3 Great Talks

I was able to hear 3 great talks the past 2 days.

Sunday morning Randy Lowry, President of David Lipscomb University, spoke at church.  Our theme for this year is Witness: Walk, Talk, Live the Light.  Randy took the time to search out our church website to see what we are doing and where we are going in 2010.  He found information about our theme and made a point of gearing his sermon to that theme.  He spoke from Matthew 28 on 3 important words “come and see.”  The angel at the empty tomb told the women, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said, Come and see the place where he lay.”  To “come and see” placed these women in the role of spectators, investigators, or on-lookers.  Next there are 3 more important words, “Go and Tell.”  “Then go quickly and tell his disciples: He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.”

To be in a place, to experience a thing, to see are all important activities but at this point you are simply an on-looker or spectator.  It is in the telling that you become a witness.  John 1:6-9 “There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him all men might believe.  He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”

Sunday night I went with my sister and a friend to Buckhead Church to hear Andy Stanley.  Their current theme is Take Responsibility for your Life.  The lesson we heard was number 3 in the series and titled “Now is not the time to pray.”  Andy centered his talk in Joshua 7.  Verse 6 starts “Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell face down to the ground before the ark of the Lord.”  Verse 10 states, “The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep.” Verse 13, “Go, consecrate the people.”

God told Joshua that now is not the time to pray.  He told him to get up and do.  Too many times we hide behind our prayers avoiding responsibility.  When you need to be doing and instead you are praying then now is not the time to pray.  Times that you do not need to pray would include things already covered in the Bible.  If God has already made it clear where we should stand on something then we do not need to pray for an answer on that, just act on it.  If you are trying to pray your way out of a situation that you behaved yourself into then now is not the time to pray.  Make whatever you did wrong, right.  Apologize, serve, repent . . . whatever is needed go do it.

You cannot hide from responsibility through prayer.  Whether you are the one being irresponsible or you are aiding someone else’s irresponsibility you must stop.  Take responsibility and go do.  Confrontation is part of Spirituality.  We are to confront irresponsibility in ourselves and in others.  Irresponsibility on your part will eventually become a responsibility on my part so I should confront the irresponsibility now before it becomes mine to deal with.  Take responsibility for your life . . . Really!

Then last night I heard Joseph Shulam.  Joseph is guest speaking for 4 nights at church.  He is speaking on How I know Jesus is the Messiah.  A little info about Joseph:

Joseph Shulam is the Director of Netivyah Bible Instruction Ministry in Jerusalem. This organization was established by Joseph for the purposes of studying and teaching the Jewish background of the New Testament, providing a bridge between Jews and Christians and Judaism and Christianity, and nurturing the Messianic Jewish community in Israel. Joseph is also an elder of the congregation Roeh Israel in Jerusalem.

I didn’t hear his first talk Sunday night but on Monday I learned a lot from him.  He stated that to know who someone is you must find a way to establish identity.  If you look up Joseph Shulam in the phone book you will find 3 of them so how do you know which is the one you are seeking?  A good start is by parents.  To know which parents are his then you will know which Joseph you seek.  In Genesis, God told Eve that her seed would one day strike the heel of the serpent and the serpent would bite the ankle of her seed.  The historical knowledge here shares that never would a Jew state that seed is of a woman.  Seed is always of the man.  So what man was ever born from the seed of a woman without a man?  If you believe the Christmas story then you know that Jesus was born of Mary who was a virgin.

Then Old Testament prophecy states that a prophet would come that is like Moses and he will be the Messiah.  So what is it about Moses that makes him different from other prophets?  What characteristics must we see in this prophet that will be like Moses?  Moses is the only prophet that brought a covenant from God to the people.  The only one to have a message from Heaven for earth.  Moses is the only prophet to speak face to face with God.  We are told that God spoke to prophets in riddles, parables, and dreams but Moses he spoke to face to face, mouth to mouth.

