Hello follower(s). I know it's been awhile. Over five years. I was still single (though almost married) when last I updated this.
More is coming soon.
Thanks for hanging around.
T
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Uh... OOPS!
So... it's been nearly six months since I updated. My bad! I won't go into details, because it's tedious even to me, but I've a new job, will be the head volleyball coach at Dorchester School here in Nebraska, am buying a house, am getting married, etc... ANYWAY...!
This struck me while I was driving to Kansas City for a volleyball tournament. We all have stories. Think about the stories you tell people you're meeting. Let's call them "One Uppers". They're the stories that we hope will elicit the "You're kidding me!" reaction from the crowd. They're also stories that we feel like our "friends" have to know about us. I, frankly, have a series of them: Pulling a guy out of an avalanche, The RV accident, Ireland... We all have one. However, these are the "You know that guy that..." stories. Stories that make us unique. I wanted to call this blog "Ionic Bonding" or something like that. The reason is because it's commonalities that make friendships. It's a shared experience, or similar stories.
I've noticed that the common thread most all of us share is the story that starts something like this: "I got pulled over.." Have you ever noticed that as soon as someone starts that, everyone else has a story? The exception being the stories that put people in the group from the above paragraph (holy crap, you've never been pulled over?!) It's an uncommon person who manages to get through their teenage years without getting pulled over. I was actually fortunate in that way, I didn't get pulled over until the first time until I was 18, and managed to avoid a ticket in Lafayette, which was not common. Usually, when you got pulled over in Lafayette as a Centaurus student, you got pulled over more often in Louisville, but tickets more often in Lafayette. I was lucky and naive when talking to the cop.
I have plenty of stories of getting pulled over, but the one that always sticks in my head is getting nailed in Boulder for 55 in a 40. Many of you have heard this story (I'm not deluding myself into thinking there are a lot of strangers who are reading my blog), but I still like to tell it. It happened after I'd gotten back from Savannah to visit Jay. I'd gone with Dave Harbaugh and Paula Neeman. I'd driven the entire way (27 hours driving each way) save about three hours when Paula drove. SHE got a ticket in that time, even though I'D been breaking the speed limit much more dramatically the rest of the way. As I was leaving Dave's apartment, the thought crossed my mind about how hilarious it would be if I got pulled over between Dave's apartment in Boulder and my parents' place in Lafayette. As I'm driving east on Baseline I looked down because I couldn't shake the feeling that I was driving too fast. As it turned out, I was right, so I slowed down. As I looked up, I saw a black Impala (black rims, black windows) and I knew, I KNEW it was an unmarked. Before I was to him, he had his lights on. I pulled off to the next street. Instead of pulling the stereotypical cop thing (leaning in your window, "Do you know why I pulled you over?") he walked past my window, turned back toward the street and was very casual, "How are you today?"
"Not too bad."
"Even though you have to talk to me?"
I honestly kinda chuckled, "There are worse things."
He laughed, "I supposed there are. License, registration, insurance. You were doing 55 before you slowed down there."
"Yeah, I'm on my way home from Kansas City. I've been on the interstate all day."
"You're driving the wrong way to be coming home from Kansas City."
"Yeah, I just dropped my buddy off at his apartment." (I cannot remember the name of the complex)
"I'll be back." With that, he went back to his car.
I sat and watched him in my rearview mirror. I don't know about you, but I have kinda of an internal clock. If the cop takes more than a minute, it probably means I'm getting a ticket. I started laughing when my head told me it had been a minute. I was definitely getting a ticket. He came back up to my car.
"Well, I had to write you a ticket because your car says SHO on the back." (I drove a Ford Taurus SHO. The SHO stands for Super High Output. They were sporty sedans, and he obviously knew it!)
I laughed. "That's fair!"
"However, I wrote it for 49 rather than 55. What that does is cuts the points from 8 to 4, and knocks $50 off the fine. If you choose to fight it in court, we will prosecute for the original 55."
"Officer, you don't even have to bother going to court. This will be mailed the minute I get home."
"Take care, slow down."
"Have a good one, sir."
I truly laughed a lot in that ten minutes. The whole thing was so funny, and the officer was in great spirits. I have often said that any time you are talking to a cop, you need to treat them respectfully, because you either did something wrong, or are asking for their protection. PLUS, they put themselves in danger so we can stay safe! Experience (too much experience...) has also told me that being kind and respectful the officer that pulls you over will get you out of the ticket way more often than being a d**k.
I have to close this with someone else's story. My buddy Paul, who I coached with at VCN got pulled over on our way to Des Moines and was issued a ticket for the tint on his car being too dark. However, Paul claims he was nailed for a DWB (a phrase I hadn't heard since college. Don't know what it is? Look it up on urban dictionary). I haven't laughed as hard at a story about being pulled over for a long time!
Sorry it took so long to update y'all... I'll try to be better. Thanks for reading!
This struck me while I was driving to Kansas City for a volleyball tournament. We all have stories. Think about the stories you tell people you're meeting. Let's call them "One Uppers". They're the stories that we hope will elicit the "You're kidding me!" reaction from the crowd. They're also stories that we feel like our "friends" have to know about us. I, frankly, have a series of them: Pulling a guy out of an avalanche, The RV accident, Ireland... We all have one. However, these are the "You know that guy that..." stories. Stories that make us unique. I wanted to call this blog "Ionic Bonding" or something like that. The reason is because it's commonalities that make friendships. It's a shared experience, or similar stories.
I've noticed that the common thread most all of us share is the story that starts something like this: "I got pulled over.." Have you ever noticed that as soon as someone starts that, everyone else has a story? The exception being the stories that put people in the group from the above paragraph (holy crap, you've never been pulled over?!) It's an uncommon person who manages to get through their teenage years without getting pulled over. I was actually fortunate in that way, I didn't get pulled over until the first time until I was 18, and managed to avoid a ticket in Lafayette, which was not common. Usually, when you got pulled over in Lafayette as a Centaurus student, you got pulled over more often in Louisville, but tickets more often in Lafayette. I was lucky and naive when talking to the cop.
I have plenty of stories of getting pulled over, but the one that always sticks in my head is getting nailed in Boulder for 55 in a 40. Many of you have heard this story (I'm not deluding myself into thinking there are a lot of strangers who are reading my blog), but I still like to tell it. It happened after I'd gotten back from Savannah to visit Jay. I'd gone with Dave Harbaugh and Paula Neeman. I'd driven the entire way (27 hours driving each way) save about three hours when Paula drove. SHE got a ticket in that time, even though I'D been breaking the speed limit much more dramatically the rest of the way. As I was leaving Dave's apartment, the thought crossed my mind about how hilarious it would be if I got pulled over between Dave's apartment in Boulder and my parents' place in Lafayette. As I'm driving east on Baseline I looked down because I couldn't shake the feeling that I was driving too fast. As it turned out, I was right, so I slowed down. As I looked up, I saw a black Impala (black rims, black windows) and I knew, I KNEW it was an unmarked. Before I was to him, he had his lights on. I pulled off to the next street. Instead of pulling the stereotypical cop thing (leaning in your window, "Do you know why I pulled you over?") he walked past my window, turned back toward the street and was very casual, "How are you today?"
