This commercial makes me laugh so hard each time I see it. I don’t know why.
I have finally finished building my computer and will post more about my life tomorrow when I get a chance.
Monthly Archive for October, 2007
My apologies for not posting much over the past couple days. After selling my MacBook Pro, I haven’t had a computer to post from. Well I do have my iPhone but as cool as it is, posting from it is sorta tedious.
I should have a computer tomorrow…yes I am converting back to Windows, mainly so I can run Avid Xpress video editing software. The system I am building is gonna scream.
And I will post more on my blog later. Peace.
God is good.
My beloved Oregon Ducks came away with a 24-17 victory against USC today, only escaping via a Matt Harper interception of an errant throw by Mark Sanchez with 11 seconds in the game.
Just think, if we hadn’t lost to Cal, we would probably be #2 in the BCS. If we beat Arizona State next week, we could give Boston College a good run for their money.
Now here’s to hoping Penn State clocks the Suckeyes tonight.
It’s not much yet, but thanks to Shauna’s mad Photoshop skills and my decent web design ability, we have a landing page up for our church at www.crimsonhouseministries.org. Shauna did an excellent job with the image of the church and the blueprint below it. We’re gonna make the windows clickable to open up different sections of the website.
As of right now, we are offering the initial issue of the Ram’s Horn, which is a newsletter compiled by Pastor John and featuring articles by various members of our church family. Check it out by clicking the above link.
In the coming weeks, the site will offer sermon audio, photos and an interactive navigation menu. We’ll be up and running before you know it. I can’t wait to finish the site, it’s gonna rock.
My, how time flies.
Two years ago today I was getting ready to board a jet and fly from Norfolk, VA to Baltimore, and prepare for a subsequent trip to a special destination. I was scared about what the next six months held for me, and I didn’t know what I would do in such a faraway place without family and friends anywhere near me.
I had just returned from a trip to Springfield, and it was the first time I had ever been here. I visited my family (they lived in Rogersville at the time) and met all the wonderful people at Crimson House such as the Paces, Thomasons, Cowens, Ruch’s, and others. I even blogged about how I felt so much at home at the church and I loved the area. More specifically, I remember Pastor John’s sermon about each of us having a story to tell in our lives, and the entire church praying for me and the journey I was about to embark on.
So after meeting Krista Lankford, Melissa Atchley, and John and Barbara Stevens at the airport to say goodbye to all of them, I boarded my plane from Norfolk and arrived in Baltimore just 25 minutes later. When I arrived in Baltimore, I met up with my Dad, who was working on a building project in Washington DC with Johnny Parker and other members of their construction company — the National Portrait Gallery.
Dad and I got to talk for awhile and it was that visit that helped relieve some of my fears. We prayed together, cried together and he told me to stay close to the Lord because my faith was really going to pull me through.
In fact my co-workers back at the video production house told me I would make it through the next six months just fine, if my faith in God was any indication. At that point my faith was strong as it had ever been, and I knew I could tackle anything.
On the 8-hour flight from Baltimore to Germany, my heart began to race, yet my mind was set at ease by the prayers of literally hundreds of people I knew who were praying for me. At that very moment God began to comfort me and I knew I was going to be just fine.
In fact, it was one of three times in my life I ever heard God speak audibly. I looked around me on the plane to see who had just spoken to me, but everyone was sleeping.
There was no mistaking the words that were said. “I’ve got you, and you’re going to be okay.”
The date was October 25, 2005, and my ultimate destination for six months was Baghdad, Iraq.
I remember it as if it were yesterday.
Today I heard the Fleetwood Mac song “Rhiannon” at work. I have to admit this was the first time I ever heard the song in its entirety. Great track.
Now I know they’re not singing “Breanna” in the chorus. I feel like a fool.
Also, props to Hannah for reminding me of the Will It Blend? videos. Chuck Norris is indeed indestructible.
Posted from my iPhone
EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to the overwhelming popularity of the “Donkey Hotay” picture the kids and I drew at church last Wednesday, I have decided to use the my iPhone’s “Sketches” program more frequently on this blog. In a new weekly feature entitled “Life Crudely Illustrated,” I will be drawing, well, crude illustrations of banality we see every day, and uploading them for the world to see.
Figure 1.1. Diagram of the Wal-Mart parking lot in Republic, MO. The arrow represents a car that pulled into a spot completely opposite the direction of the flow of traffic for that specific lot.
Tonight as I pulled into the parking lot of the Republic Wally World, a large rotund individual in a Buick LeSabre pulled right next to me, and then proceeded to pull forward into the spot opposite the yellow dividing line.
Normally that would be okay, except as you can see from the above diagram that the parking spots are slanted according to the one-way flow of traffic in each lane there.
Good luck getting back onto the road the right way without hitting anyone, Rotund Ruffly.
That’s this week’s Life Crudely Illustrated, pointing out the small annoyances that drive us batty.
The photo above shows our church’s exterior looking pretty spiffy, but after a few steps inside the building on 1616 North Robberson Avenue, you’ll know something definitely happened to the interior.
Sunday evening when we got to church, we all found out something horrible had happened to our church when the lights downstairs and on the east half of the church wouldn’t turn on. Half the church’s power was cut — no, zapped is more like it — when lightning struck a transformer during the windstorm last Wednesday night.
We all checked on the church’s electronic equipment and found out we’re in pretty bad shape. Twenty flourescent lights are dead, the computer in Pastor John’s office has been fried and the computer used with our projector might have bitten the dust as well, many lights downstairs aren’t working, and worst of all our projector isn’t showing any signs of life.
