Sunday, January 30, 2005

The move is Underway.

Today we loaded up ALL the stuff from work on the Georgia Cumberland Conference Truck.

Of course there is a whole story behind it all happenin' but it's done!

Thank the Lord.

We unload tomorrow.

For now - relaxing and watching Beverly Hillbillys! Hilarious so far!

See ya!

Random Thought

I just finished taking a shower. A long dirty day you know.

One thing I thought of while washing my hair. It's amazing that I don't get more soap in my eyes than I ususally do.

It's been quite a while (knock, knock, knock on wood!) and I'm just amazed that I automatically 'react' so that I keep that stuff from hurting eyes.

It's just one of those things that make you go 'Huummmmmm!"

Friday, January 28, 2005

Packed OR Favorite Taco Bell Food

Well, the weekend is here - oh what a relief it is. This week has been an enormous mess with everything we're doing to get the radio network moved.

Today, we packed the final computer (5 of them have to stay behind until we can get the uplink moved - and that's a 30 page story in itself!) and 3 boxes of odds and ends left around. I took a very full pick-up load of junk to the dump and did a final walk through - we're ready to go.

Sunday 8am the Georgia-Cumberland Conference truck will be here and we'll pack it all in and ship it to Collegedale so that ALL of it can be put in a temporary warehouse.

That's right - our facility is NOT DONE. Just down there this afternoon and the sheet rock work isn't even all finished. It's not ANYWHERE near ready to move into. Ouch!

In fact, we found out yesterday that the carpet hasn't even been ordered yet. Well, that is ALL fine and dandy with me. For the last two weeks I've been rabidly selling stuff on Ebay trying to get rid of junk that has been hanging around LifeTalk for 5 (or more in some cases) years. I've brought in over $3,000 for all the stuff I've sold. We're glad for the cash and even more GLAD to be rid of the junk and not having to move most of it!
So on Sunday night, my final auctions will close. So Monday - I'll be packing up stuff to ship and taking it to the post office to send it on it's way. Then over the next 3 days, I'll be editing together 19 new programs for air, fixing some 'old' and wore out spots that are on the air, and reorganizing my computer and backing it up before I begin work permantly in Collegedale.

Thankfully my hours will change. I'm now required to be in the office between 7:30a and 5:30p. So an hour down and back gives me a 12 hour day - not bad all things considered. Once we move down in mid April - it'll all be GOOD! :) Hopefully! :)

Their are some DEFINITE positives about living in an Adventist Mecca. This afternoon on our trip to Collegedale we hit the local Taco Bell for lunch. Turns out they still have my favorite Taco Bell food. One that I have been craving for quite some time! I ate threee of them this afternoon and was in complete Taco Bell bliss. This food you pretty much have to wipe your face after every bite - but it is MOST Definetly worth it!

What food am I talking about? The Tostada. They still have them there and I have been craving one of those for - years, since they cut it from the menu a few years ago. Now why would the do something stupid like that? It was a great menu item and I saw many, many of them sold at just about every Taco Bell we ate at. Do any of you know why they axed that particular item? Well - I'm thankful that this particular Taco Bell has the wisdom to keep selling them! YES!!!

Well - gotta hit the sack. This week has been catching up with me and I'm plum tuckered out.

Oh, by they way, check this out. Our area has forcast less than an inch of snow and ice - and people are panicking. They've already put the Sodium Brine on all the roads. Hope it does snow and sleet for their sakes - especially from ALL the work it took to lay that goup down. He, he, he - southerners are crazy!

Thave a Wonderful Weekend.

OUT!

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

To Pack or To Unpack OR A Helpful Thanks

When you pack to move, do you pack, re-open boxes to put one item in, re-pack, re-open for another item?

Man, I've got this co-worker who INSISTS on packing ALL her own stuff at a VERY slow rate - then she is constantly finding things and opening boxes that have been packed to tuck in one or two items.

I talked to her about it last week - then this week it happened yesterday AND again today. So I had another 'Nice Chat' (Really it was!) with her asking her to QUIT wasting the work of the rest of us by opening boxes after they'd been closed. I and my boss also asked her to sort stuff while unpacking - we don't have a 'deadline' at the other end - we do now and need to get this done ASAP and she's tinkering around! Aaaarrrggghhhh!!! (By the way - I'm getting the cold shoulder now cuz of that talk. Oh well! Point made.)

(Of course - that's not near as bad as the guy who has packed up VERY little - but that's a whole other story!)

My brother-in-law, Scott has been a huge help to me tweaking this blog to look good. I changed a couple of things and it didn't look right so I asked for his help - and whama, bama, ding-dong he's got it right. He is good at this stuff. Thank you bro!

By the way, and YES, you will hear this over, and over, and over and over - probably until I get senile (A couple of years from now if we have to keep moving our offices! He, he, he) but when Scott got his first computer - he had NO clue on how to log onto the web or anything like that. I was the one who helped him learn how to do that. Now the student has become the teacher and the teacher the bumbling student!!! He, he, he!

Lead on, Oh Great One!

Thanks man!!! :)

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Past Decisions EFFECT Current & Future Plans

This has been a good reminder to me.

We've got some friends who are having to make some decisions in their life - and for obvious reasons, I can't go into all the detail.

But they made four decisions years ago. Now those decisions are 'dictating' some other decisions today. Now 'she's' frustrated and complaining that she doesn't have a choice. Well yes, she does have a choice - she made the decision for today a number of years ago and because of those decisions - she has to take the path today that she started out when she made those decisions.

