And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Technorati Tags: Bible
Archive for June, 2008
Short Week
This week we celebrate our country’s independence on Friday July 4th and that will be a day off work. I have decided that I am going to take off Thursday as well and make it a four day weekend. That makes it a three day work week and I will take that. Monday I will have to work a bit late but I can handle that for one day, especially on a three day work week. This weekend was spent doing school work as most weekends are. Man I will be so glad when I finish up next May. For the last two years I have been going to school full time while I work full time. I have had to virtually quit going to church until this is over because the weekends are the only time that I have to write my papers. I will definitely start back to church full time when I get done with going to the University of Oklahoma next year.
If you add to this, I have a new job that is very technical though in an office environment that I am learning learning learning. There is very little time to get anything done with all this. I have decided when I graduate next year, we are going to start enjoying life and not continue this never ending quest to further our careers. I love taking pictures and had taken more than 10,000 between 2005 and 2007. I have not taken any in a long time and probably will not take very many until I graduate. It is hard to get time to do that and get anything quality while you are busy all the time. It is so easy to get so caught up in this career preparation that you forget the reason you have a career and that is to live. Meanwhile life passes you by while you are focusing on a career. I truly have the American dream.
I have Jesus as my Lord, and I have a wonderful wife and two kids. I have good health.I have a good job of prestige and benefits, and a home with cars. What more could I ask for? Sometimes it is easy to forget what we have and forget to be thankful for what we have. I am truly blessed in every way. When the world has gone mad, it is comforting to know that all I have is owed to God himself.
Things are going so much better than last year. Even our health has been better allowing us to not take off work so much for illnesses. Even our lawn is growing better. Now that we took that tree out of the back yard that was growing into the power lines, the grass is growing to fill in the empty space that was shaded all the time. It is a good life for sure. Well I better get this posted so I can go visit with my wife for a while.
Technorati Tags: American Dream,college,work,life,education,health,family
Field Day
Today is a special day for amateur radio operators. You may have heard them referred to as ham radio operators. I have been a licensed ham radio operator since I was 17 years old in 1983. Today being the last Saturday of the month of June makes this a day that many hams look forward to and it is called Field Day. Throughout the years, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has justified allotting certain radio bands aside to the Amateur Radio Service for emergency communications. The Amateur Radio Service is a group of frequencies that cover the entire radio frequency spectrum set aside so that ordinary citizens would be fully trained to perform radio communications in the event of an emergency.
Each year on the last Saturday in June, hams from all over the world set up tents with generators, solar cells, batteries, and all sorts of remote radio gear with their log books in hand. They do a contest to see how many contacts they can get all over the world on different bands using primitive radio power and antennas. This is what they call Field Day. Literally thousands of ham radio operators do this world wide exchanging call signs, signal reports and locations (QTH) logging them in. Contesting has never appealed to me so I usually sit this out but many enjoy this immensely. Every band is filled with thousands of calls CQ contest CQ contest, or CQ Field Day. This event usually makes the news at least here in Oklahoma City. Here it is 10:51 PM and the bands are still filled with people as I type this.
The above image is my ham radio station that was taken a while back. It is not in that configuration anymore but still looks similar to this. Below is the antenna that I use to transmit from. I have superimposed the text on there with Photoshop so you can see what each antenna is for. If you are interested in ham radio let me know and I will get you information that you can use.
One thing that I love about ham radio is that there are so many different methods of communicating using computers, AM, FM, single sideband. Since I love computers so much I often like to use my computer as a tool on ham radio. I really love high frequency (HF) communications using the shortwave bands. This is where your signal hits the invisible ionosphere and the signal bends back to the earth where people can hear your signal for hundreds and even thousands of miles. Another interesting phenomenon is the stratospheric ducting. This is when the atmosphere has an inversion, or a layer of warm air above the surface of the ground. Both UHF, and VHF communications can speak hundreds of miles when this happens. It usually happens at after sunset or before sunrise in my part of the country. I always use the old back up, Skype to coordinate an available frequency so that I am not transmitting on top of someone. I am hearing a guy in Seattle, Washington right now and he is coming in very strong. If you ever try ham radio, you will likely be hooked.
Technorati Tags: ham radio,field day,antenna,radio,amateur radio,K5GLH,Skype
When Will I Learn
Sometimes I forget that I am not 18 years old and that I cannot get up at 4:30 am, then stay up until 1:30 am and get up at 7:00 am again. I get up so early every day that I automatically wake up early no matter what time I go to bed. I am now up and really tired. At least I am able to wake up to a thunderstorm. Looks like there is a line of storms that are covering North Oklahoma City. It is not raining here yet but I am hopeful. I am supposed to be doing homework this morning but I have to get into the right frame of mind first.
