Today was an eventful day on the job front. I received a call from Jill, a fellow member at our church. Jill seems to have her finger on the pulse of everyone who's looking for a job, and her contacts make her a very valuable friend. I didn't know she even knew I was looking for a job. Somewhere in her travels she came across an HR Director opening and she's promised to provide me with an introduction to the head honchos at the company. I'm hoping to talk to them on the phone tomorrow. Thanks Jill!
I spent this morning at the church building working with Eric, one of our associate ministers installing two flat screen TV wall brackets in some of the classrooms. As we were getting started Eric comment "It's nice to be able to call on an out-of-work engineer when you have work like this to do." The look on his face was priceless - both funny and sad - when I informed him that I wasn't an engineer. For a second I thought he was going to come up with an excuse to send me home. But, he decided to take a chance and we got the brackets installed. When I left the TV's were both still on the wall.
Tomorrow is the big day for my television career - my audition for Who Wants to be a Millionaire. If I play my cards right I may never have to work again. I checked the website this afternoon and found that the hotel where the auditions are being held is not exactly in the greatest neighborhood in Houston. For those of you who know Houston it's out near Gallery Furniture ( . . . save you money!), a 32.5 mile drive according to Google. The doors open at 6:00 AM. My plan is to get up at 4:30 and be on the road to glory, fame and fortune by 4:45 at the latest. Last night Kayla drilled me for an hour or so with practice games from the Millionaire website. The best I could do was win $25,000. This was a little disappointing to Kayla, to whom I have promised 25% of my winnings. She was thinking $250,000 - which is slightly more than $6,250.
Finally, those of you who have been following the world news the last few days are aware that the Central American country of Honduras has been undergoing some wild and uncertain times during this past week. We are concerned for our friends at Mission Larazus, a Christian missionary organization that has been operating in southern Honduras for the last several years and has done tremendous work in not only spreading the Gospel but also making the lives of the Honduran people better. It's expected that the political events that will unfold over the next few days may produce a dangerous situation, so please keep all of the Mission Lazarus people in your prayers. I have added a link to Mission Lazarus under my list of family blogs.
Tomorrow: The BIG audition in the morning (I'm so excited) and Wednesday church in the evening. It should be a great day.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
I'm Not Expecting Much Today, But Later This Week . . .
I'm blogging a little earlier today than usual because I'm really kind of bored. This morning I sent a few employment-related emails to some long lost contacts and made a few phones calls to people - all of whom were not available. Maybe they'll call me back. I'm also waiting for the air-conditioning guys to show up for our spring A/C check-up. I'll bet they are loving going up into 500 degree attics every day.
As I write I'm looking out the window at what's left of the grass in my front yard. If we don't get some decent rain in the next week or so there may not be any green left on our entire block. I've increased the time that my lawn sprinklers run and moved the watering time to the middle of the night hoping that the water will have more time to sink to the roots before the daily blast furnace kicks in, but so far I haven't seen much improvement. I need to conduct a cost analysis of the cost of water vs. the cost of re-sodding the entire yard. It may be cheaper to just let the whole yard die and plant a new one next spring. Or better yet, we could go with the rock yard look. I'll bet the neighbors would really like that!
I put a link to my blog on my Facebook page this morning. I'm expecting that this will eventually increase my readership into double figures. I also noticed that I had a comment to a recent posting, which was very exciting. After about 30 posts this make three comments! I'm trying to keep up.
Last night I accompanied the fam to the new paleteria in Rosenberg. For those of you not well-verse in the Mexican language, a palateria is a Mexican ice cream parlor (sort of). When we arrived I experience a strong feeling of deja vu, which I eventually realized was due to the fact that we had once bought a car at this location, which in a past life had been a Buick dealership. If I recall correctly the automobile purchase was not a pleasant one, because the dealership ordered the wrong color. Maybe that's why they've been replaced by a Mexican ice cream parlor. I don't remember the name or the address of the pateteria, but it's across the street from the Fiesta in Rosenberg, if that helps.
We are now in full tenant mode. Both Lance and Kayla have now relocated to Greatwood for the summer. As previously blogged, Kayla is doing her speech pathology externship here this summer. Lance has found gainful employment, and started his summer job today. They'll both be here until mid-August, at which time they'll head back to Lubbock for their final year at Texas Tech, where they will emerge in the spring of 2010 as really educated people with masters degrees! After that it's hopeful that they will further emerge as really educated people with jobs.