Other identifiers from Old Testament prophecy for the Messiah include:

• Isaiah 53 he will be one rejected and despised and will take on our iniquities.  By his wounds we will be healed.
• He would be born in Bethlehem
• He would ride on a donkey into Jerusalem and the daughters of Zion would call him King, He would be called righteous
• A descendant of Abraham, the line of David, the tribe of Judah

When you take the totality of scriptures that are recognized as Messianic prophecy then you must look for one that fits the identity of those characteristics.   Who in history was born of a Woman’s seed, carried a covenent from Heaven to earth, spoke with God face to face, was born in Bethlehem, was rejected and despised, whose wounds healed us, was called King and righteous when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, who is from Abraham, the line of David, the tribe of Judah?  Can any other person in history, present day, or future events meet all these characteristics?

Yes. Jesus, Yesshua meets them all.  It is defining identity that allows me to say that I believe that Jesus is the son of God, the Messiah.

I will get to hear Joseph again tonight and tomorrow night.  I hope to say I have heard 5 great talks in 4 days when it is all over.

Happy Tuesday.

Awesome Weekend

There are parts of this story that may make you scratch your head and wonder, “what makes that awesome.”  There are parts of this story that will no doubt be awesome.  But both the former and latter tales are needed to truly appreciate life.

Saturday morning I got up early and headed to Buckhead to meet with several of my bike friends.  My wonderful sister also rose early and joined me.  We attended the Breadfast of Champions.  This was a celebration of what BikeMS accomplished in 2009.  The focus was mainly on the Atlanta ride at Callaway but they gave combined numbers that included the Savannah ride.  In 2009, even with the down economy, the GA chapter of the National MS Society had 1450 riders on 90 teams that raised $927,511. 

Not only did we get to hear this good news and share in some award distributions but I got to see some other team captains that I have gotten to know well enough over the years to call them friends.  They all have larger teams than I do, raise more money than I do, and involve more sponsors than I do but they all treat me like an equal.  We had a good time catching up and hearing fresh ideas for the 2010 season.  We always learn something from each other and of course get to talk bikes.

After the breakfast we headed home to do some cleaning and Dana did some baking to get ready for a house warming party on Sunday.  We worked so hard and got so much done that we decided to catch a late afternoon movie.  We went to Discover Mills’ movie theatre and saw Leap Year.  Very cute movie but very predictable story line.  After the movie we were heading home to put finishing touchs on the house.  My car thought otherwise.

As we turned out of the parking lot my car made a loud bang noise.  I thought I had run over something but there was nothing in the road.  I kept driving only to turn on the main road by the mall just as my car felt like it was dragging something.  I pulled into a turn lane for an apartment complex and popped the hood.  Yes, I was thinking I would know what to do (insert belly laughing here).  What I realized is that it is dark and there is no light that comes on when you open the hood.  My car flashlight is not currently in the car.  So I took the headlight off of my commuter bike that is still in the car (thank you lazy self).  I didn’t see anyting loose or dragging or broken.  I got back in the car and called Dad.  I talked through the issue with him, did all the things he suggested, drove a little bit so he could hear the noise, and then decided it was best to get the car back to the mall parking lot and call a friend to get us home.  Then on Monday I would be able to have the car towed to the mechanic.

The drive back up to the mall was uneventful other than the scrapping noise so I wondered if we might could get all the way home.  Dana and her handy phone GPS found a route away from major roads to get us home.  It turns out I live a LOT closer to the mall than I realized.  The back way home is only 4 miles with neighborhood type roads and little traffic.  All this time I had been going around the long way on a major highway next to an interstate full of traffic.  Well we got home okay and I parked the car in the drive to sit until Monday morning.

Sunday was a good morning at church with guest speakers for the combined adult class and sermon.  I had a great lunch with friends and then home for a house warming party.  The weather was not so nice as it was raining all day but there was still a good turn out for the party and folks seemed to really like my house.    I am amazed at how many people genuinely care for me and wish me the best in all I do.  I understand a couple of close friends feeling that way but I am blessed with a greater portion of caring friends than I deserve.  There were even people that couldn’t make it to the party that sent cards with gifts and well wishes.  Really, I am blown away and humbled by the outpouring of support and love.