As bad as that is, it could have been even worse. Our sound equipment somehow made it out unscathed, and all the lights on the left side of the sanctuary do work. We have power to most classrooms downstairs and we’re still able to use all our kitchen appliances. We’re just going to have to do church like we did in 1986 for awhile.
This might sound kinda weird, but it actually felt more comfortable in the church on Sunday without all the lights and the projector. Granted, I was running sound, which I’m not too terribly fond of but it’s a good thing to do anyway, but just looking out over the crowd, the lack of light forced everyone to move over to the left a bit and the place looked a little more full as a result. Not having the projector on was beneficial because where you’d usually see people staring at the words, people improvised and worshipped on their own.
One thing I’ve noticed over my two months at Crimson House is that when something goes awry, we tend to disregard the circumstance and the Holy Spirit tends to move a bit more freely. It’s happened twice since I’ve been here. Rich and Anita were sick one Sunday and we had to worship off CD, but it didn’t matter because the Spirit still moved strong and we had a powerful altar call. Now half our power’s been cut and the majority of our electronic equipment is bacon, but we didn’t let it get us down Sunday. In fact we had two visitors, one of which received Christ.
To dig a little deeper, I have been astounded over the past week at how God has moved. Last night I had a conversation with my mom in which I revealed I’m not quite ready to take a giant leap of faith for God yet, but the time will come. Today, after I thought about that conversation, I remembered three things:
1. David, one of the good men of our church, received the baptism of the Holy Spirit last week at prayer meeting. I think it was the first time I’ve ever seen it happen when no one was even laying hands on the recipient. So the Spirit doesn’t operate like I thought it did, which is a good thing.
2. When the altar call was given last night, there was no open call for people to come and receive salvation. The young lady who stepped up and received Christ did so in and of her own accord, with the conviction of the Spirit, but no person begging her to come down and “get saved.”
3. During prayer meetings and altar services at church, when people have prayed, they have received healing, salvation, clarity, etc. instantly and without a period of begging, crying out to God for half an hour, or rolling around on the floor. It just happened, God offered it and they took it. Amazing.
With the same power that the bolt of lightning struck the transformer on the east end of our church last Wednesday, it occurred to me this afternoon that God definitely can’t be put in a box or limited by what we think of Him. And He showed me that the Holy Spirit is not dependent upon an earthen vessel in which to do His work. If He wants a work completed in someone, all he needs is a willing heart and their receptiveness to His Spirit. That’s it.
So turning back to the original point, it’s amazing how a work of nature that has the capability to kill, maim and cause untold damage, has seemingly crippled our church’s technological advancements for the time being — yet has helped us along for one weekend so far and taught me a wonderful spiritual lesson as well.
Now let’s pray the insurance claims process goes well. 
I’ve been clamoring for Apple to build a store in the Battlefield Mall here in Springfield. After working at one up in Tigard, Oregon for roughly three months before moving here, I found out it’s the one retail environment I truly loved. The people were great, the environment was relaxed, and there was no set dress code except everyone having to wear the same Apple T-shirt and a name badge.
Me wishing they would open a store here will probably never come to pass, however. If you go to the BM (as I call it) on a Saturday you’ll notice it’s packed with shoppers, prospective shoppers and those just hanging around with nothing else to do. But, alas, head there on a weekday, especially from the hours of 10 to 5, and you’ll pass maybe twenty people the entire time. Apple Stores get a lot of foot traffic just from people wandering past, and if a mall doesn’t have those people wandering through it, then there’s no chance they’ll even remotely turn a profit margin. Which sucks because there is a decent-sized Apple user base in this area from what I’ve seen and heard.
Apple has the capability to spank any other store in that mall in terms of profit, but the lack of foot traffic through the mall on a weekday would kill any chance of that.
Sucky.
Speaking of Apple though, I caught wind of a story on Digg about how over 800 Apple Store employees have been given pink slips for accepting $100 store credits mistakenly given to them when the iPhone’s price point was reduced from $599 to $399. Check this out, courtesy Ars Technica:
Apple might be a little upset with some of its retail employees who scored free iPhones this summer. For those who didn’t hear, Apple promised a free iPhone to every fulltime employee and all part-timers who have been with the company for over a year?¢‚Ǩ‚Äùincluding retail associates and Geniuses. The company made good on its claim, and we never heard much of a complaint about the program.
Unfortunately, we have now heard through two independent sources that a few of these lucky retail employees let their greed get the best of them. We’ve been told that as many as 800 Apple Store retail associates who received free iPhones have also cashed in on the $100 iPhone credit that Apple issued for early buyers. Apple understandably wasn’t too happy about shelling out an extra ~$80,000 to employees who already scored free iPhones, so pink iSlips have apparently been issued to the bunch.
Don’t know if any people I worked with being given the boot, but I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Apple has posted a bunch of retail job openings on its website. As for the offenders, they deserve what they get. Apple employees already get a ton of free stuff, and to claim a store credit that isn’t theirs after Apple already lavishly rewards its employees, is just dishonest, insolent and just plain greedy.
That being said, I’m switching back to Windows so I can run Avid Xpress Pro.
My team lost for the first time last week, putting me at 5-1 for the season. Right now I’m only up 5-2 in what looks to be a sure barnburner today (right).
I think I’ve got a good shot at making the playoffs and winning this thing. Winner takes home $200.
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