Simultaneity

September 5, 2007

Where's the feed?

As I mentioned in Tapping Out I've moved my blog to Live Journal. If you're looking for a syndicated feed, check there. Otherwise, read on and enjoy...public articles posted there will show up here.

Posted by Jesse at 9:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 31, 2007

In Search Of...

Our cell phones are reaching the end of their life. My battery only holds half the charge it should and the phone believes it always has the headset attached. Teri's is doing well, but I expect that won't be the case forever.
So, I'm shopping for a new phone. Our current plan is so old we can't get it again (it was with the original AT&T wireless) so we could be open to moving providers as well, but AT&T has done well for me - no dropped calls, service in places others don't, etc.

I visited the AT&T store today and surfed their site. There's a few phones I'm looking at so I thought I would fish for some feedback. You'll see that the iPhone isn't on the list. I've heard the camera isn't all that good...but the main reason that it's not on the list is that I cannot justify the cost of the plan. For Teri to have a regular phone and me to have an iPhone, our plan would be $89.99 a month...we're spending $49.98 now. We use very little minutes so we'll go with the smallest plan they have.

The phone I'm looking for should take good pictures and have easy access to contacts. All the other bells and whistles are nice to have, but I don't know that I would use them.

So, on to the choices:

Looking for feedback on these phones

Nokia 6126		10MB memory, MP3, 1.3 MP Camera, e-mail, IM, Voice dialing, MicroSD slot, bluetooth	Free
Cingular 8525		3G, Pocket PC, 2MP camera, WiFi, bluetooth & infared, Voice dialing, MP3	$99.99 Refurb $299.99 New
Sync		3G, 2MP Camera, Mp3, Bluetooth, MicroSD	$39.99 $19.99 Refurb
Samsung A727		3G, 1.3 MP Camera, Bluetooth, MicroSD slot, email	$99.99
Nokia N75		3G, 2MP camera, bluetooth, Mp3, email, voice dialing	$99.99

My current order is: Cingular 8525 (refurb), Nokia N75, or the Nokia 6126

Posted by Jesse at 3:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 23, 2007

Happy Anniversary

Today Teri and I celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. Teri is the love of my life and I wanted to make sure that this day was special.
I had to forewarn her about the early schedule last night, but didn't tell her what we would be doing. We left the house a few minutes after 4:30 am and drove to Whiteford, MD to meet up with Teri's surprise.
I was happy that I was able to hold off telling her or having her find out until the van from Light Flight Hot Air Balloons pulled into the parking lot.
We loaded in and went to the take off site, watched them fill the balloon then got in and sailed away. It was a beautiful morning for flying and the air was really calm. We flew over some great landscape and took a ton of pictures (I only uploaded some of them). We were in the air for a little over an hour and settled down very close to where we had parked.
After helping pack up the balloon, we had a traditional toast and ended our time with the balloon crew. After leaving, we took a quick trip north and had a tasty breakfast in a family dinner in Pennsylvania then headed for home.

Posted by Jesse at 1:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 29, 2007

The Single Life

Teri, Kevin and Alex left with her family on Wednesday and would be gone from the 18th to the 29th and thus began a trial of sorts, living as a bachelor – but with plans.
Here’s some of the plans, let’s see what happens:

• Clean living room
• Replace flooring in kitchen
• Replace flooring in dining room
• Shampoo living room carpet
• Clean Kevin’s room
• Get rid of some of Kevin’s (unplayed with) toys
• Organize Alex’s room
• Reduce Alex’s toy collection
• Clean Pantry

Added to the plan:

• Prep Kevin’s Garden
• Clean Stove
• Cut the grass
• Clean Outside of Refrigerator

Day 1 – Wednesday

They left this afternoon shortly after lunch. My schedule was the typical Wednesday – youth ministry meeting tonight. I planned to leave the office a bit early and get some housework done. I wound up leaving at the normal time, went to Home Depot and bought some laminate flooring for the two rooms then when to shoppers to pick up dinner. After that I returned to church, ate, had youth group, and went home.
Teri had left in a whirlwind, basically washing most everything, but hadn’t taken everything. I started picking up the living room and folded all the laundry. I also took all the left over dirty laundry downstairs and stuck in a load to wash. Put the dishes in the dishwasher and set it to wash them while I was sleeping – what a nifty feature so you can wake up to clean dishes.
Heroes: No
Wii: Test & Tennis
Television: The Departed
Meals: Salad with 2 chicken wings

Day 2 – Thursday

Planned to leave a little early again today, but wound up staying later than usual. Ran an errand (groceries), picked up dinner and then back to church for council meeting. When I got home I ate dinner, stuck the load in dryer and loaded another load in the washer, and started ripping up the carpet and continued ripping up the kitchen floor.
Heroes: No
Wii: Test & Tennis
Television: 24
Meals: Oatmeal, Chicken Chili & ½ Turkey Sandwich on 9 grain bread (once for lunch, once for dinner)

Day 3 – Friday

Started the day with a bike ride. The Baptist Student Ministry Conference started this evening. Between work and returning for the conference I removed the carpet and about ½ of the kitchen floor. While doing that I had a chicken breast soaking in barbeque that I later grilled. As the chicken finished I put together a salad (snap peas, jalapeno, celery green peppers, and green onions – all fresh, yum!) to be topped off with the chicken.
Heroes: Minimal
Wii: Test
Television: Numb3rs, Rocky Balboa
Meals: Oatmeal, Ham sandwich, BBQ Chicken salad

Day 4 – Saturday

The conference and the AWANA grand Prix were this morning. After that, I headed to Lowes to check their prices on circular saws (got a cordless circular saw package). Back home I finished removing all the staples and nails from the carpeted floor and finished the majority of removal in the kitchen. In the evening I returned to the conference and made a quick stop at Home Depot between sessions. Lunch and dinner were courtesy of the conference. Took Buster for a short walk.
Heroes: None
Wii: Test & Tennis
Television: Catch a Fire
Meals: Oatmeal, Chick-Fil-A Cool Wrap, Ham, Green Beans, Salad, Cucumber salad

Day 5 – Sunday

Church this morning. It was a really nice day out so I had breakfast on the back step this morning. While I was eating I remembered that I wanted to clean the pantry and prep Kevin’s garden – and the grass needs cut. The list seems to be getting longer, not shorter.
After church I cleaned the sides of the stove and fridge and began laying the floor. It’s gonna look pretty nice. After evening service I called an old friend, chatted for a while, then picked up dinner. I got home in time for a phone call that I was expecting, then sat down to enjoy my burrito and some 24.
Moved the refrigerator and found the outside in need of a cleaning (add that to the list). Cleaned most of the stove, almost finished kitchen floor, cleaned outside of fridge.
Heroes: Yes
Wii: Test & Tennis & Monday’s Test
Television: 24 (x2), Letterman, Super Size Me
Meals: Oatmeal, ham sandwich, Chipotle’s Chicken Fajita Burrito (light on rice, extra green pepper and onion)

Day 6 – Monday

Buster had a rough night and wasn’t getting up this morning – I called Teri and we talked about taking him in to the vet, but I decided to go hour by hour and if he wasn’t suffering maybe tomorrow would be a better day. I left him be while I had breakfast, then took him outside to enjoy some of the nice day. I didn’t get as much done as I had hoped for today, this morning took some time to deal with everything. I was able to trim the hedges (not on list, pick up some garbage in the yard and cut the grass. The kitchen floor is finished save the molding and calking. I may have been able to finish the dining room as well, but the battery didn’t hold up in the saw. After cleaning up and making yet another Home Depot run I went to the Nicholson’s for dinner and a few rounds of Apples to Apples. When I got home I found Buster had taken the opportunity of the peace and quiet of the home to slip away.
Heroes: none
Wii: None
Television: Smallville, Numbers
Meals: Oatmeal, Banana, Chicken Mashed Potatoes corn broccoli and apple sauce

Day 7 – Tuesday

This morning was tough. I took Buster to the vet’s office, saying good bye was hard and maybe I’ll write about it sometime, but for now it’s too much.
After work I went to the grocery store and picked up enough that I won’t have to return for the rest of the time Teri is away. When I got home I was able to finish the floor in the dining room and start on the time. All that is left of the flooring is the one transition piece; I could have finished but the batteries went dead. The trim is going to be a pain, I wish this project would just be finished so I can do some other things; I really want to just kick back for a couple of days and want to have the carpet cleaned.
I cooked dinner – oddly, I didn’t know how to cook broccoli. I blanched them, then nuked them for 15 seconds – they turned out okay, nothing special. I spiced up sloppy joes by adding spring onions, green peppers and jalapeños and put it on a multigrain bun. I also changed up the nighttime snack – I baked some banana bread (with chocolate chips and walnuts) and topped it with sliced strawberries quite good with a glass of low fat milk. And yes, another trip to Lowes.
Heroes: none
Wii: test & tennis
Television: Mission - Impossible III
Meals: Oatmeal, Spicy Joes and Broccoli (no lunch)

