A Personal Post for Brent Sears

Brent Sears does lots of his own cooking; Brent Sears likes his chorizos; Brent Sears ain't scared of trying something new.

So I'm posting this Rice with Chorizo recipe from CubanFoodMarket.com just for him:

One day Brent mi hijo will report and meet me in Ybor City; we'll begin the search for the best Cuban sandwich on the planet. 

José Martí Park, Ybor City*

* The park technically belongs to Cuba: the title is owned by the Cuban government, which purchased the land in 1957 to commemorate Marti.  Jose Marti is considered the father of Cuban independence from Spain.

Notes on being slightly off-center

Here's another picture I took yesterday while installing the new faucet.

Hmmm.  Are you wondering why the faucet isn't centered, and is mounted offset so far to the left?

It's because the black cabinet door on the left slides open, while the door on the right swings open.  In other words that's the only place the faucet could be mounted, yet still allow each cabinet door to open.

(No, I didn't think of that on my own; I just used the original faucet's hole :-)

Righty Tighty, ADD Part 2

Are you wondering, What happened today with the faucet?  Well, what happened was that I spent two hours sorting out and re-fitting the hot and cold water supply hoses but now, yes, the new faucet works correctly.

I was gonna post a new photo as proof but after taking pizza-pictures for today's previous post, I forgot to turn off my camera ... and the battery ran down.

So there you have it.

Tomorrow the temperature's supposed to dip down to 14 degrees, but Friday I'll resume installing Calypso's windlass (an electric motor for raising & lowering the anchor) .

I've never installed (or even worked on) a windlass before, but on Monday I got all the holes drilled and everything bolted in place ... somehow without dropping the windlass over the side.

I think that's a good sign; we'll find out on Friday.

Nacho Mama's

Nacho Mama's is a Mexican restaurant on O'Donnell Square, about three blocks from the marina.  

Here's my three amigos: Mama's is reasonably priced.  Mama's delivers.  And the most important thing?  Mama's delivers pizza.

[Large double cheese, pepperoni, mushroom and sausage pizza; above]

Plus, Mama's delivers home-made salads and meatloaf, too.

[Mama's Ten Leaf Salad, with Honey Jalapeno Vinaigrette; above]

OK so tomorrow's forecast calls for snow, 25mph gusts and a high of just 27 degrees, so stocking up the fridge with leftovers seems right ... especially before business gets down to 14 degrees by the end of the day.

PS.  Oh this likeness of Elvis lurks outside on Mama's  sidewalk.

ADD: Day of Daze

Several months ago it seemed like a good idea to replace Calypso's 26-year old plastic galley (kitchen) faucet [below] with a newer model ... one that included a a spray attachment, for doing dishes.

According to Amazon, the faucet came with 1/2" IPS fittings. But 1/2" IPS fittings didn't fit. Nor did 3/8" IPS fittings. You can see the difference, below.


I thought they looked like 3/8" compression fittings, so I called Kohler's Customer service and was assured, "Oh Yes definitely, your model only comes with 1/2" IPS fittings." It's just that my model was different.

Long story short: I took the supply lines loose, got a ride to Home Depot, and spent 15 minutes in the Plumbing aisle until I got the right size ... 3/8" compression, as I first suspected. It took almost two months, but finally I had all the parts to get started.

So this morning I unbolted and took out the sink; that's the only way I could reach and unscrew the old faucet's huge Plex nut (below).


No problem so far, right? Things went so smoothly I decided to add a water filter to the cold water supply, too. The job ended up taking about six hours, but I finally got all the fittings right n' tight ... with no leaking at all. None.

Shoot I even replaced the sink's drain hose, while I was still on an enthusiastic Completion roll. Notice how good the new faucet looks, below:



Yes sir, good deal.

Then around 5 PM, after cleaning up and admiring my work, I realized I'd reversed the Hot and Cold supply lines: the faucet worked backwards. Huh?

Does that make me sound like a moron? How could I make such a simple mistake? Why couldn't I just C-O-N-C-E-N-T-R-A-T-E, make a list, pay attention to what I was doing, etc.?

