Weekend Issue...... :-)

A productive weekend, and the weather couldn't be better.

I turned on the TV yesterday and my HS football team was on ESPN. They were getting killed, so I just watch a few minutes. Then we turned a reality show on...called "My Antonio"....have you seen this? It is about a handsome, former actor/model who is searching for love by having twenty gorgeous women compete for his attention. A dream come true? Noooo! The show looked to me as if it was about a level headed gentleman locked up with a bunch of crazy, premenstrual chicks...and to make matters worse his over protective mother, and ex-wife are there too! Hilarious!...but I felt sorry for "Antonio", I really did...anyhow, that was not the productive part of my weekend, but it was funny!

Here is what was productive...I got lots of exercise in (walking, and chin-ups..there's a chin-up bar in my BR door now, so I do 5-6 every time I go in the room...I recommend it), did my Leukemia Society volunteer work (I'm a neighborhood coordinator), spent good time with Sydney, and the kids, and had a strong/meaningful prayer time Sunday morning in lew of attending church (sorry mom)...All that's left is paying the bills...

I think we'll have a family meal tonight. I'm glad we did these when the kids were younger cause it gets harder all the time...college, work, friends...all compete. Since it's beautiful out, we'll grill.

The eReaders Wars: Amazon vs. Sony vs. Apple... - The Atlantic Business Channel

The eReaders Wars: Amazon vs. Sony vs. Apple... - The Atlantic Business Channel

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Something good...

Sometimes it seems like I have nothing nice to say. This last year that has been true. I haven't found much to like. My therapist says I'm grieving...
At the same time, I am thankful for so much...

Besides the usual things (family, health, job), and the most important things (Jesus in my life, forgiveness, and what goes with it) the weather here has been phenomenal...cool, and dry...like southern California...I get to go for long walks with the dog at night...it's great...

I have really enjoyed reconnecting with old friends from HS, and college on FB. That occurred just this year. What a blessing! And I've gotten to read some really good books. (Not Evolution of God...I just thought it was interesting...but I think I'm the only one...it's just what I do. When I heard preachers saying speaking in tongues was unscriptural, and potentially demonic; I didn't just take their word for it, I went out and got books by Oral Roberts and Kenneth Haggin, and read their arguments...no kidding.) Rambling here...

Let's see...books...The Last Secret of the Temple, Praying, Evangelism and The Sovereignty of God, John Adams, The October Horse, Caesar, all were great....Sydney has suffered through my train wreck with me but we are getting along better than ever (well that's my opinion...she may not see it that way...I 'll ask her.)

God blesses...

So, I'm going for a walk, with my buddy...the dog...it is going to rain tomorrow...np, we need it... :-)

OK, then...

So this dude at work has been emailing a list of radically conservative political propaganda (Glen Beck type stuff)...Sometimes he sends two, or three emails a day...he's really got too much time on his hands... :-)

He thinks he will effect change this way. The emails express (those he chooses to forward) are the kind of ideas that promote hate, and fear; and some are frankly...offensive.

I finally asked him to take me off his list.

But he sends this crap every couple weeks anyhow. I just delete them without reading. Last week he asked if I read the last email he sent. I told him no, I delete his emails. He said I was thin skinned...I told him I was not, and to back off.

Today he came by and said, "Sorry for your loss"...since Ted Kennedy died (I'm not a Kennedy fan though...I kind of think the whole family is over rated.)....but my coworker added he was glad Kennedy died...I said, "You shouldn't ever be happy someone dies esp. of something like brain cancer"...I got a dirty look for that comment. He hates just like material he spends all his time reading...sad....but I wonder...

Was it the chicken, or the egg? Did spending considerable time reading, editing, and distributing, then probably discussing this BS make him hate, or does he read and like what reflects what's inside anyhow...I imagine he hates me too...since I agree with democrats on some issues...Hmmm...

Both sides of big issues do this, (promote hate and fear)...and they are both wrong...

The Evolution of God...

This is a book by Robert Wright. He taught philosophy at Princeton; and religion at Penn State. I indicated on my FB status when I started the book and caught hell for it...no pun intended.. :-)

Now that I'm finished I thought I'd organize my thoughts about it...over here on my blog.

Should I mention this on FB, with a link? Hmmm IDK

Here goes...

I would never accuse Robert Wright of being a Christian. At best he is an agnostic. The majority of the book reads like a history of religion outline...he deals primarily with monotheism; and examines the relationship between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity through time.

He contends that God "evolves". What he is really saying is the idea of god develops (intentional little "g", yes...because he does not end up anywhere near the notion of the one true God). He believes that god is an idea, which people have used and developed to help them integrate their lives, society, and culture. He does not address the very real notion that God is constant, and that society, and culture have developed as a response to His revelation and not vice versa.

So why did I read this book? First, I am interested in hearing opposing views to my own...(which is also true of my politics, within reason...politics can get crazy...crazier than religion in my experience...the land of the irrational thought...). However, as we know, God works in unusual ways. Wright ends up defending Gods existence in spite of himself. Since 9/11 we have been bombarded with a kind of pop atheistic intellectualism...(Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris, a film by Bill Maher etc.) They base their attack on God, and those who believe in Him upon the notion of the superiority of reason, and science.