This is a good reminder to me to not just look at the short-term result of any decision I make. I need to make sure to look at the long-term restult as well because a decision I make today - may force my hand into something I may not want to do in the future - but will have to because I didn't consider the future in today's decision.

Did you follow that? I know what my brain was thinking, but not sure if it came out clearly! :)

Ok - so today I decide to work effectively. Hope that helps me in the future! :)

Better get to work!

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Monday, January 24, 2005

I "LOVE" God's Timing!

You know, I've kinda been frettin' just a bit. I was worried about how I was going to get one of our Production rooms completely disassembled (Equipment and Cabinetry), get it loaded on a pick-up and down to Collegedale to get our Apt/Studio opened for the Building Inspector to do a final check - drop off the Production Equipment/Cabinetry lock the Apt/Studio up and get back home.

I decided this morning to call and cancel the Inspection for today and reschedule for tomorrow and just be down their 1st thing.

Well - I get a call from my Mother-in-law and Sandra tells me they JUST talked with the plumber. He had called for his own plumbing inspection - so while waiting for his inspector, the Building inspector shows up. (Guess he didn't get the cancelled order.) Passes the entire building and leaves.

So now, I don't have to worry about it! Praise the Lord. The inspection has been completed - and we passed, I still have to get the Production Room Cabinetry down, but I can do that stress free now! :)

What a wonderful gift for a Monday that was!

Now, they've scheduled the insulation to be put in and the sheet rock work to begin right after that happens. Wow - things are really moving forward.

I just LOVE God's timing - don't you? (Ok - I'll have to admit, not all the time, like I've got 3 pieces of property/Homes I'm trying to sell and my timing would love to have it now, so I'm a bit antzy about those - but after they do sell - I'm sure I'll be once again loving God's timing - cuz it's typically perfect!)

Have a Maaavelous Monday!

Sunday, January 23, 2005

Weekend at Home

Howdy,

How are y'all? Good I hope!

This weekend has been quite relaxing. I haven't had much of a choice though.

Joelle and I woke up pretty sick yesterday morning. So we stayed home from church. Doreen and Natalie went to church.

Then Doreen and Natalie got home and we all slept even more. Then we got up and Joelle & Natalie played very nicely and Doreen and 'wallered' around, talking, resting, just taking it easy.

Later all three of my girls jumped into a bath and then worship and bedtime for the girls. Doreen and I watched Bourne Identity, then crashed for the night.

This morning - the girls jumped in bed with us and after about 20 minutes Joelle threw up, just on the bed - luckily we all jumped out of the way. So a quick bath for the girls and then breakfast. Joelle just ate some toast and laid down on the couch. She napped while Natalie & I ran to Wal-mart to pick up some last minute stuff for today's football games.

That's the plans for today. Laze around the house and watch football. We've got some friends coming over and plan to enjoy the games! They should be good - probably even better than the superbowl - but only time will tell.

Monday's schedule is going to be nuts - so the opportunity to relax today will be a blessing!!!

Have a Super Sunday!!!

Friday, January 21, 2005

Didn't Leave the Kitchen OR Coming Down with Something

Busy, busy, BUSY week!

Yesterday, got a number of new programs edited together. Something I've been neededing to get accomplished before the 'big move.' Got another series to get edited, but am waiting for some spots from the co-host before I can finish them. But to get that one series done sure helped raise the feeling of accomplishment.

Started packing my desk area. Already packed one box, working on a second. I'm going through ALL my files and dumping everything that is useless. Much of them going. found some brochures for some production music companies back in 2000. Tossed 'em all - if I want more, that won't be too much trouble at all! :)

Gonna finish that today and take a load or two to the local dump I believe.

Yesterday, after getting home - I sat down for a quick meal - then 'gathered' my family, we all got in our vehicles to go clean the church. A friend has been left carless - so we dropped ours off at their house so they can get around until his vehicle 'comes back.'

On the way to the church - I realized I hadn't changed into some cleaning grubbies. Then it dawned on me that I didn't even leave the kitchen at home. Walked in, put 3 things away, ate, walked out. No time to relax. Actually, Doreen drove to the church - so I got in a 15 min power-nap, that I desperately needed!

While we were cleaning, I got to thinking about Grandma and Grandpa Pester, who for years were the custodians at a church in Silver Spring, MD. It's funny how life comes full circle in unique ways. Now Doreen and I are janitors at our church. Interesting! :)

Joelle & Natalie have runny noses, and last night on the way home - I felt a scratchy throat coming on - and when I got up this AM, sure enough - I've got some bug that my body is going to have to fight. With all coming up this next week, I'm thinking about skipping church or taking the girls to Sabbath School and coming home or who knows. We'll see how we all feel tonight then decide I guess.

Gotta get back to work and finish my desk this morning and write some support spots!

By the way - you may want to disinfect your keyboard and wash your hands after reading this - wouldn't want you to get sick to!

Have a Wonderful Weekend!!!

Does Anyone Really Care? Didn't Think So!

The NHL is probably not going to play at all this season. Story

There's been mention of just an expanded 'playoff' season where every team is in and the gets whittled down from there to the Stanley Cup Champion.

My question is - Does anyone care? I know many of us kinda miss keeping up with our favorite NHL team during the season - but unlike baseball or Football when the season has been shortened because of a lockout or strike - people just don't seem to care.

This is the first story in a couple of weeks I've seen on the NHL. Believe me, if MLB or NFL were on strike or locked out - it would be the lead story on web pages, or ESPN etc.

