Year / 2006

by Greg

Lovin’ On Apple

Apple Computer, Inc.I gotta love on Apple a bit. First of all, I got my $29 iPod shuffle today! It was my birthday present to myself, and a Christmas gift to Ian. 🙂 I told him I’d share it with him. It’s awesome. 🙂

Second… here’s the quick version of the story:

Yesterday, my laptop power supply charger cord shorts out… sparks, smoke, almost flames… melting plastic. Bad. So I am sad I have to buy a replacement part. THEN, I am not sad when I remember I have AppleCare, which replaces things for FREE. Very nice. We like free.

I called Apple, they said, “Yep. You’re covered. We’ll have the part to you by the end of the week.” Awesome! So, I then remember my laptop needs a bit of maintenance.. but I could never figure out when to part with it for a week or so… until now! I called back and arranged for them to get my laptop. Very good.

A box for my laptop arrived Tuesday morning. Along with a box holding the new power supply!! WOW! That was quicker than “the end of the week”!!! So I packaged up my laptop and the old burned up power supply and called DHL to schedule a pick up. They didn’t come till much later that day, but it was alright. I figured I’d hear from Apple not too long after it arrived.

At 12:25pm today (Wednesday) I received an email from Apple saying that my PowerBook had arrived and was now scheduled to be repaired!!!! WHAT!???!! NY to CA in like 12 hours??! Wow!!!! That is just amazing.

It gets better.

The email included a link to check the status online. So, at 3:30pm or so (EST) I decided to check. THREE HOURS LATER the status was COMPLETE, shipping Nov 29. !!!! WHAT IN THE WORLD? How can Apple be this good???

So, I expect that I will receive my laptop back on my doorstep tomorrow morning. A full three days from when I called Apple. I think the only reason it took three days was that Apple doesn’t have their own shipping service!!!

Folks, if you don’t already own a Mac… what are you waiting for?

by Greg

A Few Thoughts Over Breakfast

I’m sitting here in my gym clothes, ready to get my weekly intense excersize (I play basketball with a couple other guys on Wednesday mornings) and just thought I’d catch y’all up on the latest happenings around here.

We got back Sunday night at 1am from our visit with my parents and other extended family down in Ohio. That was fun. We even got to stay an extra day. When we found out the Bills game was not sold out, we decided it would be fun to stay and watch it, even though it meant getting in at 1am!! (And, we were correct! A thrilling 27-24 win over the Jaguars! GO BILLS!) We got to see all of my grandparents, and spent a little time with my cousin and his family… it was a nice visit. (Also got a dozen Schuler’s donuts, and some Young’s ice cream, for any of your Sprinfieldians out there reading this!)

Last night we went out to Red Robin for my pre-birthday dinner! We all love Red Robin, especially the “bottomless steak fries”! And the best part is, you get a free burger for your birthday! And a free Sundae! AND, last night, they didn’t even sing to me! HA! I tricked ’em!! Free burger, and no embarrassing song! 🙂

We had lots of fun as a family. The kids were actually pretty good 🙂 And we got lots of groceries for tomorrow night’s birthday dinner, too. Recently we had some friends over for a few big meals I made… one night we had three different families here for the same meal! I had so much fun on those nights that I told Jen, “THIS is what I wawnt to do for my birthday. I want to have people over, hang out, and I can make them a great meal!” (I know… I’m weird…)

SO, that’s what we’re doing. I’m going to make either Skyline Chili or Carne Mechada and Jen has invited some mystery guests to our house for my birthday night. I’m sure it will be a great evening.

I think that’s about all. I didn’t mention that when we decided to stay longer at Mom & Dad’s for Thanksgiving that also meant that I would be doing lots more manual labor… that was interesting. 🙂 It was great, we helped my dad with the initial stages of building his new giant deck on the back of their house. But, I was also quite sore the next day or two!

