Farside

"What the.....now Edgar is gone!!! Something is going on around here!!!



Gary Larson's Farside cartoons made me laugh every day when I was growing up.
There is someone that is creating the cartoons in real life. You can see their work by Clicking Here.

Twitter

Okay...So Color me nerdy but I am looking into making an app in java that will let me post to anywhere that I want to: blogger/twitter/facebook...Kind of like shozu.com but it will actually work well....
I will keep everyone posted!

One More Pic From Costa Rica

Probably one of the best pictures of my ugly mug in a while.
It helps that my wife is in it (definite improvement)

For Christmas

I think that for Christmas, all I REALLY want is to do nothing....maybe glaze my eyes over and stare at the wall.

A Picture from Woodward

I have been in Woodward Oklahoma for the past few days. This is a picture from one of the few restaurants in the town.

About the Only Pics I have

Lame I know. But until I hit up my family for better shots, these are the only one's that I have after having my stuff stolen in San Jose Costa Rica.

I will post later on what I actually will take away from this experiene, but I will post that later after I have a second to breathe and gather my thoughts.

Here is a little buddy:


Here is a flower:


Here is the view of one of the hotels that we stayed at while waiting to get my passport.

vamos a ustados unidos

Finally! After a frustrating few days, the airline finally got us tickets for an earlier flight...Weather permitting, we should be in Dallas tonight and on our way home.
After everything we have been through, we are still very grateful to be as blessed as we are. At the embassy on Monday we talked with many people that were much worse off. Yesterday we met a guy from Spain that had been stranded here for a year.
God is good all the time.
I cannot wait to be in the States again.

Hola from Costa RIca

Just wanted to drop a quick note from our hotel in Costa Rica. Yesterday we went to the LaPaz waterfalls and saw some animals: monkeys, butterflys and assorted hummingbirds. I am trying to upload some pics, but it is taking a bit because although they have "wireless" the wireless router is connected to a pc with a 56 kbps modem.
I will write more when we arrive in Jaco later today.

Oh tis the season

As the caption on the website says "You Kinda have to feel for the poor dog."

Hmmm...

Meteor Over Edmonton

Bruce Lee

I saw this clip and I thought it was pretty neat. I am not sure if it is a redub, but if it is real, wow! Watch Bruce Lee play Ping Pong with a nunchucks.
Seeing as there is a guy in England that plays darts with 16 penny nails, I guess this is not too far fetched.


Whatever else he was, Bruce Lee embodied dedication.
What have you dedicated your life to?

Doing the right thing.

Even if it means losing, doing the right thing is ALWAYS the correct thing to do:

I hate the Cowboys

America's Team. Blech...Blah Blah Give me Da Bears.
That being said, This story is out of the Dallas News. It tells a story of Tony Romo. The guy that was lambasted by the media. This is the guy that has been given a slap in the face time and again by modern media. I won't pretend that this has anything to do with his prowess as a football player, but as a person and good human being, I would be hard pressed to say anything bad about him.
We need more people in the world like Tony Romo.
I still hate the Cowboys, but kudos, props and bravo to Tony Romo.
Here's the story **CLICK HERE FOR THE ORIGINAL**

A homeless man who goes by Doc was cashing in change at a Cinemark theater in Dallas when a guy walked up and offered to pay his way into the movie. Doc, who planned to spend his day passing out flyers for a few bucks, accepted a rain check before realizing that he recognized the generous gentleman.

"Was that Tony Romo?" Doc asked the kid behind the counter.

It sure was. Doc hustled across the street to the consignment store that paid him to occasionally pass out flyers and requested the day off. By the time he got back to the theater, "Role Model" had already started.

Romo, who confirmed the story but didn't want to elaborate, waved Doc over to sit by him and his buddy. Doc sheepishly mentioned that he hadn't showered in a few days.

"Don't worry about that," Romo said. "I'm used to locker rooms."

