Bloggin Awesome

Last night was the first session with the Sunday school guys book study. Stal and I were 30 minutes late BUT did get the opportunity to tour the church campus while looking for the group. That wasn't very cool- if my wife wouldn't have called us and gave us a clue- we would have missed out on a good time.

The book we are studying is John Ortberg’s If You Want To Walk On Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat. Our reading was to cover chapter 1. The chapter started off on the wrong foot with me. The author had good intentions, I think, to make Jesus/God more approachable as a friend that wants you to join him. I had a problem with that- Jesus isn’t my buddy/pal/homie- He is my Lord. Can I casually talk with Him- of course but always with respect for His position (worthy) with respect to mine (unworthy). We miss that point too often I think. God is love and all the warm fuzzies but His position demands respect and awe. In church the message so often leans on the warm comforting understanding characteristics but doesn’t balance with their counterparts- just, jealous, and judgmental. God has to be the last three (and then some) in order to be the God of love, caring, understanding, etc. He has to discipline us – it is a requirement for love- how can the God of love let us harm ourselves and others when we sin? We are here for a handful of purposes- mainly to acknowledge and glorify Him and to reach out to a lost and dying world. Let’s not forget our place with respect to His throne. I needed to get that out there before I go further

The rest of the chapter was much better- not any more challenging than Sunday mornings with the Thomasons (they set the bar pretty high)- but still a good read. The concept is that we all have our “boats” of comfort and security that we must break free of. My boats are mainly people investments and a fear of diminishing or zero returns. The only one that can coax or demand me to get out is God- and with His help I hope to do just that.

Here is another random picture i took while in TN visiting my grandparents- I think it speaks for itself and is a really great parking reminder.

It is still technically Tuesday but I thought I’d write about what is goin on in my head. I’ve been in a really type-ey mood. Camping is on my brain. Just in case you, reader person, don’t have the skinny on our camping scene – usually the guys that come with are Stal, Seth, and Pony (usually when it doesn’t require any effort).
Tim is the latest member in the camping group. He has just started a new job so his schedule isn’t as flexible as it used to be (as a flight instructor) but hopefully he’ll get freed up soon. Stal and I wanted to make this weekend a serious camping weekend- unfortunately Pony and Seth are being lame (Tim is legitimately out of town training to fly a top secret fighter jet- ok not a jet but still an airplane). Seth has an autocross on Saturday but Pony is just making excuses. If we don’t make an effort to hang out then 10 years from now we’ll have zero contact. Eventually I’ll stop making any effort- friendship is reciprocation. I know I said it was a lame weekend but I did get a lot of thinking in- I need to be a better friend. Sorry to wander off on that one-

I went to High Country Outfitters in the mall and found the one thing we lack while we camp. A Hammock! I’ve never seen a company put a hammock together like this one by Eagles Nest Outfitters Inc.. I think I’ll pick it up before the next outing and give it a review.

Next thing is what to do while you camp. So currently our list is to play cards, tell stories, play with fire, and cook. I haven’t had an iPod before- so that’ll be a nice companion for audiobooks and such. But today I had another idea- tying knots. It is useful skill to have, not too taxing, and at the same time a good challenge to make them look just right. I went down to the library and picked up this book by Peter Owen. So far it is wicked cool but hopefully I’ll pick up a camping specific knot tying book. Fear not- I’ll fill you in on how it all goes...