The NHL - eh - they talk about it every two weeks or so.

Again it comes down to both the owners and players not caring about who's really important, the fans. They're thinking about themselves - and believe me both are in the 'wrong' here and gotta come together on this if they ever want the NHL to be something.

You know, I still 'hold' a little grudge on MLB for the season the World Series was cancelled because of a labor fight. Now, I'll get interested in the playoffs and championship game, but not the regular season pretty much cuz of that. Well, that and their season is too dang long!!! 160+ games. Too much. About half those games don't really matter - but I digress.

I've never really big fan of Unions because of my religious beliefs, and the few times I've had to 'work' with Union shops has not always been pleasant and because too many times - when they're negotiating deals, whether it be Players Unions or Airlines Unions, etc - they don't seem to care about making sure the 'business' is gonna be ok, so they can keep their jobs, they just try to take ALL they can and run. The business be 'damned.' Of course on the other hand - too many 'owners' (Good example is Bud Selig and MLB) Trying to show they're losing billions of dollars every year to try and 'hold' unions hostage, raise ticket prices and get stadiums built by tax dollars. You know - this is just ALL political CRAP - and I'm to the point where I hate politics!!! Why can't everyone just tell the truth? Why can't everyone just be fair in business dealings? Why do so many people have to lie, cheat and manipulate to have power? It screws life up, ya know? Let's just all get along. I'm not asking for us to have communism where we're all equal - but if we all treated other fairly - whether rich or poor, life would be so much, MUCH better. Sorry - I'm digressing again! :)

Would anyone really miss the NHL if it dissolved? Maybe for a short while - then it would fade into oblivion. They gotta get this resolved, and resolved quickly, then really make it enjoyable, and likeable to get fans to come back and to make it a bigger sport than it has been.

War, NFL!!! :)

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Independence OR inauguration OR Icesicles

Having a Tennessee home in Minnesota weather is not good. The last two days we've had close to some 'early' season Minnesota weather. Our nights have been in the teens and dropping down into the single digits. BBBuuurrrrrr. Our heater has a challenge keepin' up! :) The last couple of nights, the furnace has run all night long. Cold, COLD! :)

Last night was warm - the low was 26. Ummm - balmy! :)

Well, this is my little girls first presidential inauguration. Of course they won't remember it - but it's a 'milestone' for Doreen and I to remember. The first inauguration I remember watching is Ronald Reagan's 1st term. I was actually home sick from school that day, we were living in Michigan then and I remember watching on our little 13' TV in the family room. (Took a couple of breaks to upchuck - yuck!) A LOT of things have changed since then, not all of them for the good, especially for little ones growing up. We're just praying that we're able to raise them to be dedicated to God and to walk the right path - no matter what the country/world does.

My little/big girl is growing up. The last two nights, Joelle is giving herself her bath. She lathers up her hair with soap and is very thorough at getting herself all washed down as well. Amazing! For the last 3 1/2 years we've been doing it all, and now she wants to do it on her own. Yipppeeee. It's just little steps like this that my girls make that just amaze me.

Natalie is starting to lose some of her 'baby fat' and lean out and get taller and what-not. Wow. My little girls are growing up. Next thing you know, I'll be walking them down the isle. Ouch! :)

Have a great Thursday!

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

"Hell-week" Midweek Update

Hey y'all,

Just finished a BUNCH of work for today, don't have time to start another project, don't have time to do much but take a few moments to blog, go to worship and then go home at a decent hour.

It was nice to have a relatively 'normal' day. The last two have been nuts! :)

"Hell" week might not turn out so bad - we just got a small reprieve, our 'final' move date moved from Sun Jan 23 to Sun Jan 30 - thankfully! This is good on 3 fronts - #1 - the Building in Collegedale isn't done, #2 - We probably wouldn't have been done packing #3 - I would have missed the NFL Championship games. That's ALL wrong! So now we get to move the Sunday between the Championship games and the Superbowl. Hallelujah!!!

Yesterday was the first wave/shipment/load/tranfer/move of stuff to Collegedale. I started at 8:30a and began disconnecting and disassembling everything in the Main Control Room. About 10a two other guys came in to help and we finally got it ALL done and loaded into our Penske 15' rent-a-truck about 1pm. We ate a quick pizza and salad meal and head south to Collegedale about 2pm. Now typically, it takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to drive, but yesterday, it took just over 2 hours 30 minutes. Turns out a 150,000lb crane (No one got hurt thankfully) caught fire coming down the mountain on I-75 - so TN Dot and Hazmat shut down the entire interstate. So we flip a U-turn through the median (Thankfully it was dry and flat enough the truck could get through.) headed down to Collegedale the back way. A LOT of other people had the same plan - so it was SLOW going. Oh well we finally got there and unloaded the equipment and main control room furniture. And headed home.

On the way home, just about Cleveland, TN we got stuck in another traffic jam - this time a Semi plowed into the back of another (Atlas Van lines moving van) truck. Saw on the web this morning the driver didn't live. (Pray for his family.) Looked like truck #1 was stopped and truck #2 didn't see it until too late and - well, the cab of truck #2 was 1/3rd of the way into the trailer of truck #1. Awful!

Well, this afternoon, I plan to grab a decent meal, snag a short nap, do lots of playing with my family, (Haven't been able to do that for two days) and then do our grocery shopping after supper-time.

