My Thoughts and Interesting Finds

A couple bloggs to check out

2007-01-17T22:18:00.000-05:00

thelifeofateacher.blogspot.com and adamlisalong.blogspot.com

It's A Boy

2007-01-17T22:14:00.000-05:00

We just wanted to let everyone know that we are having a boy! We just found out yesterday. We have been really busy and are going to stay busy for quite a while. School and Lisa's job are both going well. I will start coaching track in another month or two. Thats pretty much the update for now. I will try to get on here more to keep everyone updated a little better on out lives. Check out the Long Family blogg to see pictures of the ultrasound and updated that Lisa posts.

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-12-03T15:52:00.000-05:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted on here. I guess I have been really busy. Teaching is going well, it is hard to believe that there are only two and a half weeks of school until Christma Vacation. I also coached Jr. High Cross-Country this year. We had a losing season, but I am looking forward to next year. Hopefully many of my seventh graders will be back next year. Lisa and I have some news for anyone who may not have heard yet. We are expecting our first child at the beginning of June next year. Lisa is already in her second trimester and is doing well. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat at the last doctors appointment. She will go back to the doctor before Christmas. We will learn if it is a boy or a girl in January. If it is a boy we are planning on decorating in Curious George, if it is a girl I think we are going to do Whinnie the Pooh. My sister also found out that she is pregnant and she will be due at the end of June. Lisa's cousin Christy is also going to be having a baby in July. Lots of babies comming soon. We went out and saw Lisa's family back in September. We drove out to Minnesota for her cousin's wedding. We also saw her brother Todd and his girlfriend Kristi in Holland, MI last weekend. That was a lot of fun. We will be driving out to South Dakota over the Christmas holiday. Lisa is getting really excited. We havn't seen her niece since this summer. She was not at the wedding in September. My college classes have been going well also. I will be finished with my first course this Thursday. I have not even started my portfolio though. Opps! I guess I will have to work extra hard this next semester to get it done. I am excited about the next course, I think it will be very interesting. It is the study of court decisions in Special Education. I will try to keep this updated more often. I just have to take the time to do it.

A Change of Pace

2006-08-26T20:33:00.000-04:00

I realize that it has been quite a while since I last posted on here. My life has been very busy too. SinceI last wrote I completed my time at Taylor School Corp. and spent the summer working for a Heating and Cooling company. I applied for many social studies positions this summer without a single phone call. I also got my interview with the Electrical Union, but I did not pass the interview process. Right before school started my sister recommended that I look into getting an Emergency License in Special Education. I looked into it and enrolled for classes at Indiana Wesleyan Univeristy Online. Then I began applying for special education positions. I had an interview in Elwood, but they hired someone that had experience teaching SE. Then the week after school started I got another interview with Madison Grant by Marion. I got a job there teaching Life Skills to Moderate to Severe Special Needs students. I just finished my first week of teaching and it has gone well so far. I will try to keep everyone posted about how things are going.

VW Beetle Camper!

2006-05-24T13:04:00.000-04:00

Who'd of thought you could turn a VW Beetle into a camper! Well, I have proof. here is is folks!

Funny Walmart Story

2006-05-24T09:19:00.000-04:00

This sounds like something my brother would have tried in college. Enjoy!

Dear Mrs. Fenton, Our store is considering banning your family from ever shopping with us again unless your husband stops his antics while you are shopping. Below is a list of offenses over the past few months, all verified by our surveillance cameras.

1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.

2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.

3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the ladies' restroom.

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official tone, "Code 3 in housewares".....and watched what happened.

5. August 4: Went to the service desk and asked to put a bag of M&M's on lay away.

6. September 14: Moved a "CAUTION - WET FLOOR" sign to a carpeted area.

7. September 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he'd invite them in if they'd bring pillows from the bedding department.

8. September 23: When our clerks ask whether they can help him, he begins to cry and asks, "Why can't you people just leave me alone?"

9. October 4: Looked right into the security camera, used it as a mirror, and picked his nose.

10. November 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, asked the clerk if he knew where the antidepressants were.

11. December 3: Darted around the store suspiciously, loudly humming the "Mission Impossible" theme.

12. December 6: In the auto department practiced his "Madonna look" using different sized funnels.

13. December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled, "PICK ME! PICK ME!"

14. December 21: When an announcement comes over the loud speaker, he assumes the fetal position and screams, "NO! NO! It's those voices again!!!!"

And last but not least:

15. December 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, and waited a while; then yelled very loudly, "There is no toilet paper in here!"

My Responses to Existence/Nonexistence e-mails

2006-05-11T22:36:00.000-04:00

4/12/06

Goten: To rebuttle your last statement, God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. (Revelation22:10) There was nothing before Him and there will never be anything after Him. Also, as I stated in the comment, God is not confined to time or space therefore even though we have to live within the boundaries of the present He does not. " To God 1 day is like 1000 years and 1000 years is like a day." (IIPeter 3:8) That shows that His time frame is completely seperate.

4/13/06

I will try to get back with you later, i have a meeting this morning at the school I teach at and don't have time right this moment. I enjoy the discussion.

4/13/06

Hello again! I began looking for a way that I could better illustrate to you the point that I was trying to make. If you would like to look at this question furtherthen I would suggest that you find and read the bookMere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. He does a muchbetter job of explaining it. There is a whole chapterthat focuses on time and space and how God fits intothe whole situation. If you want me to I can send yousome quotes from it, but I figured it would be easierto just check it out at your public library.

4/14/06

Ok,I will do my best to explain things as I see them froma Christian standpoint. 1. God is all powerful. There is nothing that God can not do, but at the sametime there are things that God has chosen not to do asit applies to man and Satan. Some of this will alsotie into the question concerning God being all good. God has created angels and humans and has given themthe free will to choose to love him or hate him. IfGod wanted to or had wanted to He could have made manwithout the ability to sin. I believe that He didthis so that everyone who chose to believe in Him andbelieved in him would do so under thier own decisionrather than by force or by programming such as a robotmight have. Christ many times refered to himself as the bridegroomin scripture and refered to the church or Christiansas His bride. Just as you yourself would want someoneto love you because of who you are I believe Godwanted to do the same thing with himself. He wantedpeople to choose him based on what He had done forthem not so much because He forced them to. OtherwiseHe would have people serving him out of force ratherthan a personal desire to. Now Satan comes into this picture where God allowedhim to roam the Earth and decieve people into notbelieving in God and the same thing was accomplishedwith 1/3 of the angels who fell from heaven along withSatan when he decided he was more equal with God. 2. God is all good. God is all good and we have notseen the end of the story yet. At the end of theBible, sin is punished. Also, God made a way for allsin that had ever been committed by humans to be paidfor once and for al when he sent his Son to earth as ahuman. Jesus lived 33 years without ever sinning andwas killed as a sacrifice to pay for all sins. ThenHe rose from the dead three days later conqueringdeath. Because he died after as a sinless man, hetook all of the worlds sins upon his shoulders and Godforgave all men of their sins under the condition thatall humans would accept Jesus Christ as their Lord andSavior. He decided that anyone who accepted Christ asthier Savior and confessed that they were sinners, theblood of Christ would cover any sins they had evercommitted and they would then be sinless before God. John 3:16, Romans 3:23, Romans 8:23, I John 1:9,Romans 5 (whole chapter)Then, Jeusus returned to Heaven to be with God HisFather. One day Christ is going to return to Earth. After the return of Christ to the Earth and therecieving of all of Christ's followers then those whorefused to follow Christ including Satan and all ofhis angels will be placed into Hades or Hell foreternity. Hell is made up of everything that is eviland nothing good becase everything good comes fromGod. That is the completion of God showing hisHoliness because He can then rule and reign withoutsin.I pray this was helpful. I hope I answered yourquestions for you.

4/18/06

Yes God does know the consequences of sin and that iswhy He showed us the way to go in the Bible so that wecould and would avoid the devistation that we oftentimes bring upon ourselves. God treats us much like a parent treats theirchildren. You teach a son or daughter what is right,such as telling them not to touch a hot stove becausethey will get burned, but that doesn't mean that thechild won't go and do it anyway. Or a better example,an older child whom you have taught not to drive underthe influence. That adult child knows that drinkingand driving are putting themselves at risk, but stillthousands go ahead and do it anyway. Does that meantheir parents shouldn't have had their children andthey did not love their children because they allowedthem to grow up and make their own choices? It is thesame with God, He has shown his children how theyshould live so that life goes well for them, but welive in a world where everyone has not chosen tofollow what He has said and so therefore we have theproblems we have today. Ever since the first day thatAdam and Eve sinned, life has no longer been perfectfor man. God created a perfect world to begin withwith the garden and Adam and Eve, but they chose tochange that ,by sinning, ruining it for all the restof the world, because from then on everyone else wasborn with sin. I am sorry if I am not answering all of your questionsperfectly. I am trying to tell you as well as I caninterpret what I know. I am still human and I stillhave much to learn. I do know one thing though. There are some things I know we will not understandcompletely until we get to heaven, that is why theBible says "For by grace are ye saved through faith;and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God notof works, lest any man should boast."Ephesians 2:8-9 Part of being a Christian is faith inthe unseen.

5/7/06

Well, I look at it like this. If for some reason,there isn't a God and I have no doubt in my mind thatthere is, what have I lost by believing in Him andtrusting Him with my life? Whether you think it is aloss to have faith in Christ Jesus or not. I know Iam a better person for believing. On the other hand,if there is a God and I spent my whole life believingin Him than I have a reward in Heaven and have missedout on the worst punishment ever given to man (Hell). One other thing, you continually say the threereligions and I imagine you are referring to Judism,Islam, and Christianity. Christianity is the only true way to Heaven, becauseChrist said "I am the way, the truth, and the life, noman comes to the Father except through Me." and "ForGod so loved the world that He gave His only begottenSon that whosoever believeth in Him should not perishbut have everlasting life. For God sent not His Soninto the world to condemn the world but that the worldthrough Him might be saved." (John 3:16-17)

5/7/06

Actually, I have the opposite of fear, I have peace. Peace inknowing that my sins are forgiven, peace in knowingthat I serve a God who cares about me, and will dowhat is best for me, and peace knowing that I willspend eternity with the God who loved me so much thateven while I was still in sin, He chose to send HisSon to die a death that no man would ever want to gothrough just so that I would be able to live foreverwith Him. Please, don't feel sorry for me, I am as happy as aperson could ever be, but I will pray for you that Godwill show himself real to you. God is real! JesusChrist did come to this earth and die for you, andHell is very real and I pray you find Christ Jesusbefore you breath your last breath. Once again, I encourage you, read the Bible all theway through from cover to cover before you decide whatyou think about Christianity, and ask God (even if youdon't believe there is one), to reveal Himself to you. The Bible is God's word written to man. If you stillfeel the same way after you read it, then I won't sayanymore. But, please don't give up on God before yougive him a chance.