I just love having a blog because it allows me to speak my mind in a politically correct world. My definition of politically correct is to say that one should not say anything that is opposed to any of the liberal agendas. When you have a blog, you can get things off your chest and not worry whether it offends anyone or not. Since traditional media tends to be politically far left, a person will never be able to hear both sides when listening to them. It is almost like group speak with the left leaning political view. It is funny how the mainstream media spends an extraordinary amount of time bashing Fox News for being a mouth piece for right wing conservatives when Fox News is continuously the highest rated news company.
I would disagree with their assessment of Fox News being politically right leaning. They are still left leaning but not as left as CNN, ABC, NBC, and CBS. So relative to their extreme left views, Fox News seems to be leaning politically to the right. If you watch the other networks you are going to hear the same things. A few examples are the fabricated story of global warming and how we are responsible for it. You will hear how the crazed Barack Obama is the savior of the world. You will hear that anyone of a religious faith must be mentally unstable. You will hear that anyone conservative wants to steal the social security of the elderly, and take away the rights of minorities. I do not want to be confused with supporting the Republican party because I do not support the Democrat (Yes I left the “IC” off then end of this non Democratic) party. I think neither of these two parties are worthy of my support.
This is the beauty of having a blog because on the mainstream media you will never have an opportunity to tell your side of the story. If you wait on a journalist to inform the public, you will be waiting a long time. What really turns my stomach about the media is the fact that they are supportive of virtually every left wing agenda. They tell stories supporting their causes without ever questioning the validity of them. They *ALWAYS* question people of other points of view. They speak upon issues as though they just “are” that way. Other times they just omit important pieces of information that would be opposed to their point of view.
One of the saddest days in the history of the American press happened this week when the Supreme Court finally did the right thing and upheld the Second Amendment. I truly expected all the journalists to show up wearing black the next day in mourning of one of their causes being put down. They just cannot believe that Washington D.C. having one of the highest murder rates in the country is due to the fact that their citizens are unarmed and unable to defend themselves. My point of view would never be told on the mainstream media even as a third party view. They distort the views of people that oppose them. One rule in my house is that any of these networks are not allowed on my television. The way I feel is that if you know something is going to make you mad, why would you subject yourself to it?
Well I better get get this posted so I can get back to work on my homework. That is another topic that I will discuss at another time. Looks like that storm is just going across North Oklahoma City and missing us completely. Hopefully we can get some rain.
Technorati Tags: politics,liberal,conservative,ABC,NBC,CNN,CBS,Fox News
Another test
Hello world.
I am just doing a test post and I will put the Yahoo link on here.
Work is More Satisfying
Not too long ago I spoke that I moved to a new job at work and how excited I was about this move. Shortly after that I seemed to be dissatisfied with the fact that I was their as a trainee and no one would show me anything. I do not like to have the image of being a lazy person that does not like to pull my weight. Things seem to be improving on that front. I am getting more work to do every day and I am starting to feel like I belong there now. Now I have more work than I have time to do. This morning I found that I may be going on a temporary duty (TDY) to San Antonio for work. I think this will be fun, especially if my wife gets to go with me.
It is nice to finally have a purpose at work. In theory a person would like to have an easy day where the boss does not hover over their shoulder. On the other hand, the day can go real slow when there is no work at all. I spent weeks reading technical manuals because they had no work for me to do. I would sit in front of the computer screen reading manuals just for the trivial knowledge. Now I have more work and the day goes pretty quick. Sometimes I look at the clock thinking I have been there for an hour and find that it is lunch time. I like keeping busy when I am at work.
This weekend i have sooooooooo much school work to do but today I have been so drowsy I have not felt like working on it. Tomorrow I will need to get up early and get busy. Although it will seem like I will not have much of a weekend, I will have a short work week. I am taking off work on Thursday and Friday is Independence Day. This way I can have a four day weekend that will certainly make up for the lack of free time this weekend. Well it is nearly midnight so I better get this posted. I am finding myself dozing off.
What Would You Do?
This past December we had a terrible ice storm that put us out of power for a week and sustained damage thanks to the neighbor’s tree. Our whole square mile along with more than 250,000 citizens of Oklahoma City had no electricity. This was the second ice storm in the last five years that our home has sustained damage due to a neighbor’s tree losing branches. In both cases a branch broke from near the top of the tree and landed on our power drop line coming to the house resulting in the power box being pulled loose from the back of our home and several other neighbor’s homes. Unfortunately this house next door is a rent house that stays vacant for extended periods of time. I live in an older neighborhood and it seems that most of the homes are rent houses.
With the last ice storm, I approached the person living in the house and he gave me permission in writing to cut that tree down and he signed as the home owner despite the recent finding that he was actually renting. I paid $1,500.00 to have that large tree cut down because it was up in the power lines and it was too dangerous to try to cut it down ourselves.
In the above photo you can see the large tree on the right growing right into the transformer. This is what it looked like before we had it cut down. Below is a picture taken today across the fence at the vacant house. You can see how the large tree stump is on their side of the fence and the new trees are growing out of the roots of that large tree. You can see how the fence is damaged from a large branch falling on it.