Doreen and I started watching season 4 of American Idol. Man - that is some 'funny' stuff. You'd think some of these people - the ones that are serious - would get a clue of what the producers are looking for. Now the ones that show up for 15 seconds of fame - they crack me up! Of course, we've got the "serious" ones who are so tone-deaf, they think a cat caterwalling sounds good, and get up and sing the walk out incensed - I don't understand it. Are people that clueless???

I guess so!

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Monday, January 17, 2005

The Week from Hell!!!!

Well - this week of HELL hasn't started of good AT ALL!

This morning I was sitting at my computer at work, listening to my programs and eating breakfast, and the station goes off the air. Dead, Nothing, Nada, Zip, GONE!

So I'm checking into everything trying to figure it out - and it was our uplink equipment - which changes regularly - so I didn't know how to fix it. So I call our engineer who calls our other engineer - who doesn't work for us anymore - and turns out the power supply in one of the units, went south.

So we pulled it out of the rack, opened it up - and replaced the power supply, closed it up, racked it up, plugged it in - voila - up and running again! Oh - did I mention, it was an hour and a half later?! Yup! That stinks!!!

So I get back to work - get some stuff done and boom, it's time to have a party for our engineer leaving - and then I gotta go. So I'm on my way out, 30 minutes later than I planned. Then my route is blocked by the Police, for some reason or other, so I find another route - get to where I'm gonna pick up a piece of equip and get GRILLED by the guy. So I says, "Hey, I'm just here to pick it up - I've arranged it with the station manager." So I sign off - and leave.

My next challenge is that I'm only 5 min from my next stop and get stopped short by a train. Aaaarrrrggghhhh! Finally I get to our new building - and NOTHING has been done, NOTHING!!!! We're supposed to start moving the network tomorrow. TOMORROW!!!

Oh yeah, I had a conversation with my boss this morning and he's adamant that it happen - no more delays, just do it - even though our new place isn't ready. Oh my! Ok.

So I leave there - take 5 minutes, find a Geocache we tried a month or two to find and had no luck - and found it. A bright spot in today.

Then I head to my in-laws apt/studio building project, and lo and behold - another bright spot. It's moving along very nicely. The rough plumbing is done, the rough electricity is ALMOST done, and it's looking good.

After I finished there, headed to the Penske truck dealer to pick up the rental for tomorrow. And the directions, send us around the block - a HUGE block - but finally go there. Got the truck - and headed home, trying to stay awake.

It's good to be home. Snuck in a little 20 min nap then put a puzzle together with Joelle, and it's good to be home.

Now I'm chillin, which is nice. Tomorrow - I gotta begin moving the network with my co-workers, and we're gonna be extremely busy. Hope to get home at a decent hour.

It's my prayer, tomorrow's better!

Friday, January 14, 2005

Controlled Chaos

My life feels very chaotic right now. The radio network I work for is moving to Chattanooga/Collegedale, TN about 65 miles south of where we currently are right now. My inlaws are in the middle of building an apartment/studio for us to move into that I have to kinda help over-see the happenings as it progresses. We're trying to sell our house, our 3 acres in Vonore and my inlaws 1/2 acre lot. I need to keep up good quality time with my family and my house in Madisonville. And our church is in the process of building out a Low Power FM radio station to reach our community.

Aaaahhhhhhh!

We've been packing like crazy at work. There is BOXES EVERYWHERE. Used to have nice hallways, and now we weave down little paths and isles amongst all the boxes, packed & unpacked. First load out has been moved to Tuesday. WaaHoooo - now I get to watch the NFL games on Sunday. I was going to have to sacrifice those originally - but thank goodness the University has not finished our building yet, so getting things down there that early is out of the question.

Found out what was wrong with our frig/freezer. Originally we were told that it may be the 'circuit' board that needed to be replaced to the tune of $165 for just the part, not including labor! :( After more testing, it turned out to be the heater/defroster in the freezer that has gone belly up and will need to be replaced - probably on Monday. The cost is $105 and that includes the labor. What a blessing that is.

Well - I've gotta get back to work. Just needed a sec to vent. Ya know? Can't afford to get an ulcer or overwhelmed - so this is a helpful outlet.

Y'all have a Wonderful Weekend! (We're planning to play hookie from church and worship in the Outdoor Cathedral.)

Blessings!

Thursday, January 13, 2005


Just heard from a friend who I graduated from Campion Academy with, when to Alumni in 2004. My 15 year. Wow - has it been that long?? Aye carumba!!! Boy - we're getting old fast guys! Anyway, I checked the site and found this photo of those who attended. Cool.

Yup - this is definetly the group I graduated with!!!

Refrigerator on the Fritz

Well, what a day yesterday was. We began packing up everything at work. It was complete chaos at the office and I've got a feeling today's not going to be much different. In fact - it may be a bit worse. It's a great way to get rid of a bunch of 'junk' that's just been hanging around - old, OLD brochures etc.

Anyway I got home from work and we headed to Maryville to play at the play-place in the mall, run some errands and do our grocery shopping.

We got home, put the grocerys in the house and then put the girls in bed. We loaded the food in the frig/freezer - and just as we finished we saw a puddle of water on the floor under the frig. So I pulled the inside of the freezer door off and saw layers of ice that were inside there and melting. (Yesterday was unusally warm for winter 74+ degrees.) A couple of months ago our ice maker broke and and leaked - so I figure that's how the water got in there and froze, then the warm weather came and it melted and puddled.