Day 8 – Wednesday

Started the day with a 17 minute bike ride. I’m trying to ride in a route that gives me a couple of uphills and doesn’t double back on any of the roads but I’m running out of ways to stay in the neighborhood. Today’s ride took me all the way to Greenbelt road so I’m out of length and width, but it was a good ride I’ll probably do that a few more times and see if there is a way to add about 3-5 more minutes.
Today included not one, but two trips to Home Depot. I’m almost finished the floors. I still need to nail down the molding in the kitchen and complete the carpet to hard floor transition in the dining room. Today was one of the quarterly business meetings so I was at work late. I also seem to have misplaced the jalapeño that I got yesterday so I’ll have to go to the store again.
I also moved the furniture back into the dining room.
Heroes: none
Wii: test
Television: The Glass House (which I’ve seen)
Meals: Oatmeal, Spicy Joes and Strawberries, BBQ Chicken Salad

Day 9 – Thursday

Today’s ride was over 18 minutes and I didn’t go as far, in a manner of speaking. When I left the house, I was set to find a route that didn’t include many hills, the youth wore me out last night. I wound up waving in and out of neighborhood roads, did not have to double back on any roads and actually did double the usual hills; a nice ride.
I was right about the molding – it’s a pain. Not so much the molding as nailing it in; I think I got nails that were to small, they keep bending. Anyhow, despite that, the kitchen floor is done for now. I need to move the refrigerator and calk by the sink, but that will wait until I have nothing else to accomplish; In other words, after Teri gets home.
Stopped by IKEA on the way home to look at organization ideas, but didn’t find any. Shampooed the living room carpet and finished up the trim and cleaning in the kitchen. After some down time I cleaned out the pantry.
They’ll be home in a few days so I’m going to have to prioritize what I need to do. I was planning on fixing the chandelier in the entry way, but I’ll reassemble the switch and put that off. I doubt that I’ll get anything done in either of the boys room as well. Top of the list will be the transition pieces for the floor and outside door and clearing up the left over clutter that was moved into the living room.
Heroes: A little, then it crashed – came back for a failed Hami raid
Wii: Tennis and test
Television: Numb3rs, 24, Heist
Meals: Oatmeal, Ham & Cheese on Multigrain Bun, Chicken Chili and Half Turkey sandwich

Day 10 – Friday

Today’s a rainy day and a bad heart day. I miss Teri, but that’s not the bad heart thing, I’m talking about my physical heart. I started the day with an early trip to Lowes so I didn’t ride. We were out of Orange Juice so I had breakfast at Chick-Fil-A (on the way back from Lowes) and since I ate there, I had a Sausage, Egg, & Cheese biscuit instead of oatmeal. Add to that, I’ll be grilling a hamburger for dinner. Bad; I’ll get back on the bandwagon tomorrow.
Teri called to say that they were on their way (yeah!)
I picked up the kid’s photos today, they turned out nice. I didn’t realize how much I missed them until I saw the pictures, they made me tear up. I also swung by the mall and bought Teri something. After work I was able to install the transition piece to the living room which marks the completion of the flooring. Once that was done I put dinner on the grill and begun steaming the broccoli. We don’t have a steamer so I used a cooling rack over a boiling pan of water and a lit over it. As they neared completion I sprinkled them with garlic salt; they tasted great. For the main dish I made a garden burger. About ¼ pound of ground beef, green peppers, a little onion soup mix, spring onion, and some chopped jalapeño, then placed on a grilled multi-grain bun. While dinner was cooking I brought the sand around to the sandbox.
Now that the major projects are done, and I any other major projects wouldn’t be done before Teri gets home, I kinda feel lost.
Heroes: Logged on but didn’t run any missions
Wii: Tennis and test
Television: The Good Shepherd
Meals: Sausage Egg & Cheese biscuit, no lunch, Spicy garden burger and broccoli

Day 11 – Saturday

This is the last full day as a bachelor. Talked to Teri this morning, they expect to be home tomorrow afternoon.
After the Bible study at church this morning, I borrowed the Camfield’s tiller, returned some things to Lowes and picked up some tape and chalk from Michael’s. When I got home I dug up Kevin’s garden and the flower bed, then came inside and finished watching the movie from last night – very long movie and not that good.
Vacuumed the stairs and straightened up Kevin’s room. I don’t think I’ll make it to Alex’s room, I’m wiped.
Dinner was quite good, but very hot. Evidently jalapenos make things hotter when you cook them for a long time – all the sauce was spicy. Also added were celery and green peppers.
Heroes: Played 3 missions on a team
Wii: Tennis and test
Television: End Game, Without a Trace
Meals: Pancake & Muffin half, Ham & Cheese on Multigrain bun, whole wheat spaghetti

Day 12 – Sunday

The last day! Teri, Kevin and Alex will be home today. I’m getting ready to head off to church so I’ll post this now – but I may edit it after lunch if there is any movement on the lists before they get home. I expect all I will do after church is watch some TV and fold some laundry.
This afternoon I was able to strighten Alex's room. It's not as organized or clean as I would have like it, but it's a start. His room is likely my next big target.
It's been an enjoyable time going it alone, but I'm glad that they are coming back. I know I could do this if I had to, but I wasn't designed to live alone.
Television: 24
Meals: Oatmeal, Ham & cheese on whole wheat english muffin

Score sheet:

Meals:

• Fast Food: 3
• Take Out: 4 (1 salad from shoppers)
• Made At Home: 11
• Other: 3

* I didn’t count breakfast meals since they were all oatmeal at home. Counted Chipotle as fast food, but counted Atlanta Bread Chili as take out. Did not count the lunch of a banana as anything, like wise didn’t count the skipped lunch.

Television:

• Movies: 9
• 24: 5
• Numbers: 3
• Smallville: 1
• Letterman: 1
• Without a Trace

Tasks completed, but not on list:

• Cleaned kitchen counters & cupboard doors
• Cleaned off hutch
• Cleaned off shelf between kitchen & dinning room
• Trimmed hedges
• Cleaned microwave
• Put sand in sandbox
• Tilled flower bed
• Strighten Alex's room

Posted by Jesse at 9:05 AM | Comments (0)

April 3, 2007

Back to School

I thought that getting a Bachelor's degree would be the end of school...or maybe I knew that it wouldn't but kinda hoped I was done.

In either case, it wasn't the end of the line. I've been accepted into a Master's program (Master of Arts in Children and Family Ministry) and will start classes in September 24th. I'm excited about the program, but at the same time, a little apprehensive since I know that it's going to take up a huge chunk of time during the next 40 months. The cost is a little bit of a concern as well, so I am hoping to see some scholarships or grants to help out.

The program is a distance learning format - sort of. The summer and winter sessions are fully distance and the spring and winter sessions include 2 week intensives on campus.

All in all, I'm trying to just not think about it as a whole, but just tackle each piece as it comes. If I think about total cost, the month away from the family each year, the travel costs, the amount of reading and study, and everything else, I think I'd go crazy.

Posted by Jesse at 10:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 23, 2007

Yummm...

I don't think I have ever posted about a meal, but this one stood out.
We all took a trip to the mall this evening so I could shop for some shoes and just to have some family time to hang out. We planed to have dinner while we were out, but never talked about where.
When it came time for dinner, we had to decide fast food or sit down, inside the mall or out. Sit down was a pretty quick choice so we then focused on where. After a quick debate, we all decided that we would stay in the mall and eat at chili's too, which is really just a mall version of Chili's with a take out window.
I like the Southwestern egg rolls and Teri likes the boneless buffalo chicken so we ordered the Triple Dipper (including some chicken fingers) figuring the kids would like some of it as well.
For the meal, Teri the Boneless Buffalo Chicken salad, Kevin had a corndog, and I ordered the Quesadilla Explosion salad.
The Quesadilla Explosion is fajita-marinated chicken, corn relish, mixed cheeses, cilantro, diced tomato, tortilla strips, and garnished with a chipotle-ranch drizzle and cheese quesadilla wedges. The corn relish contained black beans, which I am usually not a fan of, but they fit the salad well.
The chicken was cooked just right, and along with the chipotle drizzle added just the right touch of saltiness to the salad. The strips were small so that they were not in the way when you eat, but added a nice crunch. The only problem I had with the salad was what I considered an abundance of diced tomatoes, but I usually don't like diced tomatoes on my salads so that's nothing new.
I've had their citrus-balsamic dressing that comes with the salad before, and it's good, but I didn't add it to the salad (not a big fan of salad dressing).
I assumed that since the quesadilla wedges were a garnish that they wouldn't be more than an after thought from the kitchen. I was pleasantly surprised: the wedges were evenly crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside and there was just a small amount of cheese so that the wedge tasty and enjoyable rather than a mouthful of semi-formed cheese.
To top things off, I have to say kudos to the wait staff, they were pleasant, present when needed and not around when not needed. The entire meal was way above par, which is outstanding for a Friday night. I'll have to make sure to fill out the web survey.

As a side note, if you are plan to order the salad sometime, be aware, it's not a diet food. Although I didn't finish the quesdilla wedges or eat much of the cheese, I'm still sure there are healthier things I could have had. The entire salad, wedges included, is 850 calories, 405 of which are from fat. That's 45 grams of fat - or 69% of your RDA (105% of your RDA for saturated fats). On the up side, it does have 11 grams (44%) of fiber.
Glad I had a small breakfast and lunch!

