. (Does that phrase ring any bells?) So I won't panic or tilt against the windmills.

But I also won't succumb, or accept societal standards as my own.

A man stood on a box in the village square and every day, from morning 'til night, preached against the moral evils of the residents. It had no effect, the people ignored him.

A visitor, observing that the people paid him no notice, walking right by as though he weren't even there, asked the preacher why he continued.

"Why do you preach when you clearly aren't changing them?"

He answered, "I preach so they won't change me."

Thesaurus - the book that's also a dinosaur.

2012-02-07T16:29:00.000-08:00

Lots of stuff today, outside and inside my head, which just may explode.

Sunday night I wrote here about the Obama admin. decision re. mandating birth control in health insurance plans, including those offered by employers associated with a church but whose primary function is not religious. That topic has hit the national media big time just in the last 24 hours. The Today Show did a segment on it this morning that included tape of a liberal columnist (recognized him but can't remember his name) saying he thought Obama had made a very large mistake and that his party was not giving him the cover he needs. He's convinced the courts will overturn this decision. Rachel Maddow was then interviewed by Matt Lauer, and in her opinion the decision works in favor of the President and to his Republican critics' detriment. Her reasoning: the huge majority of Americans use birth control, including most Roman Catholics. Therefore, they favor the President's decision.

She doesn't get it. This is not about birth control. It's about the First Amendment and the govt.'s crossing that line of separation we hear so much about. People who use, or have used birth control have heretofore done so without any government mandate that our employer provide it, and with no deductible. That includes employees of the R.C. Church.

Regular readers here know that I have a dim view of the Tea Party movement and its simplistic answers to complex issues. But if there's a motivating factor that led to their emergence and powerful influence in the fly-over states it's the overreaching of the government in local and personal matters. It strikes a great many Americans as arrogantly intrusive. And when that intrusion involves the First (or Second) Amendment you can - and should - expect a strong visceral reaction.

This just in: the President's press sect. says Pres. Obama plans to address the new policy and "reach out" to those concerned about its implementation.
In other words, damage control.

The Queen has ruled for 60 years. I think "Fat Bottom Girls" is my favorite but I'm also partial to "Bicycle Race."

Today I Learned:
Don't sniff when you have shaving creme on your upper lip.
(yeah, you'd think I'd have figured that out before now.)

Today I Didn't Learn:
How to stay on task. I hate it when I can't keep my focus for... So how many hp does a 170 ci slant 6 put out?

Just for fun, from my younger brother...

Re. the CA. Appeals Court's decision about the constitutionality of Prop 8, well, we're just going to have to wait on that one. I have to head into town for a meeting that will get me home late. I understand that you've come here specifically for my invaluable and penetrating thoughts on that matter but I'm pretty sure the sky won't fall if it gets put on hold for 24.

"I wish people who have trouble communicating would just shut up." - Tom Lehrer

2012-02-06T18:29:00.001-08:00

My only significant effort today was the trailer. Overnight I settled on a third layout for the upper cabinets and I think this one will work and look better than plans A or B. I did the math for cutting the rails and stiles for both upper and lower face frames, then went to the wood shop down at the rec center to cut them. The upper frame is especially tricky because it aligns with the last spar, the one to which the 4' piano hinge attaches. Getting everything precisely square and flush is critical if I want the galley lid to close and seal properly.

I got back about lunchtime and the spent the afternoon assembling the upper face frame and installing the scabs which will hold it in place. I also put the tile down on the galley floor which has to happen before the lower face frames can be installed. Tedious work not ideally suited for an ADD pastor with a Monday hangover. But I'm trying to teach myself deliberate pacing and achieve the quality outcomes that only come with it. I began the VW project with that in mind and it's carrying over to the trailer. Slow down, enjoy the journey, and take more pride in craftsmanship than completion.
"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" meets '62 VW's and Teardrops.

That's a continuum, huh? Some people are such perfectionists that they have trouble finishing anything. My natural inclination is to live at the other end of the spectrum, making compromises for the sake of reaching self-defined goals. So I keep talking to myself, forcing myself to fiddle and finick (if that's not a word it should be; there should be a verb form, too.)

You have to be 55 or older to live in Sun City, AZ, the nation's very first age-restricted community. But that doesn't tell the story; the average age here according to Census Dept. figures is 73. Average! Which means Pam and I offsetting some seriously old people, a fact confirmed every time we drive local streets.
Buicks, handicap plates and those funky big plastic sunglasses.

Yeah, I'm the punk kid around here, something I'm reminded of every time I go to the wood shop, which I do every few days with this trailer project.
Drives me crazy!
I'm on a mission. My goal is to just once get in and out of there without one of the old guys telling me I'm doing it wrong. So far I'm standing in the wrong place, have my hand in the wrong place, should have the board flipped over, should be using a push stick for that cut (4" rip), and don't have my badge properly displayed (today's offense).

We've both noticed how often young residents like us (it's all relative) are viewed as outsiders and resented. And this place is ALL about rules. Old people like rules because they think rules are walls, keeping the bad stuff out. The various rooms at the rec center have signs everywhere telling you what you may and may not do, what can and must not be worn.

So I probably need to accept my fate and the inevitable correction every time I'm there on how it should be done. And I try to do as told, if only to eliminate one more offense I can be called on next time, though they don't show any signs of running out. My natural tendency to sarcasm wanted to tape my official wood shop badge to my forehead but I checked that ugly part of my personality and pinned it to my shirt pocket like a good little boy.

I just come home, leave the garage door up, and crank up the Rock n' Roll.

"There's a difference between a philosophy and a bumper sticker." - Charles M. Schulz

2012-02-05T19:44:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm typing this with 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter. The ultimate in multi-tasking.

Pam had to work today. It's necessary, and we both accept it, but I don't like not having her with me on Sundays. I'm too dialed in to make conversation before church and too exhausted to do more than grunt after, but having her here is much preferred.

The Patriots released one of their receivers the day before the Super Bowl. How cold is that?!

I haven't worked on the trailer today. Sunday afternoon and power tools = bad stuff gonna happen. Besides, I've had some trouble and have problems to deal with. I started making the cabinets for the galley and didn't realize until I assembled the face frame for the upper set that one of the pieces of wood was warped. Take it apart, cut a new piece and re-assemble. But when I set it in place I didn't like the looks of it. Asymmetrical, and makes for too big a cabinet door. So I'm going to disassemble it again and change the dimensions. I've put too much time and energy into this to settle for something I'll be unhappy with until I die. The relatively small amount of additional time and money is well worth it in the end.

This is a good final few minutes!
Is taking a dive and letting the other team score sportsmanship?

OK, I like the outcome. I am not a Tom Brady fan.

I can watch the first 15 minutes of Meet the Press before I have to leave for church. That first segment this morning was in interview with Newt Gingrich. He brought up something that seemed to genuinely surprise David Gregory, the host, who said, "Do you think that's going to be an issue in the election?"

On January 20 the Obama administration in the person of Kathleen Sebelius, HHS Secretary, issued an executive order that requires all employers to include birth control in any employer-provided insurance policy, and provide it with no deductible. The order allows an exemption for organizations whose primary function is religious and which oppose birth control on moral grounds. But affiliated organizations are not exempt. Accordingly (and most notably), the Roman Catholic Church is not required to provide birth control as part of its health insurance plan. But all affiliated Catholic institutions, including colleges, hospitals, social service agencies, etc. are required to provide it. Not surprisingly, Catholic leaders had lobbied very hard against the plan and as a concession the administration gave them an additional year, until 2013, to comply. It's hard not to think the goal in that move was to put forced implementation on the other side of an election.

Never mind that timing, the delay gives opponents another year to be forced to violate their conscience. And even if this escaped David Gregory's notice it didn't get past the Catholic leadership. The next Sunday bishops took to the pulpit to decry the decision with some very harsh words. "President Obama has abandoned his Catholic constituency."

I am not an opponent of birth control. We used it before and after the birth of our two sons. The theological view of the Roman Catholic Church that leads them to that tenet is not biblically defensible. (They believe the only purpose of intercourse is procreation and anything which prevents that goes against God's purposes.) But this isn't about theological accuracy, it's about the freedom of religion. And this action by the administration comes as the latest in a string of very worrisome decisions out of Washington and elsewhere. Faith based adoption agencies have been required to either adopt into same-sex homes or lose the government funding essential to that kind of work. NYC Mayor Bloomberg issued a decree (the correct word in this context) that beginning next Sunday no churches may rent public schools for services, despite the fact they only use the buildings when no other school activities are conducted, it provides additional income to janitors, off-duty officers and the districts. Most of these churches are located in inner city neighborhoods and have significant impact on their communities.

It's hard to understand these decisions, the reasons behind them. Same-sex couples have other options for adopting children. Why force faith-based agencies to violate their moral convictions or effectively close their doors, leaving a hole in adoption work that cannot be filled by other agencies?

I'm also not given to conspiracy theories, but an anti-religion (anti-Christian) bias seems the most likely explanation (Occam's Razor). The Republicans are now engaged in a great civil war, testing whether this party, or any party, can make it to the general election without self-immolating. But I can't believe these issues won't be part of the post-convention campaigns. Not only is religious freedom important to the actively religious it's kind of a big deal in the Bill of Rights.

"Some people think football is a matter of life or death, but it's far more important than that." - Bill Shankley

2012-02-04T18:19:00.000-08:00

We have too many of them here, so they're running a special.

The benefit of being wide awake at 2:30 is the amount of work you can get done before the sun has cleared the horizon. Half the day's chores were crossed off the list.
At about 3:30 I went back to see if I had closed the bedroom door on my way out. I had. That was some LOUD snoring! (not normal, thankfully)

After two years the U.S. Attorney General's office has closed its investigation into Lance Armstrong and allegations involving doping. Normally that would be considered vindication and give credence to his claims of total innocence. (No athlete has ever been tested more than Armstrong without a single positive result.) But the Attorney General's record on doping cases is so bad Armstrong gets no real benefit from their decision. This office (San Francisco) couldn't convince a jury that Barry Bonds used steroids. (Just show them a hat from his rookie year and a picture of his head in his last year. "If it doesn't fit you must convict.") And this same office had their first attempt to convict Roger Clemons thrown out when they showed jurors evidence the judge had already declared inadmissible. From Armstrong's perspective, once the CA district of the U.S. Attorney General's Office got involved it was a lose/lose.

This afternoon I drove an hour SE of here to look at a car. The '62 Nova had been on Craig's List for a week or so for $5400 but in an email exchange the guy said he'd go down to $4500. OK, worth the drive. I've been following prices pretty closely and if it was a decent car (as the ad said) it would be worth $4000 or a little less. Nothing to lose by offering him $3800 and see how he responds.

He drove it to work this morning, a Kohl's in a large outdoor mall. I found it in the parking lot and in 60 seconds or less knew I wasn't interested. It had an Earl Scheib paint job so bad that they didn't even bother taping off some of the trim. I could have done as well with six cans of Rustoleum. Both bumpers were bent, the hood had been sprung, a floor pan replaced badly, a vent window cracked... and the engine compartment was a disaster. The "recently rebuilt" engine had oil dripping down from both sides of the valve cover, wrong air cleaner, and on and on.

Interestingly, the guy had a For Sale sign on the dash that said $6000. I wouldn't have paid $1000 for it.
The arrangement was that I'd call him and he'd come out from the store so I could start it up. I sent him a text saying "I am at the car, don't bother coming out. It's not something I'm interested in."
And hour's drive home. But I learn from every experience like that. Each one prepares me for the next.

Russia and China vetoed the U.N. resolution calling on Syria's Bashar Assad to resign. Those two nations must have amnesia or they'd remember what happend in Libya. It's not if, but when Assad is overthrown. And whatever govt. follows will remember that U.N. vote. A unanimous vote in the Security Council this morning would not have changed things on the ground but the absence of a resolution due to those two nations indicates their tolerance for brutal totalitarianism.
Oh wait. Now I get it.

One of my former students now pastors a church in Glendale in the north valley. They've challenged us to a co-ed softball game to be played after a joint picnic the afternoon of the 26th. To enhance the camaraderie Josh and I will swap places on the 19th. I'll preach and teach at his place and he at mine. These breaks from the routine are good for everyone, preachers included. From the speaker's perspective it presents some challenges, but the unfamiliar bell rings clear. A different voice can say the same thing with greater impact.

One of the big advantage to preaching through a book of the Bible (we're doing Romans now) is that I don't have to sweat the, "What am I going to preach this week??" issue. (There are many other benefits.) But in two weeks I'll to a one-off sermon followed by a one-off lesson in his class.
Hmmmm.... What to do??

"I once wanted to become an atheist, but I gave up - they have no holidays." - Henny Youngman

2012-02-03T18:27:00.000-08:00

No, it's not Photoshopped. They played for West Virginia in 2008. I don't know if they were tight ends.

It's been a hectic, ADD day. Lot's of little things flying in and out of my brain. That's good.

You may remember the story of the plane that crashed into a mountain here in Phoenix on Christmas Eve, killing a father and his three children. The kids' mother (ex-wife) lives here, he had just picked them up, and they were flying north for Christmas vacation.
A couple of days ago they reported that she's losing her home, one of thousands who are too far upside down after the bubble burst. It was a foreclosure but they're working on a short sale. It's the home she's been raising those kids in since they were born and friends say she hasn't done anything with all their things; it looks just like it did the day they left. Now she has to pack everything up and move out, leaving behind the place with all the memories of her children.
Very sad.
She's been interviewed on local TV, and shows a tremendous amount of grace and strength. No self-pity, just resolve to remember the good and move on, with her kids still in her heart.

If you follow sports at all you read the story that Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers ballplayer, had a relapse in his battle with alcohol Monday night. I'm saddened for him and for his family. But again, I'm impressed with the humility and grace he and his wife are demonstrating. This is his second relapse since foreswearing drugs and alcohol in 2005, after an extremely destructive personal history. As with the incident in 2009 he fully accepts his failure and responsibility; no excuses or self-justification.
Laudatory and exemplary.

I went to the dr. this morning and arrived 15 minutes early for my 10:30 appointment. He entered the examining room at 11:30. I really like him, both professionally and personally. And I understand that the patient he was seeing ahead of me was a very unusual case. He said he'd never seen that syndrome in all his years of practice because it's so rare. But I sure didn't plan on losing half my morning to that one item on the agenda. Oh well. At least I don't have blood coming out all my body orifices like that guy.

My younger son Josh sent me this video in response to last night's somewhat controversial comments on the game of soccer.
A Study in Contrasts

The trailer build is coming along nicely and attracting attention. Another guy who lives down the street saw me out there today and pulled over to see what was going on. He's the third in the last few days. Oddly, women don't seem that interested.

We're watching the new series on NBC, "The Firm." It's based on a John Grisham novel that I haven't read. The hour-long show is not standard TV fair. You have to keep track of things pretty closely or you get lost. It's full of flashbacks with two or three in each episode. But I like it. Because it's on across from The Mentalist, which we also like, we DVR it.

I started the week decidedly unmotivated for much of anything. As the week progressed and I learned more and more I found myself getting enthused, even exercised about Sunday.
I can't tell you how many times that's happened.

Disco is to music what Etch-A-Sketch is to art.

2012-02-02T18:18:00.000-08:00

What is it about soccer that so often generates violence among the fans? Egypt is the latest example, and while it may be the political unrest that was the real causal factor, the soccer match ignited the situation (pun intended). No Super Bowl, no matter how bitter the rivalry, would lead to what seems to be fairly frequent at soccer matches.

It's just one more thing about that sport I don't get. Maybe if I'd played soccer as a kid I would be more interested in it as a spectator sport now, but they hadn't invented it yet. It's the only game that moves slower than baseball. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. At least in hockey they fight on a regular basis. In soccer they flop.
"Ow! He hurt me! Make him stop!"

For the home schoolers out there and others interested by things scientific...
Optical Illusion

Today was dedicated to sermon prep.
I have a minor in Hebrew from my seminary work and remember almost nothing from all those classes. Most of my Greek dates back to college classes and for some reason that language stuck in my head. Why?
It certainly helps that many Greek words form the root for our English vocab, but the difference in my retention is night and day. Weird.
But I'm glad it worked out that way. I've heard/read others say/write that there's something especially vivid, dynamic about reading the NT text in its original language. It seems more potent, and in many cases is, due to the power of Greek's verb system.
All of that to say I had fun today.
And FWIW, my dad taught himself a pretty decent command of NT Greek. It can be done, especially with the tools now available.

I'm shopping the internet for an early-'60 Chevy Nova. I won't buy one now but I'm learning about what's out there and what's a reasonable price to pay so I know a good deal when the time comes. I want bone stock, which is part of the problem. Those cars weigh just barely over 2,000 lbs. but Chevy designed all their cars from that period so that almost all of their engines could be dropped into any of their cars. Somebody looking for a relatively inexpensive beast can drop a performance-enhanced 350 V8 in a Nova to replace the small 6 cyl., make a few other minor modifications and have a legitimate hot rod. When he decides to sell it, as many apparently do, he asks $15k to $25k.

So when I'm scanning eBay or Craig's List for early Nova's I first look at the asking price. If it's anything under $6k I look at the picture. And that's where it gets almost funny. A lot of owners are taking their little 6 cyl. 3-speed stick and putting on Kragar mag wheels so it looks like they've got that beast. They could get whooped by a Toyota Tercel but they look bad to the bone.
See: poseur.

It's my own fault. I knowingly violated my conscience and did that which I knew was wrong. There's no justification and my recompense is deserved.

I shopped at Walmart.

Last week I bought a cooler for the trailer so I could build the lower cabinets around it and get the dimensions correct. I honestly don't know what came over me, but I went to the sporting goods section at Walmart and got one made by Igloo. After thinking about it and talking it over with Pam we agreed it was too big, held far more than we need, and encroached on more valuable cabinet space. So, as punishment for my sins, today I took it back for a refund.
I knew better than to be surprised, because I had it coming. Never mind that it's Walmart.
Somebody had stuck a UPC symbol from another product on the cooler, so it didn't match my receipt, so she didn't believe I was bringing back what I'd purchased.
Uhm...my receipt says "cooler," this here's a cooler, and that UPC isn't for a cooler. Does it suggest there might be a problem somewhere else when you pull a UPC sticker off a product that doesn't match that product?
I went back to the far corner of the store and brought up another, identical cooler so she could scan that UPC and see that it matched what was on my receipt.
Thirty minutes to return a stinking cooler!
Walmart carries smaller coolers that would fit the space better, but NO WAY am I getting it there. I've learned my lesson and will return to the straight and narrow.

So far this is the oldest I've ever been.

2012-02-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah.

The people are the best part, but getting paid to study the Bible is pretty cool, too.
There's always more to see. This morning it was Paul's shifting use of sarx and pneuma in Romans 7-8.
What did they do before 4-color pens?

Anyone who makes their living in large part by public speaking will, sooner or later, step in it. Romney did today with his statement about poor people (accurate but clumsy) and Gingrich jumped all over the faux pax.
"Hello pot, this is kettle."

I haven't worn a watch for several years, relying on my cell phone for the time of day. But Jim sent me this video of a watch he's going to get and I don't think I've ever seen a more enticing timepiece. Very cool!
Parnis Mechanical Watch
I think the video is great, too.

Last night we watched a replay of an older (British) Top Gear episode in which Jeremy Clarkson reviewed the Chrysler Crossfire. He didn't like it. He said he struggled to come up with just what it was the sloping rear end of the car brought to mind, and then it struck him.
The way a dog rounds his rear end when taking a poop.
Saw a Crossfire in the Office Depot parking lot this afternoon and all I could think of...
Then I came home and took Jack for his late afternoon walk.
He's right.

We're now half way through the week and Pat hasn't called about painting the car. It's not going to happen, is it.

My older brother (who turns even older this Friday) sent me
this video
to use some night when I didn't have much to post.
I have stuff in my head but for no particular reason I am extremely sleepy tonight. If I try to write anything more than this I'm likely to say something about poor people or establishing colonies on the moon.

The only person getting his work done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe.

2012-01-31T16:17:00.000-08:00

I read an article this morning about an Orthodox Jewish woman who began a crisis pregnancy center for other Jewish women. It's called In Shifra's Arms, after one of the two Egyptian midwives the Bible names who did not follow Pharaoh's orders to kill newborn Jewish boys. Erica Pelman wanted to encourage Jewish women to consider alternatives to abortion but didn't want to work within Christian organization.

The article (World Magazine) discussed some of the views within the Jewish community toward abortion. Very interesting.
Reading that article also made me wonder if everyone opposed to abortion is, for lack of a better term, religious. Ms. Pelman views all human life as inherently sacred, having surpassing value whether it's in utero or post birth. If someone denies the existence of a deity, a Creator, if only natural processes are responsible for everything, a human being at any stage of existence can be nothing more than a life form. OK, the highest, most evolved life form at this point, but not different in essence from other life forms. How, then, could one make an argument for the protection of an unborn child? It seems that in that context any case for or against abortion could only be made on the basis of pragmatism, the greater good in a particular situation. And greater good is tough to argue in defense of the unborn.

You can see where this leads if I'm correct that there's no logical argument for the sanctity of the unborn outside of a theistic system. What changes during the transition from pre- to post-birth that adds sanctity to human life and serves as the presupposition for all manner of laws? If pragmatism justifies the abortion of an unborn [your preferred term here] with significant handicaps what changes a month later when the child draws breath?
Which, of course isn't exactly a new thought, it just struck me particularly as I read this article about an Orthodox Jew who started a crisis pregnancy organization for other Jewish women. I couldn't help but wonder if there are any atheists or agnostics opposed to abortion, and if so, on what basis.

Imago Dei

In an interesting related story just out today, Susan B. Komen for the Cure, the large non-profit dedicated to preventing and curing breast cancer is severing its affiliation with Planned Parenthood and ending its grants to that organization, which totalled $680,000 last year.

I spent the morning at the hospital waiting with Mike while his wife had surgery. It strikes me as especially insensitive for a hospital to put a young woman whose hopes for bearing children have just been ended in the maternity unit for her post-op. It's done (too frequently) for the convenience of the Ob-Gyn who goes to one unit/floor to make his rounds. Wrong priorities.

The Case-Shiller Index tracks home prices in major cities around the country. Today's edition reports that those prices dropped in 19 of the country's largest cities from October to November of last year, the latest period for which stats are available. Phoenix was the lone exception, actually showing a slight increase in home prices.
In the financial world I think this is what they call a "dead cat bounce."

The drive across town to the hospital in Scottsdale had me on the road in the middle of the morning rush hour, which gave me plenty of time to listen to the news on NPR. Traffic flowed smoothly on the way home at noon but it's still a 45-minute drive. On both drives different programs did a story about a drug called Ketamine that, on the street is knows as "Special K" for its unique hallucinogenic properties. But they've just recently discovered the drug also brings almost immediate improvement for patients with significant to severe depression. And whereas its hallucinogenic effects last for only an hour or so, the therapeutic effects for the clinically depressed last for days, even a week.

The story on the drive home included interviews with dr.'s who explained how it works in the brain, and I didn't understand. They also said there are related drugs that seem to have the same effect without some of the side effects of Ketamine (the hallucinations the partiers are after). But the segment I enjoyed most was the interviews with people whose lives had been turned around because of the drug.

I'm glad that - within my lifetime - medical science has advanced to the point where brain chemistry is understood at least to the extent that the clinically depressed get this kind of good news. And that society has matured to the point where we accept clinical depression as a medical condition and not a personal failure of some kind.
There is good stuff going on out there.

"Life's a tough proposition, and the first hundred years are the hardest." - Wilson Mizner

2012-01-30T18:37:00.000-08:00

My brain didn't think about anything significant all day. OK, most of it.
Working with my hands is therapy and I spent almost all day on the shrink's couch. Except for the cabinet doors the front end of the trailer is done. The over-foot cabinets are designed and the key pieces stained. They'll get three coats of varnish in between Tuesday activities. I might even get the face frame made. The cabin interior is almost done.

I had lunch with two former students who are also now colleagues. Good to talk shop.
And I didn't buy a very nice '63 Nova in Bristol, PA with 43,000 original miles. Could have. Didn't. Right deal, wrong time.

My favorite line about the Republican candidates had to do with Newt's handling of his rather complex marital history.
"He has two daughters from his first wife explaining why it isn't really a problem that he cheated on his second wife with the woman who is now his third wife."
Pretty much sums it up.

When I saw him at the car auction 10 days ago Pat told me he'd be painting my car this week. We'd also agreed he'd call me before he paints so I can be there to watch the process.
One down, four to go.

I'm so old I remember when Super Bowl commercials actually aired for the first time during the Super Bowl.