The best answer is that ADD is like that.

Especially when you've got two supply lines, two shut-off valves, one water filter ... and 12 different 3/8"/MIPS/FIPS/Plex/1/2" Barb/Compression fittings, couplers & adapters, 76 pounds of nut drivers, wrenches, locking pliers, chisels, Vise Grips, sockets and extensions ... plus hose clamps ... and enough Teflon plumber's tape to gift-wrap the Eiffel Tower.

That's something like 86 aggravations and 1440 possible things going on at the same time, that's how: concentrating and becoming fixed on one thing means losing sight of the next thing.

Oh well, it's not like I'm not used to it.

So guess what I'll be doing tomorrow?

Super Bowl re-cap

(football humor)

Before going any further, you gotta understand one thing first.

I'm just visiting Baltimore, but I ended up being here long enough to learn that no group of people on earth despise Pittsburgh the way folks in Charm City despise Pittsburgh.  I mean, if there's one thing here that brings people together, it's a shared contempt for P-burgh.  

So here come the jokes ... and Go Ravens!

Pittsburgh is the home of sports teams like the Pirates and the Steelers ... the only teams in America named for their city council.

Q: What's the only sign of intelligent life in Pittsburgh?

A: Baltimore: 245 Miles

Did you hear about the power outage at the Pittsburgh airport?

Forty Steelers fans were stuck on the escalator for three hours.

Today YOU can visit New Spring Church no matter where you are

Just click here at 11:15 AM Eastern Daylight Time (04:15 UTC).  Download the Study Guide here.

For other time zones, check the International Time Converter.

"More Dangerous in Every Dimension"

Georges St-Pierre first stunned, then dominated and dismantled BJ Penn in a one-sided defence of the UFC welterweight title in which the Canadian showed that his strength, speed, power, game plan and versatility knows no bounds.

Quite Simply, GSP looked faster, stronger and more dangerous in every dimension, rendering any thoughts of a Penn upset against the favourite, and welterweight champion, futile. GSP is the man. Indeed, he rendered Penn's Octagon skills ineffective.

The bout was called off after four rounds, with ringside doctor William Berliner having inspected Penn, and Penn's brother gesturing that it should be over.

-Telegraph.Co.UK

What do you mean by "Eternal Life"?

Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

-John 17:3

-- -- --

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?"

- Matthew 22:18

And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness
Can’t drown out a single word.

Pro-Life Super Bowl Ad Banned by NBC

But this is it:

Sarcastic Christians; Mean-spirited Believers

That's two oxymorons.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

- 1 John 4:7

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

- John 13:34-35

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

- Galatians 5:22-23

Who is Jesus?

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

- John 11:25-26

Cursive, foiled again!

School debate: Is cursive writing worth teaching?
By Megan Downs, Florida Today

Are the flowing curves and fancy loops of cursive writing disappearing from elementary school classrooms?

Some fear classic penmanship has been left behind as preparation for state assessment tests dominates class time. Others blame the rise of the Internet, combined with a push to ensure that children are technologically literate, for rendering delicate handwriting an art of yesteryear.

"With all the other subjects we must teach, we just don't have the time to spend a lot of effort on cursive," said Carl Brown, principal of Manatee Elementary in Viera, Fla.

That's a big change from years past. Brown recalled that he had to attend a summertime handwriting camp in Brevard County, Fla., about 25 years ago because of his illegible scrawl.

"Nowadays, parents would be pretty upset if we sent kids to handwriting camp," he said. "Kids just don't write letters now. They send e-mails or text messages. ... A lot of those old ways are going away. How many bills do you pay by writing a check anymore?"

-source

Somebody broke into my truck

It's parked beside the marina office.  Behind the gate.  Under mercury vapor lights and a surveillance camera.  And we have 24-hour security guards here.

Last year thieves helped themselves to my storage building in SC.

OK, enough already.  Stop it.

Crosswind Landings & Go-Arounds

A crosswind landing is a landing executed when a significant portion of the wind component is blowing perpendicular (instead of parallel) to the runway; crosswind landings aren't performed the same as a "routine landing" (I may have inadvertently just created a new oxymoron) ... and can get extry-hairy in a hurry.

