Playstation 3 Robber Shot by Police

Read about it here.

Now some people my have an issue with the deputies for shooting this young man, but not me.

He, along with a friend, beat-up a guy who had been standing in line for three days to purchase two Playstation 3s to sell on ebay and make a profit.

Maybe it is just me, but the real shock is that the cops didn't put down the other guy while they were at it. Clearly these two are scum of the earth and we are better off having them "removed" from society.

Funny Bit

So on Sunday Night Football the players introduce themselves and announce what school they went to. Most of the time it is the college they went to, but some players like to say their High School sometimes.

tonight during the intros Jared Allen, who plays for the Chiefs introduced himself and said "Homeschooled. Thanks Mom!"

Kinda jumped out at me, aren't all homeschoolers supposed to be introverts who secretly plot to destroy abortion clinics?

Help My Unbelief

There are two people that whenever I hear them pray I feel comforted, almost like I'm being hugged by God at that moment. They pray with such faith and power that I feel weak and ashamed and spoiled.

The first person was my wife's Grandfather. He is now in glory, knowing his God far better than we do here, but even when he was on this planet he still seemed to know God better than most. His prayed with faith and conviction, a belief that God has promised to care for us and therefore we had nothing to fear. When he would pray for me when I was unemployed and looking for work, he would remind God of His promises and I always felt comforted.

He lived through the Great Depression and he told me a story once of going to a factory to try and get a job. He told the interviewer that he was willing to do any job. The interviewer turned around and pulled a stack of applications, many inches thick out of a file and said, "All these guys have told me the same thing too."

There was just no work to be found, yet God kept he and his family fed and housed. When his son, my wife's father, was very young he contracted Scarlet Fever and was beyond the help of anyone on this earth, yet, miraculously he was healed.

I never have had to worry about housing or food, science has allowed us to successfully treat just about any illness, and when I pray, I feel weak. I do not overtly think that God is a second option to me, but when I step back and look at my weak, pathetic prayers I wonder if the reason for that is that I have never gone through an extreme hardship.

I pray for my wife's back to be healed, but, when I am brutally honest with myself, I still keep thinking that it will come about through some doctor, and not a wondrous act of God. How weak.

The other person is someone I work with. He is from Angola and lived through a Civil War there. Growing up he lived in a mud house on a hill. When it rained he would have to go outside with his family since there were several occassions when a house up on the hill would collapse causing a mudslide and killing anyone who would get stuck in their house.

He also told me about a beautiful scenic overlook that looked out over the city. I saw pictures, a great view. During their Civil War, soldiers would throw dissidents over the edge of this overlook and you can see bones there to this day.

When he prays, he almost always starts off telling our Father how much we praise and love Him. I feel strengthened when I hear him pray.

There was a story I heard about some missionaries to a "Third-World Country" in Africa in dire straits. Persecution and famine were normal for the people who live there. One of the newer missionaries asked a native how they kept their faith in the face of these horrible times.

The native was shocked and responed that they didn't know how Christians in America kept their faith in the face of all the temptations and wealth.

There are people I know that think that there will be a time in the next few decades when Christians are persecuted in America, just like they were in Ancient Rome. I always used to think that this was a bad thing, but I wonder if that isn't the best thing for us. A wake-up call. We would once again be forced to put ALL our faith in a Holy, Merciful, and Righteous God. We would have to rely on Him alone.

And just maybe my prayers wouldn't seem so weak anymore.

Merry Christmas

From Knowing God by J. I. Packer

He Became Poor

We now see what it meant for the Son of God to empty Himself and become poor. It meant a laying aside of glory; a voluntary restraint of power; an acceptance of hardship, isolation, ill-treatment, malice and misunderstanding; finally, a death that involved such agony - spiritual even more than physical - that his mind nearly broke under the prospect of it. (See Luke 12:50 and the Gethsemane story) It meant love to the uttermost for unlovely human beings, that they through His poverty might become rich. The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity - hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory - because at the Father's will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross. It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard, or will hear.

Tony v. Paul

This is a live stop-motion video, it takes a minute to get going, so give it time, truly awesome.

Crickets

Do you hear them chirping?


I actually had a post to write, but I completely forgot what it was, how pathetic.

Do you deserve your high school diploma?

I don't apparently.

I got a 63%.

Post your results.

A Post Everyone Must Read

Like Rain on Your Wedding Day

You Tubing it Today for Sure

This is the song in the Gears of War commercial with its very own video. Nice song and pretty neat video. The singer is Gary Jules and the song is "Mad World."

Brood War Trailer

This is the trailer I Was talking about in the last post, such calming music.

Gears Commercial

Ok, I will admit I am a sucker for action commercials with a slow, moody song in the background. The trailer for Starcraft was the perfect example of this. no sound can be heard but the slow song, yet on screen there is death and destruction all around.....I love it.

Hot Pocket!

This is absolutely hilarious. No way around it.

Photograph

So there is this song by Nickelback (Motto: “All Songs Sound the Same or Your Money Back!”) called “Photograph.”

It is a nostalgic song about finding a photo of his old friends and recalling the good times they had and missing them, while realizing it is time to say good-bye to that part of his life.

This song is kind of strange for me, because it brings back memories of friends that I had, but I don’t miss them since most of them were really not good people to be around and the things we did were really not things I would approve of now.

*How is it that you aren’t in jail?*

God looks after fools and drunkards.

Maybe it isn’t entirely true that I don’t miss them, maybe I just miss being young and free with no responsibilities, no issues that keep you awake at night praying for wisdom, trying to figure out what exactly you are supposed to do in THIS situation….it really sucks.

One thing though that I know I miss is my family. I live 650 miles from half my family…to be honest it is the half I actually like also. (Ha ha, just kidding, the truth is I can’t stand any of you)

I know some people might not believe what I’m about to say, some people might think that I am merely using hyperbole, but let me assure you that what I am about to say is absolute truth.

My family was and is better than yours.

We were, and still are, closer than you could ever believe. I attribute that fully to my wonderful parents who refused to let us degenerate into bickering siblings who whined about the others constantly and did our best to get the others in hot water with the authorities.

We actually liked each other. We spent so much time together that we became friends. I know that is rare. When we grew older we still enjoyed spending time together. We had weekly game nights until I moved away; I look forward to seeing them when I head back to Pennsylvania at Christmas and in the summer.

When I listen to the song I miss those days when we were all under the age of 16 playing Fox and Rabbits in the snow, Billion Buck Baby, making a see-saw while camping, pushing a log down the road and “dancing” to the beat it made.

I don’t want to say good-bye to that part of my life, I want to cling to it, but we are all older with kids and cats, jobs and bills, houses and cars, and of course, we are missing the ring leader of it all, the person who taught us how to play Fox and Rabbits, who allowed us to have water fights in the house…when our father was gone for the evening, and the one who encouraged our corn on the cob sword fights….again when our father wasn’t there :)

When I think about this world, one of the cruelest parts to me is that it forces people to move so far apart sometimes.

