Middle America's Worldview

I figured I better blog. I haven't had much time or desire to post a good update in awhile. Last week was horrendously busy. This week my theme will be to "slow down". I am trying to not get too much in a hurry at work. I mean what's the point? If you juggle too much, you miss something. Yet, irregardless how much you try to do, it's never enough. So, I am trying to slowdown and maintain concentration. I guess we will see if it works.

We go live with a new system in one of our hospitals today. I hope it goes well. This was another big install. It included 5 interfaces and 8 maps on my part alone.

I am currently re-installing the XP on our home pc. I acquired some virus that just won't go away. I was told about a freebie anti-virus software called Avast. I was also told it was the best one out there that is still free. I guess we will see. I will plug it in as soon as I get this installed.

Another freebie application I am currently trying is Idea. It's a personal organizer for your PC.
Below is a snapshot of it.

You can find it at Sycon.de. I already see some things I don't like about it, but there are some good qualities too it as well. You can create a hyperlink to a specific program within you pc. This will allow you to have one database of all your links, including your PDF books (if you have them). I find it a fast way to pull up documentation in a hurry, rather than going to that dedicated folder and pulling it up. I am trying to streamline my documentation in dedicated folders as well as a means to access them quickly. This app seems to do that. However, I would also like to create a link to pull the full folder. I haven't found a way to do that yet with IDEA. I already have an excel created for that purpose and that excel is now linked in IDEA now.

My kids can't wait to see this one.

UnderDog Movie Trailer

Duration 2 minutes 11 seconds

Click pic to view video.

You can view other Movie Trailers here.

I added a new video on Cool Vid website.

You can also check it out here.

I created a new site dedicated to the new SciFi's Flash Gordon series.

I will be adding videos, articles, ect. covering this show.

You can check it here

It will be a 22 episode series. First episodes debuts August 10th, 2007.

John Ralston as Ming
Gina Holden as Dale Arden
Jody Racicot as Dr. Hans Zarkov
Karen Cliche as Baylin
Giles Panton as Joe Wylee
Panou as Nick
Jonathan Walker as Rankol

Woman Honor Thyself had a trackback in regards to the fundamental necesaties of marriage. As of this month, I have been married for 12 years. In today's currently culture and age, that seems alot. However, the time has truly flown by.

I recall before I was married, while working in ER, a 70+ year old lady and I briefly talked. Somehow the discussion came up, with me getting married. I was probably excited and shared it with everyone (smile).

Irregardless, she had some knowledge to share with me. She said, "Many people say it's 50-50, but it's not. It's 70-30. When you think your giving your 70, so does she."

I kept that with me to this day (nearly 13 years later). Personally, I think it boils down to not being selfish. I fear what this young culture worldview is. We are so bombarded with 'me me me me' and individual choices, it lacks compassion of helping the fellow man out of the pure purpose of giving.

Yes, I think helping out around the house is great. I personally never had a problem doing it. However, I wonder if it's pushed so much now, do to the fact couples are separated most of the day with their jobs. While at home doing chores together, they are actually contributing something together. A sad thought, really.

Another thought, I wonder if most of these kids actually know what self-sufficient really means. I lived alone for awhile before marriage. Yes, it was a small dinky place, but it was my cave. If I missed the toilet, I cleaned it up (wink).

So maybe, you can take that with you.

Listen to your spouse. Try to remember the important dates, and if you start out with a bang on those holidays, don't stop.

Don't forget the message passed to me. "It's 70-30. When you think your giving the 70, so does she." Because in marriage, it's about giving.

Check this out. We are looking to buy ourselves this camera for our anniversary.


Sony CyberShot DSC-H7 8.1 Megapixel Digital Camera with 15x Optical Zoom + Lexar Media 2GB 40x Platinum II Series Memory Stick (MS) PRO Duo Card + High Speed USB 2.0 Memory Stick (MS) Card Reader + Digital Camera Case

Back to reality, in a heat wave. The weekend was fantastic. Much needed and enjoyed. We stopped at a grocery store on the way to the cabin, picking up some food items. We stayed in the cabin all the first night. I was still stressing over work, till I hit the hot tub. After that, it was relaxation time.

We cruised into Eureka Springs the next day, simply taking our time to walk downtown, ect. We didn't really buy much. It was just nice to window shop and walk around without the worry of "being somewhere".

We came on home early Sunday morning. We arrived home early enough before lunch. I hit the yard. We managed to mow the wet yard. Suppose to rain again ( 30 % chance tonight ) tonight and more coming this week.

It was pretty hot out there, but done now.

