Merry Christmas from Oklahoma.

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Expectations vs. Understanding

This past week I ran into a difficult customer. After working with the fellow for over a year and a half (not personally, but I have been part of the car deal all along) there was a misunderstanding. We finally found the last vehicle in the country that met his needs, flew a great distance to pick it up, and made literally nothing on the car deal. We were in fact, just trying to get another number on the board towards our objective. After all that, as the customer came out to see the vehicle, something happened. We still aren't sure what happened exactly. But after all that effort, he felt that we weren't trusting of him and he decided that this wasn't going to be his car. I've been there before. In fact I know we all have. So I just pleaded with him, and begged him to reconsider. It was to no avail. HE said that we were just done. I told him that I would earnestly pray about the situation. I prayed that the situation would be resolved, either way. And that I would understand the overall plan.

The next day, his old truck would not start. He was stranded at home. HE called the salesman, and asked if we could come pick him up. We gladly obliged.

Today, a vendor came in that normally shares her faith with us. I began to tell her the story about what happened. She really enjoyed the story, and told me about the prayer of Jabez. I did in fact already know about that prayer, but I told her that I disagreed with her. I don't want to step on any toes, but I know a few people that pray that prayer. I'm not saying that it is wrong to pray that, but I have seen it take a somewhat mutated existence. In the context of what happened to me, I wasn't praying that the customer would in fact take the vehicle in question, thereby "increasing my territory." I prayed that I would understand why the decision was made, either way. The prayer of Jabez speaks of enlarging one's territory. And that's where the mix up often occurs. Many people that I speak with refer to the prayer as a way to gain favor for material gain. By "enlarging one's territory," it means make them more spirtitually responsible, not to get more stuff. If I pray for material gain, I feel that I am wasting my time with the Lord. I should spend that time praising him, and asking for help with more important matters. Material gain, to me, is a byproduct of doing what is expected of me as a Christian. I asked for understanding, as opposed to the sale. Because I could have forced the sale, and lost so much more. Who knows, maybe we would have sold the vehicle to a family in need. It just so happens that the vehicle in question was intended for the fellow in the story. Maybe I had to do some maturing over night. Maybe he had a tough decision to make that evening. Or maybe this is the whole reason I'm writing this little blurb. The point I am trying to make is that the prayer of Jabez is a good prayer. Just be careful, and think about what you're praying for. Instead, try to pray for understanding, that way, you will never be let down.

Updates 8.17.08

Well, where do I start. For those of you that knew him, Turbo, our beloved cat left us about a year ago. Torque, our new orange tabby, has some pretty big shoes to fill. But I think he'll do alright. R3 is even having fun with him. We also became guardians of a neat little RV we have been given custody of. Basically, If I maintain it, we get to use it as we wish. We spent a wonderful weekend in it a week ago. Stormed nearly the entire time we were at McMurtry, but it was great. The best camping typically happens in in-climate weather. That's my expirience, anyway. Let's see... Oh yeah, in case you haven't heard, my transformation to full-fledge Otaku is nearing completion. I finished hacking my XBox into a sweet little hub for my home theater that lets me tune into internet radio stations, watch internet video, and watch/listen to media stored on my Mac. I may be a few years behind, but it still was a feat. I also achieved 7th Kyu at my Dojo. I'm still a white belt, but I'm working on that. Speaking of which, if you take the Stillwater NewsPress, my instructor had an article in the new "Business Unusual." That's about it. Just giving a quick update is all.

The nuclear cockroach.

I was thinking today...

If I can survive the current North American automotive market, the Union strikes, a lack of cohesiveness in the workplace, a new computer switch over, the rising cost of energy (especially fuel related oil products), the recession, the current attitude at work, a glut of large vehicle inventory, a dearth of exciting small cars (from GM anyway), global warming, the ever increasing threat of war, and the cancelation of MXC, I may just be all right.