A go-around occurs when the pilot, for whatever reason, chooses to abort the landing and applies full-power to "go around" the airport before attempting another landing. 

The Hong Kong clip is ... well, see for youself.

Right

Media Noche

Little Havana Cuban sandwich with arroz amarillo (yellow rice), frijoles negros (black beans) and plantanos (fried plantains).

Dinner last night at Little Havana ... and this time I remembered to include a take-out Cuban sandwich, for lunch today. OK so that's not real Cuban bread, and there's a pickle slice deficiency.

But for $5.95, it's as close as Charm City gets to Ybor City.

Oh, and they had Clemson whupping up on GT playing in the background. Let's talk more later.

Whatever happened to Shuffleboard?

It's 11 PM ... do you know where your seniors are?

RETIRE TO THE BEDROOM

SEX FEST AT OLD-TIMERS' HOTTEST SPOT

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By STEFANIE COHEN

Click image to enlarge.

Last updated: 3:18 am
January 25, 2009 
Posted: 3:09 am
January 25, 2009

LADY LAKE, Fla. - It's 11 p.m. at the Bourbon Street Bar, and Roselyn's gyrating her hips to the blues band, Sue's sipping a cocktail and flirting with her new boyfriend, and Alan is scanning the crowd for cute girls.

"See those two?" a buxom blonde asks, pointing to an elegant couple at the bar. "They were caught having sex in their golf cart a few weeks ago. It happens a lot!"

Welcome to ground zero for geriatrics who are seriously getting it on.

It's a Thursday night at one of a half-dozen hot spots at the 20,000-acre Central Florida complex called The Villages, the largest gated retirement community in America - and one of the most popular destinations for New Yorkers in their golden years - where the female-to-male ratio runs 10 to 1.

It's a widower's paradise, and the word on the street is that there's a big black market for Viagra.

The huge complex began growing rapidly in the mid-1990s, and reported cases of gonorrhea rocketed from 152 to 245, of syphilis rose from 17 to 33, and of chlamydia from 52 to 115 among those 55 and older in Florida from 1995 to 2005.

The state's sexually transmitted disease rate among those over 65 is one of the fastest growing in the country, one report claims.

In 2006, a local gynecologist reported that she treated more cases of herpes and human papillomavirus at The Villages than she did when she worked in Miami.

"I get offers for sex all the time," brags Dave, 70, who, like others who spoke about their sexually active set, asked that his real name not be used, "especially by women in their 70s. They say, 'Are you busy tonight? I'll show you a good time.' "

"There is lots of romance around here," said Jean, a 63-year-old retired teacher. "But most of the men want a one-night meaningful relationship."

"Whatever you know about 20-year-olds, it's the same with seniors," said Roselyn Shelley, 68, a divorced former dancer.

According to Alan, a swarthy 62-year-old, there's a thriving black market for little blue Viagra pills.

*Some names have been changed.    -source

stefanie.cohen@nypost.com

Hmmm, I dunno.  Maybe management should consider abstinence classes, curfews & mandatory drug testing?

Phony Food

Everybody's heard of counterfeit money, counterfeit watches and counterfeit Prada bags.  Counterfeit aircraft parts have been the suspected cause of several aviation incidents, and pharmaceuticals have created real health concerns at the FDA ... but the situation's gotten even worse.

Perhaps in part due to previously mentioned economic issues, now there's counterfeit foods.

Read more here:

Beware of Counterfeit Foods!

Something Fishy? Counterfeit Foods Enter the US Market

The sneaky world of counterfeit food

Why are young women suddenly so violent?

(Monday Morning Ultimate Humor)

I don't get it. Why have so many girls and young ladies suddenly taken such an excited interest in Ultimate Fighting? I mean, cage fighting?

Never mind this weekend's Super Bowl: all the ladies bother talking about is the UFC pay per view show on Saturday night featuring George St-Pierre vs. BJ Penn ... and guess what? They're leaving their boyfriends at home and going in groups to see it. Does that even make sense?