The kids came in shortly after we finished the yard. Now we have all showered and watching the recorded disney special Wish Gone Amiss weekend special.

Ahh, Friday finally arrives. I been putting in 10-12 hours of work all week, trying to tie all loose ends. I know it's only one day, but unfortunately when your pounding the keys as much as we have this month, each day counts.

Irregardless, I finished up on providing the documentation to my peers early this morning. I didn't sleep worth a flip last night. I guess with the anxiety of leaving my projects and excitement of getting away is too much.

We are heading to log cabins away from it all. This will not be a roughing trip, rather a Jacuzzi relaxing trip for our 12th year anniversary. It still amazes me it flew this fast.

Yesterday, I was given a high note. It's very rare for me to buy alcohol, save a wine bottle once in a blue moon. I picked up a pack of wine coolers (for wife) and a six pack of Corona's (the only beer I actually like). The checkout girl actually asked for my ID. I had to thank her for one thing. On the way home, I was thinking, it might be due to my new haircut. Hmmm. I was still in a good mood and expressed to Kel what occured.

She quickly replied, "Oh yeah, they started to ID anyone looking less than 40."

Thanks hon.

I'm all for some diversity, if it brings some form of unification or advancement. However, I am simply not seeing it happening in the area of religion.

I caught wind of a school board allowing female muslim kids one hour of prayer in school. Evidently a substitue teacher had a note to allow one hour of segregated prayer for muslim children. They were allowed in a separate room where no one else could bother them, to pray each day. The controversy is, of course, the separation of church and state. Now, before anyone crys foul over me making that statement, you have to understand something. Yes, I have said before, I think it is the right of American children to be allowed to pray in school. I have always said that, and will continue to say that. However, in this scenario, you have the school mandating their teachers to provide this hour of prayer for muslims, yet not providing the same mandate for judeo-christian children. And of course, the ACLU is quite when the religion in question is not Judeo-Christian. I wouldn't personally have such a problem with it, if the other forms of religion were offered the same treatment.

I was also sent an email (Below) regarding our Senate opening prayer by a Hindu chaplain. You can read the email below.

I am all for listening to everyones side of belief. But the reality is, our founding fathers in the United States, primarily held the belief in one God. That is why our motto is "One Nation under God".

On Thursday, a Hindu chaplain from Reno, Nevada, by the name of Rajan Zed is scheduled to deliver the opening prayer in the U.S. Senate. Zed tells the Las Vegas Sun that in his prayer he will likely include references to ancient Hindu scriptures, including Rig Veda, Upanishards, and Bhagavard-Gita. Historians believe it will be the first Hindu prayer ever read at the Senate since it was formed in 1789.

WallBuilders president David Barton is questioning why the U.S. government is seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god. Barton points out that since Hindus worship multiple gods, the prayer will be completely outside the American paradigm, flying in the face of the American motto "One Nation Under God."

TAKE ACTION – Call your Senators at 202-224-3121
"In Hindu, you have not one God, but many, many, many, many, many gods," the Christian historian explains. "And certainly that was never in the minds of those who did the Constitution, did the Declaration [of Independence] when they talked about Creator -- that's not one that fits here because we don't know which creator we're talking about within the Hindu religion."

TAKE ACTION – Click here to send your E-mail today!

Barton says given the fact that Hindus are a tiny constituency of the American public, he questions the motivation of Senate leaders. "This is not a religion that has produced great things in the world," he observes. "You look at India, you look at Nepal -- there's persecution going in both of those countries that is gendered by the religious belief that is present there, and Hindu dominates in both of those countries."

And while Barton acknowledges there is not constitutional problem with a Hindu prayer in the Senate, he wonders about the political side of it. "One definitely wonders about the pragmatic side of it," he says. "What is the message, and why is the message needed? And will it actually communicate anything other than engender with folks like me a lot of questions?"

Barton says he knows of at least seven cases where Christians have lost their bid to express their own faith in a public prayer.

Zed is reportedly the first Hindu to deliver opening prayers in an American state legislature, having done so in both the Nevada State Assembly and Nevada State Senate earlier this year. He has stated that Thursday's prayer will be "universal in approach," despite being drawn from Hindu religious texts.

Take Action
Send an email to your senator now, expressing your disappointment in the Senate decision to invite a Hindu to open the session with prayer.

Click Here to Email Your Senators Now!

The weekend was rather nice. We pretty much did nothing Saturday (a rare occurrence).
Seems each of us wanted some time alone. Kel read in the bedroom while the kids watched a 'Fairly Oddparents' marathon in one of their rooms(while playing with the toys).