And so the $67 million quarterback and a man who doesn't have $6.70 to his name sat next to each other and shared laughs for 90 minutes or so.

For Romo, who made news by changing a couple's tire on the side of the road on the way home the night of the season opener, it was just another kind gesture to a random stranger. It meant the world to Doc.

"For me, it was a blessing," Doc said. "It came at just the right time. It gave me some encouragement and faith in mankind. I just wanted to say thank you."

Ya think he is cold?

Sorry. I thought this was funny.

Why I Dislike Uneducated Democrats

This is one of the reasons that I avoid debating politics with Democrats (for the most part). It comes from the crying of fouls over nothing, and side stepping almost every direct question that they are asked.
Unfortunatley, the same squeaking of change that got the wheel greased this past November 4th sounds suprisingly like a crabby child.
A lot of the times, the person that is yelling the loundest is usually the one that needs to check their facts.
below is an excerpt from the Huffington Post:

The small smear of red on the otherwise blue electoral map looks more like a minor bloodstain on a dirty Band-Aid than anything resembling a national political party. Who voted for McCain/Palin in bigger numbers than they even voted for Bush/Cheney? Only one shrinking group: uneducated white folks in the deep south and a few folks in Appalachia. Take away the white no-college-backwoods-and/or-southern McCain/Palin vote and the Republicans would have been approaching single digit electoral college oblivion.

Sarah Palin will never hold national office nor will any Republican at the presidential level for a long time to come. Why? Because America has uneducated jerks in it but is not a nation of uneducated jerks. The Republicans are done, hoisted on the petard of their own "southern strategy."

The Republican Party is only a step away from becoming the fringe of the fringe, identified more with cross-burning weirdoes wearing hoods, folks like the Alaska secessionist party, all those gun owners stocking up on assault weapons before the "Socialist/United Nations/Obama/Muslim" conspiracy comes to fruition, than with anything remotely like a serious national political force.

Gas

SOrry for the poor posts....haven't had much time. I wil get better. I promise...until then, here is a pic of some expensive gas...or not...do the math and you can see that I filled up for $1.75 per gallon

Nice Gas

Yeah....That is $1.89 for a gallon

Seek - Find - Love

The more i seek You, the more i find You, the more i find You, the more i love You, The more i seek You, the more i find You, the more i find You, the more i love You, The more i seek You, the more i find You, the more i find You, the more i love You, The more i seek You, the more i find You, the more i find You, the more i love You, The more i seek You, the more i find You, the more i find You, the more i love You, The more i seek You, the more i find You, the more i find You, the more i love You, The more i seek You, the more i find You, the more i find You, the more i love You,

First Fall Attempt

This was my first attempt at a panoramic using my tilt. We had a great time tonight. I will post more. Ouachita National forest was beautiful and it was 80 degrees on November 1st,2008

Vote Flipping - Hmmm...

So according to the DNC it is not likely that this "vote flipping could ever occur"
Interesting. Do you want to know how? Watch this video.

Pumpkin Carving

Okay. So my boycott of digg.com failed.

This is a pumpkin that I wish I had the time and or talent to make.
Take that Yoda.

Gas in Tulsa or Broken Arrow Oklahoma

Gas @ $2.37 in Tulsa and Broken Arrow.
Loving it.

Tweeps

Ok. I am, like most who use it, hooked on Twitter (Come follow me). This morning I added yet more people to my feed. I don't know if it is an innate curiosity to peek into people's lives or just the feeling of community one gets from doing something that everyone else is doing.

All I know is that I have found some prety interesting people. I enjoy it because it takes as much time as I want it to. It is a great way to take a peek at what other people do, think and say during the day. Kinda like eavesdropping except they want you to overhear.

I think that you should try it. If it stinks, and is no fun...quit. I cannot imagine anyone who actually gives it at least a half-hearted attempt, not liking it.

Give it a week, try it. Can't hurt.. and you may end up loving it.
Regardless of if you use it or not, tell me why.

