what's on my mind

Running Progress

2011-12-03T09:06:00.001-08:00

Here is a quick update on my running progress.

I have logged 894 miles Year to Date (December 3rd). I have only 28 more days left in the year and just over 100 miles to go. I am trying to hit 4 miles each day for the rest of the month. There may be a couple days (days off or weekends) that I could do 2-a-days, but I don't need to at this point. It would only be for cushion and to finish early. Wish me luck!

Staci's Headboard Project

2011-08-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

Staci has been wanting to make a headboard and redo our bed for a while...

Here are some pictures!

Staci getting instruction, then making the cuts herself.

Selecting the fabric for the new pillows.

Making some measurements.

Stapling on some padding.

Staci and her assistants.

A preview of what it might look like.

Before.

After.

What has been going on

2011-08-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

You can see what the big news is in our family. Carter was born earlier this week. The above pictures are to prove that I have infact held him. He is a cute baby, as far as that goes, and he appears to be well liked by most of our family. Congrats to mom and dad bell as well as the rest of the family.

Progress on Running

2011-07-01T15:04:00.000-07:00

Here is my progress...

I am half way through with the year and just eclipsed the 500 mile mark today! Yesterday was helpful because I biked about 20 miles which is the equivalent in my game of running about 6.7 miles.

As you can see, I have had good months and not so good months. There is a spike up in the weeks leading to my BWCAW trip when I was really trying to get ahead, and some less good weeks since then, and a resurgence in the last week when the weather has been good, and I've been biking home from work.

I'm still uploading my videos from the trip to Minnesota and will put more up soon.

A Tour of our First Camp Site

2011-06-22T19:28:00.000-07:00

A beautiful place on a beautiful lake.

Boundary Waters Video 2

2011-06-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a bit of typical scenery in the BWCAW.

Perfect water... So clear, you want to drink it, but you had probably leave that for the fish and the moose as some microbes in the water could ruin your week.

And how we hang a pack...

Boundary Waters

2011-06-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

Here is our recap from day one...

In case you didn't know, my dad and I went to the BWCAW the week of Memorial day. I will upload a day by day recap in the coming days.

My running adventure

2011-04-03T09:13:00.000-07:00

Recently I have become a believer is setting goals and striving to reach them. I, like many other people, have established goals that are to last a year, beginning on January 1st. I don't like to call them New Year's resolutions, because they are easy to abandon once the year doesn't feel as new as it did in early January. One of my goals this year is to run 1,000 miles. As a bit of perspective, I ran track at Indiana Wesleyan University and was a sprinter for 3 years (early graduation). 1,000 miles may be more than I ran that entire 3 years combined. If not more, then it was close to 1,000 miles. It works out to about 3 miles per day, and allows me to miss a day or two every so often for injury, difficult scheduling, or just rest. Also, I am allowing myself to substitute 3 miles on a bike for 1 mile on foot with a maximum of 750 (250 of credit). This will give me an opportunity to break up the monotony of running every day and allow my bones to rest from the pounding. Since I started, I have gotten quite a bit faster and have much better endurance over the length of the run. I know if my goal was to "run more" I would have fizzled out by now. But since I have a defined distance and know what I need to do every day I have been much more consistent. You can follow my progress here. Click on "Chart 1" to see how many miles I need to run each day and how many I have acutally run to that date. Click on "Chart 2" to see how many miles ahead or behind pace I was at that time.

Just My Luck

2011-02-23T14:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a post from my birthday :) March 15, 2007. It is a phrase that has bothered me since then... Just my luck... with my luck... Luck really has nothing to do with it. Sometimes people just hold onto the bad a little more tightly than they do the good. Well, I did run into a stretch recently that is on the other end of the spectrum.

In December of last year, I took Staci to Nashville for her birthday and to watch the Colts vs. the Titans. Staci started talking to some Colts fans from Logansport. She talked to them most of the walk to the stadium, about 15 minutes. They asked us where we were sitting, and we pointed to the highest corner of the stadium, because I got the cheapest tickets available. They asked us if we would like to sit next to them, in the lower bowl, mid field.

3 weeks later we won FREE tickets to the Colts and Titans again! This time the seats were not as good, but the price was right. Oh, and I got to walk out on the field during warm ups and was introduced on the big screen.

A few weeks into the new year, we got tickets to the Pacers game. Our seats were not together and we were sitting outside of a section trying to figure out where to sit. A friend from the past whom I hadn't seen on a regular basis for 15 years walked up. He happened to have 2 tickets to a VIP section with a buffet and open bar. (Mountain Dew and Water for us!)

Staci and I couldn't help but laugh at the Pacer game, and she quipped, "this is just our luck."

Picture of Bella

2011-02-21T18:12:00.000-08:00

The Bella and myself playing Monopoly Deal.

She always cheats.

I need to blog more often.

2011-02-14T18:12:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a post called "just my luck" which will go into an unusual series of events regarding sporting events that have taken place in the last year. Also, an update on some year long goals I have set for myself including running 1000 miles (that's 1609 kilometers for those of you on the metric system). As well as my goal to read on book a month.

Sanibel Trip

2011-01-24T14:37:00.000-08:00

As was promised (a couple of months ago) here are a few pictures from our trip to Sanibel Island in November.

Our kayaking excursion in Tarpoon Bay. We navigated in and out of the mangroves and saw lots of cool wild life.

Our nice occasion sushi spread. We take a picture every time. Sometimes it goes up as our background on the computer, but then the cravings get too bad.

A picture of what we did every day (play tennis).

What we looked like at the end. (not what we look like now). The sun was great!

u-Control Remote Control Helicopter

2011-01-17T13:48:00.000-08:00

I got this toy yesterday and have documented a few moments in its time with me. See below.

Pretty sweet looking, even in the box.

Here is a video of what it looks like straight out of the box.

And here is its first flight...

Obviously not great the first time, but since then I have become pretty good at maneuvering it around and even landing it where I want.

More to come.

Colts Game

2010-12-10T08:20:00.000-08:00

As a surprise for Staci's birthday I planned a trip to Nashville, TN to have a weekend away as well as to watch the Colts and Titans. We left work early on Thursday to get down here in time to watch the 8:20 kick off. We got some seats in the upper deck online. I didn't care how good the seats were, I just wanted to get in. As we were walking up to the gate Staci started a conversation with some Colts fans. As we got to the gate they asked where our seats were and I told them that they were in the upper corner. They asked if we would like to sit with them. You can see a shot with my camera from our perspective.

It was a fun surprise and great that the Colts won!

Funny Cat Video...

2010-12-07T17:59:00.001-08:00

Christmas Cards

2010-12-06T19:36:00.000-08:00

This thought just struck me, and I thought you may like it. Staci and I (mostly Staci) are preparing a Christmas card to be sent out to our friends. This made me think, Isn't it audacious to send a Christmas card to someone? Initially you think, no, it is usual and customary!

But what if you think about it like this: I think my friends want a picture of me. I think it should go on their refrigerator. They will feel some sense of obligation to keep it up at least a couple of weeks.

Most of you will have that to look forward to.

If you don't get one, sorry. We didn't have your address. You're not missing much, its just a picture of me.

Sunday Christmas Decorating

2010-11-28T17:24:00.000-08:00

Here is a time lapse of us decorating the tree...

And the ledge in our living room...

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T08:27:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

FYI, I am working on a post detailing the fun that was had by myself, Adam and Ali Wren, and my Mrs. in Sanibel, FL. Have a great holiday!

DIY

2010-11-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

Staci has really gotten into Do It Yourself projects recently thanks to a few different blogs she follows. This happens to work out some of the time because I am convinced I can do about anything. (Though I know most of the time I am wrong). Her frustration with our shoe rack and my "can do" attitude happened to intersect recently. Find the below pictures.

As you can see, there was a problem.

Here is the solution.

Funny Story

2010-10-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were preparing the house for some guests, Phil and Kara Gormong. As is our tradition we put all of the dirty dishes in the dish washer. Staci said to me, "Nate, don't run the dish washer, I put some things in there that can't be washed."

