Addicts, addicts, everywhere!

So, my sweet bride has passed 100 on her gamerscore - playing Viva Piñata. My daughter also has a gamerscore of 40 on the same game. My score has gone up significantly in the last week too - same game - as well as Lego Star Wars II.

It's good to be home :)

December 2006 Summarized

So, here's a visual of what happens when global warming confronts a drought. Just imagine what would happen in there was moisture or cold!

So, we thought that yesterday might be a great day to get all the Christmas shopping done... Oh well... Looks like today is out too... Tomorrow? Don't know - tomorrow is the first day of winter... If this is fall, I hate to see what winter does to us.

Much of the rest of December has felt the same as the last two days - just in very different forms.

And finally, my least favorite feature of Blogger "Beta" (it's out of Beta, but still doesn't seem to work) is that the RSS feed now says that everything posting on January 1, 2006 - it was a busy day apparently - this could be my RSS reader, but since it used to interpret them correctly something must have changed.

FYI - 2003 was worse...

Be afraid!

Be very afraid!

A non-gamer's progress

I've finally "beaten" Uno. It's the first Live Arcade game I've got all 12 achievements on. 'spose it's big considering how little time I spend on my XBox.

I've finally got a couple new 360 games on my Christmas list, so hopefully in a month or so we'll see another short spurt of progress once again. Then whenever Fuzion Frenzy 2 and Halo 3 come out we'll be back at it again.

Random movie quotes

Take your best guesses...

1) Stop helping me!
2) But... its got 11.
3) Claire, the whole world. Whole world, Claire.
4) Pie Jesu domine, dona eis requiem.
5) Oureyay oingay otay etgay itay in the airchay.
6) It's not the volts - it's the amps that'll get you.
7) Don't make me waste letters - R U O K?
8) How do you read this? There's no pictures!
9) It's possible... pig...
10) I gave her my heart - she gave me a pen.
11) You know better than to trust a strange computer.
12) You believe in the Users?
13) If anything gets in your way, turn.
14) Sorry guys. You're just too darn loud.
15) The world's first unmanned flying desk set.
16) If that's the way it must be done, then that's the way you must do it!
17) They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity.
18) I'll have you Longshanks!
19) Cue the sun!
20) Dude! What happened to your dog!
Bonus) You take the front nine, I'll take the back nine, and I'll meet you back at the clubhouse.

The reign is over...

I hate to glory in somebody else's affliction, but after 11 of the past 12 years of their triumph, it's good to see balance restored to the galaxy. I wish I could take any credit, but meh!

Pomona's marching band is under new leadership, so while a drop in scores is difficult, it is understandable. So is Douglas County's band who experienced a big drop as well.

Congrats to Legacy, and to Arapahoe on a close score as well.

A really good day...

Yesterday was UNCs Homecoming game. I was invited to play with the alumni band. A group of about 10 of us stood together and played with the rest of the Pride of the Rockies Marching Band during pre-game. Then we sat with our sections (I was with the baritones) and played during the game.

All I can say is: I really miss marching band. The team lost 34-0 (28 of the points were scored in the first quarter), but the marching band never really cares - we still had a good time.

When we were getting in the stands, one of the current Pride members saw my shirt which said "Pride '93" on it and whispered to her friend "Wow! Did you see how long ago these guys were here?!?!!" I laughed... I thought to myself: "These guys must be in their 30s!!!"

It's amazing how much I still had memorized thirteen years later. It really was a good time -already making plans to go back for next year.

Star Wars - Limited Edition

There seems to be quite a stink amongst the geeks about the latest release of Star Wars. So, I thought I'd weigh in...

I have IV and V, and VI will be on my Christmas list. I am one of those people who loved Star Wars, but never really got into the merchandizing side. I've never owned a light saber and all the toys that I have, I got as gifts. The only purchases I have are the Burger King Ep. III collection and the Ep. I Pepsi can collection.

I didn't have the original VHS tapes, but I have the Special Edition VHS, and the prequel and digitally remastered DVDs. So, I always sort of wondered how much got changed in the Special Edition. Now I know... Those who already have the first run of VHS (or, better yet, the original Laser Disks) really don't need to buy these - unless the VHS tapes are showing wear and tear or their laser disk player has died.

I, for one, like the new release. As advertised, it is untouched. Anybody expecting really cool special features will be sadly disappointed, but no special features were advertised. Anybody expection the Special Edition without the digital effects will be sadly disappointed, but again, "untouched originals" is what was advertised. Sorry.