Bethany rolled in last night for a short visit. I think she heard we were going to the paleteria. She and Vicki are spending the day at the wedding photographer's place doing the final selection of the pictures that will be included in the Bethany/Cody wedding album. Bethany is so excited to get this done and has obviously given the photo selection a tremendous amount of thought. The wedding was January 10th.
Oh, I almost forgot . . . I have an event of epic proportion coming up on Wednesday morning. At the urging of Kayla I'm going to try out to be on the show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. One of the perks of being unemployed is that when something really important like this comes along you can respond immediately, without having to rearrange your schedule, because you don't really have a schedule to rearrange. You don't have to drop everything, because there is nothing to drop. You don't have to . . . well, you get the picture. Anyway,trying out involves taking a written test in the morning and then coming back in the afternoon for a personal interview (if you passed the test in the morning). Kayla has complete faith that I will pass the test, wow them at the interview, and be selected as a participant. I love Kayla. Her expectations also include me actually winning the million dollars. As her finder's fee for setting this whole thing up I have promised to give her $250,000 (before taxes), which seems fair. Anyway, I plan to be at the designated hotel in the Hobby Airport area at 5:00 AM on Wednesday morning to get a good place in line. Please feel free to come down and meet up with me (bring donuts), but remember that nobody will be admitted to the hotel ballroom before 6:00 AM. You'll also have to look up the name of the hotel yourself because I don't really want to make it easy for any unnecessary competition from any people who may be smarter than me. Speaking of smarter than me, I'll need to start thinking about whom to pick for my "phone a friend" designee.
Tomorrow: I got roped into - I mean I enthusiastically volunteered - to help install some TV stands in the classrooms at the church building. These are those things that screw into the wall about seven feet above the floor so that everybody can see the TV. I've never done this before, but I'm guessing that you use some really big molly bolts to hold up a 500 pound TV. If you come to visit us sit at least three rows back to avoid any potential unpleasant consequences associated with falling TV sets.
As I write I'm looking out the window at what's left of the grass in my front yard. If we don't get some decent rain in the next week or so there may not be any green left on our entire block. I've increased the time that my lawn sprinklers run and moved the watering time to the middle of the night hoping that the water will have more time to sink to the roots before the daily blast furnace kicks in, but so far I haven't seen much improvement. I need to conduct a cost analysis of the cost of water vs. the cost of re-sodding the entire yard. It may be cheaper to just let the whole yard die and plant a new one next spring. Or better yet, we could go with the rock yard look. I'll bet the neighbors would really like that!
I put a link to my blog on my Facebook page this morning. I'm expecting that this will eventually increase my readership into double figures. I also noticed that I had a comment to a recent posting, which was very exciting. After about 30 posts this make three comments! I'm trying to keep up.
Last night I accompanied the fam to the new paleteria in Rosenberg. For those of you not well-verse in the Mexican language, a palateria is a Mexican ice cream parlor (sort of). When we arrived I experience a strong feeling of deja vu, which I eventually realized was due to the fact that we had once bought a car at this location, which in a past life had been a Buick dealership. If I recall correctly the automobile purchase was not a pleasant one, because the dealership ordered the wrong color. Maybe that's why they've been replaced by a Mexican ice cream parlor. I don't remember the name or the address of the pateteria, but it's across the street from the Fiesta in Rosenberg, if that helps.
We are now in full tenant mode. Both Lance and Kayla have now relocated to Greatwood for the summer. As previously blogged, Kayla is doing her speech pathology externship here this summer. Lance has found gainful employment, and started his summer job today. They'll both be here until mid-August, at which time they'll head back to Lubbock for their final year at Texas Tech, where they will emerge in the spring of 2010 as really educated people with masters degrees! After that it's hopeful that they will further emerge as really educated people with jobs.
Bethany rolled in last night for a short visit. I think she heard we were going to the paleteria. She and Vicki are spending the day at the wedding photographer's place doing the final selection of the pictures that will be included in the Bethany/Cody wedding album. Bethany is so excited to get this done and has obviously given the photo selection a tremendous amount of thought. The wedding was January 10th.
