Communion Thought

Well, here is what the Spirit led me to do for a communion thought.

Jesus' Death - Forgiven.pdf

The Passion

Erin, Hope, and I went and saw "The Passion" last night (Gary is at a weekend "retreat" called the "Walk of Emmaus" - but, due to his job, had already previewed the movie). I ordered tickets on-line on Thursday and the earliest show I could us into was 8:40 PM Friday night. I went and picked up the tickets about 7:25 (this is after all of the 7:00 movies start, but before people really start showing up for the 8:30-9:00 movies so the pick-up line is non-existent). We left the Hundley home, tissues tucked away in our pockets, at 8:00 and arrived by 8:15 and headed into the theater.

The entire atmosphere of the theater was eerie; a kind of solemn spirit hung heavy over the crowd. There was a long line waiting to get in the actual theater...there was no line at the concession stands. We walked into the theater about 8:25 to find our seats and the place was already full. However, the audience was quite different from the normal crowd one sees at this theater on Friday nights. Absent were pre-teens, tweens, and teens...and the ruckus that surrounds them. Soft murmuring rose from the crowd like steam off a hot bowl soup...barely noticeable, but there. People seemed uneasy.

I was afraid. To be honest, I've been apprehensive about seeing this movie. Do I really want to be impacted? Do I really want to know the suffering and experience that day in the way that a movie can let you experience it? I am comfortable in my Christianity and was not sure I wanted to be motivated to change anymore. I sat down, butterflies in my stomach, knowing that despite my trepidation, I needed to see this film.

There were no previews, only the commercials and the mandatory ads pointing out the exits. Without any credits the movie started.

I will not mention anything more about the film, since some of you have not seen it. Just let me say that it was powerful, artistic, and accurate.

My only regret is that I knew too much about the movie. Due to the media barrage and many interviews and previews, I was ready for the film. I had partitioned off my mind from the physical brutality that was shown and was able to watch the film in a more analytical fashion. I wish I had not been able to be ready for it so that I could have experienced the emotion of the film like Erin and Hope did. Erin sobbed softly beside me for a good deal of the movie, jumping in her seat as the storm of lashes hailed down upon Jesus.

When the movie ended a thick, mournful fog kept people in their seats. We all sat there, pondering the film we had just seen; trying desperately to understand it. No one wanted to be the first to move, to break the almost mystical spell that the actors had put upon us. No one wanted to leave and return to the world...we just wanted to continue to bask in the demonstration of the love of the Almighty.

I want to see the film again when I can truly try to analyze and understand it. The movie is full of symbolism, some of which I understood immediately and some of which I don't get at all. This was truly a piece of divinely-inspired art. I am leading the communion thought tomorrow and had waited to prepare for it until after I saw the movie. I'm not sure what I am going to share yet.

Volleyball - Game 3

We won the first two games. The team we were playing, Prattmont Baptist was a very easy team. Their best player was about 60 years old. We had a lot of fun. Doug joined our team tonight. That makes 10 people on the team. This is a good size to ensure we can have a team every week, but...if everyone shows up, then you have four people out at once and you can really get "cold," waiting to rotate back in. Personally, I prefer 8 committed people. Tonight we had 8 people for the first game and then Keith left to go finish the youth group newsletter that had to be finished tonight. So, we played the second game with 7.

Current Record: 2-1

Ann Coulter: AFL-CIO motto: Kick me again!

Ann Coulter detailing how the AFL-CIO continues to support candidates that do not support their stated positions.