And because I intentionally kept my mind busy with cutting, sanding, staining, gluing, and nailing (mental health required it) I had no even insignificant thoughts. Listened to R&R while I worked instead of NPR, and aside from lunch and figuring out that car business my brain was powered down. Tomorrow will be different, but that's OK. It promises to present opportunities for being a shepherd to the sheep, and that's very, very good.
The people are the best part.

Never weed whack poison ivy in the nude.

2012-01-28T17:45:00.000-08:00

I was wide awake at 12:30 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep, so I got all my Saturday church tasks done while watching the women's final of the Australian Open. I wanted Maria Sharapova to win but she got clobbered.
By 9 a.m. I was ready for a nap.
As I write this I'm near punch-drunk, so do't expect coherent thoughts.

I have to make the face frame for the front cabinets and the two doors, but that shouldn't take long. Once they're installed the front end of the trailer will be complete. Today I got the shelves, backing, and electrical at that end done. Then I'll move to the back - the over-foot cabinets and the galley. It's coming together.

I got the trailer itself from Harbor Freight. Made in China, it exemplifies all we've come to expect in quality manufacturing from that source. At least one of every ten bolts was so far out of tolerance that the socket had to be pounded on with a hammer, and I had to redo the wiring to get the lights to work. I will replace the wheel bearings before we go anywhere, but I'm also concerned about those 12" wheels. They will be spinning at a gazillion rpm going down the freeway across the AZ desert. I found a supplier for wheels that will fit this lug pattern and they carry them in 1" increments all the way up to 16". I want to go as big as I can and still clear the fenders, but I don't want them so big the aesthetics are all wrong.
How do I know??
I'll call them Monday and see what they recommend.

I've been learning about early-60's Ford Falcons and Chevy Novas the last couple of weeks. The internet is a great source of information, but I also have friends with expertise in things automotive. Today I talked to Wayne, back in Michigan. He rebuilds engines and gave me extremely helpful info.
Nova it is!

Remember the terrible house fire in New England on Christmas Eve that killed three children and their grandparents. Only the mom and her boyfriend survived. This last week she attempted suicide.
And so the question, "How do you deal with grief and loss that great?" is, in this case, answered with, "you don't."
Yes, I know suicide is wrong, but sometimes it's understandable.

I'm watching the Mecum auto auction live from Florida. A guy is bidding on a 1969 Dodge Coronet and the price is still climbing at $60,000. One of the bidder's assistants is working with a guy who keeps looking over at his wife who keeps shaking her head "no!"
And he keeps bidding.
She does NOT look happy at the way this is going. Sure hope he likes that car because he may have plenty of time to spend with it.

I'm going to go through tomorrow's songs one more time, have another cup of coffee and do my best to stay awake until Pam gets home from work. It will be a quick "how was your day?" and then BED.

We have to belive in free will. We have no choice.

2012-01-27T17:09:00.000-08:00

No fear.

I got a call this afternoon from the school district asking if we're moving to the new elementary school this week or would we still be at Litchfield Elementary. Uhm...that makes me nervous. We have exchanged a half dozen emails over the last few weeks and I've had conversations with the custodial staff at both schools, all about the move this week.

I couldn't finish today's workout, which bugs me because it's one I've completed before. Must be I need more dessert in my diet.

How did I miss this?
I learned today about "aspirational shopping." We do two kinds of shopping - buying things we need and things we don't. Many of the things in that latter category reflect what we wish we were, what we aspire to be. Someone buys a particular watch because of the statement it makes, and a new hire at Wall Street firm buys a BMW because they aspire to look the part and fit in. The GAP exists for aspirational adolescents and their 20-something successors.

I heard the term "aspirational shopping" for the first time this morning in the context of an analysis of JC Penny's new marketing strategy. They want to increase their appeal to aspirational shoppers instead of falling into the Walmart niche where people shop primarily for what they need. (I don't think the words Walmart and aspirational have ever been linked except in contrast.) Then, to learn more, I read an article that said aspirational shopping dropped way off during the worst of this recession and its resurgence is one sign we're moving into a recovery.

That made me wonder if I do aspirational shopping. Do I buy things because I think they reflect what I wish I was, what I aspire to be?
"Because these make me look cool."
"Someone who is _____ (insert positive trait) would own this."
"People will think I'm _______ (insert positive trait) when they see me with this."

Is aspirational shopping bad? By bad I mean contrary to biblical values and standards?
Note: not all non-essential purchases are aspirational. That term defines those items that appeal to me because they reflect what I wish to be - but am not. Or at least don't think I am.

Frankly, I'm too busy and have too many mental irons in the fire to chew this one over like it deserves, especially at the end of a week when my head is increasingly focused on Sunday morning responsibilities. But my gut tells me God would rather I passed on aspirational shopping. It implies a discontent with who I am - my station in life or some other transient aspect of my condition. After talking about the vicissitudes of his life, a life that had included jail, beatings and disease, Paul says, "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation" (Phil. 4:12). I don't see Paul doing a lot of aspirational shopping. Again, I'm not saying any non-essential purchases are inappropriate, but buying things that reflect what I wish I was but am not - doesn't feel right.

President Obama gave a speech at the U. of Mich. today in which he called on colleges to hold down tuition or face a reduction in federal funds. But the administration insists he hasn't been reading my blog.

I guess surrealism's not your cup of tuna.

2012-01-26T18:39:00.000-08:00

Staying with a theme, THIS video reminds me what we left behind for today's 74 degree temps.

My brain is sweating. I have too many mental irons in the fire and my neurons are overloaded.
I normally wake up at Oh-Dark-Stupid and often have trouble getting back to sleep. It's just not usually at 12:30 a.m., but that's what happened this morning. Most nights my eyes come open, my brain begins to whirl and staying in bed is pointless. I come out to my chair, read the news and sports on the internet and typically doze off. This morning I tried but couldn't shut off the mental motor so I got out my books and worked on Sunday's stuff. A couple hours later I watched a men's semifinal tennis match from the Australian Open live, a match that ended shortly after Pam got up.

When I taught homiletics we'd talk about the different types of sermons - hortatory, didactic, life situation... Sunday's is E - All of the Above. Challenging text both critically and homiletically.

I'm at the cabinet building stage of the camper project and because of its unique shape I have lots of odd angles to cut and a precise order for the steps. So I also spent time studying the construction instructions.

My wife is a saint who has spent the last 40+ years hanging on to the back of the tiger. I remember when I took her over to look at our first (!) 100-year old house that was, to put it mildly, in considerable disrepair. Her reaction? "This house feels like a home."
Five years later, just after finishing a total rehab, I took her to look at another one, three times the size and perhaps in even worse shape.
"What a great house!"
I have a bee in my bonnet. I'm trying to do my due diligence, with all kinds of research and talking to people all over the country, but true to form Pam is game for whatever I decide.
I married up.
And I probably won't pull the trigger. Push comes to shove I'm naturally disinclined to spend money in any amount.
Note my last name.

J.C. Penny has a new CEO, Ron Johnson who headed up Apple's marketing department. They're rolling out a new marketing strategy that will take effect Feb. 1. It eliminates weekly sales and restructures stores into a series of mini-shops. Should be interesting to see if it gets them back into the top tier of retailers.
Look for a big ad buy as the make the shift.

I'm dozing off. I'll heat up a cup of coffee and do my best to stay awake until Pam gets home. Won't last much longer than that.

"On my income tax 1040 it says 'Check this box if you are blind.' I wanted to put a check mark about three inches away." - Tom Lehrer

2012-01-25T15:56:00.000-08:00

Could you?

Let the games begin.
I got my first political call this morning. My cell phone rang and the female computer voice on the other end said she was calling on behalf of some survey about political views in America.
Arizona's Republican primary is next month.
I hung up.

For reasons I can't explain I enjoy exercise and physical fitness. As someone who couldn't (can't) throw a ball like a girl or hit it out of the infield I like running, riding and gym workouts. It started in my late 20's when a couple of guys at church invited me to go running with them. I got hooked, and a few years later was doing marathons and centuries. Maybe my brain is especially sensitive to endorphines. I also admit to being driven by a really stupid sense of vindication and empowerment after having been the object of bullying through much of my childhood.

Josh and Aubri are active at the CrossFit gym near them. They teach the CrossFit Kids classes there and have both been in CrossFit competitions. If you don't know about CrossFit go to YouTube and type it into the search bar.
Animals.
And Josh looks like it. I lay in bed at night wondering if he's adopted. Arms like telephone poles.

Because the CrossFit system has real merit compared to the typical, "go to the gym and lift bigger weights" approach I asked him to put together a "CrossFit Old Man" schedule that I could use at our community fitness center. He prepared workouts that I put on a dozen 3x5 cards. M, W, F, I go down to the fitness center and do whatever is on the next card from the deck. On the other days I usually ride my bike, although lately I've tried to get back into running some.

The basis of CrossFit is whole body movement, the kind of real life exercise that used to characterize preindustrial society. So a typical workout rarely involves any weights from that part of the fitness center. Instead I do push-ups, pull ups, burpees (pure torture), running, riding (exercise bike), situps, and the like, going rapidly from one element to the next, stressing intensity as much as anything. If I were at a real CrossFit gym and not an old man I'd also be doing things like climbing a rope, carrying heavy objects for a specified distance, and other masochistic things that are whole body activities. That's why a lot of cops and firefighters are doing CrossFit.

Over the last six months that I've been doing a (very) modified CrossFit system I've noticed a change, both in my body's size and shape and in my general fitness. I can do things on those 3x5's I couldn't when I started. Monday was a workout that included 15 burpees with pretty intense cycling and running on either side, and then that rotation two more times. Forty five burpees by the time I was done. When I began CrossFit Lite I got exhausted from 5 burpees.

But I have a question.
I have better physical conditioning than I did six months ago. But it came incrementally so I can't remember...
Did a 50 lb. bag of cement feel heavier then than it does now? Or does 50 lbs. always feel like 50 lbs.? Does it feel lighter to Josh than it does to me? (He's competed in regional CrossFit events and been on ESPN2. I haven't.)
At some point, maybe when I'm 70 or 80, I won't be able to lift a 50lb. bag of cement. Nor will I want to. But if someone is strong enough to pick it up is it just a matter of how easily, or how many times they can hoist it, or does it feel lighter to them?

Does this make any sense?

'cause I've been working in our passage for Sunday - the second half of Romans 7. There are some potent exegetical issues that I've been reading up on, but no matter how those are resolved, the bottom line is directly related to me and that bag of cement.
Does the battle against sin in the Christ-follower's life get easier as they mature spiritually or does it always feel like a 50 lb. bag? There will come a time when I'm 70 or 80 and unable to sin - at least in the ways of my youth - nor will I have the desire to. But does the spiritual strength that comes with maturity in the faith make the battle against temptation and sin easier? Or does it feel just the same, just as intense, no matter the strength.

Talk among yourselves.

Of course I don't look busy... I did it right the first time.

2012-01-24T19:15:00.000-08:00

If we read about a country where a member of an ethnic minority not only can't vote, they aren't allowed to hold a job, get a driver's license or get health insurance, all only because of their ethnicity, we'd think it was a third world dictatorship.
Israel.
Those prohibitions apply to anyone of Arab descent, even the large number who are married to Israeli citizens. And those laws were just upheld by their Supreme Court.

Turns out the grout on the kitchen floor really is white. But even with the oxygen bleach I wore out two brushes.

Long day. For no particular reason I was wide awake at 2 a.m. and by 3 a.m. decided my brain wasn't going to shut back down. Might as well get some work done, so I spent the next few hours doing all the tasks for Sunday's worship service - picking songs, creating the lyric sheet, and putting together the slide presentation. As soon as Pam was out the door for work at 6:30 I went to work on the floors. At lunch I drove to Scottsdale to visit Carl, then to Sun City West to see Shirley H. who's in the hospital. Reid was there, too, and we had a nice visit.

One of the littlest kids at Pathway has a tentative diagnosis of Juvenile Arthritis. It's especially sad when a child gets sick, and never more so that when it's a chronic condition.

Some misc. observations to wrap it up and put it to bed:

I wish we'd never called them Junior Colleges. I don't know why so many students go straight to the University and pay WAY too much so professors can write and do research instead of teach. They could live at home, attend their Community College, get the same quality education for the first two years' of general ed courses, and then transfer to the U. for their career specific courses. They'd save a bundle!

I wonder if students and parents realize how much money colleges and universities make on room and board. Dorms are considered "free" buildings; the administration figures they don't cost anything to build because the students who live there pay the mortgage. Once the dorm is paid for it's all gravy. Meal plans are trickier, but the with the advent of private food service companies the college or university turns a profit there, too. And that's after they've paid the provider.

Textbooks are the biggest rip-off on campus. The publishers put out a new edition every year or two just so they can make more money. They send a free copy of that new edition to the prof teaching the course it fits, hoping he'll choose it as a required text. On the syllabus the prof has to list the edition of the book (it's the standard bibliographic format), thus discouraging students from buying used copies of older editions. The publisher has only made very minor changes, sometimes little more than page numbers. But when the prof assigns "pages 56-93" for next Tuesday's class and quiz, they need the new (and higher priced) edition to be prepared.
Once the book is on the syllabus as a required text the publisher has the market cornered, and thus textbooks are more expensive than any other type of book they put out. I saw very ordinary books in terms of their content and format sold for $70 and higher just because they were textbooks. And that was 10 years ago.
The college bookstore adds their markup, too. I once protested that an atlas I had on my syllabus for a freshmen course was too expensive and that if we were going to require it we should make it available to the students at the lowest possible price. The business manager told me that they could forego the markup for textbooks but they'd have to add the same amount somewhere else - tuition, meal plan, etc.
The bottom line is determinative.

Too many colleges add degree programs because they'll increase FTE. One more degree in the product line will appeal to a few more consumers (aka students), and that's good for the bottom line. They have to get the accrediting agency to approve the new degree and that requires some hoops you might not suspect. For example, the agency says that the college needs X number of books specific to that degree in the library to support student research and paper writing. Depending on the specific degree, the agency may require the college purchase the appropriate equipment and provide dedicated classroom space, or even hire additional faculty. With each of those requirements the margin at the bottom line gets narrower, so the efforts at recruiting students for the program get more vigorous. It will all work out if the new degree meets a need and does so effectively. If there's no need in the market place for plaid widget makers, or if the college can't compete with other institutions training plaid widget makers they have to eat their initial investment (including recruiting costs) or ramp up their sales pitch.
Check post-graduation job placement stats! The placement office should be as effective as the recruiting office.

OK, now I'm going to bed. 2:00 a.m. comes quickly.

"The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously." - Henry Kissinger

2012-01-23T19:04:00.000-08:00

What can I say?

Also in the "nothing to say" dept., watch

this.

Spent the better part of the day working on the trailer. Coming together nicely. When I initially looked at this guy's instructions and read the first dozen or so pages (153 total) they looked exceedingly obtuse. They're written in narrative with pictures and very few diagrams.

"Next take one of the scabs you cut and place it along the side wall, resting on the spacer at exactly 18" from the floor and ...."

But I've discovered that in the actual construction each step makes sense based on what preceded it. Just trust the guy and do what he's written in order, and what looked totally confusing when you read ahead will suddenly make perfect sense.

By George, I think there's a sermon illustration in there someplace!

One step at a time. Don't sweat what's coming; it'll work when you get there.

Is this not the perfect thing to pull a throw-back teardrop? It's on my watch list.

The people are the best part.

(cont'd from previous posts)

Let's set aside the institution for now and chat for a bit about the student.

Why go to college? Lots of possible reasons, including but not limited to the following:

Get out from under clueless and confining parents, hang with other kids, and do it all on my folks' tab.
Get a degree, any degree, which everyone says is essential to making a lot of money. OK, at least more money than can be made w/o the degree.
Do what my parents expect of me.
Get the specific degree required to enter my chosen field.
Stay out of the Vietnam war (no longer relevant but full disclosure req'd I include it).
Find a really handsome and multi-talented husband who will be everything you ever dreamed of in a man (hey, it worked for Pam).
Get an education (not the same as any of the above and the rarest of all motivations).

If the motivation is #1 or 3 value isn't so important. The college or university may be ripping you off but it's not about the money. Any price is worth paying, especially if your parents are paying for it.

If it's #6, well, you can't put a price tag on that outcome, so who cares what it costs??

It seems the rest of those seven, students and parents, would want the best value for their tuition dollars. And there will be lots of those dollars, most probably lasting well past graduation - should that ever happen - in the form of student loans.

That's why students and parents should know what goes on behind the curtain, understand that no matter what the institutions say, things like FTE and keeping the accrediting agency happy are critical to the bottom line, and the bottom line is determinative. There are undoubtedly exceptions, but I'm fairly sure the vast majority of higher ed institutions care about education and serving their students. However, it would be naive at best, yea, foolish, to think all their motivations and everything they do is altruistic. It is, for them, a matter of balancing what they want to do and what they must do.

OK, maybe I'm being a little naive with that one. Methinks the bigger the institution the less likely they are to care about the student and the more likely they are to focus on the bottom line. Economies of scale, mega-corporations, and the like. In the undergrad program at a major university it would probably be tough to find a faculty member who knows any student by name. But even at very small colleges a discerning student and his/her parents should ask pointed questions - of the institution and themselves.

Due diligence.

(to be cont'd)

"A happy childhood is poor preparation for human contacts." - Colette

2012-01-21T18:35:00.000-08:00

I'm watching Barrett-Jackson live on TV, streaming Russo-Steele live on my computer and writing a blog post. Sometimes ADD is a very good thing.
One of Pat's cars, a '57 BelAir convertible, white over white, went for $78k. I'm pretty sure that's more than they expected.

Busy day! I was up and working by 4 a.m. on a variety of little tasks for church tomorrow and doing laundry. Had four loads done by Car Talk (10 a.m.) and went out to the garage to listen while I worked on the trailer. Got the front shelf installed and the first of the ceiling supports in place.

After lunch I drove in to pick up Pam's "new" Craig's List bicycle from the shop where it got a tune up and replacement for a broken shifter. On the way home I stopped at Safeway and got some Biz powdered bleach. The dining area, kitchen, hallway and bathrooms of our house are tiled with white grout. Some of it is VERY dirty. I did a bunch of research and learned the key is an extra oxygen molecule.
This is a case of knowing more than I understand, but some - not all - powdered bleaches contain sodium carbonate and/or sodium percolate, each of which carry that extra oxygen molecule. No chlorine! Make a solution, put it on the grout and let it sit for 15-30 minutes and then scrub lightly with a stiff bristle brush. Lightly is all it takes! Looks brand new. From then on add a little to the mop water and it will stay that way.
Oh, and don't buy cheap powdered bleach. The two key compounds in those low-priced products comes from China and is not up to par. In other words, don't buy it from Walmart.

The internet is a wonderful thing indeed. I've also been learning all about Ford straight-six engines and the improvements they made during the early 60's.

Look back at Thursday night's auction pics. That red DeSoto prototype sold for $1.3 million. Glad I passed on it.

Tomorrow's going to be challenging. Matt is out of town which means I will also be leading the music. My brain will be fried by the time I get home, so if you don't hear from me tomorrow night just figure I'm catatonic.

(cont'd from earlier posts)
Attending faculty meetings involved learning the terminology unique to higher education. One key term I learned early on is FTE - Full Time Equivalent.

All colleges & universities are businesses in the sense that the bottom line is powerful and ultimately determinative. Even the state school can only drink so much from the well of public funding before that well runs dry. The for-profit institution needs black ink and the non-profit needs at least a zero, and ongoing deficits will ultimately shut them all down.

A portion of an institution's income - the percentage can vary significantly - comes from student fees. Tuition, room & board, bookstore markups and other fees are, even at well-endowed schools, a critical part of the balance sheet. With regard to the tuition portion of student fees, the term FTE represents the amount of tuition that a full-time student pays. Each school defines "full time" for themselves but it's usually in the neighborhood of 12-14 credit hours per semester. To illustrate with the ridiculous, if the school charges $200 per credit hour and a fulltime student takes 14 hours, that student pays $2,800 in tuition - and represents one FTE. Two students taking 7 hours each represent one FTE. And so on. A school takes the total number of credit hours being taken by all students, full and part time, divides it by the number that is a full time load, and arrives at their FTE number.

Accordingly, schools track their FTE very closely. So does their accrediting agency! For both it's a key indicator of financial viability.
At the first faculty meeting of the school year the administration announces the opening day FTE number. It will go up or down slightly as homesick freshmen leave or late enrollees arrive, but a big deal is made of that FTE number. If it's bigger than last year, good! If it's lower, expect belt tightening coming to a department near you.

During spring and summer the pressure is on the recruiting department to get commitments from High School seniors. They have a white board, a thermometer, a cardboard gauge or something that shows how many incoming freshmen have been accepted and plan to attend. The staff in the recruiting office makes phone calls, writes letters, shepherds applicants through all the form filing and eats cheap pizza all the while. OK, they don't do that at Stanford or Yale, but everywhere in between that's the way it works.

Once classes start the emphasis (pressure) shifts to the faculty and it changes from recruitment to retention. Faculty should do whatever it takes to ensure this semester's students return for next semester. We need to keep that FTE high. Because there are always students who begin attending mid-year the possibility exists that second semester FTE will be higher than first, but retention is the key!

I naively thought higher education was objective. I assumed I taught the material, graded the exams and assignments, and those that couldn't perform to standards washed out. Academic Darwinianism. Ooops. I failed to reckon with FTE.
I'm sure the margin is much thinner at a small college than a large university, just as it is in small businesses vis a' vis large corporations. But I'm guessing even at bigger schools the FTE dynamic is a key part of the faculty/admin. discussions.

Do parents and students understand FTE? Do they want strict and brutal academic darwinianism? Would they rather the student wash out or be carried to the next semester through all manner of special programs and enablements? I'm sure the answer varies from one family to the next. I just think they should all understand that higher education isn't so pure as to be only about educating students who can handle the work. To some extent it's about the income they bring to the institution and academic allowances are often made for the sake of the FTE - tutors, special study sessions, alternative exams, etc. I'm not saying it's wrong; that's not for me to judge. I just think the consumer should understand.
(to be cont'd)

My psychiatrist told me if the pills didn't cure my kleptomania I should try to get him a nice smart phone.

2012-01-20T19:40:00.000-08:00

I spent an hour or so writing a post that included pictures and a report of my time today at Russo-Steele. For some reason the post didn't work. It looks fine on my computer but I got a report it was all garbled. Messed up. So here's a partial re-write sans anything about the auction. No pics, no narrative. I put some of the photos on my Facebook page so if you're over there you can see them. The rest will wait until tomorrow night. Maybe the blogger software will like it more then.

In the "you can't make this stuff up" department...
Remember that they found somebody's severed head up by the Hollywood sign in L.A.? Later they found two hands and two feet.
A local headline here reads: "Severed head, hands and feet aren't connected to a torso discovered in Tucson."

And now, let's see if I can re-create the:

(cont'd from earlier posts)
Every benefit has associated costs, and accreditation is no exception. The most obvious are the fees charged by the accrediting agency. The initial application process involves writing and submitting volumes of reports and documentation on every aspect of the institution, requiring hundreds of hours of work. An inspection team of 3-5 then spends several days on site, with all costs born by the institution (travel, lodging, meals, etc.). It's not unusual for there to be follow-up reports required on specific areas of concern and another visit by the team. From the initial application to probationary accreditation can take about three years. Yeah, hundreds of hours.

This process is repeated every 2-3 years until the accrediting agency feels the institution is consistently meeting accrediting standards across the broad range of areas - procurement, faculty, facilities, budget, etc. - at which time the interval between visits is extended to five or more years.

But that's not the most significant cost.
It's entirely appropriate and reasonable for the agency to say, "If you want our imprimatur you will meet our standards in each area." In some areas that may mean significant changes to the status quo. For example, if the agency says, "Your library is inadequate for a college where students are expected to do research and writing in their field of study," the college has to decide if they're going to enhance, maybe enlarge their library to meet the agency's requirement or forego accreditation.
Hey, that's the way the world works.
And if they say, "Your course requirements for Degree X are not appropriate. You should require more courses in Division Y" a similar decision will have to be made.

That's why some very good colleges, both for-profit and non-profit, choose to do without accreditation. To put it bluntly, they don't want someone else telling them how to do their work - what their priorities should be, the size of their budget, the condition of their facilities, etc. It's the same dynamic at work when some private colleges decide to turn down any federal funds. It's NOT unreasonable for the govt. to say, "If we're going to give you money you have to meet these standards." The specific standards may be unreasonable, but nobody would argue the govt. should hand out money without some measure of accountability to established prerequisites.

So the benefits of accreditation must be weighed against the ceding of some independence and autonomy to the accrediting agency. That seems pretty self-evident but it's in the details that it can get tricky.