Meteor over Oklahoma

This pic was snapped by an astronomy club on September 30th, 2008. I thought it was kinda cool so I am putting it here.

HAHA

Ok...really if you see nothing else in this video, watch for Senator Clinton laughing her head off.

Why I don't DIGG it any more.

As an IT guy, I truly appreciate the power of the net. I love the fact that if I want to find something out, no matter how obscure, I can usually find it. I used to like going up to www.digg.com because it..well it came up with lots of neat, obscure, and useful stuff. But until November 4th, I am going to boycot. I am tired of the massive anti-candidate material that is taking up the front page all the time. I know that there are some very interesting tid bits worth digging, but I am TIRED of the hired mugs that are basically spamming the site with anti-campaign propoganda. I really don't care if "Joe the Plumber": Dad is son-in-law of Charles Keating!.

I know that some of it is interesting, but I am pretty tired of the media trying to over-influence popular cultural sites.
Just my two cents, but I am done until after the election.

Bible Stories Told With Legos

I thought that this was pretty creative. Someone took a lot of time to put this together. CLICK HERE TO VIEW BIBLE STORIES

Can I have One of these?

Out of Position

So I beg the question: Are you exactly where you should be? Are you doing exactly what you should? Before you answer...my thought is that we are never exactly where we should be. God knows where we should be. In my mind...part of our job here is to do our best to get back where we should be. Kinda like a scale getting back to level. So again: What do you need to do, or give up, or pick up to get your life back to level?
I think that we strive to be more. More successful, more passionate, more in tune with God.
I won't go into it tonight, but success and God are NOT exclusive. In just about every way, each defines the other. What do you think about that?

Twister The Tiger at Safari

This is Twister. After feeding him a chicken leg, he decided to show us his appreciation by running at the fence and bouncing on it. I wasn't looking but knowing that there is a 800 pound tiger behind a chain link fence makes you feel VERY human. He probably viewed us as a better snack! J/K I am going to be talking about Safari's Interactive Animal Sanctuary for quite some time.

Safari's Animal Sanctuary

OK. I have been here almost 4 months and we went to Safari's Animal Sanctuary. I have to say that it was a truly wonderful experience. We got to feed tigers and lions (no bears) but oh my! (you knew that was coming. I think that I might try and volunteer there seeing as my attempt to help out with the youth at agcoweta.com is delayed by a few months (they have a six month mandatory waiting period). Here is a picture of a Liger (Dad was a LIon mom was a tiGER)


Here is a video of our friends feeding the liger:


I will post more about this later this weekend. We had a blast!

Amazing

It never fails and it never fails to amaze me how God provides exactly what I need and then some. Every time I falter and question whether I am on the right path He always lets me know which way to go. Either a gentle nudge or a hard smack upside the head...He lets me know...

My dad used to do something similar. It also amazes me how smart my dad has gotten in the past couple of years compared to how much smarter I was than him when I was growing up. EIther that or all of the self-imposed confidence that I had back then has been slowly leaking out of my ears and he hasn't changed too much. Well, either way. Props Dad! Thanks for the great foundation!
Props to God for shaping me and helping me to achieve more than I ever think is possible! Good family and good God, I am truly blessed

Funny what we do

To amuse a child.
Sometimes, it amazes me...the power of a child's amused smile. Sometimes...a small step out of your way completely makes someone else's day.

Man those glasses make me look hip.

Trip Back

Quick post before I sign off to watch the Bears game
Here is my godson Max...he is getting WAY TOO big.



I was in the Chicago area for about 36 hours. Way too short of a visit, but a short visit is better than none. I got to see my father for the first time since his accident. He is up and walking praise God.

Here is a picture of the lake from my parent's bedroom. This is one of my favorite times of the year to be up there, so I am glad that I got a chance to see it.



On the way back to the airport, we made really good time and got to stop by Portillo's. Finally a good HotDog and Cheezy Beef.



