I hate to be a pest...

...But I'd like to ask you who visit my blog to click on the ads. It's a small thing, but if you see something you like, and you click, it can subsidize what I'm doing here. It's a little bit of your time, and you might like what you find.

I just found a site called Meant4More run by Campus Crusade for Christ International. They were very instrumental to my growing up in the Faith while I was in High School, and I hope that one of my dear friends is still involved in their ministry. They are reaching for the hearts of our young people, which I feel is a most noble goal.

I also wish they would put in an ad for Tecate Mission. And since they probably won't, I will. Tecate Mission is where my wonderful wife spent about 5 years of her life while growing up. It's on the American side of the US/Mexico border in Southern California. Please check out their site as well.



Ok, enough plugging. Taxes were good this year, but not as good as last year. But all in all, things will start off well this year.





Lord,
Thank you for the wondrous works you are doing in my life, and the life of my family. May you keep it growing strong and safe in this dangerous world. May we always feel you presence in all that we do. Be our strength where we are lacking it, and our support when we feel we have none. Thank you for loving even the least of us, even after you have created all of the wonders of this galaxy and the entire universe. Your creation speaks of your love for us.
In the Blessed name of Christ,
AMEN!

A Long Time

...That's how long it's taking me to learn life's little lessons. I talk a great talk, but when I try to walk it, I stumble like I did when I was 10 months old. I have all these grandiose ideas, but none of them ever come to fruition. I wish there were a "magic" little something that I could do or take that would allow me to focus, be responsible, and do what I say, and say what I do.

What I really need is prayer.

I'm alone in my inner struggles without God. I need Him to grant me wisdom and the ability to deny myself. I need to overcome this pervasive disease called life, and live the true life He has for me. But I keep going back to the "easy" path I've been following so long, though I know it's broke. I believe I feel comfort knowing what I'm dealing, rather than wanting to go into something new, that will be hard, but will be infinitely more beneficial.

Dear Lord,
I pray that I will have a change in attitude, and do the right thing, for myself, and my family. I know that the life I'm now living is not the life you want for me. Give me the courage and strength to take a bold new step and do what I know I'm meant to do. Grant me wisdom and the resolve to put the wise thoughts into action.

In Christ's name,
AMEN!

The Hardest Thing

Man!

Sometimes life tries its best to get you down. It's doing it's darnedest to do that just now. We are sadly faced with having to put our daughter into public school next year. Mainly because we have...I take that back. Mainly because I have not been taking the required care of our finances, we are unable to make ends meet without Kim working.

It, of course, didn't happen overnight. It's been a pattern of inaction over a few years. So, tonight, after our Condo Owners Association meeting, we will talk and pray about what to do until then. If you read this, and fear God, lift us up in prayer. He is able to do immesurably more than we could even dream, but sometimes, that means we have to do something we don't want to do, in order to achieve what he wants for us.

Dear Father,

I come before you broken to the soul, a hollow pit in my stomach. I cry out to you! Hear me! I've lived too long without your counsel, and I now know what I have to show for it. Give me peace, grace, and surety that what Kim and I decide tonight is in your will. Give me the peace you gave me that I was not going to die after my accident. Help me to know your mercy and grace. Help me to love your correction, so that I may walk with you always.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen

The Best Laid Plans

Well, unfortunately, because of some unexpected goings on, Kim and I were unable to go dancing on Saturday night. But such is life, eh? Life has it's own way of disrupting all of our plans, but it is up to us to make the best of them.

So instead of dancing, the whole family went to see "Dreamer", a great movie starring Kurt Russell (my vaforite actor) and Dakota Fanning. That was such a Daddy/Daughter film. I caught myself crying at least five times during that film. It was the best story I've seen in a long time. I'd like to read the true storry off which it was based. A family on the verge of bankruptcy, a lame horse, and a dream that works out. Going from nothing to winning $14 million in the Breeders' Cup? That was utterly amazing. It's a movie our family will own.

I urge you all to see it if you can!

It's Just Makes Me Feel Like Dancing!

Well, the anniversary dinner my wife and I had last night at the The Olive Garden was PERFECT! It was so very romantic, and we talked like we haven't in a long time! It's amazing what a difference a year makes! And my mother and her husband were so wonderful taking our two lovely children for the night. I am so in love with her, and it feels the same as it did when I married her four years ago. (Not five, and you know who you are who didn't remember.) But tonight is a whole different story!

WE'RE GOING DANCIN'!!!

I'll tell you about it when I can!

Anniversaries

It's amazing that we've just had our 4th Wedding Aniversary yesterday. It was no huge deal, as it was the middle of the week. But we are going to make the best of the next few days. Diner tonight at our favorite date restaurant, and dancing to-morrow night at a new club neither of us has been to.

The funniest thing about this year was that everyone thought it was our 5th year. It must be a big year, because everyone is getting it wrong. It feels like a much bigger year than the last three for some reason. Almost like it's a milestone, rather than the way point that 5 years sounds like.