This weekend was pretty lame- I’ve still not really gotten over that. I did a lot of work around the house and yard- productive just not that fun. Julia reminded me that it was a good day because I got to spend it with her- but she didn’t quite understand what I was saying. I love having her around and hopefully soon she’ll be home full time. I guess my attitude was just selfishness shining thru. We did have the gang over Saturday night- good time playing cranium. I already went over Sunday but Monday was another waste of sorts- I took full advantage of Labor Day by laboring. GRRR. I hadn’t planned on trimming the shrubs, trees, and bushes but it was a nice throwback to my landscaping days. The beauty in manual labor is you get to see the fruits of your labor almost immediately.
I did have fun at Bump & Stal's house- we had a great cookout with some killer kabobs and burgers- way to go Littles.
~New Blog Addition~Another of my favorite pastimes is photography. My original SLR was the Canon A-1. A great 35mm tank from the late 70s and 80s that maintained its image quality for upwards of 20 years. The thing that irritated me about film are the incremental costs- all my friends know how I analyze my spending- then they make fun of me. So this year I went the prosumer digital SLR route. My Canon EOS 350D (Digital Rebel XT). I can’t tell you how great it is. It met me where I was- inquisitive enough to delve into settings customization, but easy enough for my wife to figure out (not to knock my wife- she isn’t interested in tons of settings). Wow this is a long way to get to the point of this paragraph- the new addition of random images I’ve taken. Not all are taken with my 350D but I can’t put on a full 8MP image into my text anyway. If anyone actually wants the full image they can email me. I have a really long way to go before my skills arrive.

So here is my first- and my personal favorite in the rural category.
This was taken on my way down to Jacksonville with my then girlfriend (now wife) Julia. We’ve tried so many routes and some go thru some crazy rural spots in AL. I think this is how the majority of America pictures Alabama.
I am sleepy.

Today was a great eye opener- I won’t get into details but I was struggling with compassion for the Katrina victims. In our Sunday school class we had a young wife and daughter from Biloxi. Her husband was still there holding a service on the lawn of their church. It just kinda hit me about the range of people affected by a tragedy. It is so easy to just change the channel and not see the mess down there. Unbelievable. I had a conversation with a client of mine about responsibility (Local, State, Federal) to help cleaning up. I get so angry about why this city was so irresponsible to make preparations for the inevitable. Unfortunately the devastation is a reality not a speculation- so it should be met with compassion instead of anger. It will be interesting seeing how this plays out.

We looked at a few lots after church and then I headed home. I kind of got stal roped into pulling some cables for his office so I decided to help out today- for free even! We both didn’t expect it to take but an hour tops. Big funny joke. We started at 2:30 and didn’t get home until after 6. The conduit run in the building was ghetto at best. Here is the cable that gave us so much trouble. Grr.

I know I’m going out of order and I think most people who’ve read my blog have probably heard this story directly. Ok so it was Friday (yes before my last Saturday! Post) and I was ready to go to a new client of mine. This client just so happens to be Stal’s appraisal company (thanks for that Stal). So they need a remote access system and it just so happens that I’ve done this many many times. The product that I chose is the Watchguard X15 – for many reasons but I’ll spare you.
For those who don’t know me I can be a bit particular about how I do things- a tad bit obsessive. Watchguard makes great products but fails to supply adequate templates for mounting their appliances. After putting many of these on walls and in server closets I HATE not having the screws perfectly centered (see- obsessive). About an hour and a half before I was ready to head out I thought I’d be cool to make a mounting template. So I had a sheet of 1/8h inch acrylic and made my measurements and proceeded to drill a hole right into the bottom of the firewall and just happened to puncture the motherboard. Yeah. Did I mention it was just shy of $400?

Oh yeah I botched this one nicely. I can say honestly I’ve never done anything like this- nothing. Have I broken things- sure- but this just about takes the cake. So I have to call Stal up and tell the story and obviously figure out what to do next. I found that there are a ton of companies that actually repair these intricate motherboards. One of the few in the southeast is actually only 45 minutes north of me. Most others send the repairs out of state and it takes a really long time. So I email an image and they said they’d like to see it up close. I rush it up there and they need to keep it for the weekend- I don’t have much to lose now do I?
Monday (now we’re back on track) I call the vendor (PCSuperdeals.com) and was totally honest- telling the whole story of my stupidity. I got a hold of an awesome lady in customer support and I believe her quote was “you drilled a hole in it?” Yes Shelia- yes I did. She said she would have to get back to me because she didn’t know how to handle such a call. I told her whatever the case I had to get a new one. I was pretty bummed cause I just knew I was gonna have to shell out. In the mean time I called the repair company and they said they didn't have the equipment to fix it- well super - the image is really deceptive- the tracers are crazy small. A couple hours later Shelia rings me and says that they are going to call it DOA. Can you believe that? DOA? Maybe DATGHOI (Dead After Tom Got Hold Of It). I am now a loyal PCSuperdeals.com customer. Amazing.