Last Saturday Sister #3 and I were walking down the front stairs to a house, front steps that had always seemed a little wrong to me for some reason, when she piped up, “These stairs remind me of the stairs on Smithson.”

That was it, they were the same faded red paint on concrete, but they were too big. I had gone up and down those stairs so many times, that these stairs which reminded me of those stairs felt wrong since they were slightly off.

I miss living in that house, I miss riding the sofa cushion down the stairs, turning the attic into a haunted house, sitting on the front porch in the summer listening to my mother read the Prydain Cycle to us.

I guess I just miss being a kid.

Wholly Yours

This is my favorite song of the moment, I have scoured YouTube looking for decent videos of the song, but none of the ones I found do it justice. So, here are the wonderful lyrics, enjoy them and figure out your own way to listen to this fantastic song.


I am full of earth
You are heaven’s worth
I am stained with dirt, prone to depravity
You are everything that is bright and clean
The antonym of me
You are divinity
But a certain sign of grace is this
From the broken earth flowers come up
Pushing through the dirt

You are holy, holy, holy
All heaven cries “Holy, holy God”
You are holy, holy, holy
I want to be holy like You are

You are everything that is bright and clean
And You’re covering me with Your majesty
And the truest sign of grace was this
From wounded hands redemption fell down
Liberating man

You are holy, holy, holy
All heaven cries “Holy, holy God”
You are holy, holy, holy
I want to be holy like You are

But the harder I try the more clearly can I
Feel the depth of our fall and the weight of it all
And so this might could be the most impossible thing
Your grandness in me making me clean

Glory, hallelujah
Glory, glory, hallelujah

You are holy, holy, holy
All heaven cries “Holy, holy God”
You are holy, holy, holy
I want to be holy, Holy God

So here I am, all of me
Finally everything
Wholly, wholly, wholly
I am wholly, wholly
I am wholly, wholly, wholly
Yours

I am full of earth and dirt and You

---Wholly Yours

David Crowder Band

Pid Pid!! Come Back!!!

If that isn't enough.....

One for the Road

I'm not sure whether to laugh with them, laugh at them, or cry.

Speak of the devil!

Ten 23

Hey, it is October 23rd!!

Ten - 23!!

This matters to probably no one who reads this blog except myself.

Anyway, it is Ten - 23!! Yay!!! Punk Rock!!!

A Blog Conversation

Recently I posted a post of such brilliance and wonder that all who read it were amazed...all except for one person who chose to remain anonymous and post comments filled with grammatical errors and mispellings. Since this induhvidual chose to not name himself, I will supply a name: Pid Pid.

Pid Pid:

I have a question?

If priests proclaim the marriage union and its great and God's plan for men and women to procreate, then...why can't priests marry?

The hypocracy starts within


Me:

Absolutely, I'm sure glad I'm not a Catholic.

I don't see at all what bearing this has on the post though. Could you enlighten me?

Pid Pid:

First sentence.

Pid Pid:

enlighten-your must seek the light my friend.

Me:

Sigh, I never thought the day would come that I would defend the Catholic church, but here goes.

Paul states that it is better for a preacher to be single like he was in order to devote all of his time to God and the study of Christ.

The Catholic church in its infinite foolishness took this a few steps...and a jump...and a skip...too far and declared that none of of the priets can be married after they put on the collar of doom.

There is no hypocrisy (please note the spelling) involved since to be a hypocrite is to say one thing and do another, the Catholic church has declared that their priests are married to the church, but all the other Catholics should go forth and multiply. There is abolutely no hypocrisy here at all, just large amounts of stupidity.

The post also wasn't even debating whether or not sinners go to church, we all freely admit that, it is the fool who thinks that he is better than we are standing outside pointing at "hypocracy" (sic) not understanding grace at all.

So, please, tell me what your comment has to do with the actual post or just go away.

Thanks for reading!

****Silence for a few days****

Pid Pid:

your an ass bag

Pid Pid:

This blog sucks anyway, I only stopped by here because the blog about midget clowns was giving me an error page.

********


So, you can see the normal progression of an anonymous internet blog poster.

1). Make wild and moronic statements that only slightly tie in to the original post

2). When queried about said wild and moronic statements, act as if the other person is dumb

3). When show how wild and moronic your statements are, reply with an insult

4). Then proclaim how dumb the person who refuted your wild and moronic statements is

5). Proclaim your undying love for midget clowns

You could add one more thing to the list, throughout the entire conversation, show your poor grammar skills and inability to spell.

Well, I just have to end on this:

Pid Pid:

This blog sucks anyway, I only stopped by here because the blog about midget clowns was giving me an error page.

Lyricalness

*So, I hear you are re-thinking the "No lyrics except in extreme cases which are defined by me" rule.*

Yeah, there are some good, helpful lyrics out there, and it saves me from having to think something up to write, I can just slap a few lyrics up and be done with it.

*How clever, what were you thinking of doing first?*

"Too Sexy" I think....

*Definitely a classic.*

House of the Sick (or Stop Being so Stupid! You Stuck-up, Self-Righteous, Arrogant.....)

“Churches are filled with hypocrites! That is why I don’t go to church!”

I’m sure you have heard that before. The person blazing with self-righteousness, defiantly daring you to prove him wrong. Sometimes they even throw in that churches are just in it for money and that pastor’s are greedy. What amazes me is that each time someone spews out this torrent of stupidity; he acts as if no one else has ever come up with this argument before. Are we supposed to just gasp in amazement, clasping our hands together thanking the good Lord that someone as wonderful as you has deigned to share your wisdom with us?

So you say that people in churches say one thing and do another? That pastors preach that we should all be holy, and yet they are not holy? That every day someone in the church sins?

Perish the thought that someone as great as you would have to walk amongst us mere mortals! How do you do it? How do you stay so perfect? Teach me!!

Christ told us that He has come not for the righteous, but for sinners, not for the healthy, but the sick. His people are sinners, His chosen are the sick. Churches are filled with sinners. This means that not everyone will be perfect all the time. This doesn’t mean that we are all hypocrites, although, in some cases, we are being hypocritical, and instead of just bailing on us, maybe try some of this brotherly love thing that some guy named Jesus talked about. Imagine if He had just bailed on us rather than suffering for thrity-three years BEFORE dying on a cross like a common criminal. If HE could stoop so low and lovingly to do this for us, how can you be so selfish and self-righteous?

I have yet to meet someone who refuses to go to church and is a true follower of Christ. They are so messed up on the concepts of God’s Grace, God’s Holiness, and God’s Wrath. If he truly understood mercy he would realize that while the church might be filled with hypocrites, he is the worst of them all.