I for one really look forward to this new year. Today is day 2 of our fifth year together, Kim, Faith, Josiah, and I. (Well, only two and a half years for Joe-Man.)

Well, here's to another year, praying that it is much better than this last year.

In Christ!

A New Start?

Hello! Well, today is going to be a good day, it seems. I have the famous 2nd interview for a new position within my company. Now this will be the first move I've made since coming here, but it is definately in the direction I want to go. This will be a great move for me, with the possibilty of more income, and a chance to move up faster in the company.

Wish me luck!


UPDATE:

Well, the interview went fine, but was a bit difficult to read. We'll see what happens in the next few days!

Sorry I've been gone.

Ok, I'm back, and a big "Sorry" to those of you who have been waiting to hear me rant once again.

I've been doing other things as many of you understand. But I tend to be a person who starts many a thing, but always gets interrested in a new thing when it comes around. So I started another blog at MySpace, but I figure I'll keep that one more as a diary than a blog. This is where I'll come to post the absurdity of the world around us.

So, starting with the New Year, I'll try to post here at least once a week, if not more. I thank you to anyone who visited me recently, and ask you to look forward to more!

See ya!

It's a Happy Day

It's a happy day, and I thank God for the weather.
It's a happy day, and I'm living it for my Lord.
It's a happy day and things are going to get better.
Living each day by the promises of GOD'S WORD.

Man, that's a song from my past, and it means so much to me, especially since the weather is turning colder here. It was below freezing yesterday morning, and we're supposed to be getting snow over the next three days. But I have to remember, as I told my beautiful wife this morning, that every day is a brand new day. Mistakes made yesterday are gone forever, though we have to live with what they left us, but we should not have to repeat them if we have learned from them.

Thomas Edison once said that in all of his time experimenting on creating the electric light bulb, he never had a single failure. He went through about a thousand different designs, all of which failed until he found one that wouldn't, yet he said that he never failed. He said that he had succeded in finding 1,000 ways not to make a lightbulb! What a wonderful way to look at life! You can't fail if that's the attitude you take!

So, if anyone ends up reading this, I hope that you take to heart that you can never fail, even if you think you, as long as you can turn that failure into a success. If you end up hurting your wife's (or husband's) feelings by something you said or did, please remember that you succeded in finding a way not to please her/him. If you're practicing your, say, trombone (dear to me because I played it before) and you sound like a goose, you've succeded in finding yet another way not to play the trombone! That's called learning. If you can find out what you're moving toward, and can focus on that, even "failures" can be part of your success story!

Couldn't have put it better myself...

In Wednesdays Pioneer-Press, one of my favorite columnists, Joe Soucheray, put forth a vastly convincing arguement for taking a very deep look at Education in MN. (And probably a full audit of Education Minnesota as well!)

"I think we spend enough on education, there being no evidence that we don't or any reasonable explanation where all that money goes, almost half the state budget."

I knew we spent a ton of money on Education in this state, but "almost half"?!? That's absurd! Especially considering there is little to nothing to show for the expenditure. Twelve billion dollars in the coming biennium will be spent on education. Twelve Billion Dollars? Can you imagine what that could be actually used for in the state? Of course, in Minnesota, if we aren't spending tax dollars of education, we're spending it on welfare, or MNCare. But $12,000,000,000; look at that! That's a whole bunch of money! Per year, that is over $7500 in tax dollars per student! That is about as much as the tuition at a local community college. And every taxpayer doesn't have children. So, they are paying for somebody else's kids to go to school. Some are paying extra to send their kids to private school, and they are paying for somebody else's kid as well. Still more are homeschooled, like my kids. And I'm still paying for somebody else's kid to go to public school!!! That's outrageous! Since I do not partake of the public school system, I would prefer to have that money that I paid back, please. Get the rest from those using the system. If school is going to be fee based, don't cover it under the guise of taxes. Start charging tuition at all state schools, and not just the post-secondary schools. While we're at it...

Why are we paying for a full rennovation of a section of the UofM that will only be used by a tiny percentage of the students there? Half a Million dollars to tear up an old tennis court, and put in a lush new garden? Please!

Minnesota tax-spenders...uh..."Lawmakers" should think twice before continuing to screw the Average Joe out there. Soon, they won't be there to spend the taxes any more...

The hard times...

My wife and I have been recently beset with the "hard times". Money is tight, mainly because we were "careless" (to say the least) with our purchasing. We know we can get ourselves out, but these first few months are going to be the hard ones. Getting back on top, and then staying there can be a hard thing to do. But for those of you in similar situation, the alternative is far worse, even though it may not seem so at some times.

I know that most people that we know would probably say to just file bankruptcy, but I can't allow that. I know what that would really do to our lives. The sense of accomplishment alone will be enough for me, but more importantly will be to be in a position where days like this will be few and far between. The ultimate goal is to never let ourselves get into this position again, and thereby eliminating the need of the same Spartan lifestyle. Living within our means will be our goal, and not mortgaging our future.