No Comment

I don't really have anything tom comment on today. I've been busy the past couple of days. We were showing off our new website at work to my bosses' boss this morning. So, I worked hard to finish some stuff up yesterday, came in early this morning and did the presentation. I had several things to do after the meeting and was busy all afternoon. Then, the very expensive (but very user-UNfriendly) laser color printer decided to act up. The very expensive color laser printer was purchased so we could print off the Chancellor's Report...a two-sided document printed on ledger (11x14) paper. I needed to get 20 copies but it jammed...and jammed...and jammed...and jammed some more. I was at work until 6:00 PM trying to get it to print. It finally did. I left and went to church to rapidly set-up sound for the ACA Chorus. Then, I didn't even get a chance to clean up before I was spirited off to a planning meeting about the A/V system in our new auditorium. I got home about 9:15 PM. Needless to say, I was bushed and not in the mood to write (of course...it doesn't appear that way now), so I'm going to bed.

Adoption Portfolio II

Well, I just got to work and printed it off on our very expensive color laser printer. I noticed a few things that I need to fix; like the line that crosses through the call-out on page 3. I might try to modify the call-outs a little better to take up some white space.

I was surprised, though, by the fact that my Epson Stylus C80 ink jet printer at home prints the photos better than the color laser printer...but the color laser printer prints the text and the graphics better. I might see about making two copies of it...one with the text and graphics and one with just the photos and then run it through each machine so that each one can print what it does best.

If you are a family member, feel free to contact me with any suggestions or comments.

Adoption Portfolio

On Friday I wrote that we would be working this past weekend on our portfolio. Well, we did. Here it is for your viewing pleasure. It is about 4MB, so it may take a few minutes to download.

Adoption Portfolio

Updated: 10/25/2004 - Fix broken link

YUCK!!! -- Some treatments go too far

HoustonChronicle.com - British doctors can now prescribe maggots

Adoption Update

Things are moving quite rapidly in the adoption process. Erin had her individual interview this week and I am scheduled for Monday. Jennifer, the social worker, called today to confirm my appointment. She also asked us to work on our "Dear Birthparent" letter and portfolio because they have a meeting with an expanding mother of a bi-racial baby on Monday night who may decide to place through Agape. Right now, Jennifer only has one portfolio of adoptive parents who are willing to take a bi-racial baby. Since Erin and I do not believe that there are different "races" of humans, we have opted to accept any child no matter what his "ethic" heritage is. We don't have any more details other than what I just mentioned and we can not get our hopes up...so many circumstances could occur. For instance, the mother may choose another adoption agency, may choose another family, may choose to keep her child, or may choose a less favorable route. We do not know how far along the mother is or if the father is in the picture. All that said, we still worked with fervor on our portfolio tonight. We still have a lot of work to do on it and just a short time to do in, so we will be busy Saturday and Sunday scrambling to get something done. We will post it here when it is finished for review. Keep us in your prayers.

Democratic Dictionary

In the Wisconsin Debate Kerry was asked about his vote authorizing the President to pursue a forceful removal of the Hussein regime from Iraq. Part of Kerry's answer was:

"There was a right way to do this and there was a wrong way to do it. And the president chose the wrong way because he turned his back on his own pledge to build a legitimate international coalition, to exhaust the remedies of the United Nations in the inspections and to go to war as a matter of last resort." (emphasis added)

I was wondering how the Democrats were going to respond to Bush's State of the Union Speech where he had this outstanding paragraph:

"Some critics have said our duties in Iraq must be internationalized. This particular criticism is hard to explain to our partners in Britain, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Italy, Spain, Poland, Denmark, Hungary, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania, the Netherlands -- (applause) -- Norway, El Salvador, and the 17 other countries that have committed troops to Iraq. (Applause.) As we debate at home, we must never ignore the vital contributions of our international partners, or dismiss their sacrifices."

It seems that they are going to dismiss the efforts of our partners by referring to them as an illegitimate coalition. This makes one ponder, "What is a 'legitimate' coalition to Kerry?" Obviously, he only thinks that the actions the UN approves of are legitimate. He would put our ability to defend ourselves in the hands of Kofi Annan and an organization where "free" countries can be paid off, the voice of a dictator is equal to the voice of freedom, and our enemies have a vote. This does not make sense. Only a Democrat could come up with a way to "spin" the largest coalition of countries to ever agree on an international war action as being an illegitimate coalition.