Oh, I almost forgot . . . I have an event of epic proportion coming up on Wednesday morning. At the urging of Kayla I'm going to try out to be on the show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. One of the perks of being unemployed is that when something really important like this comes along you can respond immediately, without having to rearrange your schedule, because you don't really have a schedule to rearrange. You don't have to drop everything, because there is nothing to drop. You don't have to . . . well, you get the picture. Anyway,trying out involves taking a written test in the morning and then coming back in the afternoon for a personal interview (if you passed the test in the morning). Kayla has complete faith that I will pass the test, wow them at the interview, and be selected as a participant. I love Kayla. Her expectations also include me actually winning the million dollars. As her finder's fee for setting this whole thing up I have promised to give her $250,000 (before taxes), which seems fair. Anyway, I plan to be at the designated hotel in the Hobby Airport area at 5:00 AM on Wednesday morning to get a good place in line. Please feel free to come down and meet up with me (bring donuts), but remember that nobody will be admitted to the hotel ballroom before 6:00 AM. You'll also have to look up the name of the hotel yourself because I don't really want to make it easy for any unnecessary competition from any people who may be smarter than me. Speaking of smarter than me, I'll need to start thinking about whom to pick for my "phone a friend" designee.
Tomorrow: I got roped into - I mean I enthusiastically volunteered - to help install some TV stands in the classrooms at the church building. These are those things that screw into the wall about seven feet above the floor so that everybody can see the TV. I've never done this before, but I'm guessing that you use some really big molly bolts to hold up a 500 pound TV. If you come to visit us sit at least three rows back to avoid any potential unpleasant consequences associated with falling TV sets.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
My Latest Comings and Goings
It's been a few days since I've blogged, basically because nothing much has been happening. But in the interest of avoiding the appearance of being a slacker who doesn't actually blog I do have a few items that may be mildly interesting to a limited number of people whose lives are as equally exciting as mine. Be forewarned - this blog is both longer and less fascinating than one of my average posts, so please read it when you have lots of time and when you are really bored. Be sure both conditions exist before beginning.
I put in another appearance at Second Mile Mission on Thursday. I think I'll make this a commitment to be there every Thursday. Once again, it was hot beyond belief in the warehouse but not too hot to accomplish my assigned task. Tom asked me to reorganize the section where the diapers (for both infants and adults), vacuum cleaners, cleaning supplies, Ramen noodles, and used computers are stored. I need to ask him sometime about who decides where everything goes, as this seems a somewhat curious combination of unrelated items. Instead of working with a gang of mini-thugs doing their community service, I spent the day this week working with Chad, a college guy who will be a junior at University of Houston this fall. Chad told me that because he can't find a summer job he thought he may as well put his spare time to good use. I showed him how to use a pallet jack, which I'm sure was the highlight of his day. My only problem with Chad was his cheap shot question "Would you like someone with a younger back to do that?" I'm sure he was only being polite. I'll get even with him next week.
Vicki's aunt Rosalee was in town for a visit on Thursday and Friday. For an old lady she's really pretty cool. During a very pleasant visit around sister Cheryl's pool on Thursday evening the conversation somehow came to focus on what medication everyone was taking, who couldn't hear anymore (huh?), how much weight everyone needs to lose, the history of surgery, and detailed descriptions of everyone's current physical illnesses, abnormalities and deformities. I tried to focus on the conversation in the "men's corner" but at times it too drifted into the realm of "we're old and we're falling apart." In spite of the near unanimous consent that we're all a bunch of fat, sick old people, the Blue Bell with chocolate sauce was quite good.
I spent yesterday working on finalizing the vacation arrangements for our big family vacation to Costa Rica the week after Christmas. I know what you're thinking, but I'm sure I'll have a job by then. We did an almost identical trip back in 2005 and the arrangements were a snap. This time around it seems like the cosmic powers of the universe know that I have all the time in the world to work on this and they've determined that that's exactly how long it will take to get it done. My final unfinished detail is the now arduous task of confirming a beach side hotel. So far it has gone something like this:
1. Find a decent looking hotel on the Internet and send an email asking about availability.
2. Receive a reply that reservations during Christmas week are for a three-night minimum. We only want two nights.
3. I call and ask if they'll consider an exception to the three-night rule. They ask if I'll call back in ten minutes. No problem, this is only an international call that is not a toll-free number. Call anytime!
4. Call back and have a pleasant conversation with Lila (pronounced "Lee-la" in espanol). However, I spend the last fifteen minutes of the call trying to get her to understand how to spell my last name. All those "E's" when mixed with that pesky "D" in the middle can be very confusing.
5. Receive an email that they'll take us for only two nights, but the rate that Lila quoted didn't include the $10/night Christmas week surcharge that should apply to the second night.
