Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Whuzzup?

I posted earlier, but here it isn't? I guess my age is catching up with me. Anyway, go over to youtube.com and look for a video of the dog Pete skateboarding. He's pretty good and even goes over a jump.

Also, LPW, go to this link and check out their PERFECT CHEER! They performed it the Saturday morning before the Rock N Roll AZ race and I think you'll appreciate it.
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/myfox/pages/InsideFox/Detail?contentId=5448750&version=10&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=5.2.1

We watched House tonight and it was a Christmas show. Anyway, one of the songs featured sounded like a Beatles song, but then they began to sing a Christmas song. I researched it and found it was Little Drummer Boy by the Fab Four. Now, I'm looking for their Christmas album. Very clever.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

It Snuck Up On Me, But It Stayed Down

Whew! On Saturday, I remembered that I had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday. They had given me a card, but that was three months ago. So, it snuck up on me. Before then, I needed to have a blood test done to be sure I remained cancer-free. So, we got that done and still made it to breakfast on time.

Today, I got the good news that my PSA was less than 0.01, which means no cancer. So, it stayed low. Great news!

Did I tell y'all that I am taking a Java class at Mesa Community College? I am enjoying it, as well as knowing the freedom of having a direction I am pursuing for the future. I have already finished my homework for this week and turned it in. While I continue to look for a full-time job, I will now begin substitute teaching to bring in some money.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is on behind me as I type this. That's still a great movie to me.

Monday, January 28, 2008

I Know I Cannot

This dude know his Photoshop. I KNOW I cannot do this. Could you?

Sunday, January 27, 2008

I'm Not Sure I Can

We had an East Valley Chorale concert tonight. It went really well and the audience at the RV park seemed to enjoy it. One of the songs is Whatever It Takes by Lanny Wolfe. It is a nice song and has good parts. However, the second verse really speaks to me and is unfortunately convicting every time we sing it.

Take my houses and lands,
Change my dreams and my plans;
For I'm placing my whole life in Your hands.
And if you call me some day to a land far away,
Lord, I'll go and Your will obey.
For whatever it takes to draw closer to You , Lord,
That's what I'll be willing to do.
For whatever it takes to be more like You,
That's what I'll be willing to do.
I'll' trade sunshine for rain, and comfort for pain.
That's what I'll be willing to do.
Lord, whatever it takes for my will to break,
That's what I'll be willing to do.


Sure, I know I should want to do all that. Of course, I want His will. I should want to want to do it.
I believe. Lord, help thou my unbelief.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Back to College?!?

Yup. I start a Java programming class tonight at a local community college. Well, I hope to. I have not heard from the instructor approving me yet. I missed the introductory class last week (and so he needs to OK my late entry) and the class technically has a prerequisite course I have not taken (computer intro 101. I think 30 years in the business should be sufficient). Since the Mac OS is built on UNIX, I should be able to use the built-in Java for the class.

I probably could teach myself, but I'd like the college credit so it looks more official on my resume. This will also force me to continue through completion and not stop in the middle because I've learned enough or I'm tired of it. I still see many jobs that want Java skills, and a friend also recommended this as an avenue in a tight job market. If something doesn't happen soon, I'll have to move to TX and live with Craig and family (I'd probably have to ask Craig to hire me and work some) or maybe with Linda and family (I could act retired with them).


And here is a tweaked picture of the Durango-Silverton Railroad.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

The Revelation of Randy the Baptist 2

1 It came to pass that the head of the household was without employment for five months, no six. The house descended into worry and doubt, and did not pay attention to the Word of the Lord as told to Matthew the tax collector.
2 So Randy of the tribe of Walker determined that the Lord was perhaps calling him to be His minister and musician. He worked with his pastor, a friend and the state association to locate the church wherein he should serve.
3 Lo, months passed with no fruit blooming on the tree of employment. The gardeners would not speak to him nor respond to his written queries.
4 In the twenty-second day of the first month of the final year of the reign of President George, the Lord came to Randy and said, "Your choice of work is noble and important to the Kingdom of God. I have been speaking, but your ears were closed. Your eyes saw not. I have not called you to church work. This profession is not a second choice. Stay where I have planted you. The Lord will provide."
5 Randy tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. It was as the Lord had said. He was committing the sin of Abraham and Hagar as written in Genesis and solving the problem himself rather than waiting on the Lord.
6 Randy was contrite and pledged himself anew to trusting the Lord for all provisions. May it be as the Lord has said.
7 And there will be much rejoicing.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