Volleyball Game

Well, we lost our match last night. However, we were playing the reigning champs. This team has won the playoffs every year for the past three years that Erin and I have been playing, so we knew what we were up against going in. The good news is we lost 25-21 both games. This is means we were only 4 serves behind them, meaning we have a decent team, especially since we have never practiced together and this is only our 2cd match to play this season.

Current record:
1-1

Opinion Journal: Best of the Web's "Bye-Kus"

In October, the Opinion Journal reported a Japanese member of parliament who decided to no longer run for his seat gave a concession speech that consisted of just a Haiku. Since then, the editors have been having fun by writing their own little "byeku" everytime a Democratic hopeful bows out. Check out this the very, very funny byeku for Howard Dean.

The bad thing is, that the Deanie Babies have no sense of humor...so will probably sue the Opinion Journal for libel.

I'm not in charge of the Internet!!!

I had one of our vice-chancellors call me over to his office today in a tizzy because he was having PC problems that were preventing him from getting a report out the legislature (which is currently in-session). Well, being customer service oriented, I ran over to his office to assist him and what to my wondering eyes do I see but a Page Not Found display in his browser.

Of course, my first inclination is that he has browsed to a someplace that has a broken link, but being ever diligent in my job, I first check to ensure that he has an internet connection and can browse to a real-time site. This takes all of ten seconds, so I inform him that there is nothing wrong with his PC and that it is just the site he is on.

He demands that I fix the problem.

I inform him that the content he is trying to look at is on a machine in Washington DC (he was pulling up facts on the US Census bureau site) and was well out of my jurisdiction. This is, of course, not good enough for him. He needs those figures NOW! I try to explain to him that this is kind of (obviously he is not tech-savvy...so I try to break it down) like doing research at the library and needing to read a book someone else has already checked out or has been misplaced. Yes, you know the information is there...but no one can get to it. He then demands (yes, that is the right word) that I inform the Census Bureau of the broken link and get back to him when it is fixed...in the meantime...can I dig up an abstract (the printed and published copy of the material) so he can do his work.

I inform him that I've helped as much as I can. In my scope of work, he has internet access and can reach the internet and my responsibilities have to be turned elsewhere...maybe his secretary might be better able to do those things. I then went on my merry way.

OH...did I mention that on the front page of the website, the census bureau had displayed an advisory informing of a scheduled downtime???

Adoption Status

Things that are done:

• Home Visit - Jennifer (the social worker) visited our home last week.
• Couple Interview - During the home visit, Jennifer conducted our interview as a couple.
• Massive amounts of paperwork - We've filled out and returned everything we have received so far...there will be more though

Things in progress:

• Erin dropped off her physical form with the doctor today (she had her physical a couple of weeks ago, but we didn't have the forms then)
• She has her individual interview with Jennifer tomorrow
• I will go see the doctor on Thursday and drop off my physical form.


• My individual interview is scheduled for Monday the 23rd
• At my interview, Jennifer will provide all the stuff needed for the background check. Erin and I will go the ABI when she gets done with school and get fingerprinted.
• Waiting on responses from our references (to the best of our knowledge, none of them have received their paperwork yet)
• Erin will turn in copies of our marriage license, our puppy's vaccination records, and copies of our DLs tomorrow at her interview

Things we haven't started yet:

• Our portfolio for agencies to show expectant mothers
• Painting and prepping the spare bedroom
• Contacted CFS to begin their intake process (I planned to call today, but left the number at home...will try to do that tomorrow)

Anyway, as you can see, things are moving right along. We should have the home study complete by the end of March. Then, the waiting. Keep us in your prayers.

Volleyball

Our church-league volleyball started at the YMCA last night. I am so excited. I wait all year for this. We WON last night. Next match is Thursday.

