Freedom of Religion...gotta love it.

The Bill of Rights protects our rights of religion by making it difficult for the governemnt to get involved with religion. I got no issue with this. As a matter of fact, it's one of the things that makes us a great nation. (Yes, we still are a great nation!)

That said, sometimes you come across people in religions that are soooo very bizarre. There was the whole Jim Jones thing, the Brannch Dividians with David Koresh and we can go on and on.

Many of these, like those listed above, are more about power hungry/delusional men who, as far as I can tell, don't know anything about the God I serve.

However, not all these wackos are like the Heaven's Gate wackoes. This is a story about one of those far, far out beliefs, that our lovely Bill of Rights protects.

It's hard to pick out my favorite quote from that story, but I think this is it:

Since then, the Flying Spaghetti Monster has gained countless followers worldwide, although there are those who remain spagnostic.

Count me in as an 'Unbeliever'!
rAmen

A Week At The Gym*

Dear Diary,

For my 40th birthday this year, my wife (the dear, sweet women) purchased a week of personal training at the local health club for me.

Although I am still in great shape since playing on my high school golf team 25 years ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try.

Called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Belinda, who identified herself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swimwear. My wife seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started!

The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress

Monday:

Started my day at 6 a.m. Tough to get out of bed, but found it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Belinda waiting for me.

She is something of a Greek goddess, with blonde hair, dancing eyes and a dazzling white smile.

Woo hoo!

Belinda gave me a tour and showed me the machines. She took my pulse after five minutes on the treadmill. She was alarmed that my pulse was so fast, but I attributed it to standing next to her in her Lycra outfit. I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which she conducted her aerobics class after my workout today.

Very inspiring. Belinda was encouraging as I did my sit-ups, although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time she was around. This is going to be a fantastic week!!

Tuesday:

I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door.

Belinda made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air, and then she put weights on it! My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. Belinda's rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel great! It's a whole new life for me.

Wednesday:

The only way I can brush my teeth is by lying on the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals.

Driving was okay as long as I didn't try to steer or stop. I parked on top of a Geo in the club parking lot.

Belinda was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered other club members. Her voice is a little too perky for early in the morning and when she scolds, she gets this nasally whine that is very annoying.

My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Belinda put me on the stair monster. Why, in the name of all good and just, would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators?

Belinda told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life. She said some other stuff too.

Thursday:

Belinda was waiting for me with her vampire-like teeth exposed as her thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn't help being a half an hour late; it took me that long to tie my shoes.

Belinda took me to work out with dumbbells. When she wasn't looking, I ran and hid in the men's room. She sent Lars to find me, then, as punishment, put me on the rowing machine -- which I sank.

Friday:

I hate Belinda with the white hot passion of a thousand burning suns. Stupid, skinny, anemic little cheerleader. If there were a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat her with it.

Belinda wanted me to work on my triceps. I don't have any triceps! And if you don't want dents in the floor, don't hand me the *&%#@? barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich. (Which I am sure you learned in the sadist school you attended and graduated magna cum laude from.) The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn't it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?

Saturday:

Belinda left a message on my answering machine in her grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing her made me want to smash the machine with my planner. However, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching 11 straight hours of the Weather Channel.

Sunday:

I'm having the church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank God that this week is over. I will also pray that next year my wife (the evil, evil women), will choose a gift for me that is fun -- like a root canal or a vasectomy.

*I'm starting back to the gym this week....this is my fear!

Guilty Pleasures

Guilty Pleasures- a phenomenon used to denote things (pop music primarily) that people really like but are often too embarrassed to admit to.

Guilty pleasures are one of the wonders of living.
It always makes me kind of giggle when I'm endulging in a guilty pleasure, when someone notices me, and I quickly cover up whatever it is I'm doing/watching/listening to. It doesn't make any sense. If I like and enjoy whatever that pleasure is, why would I be ashamed that I'm doing it? Why wouldn't I want to share?!
Why do I care what you think? I enjoy it, that settles it.

But the fact is, that's not usually the case. Usually*, I pull a stop and hide action. Switch off the iPod, change the station, stop singing what I'm singing, whatever needs to happen to make sure YOU don't know that I enjoy something that EVERYONE else thinks is goofy/silly/childish/out dated.