My only real disappointment with the new series is that it was packaged with the digitally remastered DVDs - you get both the new and the old DVDs. So, now I'm the proud owner of two sets of the "digitally remastered". Oh well, they'll make great Christmas presents for someone...

I miss being trusted

I used to use cash at the gas station. It doesn't make sense to me that I can't use cash because "some other guy" likes to drive off without paying.

I have used the same gas station for almost a year now because it was the only gas station that would still trust me enough to take cash - but they no longer trust me either. I was a faithful customer. Every Monday after school. But to them, I am no exception. Apparently I was baiting the system so that one day when my tank was EXTREMELY empty, I would just fill it and run.

They think that if I pay first, it is no different than if I pay after. But, if they are not going to trust me with their fuel, why should I trust them with my change? Oh, that's right - I am the villanous customer and they are the upstanding corporate American representatives.

Perhaps I should commit a crime. It seems as though the American Courtroom is the only place where I am innocent until proven guilty. It would be nice to feel trusted once more.

Filler...

MR frogs
MR not
OSAR CDEDBDIs
LIB MR frogs

How about that weather....

Yeah - it was pretty miserable... Luckily, it was raining... ya know, cooling things off a bit.... (I like the "+", just in case you weren't sure it wasn't that COLD....)

See? I wasn't kidding!

Elizabeth, CO - August 26, 2006

New Rule!

Do you remember playing tag when you were 4 or 5? There was always some other kid that, whenever you tagged them, they would shout "NEW RULE!" and come up with some stupid reason why you can't have just tagged them.

The game's a lot more irritating when you are 35 and the game has higher stakes.

My New Favorite Quote

"I use humor to keep from killing people."

-Dr. Bertice Berry

Thoughts on immigration and terrorism...

They come here to find a better life, but they refuse to assimilate to our culture. And they are affecting our economy. Now the Californians have "purchased" our mall to engage in terrorist-like activities.

What good is an outdoor mall in Colorado? (Notice that all of the "concept drawings" on the website are summertime. Californians refuse to acknowledge that winter happens in Colorado when it is 75% of the year! Those are the four seasons of Colorado: Already winter, winter, still winter and construction.) I like the name of the website: "Celebrate Southglenn"? How, by tearing it down?

These Californians never understood the concept that, sure, lots of people do their "shopping" at Park Meadows because it is elegant, but when the Colorado Natives went to do their purchasing, they used to go to Southglenn where the prices were reasonable because they didn't have to pay such high taxes and pay as much of the store owner's lease.

The first reason why sales dropped at Southglenn was that with the influx of so many Californians in the last two decades, they had to shop out Southglenn until they were able to build their own mall - then they all when away and left the Colorado natives to themselves - we actually liked that they all went away. The second reason that sales dropped at Southglenn is that Park Meadows was advertising and Southglenn wasn't. It's called economics - they wanted to redevelop Southglenn when they bought it, so they made sure it wasn't successful.

It is weird to see a building that you have known for 30+ years with a hole ripped in the side of it - if the instigators have a permit or not.

I say that we find a way to send them all back....

There goes the punchline....

So, 12 years ago, my boss spend a good sum of money to bring all of the computers in our office up to Windows 95 from Windows 3.11 (good times...) After an hour, I went into his office and declared, "I don't see much of a difference - I mean, Solitaire is exactly the same!"

Well, in Windows Vista, Solitaire has been improved.

(Just a side note, by the end of the day, I had hacked Windows 95 and had replaced the Windows 95 logo - with the pretty clouds - with a "Happy Mac".)

I accomplished a summer goal!

My XBox Live gamer score is now over 1000 points. Yeah, it was a retro game(Frogger) that pushed me over.

Good times....

Arg!!!!!!

Have you ever spent three days of your life on a project just to watch it go "poof"? Yeah - that was my last 3 days.... Well, right now it looks like it will take only two days to do the second time.... I did figure out what caused all of the computers to fail.... So, it won't happen the second time.

Thanks for the great seats, Poole!

So, we went to the Michael W. Smith concert last night at the Denver Pavillions - the friends we went with bought the tickets... I pulled out the new cell phone and got a picture of the stage from our seats - second row - right behind a lighting support post. (You can almost make out Smitty's shoulder right next to the post.) I was able to see the rest of the band pretty good though. (And Melissa was sitting next to me and could actually see pretty well.)