This left me alone in the living room. I was able to catch up on some viewing of documentaries and such. All in all, a very relaxing day.

Sunday, we had church and then back home. I managed to get a haircut that afternoon. We waited for our friends to bring their kids over for a sleepover. This will probably be their last one, as our friends will be moving away. They arrived around 6 p.m. It allowed the kids some time to play.

This coming week will be as others, busy.

Monday I have a school board meeting. The agenda looks to be a long one.
Wednesday we have TeamKids at church. The church has the water slide again.
Friday I am scheduled off. It will be Kel and I time to get away. This coming weekend will mark our 12th anniversary. We have been together for 13 years. Hard to believe it flew so fast. We plan to run away to the mountains, at a cabin for at least 2 nights.

Our Fourth of July could not pass without some drama.

Everyone in our house arose as usual except for me. I actually slept in till 7 a.m. local time. Kel was up at 4 a.m. and I heard the kids were up around 6-6:30.

We cleaned the house up a bit, and had a simple breakfast. Being the Fourth of July, I watched the "Liberty's Kids" dvd on "The first Fourth of July". Yes, we still enjoyed it.

Kel's parents came over around 10:45 a.m. with a smorgasbord of food. Kel's dad always seems to go overboard with cooking on the holidays. But it provided everyone leftovers the next day.

Since we cleaned the pool out last weekend, the kids wanted to play in it. It was too cold for me, but Kel's dad jumped in there with them.

All in all a good day.

We pre-bought tickets to see Transformers the movie (just the kids and I). I enjoyed watching it with the kids. It wasn't like I thought it would be, but a pretty good movie. The story revolved around the two young actors, not the robots (FYI).

As we were heading home, I received a call from my dad. He wasn't feeling good at all. I, with the kids, swung by and took him to the hospital. Fortunately, Kel came shortly after and grabbed the kids. I stayed with him in ER from 7 p.m. to 10:40 p.m.
Fortunately, he was able to go home, blood work came back fine.

He had been sick all last week and most of this week. He went back to work Tuesday, and I think it was just too much for him. A bag of fluids in him, with some rest, brought the color back to him.

I made it home nearly 11 p.m after dropping him back home.

Monday went by with no issues (re-adjusting blinders). I was on support for work, so needless to say, the day went fast. Seems we are too never really slow down.

I took our daughter to Art class, as Kel too our son to speech Monday afternoon. I had some spare time, while waiting for her class to end. I ran to the library and picked up "1776" by David McCullough. I have been interested in reading it, so I figured why not now.

Over the weekend the kids and I played alot of board games. One of them, was Professor Noggin's Revolutionary war card game. I was impressed with it and will buy more of them. Since we played the game regarding the Revolutionary war, it scratched my want to read more about it.
I was also impresssed with the kids recalling some of the answers, by remembering the "Liberty Kids" cartoons.

Later that Monday night, while everyone else were in their beds, I watched "The Nativity Story". I had purchased it from Blockbusters (3 for $20 ) awhile back. I just had the opportunity to watch it. I enjoyed it. It was different from what I expected, but interesting in the aspect of the portrayal of Joseph and Mary.r

We enjoyed our Saturday with the kids. There is a farmers market in downtown Fort Smith, we checked out. Grabbed some local veggies. We told each other, we will need to do this again.

We also took the kids to Chuckies for a treat. No, we didn't eat there. I can't stand their pizza. Rather, we spent 12 bucks to play their token games. Considering we were there 1.5 hours, I didn't think it was too bad. It averaged less than 4 dollars for each of us to play games and down the soda.

We were too watch the new movie Ratatoille, but the kids opted to buy the full season of Sonic the Hedgehog instead. $20 for the dvd. Kel and I made out cheaper then going to the movies.

I managed to get the yard mowed Saturday afternoon. This is a good thing, considering we were woke this Sunday morning at 5 a.m. with thunderclaps. Raining again, already.

We actually accomplished alot this weekend. Cleaning house, preparing for a yard sale, mowing the yard, just to name a few ocurences this weekend. I am glad we did get alot done, considering another week of running is already here.

I was also on-call last week. I had one call during the week, but Sunday made up for it. I was working most of the day on a re-occuring issue for one of our servers. I am hoping this time, they found the culprit (possibly backup tapes).

This week, I look forward to the following evenings.

Mon- Running at least seven errands with the kids.
Tue- Kel's B-day evening.
Wed- TeamKids
Thur-School Board meeting
Fri- (Do I get this evening off?)

Unreal.

