O-Dark-Thirty

I’m finally that guy. “Well,” I said to Darling as I walked into the living room from being outside. “I’m finally that guy .” I have to admit I was grinning from ear to ear. She just looked up from the book she was reading on the iPad (shameless plug;it was the Kindle app). “What guy? The guy who finally published a book ?” I shook my head. When we moved into this house I noticed that we were the old people on the block. Up and down the street are young families with small children. “Ha!” I said to Darling right after we moved in. “I’m going to be the old guy on the corner yelling at the kids to get off my lawn.” Let me be clear here. I didn’t yell at any kids to get off my lawn today. However… I have to give you a little background. When we moved into this house our first month’s water bill was over $200. I’m thinking maybe I’m paying for catching up the bill or for some extreme water usage as we were making the needed repairs to move into the place. The ...

  Your first payroll check in January, 2013 will be two percent less. Actually, the amount the government takes out could be considerably more than that, but the 2% is practically assured. Did you know that? There’s more. A few weeks ago Darling and I attended a prophecy conference where we heard the term “fiscal cliff” from Joel Rosenberg . I’d heard the term before, but hadn’t really considered what it meant to us. Darling and I were concerned and started doing research. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of web sites that discuss the fiscal cliff, the inevitable financial crisis currently facing the United States. I read hundreds of these sites and compiled information from them. After a few dozen sites they started saying the same thing, repeated in different orders with a different emphasis (depending on the site). I read dozens of other related sites, many of them I would consider “survivalist” sites. Some of the information was good, some of it was radical ...

Yeah, I'm drooling and if I had the money I'd run out and refresh my entire personal computer line. I'll just have to be satisfied with drool for a while. I was talking to some of my buddies at work about the new line-up that Apple™ just announced. One of the guys just looked at me. "Oh, you're one of those. Like my son. An Apple™ guy." "Yeah," I said. "I used to be a hard-core PC guy; built them and everything. You know when I switched? When everything in my house got networked. I got tired of trying to keep all my computers linked to the home network without errors. It was too much maintenance. Then a buddy of mine said 'Hey, you should try a Mac.' I brought his into the house and it beeped at me, asking if I wanted it to connect to the network." He nods. He's seen the same thing, I'm sure. "Don't get me wrong," I said. "The Mac is still not a great gaming machine." Maybe that changed to...

Pastor Ron Hindt covered the Beatitudes. I’ve read them many times before, but (as usual) Pastor Ron brought some clarity and revelation to the verses. He covered verses 5-12 today, and I missed last week at Calvary, so I didn’t hear what he had to say about verses 1-4. Here are the relevant verses though. Matthew 5: 3-12 (NIV) 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all k...

I thought I wrote about procrastination in my blog when I first started writing it. It was certainly a major topic on my list of potential posts. I guess I never got around to doing the post. Around here the saying "If it weren't for the last minute, nothing would get done" is eerily accurate. As diligent as I am at work and even with my little project plans to manage some of my major tasks, the activities seem to expand to fill the allotted time. Inevitably as I approach my deadline there are one or two minor things that need to get wrapped up. Why is that? There really is only one answer: procrastination. A lot of people think that means I sit back and stare at the ceiling and put off doing my job, but it doesn't. What usually happens is that I procrastinate by doing work . Apparently a lot of people do exactly the same thing. Gretchen Rubin wrote an excellent article titled Working: One of the Most Dangerous Forms of Procrastination and it hit me right b...

I originally posted this directly on Google+ on February 27, 2012. Darling and I talked about them again last night while eating dinner. We will never know how it turned out for the young couple. As my Darling wife left MD Anderson she encountered a very young couple sitting on a bench outside. They were obviously distraught. The young wife and mother was just told she probably has only a year to live. My wife stopped and talked to them, prayed with them and told me this through tears as she drove home. She told me their names, and I wrote them down. We know a woman who was given three months to live over thirty years ago. Cancer did not emerge a victor in her life. We know another young woman who died after only a few months of Cancer, long painful months where it slowly destroyed her body. We don't know why. She left a husband and young daughter behind. We believe that PEOPLE can make a difference. Out there, somewhere, may be the person who can find the cure. Many, many...