Must be something in the water, or not much else on TV that night. That's all I can figure.


George St-Pierre

New Spring's Web Campus Debuts!

NewSpring Church Web Campus

Read more here.

¿Sí, se puede?

After yesterday's post about soaring food prices at my local supermarket, I remembered a recent blog post from Generation Y.

(Generation Y is the blog of Yoani Sanchez, a Cuban philologist. Despite intense government censhorship, Sanchez continues publishing her blog by e-mailing posts to friends outside Cuba. Last year Time magazine described 34-year old Sanchez as "One of the 100 most influential people in the world.")

[translated from Spanish]

Celebration and mincemeat

January 23, 2009 Escrito por: yoanisanchez en Generation Y

To mark the half century since the first of January 1959, we Cubans could buy, through the ration system, half a pound of ground beef. The sense of humor that frequently saves us from neurosis did not spare the unexpected delicacy which was baptized as “the picadillo sent by Chavez,” an allusion to the obvious economic shoring-up that comes from Venezuela.

Although it seems a frivolity, for many Cubans the sale of that beef was the most significant event that happened lately.

I try to steer clear of politics here at The Blue Book, to focus instead on the Gospel. So I won't launch into a tirade here about Castro's failures or the tyranny of Communism ... though if I ever started writing about religious oppression in Cuba, there's surely enough material there to fill up my hard drive.

Folks, Cuba's just not that far away: Havana is as far from Atlanta as Atlanta is from New York City ... and the entire American South lies within a thousand miles of the Cuban capital. Which means that for Southerners, Havana is closer than 1/3 of the continental United States ... more than everything west of the Rockies.

Pero una qué diferencia triste ... but what a sad difference.

According to Cuban government estimates, the country has just 3 telephone lines per 100 people (the US has 68). Cuba has 23 automobiles per 1000 people (the US has 478) ... and Cuba has one computer per 100 people.  With a population of 11.5 million people, Cuban has just one ISP providing internet access: only 40,000 folks in Cuba can log onto the web.

Compare that to 76 computers per 100 people here in the US and 122 per hundred people in Israel.

But let's get back to the beef: in Cuba, there's practically none available. Ninguno. Can you imagine your family having the luxury of ground beef just two or three times a year?

-- -- --

We've been blessed for so many years in this country that it's easy to forget what day to day life is like for other people, and become inwardly focused upon our own inconvenience.

Perhaps experiencing a little hunger ... the chronic kind ... and realizing how truly pervasive food shortages are beyond our shores, would tone-down some of our griping about the economy and the "hard times" we're enduring.

And help us understand how fortunate we really are.

Paper or Plastic: The $hape of Things to Come (updated)

There's a grocery store one block down and across the street from the marina.  

On the one hand, driving is a hassle and it's quick n' easy to walk across the street and start shopping; on the other hand, you can only tote so much back in one trip using two hands.

Which is why I've been to the store twice this week ... often enough to confirm my initial observation.  Or should I say, my shock.

It's true: in less than a week the store re-arranged its entire inventory (try finding Mezzetta Golden Peperoncinos when you're in a hurry) and raised its prices 20%.  

I assume some wunderkind in management thought hiding every single item in the store would be distracting enough to keep customers from noticing the staggering new price increases.

And I do mean staggering.

How high are we talking about?  Like, $5 Washingtons for a 7-ounce tray of Lean Generation Honey Turkey breast slices.  Or try $7 bucks for the 10-ounce Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese.  And I won't even mention produce prices; you'd think I was kidding (how about $3 apiece for green peppers?  By the pound, tomatoes and NY Strip Steaks cost about the same).

[read Joe Sangl's post about using coupons to cut your grovery costs]

Well, you still gotta eat, right?  So you still pick out what you need ... and grit your teeth.

Then you make your way to the checkout lane ... and discover people queued up like the cashiers are giving away Super Bowl tickets (with free hotel & airfare) ... because only two registers are open and customers are standing 10-deep in the aisle.  

So you glance over at the Self-Check line, but somehow, only two machines are working ... and the lines there are even longer.