Posted by Jesse at 11:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 15, 2007

Where for are thou?

Originally I thought I may be returning to posting a bit more, but we'll see if that happens. As to where I've been...no where in particular, just enjoying life and not taking the opportunity to blog about it. FWIW, I haven't been reading much either. In the past I commented alot about data overload and blog saturation, cut back, even cut way back and still, burn out crept in - I think. However, I'm not sure about burn out, it may just be having two kids and not having the time to commit to blogs.

On other fronts, there's been some backend changes to the blog. My provider disabled my Movable Type directory because spammers were overloading the trackback script and, I guess, causing server problems. When we worked it our and they turned it back on many of the scripts were trashed.
As a restult, I upgraded rather than reloaded and am now running 3.34. The colophon lists all the updates to the plug-ins, but really, unless you are into MT, it's a boring read.
The only changes to the reader is that I have disabled trackbacks. You can still comment though (I don't think a blog without comments is very useful). No one has used the trackbacks except me, so I'll turn them on as I need.
Lastly, to try to help with the spam pounding that blogs take, I have a script that will auto-ban spammers and I have banned some that keep turning up in the logs. If you ever get a forbidden error, give me a shout so we can fix it.
Lastly, be on the lookout for anyone in the 81.95.144.xxx range, I've already had to ban many of those IPs becuase they just hammer away on scripts that aren't even there anymore.

Posted by Jesse at 6:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 14, 2006

A fond farewell - Melman style

The national zoo has been having more than it's fair share of animal passings, but it does have a rather aging populace. They're working hard to change that and are revamping large portions, with plans to revamp most of the zoo.

The opening of the Asia Trail is the first step, and it is a grand one. We stopped by the zoo this morning, expecting to watch the pumpkin stomp (each year the elephants get a bunch of pumpkins to play with, stomp, and eat) and was able to take in a portion of the new trail. The new habitats are very well done and give great access for viewing while making the animals feel more "at home."

Sadly, or not so sadly, the next phase includes renovation of the elephant house. It's sad, because the giraffe's area is where the work will begin for a new elephant suite and it will be heading to Lowery Park in Florida in the morning, and the zoo will no longer have a giraffe. It's not so sad as well since this is the last remaining giraffe and he's heading to a very family friendly zoo.

"Happy" the hippo will also be moving to another zoo as well, though not anytime soon. All the other animals of the elephant house, such as the capybara, will be finding new exhibits elsewhere at the national zoo.
Eventually (in 5 years or so), the zoo will begin creating an Africa Plain and hippos and giraffes will return.

When asked for comment on the giraffe's impending departure, the elephants were overtaken with emotion and could not respond.

Posted by Jesse at 8:53 PM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2006

Victory Lap

I'm not a NASCAR fan, or a race fan of any sort for that matter, but today I had a chance to drive a retired NASCAR and it was by far the highlight of a very busy day.

Today our church had a fall festival. Different ministries of the church set up booths and games, we invited the police and fire department (which wasn't able to make it) and we has a NASCAR display. A former youth pastor friend of mine has a racing ministry that has a NASCAR and some remote controlled cars and track.

The youth were in charge of food, so I was coordinating that, and by default wound up being the point person for the whole event. That meant that I needed to be there early (the event was 1-4). Kevin wanted to go with me and I needed to make a stop at the store ahead of time, so we left the house at 10:30 so we could get to church around 11.

The event went very well and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, but 10:30-5ish was a long day for Kevin, especially following yesterdays birthday celebration. So I asked my friend if Kevin could get in the car when he was moving it to get itt back in the trailer. At the end of the day, Kevin didn't want to get in the car, but said he would get in with me. So we hopped in and posed for a picture. Then Kevin asked if he could drive and I told him to ask if he could ride with my friend. He did, and that's when the offer was made to let me and Kevin pull the car around.

It's not going to change my not being a fan, but it was incredible to be able to sit behind the wheel of something with so much power while it was not only running, but moving. Being in the parking lot, I was barley able to let the clutch all the way out let alone come out of first, but there was certainly a temptation to squeal the tires.

Kevin was impressed as well, but he was more impressed that the police officer had a Batman air freshener.

Posted by Jesse at 9:02 PM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2006

What's the deal with the bands?

Steve Wulf, a writer for ESPN The Magazine, and I have something in common. We're both former cynics when it comes to the rubber wristbands that seem to have become one of the latest fads. Steve writes about his story on espn.go.com, but this isn't about his story - though it does have many similarities.

I was at Catalyst two weeks ago and had the opportunity to hear Kevin Carroll speak. Kevin has an interesting back story, if you get a chance to hear him speak, take the opportunity, it's worth it.

Anyhow, as he spoke, about his life, and the DREAM bands, his words struck a cord with me, and God used him to reaffirm something that God has been speaking to me about.

So I've learned, the bands aren't a fashion statement, but they are a statement. There's a story behind them that's different for each person. When you see someone wearing one, it's an opening to meet that person, ask them for the story behind the bracelet. Chances are, they'll share it with you.

If you're interested, yes, I have one now, it's clear and has the word DREAM on it. There is a story, but it's not for the blog (yet)...but if you see me with it, ask and I may just share the story behind it.

Posted by Jesse at 3:23 PM | Comments (2)

September 18, 2006

A Family Moment

There's a quick lull in the normal activity of our family life so I thought I'd do a quick post about our dinner.

Teri and Alex took a late nap so we decided to get pizza for dinner from our local and delicious pizza place, Pizza Roma. I had also promised Kevin a walk after dinner so we decided to combine the two and walk to the pizza place, have dinner, and walk back. Not the healthiest dinner, but I'm sure the walk made it a little better.

It was a very nice walk while Kevin rode his tricycle and Alex rode in the stroller. Nothing bloggable happened so I thought I would blog it anyhow :)

That's it for now, time for our family worship time.

Posted by Jesse at 7:34 PM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2006

To the Curb

You probably noticed that my blogging habits changed over the summer....ok, they were non-existent. I thought that might change, and I'll still blog more than I did during the summer, but now it seems I'll probably think more about blogging than actually doing it.

Anyhow, not only have my posting habits changed, so have my reading habits. There's a lot of good blogs out there...but I need to cut my list back some. I currently have 70 sites on my blog list and the simple fact is, I don't read them all. So, I'm making some cuts. But I want to remember some of the ones that I'm cutting, so I'm posting a list of those that I'm cutting, but want to remember. If your site is on this list, it's nothing personal, in fact I'll likely be back - that's why I'm making a list.

DashHouse
YSMarko
Gladwell.com
The Sneeze
The Dilbert Blog
Gizmodo
Reality Blurred

The cuts have brought my list down to 56...there's more to come, but I'll update this post so they'll all be in one place.

And, just to be clear, I think all of these are good blogs, I just don't have time to read them...if you have some extra time, give them a glace, you might find something you like.

Posted by Jesse at 7:36 PM | Comments (0)

September 5, 2006

Where've you been? Part II

I mentioned that summer was going to be pretty busy and it certainly was. Things have slowed down but I don't know if I'll wind up blogging about it or not.

Anyhow, I've uploaded a ton of pictures from our summer trips...the beach, Kings Dominion and a mission trip to Skycroft. There's about 65 in all...that should cover from early June until near he end of August.

Posted by Jesse at 6:43 PM | Comments (0)

July 8, 2006

Where have you been?

I haven't posted much in a while, not have I read many blogs, but I'm still around.

This has been and will continue to be a very busy summer so I've kinda taken a break from the blogging world. Not on purpose, that's just the way it's worked out. Over the last few weeks, I've been away from home more than there, and I haven't had much sleep so when I get down time, it's been focused on rest and family. I'll likely rejoin the blogging world in August, until then it'll be very sporadic.

At the end of June, I was with the youth at Centrifuge, on the 5th, we returned to Skycroft for a great fireworks display, and yesterday I spent the day at Kings Dominion. Next week is prep for VBS (the following week)....hopefully I can write about some of these events.

Posted by Jesse at 3:11 PM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2006

Toys

Just about everyone has a list of cool toys that they want. The easy things are the ones that get on my "want" or "don't want" lists. Just as easy are the things that are cool, but I know I'd never use them - they just go to the don't want list. But every once in a while, I come across one that leaves me stumped, like the Logitech QuickCam Orbit MP.

I've toyed with the idea of a webcam before, but it's always been on the "I'd never use" list. This would fall on the same list, but there's one thing that moves it from "never use" to something I might use, Logitech Video Effects. So, I have to figure out, if a program that would be really neat to use in Children and Youth is something that I could or would use.

I learned about the video effects from Makezine which has a video of someone demoing the software.

I suppose I wouldn't have to get the quickcam, but the video effects say that they are only compatible with 4 webcams - all of which fall into the same price range.