(Still learning to use the camera phone - somehow the resolution on the camera got set to "crappy". Better luck next time.)

:)

Look out world, I'm back!

One evening, back in March 1999, I spent the night price bumping on eBay - nothing dishonest, you know, not bumping my own items or even items of friends or family - just looking for items that just needed a little more action and helping them out. Well, that night I sheepishly crawled in bed confessing to my wife that I had just "accidentally" purchased a laptop. So, needless to say, I have been prohibited from using eBay ever since.

Well, last night, my wife and I were discussing "the basement" again - we decided that the best solution to two pregnancies & two childrens' accumulations of clothes is eBay! So, I'm sure I'm not allowed to buy anything - yet - but I have set up my sellers account.

The Father's Day present

Those who know me best got me Season 4 of Red vs Blue for Father's Day. It was great. Even Melissa laughed at several episodes.

Since I didn't find a list of Easter Eggs anywhere else on the Internet yet, I thought I would post them.

The traditional "Pick an Option" comes up when you sit on the main menu for too long.
In scene selections on the episode 63-68 screen, highlight the 69-74 on the bottom and move down. A continuity video will play.
In scene selections on the episodes 69-74 screen, highlight episode 70 and move up and press ok. This brings up Church's Easter Egg.
On the bonus features menu, highlight Deleted Scenes and press left. It will bring up Tex's version of the same bonus features menu.
On the special videos menu, highlight The Winter Lames video and press right. This brings up Sarge's Easter Egg.
On the outtakes menu, highlight The New Guy and press right. This brings up Andy's Easter Egg.
On the deleted scenes menu, highlight Alien Hunt and press left. This brings up Caboose's Easter Egg.
On the character profiles menu, highlight main and press right and ok. This brings up Pvt. Jimmy's profile.

Not really an Easter Egg since it comes up by default:
The first main menu states:
Standard Definition
Foreign Language
Ultra Super High MegaDef++ (The menu is huge)
Mini Micro Portapods (the menu is tiny)

Choosing Foreign Language brings up the main menu links with the "alien" titles:
Blarg
Honk Blarg
Blarg Honk Blarg
Blarg Honk Honk
Honk on Blarg vs Blarg

The photo blog cometh

Melissa and I are now the proud owners of camera phones. So, for the past 8 months when we have said "we need to get a picture of that," now we will not only get the picture, but we will be able to blog those happy moments.

My favorite missed opportunity: A sign in Elizabeth, CO claiming the current temperature was 218 degrees.

Highlights of our vacation

Roger (driving through Glenwood Canyon):
"I know the guy that made that!"

Imagined on a sign entering Utah:
"Welcome to Utah: Inspiring Sarcastic Comments Since 1896"

Katrina (seeing the pool at the hotel):
"That pool is bigger than ME!"

Katrina (after watching the fountain at the Bellagio):
"Do it again Daddy!"

Katrina (upon arriving at the vacation rental in Running Springs, CA (a beautiful resort town in the mountains)):
"They even have a TV!"

Katrina (referring to the groom):
"So, who's the guy?"

Katrina (after getting off 'it's a small world' - her third ride of the day):
"Can we go to Disneyland now?"

Katrina (leaning in my shoulder while eating dinner at Disneyland):
"I had a great day Dad..."

Roger (upon arriving at our final hotel - after navigating California for 6 days relying almost entirely on road signs):
"Hey look! A road atlas!"

Roger (noticing how disoriented Alex was upon arriving back home):
"I suppose that to him it's like he's been away from home for a year."

How smart should you have to be?

If you can't set a digital clock, please don't use the self checkout.

If you have trouble discerning 'less than' and 'greater than', please avoid the express checkout lane.

If you have trouble understanding your checkbook register, please don't get a membership card to your grocery store.

(Sorry for the rant but I keep getting stuck behind the same people at the grocery checkout.)

So, what do you do...

when the tech guy's computer's hard drive fails? should his computer be a higher priority?

Yep, she's a girl!

(Trying to get Katrina to sleep last night.... She was crying... I was doing what I could to console her.)

K: Daddy! I'm not sleepy!
Me: Are you hurt?
K: No!
Me: Are you sad?
K: No!
Me: Well, why are you crying?
K: I'm crying for fun!