5/8/06

Ok, be more specific. In what ways have you givenJesus Christ a chance in your own life? For one thing, you brought up Colombine and 9/11 asresons for the non-existence of God. What about thethousands of people who just happened to not be in theWorld Trade Center at the time of the attack becausethey happened to wake up late or had something happenthat delayed them. There are countless stories likethat, God was watching out for them. Also, I think you, along with many other people, havebeen fed the idea that once a person gets savednothing else bad will ever happen to them and lifewill be a bed of roses. God never promised that tous. In fact, the whole salvation concept should havebeen described not as a life of comfort but rather inthis manner... Let me give you a scenario...Two people were getting on a plane, the first personwas handed a parachute and told to put it on becauseit would make him feel more comfortable. So, theperson puts it on and goes back to their seat. Asthey are sitting in their seat they begin to feel thatthe parachute truly is not that comfortable and thatother people are not wearing theirs and decides thatmaybe it really is not that important. The secondperson is handed thiers and told that the plane isgoing to go down and they are going to have to beready to jump at any moment. This person, puts thierparachute on and doesn't even take comfort intoconsideration because he knows that it is the verything that is going to save his life. In fact, he isworried about the other passengers who are not wearingtheirs or have even misplaced them because they didn'tlike the way they looked or felt. This person evengoes around the plane trying to convince other peopleto put theirs back on but many of them don't becausethey are still stuck around the fact that it wassuppose to make them feel comfortable. From a spiritual standpoint, I know Jesus Christ doesnot always make my life a bed of roses. There havebeen many times in my life where I have felt that Hewas far away and that things have not gone the way Ithought they should. But, that did not mean I turnedmy back on God. If anything, it was in those times, Iclung tighter to Him, knowing that He would see methrough. How do I know there is a God? There aremany ways.1) He has given the Bible to me telling me abouthimself. (This is the oldest book in history and haslasted for thousands of years without change)2) I can also look outside at His creation and knowthat there is no way in a trillion years that thingswould have evolved into what they are today. Themathamatical equatioin of something as small as thehuman eye evolving is impossible. 3) He has taken care of me in times of need, such aswhen I was a baby and stopped breathing from SIDS,Sudden Infant Death Syndrom. I spent a week at achildren's hospital where they told my parents at thebest I would be a vegetable, blind, deaf, and mentallyretarded. Because of prayer and faith in God withinthe week I pulled the tubes and machines off my ownbody and without any explanation apart from a miraclethe doctors said I was well, minus my hearing whichcame back before I was one. Just to prove that I wasbetter, I was in the top 99% in my standardizedtesting in 1st grade, I had 20/20 vision until I wasin high school, I ran a mile in less than 5 minutes inhigh school, and I can hear as well as anyone. I also had a second life threatening event happen whenI was in second grade. My sister and I were struck bya car when we were crossing a busy intersection. Whenthe ambulence arrived they were sure that my sisterand I were dead. As the people in the cars all aroundgathered to pray for us, we began to move. I wasreleased later that day with only bruises and mysister was released the next day with a broken leg anda minor concussion. You can say both of these were coincodences, but Iknow that it was by the healing of Christ Jesus that Iam here typing to you today. My faith is not justsomething that I read in a book, it is alive andliving. I have many more stories of the way God hasdone miraculous things in my life. I can not denysomething that is real. To me, that would be likedenying that I am here talking to you right now. Thatis why I tell you, seek the Lord and you WILL findHim. Just try it. What do you have to lose? Youdon't have to do anything special, just pray "ChristJesus, I want to know if you are real. Reveal Youself to me I pray."

5/11/06

Well, guess what. I think you have already made upyour mind what you believe and nothing I say or Goddoes is going to change that. Instead, it seems asthough you are trying to make me change my mind aboutthe way I believe. My beliefs are something I HAVEput a lot of thought and question into (20 plus yearsin fact) and concluded that Christ is someone that Iwant to believe in and one person on the internet isnot going to change my mind through a few e-mails. If there is no God and I am just here, I have no reasonto live and I might as well go shoot myself. But IKNOW there is and He has a purpose for me being here. I am sorry that I have wasted your time and I am sorrythat you feel that God let you down, even though Iknow He is still there with you even this moment.

Existence / Non-existence of God Part III

2006-05-11T22:22:00.000-04:00

Here is the latest e-mail from this person, I am pretty convinced that they do not want anything to do with God and are no longer searching but rather working to pull others away from Him.

5/11/06

This is a very holy letter. By holy I mean has a lot of spots where you contradict yourself and make no sense whatsoever.First of all, I mean I gave him a chance in that I was brought up christian and I have seen through all the lies. "Christ Jesus, I want to know if you are real. Reveal Youself to me I pray." Been there done that and what i said before happened (9/11...)On that subject, there were thousands of people were working at the Twin Towers before the attack. Not all of them will be on time every time. Mabey you should find how many didnt come to work the day before I'm sure the numbers would be similar, mabey even more. And also if this "god" saved all those other people what did he do for the others in the building? He let them die! Were they not worthy of his divine intervention? Or is god just picky on who lives and who dies. This doesnt make him look any more allgood. Here is another one of your contradictions, "He has given the Bible to me telling me about himself. (This is the oldest book in history and has lasted for thousands of years without change)" First of all, the bible wasnt made by god it was made by man. Man lies man stretches the truth, and man can make mistakes. AND most importantly the bible just got changed a month ago, the book of Judas. Another thing, how can the church just remove pergitory? If it exsisted they cant wipe it away by just denying it, and if it didnt exsist they got something wrong, what other lies could you just be blindly following. Is it all just one big lie? Another hole, " I can also look outside at His creation and know that there is no way in a trillion years that things would have evolved into what they are today. The mathamatical equatioin of something as small as the human eye evolving is impossible." Evolution is scientific and more importantly reality not math. Example, If this a packaging machine packs 10 boxes of soda a minuet in ten minuets according to math, it should pack 100 boxes in 10 minuets. Reality says that the machine breaks and make none in 10 minuets. Thus math cannot be used for evolution because an organism can get into perfect conditions to develop faster. Others might not. Proving your mathematical prediction wrong. And science is also different from math, in math 1+1=2 in science 1Na+1Cl=1NaCl (or 1+1=1). So you cant prove or disprove evolution with math only science, or is studing science being a heathen? Also, you are putting words in my mouth I never said being saved is a bed of roses because I feel the exact opposite. Being saved is like putting a blind fold on and letting someone who you think they know where they are going lead you by the hand but really they too have a blindfold on. I believe that you should pull your hand away and take your blindfold off because you are the only one that can find where your going and nobody else. Religion is merely control set because people with power dont want to lose it (pope, cardinals, presidents, dictators). Because they fear what the population would do if they were allowed to think outside the box. People would no longer need these leaders, and that is why it is enforced with the fear of damnation and fire and brimstone.

Existence / Non-existence of God Continued

2006-05-08T22:06:00.000-04:00

Refer to the last post to bring yourself up to speed as to what is going on.

5/8/06I have given this supposed "god" a chance all my life and nothing has happened. O wait things have happened. They were called Columbine, 9/11, the War in Iraq, ... the list goes on. i gave religion a chance and it screwed up, i figured out that it is my duty to find the answers not to blindly follow a religion forced on me since the day i was born. You seem satisfied with the fact that you are going to heaven, i am satisfied with the fact that there is no heaven or hell only false hope and fear. There is only nothing after death. i am also satisfied with the thought that if i become a rapist murder, or a saint my fate stays the same just as yours will be. Nobody knows or will ever know how we, how exsistence came to be. Wehter it was an allpowerful god that took seven days to create exsistence wen, if he is allpowerful, could have surely done it in a matter of a second, or a huge bang with no origin created everything. They both have holes. I could come to grips with the fact that something could have made us, but not a god because if he was all knowing and all good wouldnt he wouldnt have but us through all this pain and suffering to test us because he would know all the concequences. I could go on with that forever but anyway my point is that it doesnt matter how we came to be, because if it was this "god" then he obviously isnt here anymore or just doesnt give a dam, all that matters is that we are here and our fate is in our hands. Our lives, the onty thing that exsists to us and will ever exsist to us (meaning no afterlife) is in our hands. The only gods that exsist is every one of us. You are your own god i am my own. There are no other gods. In relevance to "heaven" and "hell" you still make my point of control. The people with power, the smart ones anyway, dont blindly rule masses of people. A long time ago when people had to endure extremly hard times of work and suffering many would have given up and stop working. That is when the rulers realized to save their empires and cities, that they could create false hope in these people tell them that their labor would be repaid in the "afterlife" where everything will bee ok. Sure I can admit that all these creations of the human imagination and forms of control could have gotten is right, but thre is always a chance for everything. You know what they say, "If you put a bunch of monkies in a room full of type writers there is a chance they will write shakespear," Meaning that there is a very VERY small chance you are right but dont count on it. The more likely scenario is that you are wrong and you have wasted a perfectly good human mind in worshipping a false god who preaches that he knows all the answers when actually you need to find the answers out for yourself.You still havent told me what proof you have.

Existence / Non-existence of God

2006-05-07T21:48:00.000-04:00

These are some e-mails I have been getting from a guy that has been e-mailing me questioning the existence of God. I will try to post more as they come.

4/12/2006
i was just browsin around and saw ur comment against the whole freewill vs omniscient god thing. Nobody ever said he was holding anyone's hand through life and choices. Also think of him knowing wat choices you will make thing as you walking blind in the snow. you think that you are making your own choices but are merely walking down a path carved in the snow and dont know it. I believe in no god and also think that i make my own path through the snow.

I could also present the argument that god cant know the future because there is nothing but the present. this contradicts your point that god knows the future. he cant know the future because it doesnt exsist for him to know. but then god is not all knowing if he doesnt know the future, there fore we prove that he cant be god because he is not all knowing.

4/12/06
"God is not confined to time or space therefore even though we have to live within the boundaries of the present" the boundaries of the present do not exsist he cant go outside of the present if there is nothing but the present. The future does not exsist he cannot go into something that does not exsist. Here is another thing to ponder. All major religions believe in three fundemental things: 1.God is all powerful 2 God is all good and 3. Evil Exists. If Evil exists then god is either not all powerful, not all good, or not there at all.You cant argue that evil doesnt exsist so 3 is proven. That leaves 1 and 2. If god is all good he would wipe out all the evil. This shows that god is not all good and doesnt give a shit. So two is disproved. Finally lets say god is all good, and evil exsists then he is not powerful enough to wipe out evil or he would. Either way if he does exsist were screwed.

4/13/06
Also how is god the beginning and the end when he has no beginning and end. Im not trying to be smart I'm just confused.ok mabey I will look into it, but you havent said anything about the three things the major religions believe in. i really wanted to hear your response to it.

4/15/06
So what you are saying is that, to do a quote of my own, "God is a kid with a magnifing glass," (Jim Carey) and were a bunch of ants on an ant hill. You still establish that he is not by any means all good, it seems to me that this supposed "god" is just having fun with us. He ,if he exsisted, looks at us like the kid with the magnifing glass looks at the ants, he is playing with us.By no means am I saying that god exsists i am just establishing that religions' ideas of exsistence are false, and you should not follow them but find your own path through life.

4/18/06
Another thing, according to you, god knows EVERYTHING. If he truely knew everything then why would he give us the ability to sin. He knows all so he would know all the pain the suffering, the death, the devistation, and the tragedy caused by this ability to sin. So God is not all good because he went along with it and helped create the chaos that resides in our world. You could say that it is not god's fault, man choose to sin and kill. Then i would say that if I shot someone, im not guilty, it was the bullet that killed him, i merely pulled the trigger.

4/20/06
w/ your example about the older kids and drunk driving the example doesn’t seem to fit. Choosing to not have kids is different then not creating sin. Kids can do things better than sin so they arent the problem. If a parent was in this situation( god) and he/she could to wipe drugs (sin) out completly to save their child from hurting themselves by driving under the influence then they would. god didnt do this though he created sin still aware of wat we would do with. I know this goes against wat you said about programing us like robots, But parents want was is best for their children and will do anything in Their power to create a perfect life for them. If it is within gods power to not make sin and make the lives of his children perfect why has he not done it? Because he doesnt see us as children and he is not all good. i still have to clarify because it sounds like I believe in god. I dont, I am merely trying to show how someone who believes in god can start to stray from lack of proof or things that make no sense.

5/5/06
I know ur r probably very busy n that is why you haven't responded to my message but i havent expressed my best argument yet so here it is. Humans cannot and will not come to grips wih the fact that they have no purpose and never will. they always have to feel like they are the creations of a "god" and arent here by accident. How many people do you think would go on with the hardships of their daily lives if they truely knew that it would amount to nothing in the end. No heaven No grace of God No hell either. Nobody would do anything. What was your exsistence like before you were born? It was nothing, exactly what it will be when you die, nothing. Another reason why religion is still around is because governments know it is the perfect form of control. If you thought that you would be sent to an eternity of fire and brimstone then you would not try and "sin". Don’t you think it is a very funny coincidence that America's laws are largely based on the 10 commandments? Not because the writers were religious, but because they, like Osama Bin Laden and Pope Urban II, relized how blindly masses of people will do what they command because god demands it. Religion is the worst idea ever created every person should have their own unique ideas for the hows and whys of the world. How much do you think people will argue and even KILL for their religion if there was over 7 billion other unique ideas that can contradict theirs. People like Osama can be rendered powerless! My ideas might not be perfect but im just trying to free your mind from the oppression of religion, and instead of elieveing the supposed "answers" you have been spoon fed all your life you can make your own live the way you want to live not the way the church tells you to live!