Posted by Jesse at 11:33 PM | Comments (0)

June 3, 2006

To the Zoo

On Thursday we got up early and headed to the National Zoo. We got there around 8:30 and many of the animals were taking advantage of the cooler morning weather to be active. We were able to see things that we don't usually get to see, like the hippo out of the water, an Orang crossing the O-line (video) and a tiger wandering about.
We, of course, stopped to see the panda's and take a gaze at the cub and took pictures of many of the animals.
The buildings don't open until 10, but a few of them had opened early. It was a nice treat to be able to roam the buildings before they got crowded.
At 10:30, we made our way back to the elephants to see their bath and training (video) that followed. Then we were ready to go, but Kevin requested seeing the sea lion feeding so we made a trek down to them, then were on our way.
We were home by 12:30, but should have left after the elephant training, the extra walk up the hill wasn't good for anyone.

Posted by Jesse at 12:44 PM | Comments (0)

April 27, 2006

Evacuation

This morning several parents noticed the smell of gas as they came into the school. The director checked the stove and all the pilot lights were working. He checked around a few other things and couldn't find anything out of the ordinary, but could still detect the smell. So he made the decision to evacuate the school and call it in - which meant the church also needed to be evacuated.

Neither the Fire Department nor the gas company could detect any problems and within 30 minutes the children were back in their classrooms - refreshed from a little extra time outside.

With all that was going on, I didn't think to snap any pictures until things were wrapping up. I would have liked to get a shot of the children having a make-shift worship time while all this business was going on. I did get a shot of each of the fire departments that were there; Branchville, College Park, and Berwyn Heights. Yes, 3 fire departments responded.

Posted by Jesse at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)

April 6, 2006

Hug a Tree: Green Stem Caps?

When we picked the car up at Costco after getting the tire replaced I noticed that all of the stem caps on the tires were green. I was used to seeing black or grey, green was noticiably different. They also gave me a window sticker to let me know when they should be rotated.

On the sticker was a note: Your tires have been filled with nitrogen. I found that rather odd, but figured it was something new. I checked into it and nitrogen has a number of benefits and has been mentioned on a few earth friendly sites as well.

Claimed benefits include:

• Retain tire pressure longer - seepage is 30-40% slower
• slower tread wear (as a result of proper inflation)
• better gas mileage (again as a result of proper inflation)

On the other hand, some people say that these claims are untrue and others say that there's less moisture in the nitrogen filled tires which leads to the results above. Who knows...and honestly, I'm not that concerned, I just think it's weird to have nitrogen in my tires - even though the other car (filled with regular air) has 78% nitrogen.

Posted by Jesse at 12:47 PM | Comments (0)

April 2, 2006

The Flat

Yesterday I was scheduled to be a speaker at a youth leadership training meeting in southern Maryland. The talk would go from 9-12 with lunch following so I planned to leave the house by 7:30. With a 45 minute drive I should arrive by 8:30, even if I get out of the house a little later.

So, it started out really well. I was packed up and ready to go the evening before, just get up, grab breakfast and head out...which went as planned. Plugged in the iPod and was listening to a talk on Jeremiah as I headed to Waldorf. I was about 15 miles from home, making goof time and then I hear a noise and feel a bump - or maybe the other way around.

My first though after, "What the heck hit me?" was I think it was a motorcycle and now it's stuck under the car, which is why the steering is weird. Of course, this all happened in a fraction of a second and I realized that I had a flat - doing about 75 in the 3rd lane from the right on Washington's beltway just past Pennsylvania Ave.

Luckily there was light traffic and I made it to the shoulder pretty easy. I didn't bother checking the clock, I knew I had time to change the tire and get back on the road - and likely hit my target arrival of 8:30.

Popping the trunk I found everything easily (as expected) loosened the lug nuts, jacked up the car (front passenger side) took off the lug nuts and pulled on the tire - nothing, it wouldn't budge. Grrr...I kicked it, hit it with the tire iron, kicked it some more, nothing. And of course, now it's starting to rain. Now I'm getting concerned about time...after fighting it for a little more, I called my brother who (being a mechanic) suggested something I should have thought of (since it worked before) put the nuts on half way, drive a bit steering back and forth to break the tire loose.

Of course, there is only so much steering back and forth you can do on the shoulder of the beltway with truck blowing past you. Tried it forward, backward, jacked the car up and down a few more times - all to no avail. Now time was getting to be a concern. It was 8:20 and I had no thoughts on how long it would take, or even what to do. Thankfully my contact had a cell phone and was understanding...he'd do the sign in stuff and help people get to know one another.

As for getting the tire of, the plan was to wait for help. The problem was, after several phone calls, I wasn't sure where the help would come from or how soon. I called Teri to have her see how far the next exit was and she was able to find that since I was at exit 9, the next one was 7 - we concluded 2 miles. I was debating backing down the exit acceleration lane and down the ramp - which didn't seem safe - or driving to the next exit. I needed to get to a station that could help get the tire off ( a good hammer would do). I started forward and quickly found a sign saying the next exit was 1/2 mile (man, I wish I tried this earlier).

Driving down the shoulder on the flat (at one point I even tried pumping up the tire to no avail) I see the open joint warning about the bridge ahead and hope that there's a shoulder. Rounding the bend, I'm disappointed, there is none, I'll have to get INTO traffic to cross the bridge.

By now, it's after 9 and traffic is a bit heavier - with tons of trucks. I spot a gap and decide this is my chance...closest thing is a semi more than 1/2 mile back. I pull into traffic with my hazards on and before I'm done crossing the bridge, the semi is on top of my (and likely irritated). Happily, I lived and think that maybe the banging on the open joints may have loosened the tire (I put the lug nuts on - but not all the way tight). Rather then go up the exit ramp, I pull off and try again.

Ta-Da, it's free. I change the tire and am back on the road at 9:20. I arrived at 9:45 gave them a "get to know you" type of challenge while I went to wash my hands and quickly set up. Thankfully everyone was understanding. I was able to push through the 3 hours worth of material and only run over by a few minutes. Best of all, the evaluations were very positive and the seminar went very well.

The tire is done. If I get a chance I'll post a picture, the side wall blew out.

Posted by Jesse at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)

March 22, 2006

Life Comes At You Fast (TM)

I haven't lost my ability to blog - just the time.

A new baby changes things, adds things, and removes things. I've also been trying extra to make sure that Kevin still gets his slices of time. I figure things will settle down sometime and I'll be able to write a little more, but it won't be for at least another week or so....

Thanks to all who prayed for Alex and the transition that it brings to our family. I want to ask that you all continue to pray for me and the family, God is at work and it can be a bit scary at times.

Posted by Jesse at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2006

The Arrival

He's here....

The website is woefully under-cooked, but he wasn't.

Posted by Jesse at 9:26 AM | Comments (0)

February 22, 2006

Was it the birds?

I haven't posted since last week because I haven't done much of anything since last week, except sleep.

On Wednesday Kevin had to be picked up early from his sitter because he was sick and a few hours later I was the same way. Being sick together was a different experience and I'm sure it's not one that Teri would like to relive anytime soon. We both had fever, Kevin averaged about 102 spiking at 104.5, I ran around 101 hitting over 102 at one point.

We're both on the mends now, though he seems to have much more energy. I'm exhausted and miss not having a Friday last week. As for food, I think it will be a long time before I'll want Chicken soup or another pop-tart.

Posted by Jesse at 4:56 PM | Comments (0)

February 10, 2006

Ending a streak

In my last job I drove quite a bit, 45 minutes each way for the commute. Now, I don't drive as much to work, but there is still a fair amount of travel from time to time...and as they say, most accidents happen within X miles of your home (I think it's 10).

Anyhow, I've been in my fair share of accidents and have been quite happy to have not had one since the 90s. Yesterday that streak ended. I was making a lane change and was cut off. Returning to my lane I found that it was no longer moving...but I still was. I hit one of those pick ups with the big steel lifting tail gate. There was no damage to his truck and minimal to mine. He chose not to exchange information and we went on with our lives.

Anyhow, that was a solid streak, but not the biggest disappointment. The bigger streak was that Kevin was in the back seat. I've never had an accident with someone else in the car - no that can no longer be said.

The insurance will take care of the damage, but the biggest pain will be cleaning the inside. Kevin and I were out picking up lunch, which included around 100 oz.s of fruit punch and Sprite that are now on the floor of the passenger side.

Posted by Jesse at 1:49 PM | Comments (0)

February 2, 2006

Hectic week

As the week comes to a close, I'm rather relieved, it's been excessively busy.
I've been working with our state convention to put together some training opportunities for youth leaders in the state, especially those who are bivocational or volunteer.

Because of the schedule of the other pastors that are authoring this class, we only had an outline when the week began, which isn't great since it was to get the initial presentation to the teaching teams today. We were all able to connect on Tuesday and we put the meat into the outline. I was helping round out the teaching and putting together the PowerPoint, which gave me Wednesday to do that part. Unfortunately, I had a meeting Wednesday that would take from mid-morning to mid-afternoon.

Thankfully, that meeting was canceled (though I didn't find out until after I made the 30 minute drive) so I was able to head back to the office and spend all of Wednesday finishing the class (well, the first draft). I mailed it to the rest of my team so they would have it for Thursday. Alas, there was a message in my box with more content, which I wouldn't be able to add since Code R.E.D. (youth ministry Wednesday night meeting) was that evening.