Looking forward to my next trip back!

Extra Effort and Natural Talent

How amazing is that catch?
What are you doing with your natural talent? Are you using it to the utmost? Or do you take it for granted? Do you seek to better yourself everyday? Or do you just wade through your day?
Like the guy who made the catch...try to push yourself to use your abilities and talents to go that extra distance today....I think that you will notice that by doing so, you feel a little bit better than before.

Sioux City

This week I am in Sioux City Iowa,Nebraska,south dakota. Three state reachable in about 5 minutes. Kinda neat. Off to learn more nerdy networing stuff, but first...breakfast! The picture is of a neaby steak house btw...the meat is prepared about 2 hours prior to eating it.

Short, Sweet, and on the Move

Wow...This is the first post NOT frm my phone in about...well since I got down here. KT's mom is down visiting and I finished homework early so I am blogging. Quickly. I am whipping up a proposal for an IT symposium that is being held in Sioux City, IA this week. That brings me to how my schedule has been.
In the past 3 weeks, I have: implemented a new backup system (restored 196 GB to a server in about 1.5 hours..wicked fast), I have decommisioned 3 servers and brought 3 new ones online, battled various 2k3 service pack issues as well as getting Sophos (Antivirus) up and running, there was a lot more, but I am sure ya'll r sleepin already (haha funny southern draaawl).

This week starts at about 4am monday morning. I drop KT and her mom off at the airport at 5am. I go to work and test out the new tracking system for the Rail-yard at the plant (Yes we have trains there). I fly out to Sioux City at 5 pm to get in at 10:30 pm. Tuesday and Wednesday I am at the symposium. Thursday I fly out at 1 pm and get back to BA (Broken Arrow, OK) at 5pm. Friday, I go to work and then fly into ORD at around 7 pm (Yes I will be in IL for about an hour, sorry, no wings stop this time) and I get to see my dad for the first time since his accident. I am REALLY excited to see the fam. It feels like YEARS. Anyways, my family is going to stop up to WI and visit on Saturday. Sunday morning I fly out at 2 PM. Truthfully, I was trying to figure out a way to attend service at Stone, but I don't know how to fit it in....I will have to see how the timing goes...I miss that part of my family too. :-S
Anyways....Sorry for the intermittent posts. I will try to be better.
Although it has been crazy busy, I am loving the new job, the new lifestyle and the area. I guess I would never have thought that Broken Arrow, Oklahoma could be so beautiful.

My next task

Unfortunately this is a pic of the back of one of my server racks. Ugly, I know.
Now that I have the server upgrades firmly in hand..One of my next tasks is to get my servers looking neat and clean. Cleaning up this mess won't be a one day job. Ugh.
Good news is that I love doing this type of work...all challenges included.

Google Chrome: Shiny And New

Take it for a test drive...If it is like anything else Google has done, it should be nothing short of amazing. It will be interesting to see how it compares to Internet Explorer 8

Back to the basics

Sometimes we need to get back to the basics. Part of the reason that we moved down to Broken Arrow,OK. 1 and 0 in computers is about as basic as you can get.
We are focusing now on getting healthier and excercising more. We have been biking more and looking to clean up both our lifes and our spirits.
I have been praying a lot, and it has focused my mind.
I know that I want to get involved with youth again..where, I dont' know yet but I know that God wil let me know.
I love it down here. I look forward to what is in store.
I think that I am going to take up Kung Fu at www.tentigerskungfu.com . I love the martial arts and I need something to help steay my discipline.

I will write more later. I was humbled and awed by katies discription of her walk of faith at www.katiestenglein.blogspot.com and I plan to tell my sordid tale soon.
I do miss a lot about Chicago and I know that I probably miss everyone up there much more than the reciprocal, but as perik said..."I just don't feel like this is the end."
I eagerly await the next chapter friends.

Savistanozs Pizza

You know that it is a true Chicago-esque Establishment when you see this type of paraphenalia on the wall! Savistano's pizza is the best in pizza in the Tulsa area.