Guess I am getting older. 🙂

Alrighty… time for basketball. I’ll be back here later as time allows. Work is super busy these days. Lots of big projects with deadlines not too far away. But, I can’t stay away from writing that long… so I bet I’ll see ya here soon. 😉

by Greg

White

The ground was white this morning! Awesome!! It’s melting away rather quickly, but it was so nice to finally see snow! Hoping for lots more of that this winter. We were kinda short-changed last year. Hardly any snow at all. That was very strange.

It was fun to hear the kids’ excitement this morning. 🙂

Snow is just fun! Bring it on!!! 🙂

by Greg

Oh, To Be Noticed

Julia & DadA few times today I noticed my infant daughter, and recognized her with a smile or just by saying her name. Obviously it was just a small gesture of kindness, but for some reason, it means the world to her. Maybe especially from Dad? But regardless of the one who is noticing, it was very easy to see that she enjoys being noticed.

Don’t we all? Even from such an early age, to be recognized just for being… it can be a lonely world inside yourself. So, to have another person stop what they are doing and focus their attention on you, even if only for a moment… it stirs up some pretty exciting emotions in my daughter, let me tell you! 🙂 She starts bouncing, and smiling so hard it seems her mouth might expand right off her face! It makes her day when you just notice her.

I thought that was cute. I hope to have many chances to “notice” her tomorrow. You should try it, too. I’m sure there’s someone tomorrow whom you will come across that you could “notice” with a smile, or a greeting, or even a conversation. I don’t know if it will make their day like it does Julia’s, but I’m sure it will be appreciated.

That’s why there are books about purpose and significance and all that jazz… it’s what we want. Maybe what we were made for. The cool thing is, we are noticed. Our Father notices everything about us. Our first, our last, and every moment in between. It’s easy to miss that sometimes. We feel unnoticed. Unimportant. Not sure if that’s what my 8 month old daughter feels, but it sure lights up her world – and her face! – when she does realize that she is significant enough to draw my attention, even for only a few seconds.

It does make a difference. It will be noticed.

by Greg

Fingernails and Jesus

fingernailThis morning as the boys and I were reading through John (our latest morning read) I was struck by a simple line that John (who is known as “The Baptist”) spoke. Regarding Jesus baptizing more people than he was at that moment, he replied, “No one can do anything unless God in heaven allows it.” Anything? Like, murdering, genocide, hatred, war, etc… those came quickly to mind as being part of “anything”. Now, I know that’s not what John was talking about, but it was a strange thing to read, to be sure. He was focusing more on the positive, that Jesus was doing a good thing (that was having some success, I suppose) was an indication that God was OK with it, since, no one can do anything unless God allows it.

I just found that an interesting thought to ponder this morning… as I do stuff, that falls under the “anything” label.

In other news… as I was chopping vegetables for our meal for this afternoon (which would also fall under that ubiquitous “anything” label), the knife slipped off of the veggies and landed firmly on my finger. Thankfully… God invented fingernails. (That’s not my finger in the photo, by the way…)

All is well, and I find myself marveling at God’s forethought once again. I even have a little knick where my finger would have been sliced open, if not off!

Good thing it wasn’t part of the “anything” God allowed me to do!

by Greg

Which God Did This?


I am working on a website for a video that some friends of mine had a big part in making. The video is being produced by a former member of the Mormon church who has since discovered evidence upon evidence that what the Mormons teach just does not hold up. The video is very thorough, and very condemning. I live in the town where Mormonism began, and I didn’t know a lot of the stuff presented there.

The purpose of the video is to give current members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS, Mormons) the chance to review all of the available information, and, to hopefully get away from a false religion. There is a plea at the end of the video to the leaders of the Mormon church to lead their followers into truth. As I said, it’s all very convincing.

Part of me just cringes when we try to make someone else think like we do. The other part completely agrees with what was said in the video, and I do wonder how anyone could “be a Mormon” after thinking through the info presented there.

Then, today, I came across a video on YouTube of an interview with radio personality, Glenn Beck. I was aware that Glenn was a Mormon, and never really thought too much about it. His show is certainly entertaining, and I enjoy listening to it when I can. I also knew he had at some point made big changes in his personal life. I was not aware they were so connected to his conversion to Mormonism, however.