6. Send a reply that the surcharge is okay.
7. Receive an email in Spanish that I think I understood. However, the attachment was gibberish.
8. Receive another email, this one in English. Unfortunately, the attachment is in German. Being that I took one year of German when I was a freshman in high school - circa 1967 - I attempt to decipher the attachment. Surprisingly, I fail miserably.
9. I make an inadvertent keystroke on my keyboard that somehow resets the font size in Yahoo from 14 to a size where an entire sentence will fit on the head of a pin. Surprisingly, my attempts to correct this error only makes it worse.
10. I give up without achieving a confirmed beach side hotel. Maybe tomorrow when my strength returns I'll take another run at it.
As your reward for getting this far I have a bonus for you - one of my 100% on-target movie reviews! This afternoon's movie was The Proposal with Sandra (what has she done to her face) Bullock and a guy whom I recognized but have no idea what his name is. Oh yes, and Oscar from The Office had an extended cameo role as an exotic dancer, waiter, store clerk and preacher - sort of a Jack (or Jill?) or all trades. The first forty-five minutes or so were fairly amusing but then it was downhill - fast. The scene with grandma (Betty While) dancing in the woods with some kind of Eskimo robe on was probably the low point, but there were many other contenders for that distinction. The only real high point was the Alaskan scenery, but you can see that on the Alaska chamber of commerce website for free. I would say that you might consider renting this when you're in the mood for a throw-away chick flick, but definitely do not under any circumstances spend $9.50 to see this movie at a theater.
Tomorrow: We get to go to church to worship and praise God and to attend our Bible class, which I really like. I really look forward to Sunday mornings. Not sure if this is our week for first service or second service. I'm sure that Vicki knows.
I put in another appearance at Second Mile Mission on Thursday. I think I'll make this a commitment to be there every Thursday. Once again, it was hot beyond belief in the warehouse but not too hot to accomplish my assigned task. Tom asked me to reorganize the section where the diapers (for both infants and adults), vacuum cleaners, cleaning supplies, Ramen noodles, and used computers are stored. I need to ask him sometime about who decides where everything goes, as this seems a somewhat curious combination of unrelated items. Instead of working with a gang of mini-thugs doing their community service, I spent the day this week working with Chad, a college guy who will be a junior at University of Houston this fall. Chad told me that because he can't find a summer job he thought he may as well put his spare time to good use. I showed him how to use a pallet jack, which I'm sure was the highlight of his day. My only problem with Chad was his cheap shot question "Would you like someone with a younger back to do that?" I'm sure he was only being polite. I'll get even with him next week.
Vicki's aunt Rosalee was in town for a visit on Thursday and Friday. For an old lady she's really pretty cool. During a very pleasant visit around sister Cheryl's pool on Thursday evening the conversation somehow came to focus on what medication everyone was taking, who couldn't hear anymore (huh?), how much weight everyone needs to lose, the history of surgery, and detailed descriptions of everyone's current physical illnesses, abnormalities and deformities. I tried to focus on the conversation in the "men's corner" but at times it too drifted into the realm of "we're old and we're falling apart." In spite of the near unanimous consent that we're all a bunch of fat, sick old people, the Blue Bell with chocolate sauce was quite good.
I spent yesterday working on finalizing the vacation arrangements for our big family vacation to Costa Rica the week after Christmas. I know what you're thinking, but I'm sure I'll have a job by then. We did an almost identical trip back in 2005 and the arrangements were a snap. This time around it seems like the cosmic powers of the universe know that I have all the time in the world to work on this and they've determined that that's exactly how long it will take to get it done. My final unfinished detail is the now arduous task of confirming a beach side hotel. So far it has gone something like this:
1. Find a decent looking hotel on the Internet and send an email asking about availability.
2. Receive a reply that reservations during Christmas week are for a three-night minimum. We only want two nights.
3. I call and ask if they'll consider an exception to the three-night rule. They ask if I'll call back in ten minutes. No problem, this is only an international call that is not a toll-free number. Call anytime!
4. Call back and have a pleasant conversation with Lila (pronounced "Lee-la" in espanol). However, I spend the last fifteen minutes of the call trying to get her to understand how to spell my last name. All those "E's" when mixed with that pesky "D" in the middle can be very confusing.
5. Receive an email that they'll take us for only two nights, but the rate that Lila quoted didn't include the $10/night Christmas week surcharge that should apply to the second night.