Back Yard Campin'

I took R3 camping last night. It was a blast. We had a little fire going, made smores, and we slept out in a cabin tent. Well, he slept. The neighbors threw a block party from 1:30am to 4:30am. Anyway, R3 had a lot of fun, and we are ready for a lake excursion any time now.



Click on the picture to see the rest of the pics.

The grass is always greener...

Things have not been going according to plan lately. It seems that I am running outta steam, getting confused over trivial things, and have many moral dilemmas about other things as well. It always makes things look greener on the other side. I know... The grass isn't always greener on the other side, but it just seems that way quite often. Physically I feel better since taking up Goju Ryu, but some of the buddhist roots bother me, even though little or none of the buddhist religion is even brought up. If anything, it's helping me become more devoted in my Bible studies due to increased focus. Work has not been easy either. I keep making bone headed mistakes. Correctable as they may be, they are still mistakes. I finally bought a car for my wife at auction, and when it gets back to the dealership the stupid thing has a huge dent in the side of it. I'm just getting sick of all the conflicts. Most people that know me, know that at one point I was headed to Saint Louis for a job in design. Long story short, I decided to stay in town and keep the family business going. I work like hell, do what I can, and always seem to come up short. Oh well. I found this little short on the Layers website, a must if you dig any part of the Adobe suite. It is a musical of the life of a digital grunt. Or "creative professional." This could have been my life. It doesn't seem that bad really. Of course this was my last two semesters at school, in a four minute clip, but this could have been every ingle day of my life. Anyway, I'm just sitting here venting. Enjoy the clip.

Self-centering

As I slowly try to bring my life back to a balance, I have been researching the possibility of disciplines that may help bring things in line, in my life. My life has been somewhat globular in form. Work flows into my home, home into work, stress into the family room, and so and so fourth. One of the disciplines I was looking into was Shorei Kan Goju Ryu Karate do. Hide and I went to a class to watch and found it interesting. Like me, Hide has a few too many things on his plate as well. Sooo,  I went t a free class tonight and practiced to see what I thought. First lesson: I am way out of shape. Second lesson: This ain't no McDojo.  The Sensei is direct, informative, and very rigid (in a good way). I think this will bring alignment in my life that will hopefully bleed over into the rest of my ways. It sounds a bit daft, but I need more discipline even in my walk with God. Although I do everything with God in mind, I kind of just go with the flow. I need more confidence, focus, and borders in my life. I think I just may have found the ticket. 

30 to 12 in 6 darts flat.

Life can suck sometimes. Actually, pretty often. Speaking of which, a good friend of mine got some not so great news last week. It also right before his birthday, too. I finally coerced him into coming over for a birthday dinner, and some cake. We even got him a little gift. I searched high and low for something that would peak his interest.

Nuthin', I couldn't find anything. Finally, after shopping for groceries at Wal Mart one night, I happened upon a wall of Nerf guns. Although a bit young for our tastes, I thought "What the heck..." So I bought him two. After dinner we cleaned up the dishes, put the cake away, and gave him his gift. He looked at Sara and I with the "What the....." look. We joked a little bit, and the proceeded to open the packages. Ten seconds later, we were 12 years old, without a care in the world. the house was our battlefield. Jumping over couches, ducking for cover, even throwing pillows as decoys. It was just like we were on summer break so many years ago. I'm sure the guns will eventually be given away, broken, or end up back in Japan with him. But that 2 and a half hours was what we both needed. Nobody lost, nobody won. Nobody even tried to keep count. The only thing I lost was my breath. I'm still a bit sore a few days later. I think I'm gonna need another dose of that.

The more I think about it, the closer I get to heading to Wal Mart for the Sniper Rifle version.