Then Dana and I went with Kerry (from the bike shop) to Buckhead Church.  We were supposed to be going to Passion City Church but dummy me didn’t look up the directions and then couldn’t remember the right exit.  We got a little turned around but were close to Buckhead so Kerry suggested we just go there instead.  It is the same type of worship and still a very talented speaker.  Kerry usually attends Buckhead and said they were in the beginning of a really good series so he was actually excited to be going so he didn’t miss a week in the series.  He wasn’t kidding the worship was great and the sermon was another winner from Andy Stanley.  Very thought provoking and life challenging. 

After worship we went to dinner and had a great time hanging out.  Kerry is an amazing young man.  I enjoy working with him at the bike shop but more than that I love getting to know him for who he is.  He is intelligent, compassionate, hungry for God, and just a really really nice guy.  He has talked me into doing a week long bike ride with him this Summer.  I am excited about it not just for the riding and personal accomplishment involved but more so the getting to spend a week getting to know Kerry better.  I believe God has mighty things in store for him.

So then back home the reality of the car issue starts sinking in.  I start thinking the worst case scenarios.  I see my savings being depleted, my Monday inconvenienced, my car needing major repairs.  I go to bed a bit anxious and wake up fretting about the worst.  I call my mechanic and explain the problem.  He said to bring it on in.  I drove very gingerly from home to the shop taking side roads and avoiding major highways.  I gave a set of the same directions I was using to Dana so she could come along a little bit later and give me a ride to work but also so she would see me if anything happened on the way.  The car was still making the scrapping noise and not real happy with me for driving it but I got to the shop uneventfully.  Whew.  First set of fears alleviated, I am at the shop in one piece.  Or at least I am in one piece.  The car not so much.

Greg, the amazing mechanic, was going to drive the car to hear the noise and determine what might be wrong.  He backed up just enough to get out of his driveway and then came right back.  He said he heard a loud pop and was scared to go any further.  He had a lift open so he wanted to just put it up and look under it rather than drive it.  My heart sank and my bank account moaned.  Here goes, give me the bad news, I can take it . . . maybe.  2 seconds later he shows me a suspension arm that is severed completely through.  He looked up the part and it is in stock.  It is only $40 and labor won’t be much since it won’t take long to put it on.  The car should be done, including the oil change I asked for, within an hour.

WHAT . . . no keeping it a week, special order parts, 4 days of labor, week long car rental, life incovenienced adnosium?  Seriously, all my worry and fretting and visions of savings depletion comes down to replacing one arm for under $100.  Is that possible?  Can you really drive out of a mechanics’ shop with a repaired car for less than $100?

Oh, and the other half of the arm had fallen off in the road when Greg heard the loud pop.  I made it home Saturday night and then to the shop this morning with both halves still attached but broken and when Greg drove it the top half fell completely off.  Some may think that is luck, coincidence, or great timing.  I believe it is divine intervention because I have already experienced bountless blessings this weekend so why not one more relating to my car.

Have a Happy Monday!

Memorials

Rememberances have their place and I have come to understand that more today than ever before.

I don’t like for people to make a fuss over me.  I don’t celebrate my birthday each year because of this and other gift giving or recognition situations make me uncomfortable.  Having this mindset about myself while alive I naturally trend toward not wanting any fuss to be made after I die.  My physical remains are promised to the University of Tennessee so there is no decision making over cremation or burial and therefore no need for a funeral service.  I figured that would imply no memorial or rememberance service either because I don’t want the fuss or expense of anything on my behalf.

Well, I’m rethinking all of that now.  Not the donation of physical remains but the rememberance service.

My Uncle Doug passed away yesterday.  He has been sick for a long time and deteriorating over the past year so his passing was inevitable but still hard.  My dad is number 6 of 7 children.  Numbers 4 & 5 are twins.  Doug was number 5.  I grew up knowing Doug but not real well.  Dad and his brothers are very different and haven’t always seen eye to eye so I have known my Aunts better than my Uncles on the Spivy side.  Doug was always around at holidays though.  He was more likely to come to family events than the other 2 brothers.  I think he wanted to be part of the family, like my Dad, but Doug never really felt “worthy” or “adequate.”  He lived a rough life and maybe felt that warranted being an outsider.  I don’t know.  I do know that when I graduated from college he was so proud of me.  He felt bad that he couldn’t give me anything so he opened his wallet and pulled out a $2 bill he had kept forever.  He thought that if he had a $2 bill then he always had something.  He gave me that bill and insisted that I take it.  I still have it, folded up like it was when he gave it to me, stored away in a jar of other $2 bills from other family members.  They were a tradition on my Mom’s side of the family so I have several.  None so touching as the one my Uncle Doug gave me for graduating from the University of Tennessee.