We are commanded to worship with a body of believers. Jesus Himself spent Sabbaths at the synagogues which were run by Pharisees and Sadducees.

Quick history lesson:

The Pharisees were called out by Christ to be hypocrites and “white washed tombs.” The Sadducees allowed money changers to flood the Temple. And Christ went to these places of worship, are you better than He? When He came upon the Temple with moneychangers and merchants in it, did He go off in a huff saying, “These people just care about money, come on Peter, we will go have church on our own!”

Not really. We are not called to be solo, whining that churches are not what we want them to be. We are called to make a difference, to declare the truth to sinners, both in the church and outside of the church. Running away like a whipped, scared puppy is not fulfilling the Great Commission….unless I’m missing something somehow.

So I guess the question is, do you actually believe that you have a plank in your own eye? Do you actually see that you are not perfect? Do you believe that you are better than Christ Himself? Do you not understand that you are a hypocrite sometimes as well? You are no better than anyone else and to believe otherwise will only lead to your eternal destruction.

*And make you look foolish here on earth in the meantime.*

Squirrels are Evil Creatures

One of the funniest stories I've heard in a while......this is David Crowder talking by the way. He lives in the Dr. Pepper house, I am so envious.

First Time for Everything

Well, I've been going back and forth about whether or not to post this. The one side of me says, "Yes! Tell the people about a CD they should buy! It is great!"

The other side responds, "Not everyone likes the same stuff I do, I would hate for someone to waste their money."

Fortunately I have come to realize that if you don't like this CD you deserve to have your money wasted.

The David Crowder Band

These guys are great. The CD in particular of theirs that I like a lot is A Collision or (3+4=7). Lots of good stuff on there.

The songs each have a distinctive flavor to them, unlike some bands that have a certain style and are a one-trick pony, these guys change their sound to fit the mood of the song they are singing. I was going to go through a few of the songs to give a feel for their flavor, but then I found that the band had already done that themsleves. So here is a link to a copy paste job since it can be hard to find at their site.

A Collision - Song by Song

If I only get one gift for Christmas I want A Collision, I think it is that goodof an album.

*If I get two gifts, the second one better be a new 3-wood*

Go ahead, scratch your head in perplexed amazement after listening to the clips. post your comments that you are suprised that I would like this music....it's ok....really.....

*You people don't know me at all.*

You Must Watch This!!!

I feel kinda bad since they worked so hard on this, but it is so funny!

You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

"I certainly hope that Hillary is the candidate," Reverend Jerry Falwell said at a breakfast session Friday in Washington. "I hope she's the candidate, because nothing will energize my (constituency) like Hillary Clinton," he said. "If Lucifer ran, he wouldn't."

Clinton press secretary Philippe Reines said Sunday, "Working for someone who believes in the Golden Rule, we're not going to engage in such vitriolic discourse -- but it seems that a new low has been reached in demonizing political opponents."

Get it? Demonizing?

One thing I don't get, the whole "believes in the Golden Rule" thing. Does that mean that Mrs. Clinton wants to be murdered over a scam land deal too?

The I.R.S. is Run and Staffed by Over-Paid Monkeys

Here is some evidence for you.

Here is some more proof that we can cut taxes and decrease spending without actually cutting anything:

"Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the Pentagon could not account for $2.3 trillion in past spending. One recent Department of Defense internal auditor's report said $1.1 trillion in expenses were "unsupported or improper."

The Worst Training Video Ever!

Make sure you watch the part where the lady is using slang like "hizzouse" and "heazy" dawg!

The Franklin Quote that No One Could Remember

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
- Benjamin Franklin

It is a tough decision...

Religion of Hypocrisy

Somehow, for a brief moment, the Pope had the guts to declare that Islam is not really a religion of peace. He has since backed down from those comments since, as we all know, Christ never offended anyone.

The firestorm after his comments though proved one thing: We would all be better off if the religion of Islam never existed. A few excerpts from newswires:

"Five churches attacked in Palestinian areas following Pope's comments on Islam ALI DARAGHMEH NABLUS, West Bank (AP)
- Palestinians wielding guns and firebombs attacked five churches in the West Bank and Gaza on Saturday, following remarks by Pope Benedict that angered many Muslims. No injuries were reported in the attacks, which left church doors charred and walls pockmarked with bullet holes and scorched by firebombs. Churches of various denominations were targeted."

"Somali cleric calls for pope's death

September 17, 2006

A HARDLINE cleric linked to Somalia's powerful Islamist movement has called for Muslims to "hunt down" and kill Pope Benedict XVI for his controversial comments about Islam."

And nothing screams peaceful religion like shooting a nun in the back!!

Yep, nothing like proving that your religion is non-violent than by firebombing a few churches and calling for an assasination, enjoy your 72 raisins.

Old-Fashioned

Old-fashioned way of playing, leads to old-fashioned winning. For the last few years it seemed like winnig football games was out of style in San Fransisco. The offense was inept, the defense was pathetic, and the special teams was actually mediocre. Last year I gushed about how excited I was to have Mike Nolan as the new head coach of the 49ers. I knew that the season would probably be pretty bad, but he had a plan, and you can see the results this year so far.

The 49ers are 1 - 1, with a 7 point loss to the Cardinals in which they lost the turnover battle 2-1. Yesterday they beat the Rams into submission, giving the ball to Frank Gore 30 times.

Frank Gore - My new Favorite Running Back

He was the backup to that bust Kevan Barlow, who had loads of talents but no work ethic. Last year Gore outrushed Barlow despite playing less and having 2 injured shoulders. Mike Nolan traded Barlow to the Jets and made Gore the starter.

Two games in, Barlow has 77 rushing yards and 1 TD compared to Gore's 214 rushing yards and 3 TDs. Not to mention a sparkling 4.8 yards per rush average. Gore is currently 4th in the NFL in rushing yards.

Alex Smith, after a pathetic first season, has blossomed into an actual quarterback. Quick comparison, and please note the lack of interceptions thrown:

Year	Team	G	GS	Att	Comp	Pct	Yds	YPA	Lg	TD	Int	Tkld	20+	40+	Rate
2005	San Francisco 49ers	9	7	165	84	50.9	875	5.30	47	1	11	29/185	13	2	40.8
2006	San Francisco 49ers	2	2	62	34	54.8	521	8.40	72	2	0	1/2	8	3	93.5

Ok, I'm done gushing over the fact that the 49ers look good. I might actually have a serious post coming up soon!

Feeling Down?

Are you feeling poorly about yourself? Are you feeling blue? Ever wanted to curl up in bed and wait until next week to come out again?

Maybe you are having problems at work, maybe your spouse thinks of you lower than dirt. Do your kids hate you? Maybe your ex-significant other just broke your heart.