6. Send a reply that the surcharge is okay.
7. Receive an email in Spanish that I think I understood. However, the attachment was gibberish.
8. Receive another email, this one in English. Unfortunately, the attachment is in German. Being that I took one year of German when I was a freshman in high school - circa 1967 - I attempt to decipher the attachment. Surprisingly, I fail miserably.
9. I make an inadvertent keystroke on my keyboard that somehow resets the font size in Yahoo from 14 to a size where an entire sentence will fit on the head of a pin. Surprisingly, my attempts to correct this error only makes it worse.
10. I give up without achieving a confirmed beach side hotel. Maybe tomorrow when my strength returns I'll take another run at it.
As your reward for getting this far I have a bonus for you - one of my 100% on-target movie reviews! This afternoon's movie was The Proposal with Sandra (what has she done to her face) Bullock and a guy whom I recognized but have no idea what his name is. Oh yes, and Oscar from The Office had an extended cameo role as an exotic dancer, waiter, store clerk and preacher - sort of a Jack (or Jill?) or all trades. The first forty-five minutes or so were fairly amusing but then it was downhill - fast. The scene with grandma (Betty While) dancing in the woods with some kind of Eskimo robe on was probably the low point, but there were many other contenders for that distinction. The only real high point was the Alaskan scenery, but you can see that on the Alaska chamber of commerce website for free. I would say that you might consider renting this when you're in the mood for a throw-away chick flick, but definitely do not under any circumstances spend $9.50 to see this movie at a theater.
Tomorrow: We get to go to church to worship and praise God and to attend our Bible class, which I really like. I really look forward to Sunday mornings. Not sure if this is our week for first service or second service. I'm sure that Vicki knows.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Job Search - Day One
Well, today was the day. I actually took my first action that was intended to secure new employment for myself. When I woke up this morning it occurred to me that even before I was liberated from Transocean I had decided that every day I would check the website for the Southwest Benefits Association, which has a section for benefits related job postings. Somehow the "every day" thing slipped my mind until this morning. This morning I checked the site and lo and behold there was a posting for a Benefits Manager. It was a six-month contract position, but it was still a possibility. I immediately emailed my resume to a lady with a really funny sounding last name. Within minutes I received a reply. The job had been filled, which wasn't too surprising given that the job was posted on April 13th. If I had only checked nine weeks ago! From now on I'll check the SWBA website every day. Well, maybe every other day.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Fathers Day Photos
Vicki and I spent most of today trying to make arrangements for our Costa Rica dream vacation that is theoretically coming up the week after Christmas. Words to the wise: If you want to take a trip to a hot vacation destination during Christmas week consider starting to make your reservations at least a year in advance. Six months might not cut it if you're hoping to get everything you want.
Yesterday I told you all about my great Fathers Day weekend. With Kayla home I now have someone to show me how to correctly post and tag pictures to my blog. How exciting this will be for all of my dedicated readers! Now you'll not only be able to hear me blather on every day about my mundane life, you'll also get to see pictures of that very same life! One word comes to mind - awesome!
Taking a break from Fathers Day dinner with Kayla and Bethany!
Vicki and I at the Salt Lick. Yum!
Yes, I know I look like a dork.
More fun at the Salt Lick
Vicki and I at the Salt Lick. Yum! Yes, I know I look like a dork.
More fun at the Salt Lick with my two wonderful daughters.
Fathers Day Special - Home Made Cherry Pie!
Fathers Day Special - Home Made Cherry Pie!
I? Apparently only one daugher loves me.
Me "facing my fears" at Betho and Cody's.
Me "facing my fears" at Betho and Cody's. A game of convincing yourself
to do something you don't really want to do.
Tomorrow: I actually have no plans whatsoever.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Round Rock - Life Without Air Conditioning
Greetings fellow blogites. We just returned from my big Fathers' Day trip to Round Rock, and we had a great time! I'll start at the almost beginning because I know you won't want to miss a single detial. But first, I'd like to make a comment about what my 25 Fathers' Days have meant to me. I have two of the most wonderful daughters any father could ever ask for. They have been my pride and joy since the day they were born. Over the years they have made a few mistakes and have demonstated a few minor imperfections, but for 99.9% of the time they have been just about perfect (in my eyes anyway). I am extremely proud to say that they can both best be described as beautiful (inside and out), compassionate, kind, funny and greatful for everthing Vicki and I have given them or done for them over the years. And, they are both committed to following Jesus Chist as their Lord and Saviour. I never imagined that as a father I (with the assistance of Vicki) would have turned out such a great product.
