A sign of the times

Our town is growning rapidly, very rapidly. I have already complained about all the construction. Now, due to more development, they are taking down the second billboard I ever designed. This is coming into town, on the eastbound side of the road. Our lease is up soon, but the land owner will not renew the contract with Lamar Outdoor anyway. I thought I'd get a quick pic before they tore it down. Sorry for the shoddy quality. I'll get a better pic later. I hope I can before they start taking it apart.

Home Theater Geek

I had been writing about my home theater odyssey for a while now. I actually finished sometime before Christmas, but I still need to install a wall mounted outlet in the wall behind the TV. I'll do that later this summer, probably. The last thing that may take a while, is to find a new cabinet for the audio equipment. In total I ran a couple hundred feet of cable through the walls to get everything done. 3 coax (480p HD feed), 1 video, 1 digital coax back to the receiver, 1 cable feed, and 4 12 gauge audio drops. I won't run HDMI for some time, that is until I can afford both the player and cable. Right now a 50 cable cost about $150. Oh, yeah. They need to settle the format war, too. It all works pretty well. I picked up a IR/RF remote from my sister (my hookup at Sears), so I can leave the audio cabinet closed (away from a two year olds hands). I took the lazy way out and just ran an RCA lead under base board to the sub woofer. All in all, it sounds pretty good. I also pick up HD, due to the fact that my TV has an HD tuner (BONUS!), so I ran the audio feed back to the receiver. That sounds great, and affords me 720i/720p/1080i. I'll call it a success, but I'll always be tweaking it.

Oh, and by the way, the fireplace columns open on both sides to reveal a super geeky DVD colection!

Fun Fact:I'm now facebooked...

After much prodding from friends, I finally decided to join facebook. Problem is, I don't know where any of them are. I'm new, so if you want to facebook me, do it here: Facebook me!

The hole in the ground

Tuesday was a busy day. I put down insecticide, followed with the pre-emergent/fertilizer. I am trying to get a head start on the yard this year. Followed by a heavy watering. We usually have our yard sprayed, but decided that I would try to do it myself this year. Considering I haven't really been out and checked all the way around the house the past few months, I did a complete survey, just checking around, gathering up dead leaves, sticks, and branches. As I rounded the north corner of the house I stopped.

As many of you know, we lost a precious member of our family this Christmas. In a freak accident Turbo was taken from us early. But the good die young, right? Anyway, I had never buried anything before, much less a pet. I thought I had left enough dirt to make up for the air that would eventually go away and let the ground on top settle. Instead, there was a foot-and-a-half by two-foot square of sunken earth. It was kinda depressing. I subscribe to the out of sight out of mind kinda thinking. However, that doesn't change the fact that he is gone. That hole in the ground is sorta representative of the hole in our hearts left by Turbo's absence. It's healing, but it will still be there. It just needs time.

My little teacher

R3 Sandbox.jpg
Originally uploaded by rsnumber2.

I figured as I grew older, that I would better understand my faith. You know, maturity, life experiences, and such. I regularly go to church, I try to keep up a bible study on my own. I read challenging books that test my mental capacity. I really do try to learn from all the materials and people around me.

But the real teacher is the one that is about waist high to me. R3. It's funny how that little heartbeat is completely dependent upon every decision that I make has taught me so much. I have never grown so fast in my understanding of the kind of love and forgiveness that our God grants us, that is until he came into our lives.

Many times, I have wondered why God would remain silent. Why would he not give me this or that. The truth is, I didn't need it. Sure I complained and moaned, but to no avail. God knew that wasn't the best thing for me. Out of ignorance and greed, I didn't see that it would have been detrimental at a later stage in life. Until after the fact. I know I'm not omnipotent, but I can see consequences of R3's action before he can. God sees my consequences, before hand, too. But on a much larger scale. R3 doesn't realize that when I make him go to bed, it's because I want him to feel refreshed in the morning. That why he can play hard. I know what it's like to have a terrible night's sleep. He doesn't. God knows why I shouldn't buy that new camera, or shiny new Mac. In our case, I think it's so that we can try to have another child. That will be revealed later.

My point is, that through a fatherly role, I have learned much about God's role as my heavenly father. A view point that I may have never seen, without two shiny light blue eyes that light up my day. Even if they are only waist high.

Fun Fact: They make blue sand.

R3 Sandbox.jpg
Originally uploaded by rsnumber2.

At least he hasn't figured out how to make mud yet. Blue mud, at that...

My Autobiography

Someday, I may write a book about all my vast accomplishments. Which I need to get started on...
Anywhoo. Below is a clip from a TV show called Talk Radio. This is probably what would happen.

Save Internet Radio!

As a big fan of Internet radio, I urge everyone that reads this to check out this petition. Please, follow the link and sign the petition. Internet radio bring so many wonderful kinds of music to our ears that we may not otherwise ever have the chance of hearing.