Since then I have spent a considerable amount of time killing all brush and trees growing in the fence line all the way around our yard. Most of these trees are on the other sides of the fences. If you look at my post on June 14th you will see a picture of the brush so thick you could not see through the fence. Those neighbors do not want the brush and trees there but they are just too lazy to weed eat the fence line allowing the trees to grow into the fence eventually becoming a problem.
Now this neighbor that gave me permission to cut the tree down has moved out and the roots off this large tree are growing into trees just on the other side of the fence. Since the house is likely to be vacant again, I could very easily see these small trees growing into the fence again. This will put us back in the same situation as before. The guy that just moved out has not mowed in a month before moving out and the back yard has trash all over it. This house keeps changing ownership by different companies that own many houses in the area. I am tempted to go over there and drill a hole in the roots and chemically finish them off but I do not know how to get in touch with the owner. Every tenant that I have met that has moved in has wanted the tree gone as well but could not afford to have it removed. I spoke to the previous owner and he gave me permission to destroy this menacing tree but he has sold it. I am sure the current owner would not have a problem with me finishing off the root system but I do not want to trespass on their property without permission. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Praise the Lord!
For those of you that know what has happened to us this week, I want to tell you that it is all better now. I will not say on the blog what it was but to say what a miracle it was. This day was pretty strange. By the time I got home from work, ate something, and showered, it was after 7:00 pm. This sure makes for a short evening when you get up at four am. I just spoke with Larry on the new Skype 4.0 beta 1 a while ago and I am not sure I like this new format. It seems to take a lot of space on the desktop. I will give a full review when I have some time. I will get this posted so I can get some things done before time to wind down for bed.
Homesick
You’re in a better place, I’ve heard a thousand times
And at least a thousand times I’ve rejoiced for you
But the reason why I’m broken, the reason why I cry
Is how long must I wait to be with you
I close my eyes and I see your face
If home’s where my heart is then I’m out of place
Lord, won’t you give me strength to make it through somehow
I’ve never been more homesick than now
Help me Lord cause I don’t understand your ways
The reason why I wonder if I’ll ever know
But, even if you showed me, the hurt would be the same
Cause I’m still here so far away from home
I close my eyes and I see your face
If home’s where my heart is then I’m out of place
Lord, won’t you give me strength to make it through somehow
I’ve never been more homesick than now
In Christ, there are no goodbye
And in Christ, there is no end
So I’ll hold onto Jesus with all that I have
To see you again
To see you again
And I close my eyes and I see your face
If home’s where my heart is then I’m out of place
Lord, won’t you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won’t you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won’t you give me strength to make it through somehow
I’ve never been more homesick than now
Windows Live Writer
This post is really nothing more than an attempt to test the new version of Windows Live Writer. You know, I am famous for downloading every new toy that comes along on the Internet to try it out. I have found a number of blog posting software that I really like such as the one built into the Flock browser. Without question the best I have come across is the free Windows Live Writer. This is about the most smooth running what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) editors you will find. It even takes the appearance of your blog if you are running a theme. I just love it because you do not have to go in there and worry about formatting or anything but just typing your message.
This program is so easy to post pictures from Flicker, or any other photo sharing web site. It makes embedding videos from Youtube or any other site a breeze with a two second copy and paste. This program is so awesome because it allows you to add Technorati tags with a couple mouse clicks, as well as add category tags for your blog. It seems to work with all the big name blogging formats like WordPress, Blogger, Typepad, among others. I also like the fact that it keeps an archive of previous posts so you can go back and edit your post if you notice an error after you have posted it. I would strongly recommend others to download Windows Live Writer and give it a try if you have not tried it.
I know, I know, people like to bash Microsoft in this sort of Google rules the world while Microsoft is the antichrist but they really made a good product here. I have never agreed with this philosophy anyway but even if you did, you would have to be impressed by this blog editing program. I know people get use to a certain format but Windows Live Writer is perfect because it even puts the margins in line with the actual blog so you can see exactly what it will look like before you post it. Of course this program was designed for Microsoft’s own Windows Live Spaces, social networking site but it will work with your own site no matter where it is hosted. While we are speaking of Windows Live Spaces, I must say that it is not bad if you do not have a place to host your blog. It does have the stigma that everyone seems to put on them being from Microsoft but it is not that bad. Secondly, they have the Skydrive in Spaces that allows you to host up to five GB of space for your personal files. I will not harp on it too much but it is worth a second look. I would use it myself if I did not have my own domain.
Download Windows Live Writer and give it a try. Even if you had an older version, you will like the new version.
Technorati Tags: Windows Live Writer,Windows Live Spaces,Skydrive,Microsoft,Youtube,Flock,Typepad,WordPress,Blogger,Technorati