"Not too bad."
"Even though you have to talk to me?"
I honestly kinda chuckled, "There are worse things."
He laughed, "I supposed there are. License, registration, insurance. You were doing 55 before you slowed down there."
"Yeah, I'm on my way home from Kansas City. I've been on the interstate all day."
"You're driving the wrong way to be coming home from Kansas City."
"Yeah, I just dropped my buddy off at his apartment." (I cannot remember the name of the complex)
"I'll be back." With that, he went back to his car.
I sat and watched him in my rearview mirror. I don't know about you, but I have kinda of an internal clock. If the cop takes more than a minute, it probably means I'm getting a ticket. I started laughing when my head told me it had been a minute. I was definitely getting a ticket. He came back up to my car.
"Well, I had to write you a ticket because your car says SHO on the back." (I drove a Ford Taurus SHO. The SHO stands for Super High Output. They were sporty sedans, and he obviously knew it!)
I laughed. "That's fair!"
"However, I wrote it for 49 rather than 55. What that does is cuts the points from 8 to 4, and knocks $50 off the fine. If you choose to fight it in court, we will prosecute for the original 55."
"Officer, you don't even have to bother going to court. This will be mailed the minute I get home."
"Take care, slow down."
"Have a good one, sir."
I truly laughed a lot in that ten minutes. The whole thing was so funny, and the officer was in great spirits. I have often said that any time you are talking to a cop, you need to treat them respectfully, because you either did something wrong, or are asking for their protection. PLUS, they put themselves in danger so we can stay safe! Experience (too much experience...) has also told me that being kind and respectful the officer that pulls you over will get you out of the ticket way more often than being a d**k.
I have to close this with someone else's story. My buddy Paul, who I coached with at VCN got pulled over on our way to Des Moines and was issued a ticket for the tint on his car being too dark. However, Paul claims he was nailed for a DWB (a phrase I hadn't heard since college. Don't know what it is? Look it up on urban dictionary). I haven't laughed as hard at a story about being pulled over for a long time!
Sorry it took so long to update y'all... I'll try to be better. Thanks for reading!
Friday, December 14, 2012
Fight Cowardice with Courage
Naturally, the events in Newtown, Connecticut have loosed a torrent of emotions in the media and the social media-sphere. I'm not here to address those specifically. I am only here to share my thoughts personally. Some of them were, admittedly, sparked by reactions on my FB and Twitter. I am not intending to offend anyone, but I'm also not going to censor my thoughts when it comes to the senseless, heartbreaking shooting.
First, I am beyond heartbroken. Every time I get to thinking about those parents who have to deal with this at what should be such a joyous time when you have elementary age kids, I damn near cry. Columbine was devastating. This is beyond anything I've ever imagined. It's also more profoundly affected me than I thought it would. Any loss of life is tragic in a situation like this (the Oregon mall shooting earlier this week, for example), but I have a soft spot for kids of any age, especially elementary school.
It is not my place to speculate about the wheres or whys of the shooter's mental health. If the Columbine Tragedy in 1999 taught us anything, it's that there are people out there who aren't right, and we may never know that. This shooter may have never given any indication of mental illness, and may, in fact, have never been diagnosed had he seen a therapist. He also may have not have any detectable mental illness and made a conscious, pre-meditated decision. Either way, it is not my place, nor anyone else's who does not know him (them?) to speculate.
It seems whenever this type of event occurs, the discussion about guns comes out. I wish this conversation could happen when it's not so emotionally charged, but events in the second half of this year have shown us that a real discussion needs to be had on the issue. I am in favor and support of the Second Amendment. I am not well enough versed to speak to the accessibility of "black market" arms, but I also don't understand why the average person has any need to possess an assault rifle type of weapon. I intend to own firearms one day (soon, but that has nothing to do with recent events, I have just always wanted to be proficient with a handgun and have it just in case), but only for the protection of my family. An assault rifle seems unnecessary for that. It also seems unnecessary for hunting.
Teachers should not carry firearms in the classroom. Period. I understand the debate here, but I've been fortunate enough to be blessed with this career, and I will protect these kiddos at the cost of my own life if need be. However, I don't EVER want to have another person's death on my head. I also don't have the training or capacity to make that call about whether or not another person's life should be ended. I have many great friends who are police officers and military personnel, or have been one of them, and they are trained for making that call. I am not. I don't want to be. I will do everything in my power to protect the life of the people in my building, but taking the life of another is not in my power, nor do I want it to be.
This is the hardest truth in all of this to me: 20 elementary school students lost their lives at school today. 20 years ago, we never would have imagined security guards and metal detectors in schools. The School Resource Officer was reserved for high schools, and was a borderline figurehead there, giving anti-drug speeches and helping students who'd locked themselves out of their cars. Now even teachers have to know how to respond to this type of crisis. My prayers, my fervent prayers, go to those people whose whole lives were flipped upside down in Connecticut today.
Finally, we have to fight cowardice with courage. As FDR said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Being afraid allows us to be victims. It's what the bullies feed off of. We cannot be afraid to bring new life into this world. We cannot be afraid to send them to school. It's a scary place, but we can change that by bringing children into homes full of love, encouragement, and strength and instilling them with those values as they go into their interactions in the world. We've gradually become afraid. We're afraid of offending, afraid of overstepping our bounds, afraid of being seen as different from the status quo. What if we courageously espoused our values without judging others whose values are different? What if we stood by what we believe in, but with an open mind so as to appreciate and learn from others? What if we went out feeling empowered and courageous, instead of timid and frightened?
First, I am beyond heartbroken. Every time I get to thinking about those parents who have to deal with this at what should be such a joyous time when you have elementary age kids, I damn near cry. Columbine was devastating. This is beyond anything I've ever imagined. It's also more profoundly affected me than I thought it would. Any loss of life is tragic in a situation like this (the Oregon mall shooting earlier this week, for example), but I have a soft spot for kids of any age, especially elementary school.
It is not my place to speculate about the wheres or whys of the shooter's mental health. If the Columbine Tragedy in 1999 taught us anything, it's that there are people out there who aren't right, and we may never know that. This shooter may have never given any indication of mental illness, and may, in fact, have never been diagnosed had he seen a therapist. He also may have not have any detectable mental illness and made a conscious, pre-meditated decision. Either way, it is not my place, nor anyone else's who does not know him (them?) to speculate.
It seems whenever this type of event occurs, the discussion about guns comes out. I wish this conversation could happen when it's not so emotionally charged, but events in the second half of this year have shown us that a real discussion needs to be had on the issue. I am in favor and support of the Second Amendment. I am not well enough versed to speak to the accessibility of "black market" arms, but I also don't understand why the average person has any need to possess an assault rifle type of weapon. I intend to own firearms one day (soon, but that has nothing to do with recent events, I have just always wanted to be proficient with a handgun and have it just in case), but only for the protection of my family. An assault rifle seems unnecessary for that. It also seems unnecessary for hunting.