Now, this bothers me! I like what I like, and that's what I like. So, I'm posting here to come clean. I'm gonna admit some of my guilty pleasures. Not all of them, cause I can't remember them all. I'm sure I got zillions.

My most favoritest guilty pleasure is Neil Diamond music.
I LOVE IT when Sweet Caroline (bah bah baaaahhh) comes on the iPod. I don't know what it is about Neil's music, but it always lightens my mood. He just had a way about singing and great style and a wonderful voice. But who listens to Neil Diamond? Huh? Who I ask you? 70 year olds, that's who! No self respecting Gen-Xer would be caught dead listening to Cracklin' Rose. I'm sure if I get caught I'm gonna be forced to listen to some Nirvana or U2 or something like that, but I can't help it!
I also like John Denver (who helped inspire this post), Abba and Weird Al so there.

Cartoons:
My name is Donnie and I'm a cartoon addict. I realize that I'm 35, 36, 37, ok 38 but I've watched cartoons since I could remember. It doesn't really matter which ones either...I like 'em all. Growing up, I remember watching things like the Superfriends, Smurfs (which is a big admission in itself), Rocky and Bullwinkle, Popeye, Scooby Doo, Captain Caveman, Fat Albert and so many many more. I guess it's just a thing...I'm betting I'm not the only guy my age who still loves cartoons, though...Today's cartoons are mostly ok. I'm sure it's just like when I was a kid, some where drivel, some were ok and some were awesome. Today, cartoons like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Code: Lyoko and such are really cool and interesting. Sure, there's a bunch of JUNK (I'm talking to you Ed, Edd and Eddy, Camp Lazlo and Billy and Mandy), but still, they're cartoons...what are ya gonna do?

I guess the last one I'm gonna post about is talking to myself. I do it all the time. What's even worse, I argue with myself, out loud. I do it all the time. I think the reason why is that it helps me work out emotions, things that confuse me (no comments please) and situations I'm about to walk into. I'm not really sure if this qualifies as a guilty pleasure, but it definately fits the criteria. When I'm chatting away, and someone comes by, or looks at me, ZIP I stop right away. Sometimes I'll giggle at what they must be thinking.

Ok, so what. I bet you've got some of your own. Maybe you are a closet Hee-Haw fan. Maybe you eat White Castle Hamburgers...SOBER.
What are your guilty pleasures? The world wants to know!


*Sometimes, when I'm in the mood or in the moment, it wouldn't matter if Bill Ford walks into my cube, I'm gonna finish the Sweet Caroline chorus...ask the people who sit across from me at work....they'll tell you!

Song of the Turtle

For, lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is come,
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.

This may be the very first piece of biblical scripture I ever heard or cared about. Every year, on the Great Voice of the Great Lakes, the first game of Tiger Baseball Spring Training would start with this quote.

I am a big baseball fan and when I was a kid, there were few things better than listening to Ernie Harwell call a baseball game on a summers evening. And NOTHING said summer was coming like Spring Training and the Voice of the Turtle quote by Ernie. Many years, this first game came during the week, so I was at school (stupid school). But some years that first game came on Saturday or Sunday, and you know you could find me by a radio, waiting for Ernie to come on and tell me spring is coming.

Even though Ernie has retired from Tiger Baseball broadcasting, he is still invited to interviews to quote the beautiful scripture.

Most people look to that stupid groundhog to tell them spring is coming. For me, there are only two things that do it for me.
1. Spring Training
2. Masters commercials on TV

Well, the Tigers are 2-0 in spring training and you can see Masters commercials on CBS all weekend long.
Spring is coming!

Life is complicated

Do you ever feel sorry for someone whom you probably should not? I am a bit of a soft heart, so it is kind of easy for me to feel sorry for people. However, I find that not everyone is this way.
For example, I had felt sorry for Paris Hilton. I realize that in many respects the abuse that she has taken and the embarrassment she has endured are largely due to her own actions. However I still feel sorry for all the trouble and ridicule that has been heaped upon her.
I have argued this with family and co-workers alike. I admit, I've got a tough sell here. Many times people in Paris' position (hehe) deserve what they get, it is said. It is a work of their own doing, and they have to reap what they sow.
Whereas, I can not disagree with this on its face, I do still feel sorry for people who are constantly ridiculed, no matter the cause.