So I chipped off all the ice and put the door back together and saw a problem with the seal - which may have been part of the problem as well, then plugged the frig back in and then, THEN the real problem hit... it was sounding VERY funny, and running intermittantly. Ohhh - BAD NEWS. We loaded up all our food and ran it over to my inlaws house and into their refrig. We're glad they're on the road and didn't have much in there so we had plenty of room to stuff our junk.

Gonna call the 'guy' to come fix it today. Hopefully it'll be a quick switch of the 'motor' and it'll be up and running again.

What a day! :)

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

The move is ON!

We had a great big meeting yesterday here at LifeTalk radio and the Move is FINALLY going to happen. And just like they say about the events at the end of time will be, "Rapid ones." The move here will be VERY RAPID.

Found out yesterday, we've got to get our back up studio on the air by Friday because Sunday (And this really stinks cuz I won't get to watch any NFL Divisional playoff games.) We're completely disassembling our Main control room and moving it down to Southern to be reassembled next week. Then next week we've got to pack EVERYTHING up and will be moving it down the following Sunday. (Again - that is lousey because of the NFL Championship playoff games. I kiddingly/seriously told my boss if he plans any 'movement' other than sitting on my sofa at home on Superbowl Sunday - I'll have to call in with a sick feeling - feeling sick they scheduled stuff on Superbowl Sunday and I don't feel good enough to come in! He, he, he!)

By Feb 1, we'll be broadcasting out of the studios on the Campus of Southern. Wow!!!

The final moves will be "RAPID" Ones! :)

At Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg, TN we stopped taking pictures of the anphibious critters for a moment and took some photos of bipeds in the building as well!

If you couldn't tell - I LOVE sports so I've decorated my cubicle at work to reflect that "Good" taste! :) See if you can find it all! :)

At Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg, TN, my brother-in-law (L) Randy and friend Chuck K got hungry during the walk through, so stopped at a tank and picked up a quick snack. It was kinda crunchy though! :)

My brother-in-law and I picked up a couple of shotguns to hunt up some skunks so we had to test them out on some skeet first. Yup they work. (I had the sore shoulder to prove it!) Baaa booom! Oooohhhh yeeaaahhh!

Our stylist cut Joelle's hair and put it in ponytails and little 'me too' got her hair in ponytails too!

At the Aquarium in Gatlinburg, TN my daughters were trying to compare their mouth's to that of a replica of the largest shark's jaw found in the world. Natalie trying to open her mouth and Joelle's comparing her teeth! :)

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Dominant Intelligence - Eh?! :)


This one was kinda fun to do and it seems to be pretty accurate. Doreen? Yeah, I know the dance thing ain't anywhere near accurate. When I try - it's just scary!

If you take this test, let me know what you are!

Later!




Your Dominant Intelligence is Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence



You are naturally athletic and coordinated, good at making your mind and body work together.
Sports are fun and easy for you, especially those requiring good hand - eye coordination.
There's also a good chance you're a great dancer, or good at expressing yourself through body language.
You learn best by doing, and you feel like you've always got to be moving (even if it's just your hands).

You would make a good athlete, physical education teaches, dancer, actor, firefighter, or artisan.



Monday, January 10, 2005

Playoff OUCH OR Cool Sheets VS Warm Sheets!

Happy New Week y'all!!

Hope your weekend was blessed and that you're ready for a new week - just ahead!

I'm in mourning today because my Broncos got literally CRUSHED by the Indy Colts. I'll have to say this 'grief' was not expected. Since the Broncos made it into the playoffs last week I have been, honestly, expecting the worst and hoping for the best. But alas - the Colts offence, and frankly Defense just steamrolled us. Hey - the Broncos made the playoffs, and 2/3rds of the NFL teams can't say that - so that is 'something' to be proud of. It was a fun game to watch though - with the Colts just lighting up their offense and they looked good. It'll be interesting to see how they do against the New England Patriots next week. Go Indy!! :)

And what's with 3 of the 4 road teams winning this week? Man that is extremely ODD in the playoffs. Homefield is typically a HUGE advantage. The Chargers, Seahawks and Packers just couldn't make the best of a good thing. Too bad, don't let the door hit your rear on the way out of the playoffs.

Been looking back 'mentally' at 2004 a bit and overall it was a good year. The only really 'bad' thing that sticks out, literally, is that in 2004 I gained about 12 lbs. Of course I don't gain evenly all over - I get it all in my belly! So this year - I plan to take that 12 lbs off and hopefully at least another 12 to 20. Right now I'm 212, and I'd like to be 180 ideally, but anything under 200 would be acceptable. I've started working on that by not eating late. I eat at 5a, then between 2 and 3 and that's my eating for the day. Around 11:30a I'll have a V8, then about 5p when my family eat supper, I'll sit with them at the dinner table drinking some herbal tea (iced - no caffine) or some juice.

A couple of times lately we've ended going out to eat late, and at one place I only had a Sprite and the other place, an egg roll, some egg drop soup and steal a few bites off Natalie's plate. (Typically I eat a TON a that restaurant - good Veggie Chinese food - yummy!)