Teachers should not carry firearms in the classroom. Period. I understand the debate here, but I've been fortunate enough to be blessed with this career, and I will protect these kiddos at the cost of my own life if need be. However, I don't EVER want to have another person's death on my head. I also don't have the training or capacity to make that call about whether or not another person's life should be ended. I have many great friends who are police officers and military personnel, or have been one of them, and they are trained for making that call. I am not. I don't want to be. I will do everything in my power to protect the life of the people in my building, but taking the life of another is not in my power, nor do I want it to be.
This is the hardest truth in all of this to me: 20 elementary school students lost their lives at school today. 20 years ago, we never would have imagined security guards and metal detectors in schools. The School Resource Officer was reserved for high schools, and was a borderline figurehead there, giving anti-drug speeches and helping students who'd locked themselves out of their cars. Now even teachers have to know how to respond to this type of crisis. My prayers, my fervent prayers, go to those people whose whole lives were flipped upside down in Connecticut today.
Finally, we have to fight cowardice with courage. As FDR said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Being afraid allows us to be victims. It's what the bullies feed off of. We cannot be afraid to bring new life into this world. We cannot be afraid to send them to school. It's a scary place, but we can change that by bringing children into homes full of love, encouragement, and strength and instilling them with those values as they go into their interactions in the world. We've gradually become afraid. We're afraid of offending, afraid of overstepping our bounds, afraid of being seen as different from the status quo. What if we courageously espoused our values without judging others whose values are different? What if we stood by what we believe in, but with an open mind so as to appreciate and learn from others? What if we went out feeling empowered and courageous, instead of timid and frightened?
Monday, November 12, 2012
The Games We Play
I got to thinking the other day about the silly games and rules we had growing up. I got to thinking about this because I was on my way home from (random) drive thru and almost dibsed the bag fries. To no one. I was alone in the car and immediately reverted to being the driver in high school. The... inconvenience..? of driving led to us creating the rule that the driver got the bag fries. I was in college before I realised that not everyone followed the same rules we did in high school. We also made up countless games. Those rules/games included:
Shotgun rules
You had to be within sight of the car before you called shotgun, otherwise it was null and void. Also, you could call seniority once a day if you were older (time in the friendship didn't matter) than the person who'd called shotgun. Unless that person was RJ in my car, or me in RJ's car. We had permagun. In fact, I still outrank his wife, and he my fiance. Yeap, we've CERTAINLY grown since high school. Also, I still get gun in RJ's car. No matter what.
Music rules
The driver picks the music. Period. This one led to controversy on more than one occasion if people's musical tastes were too different.
Don't Hit the Blue Pipe
This only came up once. We were taking Ben Vinson home. Along 111th north of Arapahoe in Lafayette, it was dirt at the time, and they were laying pipe to run water up toward the new developments going in near Erie. I had a sporty car. Wait, no, I drove a Buick Park Avenue, but it was a dirt road, and I knew how to get a little bit sideways with it. As we're approaching 70 mph, I start swerving, hoping to get the rear end a little loose. Well, I did. We had joked earlier in the drive that the only rule was to not hit the blue pipe. Welp, as I am CLEARLY out of control at 70 mph, Ben screams, "DON'T HIT THE BLUE PIPE!" You'll be happy to know I didn't. I got the car stuck in the ditch on the other side of the road. I thought for sure I was dead (at my dad's hand in the near future). Next car over the hill? Chevy 1-ton with a chain. Pulled me right out. I told mom and dad 10 years ago.
Woogie Ball/Wet and Wild Woogie Baseball
Let's be honest, RJ, Jay, Brian, and I are guilty for most of these stories and games, but that's what lifelong friendships are made of! I cannot tell you the entire origin story (RJ, B, Jay, please fill my readers in in the comments section) in it's entirety, but I know the necessary components are a tee ball bat and a kickball. Oh, and three-four players. Without too much detail (as I don't want this to get too long) the batter gets ten contacts. They have to be solid (forward or a catchable foul). If it flies over the fence, it's two runs. If it bounces, one run. The outfielder(s) can do anything in their power to prevent the ball from going over the fence. It was perfect because we only needed three total people to play! The game was so named because when you hit a kickball with a tee ball bat, it shudders in and out (woobie-woobie-woobie), but woobieball is too damn hard to say, thus woogie. One summer day, we were bored with slip and slide, and it was too hot for woogie. Suddenly, a wild idea appeared to our heads. Wet and wild woogie baseball. All the joy of woogieball (Same basic rules) combined with baseball's rules. The special rule is that you HAD to slide from third to home on the slip and slide. And kickball rules were in effect, in that you could throw the ball at the runner, not just tag them. It led to too many times where you'd be sliding, helpless, as a dead eye from the neighbor's yard throwing you out because you can't stop yourself terribly effectively on a slip and slide.
Party Rules
Before Hixson, Trevor and I went drinking, we had to do a double shot of Bacardi 151. Death. Awesome, vomitorious death.
Yellow Lights
If you were going through a yellow light, you had to kiss your hand, and tap the visor/ceiling of the car.
Padiddle
If you saw a car with a headlight out, you had to yell PADIDDLE! Everyone else had to yell SEX! The last person had to remove an article of clothing. Yeah, this never happened when I was in the car. I heard rumors, though.
Seat Pirate Rules
Whenever you leave the room, you have to dibs the seat or it's up for grabs. However, you can pirate the seat whilst yelling "Yar!" If the yar is not correctly timed, then you have to give up the seat.
Girls, I have to ask a question. Almost everything I got from girls was "When you picked a (boy, celebrity, TV character, etc) none of your friends were allowed to pick that. I thoroughly believe that grudges are still held from this rule being violated. Guys, as soon as a girl showed interest, the others had to lament, but there was no "calling" the girl. This led to some... we'll call them awkward moments the summer of 2001 thanks to Jungle Joe and I. SORRY DAVE! We also had no rules regarding who we could have celebrity crushes on. If a couple of guys had a crush on the same girl, the discussion was more the things we'd do to her, not the beginning of a grudge.
From the days before cable TV and a TV in every room: If you wanted to watch your show, you had to dibs the show and the TV as soon as you came into the room. This is courtesy of Elise Graninger.
I have heard some of the most amazing quotes of late.
"I can star in a porn, but I can't get my wife pregnant." -I will keep this one anonymous.
"Yeah, I used to have stuff, too." -My future father-in-law as he was helping with my move
"What are the Mayans up to right now, anyway?"
"Stealing American jobs, right?" -My co-worker and I (sarcasm, please) talking about the prediction of the end of the world.
"Shningles."
Anyway. Any more stories about childhood debauchery/games/rules? Add them in the comments section or on FB. As always, thanks for reading!
Also, we will be in Colorado Thanksgiving - the Sunday after. Not making promises, but would like to see lots of people.