What is the lesson here?
1) Don’t be stupid and drill into expensive equipment.
2) When you make a mistake – be honest and own up to it- I know God went to bat for me because I was truthful and He honored it. I give Him all the credit- I’ve been known to haggle and get good prices but this is out of my league. It pays to be honest- lying is expensive.

Well today makes the 6th Saturday in a row that I’ve been to the land. I can always depend on Stal to join me. This is helpful because he hauls my 4wheeler with his 4runner. Otherwise my car wouldn't make it. So the main reason we ventured out was because of the best new tool in my garage- my brand spankin new Honda EU 2000 generator.

It is SO AMAZING. Julia doesn't think it is that cool because it just makes electricity- and given it isn't a huge generator at 2000W. It has two very cool features- It is CRAZY quiet and SUPER portable (only 46lbs!). Another great feature is the ECO throttle switch. This allows for the generator to only run at a capacity that it requires. It is really cool because when you'll use a circular saw it'll throttle up to match the power pull. All you guys out there understand. Also (not to bore you) the power it produces is clean- because it is inverted before output- so I can run any power sensitive items such as computers servers etc- hopefully i'll get to try it out during Katrina!

Ok so the adventure today wasn't as cool as last weekend- but what we've done is apply what we learned from prototype 2 for the latest iteration - version 3.0. This one is roughly 8" wider and a whopping 60"long. I will take pictures and post them when I get back out there. I know you're asking "why such a large sled?" well here is the short version- the added width makes it more stable while the length makes going over larger obstacles easier (more surface area making contact with the grass/rocks/dirt/etc) to overcome. So the design is simple and illustrated by this small drawing.

The 2 stacked 4x4s have 2 through bolts and 2 lagscrews coming up from the bottom. As with Version 2.0 we used parts of a bucket to smooth out the transition from the harsh front angle to the bottom of the sled. It worked like a charm... More stable- and even better- MORE FUN.

The next project is to somehow fashon a riding lawnmower seat the the sled and a good way of keeping distance from the back of the 4wheeler. When you sit on the sled you're eating all kinds of dust and debris- not cool. I almost hurt myself laughin at stal as we blew thru 3rd gear in the field.

I am glad I have stal to share in such an adventure... God knows that field surfing is not on the ladies' radar. Shout out to Johnny- we wish you could have been here.

Peace-

I actually had a reason for mentioning the pears- ok here is the joke/pun/reason to make you roll your eyes.

Johnny and I needed some snacks for the land- so we headed to Publix and wandered into the fruit section. Pears- I couldn’t remember the last time I had some. We picked some up and during our lunch break Johnny cut them up into wedges. When we got back to the land I asked him what you’d call a person who shoved the wedges in their ears…

You ready?

Hearing im-peared.

Ok folks- now some of you may know that I am located in Birmingham, AL - that's right- Alabama. I am not a native- I was born in St. Louis and lived there for 10 years. Then I moved to Vancouver, WA This is where I met my great friend Johnny. Then after another 5 years I ended up in Cincinnati, OH where I went to 3 highschools and graduated. I chose a small private college in Birmingham (Samford University) and loved Bham so much- I stayed. Ok so that is a rundown of where I’ve been. SO back to Johnny- After I moved from Washington we lost contact for almost 10 years. One day I heard thru my family that he was embarking on a short term missions project in Slovenia. Within the week he was at my home on his way out of America.