Bad memories stuck in your head? Can't shake the time you made a fool of yourself in front of that cute girl/guy/other? Or when you said spiteful words and never had a chance to take them back?

Well, it doesn't matter what the reason for you feeling blue, I'm here to cheer you up with a simple phrase. I guarantee you will be feeling better soon:



Feel better?

*Actually, I was feeling fine before you brought back some supressed memories from my childhood.*

Kingdom of Odds and Ends

I have finished Kingdom and Heaven (a while ago actually) so let me give you my final thoughts on the movie.

I wish movies would quit making some bishop or cardinal out to be a schmuck in a robe. Seriously, I understand that all you Hollywood types think religious people are all hypocrites, so just let it go. I hope you feel proud of yourselves for hitting an easy target.

Aside from that, the movie actually made a fantastic statement regarding Jerusalem and all the people who have died over the "holy" land.

Our hero stays in character the whole time...his character being a blacksmith who knows military strategy, but he never wavers from his convictions, which lead him to assualt a massively larger force in order to allow the common folk to escape. He takes his vows seriously, and is willing to die for people he doesn't even know, only because he promised to protect them.

Movies about honor usually get high marks from me, there are only so many anti-heroes I can stand......

Which leads us to "V for Vendetta." I liked it, but if we had replaced a masked freak with a Muslim it would have been banned because the main character is nothing more than a terrorist. The soundtrack should have been "Rage Against the Machine," it was so anti-government.

But....as I was driving down the street the other day, I saw cameras above the intersection, supposedly to catch people running red lights. We are told that if we are law-abiding citizens we should have no issues with being recorded, and yet.....

This leads to the big question. How many people getting killed by terrorists in this country each year are we willing to accept in order to keep our freedoms? I don't know the answer, but what is our freedom truly worth?

Brave men and women died for our freedom over the course of this nation's history, are efforts to keep everyone safe taking away those freedoms? Should we try to keep everyone safe, yet allow people their freedoms and realize that a certain amount of people will die each year due to us being free?

I don't want to live in a perpetual state of lockdown in order to avoid all risk to my life. People were willing to die so that OTHERS can enjoy freedom, can we really do any less?

Dearth of Stuff

I've been very busy at work, so busy that the normal irritants of life didn't drive me to write, rather it drove me to drink......

4 cases of Diet Dr. Pepper later I feel human again.

Last time I wrote a post regarding how I had nothing to write about, a whole flood of things came to me, so maybe that is what will happen, hopefully I will be able to insert gruesome pictures of dead people back into my blog as well.

I'm watching "Kingdom of Heaven" right now, in stages. It is a long movie and lends itself well to being watched over the course of a few days. I'm liking it right now. I believe many critics panned it, or just were not all that excited about it, but I am a sucker for movies about honorable people, trying to do what is right amidst moral decay, when even the "good guys" tell you that you will regret not "doing a little evil for the greater good."

I am especially a sucker for these movies when they are set in medieval times when the men acting knightly and honorably are actual Knights, with horses and stuff.

Anyway, I don't know if the ending flops, but so far it is worth it, for the political intrigue alone.

From an Israeli Bunker

This was shared with me today and thought I would share it with the millions out there who breathlessly anticipate my next words:

http://israelibunker.blogspot.com/

Movie Rehash

So after I had recovered from Jarhead enough to want to watch another movie, Wife #1 and I watched the Brothers Grimm. Byt the time that dreadful thing ended I was pretty certain that I could never watch another DVD again.

Look, we swear we tried. We even dressed up in these moronic costumes. Nothing could save that script.

I'm not even going to talk about it, except to say that it was one of the worst movies you would ever sit all the way through. Must be because it keeps giving you slight hope that it will rise above itself, but it never does.

Then I watched The Chronicles of Narnia again. What a stupendous reminder that not all moveis have to suck! Wow! What a concept! It is still wonderful on DVD, not as good as the big screen of course, but still fabulous.

In fact, I find it amazing that any director who makes such craptacular movies like The Brothers Grimm isn't tarred, feathered, and beaten for good measure.

Stop! Thief!

Please click here and read the wonderful post my sister wrote.

The read the delightful comments. A few more stories are included.

My favorite wacky memory of my mother will always be chasing down a family of ducks in my backyard in order to release them back into the wild....also known as Lake Erie.

Geek Post #1

Two things happened today, I set up my wireless network in my house so I am now typing this post wirelessly! Huzzah! Also, the new wireless Vonage router makes my phone calls sound much clearer on my end. Double Huzzah!

Second thing:

I am now downloading a patch for a little game I play called World of Warcraft. It was not announced that there would be a patch tonight and I found out from someone that this patch took an hour to download...yes, that is with broadband. The reason that this aggravates me so much is that if I had known that there would be an hour long patch download I could have started the download BEFORE I mowed my lawn and got the car filled up with fuel....let's see...yes indeed, that took about an HOUR!!!

Instead, I come home, tired from grass maiming and car refueling after working all day and now have to sit and wait for a patch to download. Furthermore, the patch is to patch the mistakes the created when they released their LAST patch.

The really dumb part about this is that suckers like me pay a monthly fee to play the game...gripe about the game...and then, like a moth to a lamp (don't look at the light!!), get sucked back in.

Well, at least I get to fume while downloading the patch WIRELESSLY!!! Yay!!

*I'm pretty sure that this is far from being your first geek post...you so outed yourself long ago...to being a geek that is.*


Update: I reached 70% completion before it stopped downloading, I let it run for another 15 minutes. Nothing. I searched around and found that Blizzard had pulled the patch and apologized for pushing it out during peak time. But you still wasted an hour of my life!!!

The TP Problem

I had some friends over to my house on Friday to play some games and whatnot, it was a good time but more importantly, I got the house all clean again. I vacuumed, picked up, hid junk in closets, the works.

But I ran into a problem, a toilet paper problem. The roll that was out was mostly used up. I didn't want someone to use the restroom and run out of paper at an inopportune moment. I also didn't want to have a spare roll of toilet paper sitting out in the open.... how tacky.

*And the curtains just were not going with the carpet...*

So what do. The simple solution would of course be to throw out the mostly used roll and put a new one out, but that is where my Jewish heritage rose up and would not allow me to throw out something useful. But having a mostly empty roll of toilet paper sitting in the open is infinitely more tacky than a new one.

Solution: I hid the almost empty roll in the bedroom until the guests had left.


*Let me apologize for having wasted 5 minutes of your life. Sorry, no refunds though.*

More proof that people are morons

I go to the gym two or three times a week now. Get a good workout, play racquetball, etc. Anyway, in the parking lot for the gym, (you know the gym right? The place you go to get a workout, burn calories, get your heart pumping faster.), people will drive around the parking lot......looking for a parking spot closer to the entrance!!!


Idiots. They should be honored that they get to bask in my presence from time to time.