Hey, is your preference Warm sheets or Cool sheets? Typically, when I slide into bed - I really prefer the crisp coolness - it just helps me get in the mood for a good sleep. Well, Saturday night after the day at church, potluck and visiting our property in Collegedale - we got home, watched the rest of the Jets/Chargers game and then I got online, blogged, surfed and stuff. Doreen went to bed after the game was over. About 2am I'm ready to crash so I go climb into bed - and I find my side all toasty warm - and it was nice, very nice. You see when I'm not in bed, Doreen takes over the whole thing! :) When I get out of bed at 4:30a to get ready for work, sometimes before I even hit the bathroom door, she's 'spread' out to take my side too. Well - Sat night, since my feet were cold and I was wiped - a nice warm bed just put me out in "2 shakes of a lambs tail." Very nice - but I still prefer cool sheets! :)

Don't know if you all have noticed some comments from JW Richards, but this is a friend from college days. A good friend! He is a wonderful singer with as he puts it, 'eclectic' tastes in music and has a very dry/drool sense of humor. Both of us were taking Broadcasting at Southwestern Adventist College/(As it was called back then) University. (As it is known as now)

We've kept in touch vaguely over the past 11 years, with contact every now and then. Well somehow he found my blog, (Was it through Scotts?) and has made a few comments. I thought I'd share two memories of Jerry, that I really enjoy remembering and since I just heard from him - they 'popped' back into my head and give me pause, to think and to chuckle with great memories from a friend.

Jerry and I both worked at KJCR 88.3 - the college station playing very 'traditional' Christian music. This was in the days where we still used vinyl albums with a mixture of CD's. As I recall, (And age is making recollection a bit more difficult) I was on the air from 6p to 8p and Jerry was on 8p to 10p. I was to play 1 1/2 hour of medium tempo music (Yello Tags - Every CD had a color coded tag for the average tempo of the songs on it)and had a 1/2 hour program (Focus on the Family) to finish up my shift. Then Jerry played an hour of slow tempo (Green Tags) music then the classical hour.

I remember, Jerry coming in 7:15p-ish and going into the music library and pulling out the new Blue Tag CDs. (Blue Tags = Contemporary) Then he'd pop into the production room - right next to the on air room with a huge picture window between the two rooms - put the CD on and CRANK IT UP. The rooms were sound proof, so I couldn't hear it, but I could see him. He'd be singing along for all he was worth, then he'd get this look of 'pain' on his face. Of course I'd be right of the middle of back-announcing my previous set of songs live on the air and knowing why the look of 'pain' hit, I'd have a hard time not laughing. After I closed the mic, Jerry would come running over and say, "Man you've got to listen to this - the harmony here is so good it hurts."

Then, he, he, he - then all us DJ's were to strickly follow the required format for our timeslot (Scott - you remember this right??!!) - and mine were the medium tempo yellow tags. Well, I'd go in and pick out an hour and a half of 'blue tag' albums and then pick the yellow temp songs of the albums. So Jerry would come in and give me a 'hard' time about picking blue tag albums. (Of course he'd occassionally do the same for his 'green tag' shift!!)

Dang, you know it's really sad that I've got all these cool memories of stuff with friends and family 'stored' in various parts of my brain and some of them only activate very rarely!! :)

Of course, Jerry's comment in a previous blog here about me smelling like pancakes when I'd come in to a morning class after my opening shift at McD's. (Yeah - I had two jobs and squeezed in some school in the middle.) Some days I'd get into the studio smelling like french fries or a vat of french fry oil after I had to clean it. You know, stuff like that. Jerry wouldn't eat breakfast before class so the 'pancake' smell on my clothes would drive him nuts! :)

Then there was our Media Law class with John Williams and the format was open discussion on topics, first of current events dealing with Media Law and secondly the 'reading' or assignment we had from the previous class. Of course with ANY discussion class, we'd occassionally 'drift' from Media Law in to sports or politics or other current events. So Jerry had a sign he drew up during these 'drifts' that said, "DIGRESS." He was making the point we'd gotten TOO far off and should get back to the topic we were supposed to be discussing in class. I LAUGHED every time that sign came out. (Typically once per class - at LEAST!) Ha, ha, ha! Jerry - you still got that sign?? Ha, ha, ha, ha!

Anyway, those are the thoughts rattlin' around in my head this Monday morning. Here for your amusement or boredom - whichever!

Have a Maaarvelous Monday!

"It's good.

It' GOOD.

IT'S ALL GOOOOOOOOOD." (Jim Carrey - Bruce Almighty)

(Just bought that DVD - LOVE that movie!!!)

Later y'all!

Sunday, January 09, 2005

Broncos Not Good - Not Bad or SS Not Good - Not Bad

Hey

Hope you're weekend is going good. Our ain't too bad at all. Actually - it's been pretty decent.

First time in 3 years I've been to an Adult Sabbath School class - finally got promoted out of Cradle Roll. He, he, he! For the past 3 years Doreen and I have either been helping our daughters in SS or been in leadership and gotta be there.

Well - now we're both out - and now SS is boring as all get-out! Studying the lesson is ok - and learning more about what we believe is fine - but to just 'preach to the choir' so to speak, and re-hash stuff again and again and again... it just ain't gonna do. I need a SS about pratical Christianity. A SS discussing the Bible and current events. A SS that's real, ya know?

Today, we were taught/preached to with the predictable dramatic... pauses in the right place after the teacher asked a question - then the quiet answer and the yeah that's good, but not quite what I was looking for, then the teacher telling us his answer and then a short sermon to be followed by another question, dramatic pause... quiet answer, teacher response, sermon, question, pause, answer response sermon...
Aaarrrggghhh!

Talked to a friend last Sat night at a New Years bonfire and their Sabbath school - talks about the lesson and relates it today and during the discussion (Hum, interesting idea) a member (Not SDA YET - but more likely to become one) mentions a struggle they're having with getting electrical passed in an older house. The next week some SS members show up and do it right. Get's passed - ok to live in.