Today we made the initial presentation and there isn't much that needs to be changed. I'll be able to do that before our next meeting and the outline, PowerPoint and handouts will be ready for the April training.

I still have another lunch appointment tomorrow that will have to do with some missions work (did I mention that my entire week was taken over by lunch meetings?) This one shouldn't be long so I'll have time to work on the chapel message that I'll be giving next week and the class that I'll be teaching over the next 12 weeks.

It's nice to have my time filled with things that I enjoy doing, like preparing a technology class for next month's youth leaders meeting, but sometimes when things stack up it can be a bit much.

Tomorrow should be good, after work Teri and I will be relaxing with some friends of ours and hopefully we'll get to play a few games as well.

Posted by Jesse at 7:17 PM | Comments (0)

January 1, 2006

Little Things Count

Received in e-mail today:

Dear Buster,

A little bird told us you're having a birthday this month, truly a cause for celebration! We hope you enjoy many more happy years with your human family.

Here's wishing you a wonderful birthday. Oh, and one more thing -- leave the birthday cake for your humans!

Sincerely,

Your friends at Rocky Gorge Animal Hospital

A nice touch of customer service.

Posted by Jesse at 9:32 PM | Comments (0)

December 31, 2005

The Week in Review

Over the last few days I helped build a fire station and assisted in the assembly of the fire trucks, built a railroad and the surrounding city, climbed into the attic to check the roof/ceiling, washed some dishes, crashed some trucks, dusted the bedroom, washed some curtains, cleaned a few carpets, took the truck to be repaired, rode a train, bought some Killer Bunnies as well as some Kinder ones, learned to play SuDoKu, saw a pool built in my living room, and learned some more about the dangers of bovine growth hormone (rBGH) and the firing of the Fox reporters that wanted to do a story of the dangers.

If you haven't guessed I've been a stay at home dad for the past week. My vacations almost up, but I've had a wonderful time. I'm not sure I am any more rested then before - nor do I feel that I finished everything that I wanted...but for the most part my list was completed.

• Build Keivn's Lego Fire Station
• Build a massive train with Kevin
• Get truck window fixed
• Finish cleaning baby room
• Watch Batman Returns
• Sleep in
• Play with Kevin until noon
• Check ceiling in bedroom
• Clean dining room carpet
• Load City of Villains

Posted by Jesse at 4:06 PM | Comments (1)

December 25, 2005

Merry Christmas

Our Christmas was a bit different this year. Since it fell on a Sunday church was added to the mix of visiting Grandmas and celebrating at home.

Usually, we open gifts in the morning, but this year was different. Kevin woke around 8:30 and came in and cuddled with us. Teri and Kevin got up for breakfast and I eventually moved to the shower and got ready for church. We wound up being ready a bit early so we invited Kevin to open a gift before we left.

The service at church was nice. There were a bit more people then I expected, but not as many as usual. Following service, we hurried home, then off to grandmas.

We had lunch which was fantastic. Sweet potatoes, chicken, ham, broccoli/cheese thing, stuffing - all yum, yum, yum. I ate a ton, but Kevin ate everyone under the table. We told him it was time for presents several times, but he kept eating. It wasn't until we all said we were going to start that he finally claimed done.

After opening gifts (be sure to see the fire fighter) we packed up and headed home for our gift-giving time. Kevin and I both napped on the way home and Teri was very gracious to give us that time...of course, once we got home, it took a little while to wake Kevin up.

It took a while to open the gifts under the tree and it was neat to open in the evening rather than the morning. The draw back is that it leads to wanting to get home as well. A small sampling of gifts include City of Villains, Fantastic 4 on DVD, a couple of books, and Killer Bunnies.

A wonderful Christmas celebration all through out the day.

Posted by Jesse at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2005

Pizza Craving

The power of suggestion has changed tonight's dinner plans....

If you're clueless about making pizza, Billy Reisinger has an incredibly detailed set of instructions.

Posted by Jesse at 3:46 PM | Comments (0)

November 21, 2005

The mouse and the pizza

As the year winds down, I've got some vacation time to burn, so I took Friday off. Teri, Kevin and I slept in (Kevin until 10!), then lounged around until some friends called about meeting at Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and them maybe heading to the mall.

Kevin's been to Chuck E's quite a but lately, but it's been a long time since I've been (on the order of decades) so I was looking forward to lunch. We arrived a bit before our friends, got our hands stamped - a system they use to make sure you have the same kid you came with (except after stamping you, they never check again, not even on the way out) - and bought some tokens.

I quickly learned that everything was 1 token, which is a nice change from the way most places operate where everything costs different. The set price makes it more kid friendly. They had very few games for anyone over the age of 10, but that was good, we were there with a 2 and a 3 year old. Kevin and his friend had a great time going from game to game and ride to ride. They spent more time with their parents than with each other, but hey, they're toddlers.

Many of the games give tickets, some for simply playing, others for meeting a challenge. They typical preschooler will get about 3 tickets per game/token. Older kids will likely stick to the higher pay out games and get somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 tickets per token. Tokens are about $10 for 50 and you get some simply for buying the food - our friends bought the pizza and got 8, we bought the fries and bread sticks and got 3 (pizza has a better return. Anyhow, that averages out to about twenty cents per token.

We played for a while, then ate, then went pack to the games. As the tokens ran out, we were all surprised at how late it was (bordering 5). We fed the tickets to the machine (Kevin had close to 300) and headed to the table to "buy" the prizes. This is where the trip goes down hill for me. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time and the fun was in the playing with Kevin, not getting the prizes....but still, the prize table was a huge turn off.

Here's some of the typical choices:

• Matchbox like car, only plastic - 100 tickets
• Superman comic book - 100 tickets
Bead necklace - 30 tickets
• Playdough - 100 tickets
Sheet of Incredibles stickers - 50 tickets
• Dora Sticker - 100 tickets

Kevin selected the Superman comic, a car, a circle thing that expands, and a pack of Smarties. These are the prizes for about $20 in tokens...and the break down is where I get a bit upset (yes, I have over thought this):

Figuring $20 for 100 tokens, about 3 tickets per token. Each token costs about .20 giving a total of .06-.07 per ticket.

Superman comic book - it's actually a Chuck E. Cheese comic book with superman on the cover. 2 pages of Superman and 4 pages of the mouse - about $6.

The car - a little red jeep, the size of a matchbox car, but a cheap imitation - about $6

Plastic circle thingy that expands - about $5

And a pack of Smarties - and here's the kicker - about ONE dollar. A Dollar for a pack of smarties!!!

Anyhow, I didn't let it ruin our trip, but come one Chuck E, you can give out some better prizes than that!

Posted by Jesse at 1:24 PM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2005

Fixing Things

"I wanna fix things with my dad" was the cry of the day as Kevin and I took on 5 different home improvement projects. The plan started with the idea to go to Home Depot to get a tool that I needed to fix the kitchen sink. Since I was going there, I thought I would get the washers that were needed for the bathtub. It hadn't started dripping yet, but you needed to turn it extra hard.

So, we went into Kevin's old room to turn off the water to the tub (there's an access panel in the closet) only to discover that my Birthday present was likely hidden there - so I closed the door and decided just to turn off the main supply rather than try to move the present without looking at it.

Downstairs we went to find two valves, one for the faucet outside, and one was the main. Not sure which was which, I turned one - which of course just turned out to the the outside faucet. So, I turned it back on and now it too, leaked. With a sigh, another project was added to the list and I turned off the main.

Kevin and I disassembled the bathtub faucet and took it with us to make sure we bought the right washers. While at Home Depot, I learned how to fix the valve, got the tool, bought the washers and assorted other "no leak" stuff for fixing the faucets, and decided to buy some new locks for the doors. We no longer had keys for the deadbolts and we wanted deadbolts that were keyed on only one side (better for fire safety). So, project 4 - the doors were added.

Arriving home, we set to work on the tub, only to find out that we needed size 0 washers, not 1/4 inch washers. So much for taking it with us to make sure. Teri still wasn't home so we decided to grab lunch while we were out. The original plan of Mac and Cheese was off since it was after 1 and teh water still wasn't back on.

While picking up the "cheese and burger" Teri called from home and we added a meal for he as well. Once home, we fixed the tub and the valve. Then I turned back on the main and found out that the main now leaked too. Having just fixed the same problem this one was a bit easier, except it was the main and there was no way to fix it while the water was off - except having the city cut off the water. It seemed like something that could possibly be fixed while the water was running - with a little mess - so I took a shot and it worked (and filled a few towels.

So, with 2 of 4 under our belt and the clock at about 2:30 it was nap tome for Kevin. He was worried that I would finish up the other 2 projects without him so I promised not to do anything else until he woke up.

While he napped, I realized that one of the things that I wanted to get done was replacing a receptacle in the guest room so I could plug in the server (it had been moved to a different wall and only a 2 prong plug was available). So, project 5 was now on the list, but I couldn't work on it. I doubted Kevin would wake up before the sunlight was gone - but I did promise not to work on stuff until he woke up. Killing the electricity after dark would make the project a tad harder.