5/7/06
Want me to tell you what i see when i read your response. I see fear. That is the way people like you are controlled. You fear hell and eternal damnation. Your fear has caused you to grip onto something that could not give an iota of actual proof but promises you eternal happiness. On that topic, what proof do you have? Where do you think you have the proof to justify your outrageous claim. You have lost everything in not believeing in god. The conformity of all religions dont help you to eternal happiness, it doesnt save you from eternal damnation. No such religions ,including the holy "we never do anthing wrong" Christian church, can do this. The answers to all the eternal question the the Alphas and Omegas of every one of our lives, lie within the recesses of our own minds. Religion makes you think you know all the answers and what to really do with your life so you dont open up, you dont think because you think you know."True wisdom is admitting that you know nothing" (Socrates)

The Ford F100 Explorer

2006-05-04T12:18:00.000-04:00

My dad and I went and picked up his new, or should I say old pickup the other day. He bought a 1978 Ford F100 Explorer pickup for $500 off of a guy that was doing some electric work at the school. It is white with a Ford 302 V8 5.0 litre 2x4. It is prety cool, it neads a little TLC though. I think dad is going to have my cousin Brandon paint it. It needs a seat cover too, because there is a hole in it on the drivers side. There is some rust on it, but it is only on the surface and can probably be sanded out. I think it will be fun to do a little work on it here and there. Dad also bought a new set of BF Goodrich tires for the front. I will try to post some pictures of it as soon as I get a chance.

The End Is Near

2006-05-04T12:11:00.000-04:00

I am comming down to the last four weeks of my career here at Taylor Schools. Part of me is excited about leaping out into a new career and working environment, but at the same time I am still very concerned about where I am going to work since I do not have any clear direction. As far as the end of the school year being over I think I am as anxious and excited as my students who have gone into coast or zombie mode since Spring break ended four weeks ago. I am so dissapointed in them right now and I have been on them hard and heavy to get their work done. Nothing seems to help. I have stood kids in the hall for sleeping and sat them in the hall and in the corner for not doing anything, but nothing seems to be working. Heck, when I was a kid an F meant something. I have 31 F's in my class and it doesn't even seem to phase them. I hate the fact that these kids know they are going to pass on to the next grade whether I say they shouldn't or not. Most of these students could care less if they are held back too because they still have friends in the grade below them, or they are so stoned off their butts that they don't care. Yeah, I have a bunch of 7th grade pot heads. I tell them all the time too what they are doing to thier lives, but that seems too far down the road to matter now.

Update on Last Post

2006-04-12T10:48:00.000-04:00

The note sounded so much like a song that I decided to research it and discovered that it is actually the lyrics to a song called jesus of suburbia by a band named Green Day. I still believe this student probably feels some kind of tie to the lyrics of that songs based on other drawings and writings I found lying around.

A Startling, Sad Note

2006-04-11T11:13:00.000-04:00

One of my students found this story / song on the floor. It makes me wish I could do more spiritually at school. Please pray for this person. I will not mention names. So you can call her Jane Doe. Just to warn you there are some bad words in the note, but I wanted to keep it in its true form.

Jesus of Suburbia

I’m the son of rage of love; the jesus of suburbia. The bible of none of the above, on a steady diet of soda pop and Ritalin – no one ever died for my sins in hell – as far as I can tell, at least the ones I got away with. And there’s nothing wrong with me, this is how I am suppose to be. In a land of make believe, I don’t believe in me. In the center of the Earth, in the parking lot – at the 7-11 where I was taught – the motto is a lie. It said “home is where the heart is”, but what a shame, cause everyones heart doesn’t beat the same, it’s beating out of time. City of the dead – at the end of another lost highway, signs misleading to nowhere. City of the damned, lost children with dirty faces today, no one really seems to care. I read the graffiti in the bathroom stall, like the lonely scriptures of a shopping mall – so it seemed to confess.. It didn’t say much but it only confirmed that the center of the Earth is the end of the world, and I could really care less. City of the Dead – at the end of another lost highway, signs misleading to nowhere. City of the damned, lost children with dirty faces today, no one really seems to care. I don’t care if you don’t. I don’t care if you don’t. I don’t care if you don’t care. I don’t care if you don’t. I don’t care if you don’t. I don’t care if you don’t care. Well, I don’t care. EVERYONES SO FULL OF SHIT. BORN AND RAISED BY HYPOCRITES. HEARTS RECYCLED BUT NEVER SAVED, FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE. WE ARE THE KIDS OF WAR AND PEACE, FROM ANAHEIM TO THE MIDDLE EAST. WE ARE THE _______ AND DISCIPLES OF THE JESUS OF SUBURBIA. Land of makebelieve – and I don’t believe in me. Land of make believe – it don’t believe. Well I don’t care. Dearly beloved, are you listening? I can’t remember a word that you said to me. Are we demented or distorted? The space that’s in between; insane and insecure. Oh therapy, can you please fill the void? Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed? Nobody’s perfect and I stand accused. For lack of a better word, and that’s my best excuse. To live and not to ________, is to die in tradegy. To run, to run away, is to _________. And I _______________________. And I walk this line, a million and one fuckin times, but not this time. I don’t feel any shame, I won’t apologize, where there ain’t nowhere you can go. Runnin away from pain when you’ve been victimized. Tales from another broken home.

Some People Love Walmart A Little Too Much

2006-03-29T20:01:00.000-05:00

DES MOINES, Iowa While some students head for the beach on spring break, sophomore Skyler Bartels at Iowa's Drake University went to Wal-Mart.

The 20-year-old writing student from Nebraska thought he'd spend a week at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in suburban Des Moines as a test of endurance and to maybe generate a magazine article.

For 41 hours, Bartels watched shoppers, read magazines, watched DVD movies and played video games. He ate at the in-store Subway sandwich shop, but didn't sleep much, occasionally dozing in a lawn chair. Bartels says he got so tired, he began hallucinating and went home, thinking the project had failed. But a Des Moines Register story that made the Internet changed that, spawning network T-V interviews and discussion of a book deal.

Wal-Mart says it's not overjoyed at the long-term visitor, noting, "We're a retailer, not a hotel." But a spokesman notes that Bartels didn't break any rules.

This Just Isn't Our Year

2006-03-28T09:35:00.000-05:00

I had a meeting this morning with my principal and she informed me that Taylor is not going to renew my contract for the 2006-2007 school year. So, I am back in the same boat I was in last year, looking for a new job. It feels like dejavu. Hopefully Lisa's job turns into a full time position otherwise we will both be looking for jobs this summer. We would sure appreciate any and all prayers as I begin the long journey of job searching once again.

Honoring the Fallen Soldier

2006-03-09T09:34:00.000-05:00

This was an e-mail sent to one of the teachers, by a student, where I work. This past week a young local soldier was put in the ground and this is a recount of what this particular student experienced while he was present. I found it to be very touching.

Monday I stood in freezing cold weather to honor Seargent Rickey Jones, a man who died for my freedoms and the freedoms of millions of Iraqies. He died in a country that I believe he should have never been in this long. He died too young. Something dawned on me though as I was complaining about my fingers and my ears hurting, that this young man is dead. He didnt deserve it, He deserved to grow up get married and have some kids. He chose to take a chance to die for what he believed in, therefore I took a chance to stand for what I believed in. I stood for a bout an hour and a half and when I seen that casket pass with the American flag draped over it, I realized what kind of sacrifices it takes to have so many blessings in this country. Believe me folks this is far from perfect, but we have better than so many other people. I think Mr. Jones knew that and that why he went back. He wanted others to have what we have. I admire him for that and I'll never forget the day I seen his casket in that hearse with the governor in the front seat. Another thing happened that day that I'll never forget. An older veteran, probably a WWII veteran was in the procession. And with his hands shaking, he raised one up and waved at us and said thank you. I was there to say thank you to Mr. Jones and to the other veterans of the previous wars. And here this man, this man who fought for our country who made the ultimate sacrifice, said thank you to me because I chose to stad on 31 with a flag. I made a very small sacrifice if even that and he said thank you to me. It was then that I really cried. I really realized what the meaning of being an American is. This man treated me as an equal in sense even though I coul d never match up to the type of man he is. I felt proud then, very proud of my country, Seargent Jones, that old veteran, and especially proud of my peers who stood out there with me in that freezing cold weather. You better believe I will always say the pledge from now on. I know now that Im lucky to be able to say it, and when I say it Ill always remember March 6, 2006. The day Kokomo stood still to honor Rickey Jones and the veterans who have died before him.
God Bless ,

Here is a slide show of the procession. (cut and paste it)

http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/
kokomotribune/flashpromo/slideshow/J
onesFuneral030606/index.html

My Top Ten Car List

2006-03-02T12:48:00.000-05:00

1. BMW M Roadster
2. Honda S2000
3. Corvette Z06
4. New Mustang GT 500
5. Camaro SS
6. Firebird WS6
7. Subaru WRX STi
8. Pontiac GTO LS6
9. Mazda RX-8
10. Mini Cooper S

The Amway of Healthfood

2006-02-27T22:49:00.000-05:00

I had a friend call me tonight and talk to me about this new company that is comming out with a gel style nutritional supplement. I guess it is the new rave. The company is growing by leaps and bounds and has spread to more than 16 countries across the globe. The product works like Amway though. You have to purchase the product off of people who are members of the comapny and they try to get others to join. I guess if you are an entreprenuer it might be the thing for you. From what I hear they taste pretty good. Let me know if your interested, maybe I should join and you can be my clientel. Well, enough said, here is the web site http://www.agel.com/ .

Was God Really A Part of Our Nations History?

2006-02-22T10:09:00.000-05:00

This was an interesting article about Washingtn D.C. Maybe the founders of our nation really didn't want a seperation of church (Christianity) and state (government).

LAUS DEO: A little history lesson you may enjoy. One detail that is not mentioned, in DC, is that there can never be a building of greater height than the Washington Monument. With all the uproar about removing the ten commandments, etc... This is worth a moment or two of your time. I was not aware of this historical information . On the aluminum cap, atop the Washington Monument in Washington, DC, are displayed two words: Laus Deo. No one can see these words. In fact, most visitors to the monument are totally unaware they are even there and for that matter, probably couldn't care less. Once you know Laus Deo's history, you will want to share this with everyone you know. But these words have been there for many years; they are 555 feet, 5.125 inches high, perched top the monument, facing skyward to the Father of our nation, overlooking the 69 square miles which comprise the District of Columbia, capital of the United States of America. Laus Deo! Two seemingly insignificant, unnoticed words. Out of sight and, one might think, out of mind, but very meaningfully placed at the highest point over what is the most powerful city in the most successful nation in the world . So, what do those two words, in Latin, composed of just four syllables and only seven letters, possibly mean? Very simply, they say "Praise be to God!" Though construction of this giant obelisk began in 1848, when James Polk was President of the United States, it was not until 1888 that the monument was inaugurated and opened to the public. It took twenty five years to finally cap the memorial with a tribute to the Father of our nation, Laus Deo .Praise be to God!" From atop this magnificent granite and marble structure, visitors may take in the beautiful panoramic view of the city with its division into four major segments. From that vantage point, one can also easily see the original plan of the designer, Pierre Charles l'Enfant ... a perfect cross imposed upon the landscape, with the White House to the north. The Jefferson Memorial is to the south, the Capitol to the east and the Lincoln Memorial to the west. A cross you ask? Why a cross? What about separation of church and state? Yes, a cross; separation of church and state was not, is not, in the Constitution. So, read on. How interesting and, no doubt, intended to carry a profound meaning for those who bother to notice. Praise be to God! Within the monument itself are 898 steps and 50 landings. As one climbs the steps and pauses at the landings the memorial stones share a message. On the 12th Landing is a prayer offered by the City of Baltimore; on the 20th is a memorial presented by some Chinese Christians; on the 24th a presentation made by Sunday School children from New York and Philadelphia quoting Proverbs 10:7, Luke 18:16 and Proverbs 22:6. Praise be to God! When the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was laid on July 4th, 1848 deposited within it were many items including the Holy Bible presented by the Bible Society. Praise be to God! Such was the discipline, the moral direction, and the spiritual mood given by the founder and first President of our unique democracy "One Nation, Under God." I am awed by Washington's prayer for America. Have you never read it? Well, now is your unique opportunity, so read on! "Almighty God; We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection; that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United States at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." Laus Deo! When one stops to observe the inscriptions found in public places all over our nation's capitol, he or she will easily find the signature of God, as it is unmistakably inscribed everywhere you look. You may forget the width and height of "Laus Deo", its location, or the architects but no one who reads this will be able to forget its meaning, or these words: "Unless the Lord builds the house its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain." (Psalm 127: 1)

