death

So my great aunt died last week... and I'm actually glad. She was 89 and had alzheimer's for a good 4-5 years (if not longer!). Her condition was horrible and so developed that for the past year she hasn't had the ability to talk. She had been on pain meds for who knows how long, and for the past 2 years hasn't been able to recognize anyone when they went to visit. In my eyes she's already been dead for 5 years and today was the delayed funeral. Her passing was defiantly for the better.

Speaking of death, humans are so screwed up. If I had a dog who was 15 years old, blind, had arthritis, and couldn't even move around people would say, "Man you're cruel. You should put your dog down.". Now, let's look at my Aunt Daisy. Basically she's been useless as a human for 2 years and what do they do? Keep her alive. In fact, 2 weeks ago it was suggested that she go under the knife to fix some bleeding she was having. Luckily my family said no. Crazy.

I guess when it's all said and done, funerals give you an opportunity to see extended family that you don't see too often (or have never met before!).

We'll, time to get changed and head out to the bar for a goodbye drink of sorts. One of my friends slash co-workers is being shipped out to Kuwait for the war on terror on Saturday. This actually will be his 3rd trip over, the first two being during the first golf war. He's in the Air Force reserves and his specialty is fixing C-130s. So hopefully he won't see any combat since the AF will keep him at air bases the entire time... working in the 140 degree heat out on the wings!

this week in athletics

So I decided yesterday to go running and take a gamble with the shin splints. If I got them, I would have to play catcher today during softball since running for a ball would be out of the question. I started my run with a slight stretch, and then took off at a light jog and ran out 1.1 miles. I swung around and decided to kick it up a notch. On the way back I ran hard for a half mile and then walked (twice) and ended up running 2.2 miles. To my surprise I didn't feel too bad meaning my knees, shins, calves and ankles felt good. I figured it would catch up to me later. This morning I woke up and to my shock, I felt great! So... who knew?! New shoes are the difference! And to think - I've been running for nearly 20 years and had no idea shoes were the key! I'm actually looking forward to getting back out and running, something I can honestly say I've been avoiding for 5 years because of shin splints.

So at 6pm I had a softball game. Our team is mediocre at best, and before today are lucky to have won one game. Today however was different. I batted second in the order and reached base after running out an infield grounder - advancing the lead off man to second. From there, the dam broke. 18 runs later and 3 plate appearances by yours truly the first inning came to a close. We ended up 10 running them and the game ended 20-9. Man, what a difference when you actually having fun playing!

training

My training for my two upcoming triathlons has been on the back burner lately. I'm not sure why, but suddenly I don't feel as motivated. I need to start bearing down though, because in less than 2 months I've got the long tri staring me down. But, here I sit. Watching the Stanley Cup game when neither team perks my interest. I should probably go running, something I have yet to do because of my fear of shin splints. However, if I feel horrible, I can't play softball tomorrow. So maybe I should go swimming. I have yet to swim a full mile, much less a half mile without stopping. I figure if I trained hard though I could swim the mile after 2 weeks of hard swimming in the gym.

I think I'll go run a few miles, come back and catch the 2nd and 3rd periods of the hockey game and risk the shins. After all, I did buy REAL running shoes that ran me $130 two weeks ago. "They" say the shoes should fix everything!

Damn I hate exercise...

crossroads

There are many things I see Christians saying and then doing the opposite. As a Christian, aren't you supposed to set a positive example? Let's take this double standard point a few steps further if I may.

What makes something "wrong"? Not following a law? Not following a rule? Doing something that doesn’t feel right? Doing something that is morally wrong? If so, who's law? Who's rule? What if you're a Christian and your action happens to go against God's will? Isn't that wrong? If so, isn't not listening to God disobedience?

So, John 3:16 says that anyone who believes in Jesus will have everlasting life. However, we need to define "believe" because even the devil believes in God (James 2:19 "Thou believest there is one god; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."). So the devil believes Jesus was the son of God, so believing must mean you have to know/believe more than "yes, God exists", right? Otherwise the devil would be in heaven! First John 2:3 says "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." It looks like we have to know God (have a relationship with) and follow His commandments!

So... what if we don't keep His commandments? What if we ignore His words and self indulge in our wants, like getting drunk (Eph 5:18)? Does not listening to God make me any better than someone that doesn't believe in God at all? Makes a guy wonder where we stand as far as being saved. The real question is: Is "try"ing enough or do we have to "do"?