Now which one would you rather be part of??? Yeah - me too, but unfortunately, that's not possible until after we move to Collegedale. Oh well - for now... question, pause, answer, response, sermon - - - !!!

I love my church, really I do, maybe for now I ought to go back to Cradle Roll! :)

Ok - just finished watching the Jets amazing comeback vs the Chargers. Man, was that an up and down game. (By the way, Poor Marty S - Chargers coach - how many times have I seen that look on his face as he loses a playoff game when they've lost to us and others. Wow - poor guy! I kinda feel bad for him, so close and yet so far.)

So now, I'm thinking about the Broncos. They have NOT won a postseason game since winning the Superbowl after the '98/'99 season. That's pretty sad. So I'm thinking man, my Bronco's suck. Why do I even continue to be a fan. Well - #1, I'm a Colorado native and they're part of me, #2 - who else would I be a huge fan of, #3 - I LOVE orange and blue. #4 - I've already got a Bronco room, I can't afford to change it, #5 - They're not really that bad.

No, stick with me for a moment. They're not that good, but face it, they aren't that bad! Right now the San Franciso 49ers and Washington Redskins are THAT BAD. The Oakland Raiders (Yeahhh Baby ***GRIN***) and Arizona Cardinals are that bad. (But they do have hope with Denny Green as coach and a new stadium coming soon.) The Broncos have not had that many - Losing seasons in quite a while. They've had one here or their, but they are typically in the top half of average. We had those two superbowl seasons where they just ROCKED everybody. Now I'd like to have that ALL the time - but that just ain't possible. Players get greedy for money from somewhere else (Clinton Portis), they retire (Zimmerman/Elway/Sharpe). Some are salary cap casulties and some get injured. Coaches, GM's, Presidents change, or move on or are fired, so the possibility of AWESOME seasons ALL the time is just - unachieveable.

However - they can do their best, and come tomorrows playoff game versus the Colts, win or lose, I will ALWAYS be a Bronco fan!

GO BRONCOS!!!!

Thursday, January 06, 2005

"Recording Artists" Bah Humbugggg!

You know, I'm getting very 'tired' of all the "Recording Artists" out there.

You know the type I'm talking about, singers (or supposed ones) out there selling CD's and tickets to concerts and they just SUCK!

Lately, on just about EVERY music awards show or 'big game' halftime show that Doreen and I have happened to watch - we've spotted one or two fakies. They either lip synch (A HUGE PET PEEVE OF MINE) or sing so bad and off key, or missing notes it's just pitiful. Then people after the song is over, cheer and applaud. Why I ask!

Well, Tue evening at the halftime of the Orange Bowl, Kelly Clarkson, Trace Akins and Ashlee Simpson performed. One of them BOMBED terribly, Ms Simpson. I didn't watch the halftime show because we were watching the Amazing Race, but I heard her performance on the Mike & Mike in the Morning Show on ESPN Radio yesterday morning - they were doggin' her something bad, with good reason. It was awful.

And people pay to see her perform and buy her CD's? Really? Why?

Now I'm not just doggin' on just Ashlee, this is one of the latest in a LONG line of 'performers' who have no talent, but yet because they know someone, or are related, or had enough money to 'buy' their way into a record company to become a 'recording artist.'

(Got a friend in the Women's SDA music group called Message of Mercy. They recently just began recording new music for an upcoming project and the studio they're recording at asked if they want to use the new pitch fix technology. Basically it's a mic with a computer chip that if the singer begins to slide slightly off pitch, will alter the soundwave being recorded to make it sound like the voice is on pitch. [They declined this option.] Too many recording artists are just that because they can sing good enough in a studio to make an album by using fixes like that and of course just fixing little sections where they couldn't get it right - so when they get in a live situation, they just can't handle it because they didn't actually "sing" it in production - they sang just 'parts' and then an engineer assembled it for them.)

There are TOO MANY people out there with actual talent that are struggling cuz losers like this have the 'cool' gigs. That is an enormous travesty. Not only to those who really deserve it, but to us as well who have their ears assaulted, or are made a mockery of by not actually singing, but using a track.

Sad, sad, sad!

Let's DUMP the recording artists and get back to real musicians with real talent performing for us!!!

Property NOT on the Move

I HATE selling property.

I prefer owning as opposed to renting, but I HATE selling property once we get ready to move.

Just heard about a friend who's daughter bought a place in Silver Spring, MD for $95,000 3 or 4 years ago just sell it for $250,000. It wasn't even on the market for 7 days before they had a signed contract with two or three other people interested! Good for them, but when it comes to us and selling property, we've not been NEAR as lucky! Aaaarrrggghhhh!

The home and property we bought in Illinois while working at 3ABN, the only way we could sell it, was we paid it off while working on the truck and now we're 'holding' the note.

We've got our home here for sale now. Listing Number 32079 We've only gotten a couple of calls on it. We've also got 3 acres in Vonore we're trying to unload as well. Listing Number 32081 and we've gotten more calls on that, but none really serious yet.

The price we've asked for each has been very reasonable - but we've always decided to live in a rural area and it just NEVER, for us anyway, seems to sell quickly, good or at a decent price.

Maybe I oughta ask $250,000 and people might get interested! HA!

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

"This, is CNN"

Yesterday was COOL!

Doreen and I took a tour through CNN studios in Atlanta, GA.

One of the changes happening at LifeTalk is that we will be one day soon be creating Christian TV programming.