Tony Dungy's Speech to Athletes in Action

2006-02-21T10:26:00.000-05:00

Tony Dungy's talk to Athletes In Action

This was a speech given by Indianapolis Colts Coach Tony Dungy at the Athletes in Action breakfast on the morning before Super Bowl XL, February 4, 2006 in Detroit, Mich. Dungy was welcomed with a lengthy standing ovation. He thanked the crowd, shared an anecdote about the honored guest at the breakfast, then told the crowd, "It's great to be here," adding with a laugh, "I just wish I wasn't here in this capacity so many times of being just that close to being in the game and just being an invited speaker. "My goal is to have our team here one day and have a couple of tables with all of our guys here. Because we have a special group of young men, a great group of Christian guys. It'd be wonderful to have them here so you could see their hearts and what they're all about. "It hasn't quite happened yet, but we're still hoping one day it will."
He told them he was going to talk about lessons he had learned from his three sons. The crowd fell silent. Then Dungy spoke- for most of the 15 minutes the room was silent except for Dungy's voice.
He spoke of his middle son, Eric, who he said shares his competitiveness and who is focused on sports "to where it's almost a problem."
He spoke of his youngest son, Jordan, who has a rare congenital condition which causes him not to feel pain. "He feels things, but he doesn't get the sensation of pain," Dungy said. The lessons learned from Jordan, Tony Dungy said, are many. "That sounds like it's good at the beginning, but I promise you it's not," Dungy said. "We've learned a lot about pain in the last five years we've had Jordan. We've learned some hurts are really necessary for kids. Pain is necessary for kids to find out the difference between what's good and what's harmful. "Jordan, Dungy said, loves cookies. "Cookies are good," Dungy said, "but in Jordan's mind, if they're good out on the plate, they're even better in the oven. He will go right in the oven when my wife's not looking, reach in, take the rack out, take the pan out, burn his hands and eat the cookies and burn his tongue and never feel it. He doesn't know that's bad for him. "Jordan, Dungy said, "has no fear of anything, so we constantly have to watch him."
The lesson learned, Dungy said, is simple. "You get the question all the time, 'Why does the Lord allow pain in your life? Why do bad things happen to good people? If God is a God of love, why does he allow these hurtful things to happen?' Dungy said. "We've learned that a lot of times because of that pain, that little temporary pain, you learn what's harmful. You learn to fear the right things ."Pain sometimes lets us know we have a condition that needs to be healed. Pain inside sometimes lets us know that spiritually we're not quite right and we need to be healed and that God will send that healing agent right to the spot."Sometimes, pain is the only way that will turn us as kids back to the Father."
Finally, he spoke of James. James Dungy, Tony Dungy's oldest son, died three days before Christmas. As he did while delivering James' eulogy in December, Dungy on Saturday spoke of him eloquently and steadily, speaking of lessons learned and of the positives taken from experience.
"It was tough, and it was very, very painful, but as painful as it was, there were some good things that came out of it," Dungy said.
Dungy spoke at the funeral of regretting not hugging James the last time he saw him, on Thanksgiving of last year. "I met a guy the next day after the funeral," Dungy said. "He said, 'I was there. I heard you talking. I took off work today. I called my son. I told him I was taking him to the movies. We're going to spend some time and go to dinner.' That was a real, real blessing to me."
Dungy said he has gotten many letters since James' death relaying similar messages. "People heard what I said and said, 'Hey, you brought me a little closer to my son,' or, 'You brought me a little closer to my daughter,''' Dungy said. "That is a tremendous blessing."
Dungy also said some of James' organs were donated through donors programs. "We got a letter back two weeks ago that two people had received his corneas, and now they can see,'' Dungy said. "That's been a tremendous blessing."
Dungy also said he received a letter from a girl from the family's church in Tampa. She had known James for many years, Dungy said. She went to the funeral because she knew James. "When I saw what happened at funeral, and your family and the celebration and how it was handled, that was the first time I realized there had to be a God," Dungy said the girl wrote. "I accepted Christ into my life and my life's been different since that day." Added Dungy, "That was an awesome blessing, so all of those things kind of made me realize what God's love is all about."
Dungy also said he was asked often how he was able to return to the Colts so quickly after James' death. James died on December 22, and Dungy returned to the team one week later. Dungy said the answer was simple. "People asked me, 'How did you recover so quickly?"'' Dungy said. "I'm not totally recovered. I don't know that I ever will be. It's still very, very painful, but I was able to come back because of something one of my good Christian friends said to me after the funeral. "He said, 'You know James accepted Christ into his heart, so you know he's in heaven, right?' I said, 'Right, I know that.' He said, 'So, with all you know about heaven, if you had the power to bring him back now, would you?' When I thought about it, I said, 'No, I wouldn't. I would not want him back with what I know about heaven.'
"That's what helped me through the grieving process. Because of Christ's spirit in me, I had that confidence that James is there, at peace with the Lord, and I have the peace of mind in the midst of something that's very, very painful.

"That's my prayer today, that everyone in this room would know the same thing."

Where's the Badman?

2006-02-15T12:34:00.000-05:00

This link went around the e-mails at school today. By clicking on this link you can see where any sex offenders work or live in relation to any address in Indiana. It is interesting and scary at the same time. It was really comforting to know that a registered rapist lives within a mile of my home. http://www.indianasheriffs.org/

Time to Get in Shape!

2006-02-13T10:51:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend I decided I needed to get back into shape. Well, actually I have known that for quite a while and so I have been researching bicyle trainers. I found one that I thought looked like the best product for the money and drove down to Bicycle Garage of Indy and bought it this week. It is called a CycleOps. I put it on my bike last night and tried it out. It was a really good workout. After about 23 minutes of riding and five miles later I decided my first workout was over. I hope to get up to where I am riding 25 miles every other day, we'll see. My wife told me since I spent so much money on it I better use it, so maybe I'll have some extra motivation.

Our Photo Album

2006-02-09T12:56:00.000-05:00

Lisa and I have a photo album on yahoo. Check it out if you want to see what all has been going on in our lives. The latest pictures are the ones of our new home. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/adamd7998/my_photos

North Dakota?

2006-02-06T12:29:00.000-05:00

I was on a field trip the other day and the bus driver was talking to me about this tower. It is the tallest structure in the world and it is in North Dakota of all places.
I found this article about it on this site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_tallest_structures

The tallest currently standing structure on land is the KVLY-TV mast near Mayville, North Dakota, at 629 m (2,063 ft). It is a transmission antenna, consisting of a bare metal structure supported by guy-wires. The Warsaw radio mast at Gabin-Konstantynow near Warsaw, Poland at 645 m (2,115 ft) was taller, but it collapsed on August 8, 1991. Masts such as these are generally not considered 'tall buildings', primarilly because they are not self-supporting. They require guy wires to remain upright. For greater detail on communication masts, see either List of the world's tallest structures, List of masts, or Table of masts.

Party at the Longs

2006-02-06T12:14:00.000-05:00

We had a great time last night with our friends Jesse, Erika, Derek, Heather, Andy, and Leah. All of these fine people were able to come over to our new home for the Superbowl. Lisa and I wern't sure how many people would be able to make it on such short notice, but we had a decent turn out. It was a great time. The women made some awesome food too! I think the meatballs were the best! Love ya hun. The game was pretty good, but I didn't really catch all of it, between talking to everyone and looking up odds and ends on the computer. Rolling Stones was a hoot! I can't believe they're still singing and moving so well in thier 60's. Thanks to all of you that made it. We hope to have another one next year and hopefully we'll have a bigger crowd.

Its Movin Time

2006-01-25T11:44:00.000-05:00

As of a couple weeks ago, my wife and I decided to move out of our two bedroom apartment into a three bedroom house. Both of the houses are owned by my grandparents and are located side by side so we won't have to move far. It has been just over a year since I moved into the apartment Lisa and I are living in now. I know we are going to miss it, but at the same time, we are really going to enjoy the extra space. I know snuggles is enjoying the extra space to run. She has been doing laps up and down the hallway. Since we decided to move in, we have remodeled the bathroom, painted the hallway, and done some modifications on the kitchen. There is a little bit left to do, but we still plan to move in on Saturday the 28th of January. I plan to take pictures of the apartment and of the house and will post them on Lisa and I's yahoo picture page.

Detroit Road Trip

2006-01-17T11:52:00.000-05:00

This past weekend Jesse and I drove up to Detroit, Michigan for the annual North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). We used to attend it every year when Jesse was going to college at Kettering Univerisity in Flint, MI, but for the last three years we both have been really busy and have missed it. We met Saturday afternoon in Fairmount, IN and I rode with him up there. We stayed with a friend of his, Mike who drove out from Des Moines to close on his house and move his things out to Iowa where he just got a new job working for John Deere. When we got to Mike’s he was not around, so we went to Moe’s for supper. It was a lot like Qudobas here in Kokomo. When we got back to his house, we waited on him and then went back into town. On our way back, we grabbed some pizza and watched Xmen until we decided to call it a night. The next day we got up, got ready, and headed into Detroit for the show. There were a lot of cool cars, but the crowd was overwhelming. The new Dodge Challenger was on display along with the new Chevrolet Camaro concept. Jesse and I both liked the new Toyota FJ Cruiser and the Shelby Cobra GT500. I think his personal favorite was the Subaru Impreza WRX. I was pretty excited about the new BMW M roadster. We also went to the new GM headquarters which was located right beside the COBO center. While we were in there, Jesse showed me the navigation system that he has been working on. It was pretty cool. We left there and headed back to Mikes place. Afterwards, we went to BD’s Mongolian Bar B Q and then headed back to Mikes to help him finish packing. Man, that guy is a packrat. He had a lifetime supply of shaving cream, toothpaste, macaroni, and who knows what else. I hit the sack early and everyone else stayed up to catch COPS on TV. The next morning, Jesse and I hit the road once again to head back home. It was a good weekend. We had a lot of fun and the weather wasn’t too bad, just a little chilly, and we got to see a lot of cool cars. You can’t ask for much more, except maybe to test drive them all, that would be cool!

Napolean Dynamite 2

2005-12-21T09:13:00.000-05:00

Once again my students watched Napoleon Dynamite today since it was the last day before Christmas Vacation. To pay tribute to the movie I decided to re-post an old blogg from my friend Jesse.

Canned Heat by: Jesse Houser
I'm convinced that the struggle and triumph of humanity can be summed up in one event. That is when Napoleon Dynamite overcomes the adversity that has seemingly engulfed his life and does one thing - dance.

Nothing left for me to do but dance
Off these bad times
I’m going through just dance
I got canned heat in my heels tonight
BabyYou know know know
I’m gonna dance yeah
Off the nasty things that people say
Dance yeah but I’m gonna make it anyway
Dance yeah got canned heat
Up my heels tonight baby
You know I’ve got canned heat in my heels
Jamiroquai - "Canned Heat"

A Couple Interesting Comics I Found Online

2005-12-16T13:03:00.000-05:00

Social Security (Click on comic to enlarge)

The Bias of Polls (click on picture to enlarge)

Where Is Christmas Going?

2005-12-16T10:18:00.000-05:00

I really enjoyed this article on Christmas.