I'm defiantly at a crossroads. To my left, a road. A paved road well traveled, full ease and leisure. A road that goes downhill, where no effort is needed and if I were on a bike, could coast for miles. To my right a dirt path, steep and rugged. It goes up a the side of a mountain, and the path is slightly overgrown because few dare men dare to climb it. Now I know which path is correct... but taking it requires more technical climbing and effort than I have. For this path I need faith. I already started the climb, but summiting is going to take some time, patience, and help. Good thing I have good friends to help in my belay.

iowa

So here I am in Iowa - land of no hills and woman that love to farm. I arrived via the Geo instead of the motorcycle, mostly because I didn't feel like riding through balls of 1.25" hail in northern IA. Upon arrival here Adrian decided to go lift weights which left me alone in his house with his phenomenal working (sarcasm) Gateway computer. This pile of shit restarted approximate every 3 minutes just for the fun of it - which didn't please me. 1.5 hours later, I had it running like an Olympic marathoner (without abusing steroids), and that is no joke. After finding 600+ webtracker files on his machine, it was a miracle the computer ran at all.

Anywho, now I'm (we're) back and everyone is asleep. I met Adrians girlfriend for the first time tonight. As it turns out she's never really talked about her beliefs before in front of Adrian, whether it be religion or politics. Well, Adam being Adam brought up the religion thing, mostly because she has a Jesus fish on her car. Long story short, she doesn't believe Jesus is here Lord and Savior... and why that is, I don't know (she was going to bed before we could talk). From what I know, she went to a Catholic high school and she says that is why the fish is on her car (Adrian is also Catholic, but not practicing). I'm interested as to a) why the conflict of interest and b) if she really doesn't "believe", why keep the fish? In the back of my heart I'm worried though. I really don't think Adrian or Molly are "Christians", which really bothers me.

2 Corinthians 6:14
Be ye not unequally Yost together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

The Bible is pretty clear about not associating with non God fearing people...

... to be continued.

elephants... not in detroit!

5/20/04
DETROIT (Reuters) - The Detroit Zoo will become the first major zoo to stop exhibiting elephants on ethical grounds because they can develop arthritis and stress-related ailments in captivity, officials said on Thursday.

The Detroit Zoo has one of the largest facilities in the country, but its Asian elephants Winky and Wanda still have recurring foot problems due to the cold weather, Director Ron Kagen told Reuters.

In the wild, elephants roam vast areas, live in large families, and exhibit some of the same social traits as humans such as forming friendships and mourning for their dead.

"Elephants seem to be intelligent and even social in ways that are similar to humans," Kagen said. "Elephants can suffer from similar things to what we suffer from when we're in difficult environments."

Confined to zoos and circuses, elephants develop physical problems and neurotic behaviors such as rocking back and forth and aggressive behavior, he said.

"If we don't feel like we can (keep elephants), then the question is, who can and how?," he said. "For us, there really is a big question about whether elephants should be in captivity at all."

Kagen likens the change to the decision to stop performances by elephants and chimpanzees years ago at the zoo because of the stress it placed on the animals.

The zoo expects to send Winky and Wanda to an animal sanctuary this summer where they can roam with other elephants.

"I think it is an enormously important precedent," Wayne Pacelle, chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States, told Reuters. "It should trigger the examination of the treatment of elephants in other zoos and in circuses throughout the country."

Other zoos have also given away their elephants because they had health problems due to inadequate faculties, Pacelle said. But the Detroit Zoo is the first with sizable grounds and adequate care to end its elephant exhibit on ethical grounds, he said.

Ohhh…. those poor pachyderms. I hope they get released into the wild and someone poaches them within a week. Believe you me, I need a new piano with shiny new keys! I mean seriously, don’t organizations like PETA and the Humane Society have anything better to do than to look out for animals? The short answer is no. I don’t get it. When did animals have rights? ANIMALS HAVE NO RIGHTS. These whackos who are funding (donate money to) PETA and HSUS need to wake up and begin donating to helping better human life. How about helping humanity out and help provide food and clothing for the poor. Or how spending some money to cure a few diseases? Are bad knees on elephants really that high on peoples agenda? This world at times is unbelievable and sickening.


- POST THOUGHT (added at 10:44pm) -

Being a Christian, I find it very important to justify my beliefs, and to make sure I'm following God and trying my best to follow His Word.