I thought the concept of putting items in a dishwasher that can't be washed was ironic, so I said, "Ok, and don't run the garbage disposal, because I put my iPod in it. And also, don't start the microwave, because I put The Bella in it."

What Budgeting Has Taught Me

2010-09-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that I follow the common sense teaching of Dave Ramsey. If you were not sure, you could have found out here. My wife, Staci, and I have been budgeting pretty much since we have been married, almost 3 years. We have looked at our monthly income, projected our expenses, and spent the money on paper (or Google spreadsheet). I do not recall why we did it initially, other than it was recommended by Dave, but now, 3 years in, I see some added benefit to budgeting.

When we budget together, we are forced to agree on our priorities in life. I had a pastor who always used to say, "I can tell your priorities by looking at your planner/day timer and your bank statements." Staci and I are forced, every month to come to an agreement on where we invest or spend our financial resources.
When you sit down and rationally plan your month ahead of time, your priorities change.

My spending in golf has probably been the biggest change here. I used to golf a few times per week, and since we started budgeting, I only go out on special occasions.
Another example is clothing. This probably applies more towards Staci than it does me, but by planning out what we need for new clothing purchases ahead of time, we do not make impulse purchases that we regret later. On the rare chance we do make a mistake on a clothing purchase, we have incentive to take the item back because our clothing budget is finite.

When doing a 0 based budget, you cannot spend more than you make in a single month. We have delayed purchases that we may have other wise jumped on earlier. For example, the computer on which I am typing right now we had to save for. With a credit card or in store credit we could have made an impulse purchase, but we saved for a few months, shopped around and got exactly what we wanted at a good price. When you are spending future money it is easy to buy more than you need. My sister, Jessica, told me that she was saving up for a Mac. She wanted one for a long time, but now that she had the cash she wasn't sure if she wanted to empty her bank account for a computer (she already has a perfectly good one). Saving up for something changes how you interact with it.
When doing a 0 based budget, you also have to acknowledge that spending more on something also means spending less on something else. We see this every month when one of us says, "we need to spend more on this" the other will say, "where is it going to come from?" We can invest more, or pay down on the house more aggressively, but what will be neglected?

There is more, I am sure, but those are the biggest differences in the way I look at budgeting from 2007 until now. What about you? Do you budget? If yes, why? If no, why not?

Customer Service

2010-09-11T10:43:00.000-07:00

There is a fine line people try and balance in business between customer service and cost cutting. In the past few weeks I have had personal experience with both sides of the spectrum and I want to discuss my experiences.

Side 1:
AT&T customer service. I have recently had some issues with disconnecting my home phone, but keeping DSL service. This was done because it will save about $12/month and we never use our home phone, except to hang up on solicitors. Rather than an extensive narrative, below you will find some bullet points explaining my frustration.

Call in procedure: There is a computer that asks you to say what you are calling about. It gives some common suggestions like "I would like to pay my bill" or "Technical Assistance" but it is difficult to put a 3 word name on problems often. I think I prefer "press one to pay your bill. press 2 for technical assistance"
They always ask for your account number, which I finally learned to keep with me. When I didn't know it, they would ask for other information, but the response from that was always "I'm having trouble locating your information"
I eventually just starting shouting "speak with representative" as soon as I got the computer voice.
Once I did get a human, they would ask me for the exact same information that I just gave the computer, prompting the question, "why did I give it to the computer?"
Every time I got transfered I would have to give my info again and again.
I got the feeling that the operators really just wanted to push me off to another department. I got transfered more times than I could count, and I always had to give my life story to the new person.
There was no mechanism for the person on the other end of the phone to take responsibility for a problem and see it to conclusion. When I was at Regions I would grab a customer's problem and see it to its resolution and the follow up to make sure everything was good. That level of service was either not possible or just not given to me.

That brings me to the other side of that equation. Side 2: Chick-Fil-A

2 Weeks ago my friend Derek attempted to buy a breakfast platter for our Friday Morning Men's group. They had dinner there the night before, so he ordered it, got confirmation that it would be ready between 5:30AM and 5:45 in time for our 6:00AM meeting. He paid for it that night just to make everything go smoothly in the morning. Well, apparently, the message was not relayed for the morning crew and it was not ready. In fact, he was told it would not be ready until after 6, since it had not been started when he asked about it. Frustrated, Derek asked for a refund (so he wouldn't be late) and just got some donuts.
Derek received a call later in the week apologizing for the mix up and they extended the offer to host one of our meetings and provide breakfast for everyone on the house.
We all (about 9) showed up the next week and ordered whatever we wanted, all on the house. They were so gracious and obviously felt that they had a responsibility to make up for letting us down.

Its obvious which was a better example of customer service, but the interesting question is, which is better for the bottom line? AT&T outsources much of their customer service all over the world, so the cost of the call centers is minimal, however, I have no loyalty to them. If someone comes in with a better, cheaper, mouse trap, I'll be the first to move. C-F-A, however, has endeared themselves to me, Derek, and likely the rest of the group of guys that were there that morning. The next time we are trying to decide between Wendy's and C-F-A, I will probably lean towards the chicken sandwich. But the benefits do not stop there. Think about the employees who want to take responsibility for a problem. CFA gives their people power to make decisions, even if it costs money, in the name of customer service. That is great for morale and a good work environment. I have been an employee that has felt like I was wearing handcuffs before, and it is not fun. Most people want to help others, and it is rewarding to be able to do so.

What are your thoughts? How would you run your business?

Great Morning

2010-08-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day. Often times during the weekend, I relax and watch some TV. Some days a little TV turns into quite a bit of TV. This morning we hopped on the bikes at about 10:30 for a ride. I wasn't sure where we were going to end up, so we just kept riding. Once we got to the mall I decided to take the route seen below.

View Larger Map

A great way to start the day. I hope to do it again soon.

I'll know we've made it when...

2010-07-28T16:46:00.000-07:00

Staci and I try and say no more often than we say yes. Part of it is financial, part of it is spiritual. I can probably afford to have a data package on my cell phone. (almost all of my adult friends have it and appear to still be eating well) However, I have chosen not to dive in (yet).

Staci and I often talk about the days in the future when we do not HAVE to say no as often. We each have one milestone that once we are able to accomplish them, we will know we have made it.

Hers: She can shop exclusively at Ann Taylor Loft
His: We can buy DiGiorno's Pizza (and not Totinos or Aldi brand)

Twins separated at birth?

2010-07-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

As you know, I like Aldi. On Sunday, Staci and I needed to pick up some ingredients to make a dish for some friends that just had a baby. We stopped by after church to so we could be done with errands and do whatever we pleased for the rest of the afternoon. As we were checking out I think I ran into our twins that were separated from us at birth! See my thoughts below...

They were two young married people who were shopping together. Staci and I almost always shop together. It may not be as efficient, but it is certainly more fun.
They were shopping at Aldi. They obviously are conscientious of how they spend their money. I would probably prefer the atmosphere at Marsh, but I'm just not watching willing to pay a 30% premium for it.
He was wearing a name tag. It was one of those printed on label name tags that are also used for address labels. We had just discarded ours before we walked into the store. It was obvious to me they were on their way home from church.
They went to Taylor University. Taylor is the basically the equivalent to IWU. We could have just as easily gone there as we did Indiana Wesleyan University. I knew they were TY Alumni based on the license plate liner that was on their car.
Speaking of their car, theirs was very similar to ours. It was a compact import (Nissan), very similar to our Toyota Corolla.
Lastly, after we left Aldi they went the same place we did. We hit up the near by Wal-Mart, which is part of our shopping routine. We stop by there to pick up the one or two things that Aldi does not carry.

This may not be interesting to any one else... I just thought all the external similarities were unusual.

Near death experience...

2010-07-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

I almost died yesterday. Well, that may be an exaggeration, but a situation was presented to me that could have led to death. Staci and I were discussing something (I don't remember what) as we approached a stop light. I was at the front of the line in the left lane of a two lane intersection at the corner of 146th and 37. Below is a picture of the scene.