Sir Richard Branson Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group and a space pioneer, recently posted his first blog post on LinkedIn. The article lists his five top tips for starting a successful business. While I read them I thought of my Mom and many of the lessons she tried to teach her four boys. Many people I know don't belong to LinkedIn. I do. I have a profile there instead of on Facebook. I used to think of LinkedIn as a professional Facebook, but it has changed over the years and become more social. I don't know when they started the blog posts, but if anyone has something interesting to say, it is Sir Richard Branson. Here are his tips: 1. Listen more than you talk. Okay, my Mom used to tell us that one and it still applies. More than that, though, you have to learn from listening. Oh, that's the tidbit I might have missed! 2. Keep it simple. Wow, Mom used to tell us that also, usually when we were trying to find a good excuse for not doing our cho...

Unfortunately I was pretty sick with a migraine on Sunday, so I didn't go to either church. (I have to write down somewhere to avoid Schlotsky's regular sandwich; I'm pretty certain it was the culprit.) What this means to my regular readers (both of you!) is that I don't have a summary of Pastor Ron's sermon for you. Sorry. Metropolis - considered the first Futurist film However, Darling and I attended a Prophecy Conference on Saturday at Calvary and it was fascinating. I have a Master's Degree in Studies of the Future (really, I have the diploma that says so and everything), and I have always been interested in Prophecy - well, since Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth by Hal Lindsay came out in 1972. Maybe even before that, but I have a bad memory for those sort of things. In getting my Master's I always wondered how Prophecy fits into the discipline of Studies of the Future. Over the years I've come to my own conclusions, and I guess tha...

I've read hundreds of articles on meditation, and they all concur that everyone should meditate. I confess, however, that I'm not too sure what meditation actually is. Most articles agree that it is being still and thinking about nothing. I never thought that was possible. The other day, feeling badly and very, very tired, Darling gave me a bowl of soup. For a very long time I simply sat at the table and stared at the steam rising from the soup, thinking of … nothing. Maybe meditating is possible. Amish (pronounced A-mee-sh) Shah wrote a short post on meditating that I can sum up. Maybe it will help you. It might help me. He says to remember that meditating is easy, and if your thoughts are bouncing everywhere, then relax more and concentrate on what you're feeling. That's easy to say, but my mind bounces like a monkey on a trampoline. Amish says to meditate every single day. He meditates two hours a day. That seems a lot to me. Here are his techniques: ...

I know everyone breathlessly awaits my recitation of Pastor Ron Hindt's Sunday lessons. (Just kidding. One of you do...) Pastor Ron's sermon on Sunday, September 30, 2012 focused on the last part of Matthew 4 and how Jesus was seeking followers, not fans. Matthew 4:12-25 King James Version (KJV) 12  Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; 13  And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: 14  That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 15  The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16  The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. 17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 18  And ...

I just had a conversation with a co-worker that went like this. "Hi," she said, smiling widely, "how are you, Vince?" "Good." That is my standard reply. "How are you?" "Awesome!" she said. "Awesome?" "Awesome." I looked at her directly and she mesmerized me with a grin. I had to smile. "You are awesome. I agree with you." I said. "This place is so fun. And they pay me to be here." The interesting thing is that this person is one of the most productive people we have in the area. Whenever I see her she has a smile on her face and a look of great contentment. That's the way work should be for all of us. Awesome.

I'm a little sick. I have bronchitis. There's a short story that goes with that. I went to Dr G for a patch of skin he planned to fix. As I was going there Darling called me on the phone. "Do you want me to go with you?" I'm almost fifty-five years old. I don't need Darling to sit with me at the doctor's office and hold my hand. I almost said yes. "No, I'm good. I can do this." I tried to sound convincing. "Okay, but make sure they take your temperature, your pulse and your blood pressure. Oh, and make sure Dr G listens to your lungs." "What? There's nothing wrong with my lungs! That's not even why I'm going in today." "Just have him listen." "Okay," I grumble. The PA takes my pulse and blood pressure and I ask her to write them down for me to give to Darling. She smiles. Everyone there loves Darling. Darling spent a lot of time at the doctor's office during the dozen ...