When Kevin woke up, he was ready to work - and it was dark. We grabbed the flashlight, turned off the power and replaced the receptacle. Three out of five down. We then set off to replace the door locks. The sink would need to work because Teri was now in the kitchen fixing dinner. We replaced the front door knobs and locks, then had dinner, then did the back door. By now it was close to 7:30 and Kevin was starting to lose interest, as was I.

We worked most of the day on home improvement jobs and did 4 out of 5 of the jobs planned - an 80% completion rate. Not bad, but we didn't get to the main thing, the kitchen sink.

Posted by Jesse at 10:03 PM | Comments (2)

November 7, 2005

A transition

I don't think I mentioned that I have been having power supply problems with my Toshiba laptop. When plugged in, a little movement of the cord would cause it to switch to battery power. After that, the only way to switch back to outlet power was to reboot - unplugging and re-plugging did no good. More then a little annoying when you are in the middle of something and don't notice that you are on battery power and suddenly the laptop shuts off. It wouldn't sleep because part of it still knew it was plugged in so that wouldn't trip.

Between that, the damage to the case(several big cracks), and the age I decided it was time to shop for a new laptop. I bought the Toshiba as an open box so I got a powerful laptop (2.4 ghz) for very little (under $750) something that I didn't expect could happen again, but because my finances have change since that purchase it was something I was hoping for.

I wanted something that could run City of Heroes, graphics editing and video editing in addition to the regular office and internet stuff. The catch was that City of Heroes doesn't get along well with the generic Intel video cards and that's what most of the laptops use (except for the high-end models). ATI and Nvidia cards generally mean a higher price.

I found the Gateway 8510 GZ at Best Buy at a great price. After reading a number of reviews (another review), it actually came down to this one and another gateway (7205 I think). The other one had a 128MB (shared) video card (ATI X600) whereas this has an ATI 700 at 64 MB. It was also an AMD 64 chip running around 2 GHz as opposed to a 1.73 Intel Mobile. Two slight drawbacks for the 8510, but it had a 17 inch screen, larger HD and a number pad. To me, for the same price, it was a draw so I went with ascetics and got the bigger screen.

The transition has been a bit difficult, not so much because of the laptop, but because I've had the other one for so long. It's time consuming to figure out what to transfer, what to archive, and what is just clutter. Configuring all the apps again is also a pain, especially needing to rebuild my spam database in Outlook. It's been more than a month since the switch, but there's still a few things that need to come over.

In the beginning I had some problems with lag in City of Heroes, but found when I switch to a corded network connection, it goes away. That's kind of a pain since I had no problem with my old one which was external and Teri has no problem with her Internal wireless - not sure if there's something I can do or if it's just a week antenna, but I have the problem even when I am right next to the router.

I haven't had much chance to do any video editing, but so far the CPU hasn't been a factor. In fact, I love having the mobile chip. Battery life is unbelievable. The P4 in the Toshiba drained the batter in about 90 minutes at normal use and much faster if doing anything intense. The Gateway has lasted over 4 hours with normal use - so far, I've not had a warning that I need to plug in for anything that I've done.

Lastly, since the Gateway was not an open box I also got the BB extended warranty. Not something I usually do, but I don't see the lifespan of the notebook, and certainly not the lifespan of the battery lasting 3 years. So, at the very least, I'll get a battery out of the deal, which is worth the cost of the plan...and the security of knowing most other things are covered is just icing on the cake.

Posted by Jesse at 12:06 AM | Comments (1)

October 27, 2005

Backyard Barbecue

A while back, Tony Morgan posted about 5 people that he's never met that he would invite to his backyard barbecue. I've though about it off and on and I don't know that I'd stick to this list in the long run, but I think I've almost rounded it out.

Five people I've never met that I would invite to my Backyard BBQ:

Lanny Donoho - Humor and a fun person to be around is one of the main criteria for the list and Lanny is certainly entertaining. He's one of the best - if not the best - comic hosts I've seen. I love it when comic hosts do so well that the straight man has problems staying straight.

David Crowder - Teri's a bigger fan than I am, but he seems like he'd be a funny guy to have at your party. Besides, you know the music would be good.

Andy Stanley - Great insights on leadership, life, and faith. He's an outstanding communicator and speaks from the heart. His messages have helped me take deeper and closer looks at Bible stories that we all learn as children and see ways that they still apply to our lives.

Joe Gibbs - His leadership style is quite, but he gets the job done. It'd be nice to pick up a few insights here and there during backyard conversations.

Rob Bell - A passionate teacher of the Bible. His teachings are shaped by an understanding of the Bible in its context and applying the Bible to where people are today. I don't know if he's a genius, but he knows more about the Bible, rabbinic teachings and application than anyone I know. His teachings are so engrossing and so in depth that I don't think it would be possible to have interest in any religion and not find his talks at least intriguing. He's opened a whole world that I never realized was there. By taking a deeper look at Judaism the Bible goes so much deeper and means so much more. Jesus was the Son of God, but by understanding that He was a Jewish Rabbi in a Jewish time, living in a Jewish way, His teaching take on so much more meaning.

Posted by Jesse at 8:44 PM | Comments (1)

October 24, 2005

An evening out

This evening Teri and I attended a conference, Body Building - Strengthening churches. Normally I wouldn't blog about a local conference but this was one of the best conferences that I've attended. Not so much because of the topic or the information given, but because they took care of the guests.

The conference started with dinner at 6 and the main sessions began at 7:15. Child care opened at 7 to allow you to get to your session in time and people were very helpful about helping you get around the church. Dinner was rice, mashed potatoes, cookies, fruit, short ribs, shrimp (yes, shrimp), chicken and gravy, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, some sort of cabbage dish, cans of soda, a potato salad dish (I think, I passed on that one) and a cucumber - tomato salad.

There were 15 - 20 sessions to chose from.

The cost: FREE

Yes, all that was free. It was very well done and it felt like something you paid for. The meal, the child care, the sessions, all free.

Posted by Jesse at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2005

Brown Fluid

Hate is a pretty strong word and probably not the right one to use in this case, but I really dislike coffee. Actually, I don't mind the drink so much, but I dislike what it's become.

Coffee in and of itself is okay. For me, I need lots of milk and sugar to be able to stomach it, but different strokes for different folks.

What I hate is that everyone assumes that if you are over 18, it's what you are going to want when you get up, what you'll want when you eat, what you'll want when there's a break at a conference. What's wrong with juice? What's wrong with just plain water?

Coffee isn't free, yet hotels, conference centers and many other places provide it at no cost. I'm sure the coffee drinkers appreciate it, but what about the rest of us? Sure, some places provide water, some bottled and some not, but it'd be nice to have juice or something else available in the same capacity.

I know that I'm not alone in the feeling that there's a huge societal peer pressure to force coffee on people. There's certainly other people that don't care for coffee. So, if you're putting together something, or trying to make a guest feel welcome consider that coffee isn't desired by all. Instead of "Can I get you a cup of coffee?", how about asking, "Would you like anything to drink?"

Posted by Jesse at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2005

Long Days

As a pastor, I expect that there will be evenings that I'll be away from home, I expect that there will be times when I tell my family that I'll be home at a certain time and that time will come and go. Even though I don't expect that it will be often and I work hard to see that it doesn't happen too often, it doesn't make those days any easier.

Tonight we were having a guest come to Code R.E.D. to talk to the youth about a mission camp that was being planned for next summer. Actually, it was a pretty unique opportunity. Our students would have input in the initial planning stages of this camp and would be able to give their opinions on what would make a good camp and would have a chance to be videotaped as part of the promotion video. In addition, I found out that we were the first church that was being visited...pretty cool

Anyhow, that caused youth group to run over and making sure our guest was properly said goodbye meant that I wasn't done until close to 8:00. Normally not a problem, but I was meeting someone immediately following youth tonight, and I told Teri we should be done around 8:30. I planned on being home in time to say good night to Kevin. I knew that he would be in bed, but I figured he wouldn't be asleep and I would see him.

Wednesdays can be exhausting and today was one of those days. When I got home between work and youth group, I fell asleep for a few minutes on the couch before Kevin woke me and we played for just a few minutes. Then it was dinner time. After dinner I went back to church, so I only spent about 75 minutes with him today - about 15 in the car, 10 asleep, 10 playing and 40 minutes at dinner.

Kevin has school tomorrow, but I think I'll take him out to lunch since he didn't get much daddy time today and I won't be home Friday evening.

Posted by Jesse at 11:40 PM | Comments (0)

October 15, 2005

Shhh!

Actually, the NDA has been lifted so screenshots and talking about City of Villians is allowed. I was invited into the Beta program, which was a surprise to me. It was supposed to be those that have been on since the beginning and those that have pre-ordered the game, of which, I am neither. I guess almost the beginning is close enough.

So far, I am not that impressed. I haven't had that much time to play since the test period has been 7-11 M-F and I've worked most evenings since getting the invite. However, what I have expereinced so far is that it's simply City of Heroes from another point of view. Tanks are called Brutes and all the other types have different names as well - and many of the power sets are the same. Also annoying is the inability to bypass the tutorial, but I am sure the live game will fix that.