12/14/2005 1:56:00 AM
Good grief! What are they doing to Christmas?By Ron GilmanHoward County Republican Party treasurer
“Good grief, Charlie Brown! What are they doing to Christmas?” You can almost hear Linus utter these words as you observe all the controversy surrounding Christmas and its traditional celebrations and expressions. It is enough to cause the merriest among us to become a Scrooge, and say, “Bah, Humbug!” to the whole thing!Is it a Christmas tree or a holiday tree? Do we wish a merry Christmas or happy holidays? Can a nativity scene be displayed? Is it a Christmas vacation or a winter break? It is hard for me to believe we actually have these questions asked.I was elated when the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), requested the Capitol tree be called a Christmas tree. Can you believe it? A U.S. congressman had to officially request that a Christmas tree be called a Christmas tree. It is about time somebody at his level spoke out in favor of tradition.Many people argue that public displays of Christmas are offensive to people who do not celebrate the season or have a different religious belief. I have a suggestion for those who are offended by Christmas: Don’t celebrate it.I do not celebrate Hanukkah, but I am not offended by a menorah. I do not celebrate Kwanzaa, but I am not offended by those who do. Unfortunately, Christmas is not afforded the same tolerance as other celebrations.Why does Christmas seem so offensive to some people? For years, many Christian conservatives have suggested that Christianity is under attack. I would submit that an all-out war has been declared. Anything that remotely acknowledges God or His son, Jesus Christ, is subject to attack.Just a few weeks ago the U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Indiana, David Hamilton, ruled that ministers who open Indiana legislative sessions with prayer must refrain from praying “in the name of Jesus,” and from using Christ's name. Is it not ironic that a judge basically outlaws Jesus’ name just a few weeks away from the worldwide celebration of His birth? Unbelievable.Folks, let’s get real; this is Christmastime. It is a time when we stop to acknowledge that God sent His only son Jesus Christ into this world. If it were not for Christ, there would be no Christmas. We decorate Christmas trees, send Christmas cards, shop Christmas sales and wrap Christmas presents! We eat Christmas dinner, watch Christmas specials and shop after-Christmas sales! School children receive a Christmas break, and parents save money in Christmas club accounts. Yet, in all of this, Christ is still acknowledged, if only in name. Let’s not lose that.From the Gilman family to yours, we would like to wish all of you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. And this year say “phooey” to the political correctors. Wish them a merry Christmas too! (Ron Gilman is the Howard County Republican Party treasurer, writing monthly as a columnist for the Kokomo Perspective.)

Crazy Mountain Bike Discovery

2005-12-14T12:11:00.000-05:00

Today I came across the most extreme mountain bike I have ever seen. A company called Christini, is now making All-wheel drive mountain bikes. http://www.christini.com/index2.php
Jeep contracted for them to produce a line of mountain bikes called the Jeep Rubicon Classic AWD Mountain Bike. I spent a little bit of time researching into it and the bike is quite a piece of work. The rear tire is driven conventionally by a chain from the pedal, but a shaft is connected to the rear hub by a gear and then that shaft runs up through the tubing of the bicycle to the handlebars where it meets another shaft that runs down to the forks of the bike. That shaft then connects to a gear on the hub of the front tire which drives it. If the rider does not always wish to be in 2-wheel drive the front tire can be disengaged by a lever on the handlebars. This is quite a bike, with a pricey sticker too, anywhere from 2-3 grand depending on where you look. I guess if you’re climbing a lot of gravel or mud it might come in handy, but at 2-3k I think I'll stick with my $700 1 – wheel drive Schwinn Moab.

The Last Full Week of School

2005-12-12T15:03:00.000-05:00

Today began the last full week of school before Christmas Vacation. It is hard to believe that the first semester has almost come to a close. I know this week will probably fly by fairly fast since I will be finishing up chapters with my students and preparing them for finals next week. Also, Today was a shortened day because of fog. It is always nice to sleep in, even if it is only until 8.

On a completely different subject, my nephew Drake was dedicated yesterday at my sister and her husband’s church. My brother and his wife drove down Saturday night stayed with my wife and I. Many of our other relatives also showed for the occasion. My great aunt and uncle even flew up from Florida, which was a great surprise. I don’t know when I saw them last. Afterwards we all went to Bob Evans for lunch, where my brother-in-law treated us.

Our New Family Blog

2005-12-07T13:17:00.000-05:00

Lisa and I started a blog to follow things that are going on with our family. It is
http://adamlisalong.blogspot.com

Thought Provoking Words by: Daniel Defoe

2005-12-07T09:34:00.000-05:00

I am currently reading Robinson Crusoe with my students at school. A particular quote from the book struck me today as I was reading it. There is so much truth in what the author Daniel Defoe said.

As to going home, shame opposed the best motions that offered to my thoughts; and it immediately occured to me how I should be laughed at among neighbors, and should be ashamed to see, not my father and mother only, but even everybody else; from whence I have since often observed how incongruous and irrational the common temper of mankind is, especially of youth, to that reason which ought to guide them in such cases, namely, that they are not ashamed to sin, and yet are ashamed to repent; nor ashamed of the action for which they ought justly to be esteemed fools, but are ashamed of the returning which only can make them be esteemed wise men

I found these words to be very thought provoking, I'm not going to say anymore, just let every reader ponder the words for themselves.

Pheasant Hunting

2005-11-30T19:56:00.000-05:00

This last weekend I spent the holidays with my in-laws in South Dakota. They were nice enough to buy me an out-of-state hunting license for the occasion. I went out twice with my father-in-law Rollie and brother-in-law Todd. We all ended up getting birds over the weekend. Since it was a little later in the season we had a bit of a hard time finding them. I think we walked a total of five or so miles in a couple of days. These were not easy miles either. Most of them were in ditches and plowed fields. It was all worth it though after getting that bird. What a feeling of achievement! The rest of the weekend was good too. Lots of food and a 2-2 record with Todd on Madden 06. I guess we'll have to play the tie breaker some other time. Happy Thanksgiving!

Nearing the End of 2005

2005-11-16T12:22:00.000-05:00

There is a lot that has happened this year. I thought I might take a moment and try to reflect on some of the highlights of my life over this past year. I think one of the fist things that happened was that my cousin Cara and her fiance Aaron got married in January.
Then, in February, a couple of my friends Josh and Julie got engaged on Valentines Day. Around this time, I was also diagnosed with Type I diabetas (which would begin a whole new lifestyle for me). To add fuel to the fire, I was also informed that I was to be riffed (layed off) from my teaching job at the end of the school term.
In March, I finished building the addition onto my Great-grandparents house where my wife and I were to live after our wedding. Around this time, my fiance (at the time) and I found out that her brother and his fiance were pregnant. At the end of March, my best friends treated me to a bachelor party at Damon's, Fast Tracks, and a couple other businesses in Indianapolis. The following week, my brother and I drove out to South Dakota for the wedding.
On April 2 my wife Lisa and I were married by my father at her home church. My sister was able to fly home from Germany for the event. Both sets of grandparents and my parents were also in attendance. From there, my wife and I left and went on out honeymoon to Branson, MO. When we returned to Indiana, we had our reception at my parents church. Not long after I returned home, I traded in my Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle for a Honda 750 Shadow Aero cruiser, which was quite a change from the crotch rocket. Lisa and I also made one of our favorite purchases, and that was that we added a new puppy to our family. We bought a Bichon Frise. She was so tiny and cute. We named her snuggles. We also found out during this month that Lisa, my wife, her brother and his fiance broke off their engagement. She no longer wanted anything to do with him. The rest of April seemed to fly by pretty fast, with the adjustment of our new life together.
In May I continued to teach and Lisa continued her work at the church. We found out, that Roy, my brother, and his wife had decided to move back to Indiana. That was exciting news. I couldn't wait to see him again. By the end of the month school was over, for good, and I was left searching for work.
Most of June I spent working for my grandfather at the farm and then started helping out at my parents' church on the new addition. It was quite an experience. At the end of the month, Lisa and I drove out to South Dakota to her cousin's wedding. It was nice to see all of the family again. We took Snuggles with us. I think most everybody fell in love with her. At the end of the month Roy and Steph moved all of their things to Northern Indiana, where they both recieved teaching jobs.
Over the 4th of July, Lisa and I went up and spent the weekend with Roy and Steph at her grandparents place on Lake Wawasee. Also during this month, I tried to get a job at a company called Fastenal, and even had a couple of interviews, but it did not pan out. I also interviewed at Wabash High School and at Hamilton Heights High School for Social Studies teaching positions, but they also fell through. Eventually, I was able to find a job at Rex Byers Heating and Cooling installing furnaces and Air Conditioning units.
A the beginning of August I was still working at Rex Byers when I recieved a call from Taylor saying that I could have my job back if I was still interested in teaching at the Alternative School. So, I told my new boss at Rex Byers that I was going to take my old job back teaching school. In the middle of the month, I went back to teaching at Taylor. Probably the biggest news that we got was that my nephew Drake was born in Germany. My sister and her husband have been living there while he works at Mercedes. Before August was over I went to Kokomo Auto World and traded the 2003 Corolla S for a 2002 Honda CR-V. Lisa fell in love with it.
Over Labor Day weekend Lisa's parents and brother came down and visited. We drove down to Indy and went shopping at Clay Terrace and then to the Canal and rode a 4 seater bike around it. For Lisa and I's birthdays we went to Indianapolis and spent the weekend. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency downtown.
The beginning of October was Lisa's birthday, we didn't really do much, other than go out to eat since we had just gone out the week prior. Lisa's brothers baby was also born in October. They named her Stella Marie (or should I say she named her that, Todd didn't really have much say in the matter). They sent several pictures so that we could see what she looked like. Roy called me up around the middle of the month and told me that he had found a Honda Civic for $2700. I drove up there and bought it. Then I put the Chevy Lumina of Lisa's out on the highway for sale. I was able to sell it within a few days for $1300. Near the end of the month, we went to the Fusion harvest party and also helped out at the BBC Student Ministry "Tate's Treasure Hunt". For Fall Break, Lisa and I went down to Columbus, IN to a Bed and Breakfast. While we were there we drove around Brown County State Park and also went to Nashville and Edinburg shopping. On our way home we ate at BD's Mongollian, Lisa's favorite place to eat.
In November there was a lot of stress going on because my nephew Drake was patiently waiting for his passport to arrive. My brother-in-law was able to come home, but my sister and Drake had to stay in Germany because his passport never came. While Brad was home we took dad to Bicycle Garage in Indy and bought him a Trek 3700 mountain bike for Christmas. Roy and Steph also came down for a Thanksgiving with Brad at his sister Lori's house. The latest thing that has happened is that our puppy snuggles went into heat last week. We are taking her to the vet tomorrow to have her spade. Sunday we will be going over to Grandma Long's for Thanksgiving and then on Tuesday, Lisa and I will be driving to South Dakota for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Monster

2005-11-07T14:30:00.000-05:00

Hey, if you want to read a good, clean, suspenseful book, I found one. It has been a long time since I sat down and read a novel all the way through. I just finished a book called The Monster by Frank Peretti. It revolves around hikers in Idaho and scientific research on DNA gone bad. Frank Peretti is an awesome author! I started reading the book on Friday and finished it today (Monday). It only took me four days, and it was 419 pages. If I would of had more time I probably could have read it all in one setting. I think I have read every book Peretti has every written, minus the kids novels. It has taken him 6 years to publish this book since his last one, so it has been a long time comming.

Way to Go Colts!

2005-10-18T19:47:00.000-05:00

I have to say, the Colts made a great comeback last night. Wow, down 0-17 in the first quarter and to come back and win 45-28 at the end. This makes the 6th straight win for the Colts bringing them to a 6-0 record for the season. Manning and Harrison also set a new passing touchdown record. I wish them the best, hopefully they will make it to the Superbowl and win this year. They deserve it.