Going back to an earlier part of this discussion, all private colleges and universities must pay attention to their bottom line. Accreditation can help by saying to prospective students, "We're a legit institution as this accreditation indicates." But it also can raise costs by requiring them to do expensive things they would not otherwise do, like hire additional faculty, build additional facilities, and add programs. Hopefully these aren't too intrusive and the cost/benefit ratio works to the institution's clear advantage. But it doesn't always work out that way. At the very least, prospective students and their parents should understand the compromises an institution has made.
(to be cont'd)

Indecision is the key to flexibility.

2012-01-19T16:31:00.000-08:00

Spent four hours today walking the tents and pavilions of the Barrett-Jackson auto auction. What a zoo! Cars are like art, or music. What thrills one person leaves another wondering, "Why?" (cf. country western). I saw way too many modified mid-50's Chevys. Way too many souped-up Mustangs. Ignored hundreds of cars where the first word in the description was "Custom...." IMHO they've taken a piece of art and played the lemming. Throw a stupid-big high performance engine in the front, add billet, chromed everything, drop it to within a few inches of the pavement, set it on chrome dubs with low profile rubber, and give it a gaudy paint job. Yeah, I don't get it.
I can appreciate the well-done custom rod, the ground-up design that's a throw-back to the hot rods of the 60's.

I spotted a '62 Beetle and was looking it over very carefully to compare it with Ilsa. A couple of Kanucks started asking me questions and it turns out they bought it yesterday. I was showing them what was correct and some of the (minor) things that weren't. Next thing I know there's an old guy and his wife joining in. Turns out he owned the VW dealership in Traverse City, MI back in the 50's and 60's. His wife was from Grand Rapids! A real sweet guy, and we had a great conversation.
We went through the car together, pointing out details. I realized I've become something of a nerd when it comes to correctness for a '62 VW. Next thing I knew the seller showed up. He and I walked off together and I peppered him with questions. He bought it like this at B-J two years ago and brought it back to sell. He got $2k less than he expected and isn't thrilled with B-J.
Oh, and that old VW guy? He says mine will be worth every bit of the price Pat (body) and Steve (engine) have said.

I had several other good conversations. You can tell buyers and sellers by the badges hanging from their necks and I chatted up sellers I found standing by their vehicles IF they had a late-40's to late-50's sedan or truck. Learned some good stuff.

I love my job. I specifically love being the pastor to the great people of Pathway. There's just one problem:
They're KIDS.
The average age is somewhere in the mid-30's, and that's the adults. Add in the horde of energetic and adorable children and that average would drop to about 14. (We have close to 30 children, all under the age of nine.)
I think about my sermon all week long. After doing the book work I constantly mull what I want to say and how I want to say it. Very early this morning I realized the perfect song to illustrate the point of Romans 6:12ff is Dylan's "You Gotta Serve Somebody." But I certainly don't have time to play all 5+ minutes of that track. I could play just a minute or two IF they could fill in the rest.
They're too young to know the song. I'll bet many of them don't know who Bob Dylan is.
heavy sigh

Incidentally, after looking on iTunes I was surprised to see how many artists have covered that song, including Willie Nelson and Judy Collins. The only one that, IMO, really worked is Mavis Staples'. But she and Dylan have very similar styles - free, soulful, gutsy.
"Gotta Serve Somebody" does NOT work as bluegrass. Natalie Cole's cover is interesting because of her personal history.

(cont'd from previous posts)
I graduated from a small private non-profit college - Grace Bible College. I got my graduate degree from the seminary attached to a large private non-profit university - Talbot Seminary at BIOLA University. I spent 10 years teaching at my undergrad alma mater. As an aside, I felt absolutely best-suited for that job. I loved the classroom and the cafeteria, i.e. time with the students teaching or just being. Faculty meetings and admin. work? No, not so much. They were the necessary part of that job. I didn't teach, I am a teacher, and was totally in my element, whether it was a freshman class with 70 students or an upper division class with four.

Which is to say that while I have thoughts about public higher education (last night's post) I have a good deal of experience in private non-profit higher ed, from both sides of the lectern. Add up my years as a student and teacher in that environment - it accounts for almost a third of my life.

I think most parents, and certainly almost all entering freshmen, don't understand some of the key dynamics involved in private non-profit higher ed. How could they? I didn't until I sat in those interminable faculty and staff meetings. Some of it was, "Oh, of course" stuff and some was surprising, even disturbing. But it is. And understanding what's behind the curtain serves the consumer - the student and their parent.

Anybody can start up a college. There used to be a "_____ College of the Bible and Horsemanship" in Oregon. There are colleges operating out of church basements with the pastor and his wife as the faculty. My neighbor and I could start a college, "The College of Senior Sunbelt Living," although I don't consider myself qualified to teach.
Which is why any serious college seeks accreditation with an accrediting agency. It's a stamp of approval that says, "We've looked these guys over pretty thoroughly and they're the real [educational] deal. Similar to the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Of course my neighbor and I can also start up an accrediting agency, so reputable colleges seek accreditation from reputable agencies. In some cases these agencies serve a particular specialty - schools that focus on a particular vocation. The American Association of Bible Colleges accredits Bible colleges that meet their criteria. I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are focused accrediting agencies for schools of cosmetology and diesel mechanics. Any profession that requires very specialized skills and a higher education could well have an accrediting agency dedicated to serving those colleges.

At the top of the accrediting ladder are the "regional accrediting agencies." I don't know the history, but multi-state regions of the country have very large, sophisticated agencies that accredit all sizes and manner of institutions. The North Central Accrediting Agency accredits the state universities in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and... as well as very small colleges like my alma mater and former employer. Those regional agencies are considered the gold standard of accreditation. If you meet their criteria and earn their stamp of approval you runnin' with the big dogs.

This is good for the student (and their bill-paying parents) for several reasons. It means the faculty have all met standards of qualification, the finances of the institution are sound, they have the necessary support services like an adequate library, livable dorms, the food is edible (for resident schools), the administrators know what they're doing, etc. It also means that if a student decides to transfer, the receiving school has some sense of the quality of the course work that was done at the previous school. A reputable accrediting agency is vouching for it. Note: the receiving school can still reject that course work, but it increases likelihood that it will transfer. Same is true if a student goes on for grad work; the grad school knows the baccalaureate degree is legit.

Some schools will seek both kinds of accreditation. When I was teaching, GBC had both AABC accreditation to validate their credibility as a Bible college and regional accreditation to validate their legitimacy as a top drawer secondary institution.

Other colleges will intentionally decline to seek accreditation, not because they're not legit in every respect - they would probably earn it if they sought it - but because there are downsides to accreditation, both for the institution and the students who attend.
(to be cont'd)

Cogito ergo sumo: I think therefore I am a huge fat wrestler.

2012-01-18T15:29:00.000-08:00

I'm jealous of my younger brother who lives in Seattle and can visit our folks on a regular basis. I talked to them a couple of days ago and discussed my next trip to see them... in May. My dad and I are going to drive up to a dealership I discovered just north of them that sells classic cars. But mostly we'll just sit and visit.
I really miss my parents. The older I get the more I realize how fortunate I am for the love and lessons they've given me.

That police activity I mentioned in last night's post lasted for another two hours. The young gunman was never located and they think he may have stolen one of the victim's trucks to get away. An odd twist to the story: there was a 15 minute delay in calling the cops because adjacent shop owners heard the shots and locked their doors out of fear. They wouldn't let the lone survivor in for fear he was the bad guy.

I watched some of the Barrett-Jackson auction on TV last night before Pam got home. It's being broadcast live on SPEED TV. The auction has always started on Thursday and run through Sunday, but this year they've moved the start back to Tuesday night to get more cars in. More cars = more $$$ for B-J because they get 10% on top of the sale amount, paid by the buyer, plus seller's fees. It also means additional TV revenue for them. But there's a downside; more repeat sellers are leaving B-J and going to Russo-Steele, the second biggest of the six auctions here this week, because of the poor treatment from B-J. Both Pat (my painter) and a neighbor up the street who sells one car each year have moved to R-S this time rather than deal with B-J. Bigger isn't necessarily better.

When I'm President of the World I will issue an executive order requiring all clothes dryers to have an off switch and/or volume control knob for that BUZZ! that goes off twice, just before and then at the end of the cycle. No wonder so many people die of heart attacks.
My second official act will be to make plastic kitchen storage containers and their lids the coin of the realm. Overnight we will have Romney-esque wealth.

Police report that a severed human head has been found in a bag near the Hollywood sign. "Police are considering the case a possible homicide."
Ya think??
(No. The man went out for a walk and lost his head.)

(cont'd from previous posts)
University students here and elsewhere have demonstrated recently over rising tuition costs. State schools, which used to be the most economical way to get a college degree, are facing huge budget shortfalls, and increasing student fees is one of the few ways they have to address the problem. State legislatures aren't in a position to allocate more funds given the current state of the economy. I admit to getting irritated with 19-year olds who insist to the TV reporter that it's unfair for their costs to go up, even to the point that some of them can't afford to go to school this semester. I wonder what they'd say to the unemployed parent with three young mouths to feed.

But I also wonder if people understand the way large universities work. Or don't work.
The North Carolina University System recently reported to a request from the state legislature's financial division that the average professor's teaching load within the entire UNC system was...
wait for it...
3.37 courses per semester.
As baffling as that figure is, it gets worse. The John Locke Organization, a NC non-profit organization funded by a bequest from the late Mr. Locke, who was a UNC chancellor, saw that figure and thought it was fishy. Too high. So they did their own study and, based on figures published by UNC, concluded that the average is actually 2.03 classes per semester.

That number includes the courses listed as being taught by Professor A but actually taught in the classroom by a graduate assistant. It also includes courses that are the supervision of a doctoral candidate, a "course" that typically involves meeting with that student once per week or less. And no tenured professor does his own grading of papers, assignments or exams. That's what graduate assistants are for.

These tenured professors are at the top of the food chain getting paid the most money. And at state schools that's a handsome sum. Get a full professorship at a state school and your ticket is punched.

I suspect most people think a professor's job is to teach. Not at a state school. "Publish or perish" is the rule. Universities want reputations, reputations are earned in large part by the published works of their faculty, and student education is ancillary. In order to do research and write a professor's teaching load has to be kept ridiculously light, so adjunct professors and graduate assistants are paid to do the actual teaching.

Want to dramatically lower the cost of an undergraduate education at a state university? Get tenured profs out of their offices and into the classroom. Require a reasonable course load (the typical standard is 12-14 credit hours per semester). Reform the mission and objectives of state schools, returning it to education. Make research and publishing ancillary.
Legislatures should demand it and the President should understand it.
Or don't be surprised when students abandon state universities and look for other options.
(to be cont'd)

If it weren't for sports, many kids wouldn't know what a millionaire looked like.

2012-01-17T15:46:00.000-08:00

Donkey Cart?

I drove up to the outlet mall this afternoon to get athletic/running shoes to replace the worn out and filthy pair I've kept wearing too long. Interesting trip.

I met two guys from Canada ("eh?") who are into hot rods. They had the shirts. I chatted them up because that's a great way to learn, and learn I did. A company in Texas, Vintage Air, sells air conditioning kits that can be put in any car with an engine big enough to drive the compressor and an engine compartment big enough to hold the equipment and permit sufficient air flow. Good news!

I ended up buying a pair of Nike running shoes at their discount store. Some of the shoe box logos have a "+" sign inside the swoosh. I asked an employee what that means. Turns out those shoes are equipped with a sensor that will sync with an iPhone or similar device, or with a device worn on the wrist like a watch. It will give feedback on your distance and calories burned based on the data it records as you run. Not coincidentally they sell those wrist devices. She was wearing one, but based on her size and shape I'm pretty sure it was a sales tactic not a lifestyle behavior.

I'm old school. I don't need a chip in my shoe to tell me if I'm getting exercise or if I'm putting out an appropriate effort.
Back in the day it went like this: if you're running/riding/climbing/etc. hard enough that carrying on a conversation would be difficult or impossible you're getting vigorous aerobic exercise. If you could easily converse with someone alongside you you're still burning calories, just don't call it strenuous. Mix 'em up, do some of both, and you'll be in good shape.

So I found a pair of discontinued Nike's for a cheap price that have buried somewhere inside them a chip I don't need and will never use. Oh well. They'll still work for exercising.
Maybe I should get a shirt that says, "I have a chip in my shoes." Would that tell people I'm cool?

Spent most of the day working on my stuff for Sunday so I can go to Barrett-Jackson and Russo-Steele Thursday and Friday, respectively. Made good progress.

I had to take a detour on my way up to the outlet mall. The intersection in front of the WalMart shopping center a mile from our house was barricaded. Turns out a gunman killed two people and wounded a third in a smoke shop in that center and they've got the whole area cordoned off while they look for him. They think he's in one of the stores. A medivac helicopter is still hovering overhead two hours later.

(cont'd from last night's post)
Because the bottom line is powerful and determinative for both non-profit organizations and for-profit businesses (notice the change in nouns, also reflected in their different domain name extensions) both pay a lot of attention to that number. The business needs it to be black so that, after paying salaries and expenses the owner(s) or stock holders get the income they expect. The organization needs it to be at least a zero so they can, after paying all salaries and expenses, continue to do their work.

Some (for-profit) businesses struggle along, rising and falling relative to the profit line. Unless they're too big to fail, an extended period of time in the red will do them in. We expect businesses to make money.
We don't expect organizations to make money. We tend to assume any black ink will be turned back into their mission, building up and improving their efforts. Of course it doesn't work like that, as a look at the mansions and vehicle fleets of too many mega-pastors demonstrates. Just like businesses fall persistently into the red, some organizations accumulate a lot of black. The distinctions between the two can get very blurry.

Question: are colleges and universities businesses or organizations?
Answer: yes.
This country has always had a number of private colleges and universities. Lately a growing number of them are businesses (for-profit). Stanford University is a private, non-profit institution. There is no owner's group taking any black ink for themselves. Phoenix University is a business, a for-profit corporation that has made its owners a lot of money. Arizona State University is a public institution, run by the state. In that regard it's unlike Stanford. But it doesn't exist to make a profit (good thing!) so it's not like Phoenix University, either. In terms of the bottom line that means Phoenix Univ. needs black ink or it will eventually fold. Stanford needs a zero or it will eventually fold. (Both could survive for a while by cutting expenses and raising fees, but red ink can't be sustained indefinitely.) ASU needs a zero or it will - after cutting expenses and raising fees - get more money from the state budget. State universities are a lot like General Motors, too big to fail. Neither fish nor fowl, they are assumed to be essential to society and are therefore allowed to drink at the watering trough of public funding without end.
Note: this does not bode will for financial responsibility and oversight.

So in higher education there's private for-profit and private not-for-profit schools, and public schools.
(to be cont'd)

I always try to go the extra mile at work, but my boss always finds me and brings me back.

2012-01-16T17:44:00.000-08:00

I made visible progress on the trailer today. The sides and front bulkhead are now attached to the trailer base. I was pleased during the dry-fit stage to see that everything fits together tightly and is square. I tried to be pretty careful when cutting and sanding and it seems to have paid off. From here on out it begins to look like a teardrop trailer instead of a stack of wood.
It's gonna be cozy!

Here's a site with some rare color photos of destruction in London from the WWII bombs dropped by Germany.
Photos

I know the following is fairly obvious stuff, but I'm going somewhere with this. So work with me.

Two things distinguish a for-profit organization from a similar non-profit:
The for-profit organization expects to see a black number at the bottom of their spreadsheet at the end of the year. If it's a zero or, worse, a red number they failed.
The non-profit is fine with a zero. They'd like a black number because that means they can expand their operations next year, but a zero is OK.

The other distinguishing feature is how the govt. views them. If it gets a 501c3 designation from the IRS the non-profit can solicit donations, and the donors get to claim their gift as a tax deduction. There are other benefits for being a 501c3 organization, like exemption from paying corporate taxes and, in some cases, property taxes.
That's pretty much it for the differences.

Because of the 501c3 designation the non-profit has that additional source of income - donations. Some non-profits have income from both their operations and from donations while others have just donation income. An inner city rescue mission doesn't charge anything for its services (homeless guys don't have a lot of disposable income) and depends entirely on donations. A non-profit hospital charges its patients and their insurance companies, but also receives donations from patrons and grants from philanthropic organizations.

Some people tend to attribute other distinctions to the two types of organizations, like salary levels.
Hospital A is a for-profit facility, part of a large medical corporation. Six blocks away is Hospital B, a non-profit one-off that in other key respects is very similar. The administrator of Hospital B may have a salary significantly larger than the administrator at Hospital A. The salary of Administrator A was determined by corporate suits at HQ in New York, and B's by a local board of governors. Both bodies paid what they thought was necessary to get the candidate they wanted. There's no connection between for-profit or non-profit and salaries, whether hospitals or.... There's also no direct connection with regards to efficiency, or size, or any other characteristic.

I think the bottom line dynamic is overlooked, or perhaps misunderstood by a lot of people. Just because an organization is non-profit doesn't mean they aren't paying attention to that figure and its color. If it's red by a significant margin or for a significant length of time the organization can't continue. They aren't able to pay the light bill or salaries, or do whatever constitutes their mission. They then have to do the same thing the for-profit organization must do in that situation: increase income and/or lower costs. For both of them that bottom line is determinative and it's power absolute.
(to be continued)

"Spare no expense to save money on this one." - Samuel Goldwyn

2012-01-14T17:16:00.000-08:00

I must have been more tired than I realized when I wrote last night's post. Didn't put in a title or a picture. I feel so irresponsible.

Heard new expressions for tossing one's cookies:
"Throwing groceries"
and "Shouting Earl."

Did the last of the varnishing today - at least of the major pieces. A few smaller pieces will get varnished after assembly. I also glued up the supports for the hatch lid. Assembly begins Monday! Pam has to work tomorrow afternoon and I have a 4 p.m. elder meeting so that's our first opportunity. Setting the sides in place and attaching them to the bulkheads is a two-person job.

It's Tebow Time tonight as the Broncos face the Patriots in the next round of the NFL playoffs. The arc of Tebow mania seems to have reached a new phase. It started with "this guy's crazy lucky" to "this can't be sustained," to "see, we told you so," to "that was a pretty good game." That's the football analysis. The views on Tebow as a man have also evolved over the last eight weeks. We've moved past the, "I wish he'd stop talking about his faith" to a sometimes begrudging acknowledgment that he's the real deal. Even cynical Boomer Esiason agrees there's no hypocrisy and his humility is genuine. New England is a prohibitive favorite tonight but assuming it turns out as expected I don't think we'll hear any gloating from the football press. They seem to agree that whatever his football skills, his personal character can't be questioned.

A 27-year old schools us on integrity.

I went for a bike ride this afternoon. It was 70 degrees. On January 14. No, I don't miss the snow no matter how pretty it is when freshly fallen. The laws of physics require cold temps for snow and that's a deal breaker IMO.

I think tonight's game might last longer than I do. Tomorrow's Sunday and includes an elder meeting in the evening, so a good night's sleep is a priority.

2012-01-13T19:28:00.000-08:00

In the early 50's doctors here and in Europe prescribed the drug Thalidomide to help pregnant women with morning sickness. It took several years before they figured out the drug was also causing severe birth defects. The most common was a failure of the long bones in the body to develop properly. Some babies were born without any arms or legs, others with hands up near their shoulders and very short legs. I vividly remember Life Magazine photos of "Thalidomide Babies." Because the drug was widely prescribed there were lots of those children, most of whom are now senior citizens, though the drug was used longer in Europe than in the U.S.

A few days ago Thomas Quasthoff announced his retirement at age 52 from the concert stage. He's a German baritone with a huge voice and a very successful career singing classical music, including opera.
As this clip reminds us, don't judge a book by its cover.

And this is a cool church but I don't think it's suited to my preaching style.
Church in Wroclaw, Poland
It's a 360 degree view, so move with your mouse or using the controls at the bottom.

They've had their first significant snow of the season back in Grand Rapids. I check out the Wood TV website daily to keep up with news back in our old stomping grounds and the traffic cam images of white everywhere remind me how much I don't miss winter weather. Unless that winter weather is 70 degrees and sunny with 7% humidity.

That's all I got tonight. Long day, lots accomplished but I'm paying the price. A cup of coffee, maybe a brownie, and bed.

I am a closet claustrophobic.

2012-01-12T15:37:00.000-08:00

Contemplating Cool

It seems to me there are three issues:

Being intrinsically cool - or conversely, not being cool.
Seeing yourself as cool - or as decidedly uncool.
Acting cool - or with persistent doofosity.

These 3x2 conditions come in all the possible permutations, a total number I'd know if I weren't so miserable at math.

The person who is cool and sees himself/herself as cool will almost always act cool. They may have occasional lapses due to lack of sleep or other stressers but by their very bearing they tell everyone around them, "This is what cool looks like."

The person who is cool but insecure is rare, but, like the Red Crested Fitherwalker, is occasionally spotted. They hug the wall, sure they don't quite fit in. They're the ones who assume any failure or misunderstanding was their fault. That is, their behavior usually reflects their self-perception rather than their core coolness. But put them in a setting where they feel completely at ease and that core coolness emerges, and others envy them for it.

The person who is not cool probably knows they're not. Most uncool people wish they had it, though a few are perfectly OK with being uncool. Some will argue this in itself makes them cool but such is not the case. Being entirely comfortable with one's self is not the same as having cool.

These people who aren't cool and know they aren't form the great mass of humanity. They are the silent and usually invisible majority, doing the work but unable to take credit for their efforts. This is no false humility; they don't really believe they did much of anything. Their motto is, "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally." No one is more surprised at their success than they are.

Perhaps the saddest spectacle is the person who is not cool but thinks they are. They act the part, almost always with disastrous consequences. These blind squirrels do occasionally find a nut but mostly they're like car wrecks - we want to turn away but can't help but watch with a sense of the entertainment value. If it weren't for this combination the TV sitcom would not exist. Whole acting careers have been built on the person who isn't but thinks he is.

Almost as sad, and often the object of our genuine pity, is the person who is not cool, knows they're not cool, and shamelessly acts the part of the uncool. Instead of staying in the background like the cool person who thinks they're not, these individuals let it all hang out. But just maybe the psychoanalysts would tell us these people are on a par with the first permutation - those who are cool, know they are cool, and act cool. Like them, those who aren't cool, know they aren't cool and act uncool with a sense of abandon live life with integrity. No pretense, no playing one part or another, just being real. Genuine, authentic, unhindered by artificial social rules.

The picture at the top is 50 years old, taken on the playground at Daniel Webster Elementary in Seattle. Yep, my alma mater. Those four guys were my classmates in sixth grade. Our class is having a 50-year reunion in May which I'll be unable to attend. What makes the reunion especially fun is that it is being held at our school, long since taken out of service and now the site of the Scandinavian Heritage Museum. They'll eat in the cafeteria, which looks almost exactly like it did then, and the classrooms will be open for touring. The playground looks just like it did in that photo except for the parking lines now painted there.

Look at that picture and think about cool. I think it's pretty obvious who is cool, knows they're cool and acts the part. The person who is cool but doesn't think they are is easily mistaken for the person who isn't cool and knows he isn't. So I'll tell you that Jim Hunter was cool. By the time we got to Ballard High School he had distinguished himself as a guy who knew all about cars and could work magic under the hood. He drove one of the original Austin Mini Coopers. Jim had genuine cool, just didn't see himself that way. I know because he was my shop partner in H.S. automotive class. And nobody who saw himself as cool would consent to be shop partner with someone as uncool as me. My only saving grace was that I knew how completely and totally I lacked even the smallest tincture of cool, and so stayed in dark corners.

Which of those permutations were you when you were in the sixth grade.

And now?

Many people quit looking for work when they get a job.

2012-01-11T17:38:00.000-08:00

Different format tonight. Something rolling around in my head for awhile finally crawled out through my right ear and landed in this post.
Let's start with a very unscientific survey. Below are two options in a number of categories. I've tried to choose items appealing to male and/or female readers. (That's because I'm thoroughly egalitarian.) In each case, pick one. You might wish for a third option but this is MY survey and you don't get one; you gotta pick one or the other. (Sorry about the format issues. Can't get it to work like I want.)

Where would you rather eat, the diner on the left or the dining room on the right?

Which house? The bungalow or the Victorian?

Jeans, or jeans?

UJM, or Harley?

Necklace, or necklace?

Chevy, or Chevy?

There are no right or wrong answers. It's entirely a matter of preference. It also isn't either/or. On any given day I may choose from one column or the other. But years ago I figured out I'm pretty much a left side guy. Function over form, dump the gratuitous foo-faw, keep it real. Blue jeans, blue collar, blue plate special.
Which is one of the reasons I'm restoring a '62 Beetle. And my next car will be more like the one on the left than the one on the right.

