Too much of something, anyway.

A lot has happened since my birthday a month ago.

On June 15th, a thunderstorm blew through our area.  A microburst occurred in our neighborhood.  Two houses were damaged.  One of them was ours.  We had 2 trees toppled,  One smashed into the corner of the garage roof and (pardon the expression) hit the deck, driving it about 3″ deeper into the ground.  The other, larger tree landed on the garage roof.  Insurance is paying to replace the deck and the entire roof structure of the garage.  We are about 1/3 through the project (I hope that’s right!).

At work we are servicing a customer that already has a number of machines and are paying (and assisting us) to update and modify them to run some new products.  I must remain vague, unfortunately.  I have been swamped, working between 55 and 60 hours each week.  At least the pay’s good!

In the middle of all of this, I have to leave for England soon for a service trip that I have been postponing since April.  The aforementioned customer is not very happy that I am “abandoning them” in the midst of their big project, but this has to be done too, and this is a good time for me to pause and do something different.

I’m sure there’s more, and I will update this as I remember.

But I saved the best for last:  on July 7th we celebrated our 31st anniversary.  I love my wife very much, and I hope she can stomach at least 31 more miserable years with me around.  I love you, Lori!!!

There.  I think the wheel in the cage has coasted long enough.  Time to start running in circles again!

Happy birthday to me!

For what it’s worth.

There’s more of me physically than at this time last year.  I didn’t know that being over 50 meant that one’s weight would increase proportionately.

Too bad the intelligence level doesn’t grow to match the waistline.

On September 18th, 2009, I visited Arlington National Cemetery with the group from our high school. We made a point to visit the Tomb of the Unknowns while there and observe the “changing of the guard”.  It was incredibly moving.  I was proud of the young men who stand guard over the tomb day and night through all kinds of weather conditions, whether an audience is present or not.

I have the utmost respect for those in the Armed Forces of the United States.  I toyed with joining the service while in college, but was convinced otherwise.  I do not know if I could do what some of these men and women are doing and have done through our country’s history.  I am extremely grateful for their service.

I am also sickened by the selfishness and self-service of the current Commander-in-Chief, who apparently considered it beneath him to visit Arlington on Memorial Day, that day set aside to remember those who died in service of this great country which he now leads.  To send his buffoon of a Vice-President (which I think that he did – I’m not sure) is actually an insult and dishonoring to those who sacrificed much more than just a family vacation in Chicago with a barbeque with “honored” guests such as Loius Farrakhan, the Jew- and white-hating leader of the “Nation of Islam” cult.

Yes, we see where priorities lie.  I am worried about what kind of country my children will be living in when I’m gone.

I hope it’s still here.

Thanks to our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and so many others, it is still here now.

Thank you so much.

Christmas.  There is so much that can be and has been said about this holiday that I cannot add to it.

It is a wonderful time set aside for celebrating the miraculous birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Those who argue about possible pagan roots for this holiday are merely blowing smoke.  While the exact time of Christ’s birth is unknown, and while there are no commands to celebrate it, there is no reason not to do so, and one date is as good as another.

Let us not just use the day for eating and drinking or giving and receiving gifts or for visiting family and friends.  Let us reflect on this awesome, indescribable gift that God gave us.

And let us accept Him, the Babe in the Manger, Who is also the Lamb of Calvary and the Risen Lord of All.

Merry Christmas!

Here’s a brand new look for the website.

Quite a bit different, isn’t it?

I will be tweaking the colors, arrangement, and content for a bit.  I think it will work better.

Oh, and I signed up for a Twitter account.  My 5 most recent “tweets” will appear on the right side of the page.  Maybe now I will have fresher information on the site, if this works out.  I can “tweet” from the cell phone, too, so there is really no excuse now.

Unless I wish to have pity on people and not subject them to my delirious ramblings.

Enjoy.  If you can.

UPDATE #1 14Dec09:  I added the marble background and expanded the height of the color gradient behind the header logo.  I also adjusted the order of the boxes in the sidebar and the orientation of the header. I changed the look of the sidebar boxes. This theme package is AWESOME!  Now I need to add some links like I forgot to do earlier – like 2 years ago earlier.

It’s Thanksgiving.  Too often we all get too caught up in the excitement of visiting family and friends, eating, eating again, eating some more, putting away leftovers for eating later, and planning the battle strategy for the “Black Friday” sales at Walmart, the mall, or other retailers.  We too often forget the real meaning and intended function of the day.

For what am I thankful?  Let me list a few in no particular order:

• I am thankful that there is a God Who cares about me and has provided a way to eternal life that does not involve some convoluted process or a fine balance between good and bad works.  He has given me a gift – one that I do not deserve, cannot earn, and can claim by merely asking.  Then He is merciful to me, forgiving me for being human.  He listens to me whine, beg, and stomp my feet, and He answers in the way that is always best for me and that glorifies Himself through me.  He sends me blessings each moment, from the breath that I take to protection from enemies seen and unseen.  And He has placed within me a sound, quick mind and talents in music and speech for which I still cannot find enough uses.  I guess most of all I am thankful to Him.
• I am thankful for my heritage.  I come from a family that on both sides has a history of strong faith and practice.  I have been blessed with ancestors who loved God, and I now have a wife and children who love Him as well.
• I am thankful for a good, stable, secure job.  I am blessed with a father who is very intelligent and inventive, and he has parlayed his talents into a niche in the packaging industry that no one else fills.  He started the company 25 years ago with the intent of manufacturing the machines and providing his sons with good jobs.   With my knowledge and my involvement now I know that I can be employed for quite some time building and servicing these machines.  My job also allows me to spend time improving myself and learning more about different areas that can help me and help the business.  I am paid a very generous salary so I can support my family and help out my grown children.
• I have a good church where I can serve and worship.  God has given me the ability to stand before people and teach His Word, sing His praises, and lead others as they sing and worship Him.
• I have a good home.  It may not be everything that I would wish to have in a house, but it is functional and pleases my wife.
• Speaking of wife, I am VERY grateful that God sent me a lovely and talented woman to whom I have been married for over 30 years.  She has proven herself to be a great mother, a fantastic teacher, an incredible cook, and the love of my heart.
• I am thankful for my four children.  Are they perfect?  Of course not.  But looking around at other families I can see that our children are smart, sensible, and well-behaved.  I am proud of all of them.
• I am thankful for the country in which I live.  No other place on earth or in history has ever been like the United States of America.  Many (even some citizens!) look at our country as flawed, imperfect, and in need of drastic change to be “acceptable” among others.  But the motto “E Pluribus Unum” (”Out of many, one”) still applies, and there is still no nation like this one.

I could keep going, but it is time to go and be thankful elsewhere.

Take a moment today and thank God for everything.  Then thank someone close to you for what they are and what they do.

It is called “Thanksgiving” for a reason, you know.

The last several weeks have been very hectic.

I spent the first week of October in Las Vegas for the packaging machinery exhibition. Vegas holds no interest for me. Lots of lights, noise, and glitz, but nothing of substance. No morals, either. Not my kind of place.

As soon as I returned home, we drove to Greenville to visit Ally and for Ally and Lori to attend the wedding of a friend’s daughter (congratulations Stephanie!) We drove back home on Monday, then on Thursday I, my dad, and another associate flew over to Greenville for a business conference at Bob Jones University. It was fantastic!

Since then I have been busy at work with meetings, programming, service, a service trip to Nashville, vendor meetings, and special events at church. Plus, the basketball season is underway, and Ben is playing on the varsity squad and Jon plays on both the elementary and JV teams. Nothing like a quick hour-long trip at bedtime to rescue a group of kids from a disabled bus.

Of course, there’s also the ongoing guilt about things such as straightening the garage (which hasn’t really been done since we moved in here 10 years ago), completing some music composition and arranging projects, catching up on reading, cataloging and transferring tapes and old records to CD, cleaning up computers, and updating the look of the website (should I start “tweeting” and including my Twitter feed on the site? I’m thinking about it).

So now that I’m done feeling sorry for not accomplishing anything, I’m going back to work. At home. Keeping a sick kid.

At least it’s quiet!

This weekend (June 27th and 28th) was Field Day for ham radio operators.  We get together, put up radio stations under simulated emergency conditions, and then try for 24 hours to contact as many other stations as possible.  We also try to get publicity in the local media to get attention for our activity and to recruit new hams.

The Decatur Democratic Socialist People’s Daily actually published something last week about Field Day – for another county.  We submitted information and were promised that THIS year we would have a short article.  Nothing appeared but a brief blurb in the “Calendar of Events”.

But then a photographer from the so-called paper showed up on Saturday and took pictures of several of us while we were operating our radio stations.  Sunday’s paper included one photo with a brief description of what was happening.

Guess which fat tub of lard got pictured operating the 20-meter station?

Ick!!!  I saw something that looked like that in a Star Wars movie once.

At least I had fun.  I didn’t look too great, but I had fun.

I wonder: if I stuck myself with a pin, would deflate like a blimp?

Yeah, I know, most of mine are.  But this one is different.  Sort of.  Maybe.

The government is taking control of 2 of the 3 major US automobile manufacturers.  From whence is all of the money coming to keep them afloat?  From you and me, the typical unclean American taxpayer.

However, once each year (for many of us), the government returns some of that money in the form of tax refunds.  That money could be put to better use in the car companies, don’t you think? (I speak as a fool – or a Democrat, which is the same thing.)

So, what if, instead of a refund check, the government sends each of us a voucher for a discount on a brand new Government Motors “Obamobile Custom Croozer” car?  You would be unable to use the voucher on a Ford or any German, Japanese, or other foreign make.  You could only use it to buy an “appropriate”, “approved” vehicle for your particular situation.  SUV’s, pickup trucks, and large luxury cars would also be prohibited, of course.

Such is not that far from possible, unfortunately.

I’d start riding my bicycle more, except that it will probably be fitted with an official government GPS to inform them of the miles I’ve ridden so that they can tax my road usage.

Let me be politically incorrect for a moment, if not downright insensitive.

The entire premise of evolution is that those who are the “fittest” are the ones who survive to procreate and to continue the genetic line.

The big story for the last couple of days has been the “swine flu” that has broken out in Mexico and has been reported in a few cases in the US.

So, applying the “survival of the fittest” principle to this, are not those who succumb to the disease “less fit” than those who do not?  And if they are weaker and “less fit” to survive, then why are we so concerned about the “evolutionary process” at work here?

If evolution and its precepts were totally followed to the letter, we would end up with something like “government-run health care”.  That way, only the “fittest”, or most easily swayed by the powers of the “elite” who will run things, will survive to perpetuate the species called “Americans”.

Just something to ponder while struggling for your next breath.

Swine.