Another Interesting Take on Katrina - Author Unknown

2005-09-28T07:58:00.000-05:00

In 1927, a major unnamed hurricane struck the city of New Orleans . It was actually more powerful than Katrina. The scope of damage was much more severe because this particular hurricane actually hit the city. Katrina missed it by 25 miles. The interesting difference is the response the government gave in 1927 to those hurricane refugees, compared to the refugees of Katrina, err- I meant "survivors" ---(sorry Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson). How much aid did the government dispense at that time? Zero, nada, not one dime. And you know how much aid the army offered? The only aid from the army came in the form of loaning the city of New Orleans tents and camp stoves. Ironically, later, the army sued the city for reimbursement. So what was the big difference here? It was the attitude the people had towards the government at that time, compared to the attitude that Katrina's victims have. The 1927 "survivors" expected nothing from the government. 80 years ago, people understood that the government was there to "protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Today, Americans expect the government to "provide life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." That's a major difference. And now, a week later, when the government failed on all three levels of local, state, and federal to provide for their needs, Americans were sorely disappointed. Reverend Jackson and reverend Sharpton spend their opportunities arguing about semantics."They shouldn't be called refugees, they should be called survivors" Unfortunately, they missed the boat. It was a perfect opportunity to deliver a very basic m! essage to their people. Fact, if you are poor and uneducated in America, this is what happens. Fact, if you depend on the government, you will be sorely disappointed. Fact, if you are poor in America, there is no reason for you to be uneducated. Its free! 12 grades. And if you really apply yourself, there is enough grants and assistance out there for higher education, which will raise you above the poverty level. And no longer will you depend on the government and be disappointed. Its unfortunate that this lesson will be missed by most of the "survivors". A couple of other points should be brought to light. G. W. has asked the congress for 50 billion dollars worth of aid for the "survivors" and clean up of the city. Interesting isn't it? one million people displaced and out of work in that city, sitting all da! y in shelters, waiting for the next handout. Of course, the thought never occurred to anyone that just maybe, "hey, we should give all these folks jobs filling sand bags to plug the levees and clearing trees." (Wonder how many of them would want government aid if they had to work for it?) And finally, they haven't hardly begun the task of picking up dead bodies, and already the finger pointing has started. The congressional hearings and probes will go forever. Millions will be spent on a wasted diatribe of a bipartisan "witch hunting expedition"- all of which will be nonsense. If you're a democrat, you are going to blame the president. If you are a republican, you are going to blame the mayor and the governor. This is another case in point of how th! e government will once again fail its people, they could have spent the millions educating the poor and misplaced citizens of New Orleans so that they could go out and get a new and better life, instead of wasting it on useless blame investigations.

One of the sweetest sites I have found in a while

2005-09-19T20:55:00.000-05:00

Today I found a sweet web site. In fact, every since I got home from work, I have been playing around with what I printed off. The site is called papertoys.com. Check it out! It is full of paper models of cars, buildings, etc. Just today I put together models of the White House, Wrigley Field, a school bus, and part of the World Trade Center. The coolest thing about this site is that all of the models are absolutely free, no memberships, nothing. All you have to do is print the model out on your printer and make it. I would suggest finding some card stock paper, but everything I built I just used regular printer paper. I hope you find the site as enjoyable as I did.

How Much Can A President Really Do?

2005-09-14T08:08:00.000-05:00

I found this article in the Kokomo Tribune today and I really feel that this guy is right on in his thinking.

President Bush Isn't Mayor of America by: Mike Moran
When I voted for Bush last November, I voted for a president of the United States. I didn't vote for a mayor of America. There is a difference. Katrina seems to have gotten a lot of people confused. Could FEMA have done better? Yes, but that could and should be said of every person in leadership. It is totally unfair to put all the blame on Bush and the federal government, but that seems to have happened. After Sept. 11, 2001, America pulled together; we went to churches and prayed. After Katrina some people pointed an angry fist at God and said how could you let this happen. Bush became an easy target as he always is to the media. I will be very surprised if he comes out and tries to divert blame to the governor of Louisiana or the mayor of New Orleans. I will ask where their culpability is. Why is it always Washington that is blamed when evacuations were ordered and buses sat unused, when a governor refused to even send National Guard troops? Do you believe that the federal response to Katrina was faster than the last three hurricanes? It was! A former USAF logistics officer said "The United States military can wipe out the Taliban and Iraqi Republican Guard far more swiftly than they can bring 3 million Swanson dinners to an underwater city through an area the size of Great Britain which has no power, no working ports or airports, and a devastated and impassable road network." Why didn't the Feds pre-position supplies since they knew Katrina was bearing down on the Gulf Coast? You don't want to risk the supplies being destroyed by the storm - that's why! Roughly now, the size of the disaster area is three times the size of Indiana. Imagine every house in our state destroyed. Roads impassable, no electricity, everything south of I-64 under water. The closest usable airports were near St. Louis or Columbus, Ohio. I think they've done pretty good and what is most despicable is to introduce the race card. While it is so predictable from a certain segment of our political area, it is no more distasteful that those kinds of people need to cause divisions in our social fabric. The Jesse Jackson's of the nation need to foist these misconceptions and outright lies on us to advance their positions. Is America giving out of guilt or a sincere desire to help our fellow Americans? You have to answer that for yourself.

Bush Hates Black People Part II

2005-09-08T20:00:00.000-05:00

Since I read the article about what Kayne West said concerning George Bush I have thought about it more. Kayne's biggest criticism was and is that the media portrays African American "black" people as being the plunderers and looters and the white people as stealing useful goods needed for survival. Well, after thinking about it I have some advice. "Stop waiting for the government and the media to change their ways and instead point fingers at your own brothers and sisters. " In other words "PEER DISCIPLINE!". This advice is not only for my African American brothers and sisters, but also white, Hispanic, oriental, Arab, etc. If you feel like your ethnic group is being singled out that's because someone of your ethnicity has given them (the news media) something to smear all over the press. If we all do our parts in being tough on our friends and relatives when they are wrong, then there won't be anything negative for the news to write about. Sure, it sounds like a big task, but change starts with you and me first.

"Bush Hates Black People?"

2005-09-06T14:39:00.000-05:00

Well, as you have probably heard all over the news, according to Kayne West, Bush hates black people. I understand he has his right to an opinion, but at the same time, that is the kind of racist bull that many African American's complain about every day. If I got on live television and said that Rev. Jesse Jackson hates President George Bush I would be flogged. West, needs to get his facts straight. Bush is not the problem. George Bush is not the only leader involved in the decisions that are being made there in Louisiana, and I KNOW he is not in control of the news media (which is very left winged and liberal, read "The News Twisters" by Edith Efron, who is a liberal) whom Kayne is claiming is showing white people and saying they are looking for food and the African American people are looting and stealing goods. I am not saying that Bush does everything right, I'm just saying don't make this a racial issue. It appears to be a racial issue because there are so many more African American people living in the New Orleans community than there are Caucasian people. Lastly, West, you make a terrible sales person. You're suppose to win your audience over, not tick them off.

Praying For Our Troops

2005-09-01T10:02:00.000-05:00

I have a friend who is in Iraq. Hopefully he will be coming home soon. From all of the stories I have heard about his experiences there our prayers have really made a difference. I can't even imagine what it must be like knowing that every time you walk outside you could be the next person killed or wounded by a sniper, land mine, or car bomb. Especially when people you worked with every day are no longer there because they have been killed. The terrorists don't use conventional means of warfare, they do not play by the rules because they have no rules to live by except to disrupt any form of peace and stability. It is their goal in life to make everyone afraid of them so that they have full control. It is sad, they not only fight against our soldiers, but they also kill their own people with no restraint against innocent women and children. I am so thankful to live in a country where most people have moral standards and respect for human life. Thank you to all military personal that protect and defend the homeland everyday by putting their lives on the line. God Bless You and God Bless the USA!
P.S. Were praying for you Nathan. Hang in there!

A Cool New Website

2005-08-29T09:56:00.000-05:00

I went over to a friends house yesterday and he showed me a really cool website. Maybe its not a new find for some people, but if you have never seen it, you have to go check it out. It is at earth.google.com The website is a satellite image of the whole earth and you can zoom in on specific locations. All of the images are a couple of years old, so anything that has been built since then will not appear. Some of the locations that I personally found interesting to view were; the Eiffel Tower, Ground Zero, Six Flags Over Arlington, TX, the Red Square, Russia and an Ariel view of my college campus.

I am an uncle!

2005-08-18T06:59:00.000-05:00

Last night my sister had her baby in Germany. They had to bring it C-section because it was so big. 21.5 inches and 8.5 lbs. My brother in law and sister are soo excited as is the rest of our family. They named it Drake Garrison. It is too bad we won't get to see it till the Christmas holiday, but they did e-mail pictures of it today. If you want to see it, just e-mail me and i'll forward the pictures to you. Well, i gotta get going. Today is the first teacher day at Taylor and I have to finish getting ready. Have a good one. God Bless.

Car shopping is the best

2005-08-15T21:48:00.000-05:00

Car shopping is something else. There is nothing like waiting several hours for a little bit of paper work to get done. Today I bought a Honda CR-V and traded in my Toyota Corolla S. It amazed me how much of my time the guys in that place could waste. Everytime I had a question, especially financially, they would go in a room and stand there for like 15 minutes and talk about what seemed like nothing and then come back with an answer. I think it was a whole mental game. But it did not work on me. I went in with a price I was willing to pay and I walked out paying that price. I am excited about the SUV. It still gets 25 mpg which is a good thing saying gas prices just went up to 2.69 today and it has a lot more room than my car had. It also has four wheel drive which will be nice in the winter, especially during those trips to South Dakota in the winter. I am really excited about my camping trip to Turkey Run next month. I can't wait to load it full of my camping gear. It has been a long time since I have had something that isn't a car. Its a good feeling!

Taylor Titans

2005-08-10T18:30:00.000-05:00

As of yeasterday I became a school teacher again. I recieved a call from the Teacher's Union VP and he offered me my old job back. I guess the union worked over the summer to get all of the teachers who had been riffed, layed off, jobs back. After they saw the surplus that the school was going to have in a year, well over 1 million dollars, they decided that the school really could afford to keep all the teachers they claimed that they no longer needed. So, good news for me. I am excited to know that my classroom is going to be in the high school building this year and that I may get to teach a couple of elective history classes.
The HVAC work is going well also. I will be done there next week. Today I worked on a house in Cicero that was over 8000 sq ft. It was awesome! (5 bedrooms, 4 full baths and 3 half baths, a library, wet bar, wine cellar, 7 person jacuzzi, 3 story deck, a kitchen the size of my house with all stainless steel jenaire appliances, a master bathroom with a countertop and cabinets larger than my kitchen, and all this in a beautiful woodsy setting) It all comes with a price though, but I guess you can afford that if you're an anesthesiologist. Maybe if i went together with a couple of other couples I could build a house like that... nah.

Is it already August?

2005-08-08T21:48:00.000-05:00

My goodness, time does really fly. It seems like just yeasterday that I was on here talking about my new job. Now I am in my third week working there. The job has been going well. I have learned a lot and I am really enjoying it. I have learned how to install heaters, AC unites, heat pumps, and I have also installed bathroom fixtures and PVC. I am not sure if I will be working there much longer though, not because I don't want to, but tomorrow I will find out whether my old job is going to call me back to teach. I have mixed feelings about it. I really would like to stay where I am, but it would be insane to turn down the opportunity to return to my former school to teach and there is a huge salary difference. Tomorrow there is going to be a metting at school where a couple other teachers will have the chance to take the position that I had, but it is very likely that they will turn it down giving the type of students and classroom that they would have to teach. For some reason most people do not want to teach students who are not well motivated and have been in trouble. or in other words, the students who would be in my class. Well speaking of work, I have to start work at 6 a.m. so I need to be heading to bed. Goodnight

Jehovah Jirah "My Provider"

2005-07-22T22:58:00.000-05:00

Is it just me or does it always seem that God does not answer prayers the way that we wish He would. I have been looking for a job for most of the summer and it just seems like doors keep closing left and right. I had a job offer a couple of weeks ago to work doing HVAC, heating and cooling, but I was not sure that was the job I wanted to settle for. Since that time, I pursued very strongly a sales position and have continued to pursue a teaching career. Well, this past week I had interviews with both positions and today I discovered that they are not going to pan out the way I had hoped they would. In the mist of all this, I have been praying and asking God to do what He knew was best for my wife and I. Today was the deadline to tell the heating and cooling place what I was going to do, so I called them back and told them that I would take the job. This was really a hard decision for me, because it consists of a cut in my salary and a longer work schedule. But, I have to believe that God knows what He is doing and He has the best in mind for me. I know it is and will be easy to get discouraged over this job, but as my father put it, "A job in the hand is better than no job at all." I plan to make the best of it and will try to prove to the company that I am a hard worker and worth having on their pay roll. Hopefully my hard work will pay off and I will get a raise in time.

Wow, its been a long time

2005-07-18T18:47:00.000-05:00

Hey ya'll. Sorry it has been so long since I wrote one of these things. I have been crazy busy between working on a construction crew building a church and looking for a full time job, I have not had much time to do anything else. On top of that, my brother and his wife moved back to Indiana from North Carolina and I have spent most of my spare time with him. Speaking of the job search, it is going pretty well. I have had two interviews with a company called Fastenal in Lafayette, a job offer at a heating and cooling place, and I have an interview at Wabash High School in Wabash, Indiana this week. I am leaning toward Fastenal if they offer me the job. I would be an outside sales person who would go to different factories and construction job sites selling the products that the company has to offer.
On a side note, if you didn't know, my sister is going to have her baby next month. I will keep you all updated as to when the baby comes. Well it is about time for supper, hopefully I will be able to write again soon.