My boss claimed that CNN uses exclusively fluorescent lights to lite their sets. So, with his permission, Doreen and I took a 'paid' trip down to Atlanta to specifically tour the CNN studios to 'check out' how they light their sets so we can light ours when we get it set up.

So we took the girls over to my in-laws and jumped in the car and headed the 3 hours down to Atlanta.

(We had to take a quick trip to the pediatrician before we left though. Natalie's had diarrhea for 2 days and slept 12 hours overnight, woke up, climbed in bed with Doreen and slept another 45 min and then woke up and ate, but while eating - was about to fall asleep again. That worried us, so, to be safe rather than sorry took her in and Dr Bean [yes, that's his name] did a thorough check, only heard a rumbly tummy, told us what to keep an eye out for and sent us on our way. Glad she's "fine." She'll probably be over this very soon.)

We got there, got our tickets and then the first thing we do is ride the 8 story escalator to the top. It's actually the tallest escalator in North America. For the next 50 min we saw the various studios and news desks where they create the various news programs. Most of the news comes from Atlanta, the other 'shows' come from around the country/world.

They have a HUGE building with 4,000 employees worldwide and 2,500 in the building. In fact downstairs they have their own 'food court' just like a mall. (Including Taco Bell, Subway, Arbys and many other Fast Food Joints.) Pretty impressive.

They also had a division called CNN Interactive - which is the web. Right near their location is a huge screen with CNN on it, and just below it was a number counting the web pages hit for the year. Can you guess what the total was for the first 4 days in 2005? 84 million. Already, 84 million!!! Wow!

It was a cool tour. I saw the lighting, and was disappointed that is wasn't as advertised by my boss, so now I'm gonna have to tell him the bad news - then figure out how to get our set lit properly, with little 'wisdom' in that area! Ouch!

On the way home we were looking to stop at an Olive Garden for supper, but couldn't find one - so we hit a Spaghetti Warehouse. They typically have the 'trolly' somewhere in the middle of the dining area - and I NEVER get to sit in it. Oh well - someday! Cool location and ambiance, not as impressed with the food. It was palatable though. The piece of 12 layer chocolate cake with a scoop of ice-cream we split was great though, although, it's like our waitress said it's so good, it's "Death by Chocolate Cake." Well - if that's the way I have to go - so be it! :)(Saw an Olive Garden 9 miles up the Interstate after we had already eaten though. Doh!!!)

Got home, grabbed the girls and put them to bed, watched The Rebel Billionaire and Amazing Race 6 and a few minutes of OSU absolutely CRUSHING OU in the final BSC Bowl Game of the year. Then Crashed!

Stay tuned for more news, on the SS Pester Blog! :)

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

The 2004 Pigskin Pick'em Champion is...

ME! Oh yeah.

For the third consecutive year I take home the Nelson/Pester Pigskin Pick'em Championship!

Here's the final talley...

#1 - Me 160
#2 - Doreen 153
#2 - Dad/Larry 153
#4 - Mary 151
#5 - Scott 145
#6 - Staci 143
#7 - Tim 108
#7 - LeAnne 108

It was an awesome season.

The last week's picks were very hard because of the teams that had locked in the playoffs deciding whether or not to play their 'stars.' But as always, the first week of the season is always tough.

Here are some interesing bits...

-- Over the 4 years that I have records, my final score has been pretty average.
2001 - 153
2002 - 161
2003 - 156
2004 - 160

-- Doreen and I had the 'high' weeks this year. In Week 11, Doreen posted a 15,
in week 12 I also posted a 15. Both of us just 1 away from a perfect week.

-- Doreen, Dad and Mary were in a heated race for 2nd place. Doreen and Dad ended up tied. Unfortunately, Mary didn't make her picks for this past week and so posted a 0 - it would have been interesting to see what the standings would have been had she picked.

-- The lowest week posted, other than a few Zero's, or no picks, LeAnne with a 5.

-- Best Week Scores posted, week 11, we ALL were in double digits. (The only week we all had double digit scores.

Overall - it was a GREAT NFL season for Pigskin Pick'em! (Sadly, I can't say the same for the Denver Broncos. They made the playoffs, but unless they play the game of the year for them - I've got a feeling they'll get beat this first week! But any team can win on Any Given Sunday!!![Here's to hoping they win!!])

---Did you know that players who play in the post season get $18,000 to win the winning wildcard teams, (Losing wildcard teams get $15,000) Division teams, winners and losers get $18,000 per player, Championship games the players get $32,000 and the superbowl winners get $64,000. (The losing team gets $34,000.) But I digress...--- :)

Thanks to all who participated, hope you enjoyed it thoroughly!

I'm looking forward to next year - hope you are as well.

I'm gonna miss the NFL season, I'm gonna miss this challenge of picking the games against family. Guess until next season, I'll just have to do more blogging!!!

Thanks for playing y'all. It was a BLAST!

Sunday, January 02, 2005


Sailing Along!

Saturday, January 01, 2005


Here's the tower for our church's Low Power FM station going up. After all the work in assembling the tower and pouring the foundation, it's was exciting to see it go up so quickly and easily! Now we gotta buy $21,000 worth of radio equipment. Wheeewww!

Here's a photo of the Apt/Studio I've been talking about from time to time. As of right now, most all the shingles should be on - the framing for all intents and purposes is done. Next - getting the Electric & Plumming done.

Dueling Potties. (Our youngest is right in the middle of potty training right now and she's also little "Me Too" so anytime here big sister has to go potty little "Me Too" has to try too.)

Here's a Santa's Little Helper!

Here's the other 'Santa's' Little Helper.