I would have been waiting for the light exactly where the white car is seen above. Staci recommended we stop at the CVS that is now at the South East corner of the intersection. That is the corner seen in the upper right quadrant of the above picture. I looked to my right and saw that lady in the car next to me was texting, so I knew I would beat her off the line, change lanes to the right lane and safely turn into the CVS parking lot. Everything went as planned and I stepped on the gas. Something caught my eye, however, just as I was about to enter the intersection coming from the left. Well after the light had turned red a big utility van came barreling across the traffic. Had I continued to pull out, even at a modest pace, the van would have no doubt crushed in the driver's side of my car. I stood on the horn as he blazed by, apparently oblivious to his red light running.

I have no idea how someone could miss a light by the degree required to come through that late. I guess we are just fortunate and I will continue to check both directions, even when crossing at a stoplight.

How Stuff Works

2010-07-10T06:58:00.000-07:00

I love the technology that pushes Blogs and Podcasts to me. I check my Google Reader every day and listen to podcasts as well. One of my favorite sources for both is How Stuff Works. My favorite podcasts for are Stuff You Should Know and Techstuff. I think everyone could like SYSK but Techstuff is probably more for people like me. One of the blogs from HSW.com is from the founder, Marshall Brain. Below is an excerpt from one of his latest posts.

Leigh cuts my hair. She cuts all of the kids’s hair too. She has been doing this for more than 10 years. It started because one day we were at a K-mart and they had a bunch of remaindered books on a table for a quarter each. One of the books was “How to cut hair” or something like that. If you think about it, that little book has saved us thousands of dollars over the course of a decade.
So I found myself sitting in the kitchen the other night and Leigh was cutting my hair. It was late and I had a lot I was thinking about, and Leigh asked this idle question: “Why do you think we have three blond kids when neither of us has blond hair?” I sort of went into a “pop quiz” mode. Imagine that you are in a science class and the quiz question is, “A man and a woman are raising four children. Neither the man nor the woman, nor either of their parents, are blond. Yet three of their children have blond hair. What are the possible causes?” Yes, there are genetic reasons for children to have blond hair even if the parents don’t. It works the same way for eye color as seen on this page. It gets kind of complicated though, and like I said it was late, I was thinking about other things, and I did not have any particular desire to probe complicated things.
What is a simpler explanation? After all, Occam’s razor says, “the simplest explanation is usually the correct one”, and in pop quiz mode the simplest answer almost always requires less writing. It’s not a radio interview or anything like that where I would need to apply a social filter – I’m in my kitchen talking privately to my wife. So, without really thinking about it, what I said was, “maybe I’m not the father.”
That is a perfectly acceptable scientific hypothesis, and probably the simplest explanation. But I had not bothered to factor in social implications, it being late and all. And really, why should you have to factor in social implications when it comes to science questions? Science is science, and that is a logical, simple answer to the question if it had been asked in a vacuum.
This situation did not turn out to be a vacuum. Fortunately or unfortunately, many humans are social animals. There is a funny quote attributed to Oscar Wilde, something like, “A gentleman does not offend people unintentionally.” That is a huge high bar if you think about it, because you have to be able to do on-the-fly social calculus that prevents offense to all parties in all cases. (It could be argued that Winston Churchill was able to do the calculus in the opposite direction, in order to maximally offend people when necessary). People who can do the calculus consistently in either direction definitely have a gift.
Anyway, to make a long story short, I very nearly ended up walking around the next day with half a haircut. The lesson you can take away from this vignette is that science can sometimes be dangerous, and it is unwise to make alternative suggestions to your wife about her children’s paternity. As the answer to a late-night pop quiz question, it appears to be ill-advised.
So we get past that awkward moment in our relationship, Leigh is cutting away and she muses once more, “I wonder why my hair is so different from my sisters’s?”
“Maybe you are adopted…”

Actually, that ended up being the whole thing. Hope you enjoyed.

Words With Friends

2010-06-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

There is a great game available on the iPhone OS that has been commanding quite a bit of my time recently. It is a variation on the Scrabble board and tiles. The concept is the same, however, add up the points for the words you form when you lay your tiles. Double letters and Triple letters are good. Double Words and Triple Words are great! Here are some screen shot from games I have played with Marc and Jon.

Both are Bingos. Bingo adds 35 points to your play. A bingo is when you use all 7 tiles. It is the holy grail for scrabble players. The first play was a better score (94) because it was a triple word play, and the second I thought was a more ingenious play because I got HAZERS, AT and TI to go along with STILTED. Anyway, its a lot of fun, and if you want to play please let me know!

Big Deal Theory

2010-05-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

This reminds me. I need to do a post on the Big Deal Theory.

http://globalrichlist.com/

I'll tell you why I like Aldi

2010-04-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

We started shopping at Aldi primarily in the fall. Our grocery bill has been cut by about 1/3. The food is good enough, but the price is right! They help you save money by doing the following.

You rent your shopping cart for $0.25, but are given a refund if you return it. This saves them money since they do not have to hire people to bring the carts back in, but who instead sit around smoking outside all the time. Also you do not have to worry about carts being in your way when you are trying to park because there is incentive to return them to their original spot.
The parking lot is small, and I can almost always park in the front row. At Wal-Mart I feel like I should catch a shuttle from the "Mickey Mouse Lot" just to get in the place. Even at our local Marsh there is usually a hike to get in the store.
The store is small and there is space to maneuver around your cart. Have you ever been at Wal-Mart on a Saturday when the whole trailer park is doing their grocery shopping? You will occasionally come around a corner and see a 15 cart pile up down an aisle. I have just thrown my hands up in the air and not bought items on my list to avoid going into that mess.
You bring your own bag or you pay for a bag. I love this nudge towards being eco-friendly. Finally a great financial reason to be green! We bring our own bags anyway, so I am glad that the cost of those "free" bags is not built into the price of my food!
They scan your stuff so fast! They just scan it and throw it back into your cart. They are able to do this and skip the bagging because...
You bag your own food. They make it easy for you, however, and have a separate area when you can take your time and load up the bags you brought. Again, not paying someone to do something I can do myself!
They have a limited selection! I know what you are thinking. How is this a benefit? I think in life we have too many choices. This makes the buying process so much easier! It's great for me because if I was at Wal-Mart, Meijer, or Marsh I would be comparing prices. At Aldi I know I am getting a better price anyway.
Credit or Debit? The answer is Debit. Banks charge more to the merchant when you say Credit because that is when you get "rewards," cash back, or whatever perk your bank/credit card is offering. Debit is considerably cheaper for the merchant, so the savings can be passed along to the customer. Staci and I use cash for groceries anyway, so I am not subsidizing those rewards credit cards at Aldi!

I hope there is an Aldi nearby where you live. Try it out some time. Just go in with an open mind. Don't expect to find deals on your favorite brands because they don't carry any brands you will recognize. But if you are like me, you were going to buy "Great Value" anyway.

Great Video

2010-03-02T13:38:00.000-08:00

This is a video by Ok Go who had that awesome video of the band doing choreography on treadmills. That video was good. This might be great. They have constructed a "Rube Goldberg" machine, which is a series of actions, while typically simple in and of themselves, but when put together form a more complex machine. Typically they serve little purpose, but to be fun. They often perform a very simple end task, but creativity is king. I think this one takes the cake.

Our cat is a dog!

2010-02-21T18:07:00.001-08:00

12 Years Old

2010-02-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

Kind of a funny story goes with this one. For our bank's celebration of 120 years of service to communities in Indiana we are having a week long party. The number 12 is being thrown around for a few reasons. One, 120 years is 12 decades. There are 12 letters in Ameriana Bank. We have 12 locations. One of the things we were asked to do is provide pictures for when we were 12 years old (Makes sense as not everyone at our bank has eclipsed the 120 year old mark, and everyone has 12.) The picture shown was one of my options to pick that Staci selected from our collection of photos. I asked her if she had ever seen a 12 year old before. Apparently, she hadn't. To make matters worse, the numbers 1991 were etched in the back of the photo. (In her defense, she did not look at the back.) Kenneth and Jessica are standing to my left, and more than likely both have full diapers.

hhhmmm.... wondering why I'm not talking about those awesome green and yellow knee highs.

Also the pattern in those shorts is mesmerizing.

I did rock a pretty sweet crew cut back in the day.