So, there’s a part of the video where he describes how the Mormon church had changed his life, and almost immediately following his baptism, things began to miraculously fall into place for him. He attributes it to God’s hand in his life. Funny… when that happens to me… so do I! But wait… if Mormonism is false, inaccurate, and begun by a shady character named Joseph Smith … Glenn & I can’t be doing life with the same God, can we? The things that he thinks God is arranging for him… has to just be demonic, right???

I think I may have thought that a few years ago. I don’t now. I continue to learn that God loves everyone. Everyone. God arranges for good things to happen, life-changing things to happen, for Christians, Mormons, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, Buddhists, and even Democrats. (That was for you, Mom) 😉 It IS the same God… He is THE ONLY ONE.

So, while Glenn may be confused (as I believe he is) on the historical side of things, and on who God is and how he operates, I believe that it was God – the same one I know – who arranged events in his life to get him to where he is now. Yes, even “though” he is a Mormon.

I don’t think God waits for us to “get things right” before he leads, guides, blesses, and just actively loves us. He just does. God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save it. That’s how much he loves everyone… no matter what we are trapped in.

When I look at it, I’m not sure we have that right. We are better at loving either after a change has been made, or, in order to make a change.

So, anyway… that’s my thoughts for the day. Enjoy the video. Do post your thoughts if you are so inclined.

by Greg

Group Think

If you know me in the slightest, you know that I am not at all the political sort. When I was at Michigan State, almost 15 years ago now, we lived in suites (two rooms shared a common bathroom). One of the guys in the other suite connected to mine was a super, duper, dee-duper Republican of Republicans. He had a full-size, cardboard statue of George Bush 41. He meant business. And I didn’t necessarily think he was weird… I think I just didn’t get it.

So as I have lived life as an adult for a time, I have understood a bit more the role of politics in our country, and to a degree in my life. But see, that’s just the thing. It has become such a game that it basically has no role in my life at all. To me, everyone involved in politics on any level – not just Washington – is just playing some childish, meaningless game. And that’s too bad, because it shouldn’t be this irrelevant.

I’m just completely irked by the comments leading up to, and now especially following the most recent election. “The Democrats have taken control of both houses of congress…” and, “Americans sent George Bush a message in this 2006 election…” There were many incarnations of that last one, spoken by many media folk and especially the victorious Democrat candidates. The real evidence that it is just a game though is that everyone says the same thing. Everyone is playing by the same rules.

I said to Jen last night, “Our government is not supposed to be two people, who always choose the same way.” That’s what it has become. You either vote for one, or the other. We do not have one president with his cabinet and staff, along with 100 senators and 500-something representatives. No, we have Republican and Democrat. Now that the Democrat controls congress, the Republican won’t be able to get anything done. And, please tell me that when I clicked those 15 or so levers in the polling booth Tuesday night that I was actually voting for individual candidates in individual races… not just “sending President Bush a message…”

GRRRRRR. It makes me so mad! People!! Think for yourselves!!! If you don’t like what George Bush is doing… TELL HIM. Tell someone. SOMEONE should listen. Don’t vote for the “opposite party”, regardless of who that sends to represent us. Pay attention to the individual candidate!!!

OK… now that I have said that, I also understand that mostly the people who really think that Americans “sent a message to George Bush” via the election are the crazy media who live in a made-up world and the politicians, who also live in a made-up world. I just really hope that Average Joe American does not think like they all think we do.

You don’t, do you?

We are individuals. We are not Republicans or Democrats or Independants or any other brand name. We are not blacks, or whites, or hispanics, native-americans, or any other demographic. We are Americans, because that’s where we live… but that does not remove or absolve us from making individual decisions. We don’t all think the same way just because we’re American (that should be obvious!) … we each get to choose in every situation, every time.