Another person to whom I have begun to feel sorry for as of late is Britney Spears. Much like Paris, she's brought a lot of this on herself, but you got to believe that she would do much better if she had a parent (or two) who were/had looking/looked out for her, or if she had a good friend, husband, pastor, girlfriend, doorman, blogger, whatever that she could trust to give her good advise. Advise like "Don't marry that loser!" or "Put some clothes on". Simple, plain advise.

She is a great example of the phrase 'life comes at you fast', and in that vein of thought, I would like to introduce you to a blog I came across called Indexed, that, if you like XKCD, you will like Indexed as well.
In particular, it had a blog that referenced Britney and her troubles of late.

Great Wolf Lodge

Whew...what a few days.
We took our lives into our hands yesterday and ventured into "Enemy Territory", also known as Ohio.
I know, I know...you're saying to yourself "NOOOO! Why would you risk life, limb and points on your driving record to go into Ohio?"

In general I would agree. Ohio is not a destination...it is a nuisance...it's a thing to be endured, driven thru and avoided if at all possible. However, it is also the home of The Great Wolf Lodge.

My wife, somehow, convinced me that I'd LOVE to spend a few days at a waterpark...where there is water...in a park. I've been to waterparks before, but have never been all that impressed. Now, I'd have to drive for 2 hours to get to one, and, did I mention it was in Ohio?
Well, she worked her feminine wiles on me (again) and the result was we ended up in Sandusky yesterday afternoon.

You know the bugger of it? It was a lot of fun. The kids enjoyed it, Kim enjoyed it, and yes I enjoyed it. This place is a waterpark with an emphasis on both Water and Park.
Kim snapped a picture of the kids, just before they were about to get pummeled with 1000 gallons of water.

Number one reason to NOT speak publicly!

I've been speaking publicly in church for over 10 years. In all that time, this has been one of my biggest fears....I kinda feel for this guy, but it IS funny!

Invasion of a bunch of girls

Girls girls, everywhere are girls!
Seriously.
Everywhere.

This has happened once before, and it looks like history is repeating itself!

One of my daughters best friends, two of my four five six nieces and the three daughters of one of our families best friends...plus my daughter.

My wife tells me that it was my idea to invite them all over but I seem to remember saying something about taking the boys to a hotel too....she doesn't remember that part.

So there are six girls under the age of 12 in my house.

Yeah, I know...I'm a Saint.

Anyway, one of the coolest things that happens over here when we got all this sugar, spice and everything nice is a little thing called Dance Dance Revolution (DDR). DDR is cool and if you've never tried it, you should.
Whereas it's not as sick as Guitar Hero, it's definately worth a roll.

I said all that to say this...my little niece, Claire, talked me into playing a game with her...and my darling wife snapped this photo....heheheh.

What do you do?

I've read that "Writers write."
I don't know if I want to be a 'writer' but I do know that would like to be a better writer than I am now. That's a big part of the reason why I started this blog. It's a place where I can get some thoughts out of my brain as well as try to see if I have a 'voice', what that 'voice' sounds like and if I have any talent at this.

Part of the reason why I have this desire is because I read. I read things that, after I read them I think: 'Wow, that's cool. I wanna be able to do that.'

I've point to Wil Wheaton a bunch as part of my inspiration for this. One of his inspirations, John Scalzi wrote something that I really enjoyed reading and figured I'd point you to it. It's called The Exisitential Plight of Chester Chipmate

Also, for those of you who would also like to write a bit better, either for enjoyment or for other reasons, here's something else he's written.
1. Writing Tips for Non-Writers
2. Advice on writing
3. How much you should write each day

Half As Much As Tomorrow

On my way home from work yesterday, I heard a comedy skit by Bill Engvall yesterday on the way home from work called Now That's Awesome.
In it, Bill talks about how, because of the 90's, we overuse the word Awesome.

I'd have to agree.

There are few things that I've seen that truly earn that term.
Yosemite National Park....Awesome
The birth of my children....Awesome
Seeing God work in the lives of family and friends....Awesome.
Those have all inspired awe and wonder in me like few other things.

