Say What?

I wasn't ready for college when I graduated from high school in 1975. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. High school felt safe, and I knew what was (or wasn't) expected of me, but I was glad it was over because I was getting nothing out of it. Thomas Jefferson HS was a lab experiment, and we students were the lab rats. Modular scheduling was the latest improvement, and for students who loved to screw off, this new structure, or lack of it, was our friend. Modular scheduling divided the school day into 17 'mods' of 20 minutes each. You would schedule your classes, and where you didn't have classes, you would have free mods to do with what you wanted. I remember having a class for the first 3 modules of each day on Wednesdays and Fridays, and no classes the rest of the day. I learned early on that in a family of 6 siblings, all I needed to do was maintain good enough grades to keep the folks from getting involved. There was very little incentive to do any more tha...

Just when I think I've seen the last of the 50 degree days for the year, or even 40 degree days, another one happens. I got up yesterday thinking that maybe it was time to set up my indoor trainer for my bike but I didn't want to. I never before disliked the thought of riding in the basement on my trainer but this year I do. If there is any chance that I can ride outside that's where I'll be. I figure I'm okay to about 10 above zero for an hour anyway before my toes go completely numb. I was out for a couple hours Thanksgiving day in 18-degree weather with winds gusting close to 30 mph. Yesterday it was rain which had me sidelined but only until about 10:00 am. There was a break in the rain and I got in a quick ride before I had to go to work. Turning off Jalisco on to 170th st I noticed the car in front of me slowing. He'd slowed to watch a beautiful majestic buck standing beside the road. At first glance, I thought it wasn't real. I quickly pulled over a...

I was in a discussion this past week talking about infinity and the universe. I mentioned how as a kid I used to try and grasp the idea of infinity and I'd feel like my brain was going to throw a circuit breaker as I couldn't get my mind around it. In church today our pastor talked about this very thing and made reference to a website called The Powers of 10. The website not only reaches out into space by a power of 10 but it also goes inward by the same multiple until you're looking at the trails of Quarks. Here's another site I found...begin at this page and travel outward from there. Read the instructions and explanation provided. This whole thing is a bit intimidating. To imagine that our sun and solar system are just a speck among other similar specs making up larger clouds of combined galaxies appearing again as specks from points more distant. Pretty amazing stuff to ponder for sure. God of Wonders by Third Day.

Did Friday seem like a Saturday to you? It did to me. Rachel and I went out and shoveled a few inches of snow off the driveway this morning then proceeded to see who could slide the furthest after a running start. She won. It's all in the shoes I think. My truck never left...oops...I was about to say that my truck never left the garage today but that would be wrong. I did make a very early morning trip to Circuit City with Tammy before retreating to the safety of our home empty-handed. Internet shopping is still the way to go if you know what you need; heck, even if you don't know what you need. What could be better than having a delivery guy bring your item directly to your front door for a nominal fee? One problem with that though—we were trying to get on Circuit City's website tonight and it was overloaded to the point where they weren't accepting any online orders at the time. So much for the dismal news about the economy. I spent some time down in the shop work...

We saw the David Crowder Band along with The Robbie Seay Band and Shane and Shane last night at Maranatha Hall at Northwestern University. Great show! For anybody who is into rock, they're missing so much great music if they haven't heard Christian rock—it's really that good. It was an ugly weather day here with snow in the forecast and winds gusting to 40mph. We left early so we were sure to get there in time as we had to go through Minneapolis during rush hour and we had all of 40 miles to travel. Surprisingly the traffic wasn't a problem at all and we got there with plenty of time to spare. We checked out the T-shirts and other stuff being sold then took our seats. The Robbie Seay Band took the stage first and did about a 30-minute set. They didn't get the applause I'd like to have seen them get. We thought they were very good and only disappointed that they didn't play longer. Shane and Shane took the stage next and got quite a loud and warm welcom...

I went over 7000 miles on my bike this morning before work. I've slacked off some in the last couple months but I had a good week this past week. It was a beautiful day for riding. Most people might call it cool at 45 degrees when I left home but if you've got the proper clothing it's not bad. Anyway, I managed 51 miles this morning to get me to the 7000-mile mark before the month was over and that was my goal. Tammy, Rachel and I are getting psyched to see the David Crowder Band in a few weeks in St. Paul. They came out with a cd last year titled, Illuminate , which was excellent and just a few weeks ago they released another called, A Collision . There's so much good music on it but my favorite song is Do Not Move . It's got a bit of a techno feel to begin which I like but then it really rocks. They're playing with the Robbie Seay band and they too have got a very good cd they're touring with. It should be a lot of fun. Tammy and I are hoping to take ...

I got up early this morning and headed straight for the shower. As I stood there with the water falling over me my mind suddenly turned to New Orleans and for a moment I thought I must've been recalling a bad dream I'd just had. Those thoughts quickly passed and I could feel this pang develop in the pit of my stomach, once again. I don't think any of us who aren't directly involved with the nightmare which is New Orleans can begin to understand what they're living and dying through. I know I can't. The stories are so heartbreaking. I was watching Oprah yesterday and they showed a 25-year-old man hugging his 14-year-old dog and nuzzling its face. He would soon have to board a bus for some faraway place and leave his beloved companion, aged and scared to fend for itself and to say goodbye forever. I had tears in my eyes watching this as other dogs ran in and out of camera view having already been left to themselves. Finally, the producer of the segment interrupt...