The Revelation of Randy the Baptist 1

1 And it came to pass that the Oracle of Montezuma came to me and said, "Thou shalt eat not of the syrup written in Spanish. Behold, it is no longer fit to consume and you shall spew it out of your mouth."
2 I beheld and it was true. The sweetness had left on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of the ninety-eighth year of the last millennium.
3 Linda of the Keller tribe had so foreseen, while Craig of the Weeks tribe was sorely mistaken.
4 Indeed, those who assembled our goods for a return to the land of our birth in the first year of the new millennium had packed it, even though its date of safe consumption had passed two years earlier. They had the trash receptacles and carefully wrapped each item already placed in the receptacles, invoking some amount of surprise and jocularity in our household when said items were opened.
5 And there was much rejoicing.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Sweet In Every Way


Oh come on. Would you like it if someone was poking you in the cheek? Kendall and Bella and their parents came by tonight for some dinner. I decided to capture a photo of KNW in my lap and Nana just had to get in the photo. Still, isn't she sweet?


Speaking of sweet, check this out. It is past its expiration date. Can you guess when it expired? Check all the clues. I'll let you know another day.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

iShoes

http://www.theishoes.com/index.html

OK, it's not a Segway, but it's not $5K either.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Rock N Roll!!!!

Well, Rock N Roll Marathon, anyway. We knew one running the full marathon and two running the half marathon. Congrats to all!


Here are Lindsay's numbers. I am sure she will share more details with you. Still, keeping a pace of 12 min per mile for 26 miles is well beyond my limits. We are all proud of her. In fact, we went and checked her out to be sure she was really running.


Here she is at about 15 miles. As you can see, she paused slightly to show me the Dallas Cowboys sticker on her left cheek. That's a die-hard fan. She told me that she should have checked to see if it was permanent before she applied it. OK, not really.

Here you can see the rest of her cheering committee. Almost all. Carey tried to cover Mom with her sign. Dad and I were taking photos.


Last night, she gave me a taste of the runner's goo she takes at several points during the race. This was strawberry-banana flavored. It certainly has a weird consistency. I told her that I tasted about 4 miles worth. Whew! It was different. That alone might be enough to keep me from running.

Congrats to DeeAnn Russell from Kathie's school on her half marathon time of 2:08 for a pace of 9.48 minutes per mile.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Some News and Some Numbers

The job I was pursuing did not work out for me. They decided to promote internally.

Some Numbers as tallied by Lifeway Research, the research group within the Southern Baptist Convention. 1402 "unchurched" people surveyed. Top 11 answers on the board.+/- 2.5 percentage points.

22% of Americans never go to church
72% say the church is full of hypocrites
(There is no truth to the rumor that 27% of those attend a church in Pahrump)
72% say God or a supreme being actually exists
44% agree with the statement "Christians get on my nerves"
(There is no truth to the rumor that 12% of those attend a church in Pahrump)
52% agree that "Jesus died and came back to life"
61% say the God of the Bible is "no different from the gods or spiritual beings depicted in Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc"
86% believe they can have a "good relationship with God without belonging to a church"
(There is no truth to the rumor that 31% of those attend a church in Pahrump)
79% say "Christianity today is more about organized religion than loving God and loving people"
Still, 78% would be willing to listen to someone tell what they believed about Christianity
71% agreed "believing in Jesus makes a positive difference in a person's life"
(There is some truth to the rumor that 40% of those work at a Sonic near a church in Pahrump)
89% have at least one close friend who is Christian



And the results of a preacher who confused fishing for men with hunting for baboons.

Monday, January 07, 2008

LPW Running Over To PHX Soon


We are all back to work today. OK, all except me. I am still looking. In the meantime, we are excited about Lindsay coming. I think you can tell that by my choice of photos. In fact, check my comment on her blog. I think the same thing happened here. Here is one from the last time she visited the zoo.

Of course, the last big event here was the wedding. This is a photo of the Crazy Uncle family...and no one else!

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Where'd He Go?

Sorry for my conspicuous absence in the last few days. We are in Texas staying with Kathie's daddy in the hospital. As a result, we don't get back to the hotel until bedtime and do not have a computer in the room or at the hospital. We plan to return to PHX on Sat, so maybe I can talk again on Sunday.

Her father has pneumonia, but is resting better now. He doesn't want to be left alone, so we tend to leave the room only in shifts. That's right, we remove our regular clothes and put on lovely gold-colored shifts to leave the room. Stop it. You know what I mean.

OK, upstairs and to bed. More next time. Keep him in your prayers.