The other problem we have in this country is reflected in something Senator Clinton said following her lop-sided victory over the token Republican challenger. She said, “The people have spoken… and we will give you a government you won’t be dissapointed in.” (Something like that.) That revealed to me what she thinks of government. She thinks it should be something. I don’t. I think government should be invisible. I don’t even think it should be a full-time job sometimes. I think people should be allowed to live their own lives, as they desire, and government only represents our country to the world and maintains order/communication between the various states. Any other form of government is something I will either be dissappointed in or not… because… it’s SOMETHING. It becomes its own entity. In a tiny way, it’s like the church actually. When we make it a thing, rather than just a reality, we have gone too far. And then, enter the politics.

So… nothing I can do really. That’s just what we do. We play games. Politics magnifies the scale and the stupidity of that, but it’s all the same on every level. Politics involves playing games for power, so it’s intensified there too. One more example of how we have a totally wrong view of what government is. Government should not be about power. Our government is supposed to REPRESENT us, not lead or “govern” us. At least, not in America. But those days are loooong gone. And here we are.

The only way I could think to fix things would be to actually run for office. I have that notion every time there is an election, or politics is heavy in the news. But then I remember, it’s all just a game, and no one is real. One real person, trying to actually change the way government thinks… not gonna happen.

Who knows. Maybe I will run for president some day.

by Greg

An Idea For Professional Sports

I was really bothered by baseball getting WAY too much attention from the TV sports segments well into the football season this year, and was talking with Jen recently about how all the sports should get out of each other’s way. We know it won’t happen (thanks to the commercialization of all the pro sports) but wouldn’t it be grand if hockey didn’t go till JUNE, and baseball was actually played in THE SUMMER?

Indeed.

Well, here’s what I think we should see from the pro sports…

Baseball:
Being a summer sport, shouldn’t it be played in the summer time???? Right now, baseball is actually played during ALL FOUR SEASONS of the year. That’s just wrong. The schedule should be more like May-August… with playoffs ending in September. Maybe you even start the divisional rounds in August, and have the World Series around Labor Day weekend. More people could watch/attend, because they’re off work! And then, it’s actually a SUMMER sport!!!

Football:
The Super Bowl should not be played in February. Shorten the pre-season. Football should begin no sooner than August, and the regular season should be September through December. Playoffs are in January, with the Super Bowl being the last weekend of January.

Hockey:
Hockey is a winter sport. (Notice the surface is ICE.) So let’s actually start it in THE WINTER. The season could start in mid to late November… and playoffs could be in March, because it’s still cold in most hockey towns in March. Hockey has no business continuing into April, May and especially JUNE.

Basketball: (and everything else)
This one is weird because it is all played indoors. Could be played any time of the year… and… is. Let’s just shorten the season like everything else. I don’t even know when the official season is, but it’s at least Oct to June. WAY TO LONG.

So… the calendar would look like:

Month Football Hockey Basketball Baseball
January: Football playoffs Hockey Basketball
February: Hockey Basketball
March: NHL Playoffs Basketball
March Madness
April: Basketball Baseball SPRING training
May: NBA playoffs Baseball
June: Baseball
July: Baseball
August: Football pre-season Baseball playoffs
September: Football World Series
October: Football
November: Football Hockey
December: Football Hockey Basketball

Well, that’s how my ideal sports calendar would look at least. 🙂 Throw in the Olympics every couple of years and you’re set. Nothing clashes… nothing drags on. It’s perfect.

Now… who do I talk to to get this plan underway?

by Greg

Vacation

Some of you reading this know that we have been on vacation for the past week. Now, all of you reading this know that. 🙂 It was a very different vacation in that we did not know where we would be spending it even up to the eve of the first day of the week off, and to some degree, most of the first day of vacating!

We ended up spending the first day of my week off at home, doing fun vacation-y things at home. But the phone and the office are too near, as is an abundance of household chores. (I ended up doing a good deal of laundry, dishes, cooking meals, and best of all, got to spend at least an hour fixing a clogged tub drain in our bathroom.) So, Jen said near the end of the first day, “We’re leaving tomorrow!”