Anyway, Doug made his wishes known to family that he wanted to be cremated and there was to be no memorial service or funeral.  If I had known that before I probably would have shrugged and agreeed.  I can understand that logic so I would have been fine with it.  But now I see that the remembering isn’t for the deceased but the survivors.  I don’t know where to send a card, make a donation, or tell my cousins I’m sorry their father died.  My Dad has nothing to go to in Tennessee so no reason to be with his other siblings.  My Aunt, Doug’s twin, has no way to get closure over the passing of a sibling connected to her in a unique way.  Family that hasn’t made a lot of effort to stay close and involved in each other’s lives rely on weddings and funerals to get folks together.  Without a service of any kind they are robbed of that forced family gathering, the chosen reconnection, the needed closure of a brother gone.

So, when I die feel free to plan and attend any type of rememberance needed.  I still want my remains donated but the rememberance isn’t about me so I (my body) doesn’t need to be there anyway.  Laugh, cry, sing, ride a bike, donate to my favorite charities, tell stories about me, whatever you need to do.  Memorials are important and missing them just leaves you missing.

Unfair

I think it is utterly unfair that I am at work on a holiday.  I work in my company’s Government department.  This means all the clients we would normally be talking to are not available today.  Several of our recruiters took today off so a lot of the internal clients are not available either.  Sure working on a day like this allows us to catch up on paperwork, unbury our “to be filed” folders, and collectively catch our breath.  But . . .

It is a beautiful day (sunny and 58), a friend emailed me about doing a bike ride today, and I just got my commuter fixed up so I’m itching to ride it.  No fair, no fair, no fair that I have to work!

This weekend I took my commuter bike to the bike shop for surgery.  I haven’t been to the bike shop in a long time and was missing my bike buddies so I went to hang out and decided to take the bike to kill two birds with one stone.  I knew they would be having a slow day and could spend the time on my bike and it needed to be done.  My mountain and road bikes are both Women Specific Design models.  This means they have narrower handlebars, shorter top tubes, better paint jobs, and other unique attributes.  My commuter is a unisex or men’s frame model.  The bike fits me in all the important places except the handlebars.  They are too wide so my shoulders are too open causing discomfort and difficulty especially when climbing.  The easy fix for this is to cut the handlebars down to an appropriate size.  Or you could buy a new narrower handlebar to replace the wider one.  I figure it is better to modify what you have than to spend money on something else.

As I expected it was a slow day at the shop so my buddy Kerry was more than happy to cut my handlebars down.  In the process he also had to cut down the cable and housing which meant he practically did a full tune up of the bike.  The guys like having something to do and on slow days they get creative with their own bikes so having mine to play with was good for me and something to do for Kerry.  Since I was planning to hang out for a bit anyway it made it really easy for him to walk away to help customers and then come back and work on mine.  After the surgery was complete I rode around a bit and could tell a major difference right away with fit and comfort on the bike.  Now I want to go ride it for reals.

Today I am rewriting some of our standard forms used in bidding on contracts.  This wonderfully exciting tasks was interrupted by an email from one of my Domestique teammates asking “Are you working today?  It is great out and I was wondering if you wanted to do a ride?”  Grrrrr Arrrghhh.  I love that he thought of me on such a fine day and what a great suggestion of what to do to enjoy it but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I am stuck at work privileged enough to be at work.  My bike is still in the car because I have been too busy to take it out yet so I might go ride around the parking lot a time or two just for kicks.  Well, I probably won’t but thinking about it is kinda fun.