Shotgun rules
You had to be within sight of the car before you called shotgun, otherwise it was null and void. Also, you could call seniority once a day if you were older (time in the friendship didn't matter) than the person who'd called shotgun. Unless that person was RJ in my car, or me in RJ's car. We had permagun. In fact, I still outrank his wife, and he my fiance. Yeap, we've CERTAINLY grown since high school. Also, I still get gun in RJ's car. No matter what.
Music rules
The driver picks the music. Period. This one led to controversy on more than one occasion if people's musical tastes were too different.
Don't Hit the Blue Pipe
This only came up once. We were taking Ben Vinson home. Along 111th north of Arapahoe in Lafayette, it was dirt at the time, and they were laying pipe to run water up toward the new developments going in near Erie. I had a sporty car. Wait, no, I drove a Buick Park Avenue, but it was a dirt road, and I knew how to get a little bit sideways with it. As we're approaching 70 mph, I start swerving, hoping to get the rear end a little loose. Well, I did. We had joked earlier in the drive that the only rule was to not hit the blue pipe. Welp, as I am CLEARLY out of control at 70 mph, Ben screams, "DON'T HIT THE BLUE PIPE!" You'll be happy to know I didn't. I got the car stuck in the ditch on the other side of the road. I thought for sure I was dead (at my dad's hand in the near future). Next car over the hill? Chevy 1-ton with a chain. Pulled me right out. I told mom and dad 10 years ago.
Woogie Ball/Wet and Wild Woogie Baseball
Let's be honest, RJ, Jay, Brian, and I are guilty for most of these stories and games, but that's what lifelong friendships are made of! I cannot tell you the entire origin story (RJ, B, Jay, please fill my readers in in the comments section) in it's entirety, but I know the necessary components are a tee ball bat and a kickball. Oh, and three-four players. Without too much detail (as I don't want this to get too long) the batter gets ten contacts. They have to be solid (forward or a catchable foul). If it flies over the fence, it's two runs. If it bounces, one run. The outfielder(s) can do anything in their power to prevent the ball from going over the fence. It was perfect because we only needed three total people to play! The game was so named because when you hit a kickball with a tee ball bat, it shudders in and out (woobie-woobie-woobie), but woobieball is too damn hard to say, thus woogie. One summer day, we were bored with slip and slide, and it was too hot for woogie. Suddenly, a wild idea appeared to our heads. Wet and wild woogie baseball. All the joy of woogieball (Same basic rules) combined with baseball's rules. The special rule is that you HAD to slide from third to home on the slip and slide. And kickball rules were in effect, in that you could throw the ball at the runner, not just tag them. It led to too many times where you'd be sliding, helpless, as a dead eye from the neighbor's yard throwing you out because you can't stop yourself terribly effectively on a slip and slide.
Party Rules
Before Hixson, Trevor and I went drinking, we had to do a double shot of Bacardi 151. Death. Awesome, vomitorious death.
Yellow Lights
If you were going through a yellow light, you had to kiss your hand, and tap the visor/ceiling of the car.
Padiddle
If you saw a car with a headlight out, you had to yell PADIDDLE! Everyone else had to yell SEX! The last person had to remove an article of clothing. Yeah, this never happened when I was in the car. I heard rumors, though.
Seat Pirate Rules
Whenever you leave the room, you have to dibs the seat or it's up for grabs. However, you can pirate the seat whilst yelling "Yar!" If the yar is not correctly timed, then you have to give up the seat.
Girls, I have to ask a question. Almost everything I got from girls was "When you picked a (boy, celebrity, TV character, etc) none of your friends were allowed to pick that. I thoroughly believe that grudges are still held from this rule being violated. Guys, as soon as a girl showed interest, the others had to lament, but there was no "calling" the girl. This led to some... we'll call them awkward moments the summer of 2001 thanks to Jungle Joe and I. SORRY DAVE! We also had no rules regarding who we could have celebrity crushes on. If a couple of guys had a crush on the same girl, the discussion was more the things we'd do to her, not the beginning of a grudge.
From the days before cable TV and a TV in every room: If you wanted to watch your show, you had to dibs the show and the TV as soon as you came into the room. This is courtesy of Elise Graninger.
I have heard some of the most amazing quotes of late.
"I can star in a porn, but I can't get my wife pregnant." -I will keep this one anonymous.
"Yeah, I used to have stuff, too." -My future father-in-law as he was helping with my move
"What are the Mayans up to right now, anyway?"
"Stealing American jobs, right?" -My co-worker and I (sarcasm, please) talking about the prediction of the end of the world.
"Shningles."
Anyway. Any more stories about childhood debauchery/games/rules? Add them in the comments section or on FB. As always, thanks for reading!
Also, we will be in Colorado Thanksgiving - the Sunday after. Not making promises, but would like to see lots of people.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Final Election Thoughts
I had NO intention of writing a blog on the elections, but I posted a status this morning, and it was FB status length, and I need to clarify and hopefully undo the way I may have offended some people. I am not, however, backing down off of what I said earlier.
As the election went on, and this morning, some of my FB friends threatened to leave the country for Canada and/or London if their chosen candidate (usually Romney) lost the election. To those people I said this morning, and I say again, good bye and (frankly) good riddance. I'm sorry if this offends you, and I'll explain myself more later, but let that simmer.
That statement was not, however, directed at all, or exclusively, conservative voters. No, only those people who are threatening to move elsewhere strictly because of an election. I'll back that up again in a minute, too, but I have friends of all different leanings, and they're my friends because they believe what they believe, passionately, and are willing to back it up and fight for what they believe. I love all of my conservative friends who stand for their beliefs as much as I love my liberal, moderate, etc. friends. I did not call anyone anything besides selfish this morning, and that was only to a very small sect of people whose statuses on FB this morning (and in previous weeks) threatened to leave the country just because of the results of the election. I also have a sneaky feeling that you'd be hugely disappointed when you landed in these foreign countries and discover that they are even more liberal than our current administration.
Now, here's why that fires me up so. That is not an American idea, in my opinion. We fought for this country in the latter part of the 18th century. Excuse me, our forefathers fought for this country. Don't bother me with nitpicky BS about why people originally settled here. That doesn't change the fact that Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Hancock, etc, fought against all odds to claim our independence from Great Britain. If we're truly to honor our predecessors, then we shan't run off to another country because things didn't go our way. We'd stay behind and fight (in a much more 21st century way) for what we believe in. Make things "right" here. Even if you can't change people's minds, change their lives. Do good. Stand up for what you believe. My candidate didn't win, but I still love my country. Like I said this morning, if you're going to leave, your patriotism is showing, and it's broken. Patriots stay and fight. Patriots will be honored on Sunday and Monday during Veteran's Day.
I did not call anyone an idiot or question anyone's intelligence this morning. I am not saying I didn't mean to (I didn't mean to), I'm saying that I didn't. You allowed yourself to be offended if I offended you, and I'll stick by that. I offended people who aren't courageous enough to fight for what they believe.
As the election went on, and this morning, some of my FB friends threatened to leave the country for Canada and/or London if their chosen candidate (usually Romney) lost the election. To those people I said this morning, and I say again, good bye and (frankly) good riddance. I'm sorry if this offends you, and I'll explain myself more later, but let that simmer.