However, I do like what they've done with pets. Not only can you name them, but you have much more control. You can have them follow and not attack, attack when close, you go out of the way to attack, and you can also send them to places or have them wait somewhere for you. Great improvement.

Also, the mastermind AT has pets from the very beginning, which is pretty interesting.

So far everything has been designed well as far as sight and sound...enough to the point that it makes you start to feel a little edgy from playing - lots of red and sirens.

I'll be sticking with CoH until the price of the game goes way, way down.

Posted by Jesse at 9:10 PM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2005

Gah...

Today was a frustrating day. Actually, it's more than just the day that's frustrating, but there's nothing really I can do about the frustration level except live on to another day.

Posted by Jesse at 5:22 PM | Comments (0)

September 7, 2005

God is Good

Last week I wasn't feeling particularly joyful and, frankly, there's been a lot to consider and it was weighing on me. I've been seeking God...maybe bugging God would be a better way to say it...about something that is partially at th root at what is weighing on me.

I believe I know the answer, the problem is that I don't much care for it, but I've long ago learned that what you ought to do is more important than what you want to do. Anyhow, I received a phone call on Thursday and while it wasn't particularly uplifting, the amount of care that was expressed is more than I think I have ever felt...and the timing of the call was a thing of God.

Then on Sunday someone did something very special for me...it has helped lift my spirits and it was greatly appreciated. It's nice to know that no matter what is going on in the world or in your life, there are people that care.

Posted by Jesse at 2:31 PM | Comments (0)

August 30, 2005

A weekend away

This past weekend was the Minister's Family Retreat, hosted by our local state convention. Each year they reserve space at Willow Valley resort in Lancaster, PA. There's a few meetings, but the time is meant to be a renewing for pastors and time to spend with the family, so the few meetings that we have focus on that topic.

We went last year and enjoyed the time, but headed home Saturday night. This year we were able to stay for the whole time, including the Sunday buffet, which was quite elaborate.

This year we also knew a family that had a child Kevin's age, and wound up spending alot of time with them. Kevin had a blast playing with his new friend and it made it easier to drop them off at the preschool care time while we were in sessions.

We had time for swimming, visited a new restaurant, went to the farm, and a few more activities that I can't quite remember. I didn't have a camera, but I did have the phone so Kevin's album has a few shots of the weekend. A great time was had for all and it was great spending time with the fam away from all the hustle and bustle of normal life.

Posted by Jesse at 5:54 PM | Comments (0)

August 22, 2005

What a week

Wow...this past week was a real full week and I'm glad to have some of today to recover. I'm also looking forward to going away this weekend with Teri and Kevin, it'll help make up for the many evenings away this past week.

Monday evening I had a meeting, Tuesday was a normal day, Wednesday was white water rafting with the youth from 6:30 in the morning until 9:30 at night. Then Thursday was spent running errands for the appreciation dinner that was coming up on Friday as well as visiting the people that were going to be baptized on Sunday.

Friday, as I mentioned earlier was the KidsQuest volunteer appreciation dinner, which ran until about 9 p.m. Saturday was a work day at the church, for cleaning up and what-not, so I was there until a little after noon, came home for lunch, then back up to church to meet with some of the baptism candidates, then I headed to the pool for the youth's back to school pool party....then one last visit with another baptism candidate...which brought me home about 10 p.m.

Sunday was a great day. I had the pleasure of baptizing had 7 people. A definite boost for the church. After church we went with Teri's mom to Atlanta Bread Company for lunch, then home for a nap, then back up to church for a meeting with the Children's Sunday School teachers, evening service, and a watermelon social.

...today is a day of resting. I slept until about 9:15, Kevin until about 10.

Posted by Jesse at 12:38 PM | Comments (0)

August 20, 2005

Party until the break of dawn

...or for about 2 hours.

Tonight we had our first celebration dinner for our KidsQuest volunteers. We had a great set up and it really looked nice. The party was an Academy Award theme and we gave out mini-oscars, trophies, and certificated of appreciation to everyone. I tried to make everything fit into some sort of "best of" or film category...but with a funny twist.

We all had a great time with more than a few laughs. The games went over well, the food was great and the atmosphere was warm. It was nice to have everyone there and to say thank you for a year well done.

Posted by Jesse at 12:38 AM | Comments (0)

Roll Black Water...

There's a few times that I've wanted to post about what's been going on in life and just haven't - and eventually forgotten what I wanted to talk about. I know I'll look back at some point and have no reason to feel bad about not posting, but I will have lost some samll part of history.

Anyhow, Wednesday was a really long day. I began by getting up at 5 something in order to be at church by 6:30. From there a group of youth and several adults headed to another church that we were going white water rafting with. We had a great time, and no one from our group fell in...a few jumped or were pushed. We were on the water for about 5 hours and everyone had a blast.
On the way home, we stopped to dine with the other group, then parted company. The trip home was uneventful and a bit faster. On the interesting side, the trip to WWA took 3/4 of a tank of gas, the way home only 1/4. I suppose because it was uphill most of the way there and that the A/C was running the whole time.
I got home a little after 10 p.m. and was asleep by 11. Surprisingly I wasn't sore on Thursday, but did feel a bit today...and my shoulders were tense enough to give me a headache.
Great fun, we'll have to do it again.

Posted by Jesse at 12:25 AM | Comments (1)

July 18, 2005

'Fuge 2005

Wow. Returned from a week at Centrifuge on Friday and it was fantastic. I am still exhausted, especially since we had KidsQuest on Sunday, then drove my niece to the airport only to find her plane delayed a few hours.

The missions song this year was not as good as last year's, but everything else was better. The majority of our group participated in the missions portion of 'fuge and everyone learned more about themselves and about God. There were lots of laughter, crying, talking and getting to meet new people. Words cannot express what an awesome time that we had.

Special shout outs to the East Coast and Special travel teams, you guys were great. Jeff was a fantastic camp pastor and Beth did an excellent job directing the camp. As always, Doug made sure that Skycroft was the best place to have camp. This year the big addition was "The Road to Damascus", a huge water slide. Doug said it's about 7 stories tall, which I think is a bit of an exaggeration, but it is about 150 feet and you get to the bottom in about 9 seconds which is roughly 11 miles an hour....pretty fast for sliding. After the first few runs Doug made everyone wear a tshirt to go down the slide, which slowed things down a bit - but it was needed.

I'm still exhausted so its hard to think about anything else to post about the week. Maybe I'll post more later.

Posted by Jesse at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)

July 1, 2005

A trip to the Mall

Today was a Fun Friday. Fun Fridays are days at our church where parents and their elementary children are encouraged to join with other families for part of the day and take part in something the everyone would enjoy. This was our first Fun Friday and everyone had a good time checking out the Smithsonian Folklife Festival at the National Mall. Our first stop was the National Park Service part of the festival. They had many different booths to help you learn about the Park Service and when children finished activities from at least four booths they received a pin and were made a Junior Forest Ranger. All the children, including Kevin, got a pin and enjoyed the many different activities.

After the forest part, we headed over to the Food Culture portion to find some food. Kevin had something with salsa and a chicken sausage on a bun and I got a Peruvian rotisserie chicken with Yuka and Chicha to drink. The yuka wasn't really yuka, it was fries, which was fine by me - I don't like yuka. The chicha was a Peruvian fruit drink, kind of a lemonade without the bitterness of lemon. Chicha is also a South American beer - this was a different chicha...it's one of those words that has a ton of meaning depending on what part of South America you are in.

After lunch we walked through the food culture booths, saw honey bees, some fruit sculptures, napkin folding, Kevin and some of the children milked a fake cow, and we learned where cacao, the beans for chocolate, come from and what they look like before being refined.

From there we went through a little bit of Oman to see the camels and then head home. Everyone had a great time and is looking forward to the next time we do it. Wonder where Fun Friday will take us next.

Posted by Jesse at 6:17 PM | Comments (0)

May 24, 2005

A toast...

At the wedding this weekend, I was honored by being the best man, and with that comes the traditional duty of making the first toast. JC has posted his the ceremony and vows and request that I do the same for the toast. As I usually do, I had notes and ad libbed. This is a close approximation of what was said:

Before I begin, the Park Rangers, for reasons of health and safety, has asked that no one get on top of the tables or chairs during my standing ovation.

First off, on behalf of the bride and groom, I want to thank everyone for sharing in this very special day.

I think that you will all agree that the bridesmaids look wonderful and are only outshone by the bride, Jenna. The gentlemen will agree that today is a sad day for single men as another beauty leaves the available list. And ladies, I'm sure you will agree that today is passing by without much of a ripple.

Not everyone knows me, I'm Jesse Smith and I was very honored when JC asked me to be his best man. JC and I met in the world of Star Trek Geekdom and became friends quickly after I discovered that he snores just like my dog and that it would be easy to share a room with him. Often, this time can be used to make the groom squirm just a bit, but many of you know of JC's exploits better than I, so instead, I want to encourage Jenna and JC to have a wonderful life together.

In fact, earlier I was talking to Jenna about marriage and how her life would change. I spoke of hours in front of the sink, the washing of socks, social organizer, baby sitter, cook and so on. No need to thank me now, JC, for the first couple of months Jenna said she would be willing to help you out.