If you are one of the lucky ones enjoying the holiday please go outside for me.  And if you are so inclined a bike ride on my behalf would be great . . . although I will remain jealous.

Have a greak MLK day.

Slightly irritated

Have you ever found that one small thing in the morning can slightly irritate you then something else then something else until you are actually quite irritated but for a bunch of little reasons?

I have the overriding sense of irritation right now but if I tried to say what it was I am irritated about I couldn’t put my finger on one thing.  And to say any of the little things individually it wouldn’t make sense to feel the way I do.  It is the culmination of the little things all in one day that has created this feeling.  So now I am disjointed.  I feel like you do when you have medicine head.  It is hard to latch on to any one thought and carry through with it.

I keep trying to hold on to the positive things of the day to counteract this feeling and it helps in spurts but I still feel disjointed.  This makes me really glad it is Friday and I don’t have anything pressing on my plate for the weekend.  Nice relaxing time at home, getting the house cleaned up for a house warming party next weekend is on tap.  I am excited about that.

Well, my disjointed thinking is making it hard to get anywhere with this blog so I will end with what I have.  Have a great weekend and think good thoughts it really does help.

Cycling Season

Cycling season for me starts when the weather warms up.  I do not ride outside in cold weather.  The winter should be a time of riding some base mileage on a trainer or taking spin classes at a gym.  I am not a member at a gym so no spin classes for me.  Trainer riding is boring but a necessary evil if one wants to have a decent season.  For racers it is a must for weekend warriors it is hit or miss.

I have set a goal for myself that is quite lofty for a cycling season.  In order to accomplish my 2010 cycling goals I need to be putting in some base miles on the trainer.  Procrastination is one of my better traits.  Not better in good for me way but better in that I am really good at it.  In my mind I have planned out workout schedules, core muscle training, and some strength training but in reality I have piddled at some core training but done nothing else.  I did set the trainer up and have it ready to go.  I did start setting my alarm for an earlier wake up time.  So technically I have made progress but not any kind of progress that will benefit me late in the day on a long ride this summer.

How do you motivate yourself to get from the planning stage to the doing stage?  Your answers don’t have to be about exercise but can be.

The professional racing season starts soon with the Tour Down Under.  What better place to start off than Australia?  I can’t imagine the suffering that pros put themselves through at anytime during their racing careers but this combination really baffles me.  The American pros have been at their homes during the winter months training on their own.  For some that means they ride in really cold conditions.  Then in the past month several pro teams have been getting their teams together for training camps.  These camps are not necessarily held in warm weather climates but could be.  Then all of a sudden you show up in Australia during their Summer and compete in the first big race of the season.  How does your body adjust to that?  Cold riding, cold riding, team riding, Heat.  Then they come back home to more cold riding before doing the Tour of California in early Spring.  Craziness.

My lofty goals for this year could also be described as craziness.  I plan to ride in BikeMS: Atlanta to Athens.  This is a new cycling event for the Georgia chapter of the MS Society.  They did not get the growth from participation or fundraising that they hoped for in their Savannah ride so they have cancelled it and created Atlanta to Athens.  I still have mixed feelings about this change.  I absolutely loved doing the Savannah ride and I was finally growing a team around that ride and had some sponsor potential from Savannah based folks.  I lose all of that with the cancellation of that ride.  I haven’t lost the hard core riders on my team but I have lost some of the growth potential because Atlanta to Athens will be a longer and more difficult ride than Savannah so newbies to cycling will shy away from that type challenge.  Also Savannah was a “figure 8″ route.  This means you start and finish in the same spot each day of the event.  This type route allows you to have your vehicle, luggage, overnight stuff all at your disposal.  The Atlanta to Athens ride is a “destination” route.  This means you leave from one spot on Day 1 and go to another spot on Day 2.  You overnight at the destination spot and then return to the start spot on Day 2.  It is an out and back but the back doesn’t happen until the next day.  This means you have to rely on the event organization to transport your luggage and overnight stuff to the destination and back.  This limits what you can have at your disposal.  Or you need a friend or family member willing to met you at the overnight spot that will bring all your stuff.  It isn’t a horrible set up but it can be inconvenient.  I have done several of both type routes and can tell you I much prefer the “figure 8.”