That statement was not, however, directed at all, or exclusively, conservative voters. No, only those people who are threatening to move elsewhere strictly because of an election. I'll back that up again in a minute, too, but I have friends of all different leanings, and they're my friends because they believe what they believe, passionately, and are willing to back it up and fight for what they believe. I love all of my conservative friends who stand for their beliefs as much as I love my liberal, moderate, etc. friends. I did not call anyone anything besides selfish this morning, and that was only to a very small sect of people whose statuses on FB this morning (and in previous weeks) threatened to leave the country just because of the results of the election. I also have a sneaky feeling that you'd be hugely disappointed when you landed in these foreign countries and discover that they are even more liberal than our current administration.
Now, here's why that fires me up so. That is not an American idea, in my opinion. We fought for this country in the latter part of the 18th century. Excuse me, our forefathers fought for this country. Don't bother me with nitpicky BS about why people originally settled here. That doesn't change the fact that Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Hancock, etc, fought against all odds to claim our independence from Great Britain. If we're truly to honor our predecessors, then we shan't run off to another country because things didn't go our way. We'd stay behind and fight (in a much more 21st century way) for what we believe in. Make things "right" here. Even if you can't change people's minds, change their lives. Do good. Stand up for what you believe. My candidate didn't win, but I still love my country. Like I said this morning, if you're going to leave, your patriotism is showing, and it's broken. Patriots stay and fight. Patriots will be honored on Sunday and Monday during Veteran's Day.
I did not call anyone an idiot or question anyone's intelligence this morning. I am not saying I didn't mean to (I didn't mean to), I'm saying that I didn't. You allowed yourself to be offended if I offended you, and I'll stick by that. I offended people who aren't courageous enough to fight for what they believe.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Adventures in Automotive Acquisition
So, we are in Wood River, at Keya's parents' house. We came straight here after picking up her new car. She is now the proud owner of a beautiful 2009 Pontiac G6. If you want the specs of the car, I'll be happy to share elsewhere. I'm guessing most of my loyal readers (HAHA! Reader) care not for such trifles. Here's the deal, though. There's a reason I stick with one dealer when I find one I like. We looked at nearly every dealership between Grand Island and Council Bluffs. That's not the part that threw me. Now, this blog is in response to a couple of friends who wanted funny back in the blogs. 10-4. File this one in both "If only you knew who you were talking to," as well as, "Did you really just say that s**t to me and expect me not to find out?"
I am doing my best to only repeat what was said to me/us. I am not doing this to bad mouth a specific dealership or dealerships. I am just sharing honestly.
First dealership - H&H Kia in O-town (Bro, don't lie to me):
Our salesman claimed to be a former Marine. Now, he was built about like me. I'm not saying he WASN'T a former Marine, but he neither looked or acted the part based on my experience with Marines. Not the point. While driving the car (A brand new Kia Forte), we were talking about this, that or the other. I mentioned that I had seen very few USED Forte sedans, and he said they're hard to find based on the fact that they have a phenomenal warranty (Which is true. 10 yr/100,000 miles powertrain) and that they hadn't had one in quite some time. Really, I think the reason is because the model's only been around since 2010. However, he promised that if one came in, he'd call us. As we re-mount my motorcycle, we realised we were parked right in front of a USED KIA FORTE WITH H&H plates! WTF?! Dude, seriously. You BLATANTLY lied to me! Now, it's possible that he didn't know, but there was no hesitation, no "I don't think we've had one for awhile," just a "No."
I had also asked him about any new 2012's still on the lot. Nope. They hadn't had one in over a month as the 2013's were coming in. Upon returning to my place, I looked online and, low and behold, they had a 2012, brand new Kia Forte in stock. WHAT THE HELL?!
Brandon had already lost me by this point, but then, a week later, they got a used Kia Forte Koup in stock. Keya wasn't particularly interested in the Koup, but had mentioned that she'd drive one. What does he go and do? Schedule a test drive presumptively. I. You. WHAT? Never, NEVER in my life has THAT happened. In other news... they'll be getting a politely worded, but anger-ridden email later. I swore I'd never buy a car from them because their ads irritate me to no end. Their salesman only helped re-assure me in that decision. Don't lie to me, bro.
Second dealership - Anderson Auto Group in St. Joe, MO; Lincoln, NE; and Grand Island, NE (I was neither born at night, nor was I born last night):
Anderson was of particular interest to us because they have stores in both Grand Island (where her parents work and live 10 miles west) and in Lincoln (there are two stores there, and Keya lives there, I'm working there and soon to move there). Browsing their website, I find a 2012 Ford Focus listed for 14,900 with an MSRP of just over 22,000. OOOHH!!! YES! She was interested in the Focus, this store was in GI, her parents could go look at it. YES! DO IT! I immediately emailed the store using the link on the website. I get a message back fairly quickly. The message said (in short, as I no longer have the message, and it was fairly verbose, as was my response) that they knew the car I was talking about, and indeed, it was still there, and that will all of the discounts it was 19k. Wrote back and asked why it was listed at 14-9. I didn't hear back and didn't hear back. About a half hour later, I refreshed the page and magically, the price was 19k! WHOA! Welp, guess I brought that to their attention. I expected a contrite, but gracious email telling me that they'd fixed the price and sorry for the confusion. No, NO! That's not the choice this dealership made. His email said that he'd checked the website and the price was, in fact, 19k, and he wasn't sure as to how I'd been confused, but he was sorry for the confusion. I know this is getting old, but WHAT THE HELL?! Seriously, dude? Yeah, both my girlfriend and I (combined IQs somewhere north of 270) mistook a 4 for a 9. Oh, did I mention I didn't receive this email for over 5 hours after my previous reply?! (That last sentence makes me uncomfortable, but I want to you to share that with me, so I'm not changing it) Yeah, 5 hours. I wrote him back, letting him know I didn't like being treated like an idiot, that I'd bought WAY too many cars in my day to be treated like I didn't know anything. I used as many big words as I knew/could look up on thesaurus.com in the email to prove to him I'm all SMRT and junk. I also told him that I'd have had a hell of a lot more respect for him if he'd just said, "You're right, thank you for bringing that to our attention, and we've fixed the problem." The next day, he sent me an email saying that they must have fixed the problem over the weekend and it had taken 24 hours to update on the site. Now, my computer friends out there, tell me if that's realistic that a car dealership with 4 stores wouldn't have the technology to instantly update the website. I feel like it's too much of a coincidence that within a half hour of me bringing it to their attention, it then updated. IDK.
ANYWAY, in spite of that, Anderson continued to come through with vehicles that were interesting to Keya. I had time to kill between work and volleyball practice and ran over to their Lincoln North store to see what they had. Saw a couple of cars I really liked and got to talking to a salesman who mentioned that they move cars between stores all the time. I asked if there was a transfer fee, and he said no. They had a couple Kia Fortes at their store in St. Joe's, Missouri and I knew those would be at the top of our list. He indicated it wouldn't be a problem. I had to run to volleyball.