I can do my all my grocery shopping in five minutes, but inevitably spend two or three times that amount waiting in-line to pay for four flimsy plastic bags of groceries that'll smear my checking account to the tune of $90 bucks.  

But that ain't so bad: couldn't help noticing that the lady ahead of me paid almost $400 dollars for an order that she could've carried out in a pillow case.

I glance down at my groceries and shrug: Let's hope the store's cheap new plastic sacks don't break during the walk back to the boat.

--   --   --

The economy's in bad shape; everybody knows that.  But just look at how this grocery chain's management is tackling the problem, and we'll see an unambiguous harbinger of what's waiting around the corner.

Once the economy began slowing down and store revenues dipped, store management moved quickly to reduce costs by "downwardly adjusting" their biggest overhead: Payroll.  Meaning, fewer employees, and shorter hours for the workers remaining ... and longer waits for irrate customers standing in line.  

But cutting employees isn't enough to plug the national economic dike, not by far.

Because retail grocery sales are down across the board, food brokers had no choice but to raise prices to their customers ... with the result that retail grocery chains had to pay more to keep stock on their shelves, and adjusted to the wholesale price increase by passing along the cost to retail consumers.

Meaning higher new prices for thee and me.  The grocery store is just one example of what's happening to our economy: things suddenly seem too expensive, whether its fashion, fuel oil or food.  And when voters start grumbling politicians start taking notice, because voters start getting angry when they can't afford to buy groceries or clothes, and still heat their homes.

Look, just in time ... here comes Uncle Sam with a solution.  Or another bailout, whichever costs most.

We're from the government and we're here to help.

Once the spiral starts and the Federal Government gets involved with spending programs, here comes the big Uh-Oh moment: if the government spends more than it takes in, Uncle Sam starts raising his prices, too.

So look forward to the government supplementing its incoming by raising taxes, fees, surcharges and everything else ... and to also start firing up the presses and printing more money. 

Never mind that unwarranted increases in the paper money supply cause Inflation (and that inflation raises interest rates); Congress says "All we need is another trillion dollar bailout to get the economy rolling again" because the government's got experts that say we can spend our way out of debt... and never mind where the money's coming from, or how we'll pay for it.

Or pay off the national debt, which is about $10.6 trillion dollars.  

As of Saturday night, January 24 2008, at 9:59PM EDT, your personal share of the nation's debt is $34,780.08.  

Will that be paper, or plastic?

--  --  --

Still complaining about slow service and long lines at the grocery store?  

We ain't seen nothing yet.  Americans in the 21st century are about to get their first glimpse of an entirely new way of life.

And it ain't at all what they're expecting.

In 1922 Germany, a loaf of bread cost 163 marks.  By the next year, the same loaf cost 201 billion marks ... that's  800,000,000,000%  inflation.  For some elderly folks, that meant using their entire lifetime savings to buy an apple.  No kidding.

The value of German mortgages in 1913 was roughly $10 billion US dollars. At the height of hyperinflation in late 1923, these mortgages were only worthy one US penny. - source

Believe it or not, that was the good news ... because nobody wants to start whispering about the black-hole spectre of a world-wide Deflation.

9:29 AM 26 January 2009 Updates:

Caterpillar to Shed 20,000 jobs

Sprint job cuts to total 8000

Home Depot to lay off 7000

Get a Mac ... for gaming?

Mariana Bridi da Costa

News story 1.

News story 2.

More about Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

More about Antibiotic resistance.

UFO Over Inauguration?

Oh, brother.

"Who do you say I am?"

On the way to the villages around Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people say I am?"

The disciples told him that some folks said he was John the Baptist, Elijah or one of the prophets.  Then Christ asked, "But what about you?  Who do you say I am?"

--  --  --

Ever asked a friend, "What do you think about me?"

You're likely to get answers like, "Oh you're my best friend" or "I can always count on you" or maybe even "I wish I could be a friend like you."

But there's a world of difference between asking "What do you think about me?" and asking, "What do you say about me?"  Because sometimes what our friends tell us they think isn't quite the same thing as what they say.