WHEW (sorry that took so long- didn't want to leave anything out)

So back to this weekend- Johnny was able to swing by and visit for a few days before taking a class in NC. So I decided he needed to spend a Saturday at the land with us (Us being Stal and I (Stal is a good friend I met at Samford)). So we got to the land around 9:30ish and I gave Johnny a quick tour and headed back to the barn. We needed a goal for the day... and it had to be cool. The barn is full of junk from the previous owner who we believe to be some sort of contractor... tons of crap in the barn for us to put something together with. This is a place MacGyver would happen upon- perfect for any plan to combat the bad guys . We found a 55 gallon drum full of bolts, fittings, and other hardware to make this dream of mine come true. The dream was to put together some sort of chariot to be pulled behind the 4wheeler because the land is steep and who doesn't think chariots are awesome?! So we began our hunt for something to inspire us - the first item that got our attention was an old ironing board... looked like something you could ride, right? YOU COULDN"T BE MORE CORRECT! We bolted the board to the 4wheeler and used some electrical cord with a piece of PVC conduit to fashion a tow handle.

FIELD SURFING WAS BORN.

Immediately we wondered why we didn't have our cameras or camcorders with us... so after several turns riding the prototype we broke for lunch at Subway. We all knew deep within our hearts that we had to document such an adventure- and to get some more tools. Back to my house we drove. We picked up some pears, tools, and cameras and headed back.

After we returned to the land we pulled out all the parts we thought necessary and came up with this way to connect it

Then we designed the sled with a few boards with some sides and cleats. The angle was made by some old door hinges and then nailing the angle into place with the sides. The bottom had a few rough spots that could’ve stopped the sled cold- so we cut out some plastic from an old 5 gallon paint bucket to make the transition smooth. I think my word picture is poor- luckily I have an actual picture for you mr/ms/mrs/other reader.
Here are both prototypes side by side.

I will hopefully put up a video that is already in the works up later this week- it takes a long time to edit these things.

Oh yes I forgot- the sweet sunglass you see the rider wearing- we also found those throwback Blue Blockers in the 55 gallon drum as well. Now they are a article for the tow-ee.

****/*****
Definitely watchable-
Rentable- sure- especially with Netflix
Purchasable- probably not
Overall feeling: Can’t compete with Batman Begins

Pros
Acting- lead characters (Ewan McGregor and scarlet Johansson) did better than they usually do-
Visuals were good- some cool technology
Very clean feeling-
Not “dark” (my family is sensitive to movie darkness)

Cons
Action scenes were a bit far fetched
You knew before you walked the final realization- I won’t spoil it
Felt like it tried to hard to make you think
Not enough original material for a story
Kind of matrixy
It was one giant GM advertisement (Who the crap cares about a Cadillac for the “cool” car?)

Hey again I thought I’d write and dish my weekend.

Friday the gang got together for some PF Changs- good times food was the same it has always been. We did get a $37 discount because our reservation was overshot by a full hour. Oh well- more time to gab with friends.

Saturday- early early early I put together my new wagon to pull behind the 4 wheeler on the land so that took a bit longer than expected. Stal, B$, Zoë, and I got out to the land around 10:30 or so. Stal got a wicked new chainsaw-type blade for his FS80 R- worked amazingly well. No way will I buy another regular blade. It was great having some helpful friends- we got a ton of work done. I got home around 4:30 or so and had to wash the dog and didn’t quite have time for a nap before rejoining up for a grill out at Stal’s place. Tim and Caitlin joined up and the group mix was awesome I don’t know why we don’t do that more often.

Sunday- we were a bit lazy and that isn’t an excuse for missing church- but we did make it to Sunday school- we’re still studying Ezekiel 37- dry bones- great lesson- things to work on. We went to Moe’s, Lizzy and b left and then we napped like a champ. This is kinda lame huh? We went with bump and Stal to see The Island- wanna read my review? Great! I’ll write that one in a separate post. Then I went to sleep.