Vices

As most people know, I have a few too many irons in the fire. As a step to help reduce some stress, I am cutting back on my many, many hobbies. I started the other day with Optrata, Wordpress, a couple of neighborhood blogs, and so forth. I am currently taking inventory of other things to cut back on. My side project (again, one of many) Goufy Shumi is on the chopping block as well. I have slowed my use of Flickr, drastically, and next would be my proper hobbies. I don't have much time for photography anymore, Gunpla has become a pipe dream. Right now, my only hobby is listening to Last.fm and playing my DS. Something's gonna give, and I'm afraid it's gonna be me. Lately, I been going to bed at 9:30 as well as sleeping in every second that I can. Life just hasn't been fun. In an effort to maximize what time I do get away from work, I have to trim things out. Who knows, this blog may be next.

Separated at birth? Ford Verve/Chevy WTCC & Beat

Ford took the wraps off an "exciting" design study called the Verve. Although it's a nice looking car, I think I've seen it elsewhere. Perhaps last year as a Chevy?

Listed left to right: Ford Verve - Mid 2007 / Chevy WTCC - 2006 / Chevy Beat Early 2007

New Logo

You might be wondering about my new logo. Well, when you are called something long enough, one starts to believe it's true...

Flocked, again.

*8/3/07 Edit - Some people have asked me what Flock is. Flock is considered a "Social Network Browser." Basically, it is an alternative to Internet Explorer or Firefox. It just happens to have a bunch of cool bells and whistles.

Flock 0.9 was released the other day. Although a bit slow, I like the improvements. The new look is gorgeous. Integration between social networks has been tidied up a bit. And getting to the features of Flock has been made easier. A new feature that's pretty nifty is the "My World" page which incorporates your favorite bookmarks, RSS feeds, and Media Favorites (such as Flickr, YouTube, Photobucket, etc.). The ability to blog an article or picture directly from Flock still remains, as well as using del.icio.us to manage your bookmarks. Magnolia is available, too, but I haven't gotten a chance to mess around with it. Overall the new Flock is much improved, and I highly recommend it, as I rarely have a desktop to call my own. This way I don't have to actually go to any web pages to publish, watch, look, or pull up. Everything is integrated into one slick browser. Flock is still in Beta, so other than the speed deficiency, there are a few bugs still being worked out, but is very stable in XP and OS X.

In a minute...

"In a minute..." That's a phrase I'm used to hearing now. Sara's busy making dinner, or selling some stuff on eBay. I'll use it because I'm working on one of my blogs, doing some model photography, mowing, or working on some models. I never gave it much thought. But, like everything else, R3 has put a new spin on it. Lately, when we request his presence at the dinner table, want to show him something cool, or we need to discipline him, we hear "In a minute!" I'm rather self critical by nature, so I started thinking about it. I'm not upset that he uses this term to buy some time to finish up what he's working on. In fact, I really don't mind that he uses the phrase at all. What does bother me, is how many times did he have to hear us saying that to him for him to add it to his vocabulary? How many times did he want to share an idea? How many times did he just want to enjoy our company while he played? And our response was "In a minute.."

More than 12 years without Antivirus

After over twelve years of computing, I finally installed an anti-virus/anti-intrusion/keep-me-safe/anti-spyware/anti-hacker software program today. I only put it on my computer at work, too. (My Mac goes on in this cruel, cruel world, uprotected and naked to all those nasty bugs out there.) I tend to not care for those things. They take up unnecessary computing power, typically cause erratic behavior, and generally just stink. One reason I have gone so long, is that I have a Mac at home. 'Nuff said. I do believe Macs can get a virus, etc. I'm not naive, it's just not very common. But I think if you just use some common sense, computing can be very safe, without the need for additional software. At work though, I have to count on the lowest common denominator. I'm not always the one commanding my computer. Since I share my little compy, I felt it was time to go ahead and lock 'er down. I have had enough of cleaning everyone elses Winboxes of that foul junk for awhile. By the way, anti-virus is only as smart as it's user.....hint, hint.