Especially behind our backs, when our friends don't think we'll ever hear it.  

--  --  --

So let's go back to the beginning: Christ didn't ask his disciples, "Who do you think I am?"  No, Jesus already knew what they thought.

Instead, he asked his disciples what they said about him ... when they weren't within earshot.  When they spent time with unbelievers.  When they were grumbling among themselves.

Or on Friday nights when they felt like "getting their sin on" ... and didn't think he was around to see or hear it.

Now imagine Jesus asking all his disciples, 

"What about you?  Who do you say I am?"

It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak."

-  2 Corinthians 4:13

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

- Romans 10: 9-10

Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.

- Matthew 10:32

DJ's Prayer

I used to help David Jolley make videos for church ... so I hope he won't mind if I "edit" this post from his blog:

My Prayer

This is how today influenced me…
I need release from myself.  I need vision from you to see circumstances and people the way that you do.  I want to be more like you.  I want to love my wife with the passion and power that you do.  i want to understand that the more i want to love and protect my family, you want it more.  

You are never the one that has failed my family, i am the only one that does that.  Please help me take myself out of every situation so that I don’t distract others from you.  Humble me.  Teach me to trust myself less in every situation.  Teach me to lead selfishly.  Teach me to lead in the way that will indirectly impact my family by what change occurs in me.  Burden me with being humble and free from myself.  Break me.  

i pray for purity of me and my family.  i can’t lead my family if i can’t follow your cues.  Cripple my pride and teach me forgiveness.  Burden me with your will.  Continue to remind me how unworthy i am.  Show me YOUR power and let me rejoice in Your success. The eyes through which my children see the world are a result of my example.  The total service and submission to my wife is my responsibility.  Lord, kick my a[ttention]. 

Others can learn from my pain. I want you to take what I think I can control.  My process is weak to your concern. Let me lead with my silence and not my voice.  I want to have release instead of a grip. i can only speak if i stop talking. You spoke me into existence with the breath that protects me. i can only impact others by them seeing your grace.  i walk today heavier than i did yesterday.  The more confidence i have in myself, the less you can depend on me.  

If i don’t cross paths with the devil everyday, i am going in the same direction he is.  i am what use to be and You are the future.  Flesh, pride, and circumstances are a reference of how small things are in the scheme of time. You speak into me only what you can trust me with.  Monitor my thoughts and filter my words.  

i stand accountable for the environment i create that my family lives in.  Make me walk away from those I distract.  Give me opportunities to fail so that i can learn.

The BarackBerry

Yes, Barack Obama will get a BlackBerry — after some government spook agency puts in an ungodly amount of encryption (and maybe some back doors so they can listen in). Last week, it was looking like Obama would not get to keep his BlackBerry for security reasons. Separately, incoming White House lawyer Cassandra Butts had told his staff that they would not be allowed to use IM, with each other or with reporters. - source

E-mail has long been treated with suspicion by the Secret Service because of fears it could be hacked into by foreign espionage agencies, or that sensitive information could reach the public domain via a single mis-stroke of the "send" key.  There are also concerns that mobile devices such as BlackBerries, which contain built in GPS technology, could be hacked into, revealing the president's location within a few feet.  

Writing on his blog for the Atlantic magazine, Marc Ambinder reports that the National Security Agency has approved a $3,350 smartphone -- inevitably dubbed the "BarackBerry" -- for Obama's use.  The exclusive Sectera Edge, made by General Dynamics, is reportedly capable of encrypting top secret voice conversations and handling classified documents. - source

Get your own Edge here.

The Faith Hobby

Church isn't just for Sundays, prayer isn't a private act of self-fulfillment or empowerment, and professing faith in Christ isn't an option to be set aside for our convenience .

2000 years ago, many of Jerusalem's religious leaders believed in Christ, yet they were afraid to confess their faith for fear of being booted from the synagogue.  Getting 86'd from the temple wasn't just a disgrace ... it was personally embarrassing, socially humiliating and professionally decapitating.