Dilbert Quotes in corporate America

A magazine recently ran a "Dilbert Quotes" contest. They were looking for people to submit quotes from their real-life Dilbert-type managers. These were voted the top ten quotes in corporate America:

1. "As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday, and employees will receive their cards in two weeks."
   (This was the winning quote from Fred Dales, Microsoft Corp. in Redmond WA)
   
2. "What I need is an exact list of specific unknown problems we might encounter."
   (Lykes Lines Shipping)
   
3. "E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business."
   (Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company)
   
4. "This project is so important we can't let things that are more important interfere with it."
   (Advertising/Marketing manager, United Parcel Service)
   
5. "Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule."
   (Plant Manager, Delco Corporation)
   
6. "No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We've been working on it for months. Now go act busy for a few weeks and I'll let you know when it's time to tell them."
   (R&D supervisor, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing/3M Corp.)
   
7. My Boss spent the entire weekend retyping a 25-page proposal that only needed corrections. She claims the disk I gave her was damaged and she couldn't edit it. The disk I gave her was write-protected.
   (CIO of Dell Computers)
   
8. Quote from the Boss: "Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say."
   (Marketing executive, Citrix Corporation)
   
9. My sister passed away and her funeral was scheduled for Monday. When I told my Boss, he said she died on purpose so that I would have to miss work on the busiest day of the year. He then asked if we could change her burial to Friday. He said, "That would be better for me."
   (Shipping executive, FTD Florists)
   
10. "We know that communication is a problem, but the company is not going to discuss it with the employees."
    (Switching supervisor, AT&T Long Lines Division)

For a' that

by Robert Burns (best read with a Scottish accent)

Is there, for honest poverty,
That hings his head, an' a' that?
The coward slave, we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a' that!
For a' that, an' a' that,
Our toils obscure, an' a' that;
The rank is but the guinea's stamp;
The man's the gowd for a' that,

What tho' on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin-gray, an' a' that;
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,
A man's a man for a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
Their tinsel show an' a' that;
The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that.

Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord
Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that;
Tho' hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that:
For a' that, an' a' that,
His riband, star, an' a' that,
The man o' independent mind,
He looks and laughs at a' that.

A prince can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, an' a' that;
But an honest man's aboon his might,
Guid faith he mauna fa' that!
For a' that, an' a' that,
Their dignities, an' a' that,
The pith o' sense, an' pride o' worth,
Are higher rank than a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may,
As come it will for a' that,
That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth,
May bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet, for a' that,
That man to man, the warld o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.

My apologies... I just had to post it - Pry 'cause I've delt with a couple o' coof this week m'self.

Staying busy...

Have you ever considered how 2200 students get placed into 300 classes most with multiple sections, but some with just one or two, with as few overlaps as possible? I don't anymore. It is called master scheduling and it is similar to a 3-D version of Tetris or a 35,000 piece puzzle where each piece is the same color.

The joys of teaching...

Over-Sciencing Miracles

Scientist finds Jesus might have walked on ice. So, I guess the miracle is that the disciples were able to take a boat all the way across a frozen lake.

Moses more likely crossed the Sea of Reeds So, I guess the miracle here is the Pharoah and his army was wiped out by three inches of water.

Boycott Daylight Savings Time

I am not a morning person. I tell people that they can get bright or early - with me, you will never get both. If you need me to be bright, you don't want to see me before 8:30. With Daylight Savings, it doesn't come until 9:30.

Now, I can cite 2 instances of high school students being hit by cars during the first week of daylight savings on their ways to school - one was a friend of mine in high school and the other was a student involved in our youth group. However, it seems that people are more interested in saving energy than the safety and learning capacity of students. Isn't that why school starts at 7:20 anyway?

So let me just say that Daylight Savings Time only makes me turn on my air conditioner earlier in the day and irritates me greatly - and that either way, I go to bed at about the same time. I think that the irritation that it causes all of us "non-morning" people is not worth the little (if any) energy that is saved.

I like how the ProDST people like to blame the whole concept on farmers and ranchers. I have never met a farmer or rancher that really cared at all about what a clock says. And I've never seen a rooster "springing forward".

So here's my opinion: How about if all the people that want to, just wake up an hour earlier and let me sleep!

Have a nice day, I'm going back to bed . . .

Look what I just found!

The guys at ThinkGeek.com appear to be ahead of the game this year!

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?

So, Katrina was doing paints at Grandma's house today. After she painted the above shape, she pointed out to her mommy, "It's pi mommy!"