I found this interesting and wanted to share it. These are the most frequent questions/answers for Mike Evans.

What is the present status of Iran's nuclear program?

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has stated that Iran will have 3000 centrifuges by the end of July. This is the number needed to build an atomic bomb. The Agency has said the Iran will have 8000 by the end of the year.
Found here.

You met with President Barzani during a State invitation to northern Iraq in April 2007. What is the status of Kurdistan now?

The U.S. Base in the capital, Erbil, will be empty by the end of this month. The 1500 South Koreans that now man the base are leaving Iraq. If the U.S. does not occupy the base, the Turks will invade. The Turks have oil contracts with Iran and do not want the Kurds to control the Kirkuk oil fields (considered the largest untapped reserves in the world).

HAMAS has recently taken over Gaza; why?

Iran has given the order for HAMAS to attempt to destabilize Israel. The same thing was done last summer through Iran's other sub-contractor, Hezbollah. I was on the northern border of Israel when some 4000 missiles were fired into Israel. Why? To weaken Israel so it will not attack Iran's nuclear reactors. HAMAS' plan is to establish an Islamic theocracy from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River with no Jews. Their constitution says, "The day of judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them. Then Jews will hide under rocks and the rocks will cry out, 'Oh, Muslim, a Jew is hidden behind me; come and kill him.'" HAMAS airs a daily show "Tomorrow's Pioneers," a Mickey Mouse-type video in which children sing songs and recite poems about how they will blow up Jews, since all Jews are considered "monkeys and pigs." An unrestrained Islamic revolution is spreading through Iraq, Lebanon, and the PA while the world sleeps. This revolution is fueled and fed by Iran; its final move is to take it to the streets of America.

What is the current status of your book, The Final Move Beyond Iraq, since it hit #1 on the New York Times list?

The second and third weeks, the book posted at #5, and the fourth week, it posted at #6.
What would the U.S. or Israel have to do to impede Iran's nuclear program?
Iran's three facilities in order of ascending importance would have to be attacked. They are the heavy water and plutonium reactors under construction at Arak, a uranium conversion facility in Isfahan, and a uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. Fifty Israeli jets would have to reach these targets to succeed: twenty-five F-151s and twenty-five F-161s.

What do the Iranians believe concerning the End Times?

They believe there are 50 signs of the coming of the "perfect human being," the Mahdi's resurrection. Some of those signs are:
Death of 1/3 of mankind
Elimination of scholars
Fireball in the sky (a nuclear event?)
Profanation of the house of Islam
Skyscrapers and technology
War - East verses the West (Armageddon)
The Mahdi and Jesus will jointly defeat the Dajjal (Antichrist), liberate Palestine, and unite the world under Islam
A cataclysmic situation will usher in the Mahdi
What do they believe about Jesus?
He was prophet, but not the Son of God.
He was raised to heaven but not crucified.
He will reign 40 years, die, and be buried in a tomb beside Mohammad.
The chosen devotees (144,000) of al-Mahdi will reach Israel within a short period of time to oppose the great deceiver, Israel.
He will be a faithful Muslim and make a pilgrimage to Mecca.
He will visit Mohammad's grave, salute Mohammad, and destroy Christianity.

Does Iran plan to attack the U.S. with nuclear weapons?

Yes, their goal is to detonate a nuclear device in the U.S. FBI director Robert Mueller said that the goal of the terrorists is to hit American cities - among them, New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston, Houston, and Washington, D.C.

How can I see the documentary on the subject?

You may purchase a copy of the documentary on the website, www.beyondiraq.com, or you may watch a pay-per-view version. You can purchase it for $10.00 or watch it on pay-per-view for $4.95 by going to www.beyondiraq.com.

What can I do to help?

Send this email to everyone on your list; ask them to buy the book and watch the special.

Ask your pastor to preach on it. There is a message complete with PowerPoint information on www.beyondiraq.com at no cost. Also ask him to buy the book and use it as a study guide for church members. The book contains a 21-day call to prayer plan.

URGENT! PLEASE SEND THIS TO YOUR ENTIRE LIST AND ASK THEM TO PRAY. THIS IS A BATTLE BETWEEN DARKNESS AND LIGHT...

Dr. Mike Evans’ latest #1 New York Times bestseller, The Final Move Beyond Iraq, outlines the threat that Iran’s terror activities through its proxies, Hezbollah and HAMAS, holds for Israel, and indeed, the world.
The battle can be won, but it has to be fought by knowing the truth (it will set us free), and through prayer.