Kids Against Hunger

2010-02-01T16:29:00.000-08:00

I had the privilege this weekend of serving the hungry of Haiti by helping prepare meals for them. Our church sponsored a drive for Kids Against Hunger where about 200 people over 4 hours packaged over 70,000 meals to be shipped to Haiti. It was a great experience that taught me just a little as to what it is like to be hungry. The meal was a rice based concoction of vegetables, soy, minerals and vitamins. They developed these ingredients to make an affordable way to get food to those that need it the most. You can find out more about it here. I am not a dietitian, but it looks like a great meal for the hungry in the world. I did get a chance to taste it, and while I wouldn't want to live on it, it was not bad. The rice was a little bland and pasty, but it is packed with nutrients.

The assembly line process they have down to a science. A group of about 10 people can put out hundreds of meals per hour. I do not know our exact count but it was probably around 200-250 in an hour and a half. We had 4 people dumping ingredients into the bag, 2 people weighing the bags, and 2 people sealing and packing away the bags.

I would encourage you to look at Kids Against Hunger's Website http://www.kidsagainsthunger.org/index.shtml and look for volunteer opportunities or even just donating resources. It is an amazing opportunity.

Our Little Photographer

2010-01-18T12:33:00.000-08:00

I guess Bella stole our camera and started taking pictures of herself.

Christmas Anticipation

2009-12-15T17:53:00.000-08:00

I'm going to piggy back on what my dad said and add a few thoughts of my own. Please read his post first.

Christmas has become for me totally about giving and spending time with family. I still like stuff as I have documented on here before, but there are 364.24 other days in a given year.

I can remember almost every Christmas Day or at least parts of every Christmas day going back at least 15-18 years, which is more than I can say about any other calendar day.

I am really looking forward to being with my family this year. I appreciate them more every year than I did the previous.

On slightly comical note is that this year we are giving PRESENCE instead of PRESENTS, in which case it might indeed be better to give than receive. Especially if your name is Chad Ochocinco.

Adultery

2009-12-06T06:50:00.001-08:00

My son, pay attention to my wisdom,

listen well to my words of insight,

that you may maintain discretion

and your lips my preserve knowledge,

For the lips of an adulteress drip honey,

and her speech is smoother than oil;

but in the end she is bitter as a double-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death;

her steps lead straight to the grave.

She gives no thought to the way of life;

her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T18:15:00.000-08:00

In honor of Thanksgiving here are some things for which I am thankful...

My Wife
Our Church
Friends
Family
Food
Financial Blessings
Health
Bella
Democracy
Freedom of Speech
Freedom of Religion
Our Hot Tub
New Career Opportunities
Broadband Internet Access
Those that Serve in the Armed Forces
Those that Serve Locally Fire/Police/EMT
Sunrises
Direct Deposit
Cars with GPS (even though I don't have one)
Smart Phones (even thought I don't have one)
The Burn of Physical Activity
Racquetball
Mashed Potatoes
iPod Touch
HDTV
Colts
10-0

What are you thankful for?

Mr. Fix It

2009-11-22T15:18:00.000-08:00

2 years ago Staci and I moved from here to here. I remember celebrating with Staci that we would no longer need to do dishes by hand since our new house had a dishwasher that worked (or we assumed). The dishwasher at the apartment did not work, which was annoying, but I never bothered to have someone take a look at it, since we only lived there for a couple months.

Imagine our surprise when the dishwasher did not work here at our house. We assumed it would be more expensive or too much of a hassle than just hand washing the dishes on a time by time basis. We basically put up with not using the machine for anything more than a drying rack and storage space. Staci and I hated doing the dishes, and it often lead to "intense" conversations about who would do the dishes and when. We would just use all of our plates and bowls until we had none, then contemplate eating out every night. I got to the point where I wanted to go buy new plates instead of wash the old set.

I finally broke down and decided to take the thing apart and see if I can fix it. I was able to find what I thought might be the problem and gave it my best shot at restoration.

Now, the dishes get done about every other day. They come out of the washer nearly spotless. With just 40 or so minutes if rumbling and whirling they are like new! No more pruned hands. No more civilized discussions about who's turn it is. Just peace and tranquility. And a happy Mr. and Mrs. Fix It.

Funny Screen Shot

2009-11-20T16:17:00.000-08:00

If you don't believe it's true, type why into google and see for yourself.

Great News!

2009-11-18T15:20:00.001-08:00

FYI, the doggwoods nation is the second to know of a breaking development in my life. I have been offered a position to work as a Credit Analyst for Ameriana Bank. It is a move up, in almost every way measurable and moves me in a direction that will allow me to better utilize my God given gifts, interests and abilities.

I'm moving from a job that would bore most of you and the rest would be miserable, to another job that would be slightly less so, but for me its a great opportunity. :)

Good Youtube Video

2009-11-09T14:47:00.001-08:00

This is why God invented Youtube.

Please note, the word ass in the following context most likely refers to a donkey.

Dave Ramsey on people with big money...

2009-11-02T15:21:00.000-08:00

Makes you think...

What would I be like with $1M, $10M, or $100M?

Pres Obama's Weekly Radio Address

2009-11-02T04:34:00.000-08:00

According to the weekly radio address, the stimulus has saved or created 1,000,000 jobs.

700,000,000,000÷1,000,000=700,000/job

Any of you making 700k/year?

Food For Thought

2009-10-29T16:52:00.001-07:00

Litterally, food for thought. I'm sitting downstairs eating dinner which happens to be chicken tortilla soup, and thinking about things. I have recently realized that I am really into gadgets. This goes back quite a ways for me. I used to LOVE Swiss Army Knives. Whenever we would go into a sporting goods store it was my favorite section/enclosed box. In high school I was the first to own a pocket PC. For those of you that don't know what that was, it was a smart phone without the phone. Some people called them Palm Pilots. The iPhone has been my most recent desire, but I have settled for the iPod Touch. I chose the iTouch, because it comes without the $70+/month contract.

But there is something new on the horizon. Or should I say something new on the Verizon? The rub with switching to the iPhone is leaving Verizon and signing up with AT&T. It would end up costing my wife and I probably around $50/month more than we pay now. That is a lot of dough!

This phone runs Android, which is Google's operating system. I use Google's suite of products, so this is very appealing to me. Most importantly, it has an app for Google Voice, which means a GV account could run seamlessly on a mobile phone with all the features, and the same great cost.

Here's where thinking has to start happening. There is still a cost difference. First of all it would be $200 to purchase which is reasonable, but there is more. Secondly there will be a $30/month charge for a data plan. This comes with a 2 year contract, so the total EXTRA price for the phone would be around $900.

Where I come from $900 is a good chunk of change for no more functionality than I currently have other than mobile Internet. (aka data plan) For example, that $30/month could go to support a missionary, buy food for a food bank, or feed a hungry child.

I have a lot in this world, and live a very comfortable life. Most people that read this blog (both of them) are also comfortable and not hungry. I do not say this to condemn spending, I am just journaling some realizations I have come to. I'm also not saying I will not some day buy a data plan for a mobile phone. What I will say, is that I need to do a better job of looking at what I spend, determine if it is a need or a want and also determine if by passing on that want I can meet a need of someone less fortunate.

Funny Family Guy Clip

2009-10-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

This was done as a spoof since Dan Aykryod and Chevy Chase were in an 80s classic Spies Like Us.

We're Debt Free

2009-10-25T19:02:00.001-07:00

I saw this video on youtube, and I thought it was awesome. Hope you enjoy.

Health Care

2009-10-08T17:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a great podcast on health care and one of my biggest gripes on the subject. I have had such a hard time figuring out the bills from the dentist, etc. that I have been hesitant to go back. I suppose that means THEY win. Anyway for a good look into this in detail check out Planet Money's podcast.

Corporate Challenge

2009-09-28T14:46:00.001-07:00

I had the treat of competing on behalf of Regions Bank in the Corporate Challenge this weekend. It is a friendly competition among companies in the greater Indianapolis area that has a few different events for people of all skill levels and abilities. I, being a runner of sorts, took part in the 2 shortest running events available. They were the half mile and a sprint relay. I ran the 400 of the sprint relay, which was a treat as compared to the 1/2 mile. I think I was a little over anxious on the 1/2 because I kept running with the leaders for the first 200m. I knew I didn't want to and couldn't for an extended period, but the pressure of the pack just kept pushing me.