Current 2004 Record: 1 - 0

Valentines Update

I ended up solving all of my Valentine Day woes. I got Erin a 1-hour, deep-tissue massage. That went over really well. I went to a local butcher and bought some really nice NY Strips covered in a pepper-rub that they do and picked up a bottle of wine. Grilled the steaks with a Mayan Sweet Onion and sweet potatoes. All-in-all a success.

3-day Weekend Over

Well...I'm about to leave for work...the three day weekend is over. I still feel like its Monday, even though its Tuesday...this will make for a long day.

Frustration with State Management Policies

My programmer gave me his letter of resignation today. I'm very sad because he was good at what he does. He has agreed to continue working until the end of the first week March, then he is off to his new job. This is one of the problems with working for the state is that we can not compete for the talent. David likes his job and the environment and would stay if we could compete with the offer. However, that would be a 33% increase in his current salary (and be more than I as his supervisor make)...and we just can't match it. So an outstanding programmer goes back out in the business world. This means an increase cost to the tax payers for me to go through a hiring and training process that will probably leave me with a "B" programmer instead of the "A" programmer that I had.

I'm getting frustrated with management in the state. This is the third thing to happen this week that would not happen in the business world. First, back in November I placed a requisition with a justification letter for a souped-up laptop for me. It took until the beginning of February for the State purchasing Technology Oversight committee to approve it. When I went back to the vendor that had won the bid, they informed that the model had been discontinued with no direct replacement. I have to start the entire process over. That means I probably won't get my laptop for another 3-4 months. We are talking about this kind of bureaucracy for a $2,000 machine...are we really saving money?

Then, in January I requested a tablet PC with a justification letter for a director who travels to our schools two-three times a week. Well, it came back this week REJECTED. Why? Well, the oversight committee doesn't like the inclusion of the wireless access card in the machine (although my laptop that they had approved had an integrated wireless card...I guess they just didn't notice). The State wishes to have a copy of my department's "Wireless Access Policy", prior to approval of the tablet PC. The ludicrous thing is that there is currently in effect a state mandated moratorium on wireless networks for state agencies. I don't have a "Wireless Access Policy" because I am not allowed to have a wireless network. Of course, you can't buy a tablet pc w/out a wireless access card (not that I would...many of our colleges do have wireless access and the director needs the ability to connect to those networks when she visits those campuses and she has a wireless home network that she will need to connect to when she works at home). Anyway, I sent the State Information Officer and email asking for an example "Wireless Access Policy" so that I could make sure I submitted back exactly what they wanted. I haven't heard a thing back. I wrote one myself and am sending it to our lawyers for their review...not that they can understand it. Basically...a waste of my time and theirs.

Valentines

I've only got two more days to get ready for Valentines. I hate that it is on Saturday because that means that I have to be sweet and romantic the entire day...uggggghhhhh. j/k Seriously, though, it is such a hard day. I ordered flowers for Erin in early January (so as to get January prices), but have no clue as to what else to get her. On top of that, I don't have time to go shopping tomorrow or Friday. The whole "out-to-eat" thing is an awful experience because everyone (minus their dog --- it is a "couple" thing after all) is at the restaurants. What to do? Woe is me!!!

Home Visit Tonight

Erin and I are supposed to have our first home visit this evening. We were actually supposed to have it last Tuesday night, but the social worker canceled due to a client giving birth. She rescheduled for Thursday. Then, last Thursday, she called and cancelled due to a baby exchange. So far, no call from her canceling...but there is still 6 hours for her to do so.

Hope for the Short People

While its too late to help me...short kids will be able to get a boost from modern medicine. Why couldn't his have been invented 20 years ago...then I might be able to find clothes that fit.

No Solutions, Only Trade-Offs

We live in a great country. The American, "can-do" spirit has allowed us to achieve such monumental achievements in the realms of science, health, and technology. Who would have guessed 100 years ago that men would walk on the moon, that childhood disease would be virtually wiped out, or that an entire library could be stored in a hand-held device. These great achievements have bred in us an attitude that with enough time and money, we can solve any problem and conquer any difficulty.

