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Showing posts from July, 2009

Car Safari III - You Can Always Get What You Want

Most people hate buying cars, and I would have to agree. If you treat it like going to Wal*Mart, you're not going to like it. But if you treat it like miniature golf-- like one with animals and stuff, it can be kinda fun. This is my third one in two months thanks to the tax hike in Massachusetts and the federal incentive to get a more fuel efficient car. Let me digress. You may remember the Yaris that I helped my daughter buy. When I went for a second one they offered me a $50 discount, I walked out. Some Cowboy he turned out to be-- didn't even bring a horse to the rodeo. I tried another dealer, this time a Yaris for Mary Anne. Her Chrysler mini-van went out of warranty and ran up three months car payments a day later, and two more months worth the next week; failing the state safety and emissions inspection. Since neither the heat or A/C was working, we decided it was time to put her down. We went on Craigslist to buy all the stuff that would never fit in two Yaris-es (or i...

I Should Be Committed - And Maybe You Should Be Too!

Does the church make you nuts?!? I was musing over some of the comments and emails I received from my most recent posts. I have discovered that there are a lot of angry and disillusioned Christians out there. It makes me sad to think that the church, the place with the "standard" by which all men will be judged is taught, disregard even the simplest of commands and live selfishly. Here are some Biblical situations, what would you do? (WHAT WOULD I DO? WW I D) Luke 19:29b He sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, "Go into the village ahead of you; there, as you enter, you will find a colt tied on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. 31 "If anyone asks you, ā€˜Why are you untying it?’ you shall say, ā€˜The Lord has need of it." Let me paraphrase: Go into [your city] and find a brand new Mercedes E500 with the keys in it. Take that, and if the dealer asks you why, say that you need it for Jesus. If you are the dealer/owner, can you hand over the k...

Are You Tired Yet?

I live near Boston, and all sides, from the Cambridge Cops to the president, have weighed in on the arrest of some black Harvard professor. There were four reports every 15 minutes on my ride home. The poor kid from Cape Cod that died in Afghanistan so all these idiots could have freedom, got 15 seconds for the day. Pathetic! I am taking the side of the cops on this one. They put some big mouth who went ballistic because the cop was trying to protect his house, from what was thought to be a burglary, in the slam. Go figure, the president gets involved because it's his friend. Who cares? The big mouth got cuffed for being a jerk and the governor of Taxachusetts says everyone has the right to raise their voice to the cops in their own house. Please. Can this get anymore pathetic? I almost said that I wished we could get more Michael Jackson news. Nah. BTW - I denounce any sort of racism. With two wars, a sad economy, record unemployment, and the potential for being heavily taxed for ...

Mall Cop - How Stupid Can You Be?

Last night I watched Paul Blart Mall Cop. I had seen the previews as well as having some co-workers that were extras in the film. I have also been to the Burlington Mall in Massachusetts and eaten at the Rain Forest Cafe. Familiarity, relationship and the few tenths of a second where I knew someone, peaked my interest. As I think about some of the scenes, it still makes me laugh to myself. It wasn't a 10 for sure, but I did find the relationship, the action and some of the characters pretty interesting. It also made me think about church. I always think that it's funny how Hollywood sees life-- I am glad it was comedy. But so much of what we are taught in church is out the window in this film (and hundreds of others). I did like the fact that the father protected his teenage daughter from the evil theives. She actually listened to him-- now that's not reality! I was also thinking about a recent incident that happened with someone at church. Have you ever had someone say, ...

You're Kidding Right? - 40 Things About Middle-Age Kids

Today I got one of those personal surveys-- you know-- forty questions about what you like and what you hate-- does someone have a crush on you? How come 14-year-olds send these to old people? I am rebelling. Here are my 40 questions. -1 Do you have a mortgage? -2 Have you ever bought your own toilet paper? -3 Do you own your own car? -4 Who pays the insurance? -5 Ever been pulled over for DUI or DWI? -6 Ever been on Cops? -7 Do you save money? -8 Do you even have a full-time job? -9 Do you have a 401k? -10 How many inches has your waist gained since high school? -11 Do you dye you hair because you have to, or like to? -12 Do you have hair? -13 Do you have hair growing in places it didn't used to? -14 How many cars have you owned? -15 What was the drinking age when you were old enough to drink? -16 How many pounds did your first cell phone weigh? -17 How long did it take you find the @ key when you first got email? -18 What's your favorite TV show that is not on MTV? -19 Do you...