Back to the trip. We left Greatwood at 9:42 on Saturday morning and had a pleasant and uneventful drive up to Round Rock, which is a suburb of Austin for those not familiar with the geography of central Texas. After having lunch and chilling for a few hours at the casa of Bethany and Cody we loaded up the Toyota and headed for Dell Diamond stadium, home of the Round Rock Express for their big game with the New Orleans Zephyrs. Before the game we stopped for dinner at a place called the Salt Lick, which is coincidentally right next door to "the Dell". This place may be the greatest BBQ place in the galaxy. It's a little pricey - $8.50 for a sandwich - but for your money you get what amounts to a pound of meet stuck in the middle of a loaf of bread. We all gobbled down the meat and bread and then finished things off with some blueberry cobbler and ice cream. Before heading across the parking lot for the game we tarried a few minutes to listen to the band that was playing under a giant oak tree. Their lead singer was doing a great job of looking like Willie Nelson's brother, and they were pretty good. It was generally a carnival atmosphere.
A triple-A baseball game is much different than a major league game. It's more laid back and it seems like it's just more fun. Besides the game there is some type of diversion between almost every inning. There were the two little girls dressed in crab suits vying for a free dinner at Joe's Crab Shack, two guys who raced around the infield seeing who could roll their tire the fastest for a year's worth of free oil changes, a birthday jog around the outfield for all of the kids who were having a birthday, and so much more. In addition, because there were only 4,000 fans instead of 40,000 fans it was much easier to get the free stuff that was being tossed to the fans. Cody out-wrestled a middle-aged woman for an Express tee shirt (the paramedics assured us she'll recover), and Kayla caught one of the balls that the broadcasting crew through from the press box. In addition, it was Roy Owsalt bobble-head night, in honor of the year Roy spent at Round Rock on his way to the big show, and to where Roy is in danger of returning if he doesn't get things going his way soon for the Astros. Oh yeah, and then there was the game, which of course went into extra innings. If you've ever been to the Dell you know that it has all kinds of attractions in addition to the game. Beyond the right field fence it has a rock climbing wall, a bungee jumping thing, and even a swimming pool. But, what the Dell doesn't have is a roof and air conditioning, which caused a dilemma for us. You see, some of our number were a little less heat tolerant that others, and sitting in the stifling heat for three hours eventually became a humanitarian issue. So, we all agree that we would leave after the tenth inning, which we did, with the score tied at zero. Some people are thrilled to call this a pitchers' duel, others are as equally moved to call it boring. At any rate, our leaving after the tenth inning guaranteed that the eleventh inning would be exciting, which it was. Our Express boys won 5-4.
This morning we went to Cody and Bethany's church - the Austin Stone. Kind of a weird name, but a really great church! I of course was skeptical as is my wont over what I anticipated would be what I refer to as "concert church" with annoyingly loud music that was impossible to understand and even more impossible to sing with. Well, believe it or not - hold on to your hats - I was wrong. Sooooo wrong. The music was definitely loud, but the praise and worship at "the Stone" was fantastic. And, the message from 1 Corinthians 15 was in the top 1% of all of the sermons I've ever heard. The preacher, who was actually the number two guy and whose name I never did hear, spoke at length about the "24 words" in 15:3-4 that define the true essence of the Gospel
". . . that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day . . ."
If you're ever in Austin on a Sunday morning and you're up for some great loud music and a dose of God's truth, head for the Stone. They meet at Austin High School. If you're really worried about the volume they actually have a table on the way into the auditorium that has - this is not a joke - free ear plugs! If you go, my prayer for you is that the air conditioning has been by the time you get there.
Happy Fathers' Day!
Tomorrow: Kayla starts her externship assignment. I start planning our Costa Rica vacation, which subject to availability will happen the week after Christmas. I should probably really focus on finding a job from which to take a vacation.
Back to the trip. We left Greatwood at 9:42 on Saturday morning and had a pleasant and uneventful drive up to Round Rock, which is a suburb of Austin for those not familiar with the geography of central Texas. After having lunch and chilling for a few hours at the casa of Bethany and Cody we loaded up the Toyota and headed for Dell Diamond stadium, home of the Round Rock Express for their big game with the New Orleans Zephyrs. Before the game we stopped for dinner at a place called the Salt Lick, which is coincidentally right next door to "the Dell". This place may be the greatest BBQ place in the galaxy. It's a little pricey - $8.50 for a sandwich - but for your money you get what amounts to a pound of meet stuck in the middle of a loaf of bread. We all gobbled down the meat and bread and then finished things off with some blueberry cobbler and ice cream. Before heading across the parking lot for the game we tarried a few minutes to listen to the band that was playing under a giant oak tree. Their lead singer was doing a great job of looking like Willie Nelson's brother, and they were pretty good. It was generally a carnival atmosphere.