While this is true, I believe, for challenges in the physical world. It is not true for challenges found in the non-physical (spiritual, social, philosophical, etc...) world. So often our modern society tries to fix social problems the same way they fix technical problems. The main difference, though, is that technical (scientific) problems follow a set of a rules. Once you understand the rules and the boundaries, you can find ways to use those to your advantage.

The non-physical worlds, however, do not follow a set of rules. This is a thought that seems to confound the liberals, intellectuals, and socialist of our time. They are always amazed that their "great experiments" don't work. They then complain that they would have worked, but they were not able to fully implement the idea because there was not enough money, time, or training.

The truth is that even if you had all the time in the world, money and training will not change the human spirit. Take the "war on poverty" for example. The fact of the matter is that there are some people who will do only the bare minimum to scrape by. Many of the social elite think that they don't have the education, or the skills, or the resources, or the support, or the __________ (fill in the blank), and they go on and on about how "unfortunate" people are. They never, ever say that the people have no ambition. As long as there are people with no ambition (and as long as the behavior is rewarded with handouts) people will continue to be lazy.

It comes down to this, there are no solutions to social problems. There are only trade-offs. We can only win the "war on poverty" by making everyone the same (which means taking everyone to lowest common denominator, i.e., poor). Of course, people that want everyone to be the same don't want to be different themselves and they definitely do not want to be poor. So they really aren't willing to make the trade off necessary.

It is election time and politicians are on the loose. The people will demand solutions. But that doesn't mean that they will get them. What they are more likely to get is the illusion of a solution by someone seeking their vote.

I want to live in a country and society that offers everyone individual freedom and liberty. The trade off, though, is that people must be responsible for their own choices. If you want a society that nobody wants for anything then the trade-off is personal freedom and personal choice. Make sure as you vote, you realize what you are trading for what you are getting.

New Blogger Look

I didn't really like my old look, so I changed it a bit. Hopefully this is easier to read and work with for me. My CSS were making it difficult to place HTML in my post. Also, in response to my brother's sly, off-handed complaint of not having perma-links, I've added them.

Microsoft Exchange Rant

Sometimes I just despise MS Exchange. While it can be a great business productivity tool, there are times that it causes more hassle than it's worth.

On Monday, my network admin informed me that the inetinfo.exe process of our Exchange server was eating up processor cycles. It was keeping our CPU processes usage in the 90-100% range. Now, inetinfo.exe is the Internet Information Server process. My network admin proceeded to look at IIS for the problem. However, Exchange sits on top of IIS and integrates with it. So I knew we were having an Exchange problem. We finally determined that our SMTP virtual server was the service causing the problem. We noticed a lot of stuff in the queues, so we cleared them out and things seemed fine.

On Tuesday, we begin to receive sporadic reports of emails to certain places bouncing back. Also, some email was coming in, but not everything that was expected. This sounds like a classic DNS problem. We fiddled around with DNS.

On Wed, no email was coming in. We could send internally and send to some places. We found that our SMTP port was "clogged." We had over 50,000 messages from outside domains sitting in our queue. This seemed weird because we are not an open relay. I had had a third party testing facility test us on Monday, because I thought that might be part of the problem and we had come back clean. The problem was, though, that we were allowing remote computers to connect, but not to send. Exchange, then, was getting bogged down trying to resend messages that it did not have permission to send. We would clear the queues, but they would almost instantly fill up again with these messages. Finally, we found out the proper steps to not allow for remote computers to connect at about 8:00 PM last night.

Things seem fine from home this morning. I am heading into work now to see if we finally really did fix the problems.

My Sincere Appreciation

Mr. President and Distinguished Members of Congress --

Long-term tax cuts without long-term spending cuts are not tax cuts. They are "tax deferrals."

Thanks...I look forward to paying your bill.


Sincerely,

Randall S. Bowman