"I only know two pieces; one is 'Clair de Lune' and the other one isn't." - Victor Borge

2012-01-10T17:03:00.000-08:00

If you don't know who Victor Borge was (quoted above) you need to do a You Tube search and watch some of his stuff. He was something special. A virtuoso with a fun sense of humor.

Today I met a man who came from the east side of Michigan after putting in 36 years with Ford. He was an engineer and worked in the product development department. Nice guy. He said he worked on cars that would hit the market three years later. How cool! The last project he was involved with was the Flex.

His granddaughter, who talked the WHOLE time, is a four and a half-year old named Malena. That was my sister's middle name. Chuck said he's never heard anyone else with that name, so I told him it was a family name and I think it's Scandinavian. I asked her, "Are you Scandinavian?"
"No! I'm Malena."
Grandpa got the joke and chuckled. They're Black.

I got a bit snarky with a post on Facebook today. Almost no one got it. They missed the sarcasm altogether. What's the point of sarcasm if people take you seriously?

"What if Bill O'Reilly is doing the same thing as John Stewart, just doing it so well that people think he's for real?"

I'm varnishing the inside of the trailer sides. I stained the outside but left the inside natural. Now that it's got four coats of varnish I think I like that better than the side with the stain and varnish. (It's birch veneer plywood.) I'll ask Pam which she likes better and if she agrees I'll swap sides and put the outside in.

I don't have a huge sweet tooth but I do like to have dessert in the evening. Pam will bake a pan of brownies or get a pie from the store bakery, maybe some sweet rolls. Yesterday, knowing she had nothing in the house, she picked up an small assortment of baclava, about 10 pieces in a covered plastic tray.
The Problem: she got it at Walmart.
Almost nothing other than toiletries should be purchased at Walmart, and certainly not baclava.
Don't ever buy baclava from Walmart.

Who and where is Mrs. Ron Paul? Is there a Mrs. Ron Paul?
Interesting.
John Huntsman's father invented the styrofoam clamshell that holds hamburgers from McDonalds and others. He's a billionaire.

"If your output exceeds your input then your upkeep will be your downfall."
For the last few weeks I've felt like I need a break. Our camping trip was last July and six months later I'm nowhere near downfall, just ready for a break.
So I'm trying to work ahead this week so I can spend the majority of next Thursday at Barrett-Jackson and of Friday at Russo Steele.
Good think I don't have any money to spend!

It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech. - Mark Twain

2012-01-09T17:30:00.000-08:00

(click to enlarge)

Our microwave's turntable rotates at 6 rpm. Accordingly, the key is to enter a time in seconds divisible by 10 so that my coffee cup's handle is facing out when I open the door.
And that represents the zenith of my interest and ability for using math in daily life.

Tonight is the BCS championship game. Seems anticlimactic, almost boring. They've pushed it so far back that it competes for attention with NFL playoff games, it's separated by all other (significant) college games by a week, and this year involves two teams that played each other earlier in the season in a game that wasn't close. One more way the NCAA has made a mess of college football.

They're advertising a soon-to-be released movie with Queen Latifa and Dolly Parton. Looks pretty formulaic and corny but the ads remind me of one of my favorite lines.
When asked if she'd had cosmetic surgery, Dolly responded, "Honey, it takes a lot of money to look this cheap."

Did I mention there's a whole lot of sanding, staining and varnishing involved in building a teardrop trailer? I'm doing the interior of the sides and the bulkheads now. I still have about 40' worth of scabs to do. Uff-dah.

Watch this two-minute video and keep track of your thoughts and the order in which they occur.
Lasquite's Saint Bernards
I think it would be interesting to compare lists.
(Very early on my list is a word that starts with s and ends with it. We've got one Greyhound and there's a lot of it.)

OK, time to settle in for some college football.

I asked Mom if I was a gifted child... she said they certainly wouldn't have paid for me.

2012-01-08T17:53:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday night and I have no business writing a blog post. The chances of writing something stupid or worse that, thanks to the magic of the internet, will haunt me into eternity are very, very good. But Pam's not home to urge discretion and by the time she gets here it will be too late.

I'm usually an "active" communicator; couldn't stand behind a pulpit if I had a gun pointed at my head. But I was particular animated this morning, for both hours. Hence tonight's stupor.
But the sermon was one of those that required making a theologically laden passage (Rom. 5:12-21) understandable and relevant. Second hour... just a TON of content to keep us on pace with our OT Intro course.

Interestingly, we had more visitors this morning than we've had in the last six months. I hope they didn't leave thinking, "That guy is crazy!"

For the four-plus years she's worked at the hospital Pam's had a partner who was willing to work every Sunday so Pam could be at church. Because that gal has had a major change in her living situation Pam needs to take her normal turn working every other Sunday. Can't complain, though. I'm thankful for all the Sundays she could be there.

I'm some combination of frustrated, irritated, angry and disappointed with the endless delays in getting the car's body back. Which is why I keep looking at this:
'62 Pontiac Tempest
On that dealer's site it's listed for $7,900 but the eBay listing doesn't say anything about a reserve.
Or this:
'62 Ford Falcon
It doesn't look like there's any reserve here, either.
Both are ideal combinations with a throw-back woodie teardrop trailer.

I watched some of last night's debate. Didn't record this morning's but I've read a lot about it.
I'm not happy about it but it certainly looks like Romney will be the nominee. The more I see him the more I get the impression he's just too slick, almost smug. Maybe it's just confidence. He's got tons of money, a developed organization, and the savvy that comes from a lot of experience at this. He probably figures only Mitt can beat Mitt at this point so the safe play is the smart play.

OK, I'm going to heat up some coffee and down a cup or two so I can stay awake until Pam gets home in an hour. Maybe I'll manage to make it to 8:00 before I head for bed.

I woke up thinking about baked beans and had brain farts all afternoon.

2012-01-07T17:00:00.000-08:00

I spent a couple of hours out in the garage working on the trailer. The guy who put together these plans has you cutting, sanding, staining and finishing all the pieces and then assembling the whole thing. I'm really, really tired of cutting, sanding, staining and finishing... and I have more to do. This afternoon I cut the bulkheads, countertops and shelves. But I did something wrong because I think I was supposed to have enough 3/4" plywood to make one more shelf than I got out of that sheet. I'll have to get some clear pine boards and edge glue them to make the 46.5" x 12" shelf.
I keep telling myself how quickly this will take shape when I do get to the assembly stage with all the pieces already done.

Before working on the trailer I did my chores inside. Pam now has to work every other Sunday and for some reason knowing she'll be at the hospital again tomorrow motivated me to attack. Floors are all vacuumed and mopped, baseboards wiped down, three loads of laundry done and put away and one bathroom cleaned.
The guy at the hardware store said the best way to get stains off the inside of a toilet was to shut off the valve and flush out the water, then spray the sides with oven cleaner. The porcelain of the toilet in the master bath is etched at the waterline and stained black. I've tried scrubbing, pure bleach, and now oven cleaner. Nope.
I'd replace the whole toilet except all these Sun City houses have wall-mounted toilets and they ain't cheap!

Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of the shootings in Tucson that wounded Rep. Giffords and several others, and killed six (I think). That event has been a continuing story here and all the media outlets have talked even more about it in the run-up to tomorrow's observances.
From almost the very beginning the take-away of the shootings has been the need to restore civil discourse to the political arena. Here in AZ there have been special symposiums on the topic, essay contests, and all manner of programs on getting respect and courtesy back into political exchanges, all based on the Tucson shootings.
We certainly need civility back, in politics as elsewhere. It's brutal out there and politicians are often the worst of the lot. But what we know about Jared Loughner, what we know just a few days after his brutal attack, is that he's mentally ill. He didn't have any political agenda; he's crazy. Certified. He's on strong meds and is still too disconnected from reality to stand trial. They had hoped to begin his trial sometime in 2012 but now say that won't happen. He'll stay institutionalized.
I would have thought they'd use this to advocate for adequate care for the mentally ill. Or keeping firearms out of their hands.
Like I said, no question we need to talk about civility. But there's really no connection between the extreme partisanship we see and the Tucson shootings.

The holidays were brutal for the Pathway pastor. Nobody is from here. OK, Jeff & Brandie are both AZ natives but they're the only people in the church who are. And because we're mostly young families a lot of them were gone for one or both of the last two weekends visiting family back where it's (supposed to be) cold. School starts Monday so I think everybody will be back tomorrow. The preacher's gonna feel a whole lot better looking out and seeing live bodies. It doesn't make a bit of difference that he can go through in his head where everybody is, figuring out nobody just "stayed home." It's still a downer to have half of them somewhere else.

There's a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore looking like an idiot.

2012-01-06T18:50:00.000-08:00

Josh, Aubri and I went to the school Pathway will move to the end of the month. It's a 10-year old building instead of 40+ years old so the general feeling of the place is a lot better. And maybe after we work out some of the logistical issues it will work fine.
My contact at the district office told me the maintenance supervisor (head janitor) did NOT like having churches meet at his school. I now know why. He said the last group came in on Friday nights with truck loads of equipment they set up. They even had a lift for getting up to the ceiling so they could cover the skylights. That is SO typical of the churches here; it's all about production values. Monster sound systems, killer band, light bars...
Everything Pathway has fits in the back of our Sorento and sets up in 15 minutes.
He was pleased.

I can't remember the last time it happened.
I asked Pam if it had a name but she couldn't remember what the recipe card said. It had beans and little white things in it and was served in a bowl with a spoon. I had two helpings, if a spoonful counts as a helping.
The really bad news? Pam is working the next two nights and this was going to be my dinner.
Can't do it.

I have given up on Pat. He's given me so many "ready" dates that I can't put stock in anything he'd tell me now. I had been calling him, but will just wait. and wait. Sooner or later he'll need the space it's taking up and will paint it just to get it out of the way.
He's such a nice guy it's hard to get angry with him. But I think I'm there.

I frequently talk in sermons about using my 4-color pen as I read my Bible. I'm now to the point where I don't know how I'd get along without it. I actually have two - on my desk and by my chair - so I always have one at hand.
This morning I circled all the "one man" occurrences in Rom. 5:12-21 in red and all the references to "gift" or "grace" (same Greek root) in green.

I'm hungry. I think I'll go out to that room with the big white thing that gets hot and see if I can find something to eat.

Accidents don't just happen. They must be carelessly planned.

2012-01-05T15:08:00.000-08:00

How'd this guy get a window??

Mike & Mike In the Morning (ESPN2) often has Mark Schlereth as a guest. He's a retired NFL pro-bowl offensive lineman, his son is a pitcher for the Tigers, and he knows sports, besides being very likable.
This morning they talked about playing football in seriously cold weather and that you never see linemen wearing long sleeves. Greenberg implied it was foolish bravado, a macho mentality that made no sense. Schlereth schooled him:

Every lineman on both sides of the ball holds on almost every play. They just don't get called for it most of the time. Wearing long sleeves gives your opponent fabric to grab and therefore gives him an advantage.
But wait! There's more!
Before a game they grease up their bare arms to make holding even more difficult. When getting dressed they put on their pads and then put double-stick carpet tape on them. Their jersey is so small and tight that Schlereth says it takes three people to get in on, and then they push it down on that carpet tape. All of that to make it more difficult for your opponent to grab.

This kind of info is why you should all be watching Mike & Mike in the Morning. Or reading my blog.

I wish I had synesthesia. Imagine how cool it would be to have ADD and synesthesia!

DirectTV unveiled their new menu format this morning, at least on our TV. It includes a list of our favorite programs. The weird thing is I have no recollection of ever watching Sponge Bob Squarepants, and I'm pretty sure Pam doesn't, either, unless they have a cooking segment.
Creme of Starfish Soup?

Tough sermon Sunday. I've got it written but it is a LONG way from done. Yikes.

As of last Sunday Pathway Bible Church is four years old.
We meet at Litchfield Elementary School, the oldest in the district. They're building a new cafeteria to replace the current facility which probably dates back to the late 50's. The new one will be on a different part of the campus and they've already begun construction, with plans to tear down the current cafeteria over summer break. That meant we'd have to move to a different school during the summer months because we use that cafeteria for our worship services. OK; it makes us a moving target but what can we do?
Last Sunday we showed up and discovered the water was shut off to the entire campus! Yep, no water in restrooms. Because it was Christmas break the construction company figured it was OK to shut it off so they could connect some of the new pipes. Thankfully, we only had one service.
Monday I got an email from our contact person at the district office saying that was likely to happen on weekends in the future as the construction progresses and we should plan on moving over to the other school this month.
AAARGH.
We just did a major ad campaign that included our location and upgraded the website. Now three weeks later we learn this. Pathway will have met in five locations in four years and it will be six when we move back in the fall. Talk about a moving target!

I confess to some frustration lately. I'm very pleased with the ministry of Pathway but frustrated by the lack of numerical growth. We have an extremely high retention rate; I'd say that 90% of those who visit end up staying. But we cannot get significant numbers of visitors through the front door. And now that the front door is moving again....

I'm glad God knows what he's doing. But I wouldn't mind if he filled us in on his plan.

I'm a firmata. Hold me.

2012-01-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

Swingin' in Sun City

Buzz:
We met Tammi and James, and their very alive 9-year old daughter at Paradise Bakery last night. They're in town from Grand Rapids and we had a great visit. Turns out Paradise closes at 9 p.m. At 8:59 one of the gals came over with a box of their most excellent cookies. "Would you like to take these home? We'll just throw them out, otherwise." It worked. We realized the time, figured out they were closing, and I scored a box of great cookies. Will they recognize me if I'm there at closing again tomorrow night?

Buzz Killer:
Today's mail brought the packet from the CPA who has done our taxes the last several years.

Today I went back and forth between the commentaries and the garage where I'm varnishing the trim for the trailer. What a pain. All six sides of all pieces need eight coats, and a couple of the pieces are big and cumbersome. Definitely the unpleasant part of this project that, with 2 hours between each coat, feels like it will go on forever.

I don't like the way the media uses the term evangelical. They seem to think we're monolithic, in agreement on political issues. We're certainly not. The word evangelical describes certain common theological commitments and allows for a wide variety of political positions. It may be fair to generalize that evangelicals are conservative re. moral issues, though even that may be a stretch. We can and do hold very divergent views on economic and foreign affairs matters. Accordingly, no candidate appeals to evangelical voters anymore than a candidate appeals to tall voters.

McCain endorsed Romney today. He said Mitt will "lead from the front, not like this President who has led from behind." Uhm, isn't that an oxymoron?

Aretha Franklin is in the news because at the age of 69 she just got engaged. This will be her third marriage and she assured the press she is not pregnant.
But there's another Aretha Franklin story that's getting drowned out by the engagement news. She's hosting an audition for aspiring opera singers. She's solicited CD's or tapes from young singers focused on classical opera and will choose up to three of them who will get a contract to record on her own label and be promoted by her.

Aretha has a history with opera music. At the 1998 Grammy Awards Luciano Pavarotti was scheduled to sing what may be the most famous aria written for a male voice, Nessun Dorma. He got sick. Ten minutes before that slot in the show Aretha agreed to sing it. Her interpretation is all Aretha. Purists may disapprove but it brought down the house.

"I want to find a voracious, small-minded predator and name it after the IRS." - Robt. Bakker, paleontologist

2012-01-03T16:49:00.000-08:00

Necessity - Invention - Cool!

It's warm enough here (mid-70's) that I went for a bike ride this afternoon. I needed the stress relief and few things work like pushing through a brisk bike ride.

January 3 is a significant date in our family for a few reasons. One of them - it is (was?) my maternal grandmother's birthday.

< Grandma Helen with my mom (10?) in front of the family home

I was blessed to have four godly grandparents that I look forward to seeing in heaven some day. Both my grandfathers died when I was relatively young and I have very few memories of them. Both my grandmothers lived well beyond the death of their husbands and I can picture both like I just saw them yesterday. My dad's mom, Ella, was Norwegian, my mom's mom, Helen, Swedish. That explains my good looks and near perfect disposition.

Grandma Helen and Grandpa (Fred) holding my older brother >

Grandma Helen lived in Everett, just north of Seattle, so we saw her often. We'd go up there and she'd come to our house. I remember staying with her on my summer break for a few days. I went through most of my childhood and adolescence pretty oblivious to the world around me; didn't really gain full consciousness until about three weeks after our wedding. (Marriage tends to wake one up.) But I remember Grandma Helen as a godly woman who loved me (all of us) and cared.

Which is why this little red book of hers (the pen is for perspective) is one of my treasured possessions. It's her record of her giving to the Lord's work, with one page for each month, covering several years.

You'll notice that on each of these two pages, June and July of '72, there's an entry that reads, "Craig" and has "$15" written in the right column. She sent me that amount every month I was away at Bible college, a real sacrifice in 1972 dollars for a woman living on Social Security. She wanted to do what she could to support a young guy preparing for pastoral ministry. And because I was bad dirt poor it was a significant amount to me.

The widow's mite.

If I remember correctly, she died shortly after I graduated, while I was serving in my first church. But that experienced was so brief it might have been at my second church. Either way, here I am 37 years later humbled by her sacrifice and thankful for her support.

I probably didn't say it as I should have then.

Thank you, Grandma Helen, for your sacrificial gift and example of grace.

It's amazing what you can get done when your wife puts your mind to it.

2012-01-02T17:01:00.000-08:00

Things I"ve learned in the last 48 hours:

If you have a blog on blogger.com, as I obviously do, you also have a Picasa account. That's Google's cloud storage system for images, the equivalent of Flikr.
If you delete images from Picasa they also disappear from any blog post in which they appear, getting replaced by a giant exclamation point. Unless you saved them on your hard drive (which I didn't) they are gone forever.

I didn't post last night due to the standard Sunday evening mental and physical fatigue. But yesterday morning's special children's service went as well as I'd hoped. The kids were great! I was prepared for at least one kid to go off the reservation and require intervention. I even had three adults sitting with them to provide that assistance when it became necessary... which it never did. Evan got a little upset at one point but it wasn't enough to disrupt things at all. I had fun and I think they did too. Mostly, I hope they left that service feeling important to Pathway. 'cause they are.

Look up "mad skills" and this video will appear.

Danny Macaskill

Incredible.

I cut and sanded all the trim for the trailer sides today, a long and tedious process. The number and size of the voids surprised me. When I pay $50 for a sheet of plywood I don't expect to have voids that require me to put pieces of wood in them before I can fill with putty.

I stained the two horizontal pieces and do not like the way they look at all. I chose the wrong stain. But because these pieces are straight, 8' long, and 2" x 3/4" I can cut replacements out of clear pine boards I'll get tomorrow and use a more appropriate stain. It's the curved pieces that would be a problem, and I stopped before I got that far.

Can we please do the caucus bit in Iowa and move on?

We have another eleven months of this.

Talking on a cell phone while driving is inherently more risky than not doing so. A significant number of drivers in Sun City shouldn't be driving at all. Put great grandma behind the wheel of her Buick and then put a cell phone in her hands and the prospects are frightening.

And why do people hold a cell phone in their left hand against their right ear...while driving? Can't they figure out it would be a whole lot easier to hold it against their left ear?

I tried to make up for a week of overindulgence in one session at the gym this afternoon. Maybe not such a good idea.

Am I the only one who gets text messages from someone who doesn't identify themselves and isn't in my phone's directory? All I see is their phone number, sometimes from an area code I don't recognize. Seems rude to respond, "Who is this?" but I don't know how else to figure it out.

It's too bad ignorance isn't painful.

2011-12-31T17:48:00.000-08:00

These dogs are both named MacDonald.

I didn't win the restored '69 Ghia in the raffle drawing today. It was held by a VW parts house in Tucson to raise money for a widower and his two young girls after his wife died of cancer last summer. I figured the $20 was a small investment toward a good cause and hadn't planned my life around winning the car.

But it would have been fun.

I'm stressed about tomorrow. I don't know if the songs will work or the three mini-lessons make sense. Then there's the two magic tricks. I've practiced everything and will do more before I go to bed.

(Note: the magic tricks are connected to the lessons, visual aids. Not gratuitous. But they're pretty cool if they work.)

I haven't watched any of the bowl games today. I started to watch the Johnson & Johnson Tucks Hemorrhoid Bowl that featured Northern North Dakota State against Andersonville College of Cosmetology and House Painting but got distracted.

Seriously, is there a college in the country that didn't get invited to a bowl game? I've never heard of half these schools.

It's New Year's Eve. I'll celebrate by eating brownies right from the pan and be in bed before Dick Clark has his cummerbund fastened.

Yeah, that's really how it's spelled. Who knew?

See you next year.

A ship carrying blue paint collided with a ship carrying red paint. The crews are marooned.

2011-12-30T17:40:00.000-08:00

My mind is on Sunday's service at Pathway - one hour with the kids up front with me, and the adults sitting in back, quiet and behaving themselves. It's going to be an active hour that will take all the energy I can muster and I expect to be exhausted afterward. I honestly don't know how it will go; kids are a notoriously tough crowd. But even if it's a little ragged, so long as they feel special to be up front for the whole hour and the sole focus of their pastor's attention I will have accomplished my objective.
The adults think I'm there for them. A little. Here's the real significance:

Raison d'etre

the kids of Pathway, a sampler

(there are more, I just don't have pics of them)

"By the time I'd grown up, I naturally supposed that I'd be grown up." - Eve Babitz

2011-12-28T20:18:00.000-08:00

Heh, heh.
Pam agrees it doesn't seem right to pull a retro teardrop trailer behind a 2009 Kia Sorento.
I'm halfway there.
How 'bout this?
Small V-8, dual carb, 3 on the tree and 46,000 miles. AND it has AC!

There are now eight coats of urethane on the trailer sides. The can calls for four, the guy who created these plans says 7-9, and I'm going to stop at eight. I can only get four coats on per day because of dry time and a minimum temp of 50 degrees, which happens around 10:30 a.m. The only thing I don't like is that it's not all that smooth, perhaps because the temps during application are between 50 and 70 degrees. I'm not sure it flows out like it otherwise would. I may try some VERY light sanding with 0000 steel wool after it's fully cured.

We had our postponed family Christmas gathering tonight. Pam was sick for the original date. Michelle is back in Michigan visiting her family but it's not like we have a big production. We met at Barrow's Pizza, got the booth over in the corner and stuffed ourselves. It's mostly about the grandkids and Pam had made both of them some neat things. Caedon got a dinosaur she made that looks like leather and something called a "throwing snake" that she knit. She also knit a really nice outfit for Megan's American Girl doll.

Tomorrow she's having outpatient knee surgery. I asked her on the way into town exactly what they're doing and she doesn't exactly know, but it doesn't exactly matter. So long as it eliminates the pain she'll be happy. She had the same thing done to the other knee when we lived in Michigan and it made a big improvement so we're hoping for the same thing this time.

I'll bring her home early afternoon, get her settled into her chair, and watch her sleep for awhile. Then I'll head into town for our Pathway dessert potluck. No kiddos, just adults! We'll play a couple of simple mixer games but mostly it's about just hanging out. Because we meet at a school we have fixed entry and exit times on Sunday mornings which limits the opportunity for socializing. I'm looking forward to it.

Right now, though, I'm inexplicably tired. But I know how to fix that.
Goodnight!

Admit nothing, deny everything and make counter accusations.

2011-12-27T19:23:00.000-08:00

Blech.
I woke up this morning with stomach cramps that had me anticipating a day in the bathroom. It got better, but not good. I've eaten very little, avoided Diet Coke (!) and spent most of the day doing that which can be done from my chair.

I did get four coats of varnish on the trailer sides. Four more tomorrow, Deo volente.

Spent a lot of time going back and forth between iTunes and Garage Band. I think I have the music for Sunday done - six songs all of which have motions. I think this is why I go to the gym. God knew I was going to need a high level of aerobic fitness. Keeping up with five-year olds could be difficult. But it's fun going back to songs I sang at that age.
Zaccheus was a wee little man who was a child of Father Abraham and did not march in the infantry.

In two unrelated Facebook posts today one friend urged me to consider Ron Paul as a candidate and another said "Do NOT support this guy!" I guess you call that polarizing.
The latter warned about him because of Paul's lack of the blind, unquestioning support of Israel that is a staple of so many American evangelicals. I've got some real reservations about Ron Paul but that isn't one of them.
See, I'm a dispensationalist.

This week in the media is all about lists.
Favorites?
My song would be Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri. I watched the official music video on You Tube today and it's pretty good but I think I prefer just the song sans visuals.
New TV show would be Person of Interest on CBS.
Old movie(s) would be anything with John Wayne. We watched a marathon of his westerns last week. Good stuff.
Best new tech discovery (mine): Google Chrome. Less is definitely more.