The end of that same week (last week, then, I suppose) Keya had found two cars at the North store (still Anderson) she liked. We went up to look at them and drove three cars, a 2010 Kia Optima, a 2010 Hyundai Sonata (they're the same car, different manufacturers) and saw this 2009 Pontiac G6 on the lot. It turns out, it hadn't been on the website b/c they'd just taken it on trade. We drove it. It was great. It's got 32,00 miles on it. It's cherry. It's her new car. ANYWAY, the dealership in O where I bought my car from had a similar G6, and I wanted to look at it. Nissan of Omaha has been phenomenal with the way they've treated me. We scheduled a test drive of the G6 in O for the next morning (Then H&H Kia told us we had a scheduled test drive we'd not solicited. It ended up being the same time as our test drive at Nissan of O). We liked both G6s, but the one at Nissan of O had 11,000 more miles and the paint wasn't nearly as clean.
So, as the day goes on, we decide we definitely like the G6 from Anderson the best. The saleswoman had been great so far, outside of the fact she told me I was wrong about Ford ever owning Mazda (they don't any more, but they did once upon a time). Mikeal Hocevar, do I know my stuff? I looked it up. DON'T ARGUE CAR STUFF WITH ME! Sorry... side track. So, I get on the phone with her to set up a "Plate and Pass" wherein we will get to borrow the car to drive to York to show Keya's parents. She starts telling me that we should have the loan in Keya's name with her dad as a co-signer to help her build credit. The difference in APR will only be like 7.99% vs. as low as 2.49%. No, I don't think we're going to do that, I tell her. It'd be a good idea, she says, and an easy way to help her build her credit (her credit's not bad, she has just always paid for things with cash). I said it'd be as easy to get her a credit card she puts a small amount on every month and pays off every month. This is a point of contention, I can tell. I get to Lincoln, and she is working on the paperwork, including getting us some basics on financing, trade for the Neon, etc. She again brings up the co-signing thing. She shows me the difference over three years. Yeah, it's $650 over three years difference (Not much! she says). Yeah, lady... $650 is a lot of money no matter how much time we're talking about. I tell her, again, that we're not going to do that and she says (direct quote) that's the stupidest thing we can do. I damn near walked, but it's a really nice car. She pushed it, and pushed it, and pushed it. Again, lady, I know how financing and APR work. Admittedly, $650 over three years (less than $20) isn't a TON of money, but it's still money, and not the best way for us to do it.
On the other side, I will tell you that I wish I'd bought from Nissan of Omaha, but there was no way they could match the deal on this car. It was amazing! My boy at Nissan of O wanted us to buy his, but it just wasn't nearly as nice, was the same price, and had way more miles. Oh, and Anderson gave us $300 more than Nissan offered us for the Neon.
Also, Duteau Chevy in Lincoln has a really great salesman named Tom who probably is part of the reason we bought the G6. We drove a Malibu down there, and the fact that Keya liked it so much is a big part of the reason we looked closely at the G6.
Okay, that's it. I hope it's funnier!!! ;-)
I am doing my best to only repeat what was said to me/us. I am not doing this to bad mouth a specific dealership or dealerships. I am just sharing honestly.
First dealership - H&H Kia in O-town (Bro, don't lie to me):
Our salesman claimed to be a former Marine. Now, he was built about like me. I'm not saying he WASN'T a former Marine, but he neither looked or acted the part based on my experience with Marines. Not the point. While driving the car (A brand new Kia Forte), we were talking about this, that or the other. I mentioned that I had seen very few USED Forte sedans, and he said they're hard to find based on the fact that they have a phenomenal warranty (Which is true. 10 yr/100,000 miles powertrain) and that they hadn't had one in quite some time. Really, I think the reason is because the model's only been around since 2010. However, he promised that if one came in, he'd call us. As we re-mount my motorcycle, we realised we were parked right in front of a USED KIA FORTE WITH H&H plates! WTF?! Dude, seriously. You BLATANTLY lied to me! Now, it's possible that he didn't know, but there was no hesitation, no "I don't think we've had one for awhile," just a "No."
I had also asked him about any new 2012's still on the lot. Nope. They hadn't had one in over a month as the 2013's were coming in. Upon returning to my place, I looked online and, low and behold, they had a 2012, brand new Kia Forte in stock. WHAT THE HELL?!
Brandon had already lost me by this point, but then, a week later, they got a used Kia Forte Koup in stock. Keya wasn't particularly interested in the Koup, but had mentioned that she'd drive one. What does he go and do? Schedule a test drive presumptively. I. You. WHAT? Never, NEVER in my life has THAT happened. In other news... they'll be getting a politely worded, but anger-ridden email later. I swore I'd never buy a car from them because their ads irritate me to no end. Their salesman only helped re-assure me in that decision. Don't lie to me, bro.
Second dealership - Anderson Auto Group in St. Joe, MO; Lincoln, NE; and Grand Island, NE (I was neither born at night, nor was I born last night):
Anderson was of particular interest to us because they have stores in both Grand Island (where her parents work and live 10 miles west) and in Lincoln (there are two stores there, and Keya lives there, I'm working there and soon to move there). Browsing their website, I find a 2012 Ford Focus listed for 14,900 with an MSRP of just over 22,000. OOOHH!!! YES! She was interested in the Focus, this store was in GI, her parents could go look at it. YES! DO IT! I immediately emailed the store using the link on the website. I get a message back fairly quickly. The message said (in short, as I no longer have the message, and it was fairly verbose, as was my response) that they knew the car I was talking about, and indeed, it was still there, and that will all of the discounts it was 19k. Wrote back and asked why it was listed at 14-9. I didn't hear back and didn't hear back. About a half hour later, I refreshed the page and magically, the price was 19k! WHOA! Welp, guess I brought that to their attention. I expected a contrite, but gracious email telling me that they'd fixed the price and sorry for the confusion. No, NO! That's not the choice this dealership made. His email said that he'd checked the website and the price was, in fact, 19k, and he wasn't sure as to how I'd been confused, but he was sorry for the confusion. I know this is getting old, but WHAT THE HELL?! Seriously, dude? Yeah, both my girlfriend and I (combined IQs somewhere north of 270) mistook a 4 for a 9. Oh, did I mention I didn't receive this email for over 5 hours after my previous reply?! (That last sentence makes me uncomfortable, but I want to you to share that with me, so I'm not changing it) Yeah, 5 hours. I wrote him back, letting him know I didn't like being treated like an idiot, that I'd bought WAY too many cars in my day to be treated like I didn't know anything. I used as many big words as I knew/could look up on thesaurus.com in the email to prove to him I'm all SMRT and junk. I also told him that I'd have had a hell of a lot more respect for him if he'd just said, "You're right, thank you for bringing that to our attention, and we've fixed the problem." The next day, he sent me an email saying that they must have fixed the problem over the weekend and it had taken 24 hours to update on the site. Now, my computer friends out there, tell me if that's realistic that a car dealership with 4 stores wouldn't have the technology to instantly update the website. I feel like it's too much of a coincidence that within a half hour of me bringing it to their attention, it then updated. IDK.