Fritz

Jarhead - Welcome to the Whine

Jarhead supposedly is based on a true story. I say supposedly since I can't actually see a real Marine whining as much as this putz does in the movie. It starts off with the guy talking about how he is scarred from his experience of "holding a rifle. " And that you never foget it even when changing your child's diaper. Does this mean that every hunter or target range shooter is scarred for life as well?

My grandfather took me shooting when I was 10 or so. Does this explain how my life got so messed up? It wasn't my fault! I was scarred from holding a rifle!! Seriously, shut up already! The closest the author got to actual combat was being shot at with friendly fire. I don't recall the Band of Brothers survivors complaining about how they were "scarred" after Bastogne.

"How come I wasn't told that being in the Marines was hard?"

He is not a sypathetic figure. He shows no respect for his superiors unless it is forced from him, he gets drunk rather than stand guard duty, and just wants out.

I can't recommend this drek to anyone. The next time I want to listen to 2 straight hours of whining, I'll go hang out with a 4 year-old.

Fritz

High Gas Prices

I am so sick and tired of paying these outrageous gas prices. The other day I saw that the price of gas near where I live had dropped, (DROPPED!!) to $2.85 per gallon. $2.85 per gallon! Those fat, rich oil companies keep getting greedier and greedier! It seems to me that making us hard-working Americans pay $2.85 per gallon of gas is virtually a crime against humanity!

A child in the Darfur region had his face bashed in, presumably with a rifle butt during a massacre in Hamada.

Let’s do some math here. If and average car gets 20 miles per gallon and drives 15,000 miles per year, you will use 750 gallons of fuel per year. Now, we were ok when gas was $2.00 per gallon, but let’s see what that .85 per gallon hike costs us!

Darfur Child Starving

$562.50! That is right, it costs us $562.50 per year! That is $46.88 per month! How do these bigwigs expect us to pay that! There are bleeding us dry! They are killing our retirement funds!

How are we supposed to go on living like this?

Another Darfur Child

It is time we stand up for ourselves! It is time we demand that the government protect us from the evils of high gas prices! This is the greatest crisis we have ever faced. And the politicians do nothing about it.

Time for action!

This man was castrated before he was shot in the head

If we send our politicians an email a day, maybe we will get through. Maybe we will move them to action to protect us from disaster. Please everyone, I beg of you, email your congressman, send letters to your senator…hurry, before it is too late.

My goodness we whine a lot.

Fritz

Saying Yes

I wrote in a previous post regarding a co-worker whose brother was seriously injured in a car accident. I prayed for his recovery, yet I didn’t really feel like I believed that a miracle would happen. Deep inside I was pretty certain that he would not be healed.

It isn’t that I don’t believe that God can heal; I just seem to have problems believing that he will. I prayed for my mother to be healed, with a no answer, I prayed for a 2 year-old girl and she was taken. I begged for healing for a 16 year-old in my church and was denied. I started to believe that God would not act.

But one day, this young man suddenly woke up. He is home now and recovering. He still has tons of therapy to go through, but he is alive, able to talk, tie his shoes, walk, etc. A miracle did indeed happen. From the fireman at the scene of the accident stating, “the fact that these boys are alive is proof that there is a God.” To the doctors who didn’t seem to give much hope for survival, there is plenty of evidence that a miracle did indeed occur.

So the next time I am praying for healing for someone, there will indeed be just a little more pep in me because I know now that while sometimes, maybe even most times, God says no, there are those wonderful times when He says “yes.”

To My Family

This is a letter I wrote to my family, please take time to hug your own family members and tell them that you love them, you never know when it will be your last time.



Over the past 6 months I have been to a funeral for a 3-year old, watched a 16 year-old young man waste away and had to attend his funeral as well, and now, spent much of the past week in prayer for a brother of someone who works here. The car he was in was struck by a drunk driver driving approximately 25 mph over the speed limit.

Today is very crucial for him, and things do not look all that good, but please pray for a miracle.


This made me think and realize more that each day is not to be taken for granted. That we get tomorrow only because God has deemed it best, and at any moment one of us could be taken home. I was talking to someone at work who had lost her mother at a young age as well and I was remarking how I had no regrets since she always knew that I loved her, and I knew that she loved me. There are not unsaid things I wish I would have said, because we, as a family, always told each other though our words and actions that we genuinely love each other.

Let me just take this moment to say to you all that I love you all, and no one has been more blessed than I to have such a great family. I wouldn't trade any of our moments together for anything. Quick walk down memory lane:

Brother #1: Sword fighting with yellow wiffle bats.

Sister #1: Cutting the hair off of your Rainbow Brite fuzzy creature

Sister #2: umm....Any memories that don't end with us getting in trouble? How about using the sofa cushion to sled down the stairs!

Sister #3: You grabbing a broomstick, me lifting you up and smacking you into the refrigerator while you laughed gleefully the whole time.

Dad: While I enjoy our golf outings, what I will always cherish are the times when you would play football with us...except for the time Brother #1 broke his collarbone I guess. You always made time for us, thanks.

I do not believe that any family could be better than the one I'm in.

I love you all and look forward to our gathering 4th of July weekend.

Fritz

Mother's Day - Part 2

There are quite a few holidays that I don’t feel sad about my Mother not being there. Last Mother’s Day even I don’t think I was too distraught. This year though, for some reason, I really miss her. It isn’t a debilitating sadness that makes you unable to do much of anything, it is more just the constant reminder and pain that she isn’t here anymore.

I recently re-read a series that she used to read to us when we were younger, I could hear her doing the various voices for the characters in my head.

July 19^th, 2003 was such a long day. I don’t remember all of it even, but there are things engraved into my mind.

My grandmother saying, “I don’t want to lose another daughter!”

“Well, that’s it then,” my father said before he collapsed in tears.

I remember squeezing my mother’s cold hand, hoping that if I could warm it up she would somehow wake up again.

“It is never a good time to lose a parent,” stated the note my mother had written my uncle, but hadn’t had a chance to mail yet.

My second youngest sister and her family coming back into the hospital tears streaming down her face asking, “What happened?”

At that moment I realized that none of us had wanted to believe that she was actually leaving us.

One of the strange things was that the last time I saw her alive was actually in New Jersey of all places. We were celebrating my aunt’s wedding so the whole family was out there. We were swimming in my grandfather’s pool and Mom joined us, just like she had for all those years when we were growing up.

My parents were always involved in our lives, that is what made them such great parents.

I remember being in the pool, my mother had gotten out and she and Dad came back out to say good night. We were all heading back to Pennsylvania the next day so we all wanted to make sure to say our “Love Yous” and “Have a safe trips.”

How is that for your last memory of your mother, in a swimming pool in New Jersey. Proof that there is a God and He has a sense of humor.

I miss you, Mom.