What has been the most awesomest part of my life for the longest is my wife.
She's awesome. In every way.
She's been a major part of my life since is was THIRTEEN YEARS OLD. I'm 38 now...you do the math.
In that time, we've broke up a few times, made up even more times, been mad at each other and been madly in love at others. Through the entire time, she's been my center, my compass, at times my conscience, and at other times the reason I've been in trouble.
Everything I see in her I admire/love/lust after/harken to/etc. more today than I did on the day we got hitched. Hopefully when we're old and she's grey (I'm already there) I'll be able to say the same thing.

I'm not gonna get all sappy and such here in my blog (you're welcome), but I do want to convey here the truth of Spiral Starecase song....I can honestly say I love my wife more today than I have ever loved her before, and fully intend on loving her more in the future than I do today.

That's Awesome.

Back in the day...

So, in my last post, I may have seemed a bit, um, hmmmm, cheesed. I wasn't really; I was just kinda fed up with all the cold weather crankiness.

While I was in the mood to reminisce, I happened to be surfing around the usual haunts and for whatever reason, a memory popped in the old cranium.
So, I jumped into the WABAC (for those of you under 30, that's pronounced way-back) machine, also now known as You Tube and did a search.

When I was young, I had a huge affinity for cheesy Japanese TV.
Godzilla, Gamera, Jet Jaguar....I could watch them all day.

I remember going to my local dollar show when I was a kid to watch Godzilla vs. The Mechanical Monster back to back to back. It was awesome!

As you can imagine from this, I was a huge babe magnet. But on the rare Saturday Nights that the hotties weren't banging down my door to go out with me, I could even be found watching KUNG FU THEATER!

One of my favorites of the entire genre was Ultraman. (In a superjet he comes from a billion miles away....Loved it loved it loved it).
I would come home from school, and jump on Channel 20 to get my fix. First there would be Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot (another Japanese TV show), Ultraman, Get Smart, Batman and if dinner was late, The Green Hornet. But when I was outside with my buddies, the super hero I wanted to be was Ultraman.

So, back to my story, I hit You Tube up for some Ultraman and FOUND IT!!! I watched the very first episode, from 1966. It was exactly as I remembered. The episode was broken up into three parts, but it was awesome.

I think one of the things I like so much about those kinds of shows is how serious the actors tried to be, but how utterly silly they actually were. The dialog was terrible, the special effects were hideous, the monsters were ridiculous and the premise was silly. Perfection.

I don't like to live in the past. There's no future in it. But I do like to visit now and then, and for people that grew up like and when I did, You Tube is as cool as 8mm Super, Slide Shows, Photographs and the like to help remember.

I also don't really like to think of the hours that I wasted sitting in front of the TV. There were lots of them. I could have been solving world hunger, inventing the cure for cancer or at the very least doing my homework.

However, those hours paid off in the many hours I spent with my buddies pretending to be an outer space man, a caped crusader, a masked hero with a cool side kick (and no matter what you say, having Bruce Lee as a sidekick is as cool as it could get), and all those other really neat and really cheesy superheroes of my youth.

I don't really know what that buys me now-a-days, but for a half hour the other day, when I was watching the Science Patrol fly in the planes and shoot at the bad monster, well, it was cool and I had a grin on my face the whole time.

Now, I'm gonna have to find some time to check out Johnny Sokko….NOW ROBOT!

Waxing Nostalgic Debunked

If you live most anywhere in the Northern or Eastern parts of the good ole' US of A, you may have noticed that it's been a bit cold of late.
Just a bit.
The first two days of this week were cold enough to have many, not all, schools closed in Southeastern Michigan.
The Windshield* factor hit minus 20 in some cases and school administrators felt these dangerously low temperatures would be a danger to those kids who walk to school or had to wait outside in the cold/dark mornings for the bus.

This produced quite a ruckus around here. I've heard more 'When I was a kid' comments over the last few days then I can stand. It seems that people are up in arms over the schools being closed because they don't EVER REMEMBER having days off of school because of the temperature.

There are two things about this that is irritating.
1. Just because they can't remember it, doesn't mean that it didn't happen. I can vividly remember once when school was cancelled the night prior because of the weather forecast. When the morning came, the promised snow was no where to be found but we still had the day off.
Unless you lived in parts of the state/country where deep cold and heavy snow are a constant, you got days off when the weather was bad. Period. Just because you don't remember it, doesn't mean it didn't happen.