Maybe I'll try to think of more favorites.
Yours?

The last thing I want to do is hurt you... but it's still on the list.

2011-12-26T16:46:00.000-08:00

I've had a good day, a good day-after-a-Sunday-Christmas day.
Yesterday went fine, but the preacher is never the one to critique. For the third Sunday we had kids read Scripture and in each case they did a great job, particularly significant because each of them was early elementary.

I spent most of the morning working out in the garage on the trailer and made good progress. The next step is nine coats of varnish with a drying time of two hours between each coat, and the air temp has to be above 50 degrees. That means this stage will extend over a few days even with afternoons hitting about 70 degrees for the next few days. Overnight lows are 40 degrees or below so it's mid-morning before I can apply a coat.

I showed this to Pam and we've decided to learn this routine in 2012.
Pas de deux

I'm doing something this Sunday I last did about 30 years ago.
Because it's New Year's Day we'll only have one service, at 10:00. The hour (if I last that long) will be all for the kids. The adults sit in back and have to be quiet and behave themselves. The kids - we'll have about 30 there - will be up front with me and we'll do church together. This could get tricky because all of our kids are so young. Our granddaughter is the oldest and she's 9. The bell curve peaks at 5 or 6. And let's just say I'm not going to be the only one there who is ADD. This is, by any standard, an unusually bright group of kids, and I'm not just saying that because they're Pathway kids. That's why the readers (see above) each did such an excellent job. We have first graders who read with the skill and poise of Junior Highers. But this is still significantly lower than my typical target audience.

I worked on that service this afternoon. We'll sing lots of active songs (Veggie Tales with motions), have a couple very quick Bible lessons illustrated with magic tricks, a slightly longer lesson involving a craft, and maybe even a (gluten free) snack time as part of that lesson. The theme of the service will be acting like the Body of Christ, and it will involve having the older kids help the younger ones with different activities to illustrate serving each other. We meet in the school cafeteria and there's a stage in front. I'm thinking about doing a Faith Leap and having older kids jump off the 4' high front edge into the arms of the younger kids.
OK, maybe not that part.

We mean it when we say kids are a priority at Pathway. God has blessed us with a disproportionate number and I see that as a stewardship. We simply must be faithful to see they are taught God's Word and fully integrated into the church. They are not "junior members" of the Body of Christ. If quality is more important than quantity (it is) then our care for the children in our midst is an appropriate measure of our work as a church.

What is Kate's last name now? It used to be Middleton but I don't think I've heard anyone use a different one since her marriage to Prince William.

If you lost your left arm, your right arm would be left.

2011-12-24T16:37:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas Eve. Pam felt good enough to go to work this morning, against her husband's better judgment, so I've been home alone all day. I've done my chores, gone over and over the things for tomorrow and worked in the garage. It's warmer out there. Even with the sun shining through the windows the house never got warmer than 65 degrees today, a single degree increase over the morning's reading. We'll drop down to the the mid-30's again each of the next several nights so I'm afraid we'll lose a degree or two inside each day. How long can we go without turning on the heat?

The NBA starts tomorrow and I do not care. They might just as well have stayed out all season. I'm not much of a pro basketball fan to begin with but the strike dissolved what little interest I had.

It certainly looks like Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee just by virtue of outlasting everyone else. I read an article this morning about President Reagan that included a description of how, after a period of decline, he inspired Americans to renewed optimism, using expressions like "the dawn ahead." Nobody has used the word inspired in connection with Romney. Boring? yeah, that one.

Greek is a much more powerful language than English. It has a pretty expansive verb system allowing it to express actions with much greater specificity. Compared to Hebrew, which has a relatively small verb system and a ton of nouns, Greek is all about the verb. Understanding the New Testament in all it's richness can only happen with an understanding of that verb system. Not every verse requires it but in a high percentage of NT passages knowing what's going on with the verbs opens things up in a way that makes the text come alive and often uncovers powerful truth.

When I took NT Greek in college we were required to memorize the system so that we could (in theory) look at any NT verb and parse it in all its elements: number (singular or plural), person (first, second, or third), voice (active, middle, or passive), tense (present, aorist, future, perfect, imperfect, or pluperfect), and mood (indicative, subjunctive, optative, imperative, infinitive, or participle). All of these facets are indicated by the unique addition or subtraction of specific combinations of letters on the front and end of the root verb. The permutations seem endless, which describes the hours we spent memorizing all those forms. Hundreds of them. And then there were the irregular verbs that don't follow the standard forms.
Memorize, memorize, memorize.
You could tell the students taking Greek because they always had a glazed look in their eyes and flash cards in their hand.

One result of this was that only someone who had the time, money and stubbornness to take two or more years of Greek can access those wonderful truths. Everyone else depends on their pastor, and that can be an uneven thing. Let's face it, too many pastors don't have the exposition of biblical truth as a ministry priority.

Enter the internet!

Now anyone can mine the truths of the Greek NT. No need to memorize forms; every NT verb is parsed for you. By coordinating the information on two or three different sites (sites I use!) anyone can identify the root verb and its meaning(s), and all the facets listed above.
All that's required - and I don't mean to minimize this - is to learn the significance of those facets. What does it mean if the verb is an aorist? an optative? a middle? But this is very doable with a few simple mnemonic devices and, if necessary, a self-made chart that lays it all out.

A friend on Facebook asked me last week what an aorist verb was. A few weeks ago someone at church said, "This makes me want to learn Greek." I realize that most Christians don't have the time or inclination to do this, but for those who do, the prospects have never been better.

Some people leave their mark on the world. Others leave a stain.

2011-12-23T17:46:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve eve Home Depot is nearly deserted and there are almost no women in the store. Which means there are no women in the Ladies Restroom.
Yeah, that was almost a FAIL.

Idiot: the guy so intent on getting those last fluid ounces of gas into his Honda that he overfills it and spills a pint on the ground...with the engine running!

The final report on the Pathway email blast is in. Of the 100,000 sent, 10,852 were opened and 1,327 clicked through to our website. Outstanding numbers! We were told to expect 4-6% of those who opened would click through and instead we got 12.2%. Imagine if 1% of those visit!

I called Pat again today and we talked. The car will not be done this year and the odds for the first week of 2012 are slim at best. I suggested that he give me a call when he's ready to paint (end of next week??) so I could take pictures and/or video. He thought that was cool. "You've seen every other part of the process, so you should see this, too!" I asked because I would like to, but this also means he'll be calling me instead of the other way around, and I'll have some advance notice that he's actually getting something done.

Imprimis (Latin for "first things") is the publication of Hillsdale College in Michigan. It's free, which is why I get it. That, and it makes the mail carrier think I'm smart. It comes every two weeks and only has one article per, but they're really, really deep. Sometimes I can tell what they're about.

The article I read today was actually an interview with the president of the college, Larry Arn, who has more advanced degrees than I have shirts. He was asked questions about the current state of affairs in our country in light of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It was fascinating, and one of those times when I realize there are people out there who know things I didn't even know were out there to know. I think it's fair to say Dr. Arn is what's called a constitutional scholar and he did a great job of explaining how the core principles of those documents shed light on how we got in this mess. (Hint: he doesn't think we're sticking to those principles.)

I enjoyed the article, learned from it, and respected his knowledge and understanding. He has a thorough knowledge of our country's key documents (incl. the Federalist Papers which I've heard a lot about and never read) and that knowledge gives him the ability to understand the big picture.

As I read the article I thought about the current field of Republican candidates. I don't get the sense that most of them know. It seems to me they have slogans, rubrics, sound bites... in short, a bumper sticker approach to our problems. That's why they so often say something completely clueless. They're not smart, not scholars by any stretch on any subject, never mind the principles behind our government's structure and function.

Regardless of what they think of him, everyone seems to agree Gingrich is really smart and knowledgable about civics. His nickname is "the professor." Same assessment on Ron Paul, whose views are arguably the most unusual. Romney?
Is Mitt Romney really smart and versed in government or just really good at politics? 'cause they ain't the same thing.

We wonder why dogs drink out of toilets. They wonder why we pee in their water bowl.

2011-12-22T18:24:00.000-08:00

The ezine Slate has a feature called The Explainer in which they answer interesting questions from readers. Not an advice column - that's Dear Prudence - but how-things-work questions. The last week of every year they have a poll and allow readers to pick from all the leftover queries, choosing the question of the year. I like some of this year's options:

Why do people put their hands to their heads/faces when something goes wrong?
Are blind people sleepy all the time? We're wired to get sleepy when it's dark and most of us have trouble staying awake with our eyes closed for any length of time.
Why do so many of our state names end in "a?"
When a tall guy pees into a toilet and there's a splash that lands on the floor, is it water or pee?
When you cut open a pumpkin there's no woosh, meaning there's gas already in the hollow core. What is it and how did it get there?
When a mosquito bites you on your tatto do they get ink along with the blood?
When you flush a roach down the toilet still alive does it die? Or "are you giving it a sportsman's chance" of re-entering my life and seeking revenge?

I watched a rerun of Top Gear (the British version; the U.S. version isn't nearly as good) and Jeremy Clarkson was trying to to a sub-10 minute trip around the Nurburgring in a Jag diesel sedan. Turns out anyone can drive that epitome of a road course. Pull up, pay 14 Euros (about $18) and go 'round the track. So on open track days it's full of people driving it in everything from superbikes to VW Jettas.

I wonder if anyone has ever done it in a '62 Beetle.

I called Pat today but he didn't answer.

sigh

I want to spend more time with my message but I feel prepared for Sunday's service. It's a little more complex than our normal worship service but not some much that we'll trip over ourselves.

The big question is how many will attend. Including children we run about 50 on a typical Sunday morning. Add a few because it's Christmas, although we'll have some gone for the same reason.

The question of attendance has more to do with what response we'll see to our outreach efforts over the last two weeks. Because of the faithfulness of the people of Pathway we had the resources to do some advertising. And because Matt is the V.P. at Arrowhead Advertising we had access to the expertise to do it right. For the last two weeks we've have an ad on Facebook that only appears on the pages of people in our geographical area who have identified themselves as Christians. For the last week we've had an ad on Google that appears when anyone in our area does a search using one of several words we selected - Bible, church, expository, etc. And Monday we sent out an "email blast," a professionally designed email that went to 100,000 email address belonging to people who have self-identified as Christians in our geographical area. If they open the ad they can click on a link within it and go directly to our web site. Of those who rec'd the email, 5,645 read the email and of those 923 clicked through to our site. That number, 16.4% of those who opened the email, is considered a very high rate. If we get 1% of those to come we're talking NINE families. That's a huge number relative to our size. And I can't think of a better time to have done this than now, with Christmas Sunday upon us.

We're praying that God will give us results, for "unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain that build it."

Here's what they got in that email:

I like cats, especially in a white gravy.

2011-12-21T18:55:00.000-08:00

The parts shipment arrived today! It shipped to the wrong address - a house our kids haven't lived in for four months - but the lost is found. The bummer is that I sent the first somewhat stern email when today's mail here at our house brought nothing. Then this afternoon....
I've left messages on two of their phone numbers and sent an email to tell them. I feel bad for their anxiety and hope they can blow it off. Life happens.

I've gained two pounds in the last week. I think I probably gained those two pounds in the 24 hours during which I ate the entire plate of walnut squares Brandie gave me Sunday. I love those things, and each one represents about a half stick of butter.
So this afternoon I added 15 minutes of strenuous aerobic exercise to the normal regimen and will continue with that until I've worked off those walnut squares.

The son of a former college classmate is a career Marine now stationed in S. Korea. We're friends on Facebook. This afternoon he posted the following: (and if the "punctuation" offends you more than the post blesses you, well, get over it)
While having my ID checked at the installation access gate the soldier said to me, "Merry Christmas, Sergeant." I replied with "Merry Christmas" and asked him why he didn't say "Happy Holidays" instead. He replied, "With all due respect, Sergeant, screw that stupid sh**. I was brought up celebrating Christmas, so that's what I'm gonna celebrate. If others get offended, they can kiss my a**." I absolutely love the indomitable spirit of the American soldier.

I made good progress on church projects today. I felt extra motivation from waking up in the middle of the night worrying about getting it all done.
That's the good news.
The Problem: all that work plus the extra output at the gym and I'm seriously wasted.
Done for the day.

How do they get the deer to cross at those yellow signs?

2011-12-20T16:01:00.000-08:00

FAIL

I spent time on the phone last night with my dad trying to figure out why he gets no sound from his computer when playing a You Tube video. We know his speakers work because he can play a music CD just fine.
We couldn't figure it out, not surprising when we're trying to do it over the phone, he's got a PC & I have a Mac, and he's not familiar with some of the icons, menus, etc.
This morning I did a search for "no sound Firefox You Tube" and came up with several sites that address the problem. He's not the only one! But what confuses me is that the top four or five sites were...
wait for it...
You Tube videos on solving the problem.
Huh???

I dug out the piece of wood left in my finger from that incident three weeks ago. My body had finally pushed it close enough to the surface. We've decided I'll make a small bookcase out of it.
My finger feels like there may be more in there.

Saabs had the ignition switch down by the gear shift lever. It also served as a lock on the transmission.
Back in the day Saabs shared a reputation with Volvos as extremely well built, safe cars. GM bought them and ended that.

In an email posted to his campaign website Rick Perry twice referred to the just dead N. Korean leader as "Kim Jung the Second" instead of Kim Jung Il.
To quote MNF, "C'mon, man!"

Major frustration. Two weeks later the order hasn't arrived from Wisconsin, and I'm increasingly pessimistic that I'll get the body back from Pat this week...or next. I'm not by nature a patient person and this significantly exceeds my tolerances.

Tony Dungy is a total class act!

My work load is heavier than usual because of some special events at Pathway over the next two weeks, events for which I'm responsible. I was up early trying to work ahead and needed a break about 9:00, so I took Jack over to the dog park. The only other dog was a 5-year old Golden Lab who wanted to play which, for Jack, means running! The Lab couldn't keep up but Jack didn't really care. Once he gets going you can feel his joy at open field running. The Lab's owner had never seen a Greyhound run like that and commented on his stride. "It's like his back bends in the middle." That's an accurate description, because a Greyhound's spine is especially flexible and coils/unwinds like a spring. Greyhounds aren't particularly affectionate or responsive dogs but they are very good at doing what they were designed to do and the elan is palpable.

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works."

Guns don't kill people. Dads with pretty daughters kill people.

2011-12-19T18:23:00.000-08:00

Saab sob.
They were a noteworthy company back in the day, when they were Swedish. Then GM bought them and it was downhill from there.
Trivia question: what unique feature associated with starting 'em up distinguished Saabs from other cars? (I think recently some other makers copied it.)

We miss having animals. Chickens are easy to raise, fun to watch and it's nice to have fresh eggs every day. Most people don't realize how much deterioration there is in eggs from a supermarket until they crack a fresh egg into a pan.
Rabbits take even less work until butchering day, but that only takes an hour or two. And there's something about superintending the process from breeding to birth to butchering that connects you with nature in a way that buying cellophane-wrapped meat at the grocery store just can't match.
Don't do pigs. I did a pig once. One time too many. Don't do pigs.
Nothing compares to goats. We got Angel when she was two days old and I bottle fed her every few hours until she was weaned. A baby goat has irresistible cuteness. They are FULL of playfulness and joy.
Need convincing? Watch this.

The issue of TIME that arrived Saturday has their Person of the Year cover and article. You've probably heard that they named the protestor their PotY. They include a whole section on various protestors, from men and women who were part of the Arab Spring to several involved in the Occupy movement. Neither interest me so I just skipped over the biggest single section of the magazine.

The next section includes a series of brief biographies of people who made the short list, followed by a section on noteworthy people who died in 2011. I find the latter especially interesting because I didn't know about some of them - individuals who made an impact in a wide variety of fields.

Reading those vignettes got me to thinking about people I've encountered in my life who, while unknown outside a small circle of friends and family, are noteworthy for their ....
In some cases it's their servant's heart, for others their faithfulness in adverse circumstances, or using particular skills for the benefit of the group instead of self advancement.

It's the time of year for making lists and I thought a bit about who would go on my Noteworthy People list. I've had the privilege of knowing and working with many great folks, but some stand out. A few of those have left this life for their reward and some of them I will probably precede because I'm older than they are. It's a list that will only exist in my head; I won't write it down. Those still living would take issue with me. That's a sine quo non of being on the list.

Who would go on your list?

I work well with others - when they leave me alone.

2011-12-18T17:21:00.000-08:00

Ever have that feeling something really bad is about to happen?

I admit, I'm not pleased.
Pat left a voice mail saying the rainy weather has kept him from painting so there was no reason to drive out today. He also said he's leaving town tonight and hopes to be back Wednesday night. Last week he told me he'd be home all this coming week so would certainly have it painted and ready to pick up by Wednesday or so. I'll be shocked if he gets it done.
He has six cars in the auctions that run the middle week of January which means the crunch is on to get them looking their best.
Yeah, not happy.
But maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised while it's still 2011.

The Packers lose and the Colts win. Two perfect streaks broken.

It was three weeks ago that the "sliver" pierced the tip of my ring finger and required a trip to the med center. The P.A. said there might still be remnants in my finger despite the digging she did, and she was right. It's swollen and nasty looking but I think the next 24 hours or so will see that piece or pieces pushed out the surface.
The body is a pretty amazing thing. Almost like Someone knew what they were doing.

I'm thankful our soldiers are out of harm's way in Iraq. I hate the pictures of wounded young men and women, and the interviews with military widows. But I wonder how long before Iraq descends into sectarian violence that fills the vacuum we've left.
Barbara Walters asked the President if our troops were coming home victorious. Why couldn't he say yes? Why did he have to equivocate? And when she pressed him - "Would you describe it as victorious??" - he would go no further than the word "successful."
Sir, don't preach to Republicans about partisan rhetoric.

It's Sunday night. I feel like I've been run over by a Kenworth and I can't, in good conscience, watch a third football game. So we're watching that "Funny Videos" show, Pam's laughing out loud, and I'm going to bury my face in the plate of walnut squares that Brandie brought me from last night's open house.
But even with walnut squares I can tell I'm not going to last long.

Don't use a big word when a diminutive word will suffice.

2011-12-17T19:44:00.000-08:00

I saw an ad on TV this morning for the Catholic Church.
"Aided by the Holy Spirit we compiled the Bible."
I had no idea! I wonder if the Jews know that.

Our word for the week: Hubris. (see above)

The Shootist was on this afternoon. A good movie, but what makes it especially poignant is that John Wayne knew he was dying of cancer when he made it. Art imitates life.

I had a busy day but got lots done. It's easy when you've got a treat at the end of the day.
Literally.
This is Brandie. She and Jeff and their three kids attend Pathway. That smile is pretty much always there.

Every year at Christmas time Brandie makes desserts and has an open house for friends and neighbors. But saying Brandie makes desserts is like saying Lamborghini makes cars.

You should click to look at these pictures in a larger format.
Yes, those are truffles and they taste even better than they look. The sugar cookies are individual works of art. The little cheese cakes? MMMM! And these are just some of the plates. This many more.

It's a drop in affair, very casual and relaxed, like the Grays. It's fun to meet people. I've noticed that each year the attendance seems to grow. Everybody from last year and a few new ones. Nobody who has been to Brandie's dessert gathering misses it next time.

We're having a dessert potluck for the adults at Pathway on the 29th.
Shhh. It's a shameless ploy to get another taste of Brandie's creations.

Prejudice can save lots of time, because you can form an opinion without any facts.

2011-12-16T16:10:00.000-08:00

Picked this off Facebook.

Phoenix finished fifth on a list of "Most Vain Cities." That could have something to do with the presence of Scottsdale, aka Silicone Valley.
That's one of the striking things about the Barrett-Jackson auction compared to the others going on at the same time. For many it's a place to see and be seen. Guys with egos like being seen on national TV bidding on expensive cars. Walking around the grounds of the auction it's apparent that some women are there shopping too, just not for cars. No woman goes to a car auction dressed like that if she's there for the vintage automobiles.

I'm irritated by the fact my parts shipped from Wisconsin on the 5th still haven't arrived. I wish they hadn't used Parcel Post since the govt.'s reputation for doing almost everything is less than stellar. Even with the extra load due to Christmas it should have been here by now. I have no reason to think they didn't ship it when/how they said, but at what point do I start making some serious noise? I've asked them for a tracking number but not rec'd one.

Re. the Facebook posts with a picture that asks "Can you see/find it?"
No I cannot. But it's OK because I didn't try. Please don't take it personally but my life is quite complete without finding the hidden ______ in a 1.5" square picture on my laptop screen. I'm thrilled for you, though. Honestly, I am.

This video, on the other hand, is excellent! My friend Sue sent it to me.
Hanukkah begins on the 18th but this will help you prepare.

OK, this is the real problem of the day. Of the month. Perhaps of this year and next.
Because I'm planning on attending, I searched the early listing of cars that will be sold at Barrett-Jackson next month. And I found...
THIS.
It is our car!
Ours was all white with a different (tan) interior, but it was a Dynamic 88, it was a 2-door hardtop and it had this engine. It didn't have AC, or any other extras. No power steering (I added it), no power windows, no radio, no nuthin'. But that car is so incredibly gorgeous it doesn't need anything except just to sit there and look awesome.
The listing doesn't show mileage and it clearly hasn't been restored - or even cleaned up well. Which means it will be auctioned early and for a relatively low figure. And I know what that car can be with just a little elbow grease.
I WANT THAT CAR!
I looked at what B-J requires in order to get a bidder's paddle and it's ridiculous, especially for a car that will go for relatively low dollars, as I suspect this one will.
Pam asked where we'd put it. It wouldn't fit in the garage unless I took out the workbench and pulled it up all the way up to the wall. So I'd take out the workbench and pull it up all the way to the wall. Duh!

And I could store the VW in the trunk.
Please join me in praying for a way to get this car.

People are more opposed to fur than leather because it's easier to pick on rich ladies than biker gangs.

2011-12-15T17:46:00.000-08:00

Awkward Christmas photos.

I will not turn on the heat. I will not turn on the heat. I will not turn on the heat.

Facebook made the new "Timeline" interface available today. It goes into effect for everyone on the 22nd but we can set it up before then if we want. I messed with it a little and can't figure out some features. A picture of my VW chassis sitting in my garage somehow gets tagged as happening at a shoe store in Peoria. I'm real sure I've never been to that shoe store, never mind worked on my car there. But despite my best efforts I can't figure out how to undo that tag.
It could be worse. It is, after all, just a shoe store.

One unnamed retired Pentagon official says he doesn't think the drone the Iranian's are showing off is real. He says the rivets wouldn't be visible on a stealth craft, the color is wrong, and their drape hiding the underside obscures what would be convincing evidence - the surface with all the technology.
Another expert says the Iranians exploited a well-known weakness in the drone's technology. By jamming the remote navigation they fooled the onboard GPS system into thinking that Iran was its home base and it "returned" there.
I don't want to think we're that stupid or that they're that good. I sure hope it's a fake.
But if it is, why did the President ask them to return it?
Are we trying to trick them into thinking they've tricked us?

According to all the major news outlets a Census Dept. study shows one half of all Americans are either living in poverty or are officially in the "low income" category. That's unbelievable on the face of it. Either we need to redraw the line or somebody can't count. I'd argue that anyone with the money for a smart phone or a flat screen TV isn't poor, and that's a lot more than half the population. I am NOT saying we should be anything but compassionate and caring toward those who are legitimately poor, but we've lost track of what's essential. Get rid of those false necessities and the amount of money required for the real basics of life would, I suspect, be a lot lower.
[Tonight I read that some reporters are as bad at math as I am, and the rest are lemmings.]

This headline from today's CNN.com is typical of those that appeared on several major news sites and was also reported on NPR:
"Survey: 1 in 3 women affected by partner's violent behavior."
This is from another study done by the govt., in this case the CDC. And again I found the statistic unbelievable. Turns out I was right.
How many people will read that headline and take it at face value? How many will read the article carefully and discover that "stalking" falls under the CDC's definition of "violent behavior?" If you heard the NPR story this afternoon, as I did, no mention was made of that rather soft definition of violence.
And who decides what constitutes stalking? She broke up with her boyfriend and he called every day for a week trying to win her back. Stalking?
"More than one in three women reported experiencing multiple forms of rape, stalking or physical violence."
I am NOT saying we should be anything but 100% intolerant of physical violence against anyone. But the question, "Have you ever experienced...," when it includes stalking, makes the survey meaningless.
I would answer "yes" to a question about having been stalked (scary story) but certainly don't consider myself the object of violence.