ANYWAY, in spite of that, Anderson continued to come through with vehicles that were interesting to Keya. I had time to kill between work and volleyball practice and ran over to their Lincoln North store to see what they had. Saw a couple of cars I really liked and got to talking to a salesman who mentioned that they move cars between stores all the time. I asked if there was a transfer fee, and he said no. They had a couple Kia Fortes at their store in St. Joe's, Missouri and I knew those would be at the top of our list. He indicated it wouldn't be a problem. I had to run to volleyball.
The end of that same week (last week, then, I suppose) Keya had found two cars at the North store (still Anderson) she liked. We went up to look at them and drove three cars, a 2010 Kia Optima, a 2010 Hyundai Sonata (they're the same car, different manufacturers) and saw this 2009 Pontiac G6 on the lot. It turns out, it hadn't been on the website b/c they'd just taken it on trade. We drove it. It was great. It's got 32,00 miles on it. It's cherry. It's her new car. ANYWAY, the dealership in O where I bought my car from had a similar G6, and I wanted to look at it. Nissan of Omaha has been phenomenal with the way they've treated me. We scheduled a test drive of the G6 in O for the next morning (Then H&H Kia told us we had a scheduled test drive we'd not solicited. It ended up being the same time as our test drive at Nissan of O). We liked both G6s, but the one at Nissan of O had 11,000 more miles and the paint wasn't nearly as clean.
So, as the day goes on, we decide we definitely like the G6 from Anderson the best. The saleswoman had been great so far, outside of the fact she told me I was wrong about Ford ever owning Mazda (they don't any more, but they did once upon a time). Mikeal Hocevar, do I know my stuff? I looked it up. DON'T ARGUE CAR STUFF WITH ME! Sorry... side track. So, I get on the phone with her to set up a "Plate and Pass" wherein we will get to borrow the car to drive to York to show Keya's parents. She starts telling me that we should have the loan in Keya's name with her dad as a co-signer to help her build credit. The difference in APR will only be like 7.99% vs. as low as 2.49%. No, I don't think we're going to do that, I tell her. It'd be a good idea, she says, and an easy way to help her build her credit (her credit's not bad, she has just always paid for things with cash). I said it'd be as easy to get her a credit card she puts a small amount on every month and pays off every month. This is a point of contention, I can tell. I get to Lincoln, and she is working on the paperwork, including getting us some basics on financing, trade for the Neon, etc. She again brings up the co-signing thing. She shows me the difference over three years. Yeah, it's $650 over three years difference (Not much! she says). Yeah, lady... $650 is a lot of money no matter how much time we're talking about. I tell her, again, that we're not going to do that and she says (direct quote) that's the stupidest thing we can do. I damn near walked, but it's a really nice car. She pushed it, and pushed it, and pushed it. Again, lady, I know how financing and APR work. Admittedly, $650 over three years (less than $20) isn't a TON of money, but it's still money, and not the best way for us to do it.
On the other side, I will tell you that I wish I'd bought from Nissan of Omaha, but there was no way they could match the deal on this car. It was amazing! My boy at Nissan of O wanted us to buy his, but it just wasn't nearly as nice, was the same price, and had way more miles. Oh, and Anderson gave us $300 more than Nissan offered us for the Neon.
Also, Duteau Chevy in Lincoln has a really great salesman named Tom who probably is part of the reason we bought the G6. We drove a Malibu down there, and the fact that Keya liked it so much is a big part of the reason we looked closely at the G6.
Okay, that's it. I hope it's funnier!!! ;-)
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Tell me all your Thoughts
I've been ruminating this one for quite awhile. I've been ruminating this one because a) it sounds nothing like the me that moved from Colorado and b) a LOT of my friends will disagree. I'm open to it, and I'll listen to your impassioned disagreements, so long as you're willing to listen to mine, and you've read the entirety of this blog.
For those of you who expected a religion-themed post from me... I'm shocked. I'm shocked that you expected it. Me in 2010, I'd have been shocked. Me in 2012? I'm more than comfortable talking about my beliefs. They haven't changed dramatically since my move. It's more that I've actually spent time thinking about it and realise that the words that I've always had are fine. I don't have to use "proper" words to express and defend my beliefs. My beliefs are built with my words.
Unexpected side rant - Why do we have to defend our beliefs? Unless my (your) beliefs are hurting someone else, live and let live! I cannot, and will not here, defend the actions of many Christians and Christian groups in God's name. Nor will I address the atrocities committed by many extreme groups of other faiths, Islam being the example most readily available. I won't address either of those, because those people represent such a small portion of their respective faiths, that I think I've already given too many words relative to the size of this post. That being said, I have so many friends of so many different of so many different faiths who are wonderful people, that I get sick of the idea that we have to defend our spirituality. Atheist, Agnostic, Buddhist, Pagan, Jew, anyone else who I'm forgetting, let's just acknowledge that we all believe differently. If you want to explain your beliefs to me, great! I'll be happy to explain mine to you, and where they've come from. If, however, you want to belittle me or mock me for being a Christian, I'm done. I will pay you the same courtesy and not mock your faith. I'm sick of people calling Christians stupid in particular. My IQ is well over 130. My Faith is based on life experiences and conversations with God, not ignorance or naivete.
God. I invite my friends of other faiths to replace that word with your deity (or deities), the world, the fates, or the word "coincidence." In thinking on this, I've been trying to decide if there are coincidences in the world. Does crazy s**t just happen, or is it part of His grand design? Honestly, I think there still have to be coincidences (this morning, when I'd decided to write this today, my answer would have been no). Free Will is the basis of Original Sin. God gave us Free Will knowing full well that we'd blow it. Almost immediately. We did that, very nicely. In Deuteronomy, God says we'll forsake him(31:16). He knew. He gave us the gift of Free Will anyway. My relationship with God is stronger because I chose to walk with Him. He loves us, even when we don't love him (like our parents!). That being said, I have a hard time seeing a lot of coincidences. The BIG things in my life? I just wasn't listening. I could list the things since I've moved here, but I won't bore you. The biggest things of late, Markeya and Lincoln? God's been loud. I moved here for a reason, and I listened when he suggested this to me. I'm glad I did, as I've been very happy here (I still want to come back, don't worry). It's renewed and revitalised me and is still doing so in ways I didn't think it would.
I also started listening. I have not asked Him to show Himself to me. Thank goodness, because, as Father Mark said this morning, you have to be careful if you do, He might just show up! Not just trying to read the signs that God put in front of me, but also asking for him to talk directly to me. He doesn't always do it, but it's remarkable when he actually does. My key has not been asking for things, but telling Him that I'm listening. He wants us to be happy and successful. He gives us the tools. Look in the previous paragraph (that's an imperative sentence, kids). He gave us Free Will. We have to do the right things with those tools. I've effed up repeatedly. My life's not always been great. He was, probably, sad when that happened. I can't say that for sure, but I'd imagine He was sad. I'm trying to make him happy now. He knows I won't always do it.