The 400 was much easier to contain my enthusiasm. I even let a girl run out in front of me for the first 200. Once I knew I could kick it home at about 250 I opened it up and ran around 1:10. Not good by any stretch of the imagination, but considering my training and effort I was pleased. I think I could have gone 1.00 flat if it would have been my first race, without too much problem.

I also competed in the bowling event the night before. It was a unique format where with 5 bowlers you each bowl 2 frames per game. Your team gets a score based on the total after 4 games. We came up with 611, which averages just over 152 per game. I guess I'll take it. We ended up 1st in our division for this event which was a pleasant surprise, since I thought we didn't do very well at the time.

Ode to Da-Chort

2009-09-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

I have lost a few pets in my day (crosses self), but today was kind of a hard day for me. Cheetah, the cat, was put down to help end his suffering. As my dad described, he outlived many of his peers. If you have had a few pets in your life, you know that some mean more to you than others. Cheetah probably meant the most. As I reflect on his life, I think I know why. Please, allow me to anthromorphize Cheetah for a moment. When he was a kitten, he was one of three. I do not know how different he was than Buttons and Tigger, the differences were indistinguishable at that age. As I grew up, however, Cheetah became my favourite cat.

What made him so special? He would have been everyone's friend. You know this if you came over to our house any time for the last 16 years. Cheetah greeted you, and let you know you were welcome. He was interested in you, and always wanted to hear how your day was. He was a great listener. He never interupted your thoughts, but with a word of encouragement. So congenial, so charasmatic. He was loyal as could be. I would go away for weeks or months and when I got home, he was always happy to see me. People like him for that. I loved him for it.

Like everyone's best friend, he had quite a few nick-names. Cheetah, The Cheet, Da-Chort, Detroit, I'm sure there are some I'm forgetting.

Cheetah never complained. When we lived in IN, he let his weight get out of control for a while. Then we moved to AZ and he shed those lbs. He looked great for most of the time we lived in AZ, but when I went to college he had become so thin that I didn't know if I would see him again. Over the next 6 years, every time I would leave, I would say goodbye. But he never complained. I don't know how much pain he was in, until earlier this week, he couldn't walk. This is the email I recieved.

I wanted to let you know that Cheetah is not doing well.

He is having trouble walking now and keeping his balance. He can't stand upright on his rear feet but walks with the entire lower portion of his legs flat on the ground. It is very hard to explain, but cats typically walk like they are on their toes. The entire 4 inches of his back legs are flat on the ground, it looks like a kangaroo would be.

We have a vet appt for him Thursday, but it looks like it needs to be his last.

I knew his time was up. I requested that he was allowed to go home.

Cheetah, I'm sorry if you suffered. You were at times, my best friend. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would say that. You are missed.

RIP Cheetah
Circa Spring 1993 - Sept. 24 2009

Wedding Toasts

2009-09-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

In the last 4 or so years I have been to countless weddings. I cannot even count the weddings I was in, let alone the weddings I was just a witness to. I wish I could experience a variety of styles of weddings, or cultures traditional weddings, but I haven't. They have all been pretty much cut from the same cloth (if I can borrow a colloquialism.) Usually my favorite part of the entire evening is the toasts given by the Best Man and Maid of Honor. I have noticed a few themes that hold true. First, the maid of honor always reads. She is more prepared than the best man, and it usually shows. Unfortunately, this preparation almost never equates to dry eyes during and immediately after the speech. I do have to admit though at today's wedding was the first time I saw a note-less maid of honor. Secondly, best men are rarely chosen for their speaking ability. While some thrive in the spot light, most, stumble around with a mix of "inside" jokes and poor communication skills. Thirdly, there needs to be 3 elements to the toast. 1 is humor. Get the audience on your side and give them a reason to continue to listen. 2 is sentiment. Let the audience know (briefly) that the bride/groom meant a lot to you. 3rd is wishing well. It is your responsibility to wish them well in married life on behalf of the wedding party and those seated in the audience. Those are the 3 elements whole and exhaustive. Please do not add or subtract from this list, as it is comprehensive.

If you need an example, please see the speeches from either my wedding, or the Wren wedding.

Funny Article

2009-09-19T09:18:00.000-07:00

This is a really funny article. It admits that some of it was probably posted as a joke, but even if they are satirical, they are funny.

iTunes 9.0

2009-09-09T18:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Apple,

I have good news and bad news. First the good news, iTunes 9.0 is an upgrade and I appreciate some of the features, although any feature of note does involve me spending money, so I'll continue. I guess you are not a charitable organization, but are out to make a profit so that's fair.

The bad news is this version uses approximately 2x the memorty of 8.0. I suppose it wouldn't really be a problem if I was running iTunes on a sweet macbook pro, but I'm not. I'm running on an older computer. I only have 700ish MB of Ram, and you ask for too much of it. I wish you weren't so greedy.

sincerely,

fanboy

My Suburban Life

2009-08-31T17:37:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I recorded this, but I am certianly glad I did. This is a telephone conversation between Staci and myself, and we have a conversation like this about once per day. For those who don't know, any reference to "the account" is probably an envelope designated for "grocery" and we are pretty meticulous about keeping that straight. We have other enveleopes to. Also, I was getting our screen replaced that Bella jumped out of eariler this summer, at the Do It Center (local hardware store). I love my life, and here is a snapshot into it.

Heath care Debate

2009-08-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

There is no doubt that if you're reading this, you know of the debate that is taking place all across the country that centers around the issue of health care. This was one of President Obama's promises while campaigning, that he would reform health care. There are quite a few areas that are being looked at nationally, and I'm going to look at a few of them here.

The first topic we should look at is whether or not there should be reform. Lets call reform change, because reform sounds to me like Washington mandating something, and change can come from anywhere. I am of the opinion that there needs to be change. We in America spend way to much on health care as a dollar amount and as a percentage of GDP (Kudos Planet Money). This makes sense, because we have the most disposable income, after food, clothing, housing, etc. We also have the best health care system in the world. We have the best doctors, and the best hospitals, but for some reason we need reform/change.

For all the money we spend we aren't the most healthy people. Nearly 2/3 of American Adults are overweight or obese. We don't have the longest life expectancy, which I would hope for, since we are spending the most money per person (by a lot). Therefore, we must have inefficiencies. Lets explore some of these.

Medical technology is great, but expensive. From anecdotal experience however, "best" technology may not be the most VALUable. (emphasis on value) One test may offer the best results, but if it costs 3 times the next option does the extra value pay off for the cost? This is not always taken into consideration. Here is why...

There is a gap of knowledge between the service providers and the patients. When my doctor comes in and makes a recommendation I really have to trust it. They are probably suggesting what they think is best, but do they consider what is the best value?

The second gap is from the doctors to the office manager, or whoever charges the invoices and bills the patients. Most doctors do not know exactly what a procedure, or a perscription costs so while they are perscribing what is in their opinion best, it may not be the best value. I know I keep bringing up that phrase value, but that is because in every other economic decision we make we consider what we are getting for our money before make the purchase. This is not always true in medicine.

The third gap is from the office manager to the patients. I know I have had procedures done and not known what they cost before I recieved the service. For example, I was rushed to a hospital for a phantom head injury. As it turns out, I probably didn't need an ambulance. At the end of the day the bill was north of 10,000! Had I known it would be that much for the ride in the big truck I would have just got a limo, and it would have been around $200. But seriously, if I would have known how expensive that adventure was going to be, I would have looked for another alternative.

The fourth gap is from the people paying for the serivce and the people recieving the service. Contrary to what you may have heard on the news, most Americans have insurance. We pay some out of pocket but for any serious event an insurance company picks up the rest. For most people, after the first 3-5k we pay a small percentage of the rest of the bill. This is a bit like when little Susie has daddy's credit card at the mall. The shoes are a NEED when she spending someone else's money.

These are the 4 main areas I see as a big part of the problem. The system we have now does not appropriately allow price to adjust our decisions.