Tip: If your computer asks you to buy software to rid itself of viruses, don't. Plain and simple. We had a fellow pay $40 to some mysterious anti-spyware company that showed up in a pop up ad and installed a mess of a programs onto his computer. That included what? Spyware! Viruses! And Bloatware! Oh my! After formating the stupid thing, it seemed to run fine.

The regulars around here seem to know what's going on. But the short timers invariably get to screwing around with a computer and put some junk on it that completely destroys the OS. Just because "The computer told me too..."

Second, if you like fancy screen savers, games, and weather trackers... Wait, I'm not even going to go there, either. Just don't. All I'm saying is use common sense. Get to know you're operating system. You know what real error messages look like. If you are surfing the web, and something pops up and tells you you just haaave to put a program on (and the window has home, back, and forward buttons), go to download.com, or cnet.com, and see what others say. Or run your updater from Windows or OSX and use that. I am not some sort of guru when it comes to computers, but for me to go my ENTIRE computing life, and not get ONE virus, I must be doing something right. I just installed a name brand Antivirus on three computers at work, as a precaution. Mine was the only one that didn't have a single virus on it. Just be smart, do your research. Try to go to trusted sites. Use programs like McAfee, Norton, Panda, etc. If you don't know what to do, ask someone that does. No, not your neighbors kid. Call a computer repair shop, or find a real personal reference. I may sound like I am venting, I am. I just hate spending time, and having to spend money working on computers, when the whole problem was caused by ignorance. It's not that difficult, but fixing it can be.

Update: Sara's fine

We got a call from the doctor this morning. Sara is going to be fine. The area in question was in fact something to be worried about. However, they feel that all of it was removed. God definitely answered our prayers. Thanks for all your prayers as well.

Just some thoughts on photography

I am an avid amateur photographer. I've just got a couple of point and shoot cameras. A Canon A530 and a Sony DSC-S85. I really enjoy trying to capture good shots. It is amazing how well a decent point and shoot will do, though. Above are a couple of shots I took while in Springfield, Illinois. When I was in school, I took an awesome photography course at OSU. I had some really wonderful professors. They really opened my eyes, and showed me alot about the process behind photography. I ended up leaving the course with three first place photos. One of the subjects we covered was shooting with slide film. It was a bit more difficult to get that elusive "great shot," but the resulting photos were so well colored. Typically, the photos were much more vivid, and deeper in color. I was pleased to find that one of the modes on my little A530 attempted to replicate that style of film. I'm not big on scene modes, but I thought I'd give it a try. I happy to announce that this little Canon does a fine job. Neither of the shots above were retouched. The one on the left was taken in "Auto," the one on the right was taken in "Positive." As you can see, it really made the sky pop out. It also seemed to add a bit more depth to the overall picture. I will definitely be using this mode more often.

However, I think the reason these colors come out so well, brings me to my next point. I photography, light is very important. Most real photographers have reflectors and lights to help illuminate their subjects and eliminate shadows. As always, I'm a little too thrifty for a couple of hundred dollars worth of this equipment. What I normally do is take most of my shots in the late afternoon/dusk light and without a flash. Two things result from this. First, very little shadow. The light is bouncing off the atmosphere, houses, typically everything, except the subject. So you don't have people squinting, a harsh black outline around them (from the shadow the cast with your flash), or overexposed whites. The other added bonus, is that the light in the evening adds a wonderful warm tone to everything. Again, look at the pictures above, notice how warm the colors are? The warm building, against the cool blue sky? To me, it just adds a little richness. By the way, I forgot my tripod at home, please forgive some of the camera shake. Like I said, these are just my thoughts. If you have any tips or tricks, please leave a comment, I'm always looking to improve.

From one thing to another...

Sara went to the doctor a few weeks ago. They were afraid that she may have early stages of skin cancer. After a few late nights, some fervent prayer, and a second opinion, it was decided that everything was fine, but they wanted to remove it anyway. The doctor said he wanted to be safe rather than sorry. That's fine.

