Rant: I don't ignore orders.

I have a special ability. Maybe it's the only one. Evidently, it is. When I am tasked with a request, I can, in a split second, analyze the entire situation, see what is required, and make an assesment of the situation immediately. My downfall, however, is that I take these tasks asked of me to heart. In other words, I take it personally when called a failure.

I was tasked with doing two things over the past two days. Nothing big, just things that needed to be done. Well, I have been in charge of doing these things in the past. So, I was able to determine the amount of man power, compare that to what we had available, add to that the amount of time required, make sure customers would be waited on, and make sure it was done speedily and to perfection. Both things were asked of me the at closing the evening before I had scheduled them to be done. I assessed the situation, gathered the required information, made a judgement call, scheduled the work to be done, and guess what? I was called defiant, lazy, and essentially irresponsible. I'm sorry, but I would rather not lie and tell someone it will be done immediately, when it will done at the next possible time. I would rather be up front (as asked) and make it clear, that it would be taken care of when the necessary resources are available. Now, if we were talking about the request being filled days, or even weeks later, I would understand the anger directed at me. When it's minutes, not even hours are separating the job from completion, I have a hard time taking that. When criticized, I take it to heart. Especially in front of an audience.

Great flood of '07

Yes, we had a gulley washer. I have heard 9 inches of water. Add to that 2 inches from the night before, and you have a flood. Pictures are on my flickr account.

R3 Dancing at The Sage Room

We went to dinner with my parents the other night. We headed up to Enid and ate a little place called The Sage Room. The food was quite good. The ambiance was nice, too. The piano player in the corner added quite a nice touch to the overall experience. However, R3 was enjoying himself quite a bit. Maybe too much. Sorry for the poor quality, I was using my camera to capture this.

I wish I had a camera

As construction continues on the road to our neighborhood, we have to find many different ways out, in order to get to town. If we are going to the west side of town, we go the easy way. If we are going to the east side of town, we have to take the hard way. It's not really all that hard, just long and twisty. We have to snake through a neighborhood behind our edition. We end up driving for five minutes to get to a street less than a 500 yards from our house. With all the construction, there is also alot of heavy equipment. Backhoes, pavers, fuel trucks, and whatever the little brush cars are. R3 is quite observant, and during his many rides in and out of the neighborhood he sees some of his favorite characters from Bob the Builder. It is a wonderful show that he watches in his down time. As Sara would pass the backhoe, on the way out, he would say "Can I give Scoop (the backhoe) hugs and kishes?" Sara would say we'll do it soon.

We got permission to go see one at a friends house, but I never have time to go by there. Last night I had just a little time before dusk to take R3 for a little bike ride. So I set up his little trailer, mounted up, and he, my wife, and I set out to see Scoop. Fortunately, Scoop (a backhoe), Mac (a Mack fuel truck), and Rollie (a paver) were sitting lined up, right in front of our edition. I got off my bike, took R3's helmet off, and took him out of the trailer. It was really something special to see the amazement in his face as he saw his heroes sitting there in the flesh. He looked around and smiled real big. He then looked at me and asked, "Can I give Scoop hugs ans kishes?" I said sure. He walked over, like he would to NaNa or PaPa, and gingerly bent over and hugged the step that towered over him. He then followed that up with a sheepish kiss. His little faced blushed, then beamed with glee. He repeated the little scene with Mac, and Rollie. It was really touching, ans so sweet, Sara and I kinda had a hard time not tearing up. When he was satisfied, he got back in the trailer, donned his helmet, and we headed back home.

I don't know for sure, but under the metal and dirt, I think I saw those big scary machines blush a little...

This was funny. Then it became very sad.

TopGear is a wonderful British automotive show that tests cars, and has fun doing it. Save for their typical attitude that "all that is not British is crap" approach, it is very enjoyable. One feature I rather enjoy is their TopGear Challenge. Basically, they but a cheap car (think $1000 or so), and then have to complete a race with some quirky challenge thrown in. It's not so much a race as it is a competitive Sunday drive. Most of the cars they buy are barely road worthy.

In this specimen, they took three typical American cars, an IROC Camaro, a Dodge pickup, and a Cadillac. The challenge was to drive across Alabama. Easy enough. The quirky part was that they had to do it without getting shot or pulled over. Easy enough, still. Each opponent was asked to paint an offending phrase on the other opponent's car. Well, that proved to be the problem. The Cadillac had "Hillary for President" and "NASCAR SUCKS" written on it. The Camaro had "Country Western is Rubbish" written on it. The pickup had "Man Love Rules" written on it. They may be offensive to some, but as I watched the video, I saw the ugly side of humanity (not necessarily America) rise up. The trip was uneventful on the highway, save for a few dirty looks, "the fingers," and some horn honking. It was when the stopped off for some "petrol" that things got ugly...

The station manager comes out with a raised voice making some unkind remarks. The hosts explain a little bit of what was going on. If that weren't tasteless enough, she hollers out, "I'm calling the boys!" A few minutes later a truck pulls up and these hooligans jump out and start throwing rocks at these guys. Earlier in the program, they made a comment about how the order of importance in America is George Bush, God, and Country &Western. The problem is he seems to be on the right path, at least with this group of people he came across. The problem is, if these people really were after God's heart, they could have tried to reach out to these "lost souls." They could have found out what their stories were. They could have offered them a helping hand.

The point is, that the act was seen, judgement was passed, and the sentence was almost carried out. I know I'm going a bit deep, after all, the same thing could happen in any part of the globe, which TopGear so conveniently left out. There is a parallel to our own hearts though that we should always be on guard against. So often, I have found myself judging others before I knew anything about them. Could you imagine what would happen if God, or Jesus, saw us doing something wrong in his eyes, and he just started pelting us with stones? Or worse? Fortunately, we have the love and compassion of Christ, so that we may be forgiven, corrected, and allowed to enter the kingdom in heaven.

So next time you see a car driving down the road, with offending phrases painted on it, or see a somebody doing "wrong," stop and think about what is going on. If you are in a position to help, offer assistance. If you are really bothered, say a little prayer for them. And for goodness sake, look for the film crew on the other side of the road!

We go to the Doctor Monday.

My wife had some spots looked at on her skin a while back. Well, long story short, the test results came back suspect. So we go back Monday to see what this means, what to do next, and where to go from here. Please pray that everything turns out OK.

Thank you.

Fun Fact: Some People Enjoy Their Power a little too much.

I read this article to day and, strangely, not surprised. A judge in D.C. is suing a dry cleaners for 65 million dollars. Let me repeat that, $65, 000,000.00. Part of his suit includes the cost of a rental car to drive to the next preferred dry cleaners, for dropping off and picking up his laundry. This is a perfect picture of how litigious our society is.

AOL News: Judge sues dry cleaners for $65 million