I can almost picture those well-dressed leaders, maybe they were like deacons, standing huddled together on the parking lot before the synagogue service with their camels (the transportation kind), shrugging to each other, "I mean sure I believe, but like, membership has its privileges ... like being fed and bossing the High Priest around ... and I kinda like keeping my private side to myself, ya know?  Besides, what difference does it really make?"

And then they put their church faces on and marched inside to play pious in front of each other, keeping their faith hidden and private ... because they loved praise from men more than praise from God, and couldn't turn loose of their old, comfortable lives.  Faith was their hobby, not their conviction.

Wonder how many changed their minds after the resurrection?

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

- Romans 10:10

Whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

-Matthew 10:33

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

- Romans 6:24

... so God must not either? (updated)

Our culture is vexed with the notion of "Choice."  We're encouraged to Have It Your Way in every respect  ... even if that means being disrespectful.  Go ahead, express yourself!

Who can say you're wrong?  Everybody's personal opinion is as worthwhile and valid as anyone else's.

After all, since everything's relative it's your right to chose anything ... from choosing whether to add bacon to your burger, to use profanity in public, to lie if it's convenient, to have sex outside of marriage, to kill an unborn child, on down to whether or not God exists: It's Your Choice.

Folks therefore feel empowered to choose what God said, and often take this approach: "I already know what I like, and since I'm basically a smart, hard-to-fool Good Person, that gives me a pretty good handle on what God's like."  

Their reasoning goes like this:

- I don't see anything wrong about being gay, so God must not either.

- I don't think people go to hell if they don't accept Christ, so God must not either.

- I don't think tithing applies to the New Covenant, so God must not either.

- I don't like organized religion, so God must not either.

- I don't think my private sins are a big deal, so God must not either.

- I don't know what happens when you die, so God must not either.

- I'm not sure Jesus is the only way to Heaven, so God must not be either.

But here's the kick in the gut:

- I don't like people acting like they've got all the answers; arguing with me about salvation, about what's right and wrong, and about what to believe ... so God must not either.

Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, 
       to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. 
       Does the clay say to the potter, 
       'What are you making?' 
       Does your work say, 
       'He has no hands'?

- Isaiah 45:9

I HAVE to think this ...

(Wednesday Boating Humor)

We like to think our bodies are solid, but they're actually not.

The reason is simple: if an individual atom was the size of a football stadium, the nucleus would be about the size of a quarter ... and its electrons would be zooming around the upper decks.  Meaning, there's a whole lot of empty space inside an atom.  See?

So theoretically, probability says that if you kept trying for about 5 billion years, on at least one attempt all the atoms in your body would line up perfectly ... and allow you to walk right through a solid brick wall.  Amazing.

--   ---  --

After three days of effort, I finally managed to install two new electric outlets in Calypso's helm.  The first day's progress came to a screeching halt when I dropped one of the outlet screws onto the deck, and couldn't find it.

The second day's attempt faltered when I dropped one of the outlet cover screws ... and couldn't find it either.

Losing two successive screws on a flat, unobscured 4-foot square fiberglass surface isn't just frustrating: it's maddening.  I spent 90 minutes doing the actual install, but wasted 4 hours looking for screws.

Where could they possibly have gone?

I mean, it's like losing a marble inside a shoe.

--  --  --

I can sleep more easily now, after figuring out what happened: the screws' atoms were perfectly aligned with all the empty space in the fiberglass deck's atoms, which permitted both screws to fall straight through the deck ... and into the dreaded bilge.

Falling into The Bilge raises all sorts of puzzling new issues about warping space/time dimensions, most of which are too scary to discuss here.  I think it's sufficient to say those two tiny screws are probably rolling around now on the lavatory floor of Oceanic flight 815.  In which case they'd be LOST forever.

At least, that is, until tonight's season 5 premier.

A strange new sound

Woke up in the dark this morning to a sound I'd never heard before.

No, it wasn't mermaids and it wasn't the mysterious moaning known as the Bloop ... or even whale songs: it was ice pressing the fiberglass sides of my boat.






Kinda reminds me of Beneath the Icy Floe; go figure.