I don't know how to fix the system, but I do agree we need change. However, if I can make a recomendation, it would be that we try and find a way to close these 4 information gaps between the parties involved.

Weekend Project

2009-08-20T20:28:00.000-07:00

I have a few projects this weekend. One is to paint the garage. This is not my choice, the garage is a garage, it is finished w/ drywall and that's good enough. I'll let you guess who's idea it is (bella). 2 is to do a podcast or blog on what I see is the issue w/ healthcare. This will be a full length production probably 10-15 minutes or a full page blog. I'm not sure what will work better.... please stay tuned.

Cops

2009-08-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

Good Lord, Cops in HD. It's absolutely a terrifying experience. Cops was an experience in 480i, but in 720p it can make your stomach turn.

Sunday August 9th From Chicago

2009-08-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

Weekend update.

My First Podcast

2009-08-07T15:38:00.000-07:00

It's only 2 minutes long, so don't act like its some sort of inconvenience. Just click the title to listen.

This is super!

2009-08-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

This is from a behavioral economics blog called nudge.

http://nudges.wordpress.com/2009/07/31/strange-human-behavior-bank-edition/

Reader David Campbell sends along a fascinating story about human habits and attention. Safe to say, no econ would make this mistake.

Several years ago, Campbell consulted on a highway widening project in Atlanta. To make room for the new lanes, a bank branch had to be demolished.

Approximately 90 days prior to the demolition of the branch location, all the customers who banked at that location were notified in writing as to what would be occurring and were advised as to the location of a nearby branch that would be handling their accounts. Several large notices were also posted at the branch containing the same information. Follow-up written notices were also sent to the customers 60 days and 30 days prior to the closing. All the branch officers and tellers were constantly reminding people of the upcoming event.

Finally the day of closing arrived. The last customer left the bank, the doors were locked and a large sign at the entrance to the parking lot clearly stated that fact. The next day the wrecking crew moved in and began the demolition. Case Closed? WRONG!

Roughly 45 days after the closing I received a call from the officer of the bank I had been working with. I could almost see the tears in his eyes, he was laughing so hard when he said, “David, I know you aren’t going to believe me, but I promise that I’m not making this up.”

Apparently, about ten days after the bank was demolished and all the bank signs and other identification had been removed from the site, the bank started receiving a trickle of calls from its customers complaining that something was wrong with their accounts. As time moved on the situation worsened, but it wasn’t until someone actually went out to the site that now contained a non-existent building was the problem solved.

The only thing that remained on the site was the bank vault. The vault had been duly cleaned out at the time of closing, but the structure itself could not be removed by conventional means and required that it be jack hammered apart. The rear wall of the vault also housed the drop box for the night depository. Although the depository was checked and cleaned out at the time of closing, it never occurred to anyone to seal the depository slot. For approximately 45 days the carefully trained employees of nearby businesses had been doing as instructed and were dropping the day’s cash receipts into the night depository.

The building was gone. The bank signs were gone. Most of the parking lot was gone. The sidewalks and drive-thru lines were gone. To make a deposit required that a person park his car and walk about 30 feet over a dirt path. When the bank official opened the night depository box, he found over $250,000 in cash. Fortunately it never occurred to the local bank robbers that people could be that dumb. The bank vault door had been removed in the demolition as had all the bank security systems, and the night depository inside the vault could be opened with a crow bar.

Campbell asks fellow Nudge readers: Can anyone top this story?

Posted in Blog posts Tagged: bank

Google Voice

2009-07-30T19:15:00.000-07:00

I just picked up a google voice account. It's pretty much my new favorite toy. I could tell you the features, but I'm looking forward to bed (10:16) and you can discover them for yourself...

Better Blog

2009-07-28T16:54:00.001-07:00

I need to find a way to write down my blog ideas while I'm away from the computer. I have a unique idea probably every other day, but only capture it maybe weekly. I'm thinking iPhone, but don't ask me how that will actually help record the ideas... probably a simple notepad would work...

Final Frontier

2009-07-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

Staci and I are on a great adventure of the final frontier... Free TV. I pay for internet, mostly so I can keep you people satisfied with my thrice monthly updates. I may have to go to a paid subscription basis...

Anyway, we got a HDTV approximately 6 months ago and I love it, but it really leaves a sour low definition taste in my mouth when I watched Dish Network in SD. All you need, however to get HDTV is plug in some old fashioned rabbit ears in the back of that baby and we're live! I get the local networks pretty well, as long as no one walks up or down the stairs.

I was ready to drop TV for a while, but the wife wasn't. She enjoyed the DVR, probably more than I did. We made a compromise as best as I could, which was give it up for 2 months and then if we wanted to go back at that time we would, no questions asked. This was made possible when our receiver went out. :)

So since the loss of transmission I've picked up a hobby. I've played disc golf more days than I haven't. There are 3 courses in the area.

Sahm Park

View Larger Map

Dylan Park

View Larger Map

Morse Park

View Larger Map

Morse and Sahm have a variety of holes and pars, 3,4,5. Dylan is all about the long ball baby. They are all "par 3" and none is shy of 300 feet. The longest are in the mid to upper 400 foot range.

I've spent in the neighborhood of $50 out of pocket for discs and if I'd spent the same TIME on a ball golf course it would probably be in the neighborhood of 200-300 in greens fees.

It's a good game, but you need a strong elbow, so we'll see how long that lasts.

I may post more about this sport and these courses, but I know none of you are interested.

Long story short I'm saving $50/month having a lot more fun, being active, and losing blog readers.

Great!

2009-07-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

"I heard the jury's still out on science."

Gob Bluth

(pronounced like Job from the Bible)

Twitter part II

2009-07-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

I have a Twitter account. My user name should say quite a bit about my general feelings on the subject, though I do update regularlly.

Imaskeptic4

follow me, but if I don't know who you are I'll block you.

How we remember an Individual

2009-06-26T20:01:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure where to begin. I'm litterally sitting on the couch as I type this watching the zoo that is the media circus surrounding Michael Jackson's death. It is sad any time a human loses their life, but what is most interesting to me is what people are saying about the late Jackson. They are sentaments that I don't think we would have heard just 2 days ago.
I realize people aren't going to say today that he was an egotistical child molester, it just wouldn't sit well today, but I'm saying from my perspective, he wasn't a great man. Amazing performer. Gifted artist. No doubt a brilliant celebrity but not some one I look up to as a person in the least.

Wolfram Alpha

2009-06-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

This site is awesome. It makes Cha-Cha look like child's play.

That result is a little silly, but type in something like, What is the population of ... Insert City, or 3^2+5^2=?. It was designed to do math problems, but it does more.

Let me know what you think about it in the comments section.

Not sure what to write about

2009-06-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what to write about, so this will be a little bit of stream of consciousness. Whenever I hear that term, I think of a brain peeing. Brain peeing, is a funny thought. I'm sure it would be quite relieving, however. Many Fridays at the bank my brain could go for a pee.

Dreams and sleep have been on my mind recently. Its a strange phenomena, sleep. Our bodies can go longer without it than our brains, in my very armature opinion. I know my mind goes well before my arms or legs. Take for example the move I helped Adam and Ali make this weekend. The body was willing, but the mind became weak. It was about 2:30 and I could certainly carry another box, but I was having trouble remembering people's names and words were running together. Glad I didn't have to drive anywhere!

They say 18 hours without sleep is like driving drunk. I don't know who "they" is, but I suppose as long as 2+ people say something they can be "they."

Last thought is on dreams. Our brains get so much information in a given day, I hear it needs to sort it all out, and dreams are how they do it. I'm not sure what happens in my day that makes me think at night there is a man in a bear costume standing over my bed, but apparently it happens.

I've been known to have weird dreams though. Exhibit A - there are snakes in my fish tank. Exhibit B - While driving home from a football game, I thought my mom was driving off the road when she was exiting on a ramp. Exhibit C - whatever caused me to run around on the ground on all fours and scare the hoo-haa out of Staci.

Sorry I couldn't give more detail.

It's time for bed.