My Birthday Present

Yeah - she loves me...

Red vs Blue

Simmons: Do you ever wonder why we're here?
Grif: One of life's great mysteries isn't it? Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence? Or is there really a God, watching everything. You know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don't know man, but it keeps me up at night.
Simmons: What? I mean why are we out here, in this canyon.
Grif: Uh... Oh... Yeah...
Simmons: What's all this stuff about God?
Grif: Uh... um... Nothing.
Simmons: Seriously, though. Why are we out here? As far as I can tell, it's just a box canyon in the middle of nowhere. No way in or out.
Grif: Mm-hm.
Simmons: The only reason that we set up a Red base here is 'cause they have a Blue base over there. And the only reason they have a Blue base over there is 'cause we have a Red base here.
Grif: Yeah. That's because we're fighting each other
Simmons: No, but I mean, even if we were to pull out today, and they were to come take our base, they would have two bases in the middle of a box canyon. Whoop-dee-@$&#* doo.

---

Simmons: His armour is PINK.
Church: Pink? I wouldn't say pink. More of a... slightly less red.
Simmons: It's pink, okay? I know pink when I see it!

---

O'Malley: I agree! Except, replace the word "non" with "extremely".

---

Sarge: May I introduce the our new light reconnaissance vehicle! It has four-inch armour plating, mag bumper suspension, a mounted machine gunner position, and total seating for three. Gentlemen, this is the M12LRV! I like to call it the Warthog.
Simmons: Why Warthog, sir?
Sarge: Because "M12LRV' is too hard to say in conversation, son.
Grif: No, but... Why Warthog? I mean, it doesn't really look like a pig.
Sarge: Say that again.
Grif: I think it looks more like a puma.
Sarge: What in Sam Hell is a puma?
Simmons: You mean like the shoe company?
Grif: No. Like a puma. It's a big cat. Like a lion.
Sarge: You're makin' that up.
Grif: I'm telling you, it's a real animal.
Sarge: Simmons, I want you to poison Grif's next meal.
Simmons: Yes, sir!
Sarge: [Points at front of the Warthog] Look, see these two tailhooks? They look like tusks. And what kind of animal has tusks?
Grif: A walrus.
Sarge: Didn't I just tell you to stop makin' up animals?

---

Sarge: Simmons, Grif, we're out of luck. Get ready to open fire. Today is a good day to die.
Grif: Wait! I think today is actually a good day to RETREAT. Can't we push dying to a week from Friday?
Simmons: Yeah... let's all take dying as an open-action item, and come back with suggestions next meeting.

---

Caboose: [Trying to calm Andy down, to stop him from exploding] Come on Andy, think of a happy place. What makes you feel happy?
Andy The Bomb: ...being in the middle of big explosion!
Church: Less happy place, less happy!

---

Simmons: A good password should contain at least one letter and one number. For example, your password would be '2dumb2live'.

Did he just say what I think he said?

(warning: more tech humor)

Today in class I had a student that was asking me about XML and how it differs from HTML. He noticed that the tags in his XML didn't look anything like the HTML tags that he had used before. I explained that each XML page has a schema that defines what each tag means in an XML document. So XML is "Extensible" (what the X stands for) where HTML is more well defined. So, after his "ah-ha" moment he looked at the XML that he was looking over, chose a tag at random and clarified with me: "So <fu> might mean something totally different in a different context?!" Hm - yeah - it might.....

So, that must be what I'm doing wrong...

"There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself."- J. S. Bach

My favorite word

I have been waiting to hear it from somebody official for two days. I finally heard it on tonight's Web Forecast by Dave Aguilera on cbs4denver.com:

Upslope

*Sigh*

Microsoft and Viruses

Why does everybody focus on Windows when they write viruses? I have a couple theories.

• Writing a virus for open source is too easy - there's no challenge in finding vulnerabilities. Instead of writing viruses, people use Linux's vulnerabilities to do direct assults on other machines.
• If a person writes a good virus for Windows, it can cripple entire enterprises, businesses and government agencies. Writing a virus for OS X might affect 10 people. Of course it also has the potential of collapsing elementary education, but that's about it.

Happy π day (3.14) eve

http://www.vvc.edu/ph/TonerS/mathpi.html

(March 14th is also Einstein's birthday.)

42

I just realized that I have 42 entries in my blog. And I still haven't found the question to life, the universe, and everything. That's okay - I'm still not panicking.