After the greater challenge earlier in my cycling season than I am accustomed to my next big adventure will be a “state line run” on the Silver Comet Trail.  The Silver Comet Trail (SCT) is a Rails to Trails recreation area.  This is where old railroad beds are turned into multi-use paths.  The SCT starts in South Cobb County in Metro Atlanta and runs West toward Alabama.  In Alabama the trail meets up with another recreational multi-use path.  The goal is to some day have enough of these paths connected together that you could ride across the US without ever being on a roadway.  A bicyle interstate system if you will.  The SCT has finally been finished so that it actually meets up with the trail in AL.  Several years ago I rode from the 0 mile marker to the then end point and back which was a 77 mile round trip excursion.  With the completion of the SCT to do the same feat today would be a 123 mile round trip excursion.  So I have talked a friend into joining me and his lovely wife will drop us off in Anniston, Alabama where we will pick up the trail cross the state line and head East to the 0 mile marker.  This trip will be 93 miles or so.  This great adventure is slated for late June.

Then continuing with the insanity I plan to ride RAGBRAI the last full week of July.  RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) is the oldest and maybe largest but most definitely best well known state crossing bike ride.  Here in GA they have BRAG (Bike Ride Across Georgia) and in TN they have BRAT (Bike Ride Across Tennessee) and other states have their own versions but RAGBRAI is the granddaddy of them all.  I have a friend that is from Iowa and has done the ride in the past.  He asked if I would ride it with him this year and I figured “why not?” so I said Sure.  Now RAGBRAI runs West to East every year.  The route changes so that different parts of the state are travelled each year but it always goes from West to East.  Because of this tradition, which has a lot more to do with wind speed and direction than anything else, has created another tradition.  The ride starts on a Sunday with the cyclist (10,000 of them in all) dipping their back tires in the Missouri river.  This peleton of thousands then make their way across the state stopping in host towns and overnight towns all along the way.  Finally ending on Saturday by dipping your front tire in the Mississippi river.  Each day averages about 65-70 miles with the week total being just shy of 500 miles.  The route will be announced on Jan 30th so for now I don’t know if it will be in the hillier Southern part of the state or the more flat Northern part of the state.  What I do know is I need to be doing some riding if I am going to make it from the Missouri to the Mississippi in one piece.

After all that craziness I should be done but who knows I might get bit by a bug or talked into doing one more ride.  Afterall the BikeMS: Atlanta Challenge at Callaway Gardens is in September and the BikeMS: Jack and Back in Tennessee is in October.  If I can get from Atlanta to Athens, Anniston, AL to South Cobb, and across the state of Iowa then I might decide I can make it to one more event.  So now, how again do I get myself on that trainer in the morning?

Obeying helps

I get PTO time instead of separate vacation and sick leave.  This means that I do not take time off for any type of medical appointment if I can avoid doing so.  This gives me more vacation time in the year.  As a result of this I often ignore and neglect routine appointments just because I am too lazy or too busy hoarding time to actually make the appointment.

This morning I went to the dentist for a routine cleaning.  I was able to go in early enough that I was only 30 minutes late to work.  This will not affect my time off so I am good there and willing to continue making appointments at this time offering to continue dental care and not affect vacation time.  Win-win.

The problem is that I haven’t been to the dentist in 4 years because of my lack of making an appointment.  I like getting my teeth cleaned and do not recall ever having a fear of the dentist.  My not going for 4 years was more out of apathy and selfishness with vacation time than anything else really.  So I went today.  I received good news.  No bone shifting or recession.  No gum disease.  One spot of decalcification that is as close to a cavity as you can get without being one but nothing major.  There was a bit of tartar build up so the cleaning was intense but not unbearable.

So I have another appointment set up to take care of the one spot mentioned to prevent the inevitability of it becoming a cavity.  I also scheduled my next cleaning 6 months out.  With it on the calendar now I might have to change it but I won’t cancel it and I won’t procrastinate actually scheduling it.  I believe this will put me back on track for routine dental care.