To quote MNF, "C'mon, man!"

He couldn't pour water out of a boot with instructions on the heel.

2011-12-14T19:57:00.000-08:00

Look at an angle from the bottom.

(I have no idea)

Did I mention how preachers feel about Christmas?

So I spent the morning with Simeon. We've never done that before and I found him a pretty interesting old guy whose greatest moment in life came when he got to hold a baby.

And a bunch of people wrote a song about him, a song with a weird title.

If Simeon were to sing a song, what would it sound like? 'cause having spent the morning with him I don't think it would sound anything like the ones I listened to. (check out Nunc Dimittis on iTunes.)

A commercial satellite snapped the first images of the first Chinese aircraft carrier. Having just assembled a utility trailer made in China I'm sure the ship poses no threat to maritime safety.

I hope they make it back to port before the bearings seize.

I have two QB's on my fantasy football league. Both of them have "post-concussive symptoms." This could be a problem for this weekend's matchup.

I have no recollection of why I chose Vagabond Thoughts for the title of my blog. Because I started out on a different blog hosting service I can't go back and look it up. Did it have something to do with the vagabond life we've lived? Since I graduated from college we've lived in five cities in three states. We've never lived in a house longer than six years and I've had six different positions (five as a pastor), not counting that three-month stint teaching remedial reading at a K-8 boys military-style boarding school. You don't want to know.

I had a conversation this week that made me think about those moves from one church to the next. Were they good decisions? Should we have stayed longer at the second, third or fourth churches? (I essentially got sort of fired from the first one.) In each case we took out time, prayed and talked through the decision thoroughly. We asked God for wisdom and tried to look at all the relevant factors.

I don't think we got it wrong in any of those moves but looking back I can more clearly see the value of long pastoral tenures. Lloyd Peterson was my pastor from my first time at church as an infant until I left for college. There's value in that constancy, stability. When a church gets a new pastor every four or five years it says something, especially to the children and youth growing up in that congregation. They lose out on the bond that can only develop over a decade or more having the same pastor.

If the guy's a doofus all bets are off. In that case the church should (graciously) send him packing. But being a pastor isn't a career path with rungs to be climbed. It's shepherding, and the sheep, old and young, need constancy and an example of faithful commitment.

If all that sounds like I regret our decisions, not true. I just see the other side of the coin better now that I'm (older and) wiser.

Now and then an innocent man is sent to the legislature. - Kin Hubbard

2011-12-13T17:51:00.000-08:00

I've got a package of parts coming from Wisconsin that was shipped Monday of last week and hasn't arrived. So yesterday I sent them an email asking if they had tracking information. I said I understand it may be just the Christmas overload but I didn't want to ignore a delay due to a problem somewhere. I got a response today saying they sent it parcel post.
I had to look that up. Didn't know what it was.
Turns out it's a service offered by the USPS that's slower than almost any other form of shipping but also costs less.
Then the light went on. They're offering free shipping for orders placed before the end of the month.

I'm not sure which is more exciting, the product or the presenter.
The Digi-Key Pulse

On the Thursday night between Christmas and New Year's we're going to have a party just for the adults at Pathway. It will be a dessert pot-luck mostly for the chance to socialize without our normal flood of munchkins.
I've been scouring the internet looking for a few games we can play at the party and can't believe how much trouble I'm having. Some of them are just lame, others involve shaving creme and/or water balloons, some are altogether inappropriate for a church gathering...
I'm taking suggestions if you have them.

We're a month away from auto auction week here in Phoenix. They estimate a total of 2500 cars will cross the block at the six auctions being held at different venues on the east side, with about 1200 of them at the biggest, Barrett-Jackson. Pat and I talked about the auctions when I was out there last Sunday and he won't be participating in B-J this year because of the way they've restructured their auction. He's taking all five of his auction cars to Russo-Steele. That includes a perfectly restored low miles 1960 Chrysler 300. It's the 400hp, 413 cubic inch 4-speed, with two 4-bbl carbs mounted out by the fender wells. He told me what it should sell for, so I'll be tracking it to see if it brings what he expects.
I'll work ahead so I have time to go to B-J at least, and hopefully Russo-Steele, too, Thursday and Friday, respectively.

The AZ Chiropractor's association held a demonstration at the capital building downtown today because the state has changed its policies on how much reimbursement they get, cutting it so much that many have been forced out of business.
They interviewed a couple of them on TV tonight. Those guys are really bent out of shape.

Just so you know, any preacher who's been in the biz for more than five years will tell you Christmas sermons are the worst.
I may be at Starbucks tomorrow. Double shot.

Never squat while wearing spurs.

2011-12-12T17:24:00.000-08:00

Mitt Romney bet Rick Perry $10,000 that he had never written that the MA health care law should be implemented on a national basis.
Lindsay Lohan had her purse stolen over the weekend when she was in Hawaii. It was returned, but with $10,000 in cash missing.
Coincidence? I don't think so.

The minute I head out to the garage to work Pam changes the radio to Christmas music.
What's a Scrooge to do?

The drizzle started about 7:00 this morning and will continue through to Wednesday morning. I don't think it has rained like that since we moved here over five years ago. Storms usually arrive and leave within a few hours. This is positively Seattle-like, and the cloud cover has mid-day highs only in the upper 50's, so the weather outside is indeed frightful. Wish we had a fireplace for this cold, damp weather.

I paid $3.11 for gas today. I don't know whether to be pleased or horrified.

Chris Carter on the ESPN pre-game show tonight re. Tim Tebow:
"He's never failed. He doesn't have pictures in his head of himself failing. So he has tremendous confidence in himself when the pressure is on."
I don't know if that's accurate with regard to Tebow but it sure is true. The pictures we have of ourselves are powerful influences on our behavior. The pictures may or may not be accurate; perception, including self-perception, determines reality.
"I could never do that" comes from someone who sees a picture of themselves trying and failing, failure being unacceptable for one reason or another.
If failure is OK then trying carries no particular risk and brings the potential for the satisfaction of accomplishment. Why not try? What's the worst that can happen?
There are exceptions. Things like cliff diving and do-it-yourself cosmetic surgery. But I hope I never get paralyzed by the fear of failure that comes from pictures inside my head. There's too much fun to be had.

On the Today Show over the weekend they did a segment on buying tech gifts for Christmas that included a short piece on flat screen TV's. The guy said to think about the future, which means getting a TV that's 3D and big. He went on to say that "If it's for your kids bedroom it's probably OK to get a smaller LCD that's just 2D, but if it's going in your main entertainment area you should spring for the best and latest."
I was apparently napping when it became standard to put a TV in your kid's bedroom. Call me old fashioned but I'm not seeing it.
Tonight I saw an ad for what they claim is the biggest flat screen on the market, coming in at 72" (measured diagonally). Everybody is seeing that! I'm not sure we have a wall in our house big enough for a TV like that, never mind having to sit outside to be the appropriate distance away.

Even at a Mensa convention someone is the dumbest guy in the room.

2011-12-11T16:39:00.001-08:00

I knew broccoli was good for something.

This will be brief. My body feels like I've done 387 burpees and my brain is flickering with the last few synapses of the foreseeable future. But I must mention...

What a wonderful surprise it was to see Bill and Nancy Rigg walk into Pathway this morning. He's someone God used at one of several key junctures in my life to minister to me in a critical way. At the time Bill was Dean of Students and showed me grace and compassion when I was a lost college freshman. I'm not sure I would have made it through that horrible year without his help. I haven't seen Bill & Nancy (a special lady in her own right) for years but as soon as I laid eyes on them this morning I felt blessed.

After church I drove out to Pat's. We're close, real close. He said another hour and a half of sanding and Ilsa will be read for paint. He doesn't know what the rest of his week looks like. There's an outside chance it will be done this Thursday, but if not he says it will be the end of next week. Can you hear my heart going pitty-pat?

In between seeing the Riggs walk into the room and going out to Tonopah I spent the morning with the people of Pathway.

If you know me you know I am not inclined to overstatement, but I think this morning was pivotal.

Good people, these. Good people.

Now I'm going to have a cup of strong coffee in the hopes that will keep me conscious until 7:30.

Tomorrow is going to foggy with a chance of not much happening.

I used to like political jokes until so many of them got elected.

2011-12-10T11:06:00.001-08:00

I had called the electric blanket company yesterday and this morning they called back. For $20 they're sending me a new control, so we'll both sleep warmly through the winter. Still haven't turned on the heat but we're supposed to get some rain Tuesday, which means no solar heating through sunlit windows.

Sometimes - OK, a lot of the time - my brain works a problem in the background while I'm doing other things, mulling potential causes and cures. Late last night I had an epiphany: Occam's Razor dictated that none of the trailer lights worked because of a ground issue. I got the unassembled trailer at Harbor Freight and they got it from China. Accordingly, bolt heads varied in size so much that the correct socket wouldn't fit on at least one in six. To save money in manufacturing they have you attach the lights to the frame at each corner and connected the ground wire to the tongue in the front. That should work in theory, with the frame acting as the conductor for the ground circuit, except that they painted the frame, thus insulating it from the lights. So this morning I embraced my late-night theory and ran a ground wire that connected each light and attached directly to the ground wire at the head of the harness.
Success!
It feels so good to solve a problem, and electrical problems can be the trickiest. I called Pam at work to remind her she's married to a genius.

The problem with eating the lunch Pam made for me at 10:30 is that I'm ready for the dinner she made for me at 3:30. By 7:00 it's time for another meal but there's nothing to eat that doesn't require doing something in that room with the big white thing that gets hot.
Isn't this a great country!
Note: turns out doing genius work builds up quite the appetite.

Poor Rick Perry.
But it's OK. They're bringing back "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" so he'll have at least one more TV appearance, albeit another losing one.
They complained that John McCain was a boring candidate. Nothing boring about this field of Republicans.

The gal who opens up the school for us most Sunday mornings, Maxima, is from Mexico. She says she's been here for 22 years but her accent is still very thick and sometimes I have trouble understanding her. (Maybe she said 7 years.) We usually chat briefly and she's always cheerful. She's also very eager to make sure everything is as we need it. The elders agreed we should give her a monetary gift to express our appreciation for her faithfulness and help, a gift I'll give her tomorrow morning when she arrives to unlock. (I'm always there early.) I'm really looking forward to that. Besides being cheerful she's a bit shy and quite deferential. I know she'll be very surprised.
'tis better to give than to receive, and more fun, too.

Navy beats Army!

We're blessed with some uniquely skilled people at Pathway and Matt is certainly one of them. His expertise and resources as VP at Arrowhead Advertising has opened up disproportionate outreach opportunities for our church. And the faithful stewardship of the congregation enables us to put it all together. We're praying about a 4-pronged strategy that we trust will bear significant fruit in the weeks and months ahead. Good stuff.

All I want for Christmas is a box of Smurfs and a mallet.

2011-12-09T17:10:00.001-08:00

Alec Baldwin is not married. Can't be. Not because he did something stupid; that's normal for husbands. But because once he realized he'd stepped in it he didn't SHUT UP. He tweeted about power-hungry flight attendants, and now their union wants him put on a no-fly list, barred from every plane in the universe.
But wait! There's more!
He went on to say modern flight attendants are like Jr. Hi. gym teachers walking around with a whistle and a clip board looking for people they can punish. "They've turned flying into a Greyhound Bus experience." So now Greyhound is all over him.
I hope he likes walking.

TIME Magazine had an article on Mitt Romney that used a graph with separate lines to track his changing positions on issues like abortion, the 2nd amendment, and global warming. The only straight line on the graph was the one tracking his hair.

One side of our electric blanket doesn't work so this morning I set about to identify the problem. It's one of the controls. My guess was just a bad on/off switch so I took it to the garage and opened it up. Wow! The inside of a computer has nothing on the guts of a blanket control. There's a circuit board in there! And the only way to get to the on/off switch was to remove (break) it.
The working control is now on Pam's side of the bed and the bad one still sits on my workbench - just because I can't bring myself to pitch it. Yet.
Yes, I already looked for replacements online and they aren't there.

Did you hear about the elderly couple here that got lost? They were driving from Arizona back to their home in New Mexico and made a wrong turn. They tried to take a shortcut back to the highway but it turned out to be a dirt access road so rough that one bump broke the transmission on their car. They sat in the car for four days, running it occasionally to stay warm, before deciding to walk out. She only got a short distance before dying of a heart attack. He stayed by her body for several hours and then began walking, and was eventually found by a wildlife officer. He's hospitalized but will be OK.

He was interviewed by the press and said before they left the car she commented they'd talked more in that four days than they had in 60 years of marriage.
That's sad.

I'm feeling better about the sermon but still want to spend significant time with it between now and Sunday morning.

"It is bad luck to be superstitious." - Andrew W. Mathis

2011-12-08T17:10:00.001-08:00

First the misplacement of bodies at Arlington National Cemetery and now the disposal of veterans' ashes in a dump. All wrong, and heads should roll. Gibbs would be furious.

I worked on my sermon today, off and on throughout the day. I feel particularly exercised about this one but I'm having a dickens of a time getting it to fit into a structure. Maybe I'll just get up there and let fly. Naw, I can't do that. I've got to have a plan, an outline. I'm very extemporaneous in my delivery but I always have a plan. I think in all but the rarest of occasions public speaking requires it.

A sermon without a structure is like a body without a skeleton, all floppy. I've walked out after listening to a message and thought, "I heard everything he said and it was all true, but I don't know what his point was." In class we'd talk about the sermon in a sentence. I'd tell them, "If I met your people as they came out of the service and asked them to give me the point of your sermon in once sentence they should have no trouble doing so, or at least coming very close." In homiletics it's called propositional preaching and in English class it's having a clear thesis statement for your paper.

So after more cogitating this evening I think I have that proposition, that sermon in a sentence, and the supporting points that will make the case.
I think.

Albert Pujols signed a contract with the Los Angeles California Anaheim Orange County Angels that has him receiving $254 million over 10 years. I can't wrap my head around that. He's 31 and unless he turns out to be a freak of nature will not be playing ten years from now, but he'll still be getting paid. They used to take these big contracts and break them down by saying, "________ will be getting $___ for every game." Then the money got so big it was "$____ for every inning." At $254 million I don't know what metric you use, but unless I'm even worse at math than I thought it works out to over $2 million a month, every month, for the next decade. What does someone do with $2 million a month? And even if you do solve that problem the first month what do you do with the next one?

Somebody lost a remote control airplane. It's at the lost and found in Tehran.
Embaaaarrassing!

Here's one of those "truth stranger than fiction" stories:
Monique van Der Vorst

Time for a cup of coffee, a brownie and the rest of the football game.

If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me.

2011-12-07T17:57:00.001-08:00

Went over to Matt's work this afternoon to record a couple of short video clips.
That was intimidating. Not my finest hour - or 72 seconds.

The temp inside the house was 63 this morning, but we got up to 66 this afternoon. Pam's baking so I think we're good for the night.

December is a busy month for pastors. But especially this year it's a good busy. And I like that it involves the kids of Pathway.

I've been thinking about this a lot.
We're a pluralistic society and if I want freedom of religion I should extend that same freedom to others. That means I shouldn't discriminate against someone based on their personal religious convictions, including rejecting them as a Presidential candidate.
A lot of Americans seem to think that, because when asked if they would vote for a Mormon the vast majority say yes.
But, I've been thinking about this a lot, and while I wish I didn't have to come to this conclusion,
I cannot vote for a Mormon for President, whether it's Mitt Romney or Jon Huntsman.

Mormonism is a secret religion. An active (as opposed to nominal) Mormon takes vows that are secret and bind them to keep the secrets of their religion on penalty of punishment in this life and the life to come.
Mormonism is authoritative. The leaders of the Mormon Church believe they speak for God and the members of the Mormon Church are expected to obey their leaders completely. This isn't an abstract theory. The leaders tell Mormons which building to go to for services and which of several services at that building they are to attend. They are told how much to give to the church and if they don't give that amount they may be dismissed from the church - an action with eternal consequences. Think the excommunication of Roman Catholicism.
Mormonism is exclusive. With adequate conformity and after two interviews a Mormon can receive a Temple Recommend that allows him or her to participate in ceremonies - secret ceremonies at the nearest Temple. No one, not even a Mormon, without a Temple Recommend can enter the Temple except as a visitor on a tour.

The President takes an oath of office in which he (she) pledges to support the Constitution of the United States. The tenets of the Mormon Church demand an allegiance to an earthly organization that supersedes all others. If Mr. Romney and Mr. Huntsman choose to be Mormons that is their right in this country where we hold fiercely to the freedom of religion. But the inherent conflict between the secretive, authoritative, and exclusive nature of Mormonism and the Presidential oath of office gives me sufficient pause to rule out voting for a Mormon.

I realize that's a personal decision and each voter can and should make up their own mind on the matter. But this is a personal blog and I get to write whatever I'm thinking. (OK, not everything everything.) And I've been thinking about this a lot.

"Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them. " - Bill Vaughan

2011-12-06T16:29:00.001-08:00

Each morning, as soon as the sun is up, we open all the blinds and shades to get the solar heating effect. Each evening just before sunset they get closed to keep that heat from escaping through the glass. But this cold snap (by Phoenix standards) has nighttime lows in the mid-30's and daytime highs only in the 50's. Each day over the last four or five the temp inside our house has lost a couple of degrees as solar heating can't keep up with the cold outside. This morning the thermostat read 65 and this evening shows we only gained two degrees on this sunny but chilly day. So, can we hold out and keep from turning on the heat? By the end of the week we're supposed to have daytime highs back into the mid-60's but I'm wondering what the thermostat will read tomorrow morning.

I'm not comfortable with the administration's announcement that foreign aid will henceforth be given out with consideration for gay rights in recipient countries. I vigorously disapprove of persecution based on sexual preference, but I'd feel better about this if we were equally diligent about consideration of protections for the unborn in recipient countries.

The "Occupy Movement" has taken a more direct approach, occupying houses vacant through foreclosure. Isn't this called squatting?

NBC Nightly News did a segment tonight on how Presidents age while in office and showed before/after pictures to illustrate the effects of those stressful years. Lines, jowls, gray hair and a generally tired look.
Pam and I had a conversation recently about the aging process we see in ourselves. I knew what happens as years pass but it's disturbing to actually see it in myself. I'm not talking dementia or ... I forgot the other thing.
The skin on my arms and hands looks different. I can see a hint of jowls, and what's with the nose and ear hair?
It's OK. Each age has its own advantages and I enjoy this unique set. And I won't let a number define who I am or how I live. It's just weird to watch the outside of me changing.

The day's to-do list still has items not crossed off. Back to work.

"I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I've ever known. " - Walt Disney

2011-12-05T16:15:00.001-08:00

My 20-year old 3/8" swivel-head ratchet finally bit the dust. I'm surprised it lasted that long, inasmuch as the manufacturer didn't even put a brand name on it. For a replacement I went to Harbor Freight today and picked up a few other things I'll need in the near future. I could spend a lot of money in that place. Yes, mostly it's Chinese stuff of very questionable quality but I don't make my living with these tools so they're adequate for my needs. And cheap (the best part).

When I came out I drooled over a very clean 1972 Datsun 240 Z parked next to my Kia. That's the car that started the Japanese sports car movement. When it hit the market Car & Driver magazine said the only fault they could find was too much badging on the exterior. Still a beautiful car.

A few weeks ago the men of Pathway went kart racing. Josh invited a friend who's from England and we talked about the motorcycle races on the Isle of Man off the west coast of Scotland. They have an annual Time Trial race that's considered the TT of the year. I told him I'd like to see it live some day. This is as close as I'll get, but it got my heart pumping. I'm guessing you, too, will have an "oh my" reaction at one point.
Isle of Man TT video

You undoubtedly heard that the Post Office is cutting back the quantity and quality of its service while it raises the cost of stamps. Such is life. I heard they figure the volume of mail processed by the USPS, which has already dropped dramatically, will fall another 50% over the next ten years.
I don't care that a first class piece will take two days instead of one. But they're saying magazines will take 5-8 days for delivery. At that point my subscription to TIME looks more like HISTORY MAGAZINE. It may be time to get it on my iPad.

This afternoon I read an article from last week's TIME about the latest iteration of romance novels. They're called Yellow Ribbon novels because the current fad is steamy stories that feature firefighters, cops and returned vets, especially Navy Seals. The full-page picture at the beginning of the article is of a photo shoot for a novel's cover involving some guy who's supposed to be one of those firefighters who jump from planes into a forest fire. His uniform shirt is open and he is ripped! He has to be taking pills or injections of something to have muscles and definition like that. Yikes!

It didn't help that I read that just before heading to the gym for my workout. Why bother??
Then I thought more about it. I'm going to the Sun City gym, where I am that guy! It's not about what you look like, it's what you look like compared to the people around you.
Stand next to squishy old people and it's all good.

I got an email today from a person I don't know who takes issue with an article I wrote. "Takes issue" puts it mildly. Think: flamed.
I need to write a response; it's the courteous thing to do. But if it weren't for his pretty harsh tone I wouldn't know for sure what he's saying. He's not very good at communicating in written form. I'm OK with him disagreeing but because I can't make sense of much of what he writes I'm not sure what to say in response. Maybe I'll just say, "Thank you for your comments...blah, blah, blah," since any back and forth on the issue is pointless. He's clearly convinced of the error of my ways.

"Progress might have been all right once, but it has gone on too long." - Ogden Nash

2011-12-03T08:53:00.001-08:00

Where pumpkin pie comes from.

I learned yesterday that in the song "California Dreaming" by The Mama's and the Papas the lyrics go:
All the leaves are down, and the sky is gray,
I've been for a walk on a winter's day.
All these years I thought the leaves were brown.
I need TTY on radios.

Never mind how my mind got there; it doesn't matter. This morning I was thinking about how nice new things feel. My can of shaving creme (or is it cream?) is empty but I shook the b'jeebers out of it this morning so I can use the new can tomorrow. I love how thick it is when the can is full and on Sunday mornings those small pleasures help start the pressure day off right.
New sheets, new towels, a new saw blade....
Things wear slowly and we don't realize how much of their crispness, thickness, sharpness, etc. they've lost until we replace them. Then we think, "Why did I keep ____ that long? Now I realize it was shot."

Admit it: you've had the same thought about underwear. You get new stuff and realize how stretched out and saggy the old pairs were.
And that got me to thinking about the wear bars they build into tires. When you see them you know it's time for new tires.
So someone should come up with wear bars for underwear. It could be a thin strip of color that fades away after, say, 1,000 washings. When you don't see that blue stripe anymore - time to get yourself some new BVD's!
I should patent this idea, huh.

I like tall baseboards with a shoe molding, both painted a pure semi-gloss white. That's what I put throughout our house as I re-did each room.
I like having the windows open so the fresh air can move through the house.
I don't like the layer of desert grit that gets on everything, including the baseboards, this time of year. And there's no way to clean it off except wiping them down with a wet rag. Rinse and move on. Ugh.

OK, I've got to iron tomorrow's shirt and pack my case for the morning. Then I'll crash the rest of the evening. Some coffee and a piece of pie followed by an early bedtime.

When I want your opinion I'll remove the duct tape.

2011-12-02T06:43:00.001-08:00

There's a sermon illustration here.

It was just before dawn when I took Jack for his morning walk, so I could see the house three blocks down where they put up the icicle lights that hang from eaves. He got the new LED version, which is why I could see them three blocks away. At first I thought, "Who put a gas station down the street while I was sleeping?" Not exactly a warm glow.

Walmart has a price guarantee program for the Christmas buying season. I heard the small print in their TV ad. If you find a lower price anywhere else they'll give you a Walmart gift card for the difference. Clever or sneaky, depending on your opinion of Walmart. I'm goin' with sneaky.

Herman Cain has been out on the campaign trail and therefore hasn't had a chance to talk to his wife in person about the latest allegations of a 13-year affair. He maintains he did not have an affair but did give this woman money to help her out - something he says he never told his wife. After he has a chance to go home this weekend and talk it over with Mrs. Cain he'll announce his decision about staying in the race.
I admire his courage. He's actually going home this weekend.

We're headed to Dillon's for dinner, meeting Mike & Karli there to make best use of a Groupon coupon. Ribs!

The press is describing his comment about children working after school as another Gingrich blunder. I wonder if those pundits are out of touch or if I'm really old fashioned.
I heard the tail end of an interview with the author (along with his wife) of The Entitlement Trap, a book about raising kids with the sense of ownership that only comes with personal investment. We're well past the child-raising years but I'm considering getting the book just because it sounds insightful.
Teens working in the school library or assisting the janitor or working in the cafeteria makes all kinds of sense IMHO, and I suspect most Americans would agree.
I guess we'll see. If people run the other direction I'll conclude I'm way out of touch (though not necessarily wrong). But I won't be surprised if parents like this idea. For poor children it gives them some income and teaches responsibility in the workplace. For more privileged kids, for whom the income isn't important the lessons on cause/effect on the job might be even more important.