Living a Parable

So, a short summary of my life:

1. Our school district is switching student information systems in less than a month. Part of my job description is to support the whole school staff through the whole process. Part of my job description is to train all of the teachers at my school how to use the system - most importantly, how to take attendance on April 3rd. (It's also a personal goal to train a few other people in just a little more than just attendance to make my life easier in the long run.)


2. The staff meeting where I was planning to introduce everyone to the primary concepts of the new system got cancelled today because of a pep assembly.


3. I had a four day training on the new product about three weeks ago - I have yet to recover from taking four days off.


4. On the last day of that training, I received notice that (thanks to decisions at the district) Apple Computer was shipping almost 100 new computers to my school - to arrive within the next week. I don't have storage space for 100 computers.


5. My son had surgery on a dermoid cyst last Wednesday. All went well, but I missed yet another day of work and he seems to only feel the pain at bedtime. He also learned two tricks this week: crawling and pulling up. These are two really fun tricks for a child with eight fresh stitches over his left eye. He likes to practice these at bedtime too...


6. The bookkeeper is ending the budget cycle next week so that purchases have time to amortize by the end of the fiscal year. Suffice it to say that I still have budget money to spend.


7. Today, I got a call from my wife while I was at work saying that she had thrown up and that she would like me to come home as early as possible.

I think that sums up the primary points - there are other points, but they involve that I still have family life, normal job duties, and stuff going on at church - so on to the parable.

Tonight, my son was having trouble falling asleep and, of course, only I could attempt to comfort him. It was obvious that he didn't want me, he wanted mommy. It was obvious that his eye was bothering him. It was obvious that he wanted to be moving around and not lying down.

I found myself saying, "If you would just slow down and rest here with daddy, you would realize that everything is going to be okay!"

hmm...

What are you trying to imply?

So, I did it. Yesterday I bought an Xbox360. (I'm sure I'll post later about why I bought the core system instead of waiting for a complete system.) Well, you know how stores like to give out special coupons at checkout? At Kmart, my checkout coupon was a 3-month guest membership to Bally.

So, the question is: Does Kmart give these to, say, every tenth customer, did buying the XBox trigger the exercise coupon, or did my cashier look at me and think, "This guy needs to get out more," and push a special button on the register?

Since the cashier wasn't exactly the brightest blue-light in the box, I'm going with option three.

What's in a name...

In college one of my college professors was Dr. Igor Szczyrba (hyperlinked as evidence that there is a poor soul with that last name). He was (obviously) of some Eastern European background. I often made comments to my friends like, "Can I buy another vowel?" and "What kind of last name has eight letters and only one vowel?"

Only later in life (something like five years after the fact), I'm still joking around with my friends about this unfortunate soul's last name - and it hits me: How many vowels are in "McKnight"?

Well, last week I had a meeting with Bruce Caughey, director of communication for the school district. And again, I find myself saying "How do you get 'Coy' from 'Caughey'? There's all these random silent letters!"

Today it hits me that there are a few silent letters in the last name of somebody else I know.

So, do me a favor and call me Row-ger MicKanigit from time to time to remind me how stupid my name is. Thanks!

XBox 360 Issues

1) As I was out shopping for Valentine's Day presents, I found an XBox 360 console at Target - both core and full systems. However, since I was shopping for Melissa, and she knew that, I decided it would not be right to come home with a 360. I haven't seen one since.

2) Melissa keeps asking me why I want a 360. I haven't been playing my XBox enough to warrant the purchase. So, I'm being scolded for not playing enough XBox. hmm....

Are you talking to ME?!?!!

So, this morning, my sweet, dear wife asked me, "So are there any serving utensils that you think we need more than one of?"

Yeah, see, I'm... I'm, well, a guy....

Inner Peace

(In case you hadn't received the email. I laughed out loud at this one. aka - not original)

I am passing this on to you because it definitely worked for me and we all could use more calm in our lives. By following the simple advice I heard on a Dr. Phil show, I have finally found inner peace. Dr. Phil proclaimed "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you've started." I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, so, before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of White Zinfandel, a bottle of Bailey's, a bottle of Kahlua, a package of Oreos, the remainder of both Prozac and Valium prescriptions, the rest of the cheesecake, some saltines and a box of chocolates. You have no idea how freaking good I feel.

Try it and if it works for you please pass this on to those you feel are in need of inner peace.