A triple-A baseball game is much different than a major league game. It's more laid back and it seems like it's just more fun. Besides the game there is some type of diversion between almost every inning. There were the two little girls dressed in crab suits vying for a free dinner at Joe's Crab Shack, two guys who raced around the infield seeing who could roll their tire the fastest for a year's worth of free oil changes, a birthday jog around the outfield for all of the kids who were having a birthday, and so much more. In addition, because there were only 4,000 fans instead of 40,000 fans it was much easier to get the free stuff that was being tossed to the fans. Cody out-wrestled a middle-aged woman for an Express tee shirt (the paramedics assured us she'll recover), and Kayla caught one of the balls that the broadcasting crew through from the press box. In addition, it was Roy Owsalt bobble-head night, in honor of the year Roy spent at Round Rock on his way to the big show, and to where Roy is in danger of returning if he doesn't get things going his way soon for the Astros. Oh yeah, and then there was the game, which of course went into extra innings. If you've ever been to the Dell you know that it has all kinds of attractions in addition to the game. Beyond the right field fence it has a rock climbing wall, a bungee jumping thing, and even a swimming pool. But, what the Dell doesn't have is a roof and air conditioning, which caused a dilemma for us. You see, some of our number were a little less heat tolerant that others, and sitting in the stifling heat for three hours eventually became a humanitarian issue. So, we all agree that we would leave after the tenth inning, which we did, with the score tied at zero. Some people are thrilled to call this a pitchers' duel, others are as equally moved to call it boring. At any rate, our leaving after the tenth inning guaranteed that the eleventh inning would be exciting, which it was. Our Express boys won 5-4.
This morning we went to Cody and Bethany's church - the Austin Stone. Kind of a weird name, but a really great church! I of course was skeptical as is my wont over what I anticipated would be what I refer to as "concert church" with annoyingly loud music that was impossible to understand and even more impossible to sing with. Well, believe it or not - hold on to your hats - I was wrong. Sooooo wrong. The music was definitely loud, but the praise and worship at "the Stone" was fantastic. And, the message from 1 Corinthians 15 was in the top 1% of all of the sermons I've ever heard. The preacher, who was actually the number two guy and whose name I never did hear, spoke at length about the "24 words" in 15:3-4 that define the true essence of the Gospel
". . . that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day . . ."
If you're ever in Austin on a Sunday morning and you're up for some great loud music and a dose of God's truth, head for the Stone. They meet at Austin High School. If you're really worried about the volume they actually have a table on the way into the auditorium that has - this is not a joke - free ear plugs! If you go, my prayer for you is that the air conditioning has been by the time you get there.
Happy Fathers' Day!
Tomorrow: Kayla starts her externship assignment. I start planning our Costa Rica vacation, which subject to availability will happen the week after Christmas. I should probably really focus on finding a job from which to take a vacation.
Friday, June 19, 2009
You Can Fool Some of the People Some of the Time . . .
Greetings blog readers. I'm blogging a little earlier than usual today because Kayla's coming home this evening and I'd rather spend time with her than write blog stuff.
I was out shopping today - more on that later - and I saw a great bumper sticker, which read: "You can fool some of the people some of the time, but apparently you can fool 52.6% of the people all of the time." This got me to thinking, which is usually not a good thing. If you put a random sample of 100 people in a room only about 53 of them would have voted for Mr. Obama and about 47 of them would not have voted for him. If you figure that even 10% of those who voted for him (a very conservative estimate) did so for no other reason than they were jumping on the press-induced band wagon and wanted to feel good about themselves for displaying an "open mind" then out of 53 Obama-ites about five of them voted for him even though they most likely had absolutely no idea what he stood for. Take these five away and the room is almost evenly divided between the forces of light and the forces of darkness. Of the 48 pro-Obama types who are left, a large number of them were swayed by one of Mr. Obama's 569 compaign promises (a real number - you can look it up), many of which will never be acted upon, unless of course you're gay or in favor of killing unborn babies. Hmmm . . . my very first political rant on the blog. I'll do my best to keep these to a minimum, but no promises.