JC, at some point, maybe even this week, there will be a conflict that takes place inside of you. A choice that has to be made between spending that extra time at work or being with Jenna, your family. Truly, there is almost nothing that families will not do for us but as husband, you need to understand that it is not enough that you love Jenna. It is not enough that you tell Jenna that you love her. It is not enough that Jenna knows you love her. What is important is that Jenna FEELS that you love her. Priorities are shown by time. When you say that she is important, but something else, like work, is more urgent, the perception can slip. Even though you will be doing what you think is right, you're trying to make end meet, trying to survive, remember that the perception becomes that the thing that is more urgent thing is more important.

Everyone has heard that the Bible says that a wife is to submit to her husband, and that is true. However, in that same chapter, just a few verses later it clarifies that the husband is to love the wife as Christ loved the church. Christ honored us by considering our needs before His own. But in the same breath He held us accountable. It is through this mutual submission that the created and the Creator experience intimacy - and so it is with husband and wife. Husbands are called to go all out in their love and love is marked by giving, not getting. Remember JC to put her needs first, but Jenna, remember, the TiVo remote belongs to JC.

Seriously JC, if you prioritize your life around family, if you love your family and do your job rather than love your job and do family, God will honor that and you will have a long and wonderful marriage. I think that if you look at all the examples of marriage that you encounter, both good and bad, that this tidbit will hold true in all of them.

I believe that you love will grow each day and it is my hope that when you look back on this day, you will find that on today, as much as you love each other now, that you will remember that this is the day that you loved each other the least. To JC and Jenna, to Mr. and Mrs. Cohen.

Posted by Jesse at 9:32 AM | Comments (1)

May 23, 2005

Coming and Going

Life's been really hectic lately and I haven't taken the time to blog. Not because nothing is going on and not because I couldn't make the time, but because I'm just lazy. That, and I have a tendency to withdrawal when things are busy....beside, I've gotten Teri in to the world of Heroes and it's much more important to spend time with her.

Over the last two weeks, I've been to a wedding and a graduation, and there's been some changes at church. The graduation was mine - Bachelor of Science in Computer Studies from University of Maryland University College. I graduated with a 4.0, but not with honors. I would have graduated at least Cum Laude, (I spoke to someone with that honor and they had 2 "B"s) however I didn't have 45 graded hours. Some were from prior education, some were from work experience...I missed by about 5 classes.

The wedding was for a good friend of mine, JC. I was honored to serve as his best man and Teri and I enjoyed have thing time together and spending time with many of our old friends.

As for the changes at church, I'm not going to go into them here, or really at all for that matter, but suffice it to say that it'll keep me quite busy.

Posted by Jesse at 8:19 PM | Comments (2)

April 25, 2005

Only 243 shopping days until Christmas

In an effort to reduce some of the clutter, I've turned to ebay.

If you're a Trek collector, perhaps some of these items will interest you. I plan on putting some other items up, but it may not be for a while so if you are looking for something specific (trek collectable), let me know and I'll tell you if it's something I'm interested in parting with.

Happy Shopping.

Posted by Jesse at 1:28 PM | Comments (0)

April 22, 2005

AaaChooo...

I finally got tired of feeling like I had a cold and defiantly didn't want to go to Alpharetta with a cold so I went to the doctor yesterday. FWIW, ribs only bruised, not cracked or anything. It wasn't a cold, it's allergies, felt like a cold because the pollen was like 4.67 billion per square millimeter or some such. And I'm gonna get some blood work done just to make sure everything is good.

I figured it was allergies because Alegra-D helped a year or two ago and I've had the problems since I ran out. He gave me some samples and it sure is nice to breath again - you should try it. Only problem is, which I ran into before, is that my insurance requires that I try OTC medication first, Claritin I think. I did last time and it didn't do anything, so I should be okay. There'll just have to be some back and forth between the insurance, doctor and pharmacy to get the script filled.

So far so good, it's amazing what oxygen can do.

Posted by Jesse at 9:11 PM | Comments (0)

April 20, 2005

Physics Paradox

An irresistible force can move any object. An immovable object cannot be moved. So what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?

A very sore youth pastor.

This evening started with one of the sixth graders asking if she could attend Code R.E.D., our church's Wednesday evening youth event. He brother and cousin attend so I told he she could check it out this week. It's not often that we have 6th graders, but the lesson material wouldn't be inappropriate so I agreed. We then moved into our game time and at the youth's request I changed from the planned game to a game of kick ball.

As the game progressed, the sixth grader (did I mention she was a girl?) was playing first base. I kicked the ball and headed to first, as I did, the ball was fielded and also headed to first. I wasn't going to make it so I stopped, and that's when I discovered the answer to the paradox. We were playing on grass and when I tried to stop, I couldn't, I just slid - standing up.

As I slid, the girl didn't move, as one normally would when playing first base - it's an experience thing I suppose. So, we collided - HARD. I would say she's big for her age, and being in a house with two bigger boys has defiantly added to her ability to take a hit...in fact, I think I barely knocked her down. I on the other hand was laid out. I was able to get up on my own, but even now, I am nursing what I hope is only a bruised side - at worse a bruised rib. I've cracked a rib before ( and didn't know until later) and the initial feeling wasn't much different that what I feel now, I hope it's not broken.

I hope she isn't feeling injured, she said she was okay. And it really didn't seem to move her much when we collided. I should give them a call tomorrow.

Posted by Jesse at 9:44 PM | Comments (2)

April 18, 2005

Under 60

There's a few blogs that I haven't been reading, some that haven't been updated in a long time, and some I just no longer have time for....so, my list of feeds is now below 60.

I still don't read all of them, but I may glance at those from time to time. The list may get shorter.

Posted by Jesse at 5:54 PM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2005

What was that all about?

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the planet or been swallowed up by the world of Paragon City. Life's just been kind of hectic - my secretary left a few months ago so we've transitioned through a few temps and then into a replacement, house problems through home life into disarray as things replaced and repaired.

Life seems to be returning to normal - actually, maybe even a little better. This week I not only had time to wash both vehicles, I also waxed the car. The semester is winding down ad graduation looms. Work is more balanced and I feel like I am gaining ground on the things I've been working on. And home is beginning to normalize just a bit.

May is going to prove to be a hectic month - then comes the summer, with trips, VBS, and camps, but I'm not dreading it. And with the end of school, I hope that there will be a bit more time for...well, whatever. That may not prove true since school seems to be taking up very little time lately (read senior-itous).

I've been meaning to post a few thoughts but haven't found the time. Hopefully, I'll do that before I forget about them...we'll see.

Posted by Jesse at 8:29 PM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2005

Home on the Range

The time has come, the time now....

There are quite a number of home improvements that need to be made around here. Not quite monster house changes, but some are rather big and some have nothing to do with the house itself. Here's some real items and some possibilities

• Muffler for the Car
• Tires for the Truck
• Have the furnace checked
• Move TV room upstairs
• Clear out downstairs "guest room"
• Remove walls between downstairs guest room and Laundry Room
• Replace kitchen faucet
• Re-caulk upstairs bathroom
• Replace tile in Laundry Room
• Install new shower in downstairs bathroom
• Replace wall between shower and laundry room
• Replace paneling in Kevin's play room
• Remove wet bar
• Add Sink downstairs
• Add wall downstairs to create another bed room with bath and kitchen area
• Get rid of old computer equipment
• Paint dining room
• Paint living room
• Remove paneling in downstairs bedroom

Well...that's a start.

Posted by Jesse at 2:43 PM | Comments (1)

Thoughts on the weekend

This weekend Teri and I took the youth to Impact in Ocean City. We stayed at the hotel we usually do, but they put us in a different section of the hotel and that was a bit disappointing. Where we usually stay there is a pull out couch and the room is bigger allowing us to sleep 6. There's also a kitchen area with a stove and full refrigerator. This room was smaller and didn't have the couch and the kitchen was a small fridge and microwave.

Other than that disappointment, the weekend was great. I enjoyed the music and unlike previous years, the sound system was much improved allowing us to actually hear the words the singers were singing. They also changed the format for the last general session. This year they used a Palm Sunday theme and each portion of session lead further and further into the last few hours of Christ.

As a side note, Kevin went with us and was so well behaved. He was never in the way and didn't interfere with anything we were doing with the youth or any opportunity we had to talk with them. Great weekend.

Posted by Jesse at 2:30 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2005

Unexpected Visitor

KidsQuest always makes for a bit of a long weekend because it is such a high energy event so I knew it would be tiring but it turned out to be a bit more exhausting than I had expected.
This Friday and Saturday I and a few of the youth workers went to a youth leader training at our state convention. I've been working with other full time youth workers along with the state to seek ways that we can assist churches with part time and volunteer only ministries - and this training is one of those that can help them and us.

Anyhow, the training was good, but it went until 10 on Friday and started again at 9 the next morning which made for a short night. On Saturday the training lasted until 3 so I didn't get home until after 4. Other events then conspired to keep us up until after 1 - so getting up on Sunday was difficult and I was looking to the nap that could be had before KidsQuest set up at 4.

However, when we got to church we were reminded about a birthday party that Kevin was attending. After the party, I put the