The only down side is the fatigue and soreness I am experiencing now.  My face gets tired from holding my mouth open that long.  My jaws ache because that is more of a workout than they normally get.  When ya don’t talk much (like me), don’t chew gum (like me) and don’t eat all day long only at meal times (like me) then your jaw muscles aren’t accustomed to getting in that much work all at one time.  Also the tartar removal process has left my gums a bit sore.  All of this was discussed with the hygienist so she recommended that I take an Advil as soon as I left to avoid the soreness I anticipated.

I don’t like taking stuff.  I rarely take pain meds so I decided her advice was good but I wasn’t going to bother with listening to her.  Afterall I could handle a little soreness.  Fast forward about 2 hours after leaving the dentist and I was so sore and tired that I could barely sit straight let alone read the contract in my hand.  I can’t concentrate with this mouth issue bothering me.  I decided that maybe the medical professional did know best so I took the Advil.  Now 2 more hours later I am feeling better.

If I had listened and obeyed at the onset then I probably wouldn’t have had the original issue with soreness.  Funny how that kind of thing works.  So don’t do as I did.  When the hygienist or any other medical professional makes a suggestion for comfort it would be in your best interest to heed their advice.

Happy brushing folks.

With gloves On

During my time away from the blog I changed positions at work.  I am now in our Government department.  I am the compliance person so I read a lot of contracts.  This move also moved my desk from our back building to our front building.  It doesn’t matter to me which building I work in they aren’t all that different really.  But the Government department recently was changed so that it reports to the VP that I reported to in my prior position.  This VP is over 3 different departments.  2 of those were in the back building and one in the front.  That didn’t work very well for him so the Government team recently moved to an empty part of the back building.  Again, I really don’t mind where my desk is located so the move wasn’t a big deal.  Until I showed up for work the first day in the new location and there was NO HEAT.

We spent 2 days with no heat in our new space until the HVAC guy came to fix it.  So the 3rd day I didn’t come in layers and prepared for another day of cold inside.  I should have.  The heat was on but not working very well so that 3rd day wasn’t all that fun either.  The 4th day was a short day because we were let out early for New Year’s Eve.  Then we were off for a long weekend.  So this week we come back and the heat is working but the outside temps have dropped uncharacteristically for this part of the world.  Now our precarious heating system is trying to keep up and just can’t do it.  Today the outside temp was 17 as I got out of my car to come in.  My desk temp is currently 66.  I am freezing.  I finally put my gloves back on because my hands stay cold typing and holding the mouse.  I really can’t be mad at the heater, it is working so hard to keep up but 17 outside is so hard to overcome.

Maybe the front building is warmer because there are more people in it so the heater doesn’t have to work so hard.  We took over an empty space which means there are very few people in a big open area.  The heater has to do all the work because there isn’t enough body heat to help it out.  Understanding all this really doesn’t help with the fact that I AM COLD.  I live in the south so I don’t have to be cold.  Whatever happened to global warming.  Could we have some of that right about now please?

I predict a hot meal for lunch.

Hello Again

I disappeared, I know.  I have thought about returning to the blog world on a couple of occasions but just feel I didn’t have anything to say.  I still don’t have anything to say but thought I would come back.

A co-worker of mine was complaining yesterday that I am too quiet.  She stated that her New Year’s resolution would be to get me to talk more.  This morning while getting ready for work I was thinking about that.  (Kinda dreading it actually).  I wondered why it is that I am very chatty in some circles but monk-like quiet in others.  What I concluded is that I have about 4 things I like to talk about without hesitation and some others I can carry in conversation but not as a monologue.  The 4 topics are not things that just anybody would be interested in and probably aren’t all appropriate for the work environment. 