Apple

2009-06-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

Apple could get away with murder and it's fans would just keep coming back for more. A year ago when they launched the 2nd Generation iPhone they tried to push the new OS to all the phones, crashing the system. I doubt most people remember that, unless you were one of those with a $600 paper weight for a couple days. They still run ads taughting how stable and solid their products are. (I'll admit it was probably AT&T's fault, but they are married to them, so guilt by association) Now with the new OS that is being launched today they are going to enable some sort of bluetooth and possibly FM capability. I just tried to download it, however, and it took 30 minutes to even get connected to the iTunes store. This was built into the hardware from a year ago, but just left out of the software. If Windows would have done something like this, it would be another viral TV ad in a second. I love my iPod touch (ask my wife), but I'm just saying we as consumers of a product have a double standard.

An Idea for podcasts

2009-06-10T14:49:00.000-07:00

I listen podcasts many times per day and one theme is THEY have themes. Dave Ramsey is financial, this American Life is unique stories from across the country, Tech stuff is obvious, Planet Money is Finance/Economics, Stuff you should Know is informative. My idea for a podcast on podcasts. The theme will be discussing podcasts. I think I can talk about the stuff I like to listen to. Just an idea, more thoughts to come.

Podcast

2009-06-10T04:57:00.000-07:00

My friend Adam Wren and I really like ourselves. More specifically, we like what we talk about. He and I often get on tangents that we find to be humorous of full of insight, so we are going to try and bring back to life the Adam and Nate Podcast. It's been unseen for about 3 years, so our following may have gone its separate ways. Still be on the lookout for the podcast coming Summer '09.

Twitter

2009-06-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

Tweet...

I guess I just don't see what the big deal is.

Prediction: Twitter won't be around for that long. They have no business model, no plan to monetize their service. All they are doing right now is burning through venture capital.

Softball

2009-06-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

I've been playing softball for about 8 years, and I've never been on a dominant team. What used to happen was I'd start off on a church team, and then as the season went along my team would get injured (because they are old) and I'd replace them with guys that were young and athletic. We'd be good, but just because we would run around like crazy. We had some good athletes, but most of them did not have baseball/softball as their primary sport. This was fun, but often frustrating when fly balls would be dropped into triples.

This year is different. We have multiple collegiate level baseball players as well as a bunch of good athletes. I played outfield in high school and I'm not one of the top 4 outfielders on our team. I have, however found my calling as a middle reliever for our stacked team.

Last night we were losing going into the 7th inning both games. We ended up scoring and winning both games. We didn't play our best, and didn't have some of our best players, but we still pulled it off. That brings our record to 7-1. Its a lot more fun being on the winning side of these games because I know the other side, from two years ago when the only time we didn't lose was when we forfeited.

NBA Playoffs

2009-05-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

I've been one of the harshest critics of the NBA over the last 5 years, but what I've seen recently has me changing my tune. With the performances I've seen from Kobe, Lebron, Carmelo and Dwight Howard are making me think about following the game again. It will be difficult to sit through 82 games to get to the playoffs where sub .500 teams get in, and the playoffs take 2+ months to complete. If you didn't see the last 5 minutes of the Cleavland/Orlando games the last few nights, you missed out. Both games literally went down to the last shot, both taken by Cleavland. One went in, did not. Both were fantastic.

The Pacers have always been my team, and they have a long way to go, but in the mean time this tournament is appointment/must see TV.

Weather

2009-05-19T16:56:00.000-07:00

I'm so thankful for the weather. Not what you're thinking, most likely, I'm thankful for the weather we had in January and February. Not because I enjoy freezing my ice cubes off, but because it makes me appreciate so much 75 and sunny. I think you can have too much of a good thing, if only because you don't appreciate it.

I thank God for the winter, because without fail, it comes with the promise of spring.

Bowling Alley

2009-05-09T10:38:00.001-07:00

I had my 3rd brush with stardom this weekend. I was at woodland bowl on 96th street meeting some friends from work for some fun at the alley after work. We were standing around talking, waiting for the others to arrive. The next thing I know, I see a well built black man carrying a bowling ball walking towards the door to leave the alley. It was Joseph Addai.
I recognized him immediately and waved. He saw I too was holding my own bowling ball, knew I was cool, and nodded his head back in recognition of my wave.

This will go down with the times I saw Peyton Manning at the airport, and Rick Smits, also at the airport.

BTW I threw a 206 in my third game.

2009-05-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

Bella makes it look like I'm a cutter!

Bella

2009-05-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

How Bella feels when she's had too much milk to drink.

2 good movies, one marginal

2009-03-08T18:03:00.000-07:00

I was a bachelor this weekend, and I forgot how boring that can be. I ended up watching 3 movies in 3 days, and they got better as they went.

Friday night - 300. My favorite part of this movie was after it was over. And that's not intended to be a joke, but if you think its funny feel free to laugh. After watching this movie a few things donned on me. First, the movie is almost cartoonish, but its for a reason. It is the legend of a king of Sparta, and the entire movie feels like someone is telling you a story that is a bit fanciful. It felt like the time I read Beowulf in high school. Not even a little realistic, but probably the average embellishment that takes place over the generations. The battles were... over rated, but I felt like too much of the content of the movie was battle, where as in great movies like Gladiator, the battles take place around the story.

Saturday night - Walk the Line. I forgot how good this movie is. The soundtrack is wonderful, and the story is captivating. You root so hard for Johnny, even though for a while he does nothing right. He was a great man, and truly knew what it meant to have life, more abundantly.

Sunday Afternoon - LOTR Return of the King. Another classic. Tolkien was obviously a genius. Peter Jackson perfectly captured Middle Earth in New Zealand, and the cast made me really believe it. The inward struggle and outward struggle that Frodo goes through is gripping. I'm not sure if the ring is supposed to represent Sin, but if it does, I love that illustration.

Wife should be home shortly, back to reality!

Paul Harvey

2009-03-02T16:51:00.001-08:00

Paul Harvey died today. I was always a fan, and he will be missed, even though I didn't hear much of him recently. The way that man, would deliver a story could make even Bella's life seem interesting. Two phrases will be forever linked in my head to Paul Harvey. The first one is, I'm Paul Harvey... Good Day. And the second is, "and now you know... the rest, of the story"

1040

2009-01-26T17:21:00.001-08:00

Taxes... DONE!

101

2009-01-26T17:20:00.001-08:00

101st Post

Eulogy

2009-01-25T16:55:00.000-08:00

Henry Woods 2008-2009

Henry lived a fulfilled life. He had plenty of water to drink, lots of food to eat. He was introspective, and not as gregarious as rumors had him to be. He was loved by all that knew him. He is survived by his owner, Jessica, his caretakers Nate and Staci, and his cousin Bella.

Services have already been held. Henry was given a 21 flush salute.

Expensive Donuts

2009-01-21T15:46:00.001-08:00

Sunday I had a box of $230 Donuts. I know you're pining as to how I could have spent $230 on Donuts, and if I did, how big was the box? Well, it wasn't that big of a box, but they were delicious. I love Dunkin Donuts.

Staci and I spent Saturday night through Monday afternoon in Tennessee. I made a vow that no matter what we forgot, once we left the driveway we would not turn around and get it. (half jokingly) I realized, once headed south on I65 on the southern part of Indianpolis, atleast 25 minutes from home, that we forgot our video camera, as well as our charger for our digital camera. I normaly wouldn't care, since I do not really like taking pictures of myself, but our trip had a greater purpose than sight seeing. We were going to Financial Peace Plaza, the home of the Dave Ramsey Show, both TV and Radio. I am a devout Dave Ramsey proselite, so capturing this moment on camera was crutial. But I digress.

We woke up hungry Sunday morning and decided to undo a week at the gym be picking up some donuts. While out, we stopped at a Target, just to see what they had in the way of Digital Camera's. Their selection was modest, but it had what we were looking for. We love our Cannon Power Shot, and thought that if we could get the same picture quality with a few latest and greatest bells and whistles (sorry for the run on cliche's) we would jump on the opportunity. Well, they had the camera on display, but out of stock. We left, thanking the clerk, who was helpful, to an extent, just didn't have the product. I knew that there had to be a best buy around somewhere. We were in a Target, and there was a Home Depot up the street, a Best Buy almost had to be within half of a mile.