Finally a good pizza

It only took 2 months but we finally found a good pizza place. Savistanos pizza is the best in Tulsa area

What's with the Cubbies?

Six Games up going into September....Whodathunkit?

I really miss Chicago Sports Radio.

I miss Pat and Ron.

Well...Cubbies, I am rooting for you.
You have a TOUGh September ahead of you, but I think that you can do it!

You Are SO Agnostic.

So I overheard one of my coworkers say to another: "You are so agnostic!" This was pertaining to doughnuts.

HUH???
How does that work? I guess that it could apply.
No googling....What does the word agnostic mean to you?

Slight Aversion to Math

Okay. I still don't like mathematics. I never liked it. I like APPLYING the math...physics...programming...everyday problem solving. But I guess I don't like learning it. I really dislike the cramp that my brain gets.
Sigh.
Juxtapostion.
Learning kinda goes hand-in-hand with the knowing.
Okay...'fess up...what was your least favorite/worst subject in school? Don't be shy...my family will rattle off a long list of subjects I was horrid at. What are your least favorite things that you have to do every day?

Yikes

Okay. So the Bears are starting to scare me. We need a quarterback and the best that they can come up with is Kyle Orton? He isn't even any good! I mean, come on...The Arizona Cardinals at least piced up a 35+ year old grocery clerk from Saint Louis.

This will be an interesting season.

35 Mile Ride To Mounds

Quick update:
Katie and I hit the trail for the first time since getting down here. 35 Miles on beautiful country roads with the Tulsa Bike Club.
It was a bit tiring for our first ride out, but I loved it and I look forward to next weekends ride!

Question Number 3 I Gotta Go

Happy Friday Readers!
(For those checking up from www.multiply.com, welcome! Please make sure to check www.bringitblog.com regularly as it is updated much more frequently)

Fun little twist today kids..multiple choice!

You are in a very crowded public place where the line for the only bathroom is about 20 people long. You are finishing up your 64 oz soda when you hear something. Listening a bit harder you confirm that yes, that is INDEED Mother Nature calling you. In fact she is screaming at you. You gotta to go...NOW! Do you:
A - Act rude and cut in line.
B - Find the nearest bush.
C - Excuse yourself and run for the car, hoping and praying the you can make it to the gas station 5 miles down the road.
D - This is a disgusting question and irrelevant because I would never get myself in this situation (yeah, right)

Have at it people!
A

Question Number 3 I Gotta Go

Happy Friday Readers!
(For those checking up from www.multiply.com, welcome! Please make sure to check www.bringitblog.com regularly as it is updated much more frequently)

Fun little twist today kids..multiple choice!

You are in a very crowded public place where the line for the only bathroom is about 20 people long. You are finishing up your 64 oz soda when you hear something. Listening a bit harder you confirm that yes, that is INDEED Mother Nature calling you. In fact she is screaming at you. You gotta to go...NOW! Do you:
A - Act rude and cut in line.
B - Find the nearest bush.
C - Excuse yourself and run for the car, hoping and praying the you can make it to the gas station 5 miles down the road.
D - This is a disgusting question and irrelevant because I would never get myself in this situation (yeah, right)

Have at it people!

Question Ohhh I Gotta Go!

Happy Friday Readers!
(For those checking up from www.multiply.com, welcome! Please make sure to check www.bringitblog.com regularly as it is updated much more frequently)

Fun little twist today kids..multiple choice!

You are in a very crowded public place where the line for the only bathroom is about 20 people long. You are finishing up your 64 oz soda when you hear something. Listening a bit harder you confirm that yes, that is INDEED Mother Nature calling you. In fact she is screaming at you. You gotta to go...NOW! Do you:
A - Act rude and cut in line.
B - Find the nearest bush.
C - Excuse yourself and run for the car, hoping and praying the you can make it to the gas station 5 miles down the road.
D - This is a disgusting question and irrelevant because I would never get myself in this situation (yeah, right)

Have at it people!
A

My cube

Okay...This is a bit lame, but here is a vid of my cube. This started as a www.qik.com attempt, but it wouldn't post. I will try again later

Question Number Two

Okay. I had a neat image for this one, but since blogger is having "technical issues" posting from a mobile device I will add it later.