Fast forward to today. We get a call from the "female doctor." They tell her on the phone that she may have a cancer in her "girl parts." Of course, there's not alot of different ways to interpret this. So we scramble around trying to make an appointment, get a sitter for R3, and pray some more. Sara, of course is pretty upset. Her second "Hello. You've got cancer!" phone call in a month's time. After she had done some research (Google), she felt a little better. I guess it's not that uncommon for this type of thing to happen. It doesn't mean she has cancer, it just means she needs to be checked a little more often. I guess the people that call make it sound worse so that you come in faster, I guess.

I just pray that the Lord let me know why. Not so much that I question his plan, I would just like to know what we are to do with this circumstance. Are we to use this as a witness? Are we to use this as a cautionary tale? Is this to deter us from some future plans? I just pray that we understand the Lord's plan for us. I pray that his will be done. I pray for Sara's comfort. I learned along time ago, not to question God's motives. But asking for direction and revelation is the best way to get through times like this. We'll know a bit more after she goes to the doctor tomorrow. I ask you to pray for her/our understanding and that all is well.

Thanks.

The big 3-0

Well. I turn thirty years old tommorow. Wow. I feel old. As always, I chose where we ate tonight. As always, I chose Asian. More specifically, Japanese. Even more specifically, we had to try somewhere new, so that meant going to OKC. Shiki Steakhouse is the only Japanese restaurant featuring an oil derek out front,at least I'm pretty sure of it. It was a good meal. But, I really think Kyoto, here in town, is a better restaurant. Everyone got the hibachi, except me. I am the only real sushi fan in my family. I had the sammy roll (tempura shrimp, cucumber, raw tuna, and raw salmon) and the crispy salmon skin roll (pretty self explanitory). Both were very good. I hope Kyoto has the latter next time I visit. Very tastey with a great texture. The Kyoto roll, however, is much better than the sammy roll (very similar ingrediants, if not the same). I will have to say, my old roomate James Beckman is the guy that got me into sushi. I'm glad he did. My family, however...

Anyway. 30. Yikes. I still feel like I'm about 23 or so. With a child and a mortgage, that is.

Some stuff that happened in 1977:

• 01/03/1977 - Apple Computers incorporate
• 01/15/1977 - Coneheads debut on "Saturday Night Live"
• 02/18/1977 - Space Shuttle above a Boeing 747 goes on it's maiden flight
• 03/02/1977 - 1st time Jay Leno appears on Tonight Show
• 05/19/1977 - "Smokey & the Bandit," premieres
• 05/26/1977 - Movie "Star Wars" debuts
• 06/04/1977 - Apple II, the 1st personal computer, goes on sale
• 08/20/1977 - NASA launches Voyager 2 towards Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune
• 09/18/1977 - US Voyager I takes 1st space photograph of Earth & Moon together
• 11/21/1977 - 1st flight of Concorde (London to New York)

Born in 1977:

• 01/07/1977 - Dustin Diamond, San Jose Calif, actor (Screech-Saved By Bell
• 04/14/1977 - Sarah Michelle Gellar, actress (Kendall-All My Children, Buffy)
• 08/02/1977 - Edward Furlong, Pasedina Calif, actor (John Connor-Terminator 2)

Oh, yeah. And Elvis died that year.

Lightning pics

Well, I try to get a few good shots when thunderstorms move through. I have to just set the camera on a tripod, set the exposure for 15 seconds, and hope I capture something good. I took about 40-50 pictures last night, and all I got were a few so-so shots. Check a few out at my Flickr account.

6-19-07-1.jpg on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

My cousin needs your prayers.

I have a serious request right now. My cousin seriously needs some prayer right now. He was found by his girlfriend unconscious floating on his jet ski. He was blue by the time she found him. He has water in his lungs, as well as internal bleeding. The last I heard he is not breathing. I know he is saved, but he is too young to leave this earth, yet. Please pray for him and his family. They really need your support right now.

Thanks.