Save Internet Radio!

Seperation of Fact and Fiction

The other day I finally made the jump and separated my hobbyist tendencies from my home blog. I started another blog to write about my modeling interests. I'm going to keep this blog primarily focused on family, friends, and other goings on. This way I can still blog, but be perceived as a much older person... ; )

Books: Five by Endo

My wife has recently introduced me to a luxury I stayed away from normally, as a kid. It is a wonderful place that is serenely quiet, has a wealth on information, and more importantly, you can borrow anything in it for free. Yes, I am talking about the library. I used to try to stay away from them as much as I could. I have found lately that I rather enjoy borrowing books, rather than buying them and finding out that they are terrible.

Sara, R3, and I all went to the library this past Sunday. It was a very nice time. Sara and I found the books we were looking for and let R3 play in the children's activity center. And behold, it was quiet. With all of today's electronic doo-dads, it's nice to have a small retreat away form the norm. Which brings me to my book.

Five by Endo: written by Shusaku Endo. A break from the norm is one way to describe this book. I have already read Silence and The Samurai. Both were great books. The Samurai felt a little long winded at times, but it was a good book overall. Five by Endo is actually a collection of five stories. Unzen: a story of a writer researching a martyrs dieing place. Fifty-year-old Man: a story about a man dealing with death. Japanese in Warsaw: a story about a business man having a strange encounter. The Box: in which a photo album and postcards tell a story. The end of the book is actually the first chapter to a book called Deep River where Japanese tourists go to bathe in the mystic river of Ganges. I have read the first story, and I can already tell it is Shusaku's work. Unzen is an offshoot of Silence, which by the way is one of my all time favorite books. It follows a writer visiting Unzen and viewing the natural hot springs where Christians were tortured for their faith during the anti-Christian movement in the 1800's in Japan. The writer is researching the area for a book and has come to see the area described in letters and books from that period. As a Catholic writer he is seeing what some of the latter Christian martyrs had to endure. The odd thing is, he starts to identify himself closer to the "spineless" Kichijiro. In other words, in a romantic view of one's self, we would normally say that we could endure all, even death, to say that we are a Christian. We did not live in those times of yesteryear, however. In those times the torture didn't always stop with the believer. Sometimes the killing or torture would be directed at loved ones, family, or even the very people they were trying to save. He starts to realize that faced with such torturous surroundings, he himself may very well have apostatized (publicly denied Christ as lord and savior).

Endo's books are very trying. I have often found myself feeling both relieved to know that many others have internal conflicts as I do. On the other hand, it has also turned my stomach to read about some of the things that people have endured, that in a worldly view, led nowhere. Most of his books end with failure of the protagonist. They often, however, stress forgiveness, and through forgiveness, an ultimate sense of peace and deeper understanding of the very faith they tried to cling to. Either way, it helps to illustrate the loving forgiveness our heavenly father has for us, even though we will never be perfect. Because we aren't.

All that's just from the first 13 pages....

Who owns who...

Although a bit dated, I find this chart better sums up the ever changing automotive landscape. It is not simply one against the other. Many times companies are very interrelated. Take for example, the old Honda Passport SUV. Built by Isuzu, powered by GM, and branded as a Honda, hmmmm. Or, how about GM owns 10% of Fiat which owns 56% of Ferrari? Interesting, huh? Follow the link below to see the graph. Keep in mind Chrysler is up for sell, which could change the map as well.

whoownswho

Enough Already!

Most of you that read this blog do not live in Stillwater. Right now, that is a good thing. I was leaving for work this morning and saw many concrete drainage pipes lined up. Guess what, more construction. That's not really all that bad, right? Construction means growth, and easier access. The problem lies with the fact that every major road in Stillwater is now under construction. Just to list a few; Hall of Fame, 6th & Jardot, 6th & Western, 19th & Western, 19th and Sangre, 19th Street between Sangre and Western, and 6th between Sangre and Western. It may not sound like a lot, but in my little world, that is every intersection and main road I use. As well as most of the people in my area of town. As an example, my parents live about 800 feet from my house. If I want to drive over to visit them, a 30 second trip has now turned into a 7 minute ordeal. I know, it could be worse, however when you factor in three or four 7 minute slow downs on the way to work, it adds up quickly. What used to take me 4 minutes to get from my house to my office now takes 18 minutes. I live two miles closer to work than I did last year and it takes me just as long to make the shorter trip. Progress is fine, but please, not all at once!

Stillwater Construction Update (pdf)

Question du Jour: Should I go split personality?

I think those of you who read my blog know I am a geek. My question to you is this, I was thinking about making another blog to house my otaku side. That would leave this blog for family, life, and well, stuff most of you would want to read about. Leave your comments below. Remember, you can leave it anonymously, if you want. That way neither personality can be upset.