2. Lets suppose for a second that it's true and people didn't have those days off of school. That 'back in the day' parents did send their kids to school when it was a trillion below zero. Is that supposed to impress me? All that means is that parents took unnecessary risk with their children's lives for no real reason. Missing a day or two of school for the kids because of the weather will have ZERO effect on their education in the long term, but the POTENTIAL damage for children who have to wait out in the cold weather 20 minutes for a bus that may or may not come can be terrible.
I realize that it's only potential damage, but still, is it worth it? Not to me.

Back in those same days, parents didn't cover up electrical sockets, didn't lock-up poisonous kitchen chemicals and didn't have gates up over stairways. For the most part, we all survived. Does that mean taking the precautions that we do now are silly? Of course not. Oh, and for those who didn't survive...only a little precaution; a plastic 5 cent cover, a simple drawer lock, a wooden or plastic gate, would have made a huge impact on their lives.

People often wax nostalgic for the halcyon days of their youth, when in actuality things were rough then too, they just choose to forget. You often hear about the longing for the 'Cleaver' experience or the 'Ozzie and Harriet' life.
Actually, those days had their own sets of trouble that I wouldn't want now. So many stay at home moms had such serious depression and were so over-medicated that the Rolling Stones wrote a song about Mothers Little Helper.
Rape, which happened way too often, was rarely reported because of the impact on the family.
Out of wedlock pregnancies resulted in the young mothers being ostracized and their children being labeled bastards!
Oh let's go back!

Here's your sign...

You just gotta wonder about some people.
I was reading about the County Treasurer from Alcona County who got involved in an email scam. The story says:

Thomas Katona, 56, was arraigned in Harrisville today after an investigation that began in December when county officials learned he had directed eight unauthorized wire transfers totaling $186,500 to beneficiaries linked to the Nigerian Advance scheme, Cox said in a statement. Investigators also found that Katona had wired $72,500 of his own money to the same accounts.

So, not only did the guy steal a big portion of the counties funds, but he emptied his bank account also.
What makes this really hit home for me is that I've got a ton of family that lives in Alcona County. Those people up there can't really afford to have this kind of stuff happen.
You just have to wonder how this guy got his job don't you? I'm sure this couldn't have been his first brush with stupidity. I guess this just goes to show you that stupid people should come with their own sign.

If you've ever thought about responding to one of those email scams, hopefully the PSA below will disuade you:

Happy Birthday

My wife and I got to meet a new member of our extended (re: work) family yesterday. Her name is Mia and she is: a doll; cutie; sweetheart; (unpack your own adjective here, just as long as it's sweet!).

Her folks are some of the nicest people you're gonna meet.
We've gotten to know them over the last few years and really enjoy their company.

We got her some cute little boots and an pink outfit that she won't be able to wear until sometime next year :)

If we were more clever (which wouldn't be hard), we would have gotten them something from one of the white trash stores (you know, Old Navy, The Gap, etc) cause little Mia's mommy is a bit picky on the stores she goes into (and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to tease her about it).

I'm always reminded of the line from the Ded Bob Show where Ded Bob says he's gonna be all over this lady like, and I quote, 'Old Navy on White Trash'.
That may be, just may be, the funniest thing ever said by a puppet.
What makes it particularly funny is that we like Old Navy close and don't really dispute our White Trashi-ness!

We could have gone over the top and bought her something from White Trash Mecca, Wal-Mart, but that would have just been mean, and everyone knows I'm not just mean.

Anyways, I digress and say, congrats to the (once again) new mommy and daddy!
All looks to be fine as wine and dandy as candy.


*couldn't find a good poem with Mia in it, so I found the next best thing....enjoy

Found it on eBay

Well, I've done it. After years and years of procrastination I've gone and done it.

I've bought AND sold on eBay.

I can't really say why I've never really bought much on eBay. I've shopped there many many times, but always preferred Brick and Mortor stores to the eShopping of eBay. That's all changed.

We recently upgraded our cell phone service and for doing that, we received two new Razr cell phones from Motorola. That was cool...free is almost always good. It was cool until I went to buy car chargers and belt clips for both of them. At the verizon store, they were (you may need to sit for this) $40.00 A PIECE for a charger clip combo. $80 bucks for some plastic and wire.

Well, that's silly. So, off to eBay I went. Bought THE SAME THING on eBay (new, yes, brand spanking new) for $13.00 for both. Including shipping and handling. That is a savings of, what, $67.00. That's not chump change there. That's real cheese.