Millions of praying saints (Daniels and Esthers) can reverse the curse. Esther won the battle:

"If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. What's more, who can say but that you have been elevated to the palace for just such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14)
Daniel won the battle: "The people that do know their God will be strong and do exploits..." (Daniel 11:28)

All royalties from the book will be used to bless Israel.

I had a wonderful Birthday. Much appreciated to the family. I was awaken by breakfast in bed. My little girl fixed breakfast for me. Yes, it was good. LOL

Here is most of the cookie cake the family provided. I love the local cookie cakes.

Lucky me, the kids couldn't wait for Fathers Day to give me those gifts too. I was provided awesome gifts, made by the kids and purchased by the wife. The most techy gift was a WinTV. It allows me to watch tv on my pc. Cool beans.

We played all day together and watched "Eragon" (one of my gifts), which turned out to be a really cool movie.

So, a wonderful birthday followed up by a great Fathers Day. We plan to watch movies today after church. The son and I will hit the new Fantastic Four, while the girls watch the Nancy Drew. I will probably post a review on it.

The best gift of all is the family I am blessed with. With all honest and sincerity, I can say, God has truly blessed this unworthy soul the best family one could ever wish for.

We utilize the cable company like most do around here. Primarily, I use them for the cable internet access. It hit our area before the phone DSL, so I obviously jumped on the cable highway as soon as it was made availible.

Given that, the cable company began to offer another tantalizing option, in the name of DVR. The digital video recorder came into the public spotlight by TIVO. Since then other companies have attempted to get into the mix, some were sued by TIVO for having too close of a product using their patent. From the looks of it, this niche will only grow.

I listened to the others having the dvr and was told by all, they love it. However, when I asked can you export that same video, no-one knew. Now before you jump in and say it's illegal to copy off the cable, I would simply remind you the VCR did the same thing and no-one blew a gasket over it.

The other day, I finally took in my regular cable box and traded it in for a DVR. There was basically a 10 dollar difference per month between the two. The DVR I acquired suppose to hold 40 hours of video. Not too bad, considering 80% will probably be taken up by 30 minute cartoons.

I tried to play with it last week by recording the show "Pirate Master" on Thursday night. I was able to view it Friday evening. I noticed the same 7 p.m. show was accidently recorded twice. You can view the "DVR Listing" and choose a recorded show. I chose one of the two and behold, it was a black screen with a rolling text on the bottom informing me this show can not be duplicated or copied.

'Interesting'.

I then chose the other recorded show and it played fine. So, the cable company has some type of firmware, within the box, that does not allow you to record the same show twice at the same time.

I haven't tested or tried to actually record from the DVR to a VHS/DVD combo.

Unfortunately, what I am seeing is a great attempt to put up a wall from the media/video itself. The VHS is being replaced with disc (similar to the cassette with cd's). Along with the change, the ability to duplicate is being removed.

Someone had suggested to read Richard Dawkins book entitled "The God Delusion". I was finally able to snag it at the library.

I also was able to acquire the video "The God who wasn't there" by the same Dawkins.
I understand he also had a couple of documentaries called "The root of all evil". I haven't seen those yet, but intend to view them as well.

Why would I read and view some information from the viewpoint of an Atheist? I am glad you asked.

When I converse with someone, I like to have a better understanding of that person's worldview. For me, it makes it easier to communicate when I understand the persons background and worldview.

Note I said converse and not debate. Over the years, I simply have found debates to be unproductive.

So I am reading why this, once christian boy, now has the worldview of a naturalist.

I read an interesting article that really made me think (no comments please).
The article is here.

Essentially, it reminded me of the precious times I have left with the kids. They looked at the Saturdays (50 per year) times the childs age minus 18.

So, my daughter is now 9, soon to be 10. 9 minus 18 equals 9. Take 9 times 50 (for the number of Saturdays per year) and I am left with 450 Saturdays to spend with her. Not much actually. My son is 8. 8 minus 18 leaves me 10. 10 times 50 is 500. So I have only 500 Saturdays left to spend with him.

Realizing I have less than 500 Saturdays, saddens me. This is in the perfect world of actually spending every Saturday with them. Sigh.

I would simply convey, Dads, spend more times with your kids. I am putting this PC down and doing just that.

For a four day week, it sure has been a long one. Been on-call all week, but still knocking on wood. I sill have this dreaded cold, but started to feel better yesterday. Perhaps, I am nearly over it.

Work continues to consume me. This weekend on Sunday Kel's family has a yearly reunion we will be going to. Last year, I took the kids while Kel worked. This year it looks like both of us will be able to go. From what I hear, there will not be many showing up.