Mother's Day - Part 1

Cure My Tragedy

Cold

Every little thing that I ever did,

You would stand by me.

Every time you cried it would take my wind,

My heart would break.

If I could be strong like you were for me,

You are my faith.

Won’t you cure my tragedy,

Won’t you cure my tragedy.

Don’t take her smile away from me,

She’s broken and I’m far away.

If you made the world a stage for me,

Then I hope that you can hear me scream.

Can you hear me scream?

Can you hear me scream?

The Baby

(Harley Allen/Michael White)



My brother said that I

was rotten to the core.

I was the youngest child,

so I got by with more.



I guess she was tired by

the time I came along.

She'd laugh until she cried,

I could do no wrong.

She would always save me,

because I was her baby.



I worked a factory in Ohio,

a shrimp boat in the Bayou,

I drove a truck in Birmingham.

Turned 21 in Cincinnati,

I called home to mom and daddy,

I said "Your boy is now a man."

She said "I don't care if you're 80,

you'll always be my baby."



She loved that photograph,

of our whole family.

She'd always point us out,

for all her friends to see.



That's Greg he's doing great,

he really loves his job.

And Ronnie with his 2 kids,

how 'bout that wife he's got.

And that one's kinda crazy,

but that one is my baby.



I got a call in Alabama,

said come on home to Louisianna

and come as fast as you can fly.

Cause your momma really needs you,

and says she's got to see you,

she might not make it through the night.

The whole way I drove 80

so she could see her baby.



She looked like she was sleepin'

and my family had been weepin'

by the time that I got to her side.

And I knew that she'd been taken,

and my heart it was breakin',

I never got to say goodbye.



I softly kissed that lady

and cried just like a baby.

Full Color

P.O.D.

I guess, you always knew what was best

Believed in your God, til the very last breath

You showed me how strong you can be

If Jesus saved your life, could he do it for me?

I'll lay down my life for you and for Him

Believe God's promise, I'm gonna see you again

Dear me, dear me.....what have I done?

Hail Mary, full of words, blessed above other bloggers art thou.

It has been nearly a month since my last blog post....I know I should have been here sooner, but not all that much exciting happened.....

No really, nothing did...well, if you insist.

I did manage to hit my first chip-in on a golf course. Hmm? Any details? It's a little foggy, but let's see.

11th hole at Parkview, Par 5, and I chipped it in from the rough to the right of the green....oh and it was for birdie.

Well, I guess that was exciting...anything else?

Want to hear why I hate Lowe's?

Good.

In the basement of my house there are 3 rooms. The main big room that the computer is in along with a cubby that I have the TV and three chairs resting at. There is also the utility room that the garage door leads into and holds my washer, dryer, hot water tank, etc.

And there is the storm room. This room has no windows and is in the basement, perfect for hiding from those nasty tornados that enjoy hopping over my house. Although I do prefer them hopping me than running through the little town I call home.

Anyway, the storm room had no door, even though I have lived in the house for several months and had put a door up for the utility room, and even bought one for the storm room, it had no door.

"Why is that?" you might ask.

Well, a huge, steel support beam cuts through the center of the house making the doorway 77" tall, which is 3" shorter than standard doorways. This makes getting a door a real pain. My choices were to remove the support beam, or get a shorter door.

Lowe's does custom doors, so I headed there. My father-in-law and myself measured the doorway four times to ensure the proper measurements.

I read the measurements to the meth head behind the desk at Lowe's and he punched them into the computer.

"We will have your door in 17 days," he told me.

17 days! I wanted this thing made out of wood, not stone. But that was the best he could do, and since I could tell he was needing a crack break I agreed.

(At this point, go listen to a song that you like)

- - - - - Musical Interlude - - - - - -


19 Days Later......

I look at the clock on my phone.....20 minutes have passed since I first was put on hold by the Wal-Mart reject at the front desk.

Finally someone picks up the phone and informs me that my door should be in on next week's truck. The person sounded a little math deficient so I refrained from informing him that 24 days is longer than 17 days.....

My father came out to visit us, rather exciting! We played golf, and on Friday took Brother #1's van to pick up my door.

I marched to the front desk and informed the lady that I was there to pick up my door, I filled out the necessary papers and was told to pull my vehicle up to the front of the store and someone would bring my door out shortly.

14 minutes later.....

I marched to the front desk and informed the lady that I was there waiting for one of the stock clerks to bring my door to me. Just then an 80-year old gentleman wearing a Lowe's flotation device hobbled to the front desk and asked what door he was supposed to bring forward.

Reassured that the old-geezer would soon have my door to me I went back outside to wait....

11 minutes later.....

I marched to the front desk and informed the gentleman that I had been waiting for 25 minutes for my door to be brought to me outside the store. He asked the lady what was going and she replied (and I quote) "I sent Ron back for it..." she then tried to turn away and go back to whatever solitaire game she was playing.

Burn in the fire of Home Depot lady!!!!

The guy was much more professional than the Wal-MArt reject lady and he promised to go get Ron and have my door brought out immediately.

Which is was. Would have been nice if that had been done 30 MINUTES EARLIER!

I take the door home and the next day, since it was raining and we couldn't go golfing anyway, my father and I put the door in....

It fit very easily since it was 3" narrower than we needed it....

Lowe's wasted 20 minutes of my time on the phone, made me wait 24 days for the door to get in, wasted 30 minutes of my life standing outside the store, all for a door that didn't fit the doorway.

I hate Lowe's....

Miscellaneous Drivel

Quote of the Moment:

Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow.
- Jeff Valdez

Pirates Update:

They stink.

Pie Rats Update:

I managed to pull off a tie somehow...

Golf Update:

I went golfing on Saturday. It was fun. Since it was the first time I touched many of the clubs this year, I gave myself a few mulligans on particularly wretched shots. I ended with a 53 on the front 9. I was pretty happy. I'm hoping by the end of the year to consistently shoot in the 40s. I putted ok, averaged 2.1 putts per hole, and almost drained a long one from the fringe.

Good for the Soul?

The most important thing to remember about the game of golf is this: Golf hates you. It hates you with a passion. Once you come to that understanding you can actually enjoy yourself a little more.

I say this because I went out and hit some golf balls yesterday…..in shorts…..and was mildly warm still. I know the people in Erie donÂ’t want to hear this due to them having SNOW on the ground still, but the story must be told!

Most times after I hit the ball I would mutter to myself, most often "“heel!"” No, I was not cursing with a Southern accent, I was merely expressing my disdain towards myself for constantly swinging out too far and hitting the ball with the heel of the club, this causes the ball to fly to the left, since I am a left - handed golfer, it also spins to the left, causing more leftward movement. Not good.

But, as I retrained myself on how to hit the ball properly, and how to not sway back as I pulled the club back, I began hitting the ball straight again. I was pretty happy.