So, seeing as I was now the eBay king, because I saved $67.00, I decided to sell some speakers that I've had for a few years. So, I dialed up eBay, signed up as a seller, and auctioned off two speakers. Some dude from Georgia bought them yesterday for $200.00 plus $20.00 Shipping and Handling. Nice. A good deal for both of us.

Not sure if I'll do a bunch more of either buying or selling on eBay, but it's proven to be a fun little experience. I'm considering letting the kids give this a try. Find a toy or something that they don't use/play with/like anymore and see if they can sell it. I think it'll be an educational thing for them to do...the whole free market thing. We'll see.

In any case, if you've been hesitent to give eBay a try or any kind of electronic shopping, start with something small, where there is an obvious savings for you and see if you enjoy the experience. Saving gobs of money should be fun for all.

The Geek Shall Inherit The Earth

There's the famous saying, "Be nice to geeks, cause someday you're going to work for one!"
That's very very true. Think of the difference between old school companies and new, high tech companies.
Whereas in many cases they both started in a Garage (Henry Ford, the Wright Brothers, The Guys from HP, Apple) the type of people who started those machines are very different.
However, they both have one thing, one major thing, in common. CREATIVITY.

This SOC was generated based on this here shirt at Think Geek dot com

This is clever. It's inside baseball. It's all the things that the Fellowship of the Geek like (unless you're part of the HATE BLOG subculture, in which, you're not reading this anyway and I really don't care).

But most of all, it's creative.

IMHO creativity is looking at some 'thing', be it technology, process, nature, people, whatever, and you put a twist to it that no one has seen or thought of. That, by itself, isn't enough to make something 'creative'. To make it creative, its got to be 'gotten'. (get it?)
People, even if it's a small group of nerds, will look at it and go 'Dude!! Why didn't I think about that??"
Nowadays, Geeks do that better than anyone.

I went to the doctor and the doctor said....

So, today was my follow-up appointment for the doctors.
I went last month for the first time in forever. I didn't like my old doctor. Didn't like him at all. I'd wait for an hour in the waiting area, then another half hour or so in the little room (it was generally such a long wait that they actually put little TV's in there to keep you occupied). When he finally would grace me with his presence, it was for 2 minutes or less, only to be given a prescription for something or another and told to lose weight.
Note to Doctors everywhere: People who need to lose weight, generally know it.

As a result of this frustration, I stopped going. Stupid? Yes. Surprising? No.

Lots of people have this same frustration, I'm sure. You go to a doctors for a while because that's the one you've always gone too. Once it's realized that he/she's a creep/bad/stupid/lazy/scammer/(unpack your own adjective) you stop going and are afraid to find a new one.
Or, maybe it's just me.

One way or another, my wife found a doctor she really liked and convinced me to give her a try. She was sure I would like her. I did and I do.

As a result of this, I went to the doctors last month. After taking my Blood Pressure, the nurse asked me why I was still alive.
"A little high?" I suggested.
"Um, yeah. Like King Kong was a little gorilla."
She didn't have to be snarky!

So, after spending quite a while with the doc, and getting a prescription for some BP meds, off I went, vowing to lose weight and bring my blood pressure under control (and liking my doctor for the first time since....ever).

Fast forward to this morning. My BP is now on the low side of normal and my weight is dropping. I still got all the other out of shape and over weight things to worry about (cholesterol and tri-glycerides), but those will come under submission with the diet and exercise.

Maybe I will make that 40th birthday party.

Glittering Jewels of Colossal Ignorance part 2

Ok, so, I think if you spend much time at all watching/listening/reading the news you find some people doing some things that make you scratch your head and go "hmmmmmm".
The latest among a long line of people who should win the Darwin Award is this lady from California who died from drinking too much water.
However, that doesn't really make her a Glittering Jewel of Colossal Ignorance. It just makes her stupid.
No, the GJCI is her family. They are filing a WRONGFUL DEATH lawsuit against the radio station for KILLING THEIR DAUGHTER. The local police are looking into filing charges against the radio station (DJ's?)
Now, I'm not sure about whether or not a crime was committed but to sue someone over this seems utterly ridiculous.