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Main Entry: do·min·ion
Pronunciation: d&-'mi-ny&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English dominioun, from Middle French dominion, modification of Latin dominium, from dominus
1 : DOMAIN
2 : supreme authority : SOVEREIGNTY
3 plural : an order of angels -- see CELESTIAL HIERARCHY
4 often capitalized : a self-governing nation of the Commonwealth of Nations other than the United Kingdom that acknowledges the British monarch as chief of state
5 : absolute ownership

If we being humans are given dominion over all that is mentioned above, what is one to think when PETA and HSUS start giving animals rights and telling people what they can or can't do to animals. Now if you are beating a dog with a Louisville Slugger is that justified, because you have dominion over everything? A better question is, are you acting like a Christian beating the snot out of a dog? Food for thought...

democracy history?

Alexander Fraser Tytler (1748-1813), a Scottish jurist and professor at the University of Edinburgh, wrote the following in The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic (1801):

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with a result that democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy.

The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence:

(1) From bondage to spiritual faith
(2) From spiritual faith to great courage
(3) From great courage to liberty
(4) From liberty to abundance
(5) From abundance to selfishness
(6) From selfishness to complacency
(7) From complacency to apathy
(8) From apathy to dependency
(9) From dependency to bondage.

I found this guy about a month back while searching the internet on historical spiritual revivals. Good stuff.

old thoughts

So today I looked at my calendar and found my old friend Cara listed and her birthday is tomorrow. From time to time I find myself reminiscing and wondering the question, "What if?". My faith is strong, but I still wonder why nothing developed until it was too late. Maybe someday I'll see and understand the grand plan.

Unfortunately it seems that our communication has faded and our friendship is being maintained only when I email her twice a year (once on her Birthday and once during the holidays). It saddens me. But, such is life. Friends come and go, and people who have touch lives in tender ways continue on their tangent. It's the tangled web of these personal interactions that makes everything interesting I guess.

gas out

My biggest pet peeve has to be ignorant email forwards. I got 2 yesterday, both pertaining to the mighty gas out that is supposed to happen today. My favorite website Snopes.com says it best:

First of all, everyone's "not purchasing a drop of gasoline for one day" will not cause oil companies to "choke on their stockpiles." Oil companies run their inventories on a weekly basis, and since the "gas out" scheme doesn't call on people to buy less gasoline but simply to shift their date of purchase by one day, oil company stockpiles won't be affected at all.

Next, merely shifting the day of purchase will not "hit the entire industry with a net loss of over $4.6 billion." Consumers won't be buying any less gasoline under this "gas out" proposal; they'll simply be purchasing gas a day earlier or a day later than they usually would. The very same amount of gasoline will be sold either way, so the oil companies aren't going to lose any money at all.

By definition, a boycott involves the doing without of something, with the renunciation of the boycotted product held up as tangible proof to those who supply the commodity that consumers are prepared to do without it unless changes are made. What the "gas out" calls for isn't consumers' swearing off using or buying gasoline, even for a short time, but simply shifting their purchases by one day. Because the "gas out" doesn't call on consumers to make a sacrifice by actually giving up something, the threat it poses is a hollow one.

What I'd like to see is the gas companies say, "OK John Q. Consumer, since today you aren't buying our gas, tomorrow we're not going to sell gas." I'd LOVE to see the mayhem that ensued!

I think I may fill up all my vehicles and gas cans today so I can take advantage of the shorter lines. :D

My first real post

So I left early from work to run home for an eye appointment. After going in talking with the eye "Dr." I came to the conclusion that she (my eye doctor) is hot. It took me two visits but at least I came to a conclusion. I was there today for my contact refitting. I had my prescription changed so I needed to get new ones. Unfortunately, with the jacked-up contour of my eyes, the contacts aren't working. So, new ones are on the way. Now I just need to wait for them to come in... again. I guess if anything, I get to see the hot eye doctor, Deanna, again. (I wonder if she's single?)

So I think I accidentally put the wrong gas into my weedeater... or the gas is old - or both. Another thing to look into some weekend - and my weekend free time is gone for the time being.

Looking forward to this weekend. Heading to Iowa to visit my old college roommate. I'm hoping to ride the motorcycle down, all I need is the weather to cooperate.

First post

This is really more of a test than anything. Blogging 101, here we go.