"The trouble with America is that there are far too many wide-open spaces surrounded by teeth." - Charles Luckman

2011-12-01T09:02:00.001-08:00

Sometimes the need to be first leads to self-destructive behavior.

When did they stop listing amp draw on the electrical label of appliances? I changed the bedding this morning and put on the electric blankets so we can cope with the extreme cold (lower 40's) we'll have tonight. I wanted to see how much power the blanket draws; just curious. The label tells me it's 110 watts, but of course it is. This is America, and everything is either 110 watts OR has one of those built-in transformers on the power cord like a printer or laptop. (Dryers and range/stoves are the exception but they have a different plug.) Amperage is what matters so no circuit gets overloaded.
I first noticed the absence of this information when I was looking at small microwaves two weeks ago. How much current does it draw? I have no idea and can't find out.

And speaking of the electric blanket, people who design products should be required to use them, even if they do live in China. The controls each weigh a few grams and are the size of a child's fist. The two cords coming out the back are thick and stiff. Put those together and there's no way that control is going to sit on the nightstand with the bottom down. If they had those cords coming out near the top of the control in back they would weigh it down, but the way it's designed....
Yeah, I know. But it's these little, relatively insignificant things that make me wonder, didn't anybody actually try this?

It's difficult to find jeans to fit when you're tall and skinny. So difficult that I ended up at Walmart. I feel dirty.

The couple in front of me at the register (what used to be called a cash register) took a very long time to complete their transaction. They had several credit cards, some of which had limits on the amount of any single transaction. They didn't seem to know which cards had what limits, so they had to keep trying different cards in different sequences until they found a combination that would allow them to pay for the $500+ worth of merchandise in their cart. While this was going on the line of people at the register was getting longer.
When they finally finished the lady looked back at the line and said, "Smile. This is all for charity, so you should be smiling because of this."
See: non sequitur.

Guys who are bald on top but have long hair hanging down over their collar. Why??
Worse: grossly overweight 80-year old men at the pool wearing a swim suit that, in reality, is nothing more than a codpiece. NO, NO, NO!
Living in Sun City brings a unique set of challenges.

The electric bill that came today is $84, one hundred dollars less than it was during August. Which is to say we spend about $3.50 a day for AC during the summer. In Michigan, where we had a stupid big, if wonderful house, we paid almost $300 a month during the winter months for heat. So we're net $100 per month to the good for utility bills.
Oh yeah. No shoveling in a blizzard, either.

I have to think about things like that when the guy in the codpiece shows up.

"When a person cannot deceive himself the chances are against his being able to deceive other people." - Mark Twain

2011-11-30T18:11:00.001-08:00

Today I graded the second exam. I have a really smart and committed adult Sunday School class. They did great!

Today I went to the gym and did a workout that included burpees. I hate burpees and I don't do them nearly this fast (or fluidly!). How can something that looks so basic be this exhausting?

We've had the jingle bells Hershey Kisses already. When do we get the Norelco shaver sledding down the slope?

It's Wednesday night and I have my sermon done, except it's not done. I want this one to be sharp and that's going to take a lot of honing between now and Sunday morning.

It's been a long day and tomorrow has some extra tasks, too. Plus, we've got really nasty weather on the way. They're talking rain and highs that might not get out of the upper 50's by the weekend. Brutal! So forgive a short post. I'm headed to bed early so I can be at my best through this trying time.

"Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only food: frequently there must be a beverage." - Woody Allen

2011-11-29T17:53:00.001-08:00

Herman, Herman, Herman. Did you really thing you could keep all of this secret? The very first question you should have asked yourself: "How will it go when (not if) my dirty laundry is made public?" Only someone from outside politics could be so foolish.

CBS primetime on a Tuesday night, 7 p.m. (the equivalent of 8 p.m. in all other time zones):
Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer
Yeah, SO much to love about this season of the year.

This morning I was unloading sheets of plywood and got a sliver from the edge of one. I've had plenty of slivers before and always dug them out one way or another. But this one went into the meaty part of my fingertip on one side and came out the other. Ouch! I instinctively yanked on the fat end and it broke off. I was more careful with the skinny end poking out the other side but it broke off, too, leaving the majority of the sliver inside the tip of my finger.
I finished unloading the plywood and returned Josh's truck to him and by then my finger was starting to swell. So I went to see Pam at the hospital. I figured one of their nurses would get out something sharp and sterile, cut the piece of wood out and all would be fine. None of them seemed willing.
What's the point of having a wife who works at a hospital if you can't get some minor medical care on the sly?
They said I needed to go across the street to the urgent care center and then told me about a boy they had just discharged who had surgery to clean up an infection from a sliver in his hand.
Did you know that when they want to numb your fingertip they give you Novocain shots on either side of the base of that finger? Then she went to digging with a variety of sharp instruments until she dug it out. At least she thinks she got it all out. It was far enough into the meat of my finger that she could only feel it, not see it. So now I take antibiotics and soak it in hot water three times a day so anything left in there will...float out??

Fascinating lady. She's a Physician's Assistant who started her career in cancer research at Sloan-Kettering in NY but wanted to work with people not lab equipment. So she went back to school to get her P.A. certification and has been doing this for 30 years. (She's roughly my age.) She still has some Brooklyn accent and NY 'tude. Her dad spent all of his adult life driving a taxi in NYC.
I love hearing people's stories and besides being a good PA, at least when it comes to dealing with deeply embedded slivers, she was a true character.

I don't have the courage to do this, but it would be fun:
Next Time You're Bored...

We have a passel of great kids at Pathway. Bright, active, fun. The oldest is our granddaughter, Megan, who is 9. The 28 or so other kids are all younger. So you can imagine the energy in that room on a Sunday morning.
Evan is in first grade. Today he won his class spelling bee. That's pretty cool all by itself but if you knew how very far Evan has come you, too, would be teary-eyed over this accomplishment. His parents, who have patiently and faithfully worked with him, are pretty cool, too.

The people, especially the short ones, are the best part!

When it rains Chuck Norris doesn't get wet. The rain gets Chuck Norrised.

2011-11-28T07:53:00.001-08:00

If soap is what we use to get clean why is it a problem to have soap scum on the shower walls? Isn't the term scum a misnomer here? 'cause I'm thinking if I let it get thick enough I can just rub my wash cloth across it and call it recycling.

I can't tell you the name of the drug but the ads for it on TV show an old guy riding a motorcycle and at the end he says, "I want to die tired."
That's why I think I'll die on a Sunday evening.
On a more serious level I do identify with that line. It's not that I have a bucket list of things I feel driven to get done before I go the way of all flesh, but I like doing new things. And there's no shortage of new things to try, some of which haven't occurred to me yet. I don't object to guys who are perfectly happy to sit with a beverage in front of their TV and watch one ballgame after another. It works for them. But not for me. And what strikes me odd is that the former seems more acceptable than the latter. People ask why I can't just sit still, why I always need to have a project (or three) going. Why not? What's the problem? Nobody is harmed in the making of this movie and I never tackle a project without the sincere approval of my helpmeet.
Which is to say that as long as I've got time to kill before Pat has the body done....

I think what may be the most remarkable thing about Newt Gingrich's re-emergence to #2 in the polls (#1 in some areas) is that he hasn't spent a dime on ads. Nothing on TV, or radio, or print.... His competitors are spending millions and falling further down every week. This may be the sleeper story of the primary season, especially if it continues.

I'm thinking ahead to the time when I register Ilsa, and which day of the week works best for spending at the Motor Vehicle Division. I think she deserves personalized plates, but what should they say? I checked their web site and at this point my two choices are still available:
62 VW
ENTMLGY
The question is, will people get the second one? What's the point if nobody understands it. Do you? Your vote?
There is another option and it may be preferable. When I bought the car I also got the original AZ license plate that was issued to the vehicle. The state of AZ allows you to use an old plate if the numbers and letters aren't currently in use. The problem: that was back when they stamped the year on the plate, and because this car was purchased in the late fall of '61 that's what the plate says. People will see 61 in the upper left corner and assume the car is a '61, not a '62.
So, the original plate that give the wrong impression, a clever personalized plate that people may not understand, or a safe personalized plate that communicates clearly?

"When one member rejoices, all the members rejoice with it (them)."
Amen and Amen!

"Traditions are group efforts to keep the unexpected from happening." - Barbara Tober

2011-11-27T17:23:00.001-08:00

I am SO Sunday night. This will be an early night even by Sun City standards.

I went out after church to see Pat and his progress. Each time I go I learn more about the process and today I learned... we're not close. The imperfections that showed up when he put the first coat of primer on are all filled and he was sanding them when I got there. I asked him how much more work before painting and he said ten hours. I didn't realize he has to wet sand the whole car before paint.
In fairness, he was out of town all last week with his family for the holiday but given his crazy workload I don't see him having 10 hours during this or any week.
I also asked how long it takes each coat of paint to dry. I thought he was doing two but it will probably be three, and he said that by the time he works his way around the car and returns to the place he started that area will be dry. After paint he cleans out his gun and hoses and sets up to clear coat (another three coats) and it's the same thing - it dries so fast he goes from one coat directly to the next. Then it hardens for three days before getting "color sanded" (wet sanded), again, by hand. And finally polished.
Yeah, we're weeks out.
Christmas?
But I can't complain. The hours he'll have in and the price he's charging me? No way.

Tebow!

I'm not particularly happy that the NBA owners and players have come to an agreement. They'll begin on Christmas Day and have a 66-game season. (I think the normal is 82 or 83 games.) I was hoping their combined greed would lead to mutually assured destruction and cost them the entire season.

Pakistan may manage to end the war in Afghanistan. I heard a retired U.S. general say that without the supply base in Pakistan they're kicking us out of we can only sustain about 60 days of combat operations.

My brain is fried. See you in 24... or so.

A cat will blink when struck with a hammer.

2011-11-26T17:05:00.001-08:00

Pam has a nasty cold that kept her home from work today. I shopped local on "Shop Small Saturday" by going up the street to the Phoenix area grocery chain to get a frozen pizza for dinner.
She's better tonight than she was this morning and plans to go to church tomorrow. Tough to keep her away from her kiddos.

We sent another big rocket into space today. This one carries a rover that will be lowered by a special mechanical parachute onto the surface of Mars where it will drive around and look for any signs of life, including evidence of life from billions of years ago.
A few days ago I read an article on Wikipedia about NASA and the space program that said most Americans overestimate the size of the space agency's budget and underestimate the dollars it pumps back into the economy. I understand; all those parts come from someplace and the salaries go to people who buy groceries and jet skis. But in the end we're shooting it all into space and the practical value of whatever is learned from that roving around is minimal at best.
We have bridges falling apart, antiquated municipal utilities, and a system of rails that gets little or no attention. Never mind the budget deficit, if we're going to spend money we have a whole list of terrestrial projects that would also use domestic parts and pay salaries but with an end result of much greater practical value for life as we live it.
I must be missing something.

Big day tomorrow. With Matt gone I will lead songs, too, but the kids are going to help me. They don't know that yet but getting our 1st to 4th graders to come up - that's about a dozen kids - won't be a problem. We'll have fun.
The oldest kid at Pathway is in the 4th grade - except for Jake who is a H.S. sophomore. I love that we have that many young children. Some mornings we'll have 30 children, half the congregation. Not only does it bode well for our future but it's an incredible opportunity to minister at a crucial stage in life. These kids are learning God's Word and the value they have to this congregation.

I still have some grading to do before I can call it a night. When I left the college I thought I was done with this thrilling task. However, I am thrilled at a group of adults who will take an exam and turn it in for grading. Says a lot about their eagerness to learn the Bible.

If the Pope dies is he being promoted or fired?

2011-11-25T06:25:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving is behind us and the period of cheesy Christmas movies is upon us.
They were playing Christmas music at the gym. I turned up the Queen in my headphones.

The morning news shows spent lots of time on the Black Friday phenomenon. NBC interviewed the CEO of Best Buy and asked about their decision to open at midnight, hours earlier than previous years. She questioned the intrusion by the retail industry upon one of the biggest family days of the year and how he justified their decision. He responded that Best Buy has to meet the customers where they are, and because other businesses decided to open earlier they had to follow suit.

I think I see where this is headed. Why midnight? Why not 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving?
But he's right; retailers will always do only what the customers want. It was a calculated risk for those stores that decided to open at midnight. They weighed the increased costs, monetary and non-monetary, against the potential sales and concluded it made sense to open earlier. The retailers will do the same math next year and act accordingly, including opening before midnight if it makes business sense. Why shouldn't they? The trend will only stop, or reverse itself when the hard math of economics - whether it's reduced sales figures, or problems getting willing employees, or some other factor - tip the other way.

Railing against the retailers is misplaced disgust. "We have met the enemy and he is us."

Given the lack of financial self-discipline among 90% of American shoppers I don't think we can draw any conclusions about an improvement in the U.S. economy based on Black Friday sales figures. But it may be safe to draw conclusions about people who go out in the middle of the night to shop. I can't believe how many people I know who actually chose to do that. I would sooner eat nothing but cauliflower and broccoli for a week than go shopping in those crowds.
Brussels sprouts? Hmmm. That's a tough one.

I the spirit of optimism, hoping to get Isla back in a week or so, today I ordered:

headliner rods and insulation
mohair headliner, tan
Wiring harnesses, complete with all major and minor wires, grommets and fittings
Engine compartment insulation kit
Engine compartment-to-body seals
Engine-to-body mounting pads

I'll be ready when it is!

I'm still trying to figure out how to do the "Shop Small" bit tomorrow. We have a local grocery chain here called Basha's. They make pretty good donuts.

Communists have no class.

2011-11-24T17:33:00.001-08:00

Pam has come down with a head cold and had a miserable night. She spent the morning sleeping through the Macy's parade and gathered it together enough to go to work for her 1:00-7:00 shift. She has to work a 12-hour shift tomorrow and again Saturday, assuming she's up to it physically.

While she "watched" the parade I worked on my sermon. As I've written here before, preachers quickly figure out a single sermon rarely makes any appreciable difference in someone's life. It's the cumulative effect of a host of sermons that brings spiritual growth. That growth is so incremental that it's often only discernable over a considerable span of time. In December the believer looks back over the year and realizes he/she has a deeper understanding of who God is and what the Father/child relationship should look like.

That said, every once in a while the preacher (naively?) designs to preach a sermon or short series that he hopes will turn on a light or bring a specific behavioral change. This is that. Three weeks tied together thematically and building upon each other. So there was extra focus during this morning's sermon prep.

Once she left for work, get RID of the parade! There's football on. Suh (Detroit Lions) is out of control and either very good at lying through his teeth or seriously delusional. I hope he gets smacked hard by the commissioner.

Until I get the body back from Pat I'm going to spend time working on pieces. Late this afternoon I worked on the speedometer. You can see by the before pictures on the left that it needed attention. Besides being generally dirty and coroded the gels visible at the bottom of the dial had totally disintegrated. VW used thin pieces of colored plastic (gels) in front of light bulbs for the turn signal indicator (an arrow that points both ways and flashes when the turn signals are activated) and the oil pressure and generator warning lights. Those gels had dried out and crumbled. I read on the VW owners' forum that the colored tabs used for file folders make the ideal replacement. So I cut new gels and super-glued them in place. Then I very carefully pulled back the geared shaft that turns the odometer disks and reset the odometer to zero. OK, it actually reads 4, but getting that last digit to zero requires removing a lot of little pieces that I read will almost never go back where they belong. I can live with 4 showing on the odometer.

The light bulbs will all be replaced with 12v bulbs to match the conversion I did on the generator.

The "8 61" stamped on the back indicates this speedometer was manufactured in August of 1961.

The headline on USAToday.com reads, "Study of Marines shows guilt is top cause of PTSD." I disagree. The top cause of PTSD among Marines is war. And it isn't quibbling to point out that the word guilt implies they've done something wrong, when all they've done is follow orders. If it said, "false guilt," or even "feelings of guilt" I'd have less of a problem with the headline.

Pam's home, has been in her chair for about 10 minutes, and is already half asleep. She'll be sleeping "soundly" soon.

"The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that carries any reward." - John Maynard Keynes

2011-11-23T13:30:00.001-08:00

Speaking of painful, a friend posted this on Facebook. I couldn't look at it.
Would you look at this!

My friend Sue posted this on Facebook. If you've seen the original this redux will thrill you. And the audience is clearly appreciative.
Trololo
Poland?

Newt Gingrich just ruined any chance he had of getting the Republican nomination by advocating a nuanced approach to the immigration issue. Never mind that polls show the vast majority of Americans favor some kind of consideration for long time illegal residents, the seek and destroy wing of the GOP will effectively label him a liberal soft on enforcing the law.

Tonight is our family Thanksgiving. Pam has to work tomorrow afternoon and evening, and Josh, Aubri, and the kids will spend the day at her family's. Nothing fancy here, no grand meal. Pam's doing a pot roast and we're going to have some vegetable concoction that's paleo. I think that's fitness-speak for no sugar but lots of broccoli and cauliflower. I'm pretty sure there's more, but I'm not involved in the preparation. Over 40 years of marriage we've worked out an effective distribution of responsibilities, and mine include eating whatever is put in front of me and giving thanks it was put in front of me.

That means I don't spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and when I do enter the room with "the big white thing that gets hot," (that expression courtesy of my older brother) it usually ends up with me getting in trouble. Today I learned that for some reason Pam thinks it inappropriate that I use her strainer to clean algae out of the lily pond. Shame; it worked perfectly.

"The size of the Federal budget is not an appropriate barometer of social conscience or charitable concern." - Ronald Reagan

2011-11-22T17:29:00.001-08:00

So this is how they change the front tires. How do they change the back?

I went up to Starbucks this morning to use the free drink card I got from them for my birthday. I was pretty sure I knew how to do it, but rather than try and look like a fool I admitted my ignorance. "I want a peppermint latte, but I want it without 1,000 calories." He said they could make it with sugar free syrup and no-fat milk. "Yes please." Of course it required a muffin to keep it company. Both were good!

What an interesting place to people watch! Saw still more ladies in skin tight jeans with sparklies all over the butt. Why?? And while I don't know what the cut-off age is for women's low-rise jeans but I know there is one, and it's being exceeded by too many women, never mind younger women who have what it doesn't take.

In anticipation of getting the body back from paint in the (hopefully) not too distant future I'm doing research on the several decisions to be made. How close to the original do I want this to be? I can get very accurate repro German square weave carpet ($$$) or synthetic carpet that looks pretty close ($). The headliner in 1962 was mohair and in '63 VW switched to perforated vinyl. The latter is about half the price of the former. Similar options with the seat covers. This car is meant to be a driver, not a trailer queen, but I don't want to look at it a year from now and regret doing it on the cheap.

This Saturday is "Shop Small Saturday," the point of which is to keep retail dollars in the local community. I like that. But for the life of me I can't think of any neighborhood businesses I could patronize except for one-off restaurants. Every store I can think of around our house is a national chain. OK, there's a second hand store full of junk and old people, and several golf cart stores. So does dinner count?

I spent that time at Starbucks working on my sermon for Sunday. Except I ended up scrapping my plan and going a completely different direction. Sure hope it works.

Steve sent me this today:
What you do with a ski lift in summer
No way our govt. would let them get away with that here. Think harnesses, helmets. wrap-around cars...
So I guess I'll just have to travel to Europe next summer.

"People who get nostalgic about childhood were obviously never children." - Bill Watterson

2011-11-21T16:23:00.001-08:00

I read an article yesterday - I think it was on MSNBC.com but I can't find it now - about the 10 largest family owned companies. Number one was Walmart and ten was Mars - as in Mars bars and M&M's. For all ten of the vignettes they had a picture, in some cases a husband & wife and in others a more extended family. In each case they were wearing very expensive clothes and standing in very luxurious surroundings.
That's another reason I'm glad not to be rich. I don't want to work that hard on my wardrobe or our house. I was raised by a classy mother who was and is always "just so," but to her dismay it didn't rub off on #2 son. I much prefer clean casual. And living in the country with animals.

I think one can legitimately question the intellect of Michelle Bachman, Herman Cain and Rick Perry. I'm NOT saying they're stupid, but the pressure of the media spotlight seems to have demonstrated they also aren't outstandingly bright. And I want my President to be really, really smart. He (she) can be sneaky smart (cf. Reagan) but you can't have beauty queen moments and run the most powerful country in the world.

Whatever else he is, and I think there's a lot more than meets the eye, everybody agrees Newt is beyond smart. That's been his rep since his days in the House. Gingrich's command of details makes him a powerful debater and he always does well in front of the cameras. He nailed it this weekend with his comments about the OWS protesters. Let's see if he is just the latest anti-Mitt or a legitimate option.

This morning I adjusted Ilsa's brakes and the pedal travel is now what it should be.
I installed the trailer wiring harness on the Kia. It arrived in Saturday's mail. That took longer than it should have because the connection up underneath the Kia was well hidden and the cover was stuck. But it's all done.
Then one of my very most favorite jobs - pruning the larger of the two citrus trees in the back "yard." I hate that tree. Grammarians will tell you it's impossible to hate an object, only persons can be the recipients of that emotion. But when it comes to this tree the term fits. Alas, my wife really likes the hybrid oranges it bears. The good news: it shows signs of disease, maybe imminent death. I told her about the peeling bark so she can prepare to grieve appropriately.

This whole debt commission thing has me shaking my head. These 12 were supposed to represent the beset and brightest from the House and Senate and give us the best option for a resolution.
I didn't realize until just recently that the deep cuts to the military built into the legislation in the event the commission failed don't take effect until 2013. Would we have had a different outcome if they took effect on January 1, 2012? Methinks so. Anyone who's raised kids knows the importance of immediate response, whether it's reward or punishment. And this gives them too much time to find a way out of those cuts.

Are the cuts a bad thing? AZ Senator John McCain, sure thinks so. And I respect his perspective given his military career. But I also recall that Pres. Eisenhower, a 5-star general and WWII hero, in his last speech as President, warned about the dangers of "the military industrial complex" and its insatiable appetite for more. Sometimes I think a smaller military might cause us to think more carefully about military action and maintaining the bases we have all over the world. Do Germany and Japan really need our protection?

On Top Gear tonight they did a segment on the newest Rolls Royce, the Phantom. Maybe I should try out that business of being rich. Pretty cool car. The hubcaps don't go around with the wheels so the RR emblem is always upright. Suicide doors, and the back close from the inside with the press of a button.
Can I have chickens out back and a Rolls in the garage?

Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.

2011-11-20T16:26:00.001-08:00

Never mind about church; it's Sunday night and I'm in no condition to assess the morning. By Tuesday I might have some perspective but then it's time to get to work on next week.

After lunch I drove out to Tonapah to see the progress on Ilsa. I knew almost nothing about the body work-to-paint process and still don't have a real good handle on what's involved. What I can tell you is that these pics show the exterior primed with a 2-part epoxy primer. The uniform flat color reveals any areas that need more attention, in this case a couple spots on the rear lid and one on the passenger door. Once those are fixed - and that doesn't take Pat long at all - they get spot-primed.
Then the whole body gets "blocked." I'd heard him use that term before but today he showed me what's involved. Yikes.
He takes a stir stick like you get when you buy paint at Home Depot and folds some fine sand paper around it, and then goes over the whole car, smoothing out the primer. On a normal car he could use a larger sanding block but because a VW has all rounded surfaces he can't risk the flat spots that would result.
The next step for my car is two color coats followed by three clear coats. Inside and out. It cures for three days and then he color sands the whole car. I had to look that up. It involves using a very, very fine sandpaper and lots of water in order to get rid of the "orange peel" which always occurs with a paint job. Maaco and Earl Scheib don't color sand!
Then he polishes the whole car.

Pat is doing this job for me at a rate which I now understand is embarrassingly low. I didn't realize just how much I was getting for the amount we agreed upon at the beginning. He's fitting the work on my car in between the jobs that pay him his normal rate, and tonight I have a better understanding of the gap between those two. He said he might get a coat of paint on by next weekend and that I should go out next Sunday to see it. Best case scenario for completion is probably two or three weekends from now. When I heard he would have it primed this weekend I had (unrealistic) thoughts of getting it back the end of this week. Now that I realize what he'll do... I'll wait!

What should I do while I wait? I'm in the habit of spending much of Mondays and a little bit most other days out in the garage doing something on the chassis but it's now done. The solution to that problem will have to wait until the Sunday night fog lifts.

I tried sniffing coke but the ice cubes got caught in my nose.