My, How You've Changed

Today I attended a class reunion of sorts; actually a picnic. There were were a number of 50-somethings that I have not seen since we were teenagers. Sure, there are those that have lost hair, gained weight and added a few wrinkles. But there are other changes too. Some have really grown up, are well educated, socially engaging and a few have become Christians. Sadly, and somewhat disturbing, some have gone the way of addiction. I was thinking, what was this person really like then, and are they the same now? Most were older versions of the previous "model." For others, the changes seemed so drastic, only a thread of the original seemed to remain. The passage of time only makes me ponder all the things that I wish someone had told me long ago, and helped me learn. Here I sit at the half-century mark, and finally feel like I have enough wisdom to give life a go-- yet the energy to run out there and turn the world upside down is pretty much gone. Oh well, it's water over t...

Restoration - The Art of Grace and Accountability

In 1976 I bought a 1965 Mustang with 88,000 miles on it for $350. It had been left in a barnyard parking lot and it was covered in pine sap, left buried by the snow plow, and had a number of dings. My dad and I went over, jumped the battery, and drove it the 120 miles to my garage in Connecticut. I carefully began to take it apart, bagging every bolt, and marking parts with masking tape and a Magic Marker. For three and a half months I cleaned, sanded, welded, ratcheted bolts, turned screws, ran wires and finally it was ready for orange paint and black racing stripes. In the process of restoration, I took the best parts, cleaned them up and bought new ones as needed. It took 3 Mustangs to make one-- one fully restored 2+2 fastback. Some days the process was arduous as I found more rust, traced severed electrical wires, broke off the oil sensor in the engine block and skinned more than a few knuckles. I kept up my moral by taking it out for a few rides around the block during the recons...

Relationship 201

This weekend I was in CT visiting some long-time friends with my 18-year-old who came along for the ride. We stayed with a family that I met 10 years ago at a conference. We've kept in touch by phone, taken mission trips together, and gotten together whenever our schedules permit. I took a ride back to my old neighborhood, where I noticed that the street sign is probably the same one that was there so many years ago. And that it apparently hasn't been stolen I moved out. Saturday afternoon I enjoyed a cool drink with the daughter of a another long-time friend; the miracle of Facebook Mobile. Her dad and I bought guitars the same day back in August of 1978 in downtown New Haven. I also had lunch-- sushi-- with another friend. She and I have known each other since kindergarten (1964), went to same schools, were in an occasional class, and finally went our separate ways in 1976-- she 11th in the class and me 222. Wow! I am having trouble wrapping my little mind around 30, 40 , no ...

8:21 am - Random Thoughts of a Tired Blogger

This morning I am sitting in a quiet house. My wife and daughter are off at the farm taking care of horses, goats, ducks and chickens. My adult daughter is asleep, and the dogs are quietly laying in their beds after their morning meal. I am chuckling to myself wondering why we've never seen the headline, "Psychic Wins Lottery?" I am looking forward to church this morning-- I haven't been in a few weeks, therefore; I am thinking about God's presence and wondering what it will be like today. I am still savoring the picnic for my older brother's birthday I attended yesterday in the Green Mountains. As we were sitting on picnic table beneath the maples and pines, my sister-in-law briefly critiqued my blog-- "it's not always so serious or theological, I like that" she said. Apparently a few funny thoughts are more uplifting than a treatise on worshiping in Spirit and in truth or a thesis on the the five-fold ministry. :) On my way home I was meditat...

The Grind - Back to Work

I started back to work this week. Against all odds, I actually had a job offer in place within two weeks of losing my previous job during a workforce reduction. I applied for one job, had one interview and got one offer. I did have interviews with about a dozen hopeful recruiters-- even a verbal offer, but nothing panned out. Nothing. Pretty amazing, hunh? My new commute, for now, is shorter than the old one. I understand the it gets a bit slower during the school season -- I don't know. I guess I am a bit of a space-shot in the mornings, as I have missed at least one turn on my "customized by friends" route each day. The GPS gave up yelling at me a few minutes after I left the driveway... apparently, "make a legal U-turn," and "recalculating" can only play 244 times each. This first week has been hours of phone calls with an off-site consultant, meetings with my manager, trying to remember where my office is, the headaches of configuring a new compute...