Remember One word only.

You are lucky enough to have the chance to make a single phone call to one person prior to the world as we known it ending.

Who do you call?

Question Two

Remember: One word only.

You have the chance to make a single phone call just seconds prior to the world as we know it ends.

Question number two:

Who do you call?

Next Question

Remember, one word only....

Question number 2: You have the ability to make a single phone call to one person, right before the world ends. Who do you call?

Social Blog Experiment Number 1

Okay. Here is the deal: The next few days, each post will ask a question, for each question please post a simple ONE word answer. Use the word that best answers that question. Although THERE ARE NO WRONG ANSWERS, I will enable anonymous posts to hopefully encourage everyone to put in their 2¢. Please take time to think about it for a while before answering. When you answer, please try to scroll past everyone else's responses until AFTER you post your own.

Hopefully everyone will enjoy and be enriched by both the questions and the answers. The more that answer, the more intersting this will be.

Question Number One:

What is the opposite of love?

Out of Gas

What does it mean to you? If someone says to you that they are "Out of gas", what comes to mind?

Weather

It's that first sniff of cooler air. There is still a couple of weeks where it will get brutally hot I am sure, but fall is right around the corner. I don't have a single favorite season. I am one of those people that as one season comes to a close, I get excited about and look forward to the next. There are cerain things that make me think of different seasons. This morning, it was a break in the rain as I got into my car. It was kind of cool, the thermometer read 65. I got a picture in my head of a crisp, sunny fall day. I am excited now! It is funny to me how certain objects or events trigger different emotions and feelings. What makes you reminisce?

Michael Phelps is a bully

Okay...Maybe not a bully. More like a beast. Five gold medals so far and he is going for 8! The man is insane, quite possibly the best athlete in the world!?! All I know is that just by himself, he would right now be in fourth place for number of gold medals. Yes he would be just behind South Korea. By one. Anyways..off my soapbox now...
BTW...did Canada miss the memo that the Olympics started? No medals yet. Even the nation of Togo has a medal.
Sorry canadian readers....feel free to reply about americans be lazy and yadayadayada

A Good Start To The Day

Once again...I love my commute! since I love sunrises to, this pic especially rocks!
Everytime I see a sunrise like this, I am reminded of how God keeps on giving us a new chance everyday. A clean slate to start with.
Amazing.

Reflections

I do have a neat meaningful post that will go here. This is just t remind myself so I can write it this weekend as I have no time today.
Until then, enjoy the sunset reflected off the pool.

Not Pizza

Go here only if you want soggy, yucky pizza. It was like a half cooked Tombstone that some one soaked with a bit of water. Definitely NOT Chicago style.

Another Quick Update

Just wanted to keep everyone updated. My dad is not quite up to talking yet, hopefully tomorrow. The more I hear about the accident, the more I am amazed that he is alive. My sister said it best: "He has not fulfilled his purpose here yet."
The doctors say that if all is well, he may be able to go home soon, it depends on how the next few days go
Thank you for your continued prayers.

My Commute

(I will repost this with a dedicated pic instead of photobucket as soon as blogger let's me)

My dad is doing better and although the majority of my thoughts always stray back to him...I finally got a good picture of the horses that I was telling you about on my commute home.

My commute is all back roads and it takes me about 20 minutes (beats the heck outta 45min to 1.5 hours). But the first time that I saw these horses outside Broken Arrow,OK or Catoosa,OK...my jaw dropped. There are probably 50-200 scattered in the field at any given time. Breathtaking.

Anyways. Thanks for reading!