2011-11-19T16:18:00.001-08:00

Lots of tasks today but Ilsa was the most significant.
Pam helped me bleed the brakes and then went inside while I got things ready for the maiden voyage.
I was very nervous! I had asked some questions about the procedure on Samba and some of them thought I was a FOOL for trying this. But both Steve and Pat said it was the appropriate thing to do and would be fine with reasonable safety precautions.

Here's a link to the video which I posted on You Tube:
Thrill Ride!

The trickiest part of driving was turning around. The steering wheel wasn't fixed; it was only attached at the bottom. Felt very insecure. And it was weird sitting out in the open. Windy! But everything went well. I need to adjust the clutch cable so the clutch engages sooner in the pedal's travel. The brakes aren't at all spongy but I should have resistance sooner in that pedal's travel. I think that's just a matter of adjusting the shoes outward.

The important thing is that the tranny worked flawlessly. No popping out of gear and the synchro for each gear worked perfectly. Not only does not having to pull the transmission save a huge amount of labor but also a major chunk of change. So, those two adjustments and I'm ready for the body!

I'll drive out after church to see it. Pat assured me he'd have it primed so look for pics tomorrow night. I'm going to gently ask if I can get it by the end of next week. That would work well for having Steve & Josh help with loading and unloading it off the trailer I'll borrow from Lyle.

Josh & Aubri and the kids are coming over so Pam can measure for some alterations they need done and then we'll head out to dinner someplace. When we get home I'll put everything together for church tomorrow. I don't think I'll have any trouble sleeping tonight.

WWSS? (What Would Siri Say?)

2011-11-18T11:16:00.001-08:00

Today I learned:
That the next time I need a sermon illustration of "counter-intuitive" I can use the outer tie rod end on the left side of a '62 VW instead of the lug nuts on a '61 Chrysler. DAMHIK.
If you step on a tube of white lithium grease the results are predictable and messy.
There are some really old Jehovah's Witness ladies. I suppose it's predictable they'd ~~sentence~~ assign them to troll Sun City.

I remember when Natalie Wood died. It was really big news at the time because she was probably the hottest female actress of the time, and even then there were some odd things about her death. Three people were on the boat that night: Wood, her husband Robert Wagner, and actor Christopher Walkin. The L.A. Sheriffs Dept. says Wagner is not a suspect. Hmmm. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

Re. the tie rod ends, the right side outer is supposed to be right hand threads but the one he gave me is left hand. Grrr. I called him and he swapped it out for the correct one. It involved an hour's trip, but now, aside from bleeding the brakes which Pam will help me with tomorrow, the chassis is DONE.

From the, "You Can't Make This Stuff Up" department...
A transgender person in Florida is under arrest for practicing medicine without a license. He (she?) injected the butt cheeks of a woman who wanted a bigger booty. The injection involved a concoction of cement, Fix-a-Flat, olive oil and super glue. The police think there might be other victims of this entrepreneur who are too embarrassed to come forward. Ya' think??

Earlier this week Joe Paterno transfered his interest in the family home to his wife for the sum of $1. The report I read about that implied he did so to protect the house from any lawsuits that may arise from the child sexual abuse case. When I heard about it I thought about my grandparents. Coincidentally, I learned a couple of months ago that after Grandpa had a stroke he transfered their house to my Grandmother for the sum of $1 in what is called a Quick Claim Deed. He did that because he didn't want her to go through the hassles of a probate procedure if he died in the near future.
Today it was announced that Joe Paterno has lung cancer.

I subscribe to TIME and World Magazine. The former lets me see how the secular press views the world and what's going on within it. World Magazine helps me look at some of the same items from a thoughtful Christian perspective. It's an excellent magazine, worth every penny of what I pay for it. In addition to the news stories it has reviews of movies and music, feature stories and columns that almost always give me something new to think about or a fresh way to view a familiar topic.
I don't think I've ever recommended any kind of product in this blog (unless you count vintage VW's) but after spending time today reading the current issue I'm making an exception.

I like the "Shop Small" campaign. Small Business Saturday is a week from tomorrow. I don't spend a lot of money, mostly because I hate shopping. But I'm going to look for an opportunity on that day to patronize a local business.

2011-11-16T08:58:00.001-08:00

Look for it.

There's a "Boycott the Kardashians" page on FB. Do we really need one?
And have you seen Bruce Jenner?? One more proof that great athletic ability does not guarantee an intellect surpassing that of a sack of hammers.

Who would be on your Top 5 list of all-time dumb elite athletes? (I use "elite" to eliminate Shawn Kemp. We can't make it that easy.)

Today on the classical station more "cartoon music," Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens.

The new drums with bearings are on the front spindles. The outer tie rod ends do NOT want to come loose. They've been sprayed with a liberal dose of PB Blaster and will sit overnight in hopes that they'll yield tomorrow. Meanwhile I'm trying to fill the new brake system with fluid - with an equal amount of success. Hmmm.

The report about Italy on NPR said the new government cabinet is filled with technocrats. I think that term means "men who don't throw bunga-bunga parties."
I'm guessing Berlusconi thinks the uproar about the Herman Cain accusations is amusing.

Both the police department and the campus police are denying that the assistant coach McQueary ever made a report about Sandusky's sexual abuse, as he has claimed. Certainly possible. But equally possible is that law enforcement agencies in Happy Valley were just as committed to preserving Jo-Pa's Penn State football as everyone else in that not-so-happy place. Burying a report of child sexual abuse by the offensive coordinator doesn't seem that improbable.

Your favorite?
Chevy speedometers through the years.

The only problem I see with the NBA lockout is that we won't have the humor of Charles Barkley. Laugh with him, laugh at him, he's funny.

The Senate has begun a Secret Santa program for it's members. So far more Dems than Republicans have signed up but they're used to handing out gifts.

A plaque used to hang in the prayer room at the church where I grew up. Last time I was there I looked for it but it's been removed. Too bad, 'cause it was really good.
"If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me."
- Robert Murray McCheyne

Getting exercised about Sunday's sermon. I love my job.

If people could read minds and two people were reading each other's minds, wouldn't they be reading their own minds?

2011-11-15T10:27:00.001-08:00

CougarLife.com has named Glendale, just to our east, as the cougar capital of AZ. It has three times as many cougars (single women age 30+) per capita as any other city in the state. How can Sun City not have taken that designation? There's a widow on every corner and half the houses in between. The line here is that if a man is single and can drive after dark he's pretty much George Clooney.

A city judge in NY issued a restraining order prohibiting police from clearing out the Occupy protesters from Zuccatti Park despite the unsanitary conditions and emerging safety issues.
Lipstick on a pig and it's still a pig. Robe on a fool....
A state judge overturned that ruling and the eviction proceded.

This afternoon I picked up two front drums and outer tie rod ends. Getting the drums installed involves driving the races and bearings in and the tie rod ends means pounding and wrenching through 30 years of barn rust but hopefully I'll have the chassis DONE by Saturday. (I take brakes from studying throughout the day because my brain can only focus for so long at a time.) Once that work is done I'll fill the all-new brake system with fluid and bleed it. If all of that gets done by Saturday, Pam's next day off, we've got some excitement planned. Stay tuned! (video will be provided)

After that stop I drove over to see Carl. Today is his 74th birthday and Pam baked him cookies that I delivered. We had a nice visit, as usual.

I'm glad the NBA and players didn't come to an agreement. Greed has consumed both sides and they deserve whatever grief they can impose upon each other. Alas, the alternative, the world of college sports, now brings to mind the term "shower scene."

Speaking of, once again it seems the better part of wisdom is to wait until the evidence is in. The then-assistant coach says he did stop what he saw going on and did contact police. As one who was once falsely accused of serious charges I'm perhaps particularly inclined to be cautious in hurrying to conclusions.

Herman Cain pulled a Perry. He may have survived groping charges but nobody gets past a You Tube moment. Hope he enjoyed his 15 minutes 'cause the timer just went off. But poor Mitt can't catch a break to save his life. Now he's got a salamander hounding him. It's generally agreed that Gingrich may be the best of the lot in terms of pure intelligence and maybe political experience, too. And therein lies the problem. Both Romney and Gingrich have spent enough time in upper level politics that they look like, well, politicians. And that's not a big plus on the resume' these days. Now a pizza peddler....

Not all the cookies she baked went to Carl. I've got a plate of them out in the kitchen.
I'm headed to the kitchen.

"Parents were invented to make children happy by giving them something to ignore." - Ogden Nash

2011-11-14T14:20:00.001-08:00

If you're on Facebook you've probably seen people who are posting something for which they're thankful each day from Nov. 1 to Thanksgiving. By now they're starting to work through the list of obvious things; this is where it starts to get interesting.

I'm not participating, but today I'm thankful for a lily pond and a 5-gallon bucket. For unexplained reasons ("We show no service problems in your area.") we lost almost all water pressure this morning. Faucets would still trickle weakly but there wasn't enough pressure to overcome the valve resistance in a toilet tank. Hauling water took care of the immediate need and an hour later pressure was back. Whew!

Our last house in Michigan was in a rural area without municipal water service, so we all had wells. And septic tanks. The latter need only gravity and have no moving parts so unless there's a major clog everything is just fine. But a well requires a pump and that in turn requires electricity. One year we had a major winter storm the first week in April (yes, that's still winter there) and were without power for three days. That's a long time to be without electricity and water! Things were more difficult because our 100-year old house used a boiler and the original radiators for heat. It was a gas boiler but without electricity the electronic ignition won't light the burner. No lights, no heat and no water for three days with sub-freezing temps.

To make matters worse I had just brought home a dozen day-old chicks, and they need heat to stay alive. Because the heat lamp wouldn't work I built a fire in the fireplace (doh) and put them in a box covered with a towel right in front of it. And that meant sleeping on the floor in front of said fireplace to keep the fire going strong throughout the night.

The septic tank? They're not as fool proof as we'd hoped thanks to a 50' maple tree right next to it. Who thought that was a good idea? The 100-year old ceramic pipe running from the house to the tank in the back yard had seams through which maple tree roots would grow, eventually closing off the pipe. This will only happen in the spring when the ground is still frozen and you don't go down into the VERY cold - as in sub-freezing - basement for days at a time except to that area right at the bottom of the stairs where the firewood is stored. I'll spare you the details but this house had floor drains in the basement that connected directly to the pipe to the septic tank, so anything from any of the waste pipes on the first or second floor that couldn't make it to the tank backed up into the basement. That would be the basement I didn't go into for days at a time. Anything and everything.

The guy from the septic tank service company who came with a monster rooter (aptly named in this case) said he'd never seen a worse root-caused clog. He recommended we pay the $90 to have him come out every three years to have it done proactively to avoid another mess in the basement.
Turns out the correct interval was two years. DAMHIK

Power outages and malfunctioning septic tanks aside we loved living in the country. Those problems pale in comparison to the pure joy of watching the farm tractors drive up and down the street, gathering fresh eggs every morning, rabbit meat right from the hutch to go with vegetables from the garden for dinner, sitting on the front porch at sunset watching the fireflies over the lawn and the bats circling above, and the total darkness at night. Instead of a backyard with a giant cherry tree, two maples and a mulberry we have gravel. Instead of watching John Deere harvesters we see EZ-Go golf carts.

I miss country living.

"My parents only had one argument in forty-five years. It lasted forty-three years." - Cathy Ladman

2011-11-13T15:34:00.001-08:00

Chia Bug

I left from church and drove over to Glendale Community College for a VW show and swap meet. It started at 8 a.m. and rain showers probably kept some owners at home. By the time I got there, around 11:30, there weren't many cars left relative to the number of slots that looked like they had been occupied. I was disappointed in what I saw. (as always, click to enlarge)

I think I only saw one Bug that was stock, but even it had significant engine modifications. All the rest were modified to one degree or another, some severely. A Beetle can be a relatively inexpensive custom compared to the more typical hot rod candidate so a lot of middle age and young guys go to work on theirs. Drop it, narrow the beam, modify the engine with dual carbs, electronic ignition, chrome everything, and a monster stereo system. Some will even "bag" it - install an air bag suspension that allows them to raise and lower it. A local VW club was there in force with a row of customs, some with engine modifications I couldn't figure out. Others illustrated the axiom, "Not everything that can be done should be done."

And the swap meet vendors still there had junk. I wasn't looking for any parts but I learn by looking. And what I learned is that some people will try to sell anything.

From there I drove out to Tonopah to see Pat and find out how the body is progressing. Not what I'd hoped but...

He says he's about 30 minutes worth of work away from putting on the special epoxy primer. At the last minute he found another small dent he wants to fix. He's using the 2-part epoxy primer because it fills in all the minor surface scratches. After that he "blocks" the body, which means finding any imperfections - areas where things aren't just right - fixing them and spot-priming. Then it cures for 3 days before getting paint followed by clear coat.

He promised to have it primed by next Sunday, so I should drive out to take pics. From there to paint is...??? And he told me today that I'll get the body but not the fenders. He hasn't done the work on them yet. That's because he wants me to have the body so work on the restoration can progress. If I can put the body back on the chassis I can do the interior work and put the fenders on near the end.

I told Pat I was surprised at what I'd seen at the VW show - that 95% of them were heavily modified and much of that was done poorly. He said that's because they're starting with incomplete or damaged cars and it's easier to turn them into mods using aftermarket parts - body and engine. See that gray car lower left above? That's a late '50's "Oval" which is rare and valuable. Same with that hideous pink one, upper right. Why would somebody do that?? Pat says it's because they can mix and match fenders, lights, deck lids - whatever they need without the time and money of getting year-correct parts for a true restoration.

The Beetles that won first place in each of the divisions (based on vintage) were still there and I told Pat I think I would have won the pre-'65 easily. He readily agreed based on what he's doing and his knowledge of what I've done. He also upped his estimate of what my car will be worth... significantly.

Keeps me motivated even if I am delayed.

Now I'm home. I've had supper and the football game is on. My back started up with spasms halfway through church this morning and locked up on me by the time I left, so I'm sitting here braced with more Ibuprofen than I want to admit and a heating pad. My goal is to stay awake until 8:00. Monday is not even on my radar screen.

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas Edison

2011-11-12T18:14:00.001-08:00

Pam usually works Saturdays but she swapped with someone who needed today off. Good thing, because she's come down with a cold. Bottom line: she's been underfoot all day totally messing up my Saturday routine.

I can't remember the last time I watched a ball game of any variety from beginning to end. I'm too ADD for that. But I made an exception for the Penn State vs. Nebraska game this morning. The best part was before the game began - the team's solemn entry onto the field followed by both teams, every player and coach from both sidelines, meeting at mid-field to kneel while one of the Nebraska assistant coaches led them all in prayer. And this was no perfunctory 90-second prayer. He prayed for quite awhile, and if the players' conduct during and after was any indication he prayed effectively.
After that beginning the teams played a good game that lacked any of the chest thumping and bravado too typical of athletic contests. Sportsmanship ruled.
Penn State lost. After the final whistle everyone in the whole stadium stood and applauded. Just applauded. For a surprisingly long time. Many players from both teams met on the field for another prayer.
Proud to be an American.

I feel lost. Vaguely empty and purposeless. Until the last of the chassis parts come in next week there's nothing I can do on the car. And those steps will only take a couple of hours. After that I'm stymied until the body is back from paint.
Check here tomorrow night for some pics. Hopefully.

I call myself a preacher but I'm really not. Sometimes I hear a true preacher - it seems like they're usually Southern Baptists - and they have a rhythm, a cadence to their preaching that I envy. I talk, they preach. Every word seems deliberately chosen for maximum effectiveness and the total effect feels almost like music. The word oration suggests a speech, and it's not that. It's preaching.
I suppose part of it is cultural. They grew up listening to that kind of preaching and their ears learned it early. They stand up Sunday morning and it comes as naturally to them as rapping does to some kids in the inner city. And for me to attempt that kind of preaching would be about as effective as my trying to rap.
When I preach my sermons in my head the second half of the week I can sometimes hear myself preaching but when I get up on a Sunday morning it comes out talking. I'm not complaining; it's who God made me. But I have a lot of respect for a preacher.

"Never try to tell everything you know. It may take too short a time." - Norman Ford

2011-11-10T15:59:00.001-08:00

Thank you, vetrans.

John Daly, the troubled PGA pro, was ticked that he was assessed a 2-stroke penalty on the 10th hole of the Australian Open. So when he got to the 11th hole he intentionally hit seven balls into the water hazard, exhausting his supply. Then he walked off the course.
I would never think of doing that. I always carry at least 10 balls with me to cover what I hit into the water unintentionally.

Poor Jack. I gave him a bath this afternoon. I do that on the patio where the temp today was only about 72 degrees. When we came back inside he couldn't stop shaking. So I had him lay down on his bed and covered him with an extra heavy bath towel. Later in the afternoon I went to the gym for an hour and when I got back he still hadn't moved an inch. I think he's decided this qualifies as spa treatment.

Poor Rick Perry. Watching the clip of his debate debacle from last night reminds me of the beauty pageant contestant from about a year ago who stumbled and fumbled with her answer to a question. Agonizing to watch, worse to live.
I think we want a President who's a little better at extemporaneous public speaking. That's not too much to ask, is it?

I participated in a discussion on Facebook about the use of the Oxford comma. I'd never encountered that designation for the use of a comma after the penultimate item in a list. In English that means some prefer "cars, trains, planes, and motorcycles." The comma before "and" in that sentence is called the Oxford, or serial comma. Some people think it should always be there while others argue it should be omitted. "cars, trains, planes and motorcycles." I was taught the latter. Turns out there's a Wikipedia article all about the serial, or Oxford comma. After reading it I've decided to do whatever I think works best for the particular context and tell anyone bothered by it to get a life.

Pam won a $5 Starbucks gift card in a drawing at the hospital. Because she doesn't drink coffee I took it and my books up the road to do some studying. I don't speak Starbuckese. People rattle off their orders using terms that baffle me, and I wonder how they learned to do that. Is there a class somewhere they take?
So I ordered the one thing I know, a carmel latte. It has carmel something in it. I don't know what the latte part means but it tastes good. I think it also has about a thousand and fifty six calories because I felt fat after drinking it. I thought about ordering it with skim milk next time but I'm not even sure it's made with milk. And if not, wouldn't I look stupid!

Do newcomers to the church scene feel the same way when they go to a worship service for the first time? "Everybody else in here knows what's going on and I'm clueless."

"The things we know best are the things we haven't been taught." - Marquis de Vauvenargues

2011-11-09T19:34:00.000-08:00

I didn't get much done today. Just wasn't as productive as I should have been. I'll try to make up for it tomorrow.
I did go to the gym to do the workout Josh prescribed. He put together 12 workouts I do in a cycle and today's was payback for something. I'm not sure what I did but it must have been bad.

I called Steve and he hasn't ordered the brake drums and tie rod ends yet. He's waiting until he's ready to order parts for an engine job he's doing which will save money on shipping charges. He'll probably do that next week. No worries. I've got lots of church work and chores to keep my busy until then.

Too much depressing news. If smoke suggests fire and more smoke means more certainty of fire, Herman Cain is a conflagration. Then there's the mess at Penn State. Say it ain't so, Joe Pa. The only explanation seems to be that the obsession with sports success trumped human decency and protecting children from evil.

The Dept. of Agriculture announced a 15-cent tax on fresh cut Christmas trees designed to fund a promotional program for the tree industry. It met almost immediate opposition and a day after introducing it the administration cancelled it.
Besides the obvious - this was just a stupid idea doomed from the start - it illustrates the Obama administration's inclination to meddle with free enterprise. Cf. Solyndra. Whether it's the tree industry or the solar energy industry the govt. has no business favoring one business over another. When they do somebody gets an unfair competitive advantage and that isn't good for anyone. It allows the recipients of the govt.'s largesse to make unwise decisions because they're playing with house money. It handicaps those with what may be superior designs or skills, kicking them to the back of the entrepreneurial bus. And it draws taxpayers into this witches brew by using our tax dollars whether we like it or even know about it.

The free market system is Darwinian. It works cruelly but efficiently. History has shown that govt. has a role to play, like prohibiting monopolies. But the limits of that role are very narrow. This administration seems to believe it possesses the wisdom to decide which businesses and industries warrant special assistance and which businesses and industries should be, in effect, penalized through no fault of their own.
Wrong. Dangerous to the free market system.

Did you read that Walmart plans to enter the healthcare business? Yep. That's who I want to trust with my health!

What if x doesn't want to be found?

2011-11-08T18:41:00.000-08:00

The news is especially depressing today.
Joe Paterno reported the abuse up the chain of command at Penn State but the consensus seems to be that he had a moral, if not legal obligation to also notify the cops. As a result the senior member of the college coaching fraternity will probably lose his job, going out under a cloud of suspicion instead as a living icon.

More accusers come out of the woodwork while Herman Cain continues to deny doing anything even remotely inappropriate. Is he a cad? It's hard not to recall, "I did NOT have sex with that woman, Monica Lewinski." (cf. "I am not a crook.") That is, unequivocal public denials don't mean innocence. On the other hand, the two accusers who have appeared publicly seem to have questionable backgrounds. So is there fire where there's smoke?

Speaking of smoke, I spent some time on the Loop 101 and noticed smoke coming from a vehicle in front of me. He was driving a large pickup truck, an F-250 or equivalent, and pulling a flatbed trailer with another truck on it. At first I thought the smoke was from oil being burned by his engine but I soon smelled burning rubber and realized it was one of the tires on that dual axle trailer. I accelerated quickly, pulled alongside him and laid on my horn. He was talking on his cell phone so it took him too long to look over and see me pointing wildly at his trailer. But when he did he slowed down and pulled right over to the shoulder.
It occurred to me afterward that had a tire or tires blown that trailer and the truck on it might have gone several directions at once. Maybe pulling up next to him wasn't the brightest thing to do. Oh well. It turned out fine.

So did honking on my horn not two miles later - at the lady to my left, driving the expensive BMW sedan and drifting slowly into my lane. She was talking on her cell phone, too.
She pulled back into her lane and sped up. Didn't hang up, just sped up.

From my friend, Sherry: (click to enlarge)

I heard an expert on NPR (they have a lot of experts on their radio programs) say that if Greece goes under it will be bad. But because Italy's economy is so much bigger, if they go down it will be disastrous for the world economy. The host asked, "Should we be worried?" He answered, "We should be very worried!"
Nah. I'm not at all worried. Maybe if we had a boat load of debt or a huge mortgage. But we live pretty simply, which is how we like it. Besides, God promised to meet all our needs and he's always kept that one, even through some thin patches.
I'm not the least bit worried about what happens in Rome, or in D.C. for that matter.

Shoot first. Ask Christian Slater.

2011-11-07T17:32:00.000-08:00

I'm amazed at how radically my perspective on life and all things contained therein can change from a Sunday morning to a Monday. Pam must wonder what happened to her husband. And by Tuesday, when the gloom has lifted, she's gone to work all day.

Which one rates higher on the cool meter, the car or the lady? From my younger brother:
Two Classics
(You have to wait through a brief ad.)

I spent most of the morning out in the garage. The rear drums are back on and torqued down to 215 ft. lbs., the starter motor back in and the transmission filled with gear oil. The brake and clutch pedals & clutch cable are adjusted. The bearings and races are out of the front drums so they can be installed in the new drums when they arrive. So as soon as they do - along with the outer tie rod ends - I'll get those items installed and the chassis will be DONE. Until I find something else amiss.

This is as close as we get to fall weather - 48 degrees, cloudy and breezy. I spent some time this afternoon trimming hedges out front and it reminded me of raking leaves in Michigan. Sort of. By MI standards this would be a balmy fall day.

Christmas and New Years Day both fall on a Sunday this year. That's a problem for churches, especially those that rent facilities for their services. Add to the legitimate desire for families to be together on the holidays the problem of getting someone not a part of the church to show up for unlocking and locking up afterward. In the past - all three years of it - we've had a Christmas Eve service, but the elders decided to forgo it this year. Having two services basically 12 hours apart on what are perhaps the biggest family days of the year seemed unfair. So on those two Sundays we're only going to have one service - a worship service - and not our second-hour classes. And it will go from 10:00 to 11:00 instead of starting at our normal 9:00.

The Christmas Day service will be about... uhm... Christmas.
In a moment of irrational foolishness I told the elders yesterday I'd like to do a Children's Sunday on New Year's Day. I did that once a year at our church in Prunedale when I was a LOT younger and the kids in the church were older.
I have all the kids sit up front for the whole service and the parents have to sit in back and be quiet. We sing, do activities, have a Bible story, all with a freneticism that makes ADD look like strung out on pot. The oldest kid at Pathway is 9 (our granddaughter) and most of them are in the 5-7 bracket. Several of them are pretty energetic. This should be interesting.

MNF. Go Eagles!