Yeah, she's gonna need extensive counseling...

Last night, my wife and I were playing a game. I made a good play and said "Oh, yes!"

My sweet daughter responded "Wyoming!"

Cool new website

http://www.elevationlife.org/

Nicely done - and I am a critic... There's always room for improvement on a new web site, but hey, I'm in one of the pictures. Who can argue!

Struggling with the "goodness" of God

My biggest struggle with Christianity today is the focus on the goodness of God. It’s not that I don’t believe that God is gracious, which is good, or merciful, which is good, or that He does good things. I struggle with the “God is good, all the time – all the time, God is good” stuff. Romans 8:28 says: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.” But does that mean that all things are good? Or that God is good to all people? Some scriptural examples that Paul brings up very shortly after Roman 8:28 (in Romans 9 – a section of Christianity which is largely overlooked by most churches today) Pharaoh might not agree that God is good all the time; Esau might not agree that God is good all the time. Here’s a verse that I don’t see Sunday school teachers encouraging their students to memorize – Romans 9:17: “For the scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’” This seems different than Esther 4:14’s “for such a time as this.” It’s called providence, not goodness.

I believe that the “God is good, all the time” stuff has caused major problems with the effectiveness of the witness of Christianity today. It doesn’t fit with most people’s experiences and so they blow off Christianity without even giving it major consideration. How can a person look at September 11, 2001 and say “God is good all the time”? I can still say “in all things God works for the good”, without saying “wasn’t God good on September 11th?” I don’t think the second is necessarily true. God used September 11th to cause good things to happen, but I cannot say God was good to allow that to happen.

Here are some examples from my personal experience. (These are all experiences that I was involved in directly or indirectly. I have chosen to write them from a third person perspective because I don’t want it to be about me. I want it to be about how my perspective has been shaped by these experiences.) When the parents of a five year old found out that their child had major problems with his left kidney, their first reaction wasn’t “God is good all the time.” It was more like “God was good to let us find this now before it caused major complications.” In college when one of a friend’s tests got lost causing him to almost fail a class (he would have failed the class if the professor hadn’t found the test 8 weeks later), it didn’t cause him to say “God is good”. One man I know was invited by his friend to become business partners. After agreeing to go into business and making significant financial sacrifices, the friend was “called by God” to go into the missions field. The impact that this had on the man’s view of God and missionaries wasn’t “God is good”. Another friend was let go from three different volunteer positions at his church. (To quote Scrooged, “You can’t fire them, their volunteers!”) And then when he tried to get a paying position at the church he was told that his track record for his volunteer work wasn’t very strong. Isn’t God just so good! Then when a lady I know had a miscarriage, God was not “good” to her.

So, how have I learned to view God through all of these circumstances? Well, it would seem as though I would want to blow off Christianity completely, because who wants to worship a God that is not good? Well, a person with a capitalistic world view might want to shop for a better God, but I agree with Peter: “Lord, to whom shall we go. You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68) It may be a hard truth, but it is still truth.

Job 2:10 “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

Job 1:21 “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

HAHAHAHA!

OK - so it has been noted that mathematicians should never try to be funny. However...

What part of

do you not understand?

No more for me thanks...

Thanks to my friends and family for coming to my graduation party. And thanks to Michelle's for a great location and a great "snack".

A deeper kind of funny

1. 2+2=5 - For extremely large values of 2
   
   This is on a shirt I own. It is funnier to a person who has taken Numerical Analysis than it is to the rest of the world.
   
   
2. Why did Mozart get rid of all of his chickens?
   Because they kept saying "Bach, Bach, Bach"
   
   This is from the Baby Bach video in the Baby Einstein collection. It is funnier to a person who has taken second year music theory than to the rest of the world.
   
   
3. (Integral of) 1/(cabin)
   
   This is from my title bar at the top of my blog. It is funnier to a person who has taken second semester calculus than to the rest of the world.
   
   
4. 
   
   
   This is yesterday's Foxtrot. It is funnier to a computer scientist than to the rest of the world. I had to email Mr. Amend personally to thank him for this one. Obviously he wrote it for me.

Baby's first Star Wars quote...

OK - so we all know that she was quoting her daddy quoting his favorite Han Solo line. But I couldn't have been more proud.

Last night at dinner, I asked her if she wanted more chicken for dinner she just looked at me with a confused look on her face and simply said "It's me!"

It's an obscure quote, I know, but hey - it's me!