Think about this. You sign up for a contest to win a video game (No Wee for a Wii or something like that). You decide to drink water and not go to the bathroom for a week in order to win this. Now, I realize that no one really thinks that drinking water will kill you, but wouldn't you think that, after you start feeling bad, you do a little research, realize that you can die from this and give it up????
I would. I would also think, if I'm one of her parents "Gee, my daughter was a moron for doing this!" Not "Gee, my daughter was duped and someone is gonna pay!".

I also understand that she had three children that need to be taken care of and if they win the lawsuit those kids will be helped. But, shouldn't the mom have thought about those three kids before she did something that COULD KILL HER?
I'm sure the game she wanted to win was for those kids, but that's hardly justification.

At some point, people are going to have to start to take responsibility for their actions and ought not be able to push that responsibility off on anyone else.
She signed up for the contest.
She got sick
She either didn't do research or did do research and ignored it
She died.
No one forced her. From what I read, no one lied to her.
Does her family deserve any money because she was an idiot?

Or, am I just being mean?

Why do today what you can put off till tomorrow? Here's why!

For all of you who have a hard time being efficient and can relate to the following, found on a T-Shirt:

Top Ten Reasons to Procrastinate:
1.

There is now a scientific explanation* for your malady.
In effect:

"Steel's formula, called the Temporal Motivation Theory, calculates procrastination like Albert Einstein's equation for energy, E=MC2. It factors the person's expectancy for succeeding at a given task (E) or self-confidence; the value of completing the task (V); its immediacy or availability (Gamma); and the person's sensitivity to delay (D) to come up with the desirability of the task (Utility)."

I love the highlighted quote from the article, where the professor who came up with this explanation talks about the 'motivationaly toxic environment' that people live in an likens it to dieting:

Imagine trying to diet with a magic floating spoon of ice cream following you around.
--Piers Steel, professor
University of Calgary

Of course, my spoon would be carrying Rocky Road ice cream with chocolate syrup drizzled on top and maybe a touch of whip cream....oh the humanity!

I think the key quote in the story is where Steel says

"The heart of procrastination is an adaptive natural tendency to value today much more than tomorrow,"

That's so true when I'm putting things off that I should, but don't want to, do. Right now is so very important, but by doing and living that way, I am, in effect, devaluing later! Wow, what a cool way to look at it.

*note the date for this publishing...so many great things are born that day!

A time to reflect..

Ok, so, two weeks into the New Year, how are you doing?
I hope all is well and you are becoming the person you ought to be. I'm feeling a bit introspective today and started thinking about how my New Year's resolutions are doing.

I'm pretty happy with the results so far.
I feel closer to my family than ever. Not quite sure how to explain it, but something seems to have clicked with me and the boys. They've always been (and really continue to be) closer to my wife then to me, but lately they've seem to have find a bigger place in their heart for me. Gotta love that.
Marion and I have always clicked in that fashion and still she continues to be daddy's little girl.
As for my wife, I still get amazed at how much I care about this woman. We've been married for 15 years, and I love her way more today than I did then. We've gotten to be even better friends, even though she's been my best friend for as long as I can remember.
So, resolution 1: on track

I've lost 11 pounds so far this year. I'm on a bit of a plateau right now, but even though the weight isn't going away, I'm looking a bit thinner in the mirror, so that's cool
Resolution 2: on track

I feel like my mental disposition has changed a bit, but not nearly enough. I still get sullen and have a difficult time pulling out of it, but I recognize both when it's happening and why it's happening and am working at getting out of the funk when it does happen and prevent it from happening as much. I think more than a little of this is because we've not been in church as much as we need to have been. That's changing now that we've found a new church to call home.
Resolution 3: On track (but behind schedule)

We've even gotten a bit of control on spending. Still got a lllloooonnnngggg way to go but you gotta start somewhere. Besides, this was the long shot resolution.
Resolution 4: still to early to tell.

How are you doing? Many people don't make resolutions, either because they always fail or because the feel that this is a never ending effort that shouldn't begin arbitrarily at the beginning of each year, but still.
How are you doing?
Do you like who you are?
Who you are becoming?

I hope you find yourself where you need to be. I'm of the mind that, no matter what this year has in store; good or bad; sickness or health; feast or famine that I'm going to become the person who I ought to be. The Christian, husband, father, son, brother, in-law, employee and person that I ought to be.