Wright, in his conclusions shifts the debate. Basically, he says that just because you can't see, and measure something that it is not worthless to a worldview. He uses science against itself. He mentions the fact that we can't see electrons, we can't even conceive of them (check quantitative physics...crazy stuff). However, we can measure them, and observe their properties and their effects. This same principle applies to conceptualizing God. We can't see Him, or really conceive of Him adequately, (ie My (Gods) thoughts are higher than your thoughts) but we can observe His effect, and measure His properties. What are those effects/properties? Wright points primarily to a "moral order" which has always existed, no matter the culture or time. He sees God as a logical source of that moral order...(Gods measurable properties)

These arguments effectively short circuit the attack we have had from the pop atheists...he changes the ground rules for the debate in favor of Christianity...

I'm glad I read it.

Max, and all that

We had Sydney's birthday yesterday...I grilled K-bobs for the family...Jenny baked an amazing cake. It was lemon with soft lemon cookie in the middle...it was a hit...I asked, what's wrong with a chocolate cake? So she made "a boring chocolate cake" (her words) also. Anyhow, it was good to see everyone...after the party I took the dog on a long walk...my swim keeps getting rained out, and that's all my exercise!

The Dam Jam (Tulsa bike tour/race) director is a friend of mine, so I told him I would help as a volunteer this year..
"Are you sure?", he said?
"You bet", I said. "I'm in"...
"Great", he says, "We'll see you in Prior at 6:30"................
6:30 in the morning...bleh...I don't do 6:30 anymore..."Is there anything I could do later?" What's with me? I have real problems waking up at 5:00 or anythime before 7:00. I used to be able to wake up easy...is it age? I know lots of elderly that get up early...but me, in the last couple years, no way...he let me off easy though.

So, Max and I were driving down the street the other day, and a cop passed (a female), he says..."I don't believe it!"...
"What?", says I.
"A woman cop."
"Whats wrong with that?"
"It's a woman cop, and women can't drive...!"

Hahahaha...hey, he doesn't get it from me!
Funny kid.
I said, "If you're ever pulled over by a female cop keep that to yourself..."

More and more of my clients are on my Facebook. Most of them don't like to listen to my political venting (who does, right?). So I delinked it. Now it won't post on FB anymore. People can still click the link though. It is kind of arms length.

Insurance companies rule...

I have kept quiet about this issue. I could not stand the negative (hateful, irrational) atmosphere surrounding the discussion. I am even a little uneasy about saying anything now, although the core issue/solution is dead anyway. The public (government) option is gone. That should make a lot of people happy...no death squads, or bureaucrats getting between us and our doctors...

But I have a prediction...five years from now...maybe sooner, we will all see this was wrong...and that a government option was not evil...we will also, in retrospect realize that this bill (I make this prediction w/o a final bill even being written...because it's obvious where this is going)...this (currently unwritten) bill will have accomplished very little (helping the uninsured, policy potability, cost containment), and will have been a huge money grab for the insurance companies...

Last, in the next five years many, many of us will experience what it is like to be locked out of health care due to job changes, and costs...you and me (the middle aged) will flat not be able to afford coverage...

Shout me down if you like...but I'll be back with this in five years...or less.

Sadie moves to the front of the class.

Sadie is my Great Dane. I took her for a walk last night around the pond. A flood retention pond, Rob...not like your pond/lake :-).
It was after dark. A nice evening for a walk. Then about half way around (the pond) a girl asked if we could use Sadie as "bait"...Huh?

Just then her dog (a 1 yr old puppy), who was off leash, and not intending to go back on leash ran by...Sadie popped her head out of her collar and off they ran...OMG. What I was thinking is this...She is off collar, and has a dog to run with and....ducks, lots of ducks...this is not good. So this girl is apologizing to me, and telling me how her boy friend is on the way...I didn't really know what to say to her...but I asked if I could try one thing...I would tell Sadie to "sit", in a firm, stern tone.

IT WORKED! She sat down, and waited for me to walk to where she was and slip the collar back on...this with the other dog running around her (and me) and don't forget the ducks...actually the ducks had decided not to wait around. But...Sadie was IMPRESSIVE!

Just then the boy friend showed up. And he would not acknowledge my presence...ok...I'll be going then.

Sadie moves to the front of the class in my book. She gets more freedom, and trust from me...she is free to join me in more trips, if she likes..all that...
GOOD, SMART DOG!

WOW

WOW added a new patch which automatically installs, and disables most of the graphics on the game unless you manually upgrade your graphics card...not an easy procedure. If you are not tech savvy enough to do that, they offer a command that, if entered works around the problem, but reduces game efficiency. As you can probably guess, I had to enter the command, so the game works now, but is choppy. I wonder if that will be permanent...I hope not!

I posted a couple pictures below. I have a level 55 Death Knight. This is the lowest level for the character. You start being subservient to the evil Litch King (pictured here). He apparently started good, but was corrupted...you must escape from him early on...(I'm working on that). Also, my Paladin (which Luke souped up to be powerful beyond his lowly level of 24) was given a mount...this is great, as it gets you around the game much faster and looks really cool.

My Blood Elf Paladin got a mount! A war horse...I didn't expect it this soon.

This is my level 55 Taurin Death Knight....I call him Imaburger...get it?