One of my players last year drew it out for me. We started one of my (to that point) most uncomfortable conversations because the Westboro Baptist Church was protesting at a high school in Iowa we drove past. Balls (her nickname, and I've never met a girl who was farther from her nickname) asked me about my faith... and I talked... a little. She talked a lot. A bit of background. This girl is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. She's also naive to the world, to a point, and is incredibly forgiving. She sees nothing but good and does nothing but good. She is devout. She is, in almost every way, what you would picture if I told you she's 20 years old, grew up in a small midwestern town, and is devoutly Christian. What she said was NOT what I expected. She tries to live a Pious life. She tries to do exactly what God would ask. Her words? She can't. She will never be able to live up to His expectations. She's not perfect. She sins daily. He knows she will. He sent Jesus because of that. Jesus died for sins committed and yet to be. I don't live a perfect life, by any means. I am, however, making fewer mistakes than I used to. I still cuss, drink, have the occasional cigar and FREQUENT unclean thoughts. I'm working on it. He's talking to me. He forgives me because He loves me, and I love Him. I don't pray for everything every night. I do, however, always tell Him of my gratitude for the plethora of ways He has blessed me. I am in awe and humbled by His power, His grace, His benevolence, and His goodness!
By way of a disclaimer, I am not, nor will I ever be, a creationist. I am still scientific-minded and see the logic in things like Evolution and the many and varied scientific theories and proofs out there. Fundamentally, I don't think I've really changed. I've been a Christian for quite some time, but am more confident in my beliefs. I found a church I love with a priest and congregation that is just wonderful. I was asked to participate in a prayer group, and I'm glad that I did. Really, all it did was make me more comfortable as a Christian. Knowing that I didn't have to know, that's not a key. Knowing that the most important part of this faith is love and gratitude for Him. I try to show Him I love Him, and will do my best to lead others to him. I'm not here to demand others follow Him, but if you ask the way, I'll do my best to show you. I'm here because He wants me here.
Want to know more? Just ask.
For those of you who expected a religion-themed post from me... I'm shocked. I'm shocked that you expected it. Me in 2010, I'd have been shocked. Me in 2012? I'm more than comfortable talking about my beliefs. They haven't changed dramatically since my move. It's more that I've actually spent time thinking about it and realise that the words that I've always had are fine. I don't have to use "proper" words to express and defend my beliefs. My beliefs are built with my words.
Unexpected side rant - Why do we have to defend our beliefs? Unless my (your) beliefs are hurting someone else, live and let live! I cannot, and will not here, defend the actions of many Christians and Christian groups in God's name. Nor will I address the atrocities committed by many extreme groups of other faiths, Islam being the example most readily available. I won't address either of those, because those people represent such a small portion of their respective faiths, that I think I've already given too many words relative to the size of this post. That being said, I have so many friends of so many different of so many different faiths who are wonderful people, that I get sick of the idea that we have to defend our spirituality. Atheist, Agnostic, Buddhist, Pagan, Jew, anyone else who I'm forgetting, let's just acknowledge that we all believe differently. If you want to explain your beliefs to me, great! I'll be happy to explain mine to you, and where they've come from. If, however, you want to belittle me or mock me for being a Christian, I'm done. I will pay you the same courtesy and not mock your faith. I'm sick of people calling Christians stupid in particular. My IQ is well over 130. My Faith is based on life experiences and conversations with God, not ignorance or naivete.
God. I invite my friends of other faiths to replace that word with your deity (or deities), the world, the fates, or the word "coincidence." In thinking on this, I've been trying to decide if there are coincidences in the world. Does crazy s**t just happen, or is it part of His grand design? Honestly, I think there still have to be coincidences (this morning, when I'd decided to write this today, my answer would have been no). Free Will is the basis of Original Sin. God gave us Free Will knowing full well that we'd blow it. Almost immediately. We did that, very nicely. In Deuteronomy, God says we'll forsake him(31:16). He knew. He gave us the gift of Free Will anyway. My relationship with God is stronger because I chose to walk with Him. He loves us, even when we don't love him (like our parents!). That being said, I have a hard time seeing a lot of coincidences. The BIG things in my life? I just wasn't listening. I could list the things since I've moved here, but I won't bore you. The biggest things of late, Markeya and Lincoln? God's been loud. I moved here for a reason, and I listened when he suggested this to me. I'm glad I did, as I've been very happy here (I still want to come back, don't worry). It's renewed and revitalised me and is still doing so in ways I didn't think it would.
I also started listening. I have not asked Him to show Himself to me. Thank goodness, because, as Father Mark said this morning, you have to be careful if you do, He might just show up! Not just trying to read the signs that God put in front of me, but also asking for him to talk directly to me. He doesn't always do it, but it's remarkable when he actually does. My key has not been asking for things, but telling Him that I'm listening. He wants us to be happy and successful. He gives us the tools. Look in the previous paragraph (that's an imperative sentence, kids). He gave us Free Will. We have to do the right things with those tools. I've effed up repeatedly. My life's not always been great. He was, probably, sad when that happened. I can't say that for sure, but I'd imagine He was sad. I'm trying to make him happy now. He knows I won't always do it.
One of my players last year drew it out for me. We started one of my (to that point) most uncomfortable conversations because the Westboro Baptist Church was protesting at a high school in Iowa we drove past. Balls (her nickname, and I've never met a girl who was farther from her nickname) asked me about my faith... and I talked... a little. She talked a lot. A bit of background. This girl is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. She's also naive to the world, to a point, and is incredibly forgiving. She sees nothing but good and does nothing but good. She is devout. She is, in almost every way, what you would picture if I told you she's 20 years old, grew up in a small midwestern town, and is devoutly Christian. What she said was NOT what I expected. She tries to live a Pious life. She tries to do exactly what God would ask. Her words? She can't. She will never be able to live up to His expectations. She's not perfect. She sins daily. He knows she will. He sent Jesus because of that. Jesus died for sins committed and yet to be. I don't live a perfect life, by any means. I am, however, making fewer mistakes than I used to. I still cuss, drink, have the occasional cigar and FREQUENT unclean thoughts. I'm working on it. He's talking to me. He forgives me because He loves me, and I love Him. I don't pray for everything every night. I do, however, always tell Him of my gratitude for the plethora of ways He has blessed me. I am in awe and humbled by His power, His grace, His benevolence, and His goodness!
By way of a disclaimer, I am not, nor will I ever be, a creationist. I am still scientific-minded and see the logic in things like Evolution and the many and varied scientific theories and proofs out there. Fundamentally, I don't think I've really changed. I've been a Christian for quite some time, but am more confident in my beliefs. I found a church I love with a priest and congregation that is just wonderful. I was asked to participate in a prayer group, and I'm glad that I did. Really, all it did was make me more comfortable as a Christian. Knowing that I didn't have to know, that's not a key. Knowing that the most important part of this faith is love and gratitude for Him. I try to show Him I love Him, and will do my best to lead others to him. I'm not here to demand others follow Him, but if you ask the way, I'll do my best to show you. I'm here because He wants me here.
Want to know more? Just ask.
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