And I thought it was illegal

Well, another Fourth has come and gone. Last night, as I and my family watched the fireworks at the closing of the Taste of Minnesota, a large food and fun festival (check out the alliteration!) that happens in the state capital of St. Paul, I was amazed to see several thousand, and perhaps million dollars of potential tax revenue all around the city. Everywhere I looked, hundreds of supposedly "illegal" fireworks being sent up all around this great city of ours. And I'm not talking just little bottle rockets, but I mean full fledged mortars, 100-shot repeaters, everything the State Congress thinks are "too dangerous" for the public to be allowed access. And as far as I could tell, very few people had gotten hurt. I did see a few ambulences and police running about, but seeing the zoo that was downtown, I'm sure more of it was due to assaults and fights because of the wide range of "diversity" that appeared for the show. And to my recollection, most of them were going away from all the "illegal" fireworks that were being set afire in the sky. Looks like there are far more dangerous things happening on the Fourth than a few SWOOSHES and BANGS.

Happy Independence Day!

Today is the day we celebrate our hard fought independence from a harsh government, with a ruthless king. It is, therefore, quite ironic that we have gone from having a king, to having an elected oligarchy, and living under much of the same rules we had with The Crown (England, for the historically challenged). We fought for no taxation without representation, and now again, we have taxation without representation. Who can actually call Congress our representation, when all they do is represent whoever gives them the most money? We fought for religious freedom, and now you have freedom to publicly practice any religion you choose...unless it's Christianity. We fought against The Crown taking land without fair compensation, and now we have our land stolen daily in the name of "Environmental Protection." We fought for the right to keep and own firearms in order to protect ourselves, and that right is slowly being eroded. We fought against tyranny and corruption, and yet now we find ourselves once again in the same state with a bloated, over-reaching government, no king, but a legion of kings deciding our fate. And the sad thing about it, we put them there! This country has gone from a land of freedom, to a land of "what's in it for me?" This country fights for freedom on foreign soil, whilst our own liberties are being taken away by the outspoken few. I was once called part of the majority. I am a white, lower-middle-class, Protestant Christian, heterosexual male. Since the rest of the "minorities" outnumber us, that makes me a minority.

Here we go again...

Once again, the Congress of Minnesota has shut down state government because they could not come to an agreement of how to best spend the funds obtained by the legalized theft of income (otherwise known as "income tax") on such noble ventures as Education and Health Care. To many, or more likely only some, this is a crying shame. I, for one, think that if Education Minnesota wants another dime, they need to start showing results, and not just on test scores. For me to get a raise, I have to prove that I am doing my job; that means results. Teachers go on strike, and gripe and moan until they get what they want. (Sounds like children rather than adults to me.) They get paid more for working nine month out of the year, than I do for working the full twelve months.

And Health care? When has government funded health care ever improved the life of people who really needed it? Why do you think that countries like Sweden are moving away from Socialized health care in favor of private insurance? Truth is, most countries know that if you really want something done, you go to America, because you can get the care you need, when you need it. Sure, you may go to Canada or Mexico for the drugs, because they're much cheaper. But I'd never go there if I had a serious disease, like cancer or IPF. I'd be dead before I was treated. For a common cold, fine. But for serious diseases, I'll take private health care any day.

Despite of this, however, I think the shutting down of state government could the best thing that could happen. It might prove to all of us that, yes indeed, we can live without government. The longer the better, I say. The longer we go without big government interference, the more we will realize that we don't need big government to survive...

Initial post...and a rant

Greetings! And welcome to my new blog. I hope to share my brilliant thoughts, my keen observations, and my love for all mankind. (Note: Items in italics are tongue-in-cheek. I don't have a big head.)


And now...the Rant!

I am employed by a major entertainment company as a part of their customer service division. What's got me going tonight is this. A customer asks you a question, looking for the answer, right? Then, when you give them the correct answer, (mind you, I don't mean the answer they are looking for, but the honest truth) they immediately start berating you, telling you that you are wrong, and many and myriad other epithets one could cruelly devise to try to hurt the person telling them the truth.

I have come to the sad conclusion that honesty doesn't matter, anymore. Because people are more interrested in scamming a business (and I truly mean that) than accepting the truth. Used to be that people heard the truth, and, even if they didn't like it, they lived with it. No, no, no, no, no, no! Not today! Now you hound, goad, slander, curse, anything short of throwing an all-out, grand mal, kicking and screaming, honest-to-goodness temper-tantrum that my two-year-old would even find embarrassing, until you get what you want, rather than what is right. It makes me sick!

All I ask is this: If you ever get the chance to speak to another face of a corporation, like me. Try using some common decency, some decorum, some tact, instead of throwing the F-bomb in my face, trying to call me childish names like idiot, or stupid, and speak like a civilized human being. I know the old credo was, "The customer is always right." But, frankly, honestly, and even forthwith-ly, that's a load of hooey! They may be right in what they're feeling, but not in what they say. Like this one guy, tried to tell me how long it should take to fix his problem. I asked him, simply, if he was an expert in this field, because he sure sounded like one, since he was telling me that what I know to be true is false. Since he "abrubptly ended the call", I don't think he was...