Comming Into the 21st Century

2005-06-23T20:00:00.000-05:00

Hey, I have finally moved out of the dial up mode. I have been using dial up at home since the early 90's and as of this week moved to the Cable modem. Oh what a joy to be able to stay online all day long and not have to wait forever for a page to load, or spend time losing watches at the library. Ever since I graduated from college I have missed high speed internet. Well, those days are gone, yeah!

The Watch Twice Owned

2005-06-15T16:41:00.000-05:00

Last week was one of those weeks that everything just seemed to go wrong. It all started when I went to the library to check my e-mail , oh how i miss my ethernet at school! I sat down and wrote my sister an e-mail and my wrists started hurting because of my watch, so i decided to take it off and type without it on. So, I proceeded to place it beside the keyboard where I was typing. My wife sat down beside me and also started working on the computer next to me. I got finished before she did with her solitare game. So, I decided to go check out the VHS and DVD selections. While I was looking she came over and started looking at them with me. When we found what we wanted, we checked them out and went to Cone Palace for ice cream. As I was driving home I realized that I had not picked up my watch off of the computer counter. So, I proceeded to return to the library to retrieve it. I went back to the computer and it was gone. So I went to the front desk and asked them if anyone had found it and turned it in. They asked around and no one had turned it in, but one lady had seen it but thought i hads gone to the bath room. It was gone! About that time my frustration level was running high and i walked outside where my wife was waiting in the car, and proceeded to hit the hood of my 2003 Toyota Corolla S. When I got home I still was in a bad mood and went straight to bed. In the morning when I got ready to get in my car to go to work, I noticed there was a nice fist sized dent in my hood, Great! I put up the hood and did my best to push it out. It doesn't look nearly as good as it once does. I talked to my brother on the phone and he suggested that I put up a reward sign in the library so I did. OK, so that all happened Tuesday and Wednesday and now it is Wednesday a week later. I was driving home today and I got a phone call from a girl saying that she thought that she had my watch, so I went to the bank and got out the money that I promised as a reward and drove to their house and exchanged for it. So, now I am out $100, but at least I have my $500 watch back that to me is now worth $600. At least the second time was cheaper than the first. I doubt I would have spent much more than 100 on a new one anyway. So, oh well thats life and my stupid mistake. Tomorrow I will have renters insurance too that should cover anymore stupid mistakes I may make, but hopefully I won't have to use it.

Beware of the Goose!

2005-06-06T19:22:00.000-05:00

This weekend was pretty busy, but fun. I spent much of it working at my grandparents' farm bailing hay and mowing, always a good time! Saturday evening Lisa and I decided to go out and get away from the house. We called up my cousin Brandon and invited him to go with us to Indy. He just finised his freshman year of college, so of course he was bored too (theres nothing like the change from college life to being home all summer with the parents). We decided to go to Bennigan's for supper. I had the Monte Cristo. I know it was probably very high in calories and cholesterol, both things I am suppose to watch, but it was still good. From there we headed back North to Fishers and met Jesse and Erika at Cold Stone Creamery. That is the best ice cream joint in the world, I think. I had the cookie suprise. After enjoying all the ice cream my body could handle, we all headed up SR37 to Ben and Ari's miniature golf. This is where all the action really started, and the goose comes into the story if you were wondering. As soon as we walked onto the course we saw signs all around saying "beware of the nesting goose". For the first nine holes we did not see any goose and began to wonder if one really existed, then all at once there she was, her and the gander husband, who was guarding her very well. At this point in time the two girls freaked, especially my wife. I think she thought the thing was going to attack her. But they stood still like statues and watched us play through. We continued playing thinking the excitement was all over, when all of a sudden, the gander decided to make its way to the pond that was on the other side of our group. He was a very slow goose but I think he strategically planned his course so as to frighten the women as much as he could. Erika was ready to tee off at the hole she was on and the gander decided that he also wanted to be there at the same time. He slowly walked towards the cup and proceded to stand there as if to say, "don't even think about hitting that ball." Eventually he walked off the green and proceeded towards the pond, but once he saw that Erika hit her ball he headed back and prevented her from continuing. After about twenty minutes of waiting, our group was finally able to play the hole and finish our game, thanks to Jesse's pursuasion, which consisted of him waving his arms and jumping around like a madman (maybe not quite that extreme, but something like that). All in all we decided this putt-putt game would be one to put down in the history books as a once in a lifetime experience. When putt-putt was over we took Brandon home and Jesse and Erika headed back to Muncie. So if you want to go minature golfing at Ben and Ari's you might get more than you paid for, but its worth it.
p.s. For those of you who were wondering about my intervew with Hamilton Heights, I got a call today saying that I did not get the job, oh well its not the end of the world

My First Interview of the Summer

2005-06-01T19:15:00.000-05:00

It felt like my first day of kindergarden. Walking into a room with people I did not know, but knew they had my future in their hands. Yes, it was the dreaded interview. An interview is one of those things that you are glad that you have, but scared to death to be in. I'm not sure I can remember half of the stuff that they asked me or even what my responses were, I just know I was glad when the whole experience was done. I do know that I was one of four candidates that were selected for an interview and I will find out on Monday or Tuesday what they decided. Great! Now I get to bite my nails all weekend wondering and worrying about the decision that will be made. At least its only the 1st of June, if this doesn't work out maybe something else will come along. Hey, its not over till the fat lady sings...

Goodbye To A Good Year

2005-05-26T11:04:00.000-05:00

This is a bittersweet moment for me. I am about to walk out of a classroom that I have been teaching in for the past 10 months. This is probably the last time I will set foot in this room. Part of me is excited about the road ahead and what it may have to offer, but another part of me is scared to death not knowing what may lie around the corner. This kind of makes me feels like I have just gradated from college all over again and the fear and wonder that goes with the moment. But, tomorrow is another day with limitless opportunities. There will be many crossroads and hopefully, God willing, I will choose the right path.

A Tribute to Reggie Miller!

2005-05-25T12:51:00.000-05:00

After 18 years, the number one Pacers basketball player has put up his shoes for the last time. I have never been a huge sports fan, but I cheered for the Pacers whenever they played. I read the commemorative section in the Indianapolis Star today and was amazed at all of the accomplishments of Reggie Miller. I never realized we had our own Michael Jordan playing an hour from my home, that shows how much I know. I knew he was good, but after reading his stats I realized how amazing this man really was. In his 18 years as a Pacer he made 25,279 points, 7,680 of which were three point shots. He also made more than 60 consecutive free throw shots, twice. Who would have known this would be possible from a boy who wore braces on his legs as a child. It does help to be 6'7" but he also had a routine that he maintained; including going to the court 3 hours before any of his teammates to shoot to prepare for each game. You can literally say basketball was his life, and yet he still found time for those in need in the community. Reggie, we'll (Indiana Pacer fans) miss you.

Sadam Wears Whitey Tighties!

2005-05-20T15:00:00.000-05:00

The tabloids have once and for all proven that whitey tighties are of the devil. Case in point, Sadam himself wears them! But hey, I would be a tyrant too if I was forced to wear the bearers of the notorious skid mark. I believe in freedom, liberty and the right to... well you know what I mean. Seriously though, I don't get the hupla about Sadam in his whites. Don't tell me Sadam has never showed a little skin. Heck, everytime I go somewhere to swim, some old guy is wearing a speedo. Many guys get paid to pose in a pair of Haines, or whatever brand he's wearing. Who knows, maybe he'll get some brownie points with the ladies. Give me a break! This whole story is just one more attempt by the media to try to smear the current Bush administration. I have two words for them, wedgie time!

Oh Deer!

2005-05-17T10:03:00.000-05:00

Customer tackles deer in Neb. Wal-Mart
NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) -- So exactly how do you stop a charging deer in Wal-Mart? You take away its credit card. Shoppers at the Wal-Mart here wish they would have thought of that. It would have been a whole lot easier.
A deer without a grocery list entered through the doors of the supermarket part of the store Thursday.
The store's greeter didn't see the deer enter through the exit, but she did see the critter when it hit the slick floor and fell. It quickly recovered and went scurrying down the aisles.
After doing a little looking around, the deer was tackled by a customer. Others of the human persuasion then tied the deer's legs so it couldn't kick, placed it in a shopping cart and pushed it outside. Officials took the animal to nearby Ta-ha-zouka Park and released it.

What can I say, even the animals have figured out that Wal-mart is the place to be. They do have a great produce section, its an animal's paradise! I can't blame the deer, there arn't too many gardens to raid these days, its sad, they have to resort to "Wallyworld" to steal food. Speaking of animals, I think I saw a few in Wal-mart last night... and a mullet or two.

Under the Weather

2005-05-11T10:54:00.000-05:00

Aaarrrggghhhh, I hate colds. Yeah, its one of those days. I woke up this morning and couldn't even talk. It made for an interesting situation trying to explain to parents over the phone that we were not having school today. I had to repeat myself several times so that the parents could understand what I was trying to relay to them. It is nice to have a paid day off work, but it would also be nice to be able to breath and not have the sound of the ocean going through my brain. Hopefully the Robutusin does its job and I can be back to normal tomorrow. Gotta love this Indiana weather, so unpredicatable, who would have thought a cold in the middle of May. Goosefraba!! (watch Anger Management you'll understand)

Riding In A Blaze of Glory

2005-05-05T09:44:00.000-05:00

Last night I rode my 2003 SV1000S Suzuki to Max Pitts in Peru, Indiana to see what they would give me on a trade. I saw a used Yamaha V-Star Silverado on their web page that I was interested in trading for. I had the store give me a quote and then determine what they could do on the bike. Well, before the evening was over, I ended up with a better deal than I planned to come home with. Instead, I rode home on a 2005 Honda Shadow 750 Aero Cruiser. It is awesome. It sounds just like a Harley.
This will be so much more comfortable for my wife and I. My dad and grandpa really liked it too and they are a tough crowd to please. I would recommend one to anyone. To all you bikers out there happy riding and be safe, and to all those non-bikers, don't forget to lookout for us.

Where does the time go?

2005-05-04T13:43:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed, that when you have something you need to get done there is never enough time? But when you are bored to death, or somewhere you have to be (but don't want to) it drags on forever? Wouldn't it be nice if we could take that time, when we are bored, and bank it for times when we could really use it. For instance, right now, at school, time is going slower than a turtle. It is so nice outside and I am sitting at a desk watching students do their class work. I would much rather be outside taking my motorcycle for a spin or something more productive. Oh well, I am getting paid to be here. Then, there are those times, like when I get home from work, that seem to go by so fast. It is amazing how much I can not get done at home. It seems like as soon as I eat supper and get a project done, it is 10 pm and I need to start heading to bed. Oh, to be back in the glory days of college where I had so much time to relax and do whatever the heck I wanted to. Those days when bills were delayed till I finished school. Granite, I don't miss the homework and tests. But, now I am paying for those nice years of relaxation with college debt...which I could write a whole-nother blogg about. Well, for all of you who are in the same boat that I am in, I feel for ya. Keep on keepin on.

Why People Choose Unemployment

2005-04-28T14:06:00.000-05:00

I think I have figured out why people choose unemployment over finding a job. I have spent the last several weeks online filling out resumes and looking for job openings since I have been RIFT (layed off indefinitely) as a school teacher. My school corporation, along with about every school corporation in Indiana is in a world of hurt financially. In the midst of that, I have tried to keep my head up and look for a school that is hiring. I have to admit though, this is the most time consuming and yet the least rewarding task ever. I do not think I can recall how many resumes I have filled out, each taking at least thirty minutes, and have had only one response. (That wasn't even a call for an interview, but rather a note saying my information was recieved). If a guy like me, with a four year bachelor's degree has this much difficulty finding a job, its no wonder so many un-schooled people sit on their kiesters on the couch and happily recieve welfare checks. I'm not sure what the solution is, but the job search is a real pain! Oh yeah, one more thing, The ISTA (Indiana State Teachers Association) and the NEA (National Education Association) have done jack squat to help. So much for the $900 I gave them this year to help me. No, they are too concerned with electing democrats and making sure young women can have abortions.