We got to Best Buy, and the choice came down to the Cannon we saw at Target, or a Casio that was featured on their Digital Camera display. The Cannon won.

In the summer of 2004, just less than 5 years ago, I bought a less frilly version of the camera we bought this weekend.

What I got in 2004 What I got on Sunday
4.0 MegaPixel 10.0 MegaPixel
32 MB Memory 4Gig Memory
1.5" Screen 3"Screen

That means 2.5x size pictures. 128x storage capacity, and 4x the view on the screen.

I paid $450 5 years ago, and only $230 on Sunday.

Amazing.

BTW, this is a very rare move for me. I waited 6 months to buy an iPod, and only did so when it came w/ a checking account, and 6 months to buy a TV, researching which one to buy for the entire time, at least one day per week.

Thanksgiving Weekend

2008-11-29T19:07:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving

Some pictures from this weekend!

Oh, Gosh.

2008-11-25T16:40:00.001-08:00

This is exactly the sort of thing that I truly see people do on a daily basis at the bank.

We are Cat People now

2008-10-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

This is the newest member of our our Family. Her name is Bella, and she is very cute. She gives us something to do, and talk about with our friends. We are very happy to have her. Please join us in welcoming her to our family!

Blessings

2008-09-14T19:07:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite things to do since we moved to the 46038 is hop in the hot tub (pronounced as one syllable.) As I was crawling in and looking up at the nearly full moon I remembered a similar night a few months ago when Staci and I discussed how fortunate we are. We were, and we are! I am truly happy every day to be married to Staci. We have great friends, family, and church. We are blessed financially, and otherwise.

I wish, however, that these facts were at the forefront of my thinking. I know I often focus on what I don't have rather than what I do, and I believe I am not alone. My prayer for this week will be to shift my focus 180 degrees and just be thankful rather than covetous.

The Scientist

2008-08-19T18:09:00.001-07:00

I just listened to this song and remembered how much I love it. Enjoy.

"... with the way the economy is."

2008-07-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

"...with the way the economy is." Is becoming the tag line of choice. It
is outrageous. It makes me want to say, "What WAY is the economy?" What
economic indicators are people using to determine the WAY of the economy?
My feeling is most people hear the tag line, and then use it themselves as
a sort of solution to hardship. I want to hear someone say, "I got a great
deal on a computer, with the way the economy is." Or "Interest rates are
at a historic low, thanks to this economy."

I saw a huge headline in a national newspaper that said, "stock market
loses 2.1 (billion or trillion I forget) for the first time since the great
depression. They are trying to pull on the emotion of our thoughts of the
great depression. What they failed to mention is the market as about a 100
times market capitalization as it did 70 years ago. In other words the 2.1
billion (trillion) drop in over all stock value is a drop in the bucket
relatively. I'll listen to what people say about ...with the way the
economy is. when they tell me which way it is, and don't say down. Give me
statistics that tell me my life is qualitiatively worse than it was 4 years
ago. The iphone is 199, I would say my life is quantitatively better!

Free To Choose

2008-06-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to grown my knowledge when I can, and the most recent endeavor is in my reading of "Free to Choose" by Milton and Rose Friedman. Please find my thoughts, and the thoughts of those I respect under the link to the left by the title of "Book club".

Social Security

2008-05-02T16:09:00.000-07:00

I have a bit of a gripe. I'm not a proponent of social insurance, so keep that in mind, and I know there are great reasons to have it and many people really NEED it, but my gripe is when people abuse it. More specifically when we allow them to abuse it. With something as big as social security there can be no real accountability, there can be no real efficient way to manage that money.

Let me get to my point. This week I overheard a man in the bank talking about when he is going to start collecting social security. He said that some time in the fall he will really start to hit his stride on the amount of SS he can collect. This is, of course, contingent on the fact that his income does not exceed a certain threshold. So, come October, Dave will reduce his hours to about 15 per week from 40. Long story short we will pay him more to work less. He is healthy as a horse (and he'll tell you all about it, even if you don't ask), likes to work, and still does a good job. Our system nearly forces this man to stop helping out our society by contributing by working. I really hope that in 40 years S.S. is a thing of the past and people are made to pay attention to their futures and save NOW so they can retire if they so chose.

Funny Stuff

2008-04-29T15:50:00.001-07:00

The Job Hunt In America

2008-04-10T13:02:00.003-07:00

Thanks to Adam Wren, fellow job hunter, for bringing this to me.

What has become of the Sojourn

2008-04-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

Adam,

As long as you are on campus I think you should still edit this stuff.

You Too...

2008-03-28T18:53:00.000-07:00

Brian Regan has a great bit from his stand up routine talking about the social phenomenon of You too. It is the knee jerk reaction of saying you too when some one says, something like have a good day, or enjoy your weekend. I say something along those lines, maybe, a thousand times per day. Today I mixed it up, just once though. I saw on a young lady's driver's license that yesterday was her birthday, so I sent out her money and receipt and said, "happy birthday." She replied, "you too."

Another example of how important it is to others what I say at work.

Something from yahoo answers

2008-03-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

Do blind people dream? what do they see?
also do they see weird things when they take drugs, like behind their eyes? i would have though it was possible, like having a dream lol don't ask why I'm asking, I'm just interested.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
I considered answering your question myself, but decided that you might prefer an answer straight from the source. So I passed your question on to my friend, Laurie, who has been blind since she was fairly young. Here’s what she had to say:

" Yes, blind people do dream. What they see in their dreams depends on how much they could ever see. If someone has been totally blind since birth, they only have auditory dreams. If someone such as I, has had a measure of sight, then that person dreams with that measure of sight. I still dream as though I can see, colors included. For people I’ve met since, their faces are just blurs or how I imagine they look. To me, someone like my mother looks forever 30. "
An "auditory dream" is a dream with only sounds and no images. Basically, the dreams of someone who’s been blind from birth are just like the dreams that you have - just without the pictures.

People’s dreams are based on the things they experience in their lives. That is to say that in a way, our dreams are based on our memories. So a person who has never experienced "seeing" will not dream using sight. This is just like how you do not dream with sonar images, as humans can not use sonar. Perhaps animals like bats, if they do dream (I don’t know if they do or not) dream in sonar. ;)
, the images that we see in our dreams aren’t real light - they’re signals within our brains that we experience the same way we would experience light. So light is neither stored nor produced. You could say that our minds "play tricks on us" to make us think we’re seeing light when it’s not really there.

My Week Without Staci

2008-03-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

It was not my choice, to spend a week without Staci. Given the chance, I would not do it again, but the results weren't all bad. Every moment I wasn't at work or asleep I was painting. The kitchen took at my best guess 5-6 coats. 2 with primer, 3-4 for with the red. It was fun, however. I turned the TV on in the other room and listened to the travel channel, discovery channel, and ESPN. The checkered wall was my idea, and it was strongly opposed by the "majority," but upon further review it received approval! :) There is still a little touch up to be done, but overall I am happy!

Google Maps

2008-03-12T19:04:00.000-07:00

There is a great new feature (well, new to me) on Google Maps. It is called street view. For years we have been able to see roads from a satellite, but now there is a new feature. You can see what it looks like to drive down the road. You can look to the left, or to the right and see the faces of buildings and street signs. What it looks like they did was just drive up and down the streets of many major cities with a camera mounted on top of a car. The camera takes a picture about every 50 feet, best as I can tell, and it takes a 360 degree picture. Here is a view of my street.

View Larger Map

Click "View Larger Map" and switch to street view if it's not there already.
Mess around with it, find your house if you've been added, or just virtually drive around some place you'd like to go sometime.

Loan

2008-03-11T11:55:00.001-07:00

Ever have a friend or family member ask for a loan? It can be awkward, and for many the knee-jerk reaction is to just pull out the checkbook. But having the funds available to extend a loan is often not the point when it comes to lending money... it's knowing when or if you will ever receive your hard earned funds back.

According to a Federal Reserve survey, over 8% of Americans have loans that have been extended to friends and family. By some estimates, these loans total a whopping $89 billion and an eyebrow-raising default rate of 14%, versus just 1% for those who borrow from a bank...