Over this past tax season I did some people'’s taxes, I made enough to be able to purchase a membership to the Pekin Park District. No more paying each time, I pay up front and save some cash. And if I want to just do 5 holes, that is fine! Or just play the back 9, I can do it! I canÂ’t wait to get out there…..I sure hope it is nice this Saturday.

SaturdayÂ's Forecast: Sunny…high of 50. Wear a jacket and you will be fine.

I am so there.

Saddam's Secrets (A Review)

Saddam's Secrets

by General Georges Sada


General Sada is a general in the Iraqi air force. He served loyally from 1968 through the mid-80s when he was forced to retire since he refused to join the Baath party.

He was called back to active duty for the first Gulf War and he was put in charge of many of the POWs. He single handedly saved all the POWs in his jurisdiction by refusing the demand of Qusay to have them all executed, even though he was thrown in prison and was going to be killed himself for it.

One of his accomplishments that he is proudest of is that of the 606 Kuwaiti POWs held in Iraq, the only one to survive Iraqi imprisonment and torture was the one under Sada's authority.

When we talk about great men we forget what greatness is at times, but how many lives did General Sada save by standing up to Saddam as he did, even though he risked his own life to do it.

It is not the best written book, Sada is a military man and English is not his first language, but it is easy to read and very interesting.

4 out of 5

You may notice that this was a different score yesterday, I didn't mean to type 5 out of 5, I just did for some reason, at least it is fixed now.

Also, with baseball season starting I know many of you are wondering how the Pirates will be doing and how my fantasy team (the Pie Rats) are. I will be having weekly reports on both of them so have no fear!

I so can not believe that you just outed yourself like that...a fantasy sports team? How big a geek are you?

Matress from Purgatory

So.....the new mattress arrived a few days ago. DHL delivered it, when it arrived it appeared that DHL had used it to test out knives and other sharp pointy things. In short, it looked like Bruce Willis at the end of Die Hard.

Well, not that bad, in fact it appears to be fine, the company is sending a new cover and giving us a discount.

They have also promised that the DHL driver who delivered the mattress and put it in such a way that the gaping wounds would be hidden, would be shot. Repeatedly.


I hate people, was he going to lose his job if he admitted that the mattress was not in the shape that it started its journey in? What a lack of caring, in stead of pointing out the damage, he hid it!

DHL.....

Scum of the earth. Do not ever use DHL if you can help it.

Anyway, the mattress is a foam mattress and it arrives vacuum sealed and rolled up. The company said that after opening it would take 2 hours for it to fluff up. I didn't believe that it would be that short of a time, neither did Wife #1. We decided to open it in the basement, let it fluff out over night, then move it upstairs.

Great plan!

It is now stuck in the basement since I can't fold it in half while moving it up the stairs at the same time. Brother #1 and Sister #3 are coming over this weekend to help me. I wonder if Brother #1 told her yet?

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! This mattress appears to be perfect for us, firm enough for me while comfy enough for Wife #1's back. She slept on it last night, had a little slumber party with Merlin and Morgan while Arthur and I slept near the alarm clock. Poor Percy is still stuck in the sick room.

All I need to do now is actually get it to the bedroom....one step at a time...one slow step at a time...

A Sick Cat

Percy is sick.

Percy is on the right, Merlin on the left

I hate it when one of the cats gets sick. They aren’t able to tell us how bad off they are, or if it is just a slight upset stomach. After the Merlin situation I am always more paranoid about the health of the cats.

I was not a cat person, I didn’t care if we had a cat or not in the beginning. I am an animal person though, I acknowledge the fact that our dominion over Creation means that we are not to cause unnecessary pain or injury to an animal.

A few days after we had adopted Merlin, we were upstairs and we heard a tremendous thrashing downstairs. Being the brave man-

Umm…sure…

-that I am I went downstairs to see what the ruckus was.

Merlin had gotten a bag caught around his neck, and the bag was stuck in between the legs of one of the barstools we had at the breakfast bar.

The more he struggled to get free, the worst it became for him. I raced over to him and held him to keep him calm as I called for Wife #1 to brings scissors. We gently, and oh so carefully, cut the bag away from his neck.

At that moment I realized that Merlin couldn’t take care of himself. He needed us to keep him safe, sure he could attempt to live on his own outside, but that would be a miserable existence.

Kind of a picture of how we need God, eh?

When Merlin got really sick due to him missing his brother immensely, I realized that these are not mere dumb animals. They have their own behaviors, their own way of doing things, and they really care about each other.

His Highness, His Chubbiness, King Arthur

Arthur is the protector of the other cats, he has heard one of the other cats calling out, either in pain or just out of loneliness, and he races over to them to make certain they are ok.

The Little Princess

Morgan gets treated specially by the other cats, they will clean her, but she only cleans Wife #1 while she is trying to sleep…..not exactly the way that she would like Morgan to show her affection. Let me just add that she is not in a laundry basket in the above picture. We have a small basket that she and Percy love to sleep in, she is not a 50lb cat yet.

So Percy is sick, locked off from the rest of his family, he is the most affectionate cat of the four, he loves physical contact, he rarely will be by himself and, unless asleep, he will usually be near to another cat or one of his slaves (Wife #1 and myself).

He is getting better, I have prayed that he would get healthy. Since he is the runt I always fear that he is more sickly somehow and that an illness that other cats can recover from he won’t be able too.

Sometimes I try to recall what it was like out our happy home without the cats, and I can’t really remember what it was like. When the cats are all at the vet for a check-up or the breeder to get shaved, the house seems empty and quiet. I don’t really want to go back to the time before pets.

I’m still not really a cat person, I just like these cats.

Sure you aren’t, sure you aren’t

Sister #2 Enters the Fray

I have added a new link, Sister #2 has started a blog so I have added her to my links. Yes!! Another blog to forget about and feel guilty for not reading often enough!

And it looks so pretty in pink.!

Mattress from Hell

As many of you know Wife #1 has bad back problems. We have gone to many different doctors to little or no avail. One option we thought of was to buy a better mattress. The best mattress even! A Sleepnumber Bed! Well, at least a knock-off.

We received the mattress on the 13^th of February and I immediately put it together. Yes, you read that correctly, you have to put the mattress together. It took me an hour or so, plus I had to move the old king sized mattress off the bed and to another room by myself. It was all rather tiring.

Of course, as we could all foresee, the pump to inflate the air chambers was broken. I then had to move partially put together mattress to another room and muscle the old mattress back on the bed.

The new pump arrived on Thursday, so again I muscled the old mattress off the bed and got the new one put together. The pump worked! Our bed was ready to be slept on! What a wonderful day!

Friday Morning

I awaken with a stiff back. Dumb me, I had the mattress too soft, I just need to inflate it more.