Okay, now that that's out of the way I can get back to my shopping trip. I went to two places - Hobby Lobby for picture frames and to HEB for tonight's dinner groceries. My first observation for today is that if you want to meet girls (which of course I don't) go to Hobby Lobby in the middle of the afternoon on a week day. I was the male personage in the entire store. Before the multitude of single guys who read my blog get too excited, the approximate age demographic of these girls is between ages 50 and 83. I bought some frames and matting material for the Booth School pictures I took a few weeks ago. Please refer to a prior blog for more information.
Next I went to HEB to buy salad ingredients and steak for Kayla's homecoming dinner tonight. I did okay on the steak - I think - but I had to totally fake it on the tomatoes. I held them up and looked at them from several angles and then I pretended to squeeze them, because I think that's what you do when you buy tomatoes. Or maybe you thump 'em. Whatever . . . When I got home I called my brother-in-law Phil to get his secret steak marinating juice recipe, which he shared with me under penalty of death if I reveal it to anyone else. The steaks are soaking in the secret concoction right now. I'll be grilling later, which for most guys is some type of frequent and semi-religious experience, but for me it's more of a "what the heck am I doing cooking" thing. Where I come from women cook everything - even steak - and men just eat everything. At least by this evening it should cool off to 98 degrees so it will be pleasant standing over the grill.
Tomorrow: Vicki, Kayla and I will be heading out to Round Rock in the morning for my wild Father's Day weekend at Bethany and Cody's place. I'm looking forward to watching the Round Rock Express and chowing down on my traditional Father's Day meal of hot dogs, BBQ potato chips (fried not baked) and cherry pie with vanilla Blue Bell ice cream. It will be great to be me this weekend. Happy Father's Day to all you fatherly types.
I was out shopping today - more on that later - and I saw a great bumper sticker, which read: "You can fool some of the people some of the time, but apparently you can fool 52.6% of the people all of the time." This got me to thinking, which is usually not a good thing. If you put a random sample of 100 people in a room only about 53 of them would have voted for Mr. Obama and about 47 of them would not have voted for him. If you figure that even 10% of those who voted for him (a very conservative estimate) did so for no other reason than they were jumping on the press-induced band wagon and wanted to feel good about themselves for displaying an "open mind" then out of 53 Obama-ites about five of them voted for him even though they most likely had absolutely no idea what he stood for. Take these five away and the room is almost evenly divided between the forces of light and the forces of darkness. Of the 48 pro-Obama types who are left, a large number of them were swayed by one of Mr. Obama's 569 compaign promises (a real number - you can look it up), many of which will never be acted upon, unless of course you're gay or in favor of killing unborn babies. Hmmm . . . my very first political rant on the blog. I'll do my best to keep these to a minimum, but no promises.
Okay, now that that's out of the way I can get back to my shopping trip. I went to two places - Hobby Lobby for picture frames and to HEB for tonight's dinner groceries. My first observation for today is that if you want to meet girls (which of course I don't) go to Hobby Lobby in the middle of the afternoon on a week day. I was the male personage in the entire store. Before the multitude of single guys who read my blog get too excited, the approximate age demographic of these girls is between ages 50 and 83. I bought some frames and matting material for the Booth School pictures I took a few weeks ago. Please refer to a prior blog for more information.
Next I went to HEB to buy salad ingredients and steak for Kayla's homecoming dinner tonight. I did okay on the steak - I think - but I had to totally fake it on the tomatoes. I held them up and looked at them from several angles and then I pretended to squeeze them, because I think that's what you do when you buy tomatoes. Or maybe you thump 'em. Whatever . . . When I got home I called my brother-in-law Phil to get his secret steak marinating juice recipe, which he shared with me under penalty of death if I reveal it to anyone else. The steaks are soaking in the secret concoction right now. I'll be grilling later, which for most guys is some type of frequent and semi-religious experience, but for me it's more of a "what the heck am I doing cooking" thing. Where I come from women cook everything - even steak - and men just eat everything. At least by this evening it should cool off to 98 degrees so it will be pleasant standing over the grill.
Tomorrow: Vicki, Kayla and I will be heading out to Round Rock in the morning for my wild Father's Day weekend at Bethany and Cody's place. I'm looking forward to watching the Round Rock Express and chowing down on my traditional Father's Day meal of hot dogs, BBQ potato chips (fried not baked) and cherry pie with vanilla Blue Bell ice cream. It will be great to be me this weekend. Happy Father's Day to all you fatherly types.
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