Snuggles

2005-04-25T08:40:00.000-05:00

If you read my last blogg, you know that my wife and I were going to go look at a puppy. Well, now that puppy is a member of our family. We bought a 7 week old female bischon frise. She is adorable! We named her Snuggles. She is about 8 inches long, 6 inches high, and full of energy. She runs back and forth on the laminate flooring in the kitchen and then stops and does a Pete Rose. It is awesome. She also loves to lay in our laundry and sleeps all the time. The only problem we have had is that the first couple of nights she whined all night. Last night was better though, she slept all night. I think it helped that we put her in out room and left a light on. From what I can tell, she is going to be a great addition to our family.

Searching for A Dog

2005-04-22T14:11:00.000-05:00

Me and my wife are ready to extend our family by adding a dog to it. I have been searching the newspaper trying to find the best buy. I found a bischon frise today and I am going to see if my wife wants to go look at it. The puppy is a little higher priced than I wanted. We have thought about getting a toy poodle, but the bischon is a nice dog too. Maybe we will get it, maybe not. We'll see. I can't wait. I really would like to have a puppy.

In Sickness and In Health

2005-04-19T14:07:00.000-05:00

It has been over two weeks since I got married and Lisa and I both have now experienced the "In sickness and health" side of marriage. It all began last Thursday when I went home from teaching all day. I felt terrible and went straight to bed. Before the night was over I had bowed down to the porcelain god more than ten times, ugh. Poor Lisa, she kept running in to give me moral support. I felt so bad for her standing there hearing and smelling all that. Thankfully, it was only a 24 hour bug and I was back on my feet the very next day, after spending the morning in bed. (Saturday was our wedding shower back here in Indiana so if I would have still been sick, it could have been real interesting, especially with her family being at our house for the weekend.) The story gets better, or worse though. Lisa came home from work last night (Monday) not feeling well and said she thought she had the same symptoms. Sure enough, before the night was over she had her head in an old ice cream bucket(her preference)and returned the favor for me. I talked to her on the phone a while ago and I think she is feeling better now. Yeah, one marriage hurdle crossed!

Spring Is Here!

2005-04-14T08:29:00.000-05:00

I never thought I would say this, but it was so nice to get on the lawnmower last night. There is just something about the smell of fresh cut grass and the feeling of acomplishment that follows a nicely cut lawn. I have to say, I love Spring. It is not too cold and its not too hot. Sunday was great also. Lisa and I took out my motorcycle and cruised around town. We went and saw our friends Josh and Barbie. Josh took my motorcycle for a spin. I think he was ready to keep my bike after the experience. He couldn't believe the difference between it and the Harley-Davison's that he grew up riding. He returned with a bit more humility though too. He told us that he tried to show off for another biker and stalled it at an intersection. lol! When he got back, a guy on a peddle trike ice cream cart rode by their house and we bought some ice cream. Leave it to my wife to buy the most expensive item on the menu. Oh well, I enjoyed my 50 cent ice cream sandwich. I'm not gonna complain. Hey its Spring!

Friggin Idiot!

2005-03-30T13:07:00.000-05:00

Today is the last day of school before I head to South Dakota for the wedding. It is also the last day of this six weeks, so I let one of my students bring in the movie Napoleon Dynamite. The movie is so funny. For those of you who have not seen it, the movie revolves around a nerdy red head boy going through the challenges of the teenage years. He wears the strangest clothes, desires to be popular, with no sucess, and can't seem to pick up a chick for trying. It wasn't so funny though when I was in his place. It makes me so happy to know that those years are past. I hated high school and always feeling like such a nerd. It is amazing what a few years in college and in the real world will do your confidence. Back then I wore the nerdy clothes and was nervous when it came to talking to girls, especially the ones that I thought were cute. Along those lines, it is a relief to know that I will be married in three days and the dating game will be over for the rest of my life. A special thanks to all of my friends, especially Roy and Jesse, who stayed by me during those years when everyone else thought I was a nerd.

To Live or Let Die

2005-03-23T08:36:00.000-05:00

What is society coming to when judges no longer stand up for what is right. Ever since Roe v. Wade the court system has seen fit to end the lives of innocent human beings. Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought the court was set up to make sure that every person was treated equally and that good always wins. Instead today, the court system is the big bad wolf who sees fit to destroy as many innocent people as possible. I don't get it, the courts should be ending lives of murders and rapists, but no, they are ending the life of an innocent woman, Terri Schivo because her husband, who has a history of abuse, wants her dead. Something doesn't make sense. Even the President, Congress, and the American people see what is right and yet this country's judges are making the wrong choice. Whatever happened to impeachment? In my opinion, there are several judges who need a trial of their own, ending in a guilty verdict. www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,151227,00.html

Chips Are for Cookies Not People

2005-03-17T09:07:00.000-05:00

Last night I watched the movie The Manchurian candidate. It really made me think and worry. In the movie, there were scientists who implanted computer chips into a group of military men. These chips allowed the people who installed them to add and delete information in the peoples memories. Sounds like something out of a science fiction novel. You may say, this will never really happen, but I beg to differ. My sister and her husband took their dog with them to Germany and in order to do so they had to have a chip inserted behind the dogs head with all of it's vital information. How long will it be before countries begin to say that you have to have a chip in your own head before you will be allowed to enter or leave a country. It sounds like a great idea, heck you could put your medical information, identification, credit card information, and criminal history all on this little device and it could be easily accessed by a machine. No longer would you have to worry about carrying money or credit cards, everything would be saved on your little chip. Maybe you could even unlock your car and drive it just by scanning it. My question is, what price would we pay for this convience? Is it possible that who ever installed these devices could control a humans thoughts and actions? Are we only a couple steps away from the mark of the beast?

"He causes all, both small and great rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666." Revelation 13:16-18 KJV

Getting Married...Or Not

2005-03-14T09:56:00.000-05:00

Is it just me or does it seem like you always have at least one friend who can't seem to keep a significant other. My friend who falls into this category called me last night and wanted to get together to talk. He told me that his latest relationship was over, suprise! Last time I talked to this guy, he was soon to be getting engaged and was already planning his wedding. Sure, break-ups happen, but this isn't the first time this guy has been engaged or close to engagement and things have dissolved. This is at least the third or fourth time this has happened. I am at a loss for words. What do you say to a guy who can't seem to get it together? I see things that he is doing wrong, but he is already torn enough, right now the last thing he needs is one more critic. The thing is, he is a nice guy, a college graduate, and he has a steady job. Maybe he could use a little help from Mr. Hitch.

The Silent Killer

2005-03-09T09:58:00.000-05:00

To prepare for my up and coming marriage I am reading a book called The Most Important Year In A Man's Life, What Every Groom Needs to Know, by Robert Wolgemuth and Mark Devries. In this book I came across an interesting fact. Divorce dramatically increases the likelihood of early death from stroke, hypertension, respiratory cancer, and intestinal cancer. Astonishingly, being a divorced non-smoker is only slightly less dangerous than smoking a pack (or more) of cigarettes a day and staying married! (Should divorce papers come with the surgeon general's warning, too)?" Wow, that's tough stuff. Think, fifty percent of marriages end in divorce, that is a lot of people who are at risk for these complications. Maybe more people should count the cost before walking down the aisle. I fear too many people do not take marriage seriously and go into the covenant with one foot out the door in case things are not really the way they think it should be. Marriage was not designed with a 90 day return policy, but rather as a lifetime commitment, "Till death do us part".

Respect...What is that?

2005-03-08T10:35:00.000-05:00

As I have shown in my profile, I am a teacher. I spend seven hours of my day with middle school and high school students. Since this is my first year of teaching, I have no frame of reference except my own experience as a student, but I wonder if respect for authority has long been lost. I have one student in particular who always has something smart to say when I ask him to do his work or sit down. This young man thinks he is funny, but I view it as a lack of respect. I remember when I was a child, if I even delayed in doing what I was told, I knew there would be dire consequences at school and at home. Not only were there negative repercussions from adults, but my own peers would have looked down on me. Today, it seems like the students who are the most disrespectful are the students that the pretty girls and many of the boys want to date and be like. What has happened? I think the key to this issue is that many parents have changed their roles from being parents to being their child's "buddy". Parents were not given children to be their "friends", they were given children to nurture and train them to be successful individuals that can turn around and be good leaders and parents. I fear if this trend continues, the school system will continue to fail, because students are not giving teachers the time of day and there is no way that instruction time be successful. If taxpayers want to blame anyone, take a look at themselves first, before pointing fingers at us.

When Life Throws You A Curve

2005-03-07T14:16:00.000-05:00

Growing up I always thought I would be the strong one, the healthy one, the one that lived on longer than anyone else. Why not, I could run a mile under 5 minutes, I was all-confrence all-county in Cross-country, and I rode a bicycle from CA to FL, NY to FL and around the perimeter of Wales in the United Kingdom, not to bragg, but to prove my point. If I have done all of this then why am I the one to be diagnosed with Diabetes at the prime age of 25? Just when my life seems to have been getting on its way. I just started my teaching job, I am soon to be married, and I just finished building a place to live and whammo this strikes. Talk about a blow. It makes a person such as I ask why? Why me? Why now? Why not when I am 60, old and grey. At the same time, I am trying to be optimistic. Sure, the sugar tests and shots of insulin are a pain(literally), but it could be worse. I know there are many others who have much worse problems than myself. I could be going through chemo, or know that I only have months to live. So I have chosen to make the best of the situation and press on even though I once again have learned that life is not a bed of roses. I sure am glad this world is not my home. One day I will have a new body, a heavenly body, thank you Jesus.

Are We Boiling?

2005-03-04T13:16:00.000-05:00

For those of you who are "politically correct" I am going to probably upset you, and honestly, I don't care. Is it just me or is it virtually impossible to watch a television show anymore without being forced to view lewdness and gender confused individuals? Will and Grace, Friends, ER, Survivor (those are network shows) and the obvious Sex and the City. My question is, are there really that many Americans who wish to view homosexuality and nudity, or are we being forced to lower our standards? It pains me to see so many people who would not normally condone such behavior support and watch such filth. I know I am also to blame in this scenario. At what point do we stand up and say enough is enough? Lets not forget, a frog is easily boiled alive when sitting in a pot of water that is slowly turned up. We're in the pot.

Why Can't the Cows Be Milked an Hour Later?

2005-03-03T13:38:00.000-05:00

More than likely, no matter where you're from you've probably heard about the daylight savings time dispute in Indiana. Hey, I know all of you non-Hoosiers think Indiana is in the dark-ages when it comes to setting back the clock. To tell you the truth, don't point fingers at all of us. We're not really that lazy, when it comes to changing our clocks. Rumor has it that some dairy farmer somewhere says his cows refuse to be milked on a differnt schedule, but they seem to do fine in Wisconsin. Plus, I only know of one dairy farm even remotely close to where I live, and let me tell you there are plenty of farms to go around, because I don't live in the city. The real issue here has more to do with politics. Just like yeasterday when a certain political party associated with donkey's left the congressional session because they wanted to flex their muscles and left 132 bills in limbo including daylight savings time. So next time you want to blame someone because Indiana doesn't have daylight savings time thank your fellow Democrat.

Schools out...Or is it?

2005-02-17T10:12:00.000-05:00

It's Great Americans Day, or Presidents Day for us old guys, yeah no school! But wait a minute. Not anymore. Now the school board says that the students have to go to school because of a snow day that the students received the day after Christmas Vacation. I don't get it. What was the purpose of setting up a day off school if they are going to make the students go anyway. What a disappointment! Is it really going to set back a students education by letting them get a day off between Christmas and Spring Break? I teach these students. They come in day after day, because the government tells their parents they have to, and have information shoved down their throats. I'm not saying that education is bad, only that an individual can only take so much boredom. I say give the students more time off school to allow them to be a kid. We expect them to act like adults eight hours a day five days a week. I know college students that don't have that kind of schedule. When is a child suppose to play? After school? No, most students stay after school for activities and then there is homework to do. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think the schools would be ahead by giving the students a day off. Then maybe the students and teachers wouldn't be so stinkin grouchy.