Mainly (if not totally) due to financial concerns, we had cancelled our initial trip to Florida to visit with family. While the lodging was taken care of, and likely, most meals… the travel cost of just getting there was too high for us at the moment. So, our backup plan was to visit my sister for a portion of our week. They live in Washington, DC… Jen loves DC… it was Jen’s birthday weekend… seemed a perfect fit. So, we planned to take a leisurely trip down through PA to get to their place for the weekend… just staying at a few cheaper hotels along the way. Well, that too became out of our price range at the moment and so we scrapped that idea.

What we ended up doing was a modified version of plan B. A plan B-B, if you will. We only spent one night in a moderate hotel, and did a little tour of a couple Gettysburg historical sites on the way to visit with my sister’s fam down in DC. Then we spent the final two days of vacation back here at the humble abode. (And, since we did spend the time doing household chores on the first day of vacation, there were far fewer to do the past couple days. Also, people had learned that I actually was gone, and they needn’t call till I return, so the phone was less intrusive.)

I’m getting ahead of myself… let me back-track to Gettysburg.

Our son, Ian, is 7 years old and just quite simply a marvel to me. He is so interested in people that he read a book that I’d say was intended for middle-school minds (remember… he’s seven!) on the trip down to Gettysburg. We had read a story or two about G-burg before leaving, but mostly Ian did the research on his own. The book was a diary of one girl’s experiences in July of 1863 when the major battle at G-burg occurred. So, since Ian had read this story, the place was much more alive and had much more meaning to him. He was pointing out signs and street names and locations to us, “Hey! That was in my book!”

Basically… he was our tour guide. 🙂

We strolled the very ground where the crucial battle had taken place some 143 years prior. It was really very interesting and sobering to be standing there with cannons and battle lines and other things still in place. The story was very alive and real as we read the various plaques and memorials. Definitely going to make a return trip and spend more than a few hours there.

Our time in DC was packed full of time with my sister and family, which was really great. We also celebrated Jen’s birthday on Saturday. (Including a nice birthday dinner at Red Robin on Friday night!) We even got to spend most of Saturday with a good friend from high school and his family. The kids also got to do some trick-or-treating at the local businesses with their cousins. That was fun 🙂

Since we came home we spent some leisurely time around the house playing Tecmo Superbowl (among other electronic games), making and eating fun meals (like waffles!) and just enjoying being a family of six.

That reminds me… we also spent our vacation letting family and friends know that we are now expecting to be a family of seven by the end of May 2007. 🙂

We finished up the big 2006 vacation with a THREE HOUR trick-or-treat extravaganza in our own town of Palmyra, NY. We have not yet done that (so far, we have trick-or-treated in Florida, California, Vermont twice, and a few other locations across the country), so we had a great time visiting friends, meeting new neighbors and just being in our own town. And we did get quite a haul of candy!!

The kids were Buffalo sports reps. Ian was a Buffalo Sabre in classic blue and gold attire. Alex was a Buffalo Bill: Drew Bledsoe, to be precise. Kirstie was a Buffalo Jill. We even had the face paint! Oh! Even Julia was dressed in her little Buffalo Bills outfit from Grammy. So, she was a cheer leader too. 🙂

It was a great night. It was a great vacation. Why am I up at 2:15 you ask? Well, I spent two hours straightening up our finances (reconciling our accounts, paying bills, filing receipts, etc).. and then just felt the urge to blog. Last day of vacation… I’m milking it. 🙂

Hopefully I return to the office tomorrow refreshed and recharged. There’s a lot on my plate already… so it will be tough, but I hope the time away will give me a renewed capacity to deal with all the challenges and to enjoy the work God has given me to do. I am definitely blessed.

Beyond how God provides for our family… I am blown away by how blessed I am to have the wife I have, and the four (and soon five) great kids we have. Can’t say it any better than that.

So… we’re back! Here we go again!