They are: Bible, Bikes, Ballistics, and Budgets.  I will talk to anyone about my Faith if they want to hear it.  I am not pushy and will not talk just to be talking so if someone wants to argue, condemn or close the conversation I am going to shut up.  I can talk about bicycles, bike rides, bike news, bike races, bike events, bike clothes, bike jewlry, bike friends, the bike shop and on and on and on but how many people are really all that interested in bikes?  This is why I cherish my part time job at the bike shop.  There I can talk bikes to my hearts content and not feel like I am annoying people.  Ballistics was just a way to stay with the B theme and say that I can talk about guns too.  I like owning a couple of guns and can carry on a conversation about weapons, self defense, protective thinking, and security but few people want to have these type conversations.  People just don’t want to know how truly unaware of their surroundings they are.  Ignorance is bliss when it comes to the scary things in the world.  People want to live naively so they can think the best of people and I do not blame them.  I wish I could think more positively about society but I have seen and know about the ugliness that is out there.  I don’t want to ruin others’ bliss so I don’t talk about this stuff.  Finally, I have gotten to a place in my life where I feel in control of my finances.  I never thought I would get here and because I have I want others to get there too only people don’t like to talk about money.  This is a taboo topic in our society so sharing my experiences or wanting to help others with their experiences is akward and viewed as rude or intrusive. 

And so I stay quiet most of the time.  At lunch I talk sports and religious stuff with lunch friends.  I have a Bible Study group once a week I can talk Faith with.  I have the bike shop to talk cycling.  I have some security mined friends I talk guns with and when I have to share about budgeting things so as not to burst I call up my Dad or now I might engage my brother in money talk.  I have outlets for all of my interests they just don’t happen to be around my cubicle so most of the work day I am quiet.

The above should be a warning to all who wander here because the topics of my blogs might be in keeping with my 4 topics of interest.  The great thing about a blog though is that you can choose not to read it.

So Hello Again blog world.

Its A Wonderful Life

I think most all of us are familiar with the movie “Its A Wonderful Life.”  It is probably my Mom’s favorite movie of all time.  She watches it every year at Christmas.  I have seen it mulitple times myself.  A few of those times I have thought, “I wonder what would be different had I not been around?”  I don’t think that way anymore.  I can see avenues, circumstances, and relationships that are affected by my presence, good or bad my presence caused a change.  To think about all the things I can see where change happened I can’t even begin to fathom the things I cannot see that were changed.

I am thinking about this because 7 years ago this week I thought I was living my dream life.  I had the career I wanted, friends, family, finances, I had everything until one morning in a pouring rain my truck decided the interstate would make a nice slip n slide.  My sliding stopped abruptly as my truck became the hood ornament for an 18-wheeler.  That day should have been my last here on earth but instead I walked away from that accident with some minor injuries and a ball set in motion that earlier that morning I wouldn’t have even considered.

By the end of the week I was in the beginnings of the end of my dream career.  I didn’t know it at the time but later realized that what was my dream was not in my best interest.  I think it took getting hit by a Mack truck to wake me up from that.  Since that rainy day in South GA I have left my dream job, went back to a dreaded job, taken several just pay the bills jobs, and now I’m at a steady job that has blessed me in more ways than I thought a job could.  I  know I complain about the work (or lack of) and it isn’t any line of work I would have ever considered but the company is good, the people kind, and the lessons learned invaluable.

I have spent more time with family over the past 7 years than I would have in the dream job.  I know that family is important and those memories are invaluable.  Just this past weekend I was remembering fun times with a cousin, times that wouldn’t have happened if that accident had ended differently.  Times that my cousin stated were some of her favorite memories.

In the past 7 years I have gone on mission trips I never had an interest in before.  I have been involved in retreats I wouldn’t have done before.  I have made friendships that couldn’t have happened if 7 years ago had been different.  I have loved on and cared for children that aren’t even 7 years old yet. 

I did not have a crisis of life like George Bailey because I didn’t know I needed one.  One was provided for me by a wet road and an 18-wheeler.  Occasionally I start thinking of myself as more important than I ought and then I get this slight twinge of pain in my left side, that gentle reminder of a day when I was knocked down a few pegs and my perspective changed drastically.  I have worked harder on my relationship with my Lord and Savior, with my friends and family, and with total strangers than ever before in my life.  I had a good life before the accident but I have had a great life since the accident.

I don’t even mind the occasional twinge of pain in my left side anymore.  What was once an annoyance is now a thermometer keeping check on my attitude and self importance levels.