Saturday Morning

Again, an aching back, I will have to remember to inflate it more so I get some support for my back.

Sunday Morning

I must have slept for too long since my back is really hurting; maybe I still have it too soft?

Monday Morning

I can barely get out of bed. I am in so much pain, of course I can’t really complain about it to Wife #1, I think the bed is helping her back feel better. I just need to figure out how to come up with an excuse to sleep on something else other than this, a bed of nails would feel better.

Monday Evening

Wife #1 finds out I hate the bed. I find out that she isn’t all that fond of it either. I take it apart and pack it up. This is awful. The boxes are too small for this thing to fit into, unless I really compress the parts, so I end up kneeling on a roll of foam tying a phone cord around it so that it won’t burst the box open anymore than it already has.

Final cost for this wonderbed? $150 to have it shipped to us, $150 to have it shipped back to them. The lady at the company was very nice and told us that we shouldn’t have to pay any restocking fee, which would have been around $200. And my back is still recovering from sleeping on it for four nights.

I was talking to a chum at work who had recently purchased a new driver (a golf club). As any married golfer knows when you want to get a golf club, you need to have an ace up your sleeve. He had agreed that his wife could purchase a new piano with most of their tax refund…..

CHA-CHING!!

New golf club baby!!

I can now hold this over Wife #1 so next time I want a golf club all I have to do is refer to the mattress from hell, the money spent on it, the pain it caused me, and the amount of time I spent putting it together TWICE, and taking it apart TWICE. In others words….

CH-CHING!

New R-7 baby!!

My Deepest and Most Insincere Apologies

Looks like I had something to say again! Rejoice people! Rejoice! I have returned!

This will make four posts today, I would promise to try and write more, but I'm sure that not only would I break that promise, you wouldn't care if I did.

I know I wouldn't care.

So Long, Reverend Red Hed!

In my life I have had to endure leaving (or being left by) many people. The amount of people I have left due to changing jobs is enormous. So I’m used to saying goodbye to co-workers.

Last Friday was the last day for a guy here at work, the Red Hed Rev, so we had a going away party for him, as we have done before, then we said goodbye and he left….although I will see him Wednesday to give him a final check. One difference though:

I actually liked him.

He had that slightly caustic sense of humor that I enjoy so much in myself and others. It is much easier to say good-bye to that schmuck who irritates you on a daily basis than to see someone leave who had restored your love of basketball by organizing a get together to play ball. We would have had more I’m sure except for his wife’s pesky pregnancy thing. Those seem to ruin everything.

The Red Hed Rev was actually the first person I met here at my job. Other than Brother #1 of course, but as all older brothers should know by know, to us younger brothers, you really don’t count.

I had a job interview here and even though I knew there was a casual atmosphere I was still showing up in my suit and tie.

His cubicle was the first one inside the door. He looked a little surprised to see someone in a suit there and I realize now that he probably thought I was a salesman of some sort.

Anyway, we will miss you, and I’m positive that God will only do good things for you and your family because of your long awaited church.

When the Best Words are Nothing

There is a guy I work with here, his three-year-old daughter died last night. She was very ill, but this was unexpected.

I don’t know the details, but they don’t really matter. What I do know is that he will hear ten thousand times that God is good, and this is all according to His plan, and words like that. The big question is though, why will he hear the same thing from so many different people?

It is because we want to help, we want to help ease his sorrow and suffering, so we remind him of God’s promises, which is good, but he won’t be hearing that from me. Dealing with all the effects from Wife #1’s back problems has made me grow weary of hearing constantly that everything is going according to God’s plan. But why say the same thing over and over and over? I don’t need to hear this from person after person in a half hour span.

It is because we want to say the right thing to help, yet what we really need to do is shut up and listen. In most cases we don’t have the right words, if they sound trite to your ears I guarantee you they are sounding trite to his. What someone who is suffering needs sometimes is just to be listened to. That is becoming a rare thing these days; someone who can listen and not throw his two cents in, it is something that I try to work on myself.

So when he gets back, I will ask him how he is, how his wife is and if there is anything I can do to help. I know many others will say the same things, but I am going to try really hard to actually listen to his answers, that is what is needed most more often than not.

Side thought:

One of the things I love about working where I do is that we all stopped working and gathered to pray for a while for our Brother. Work was put on hold while we all prayed, silently and aloud. It was a moving experience.

All Numbers End Up at 9

I heard an interview with a human calculator over the weekend, this stuff interests me greatly, but I will assume that most of you will be bored out of your mind. I will not be mad if you skip this post entirely in fact.

Anyway, the guy was saying that one day he had an epiphany in that all numbers end up at nine. He gave some examples and it was very interesting. He showed how to check your math easily and how you can always be certain of your answers. Here is how:

If you are adding single digit numbers, such as 1 + 1, it is simple to check your answer.

1 + 1 = 2

You would take the 1 and the 1, put them together and you get 11.

Subtract your answer of 2:

11 -– 2 = 9

You end up with 9 so you know your answer is correct.

You can do this with any single digit addition with a twist, just make sure to add the answer together to get your 9. Like so:

5 + 4 = 9

54 -– 9 = 45

4 + 5 = 9!

With double-digit addition it is slightly different. You use your answer to figure it out to 9. Like so:

61 + 61 = 122

122 = 1 + 2 + 2 = 5

122 -– 5 = 117

117 = 1 + 1 + 7 = 9!

Sure, this has no practical value, but it amazes me, letÂ’s try one more before moving on:

52 + 89 = 141

141 = 1 + 4 + 1 = 6

141 - 6 = 135

135 = 1 + 3 + 5 = 9!

Now onto triple digits:

122 + 135 = 257

257 = 2 + 5 + 7 = 14

257 -– 14 = 243

2 + 4 + 3 = 9!

As you can see, everything is normal when your answer has three between 1 and 3 digits, letÂ’s get some 4-digit answer and see what occurs:

555 + 666 = 1221

1221 = 1 + 2 + 2 + 1 = 6

1221 -– 6 = 1215

1 + 2 + 1 + 5 = 9!

I donÂ’t know why this works, but it does, it doesnÂ’t seem to have any real value, but it really is amazing.

1356 + 8457 = 9813

9813 = 9 + 8 + 1 + 3 = 21

9813 -– 21 = 9792

9 + 7 + 9 + 2 = 27

This is the weird part, sometimes the answers are multiples of 9. But it is still 9 in the end!

55555 + 66666 = 122,221

1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 = 10

122,221 -– 10 = 122,211

1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 9!!

Well, there you go, I have fully exposed the fact that I am a numbers geek. All of the equations I have done in my head or on paper just about always end up at 9, and sometimes they end up at 27, a multiple of 9. If you find an equation that doesnÂ’t hold to this, please post it, I would be interested in seeing it.

You do know that no one is still reading this now, right?

There could be one!! There could be one!