Office Depot did me Right

I went to Office Depot the other day to pick up Erin a flash drive. When I finally found the flash drives, my eye was immediately drawn to a sign that showed that a 256MB drive would be FREE after a mail in-rebate. I looked closely at the sign to see if you had to purchase a certain amount of stuff or a certain product, but it was devoid of any such requirements.

Well, I lost my flash drive a couple of weeks ago (I think it is sticking in the back of someone's computer...but I've checked all the ones I remember working on it with...). So, I decided that if they are free, I'd get one for Erin and replace mine. I picked them up (and a new optical mouse with scroll wheel) and went to check out.

Being wise in the way of rebates, I figured that only one rebate would be allowed per household, so I had the checkout lady ring up each one as a separate transaction. However, on neither receipt did a rebate form print out. So I queried the cashier about the methodology for receiving this mail-in rebate. She was clueless, so she called the manager.

The manager automatically assumed I had grabbed the wrong product, so we went to the shelf and she validated the product number of the flash drive to the product number on the card displaying the price. She then went to her computer and checked and discovered that to get the rebate, one was supposed to purchase a laptop. I very politely told her, then, that I only wanted one drive and would like to return one. She understood and took to me a cashier who she instructed to refund my money.

Then, she had the cashier ring the jump drive back up and reduce it by its full amount and gave it back to me. Yes. You read that right, she gave me the flash drive. I was astonished. That was more than I expected. I didn't ask for that solution and wouldn't have asked for it. That is great customer service, giving the customer more than they expect. Good Job Office Depot!!! You get an "A" in my book this time.

Thought of You...

When this video was sent to me, I thought of you. You know who you are, so don't even try to deny that this song is about you.

Holiday Today

Today is one of those holidays that state and federal workers get off, but most people don't. These always scare me just a little bit. I'm always slightly uneasy not going into work on a work day. I have this irrational fear that I've got the wrong day and that it is really next Monday that I am supposed to have the holiday and I am sitting at home while everyone else is at work wondering where I am. Sometime I call the reception desk just to make sure no one picks up. Yet, even after doing that I still am uneasy. So far, I've never taken the wrong day off (though, when I first started with the state, I went in a couple of times on a holiday that I didn't know we were off and would be the only person at work).

I think I've driven Erin crazy today because I have been so restless. I don't know how to relax. She let me sleep in...but after I was up...I could barely sit still. Well...back to work in the morning...back to the sweet comfort of routine...

Maybe I'm clueless

My brother recently posted a plethora of quotes that he had been working on blog entries for, but gave up on. One of them was this quote by Rob Bell:

"Not all the Bible may be fact, but it is all TRUTH"

Several people in his comments section mentioned they didn't want to touch this quote with the proverbial ten-foot pole and I don't see what the big deal is with this statement. Maybe I'm clueless and don't understand the ramifications.

Personally, I think the statement is 100% accurate and that does not change my faith in anyway. I do not see any impact in my faith if the world was not created in 6 literal days or if it took millions of years. Either way, I believe God directed it. It is irrelevant to me if Job was a real man or if that is complete work of fiction. The truth of who God is through His interactions with Job do not change.

While on the subject of Job, personally, I believe that it is a play based on a true story. In other words, there was a very wealthy man who lost everything and did not curse God. But, just like our Hollywood writers will take literary licensee when dramatizing a true-life story, the author of Job did the same thing. Even though it is fiction, does not keep it from being truth.

That is actually why some books are classics. Because they tell the truth of humanity in a fictional way. The ones that do that, endure the ages. Shakespearean plays are fiction, but the endure because they contain truths. The Bible uses many different forms of literature to tell the story of God and His relationship with His people. Some forms of literature lend themselves to metaphorical and exaggerated language (apocalyptic, legends, and poetry). Some lend themselves to hard facts (narratives and chronicles of history). Some lend themselves to generalizations (proverbs and poetry).

Then, when you add on to that, that many of the stories of the Bible were passed down by oral tradition, you understand immediately that they may be inaccurate from what actually happened. Everyone of us has played the "telephone" game as children and found it hilarious how a simple phrase, whispered from participant to participant gets mangled. How much faith can you have in complex stories passed down over hundreds and thousands of years when a simple phrase can't maintain its integrity for 10 minutes?

Then, the scriptures have been hand-copied over many generations with not one piece of any original surviving. Once again, opening up the avenue of human error in transcribing. Next, scriptures have been translated and retranslated many, many times. Translation is an inaccurate science where interpretation takes place. Once again, giving a little crack for human error to enter into the picture. Finally, men have to interpret what scripture means and history has shown us that we have interpreted incorrectly in the past (anyone remember that Christians used to make a biblical case for slavery and segregation). All of these things show the fallibility of scripture.

Now, this does not mean I don't think the Bible is important. Quite the contrary. One of the things that I am so proud of about my religious heritage (Church of Christ) is its dependence and reliance on scripture. It has bothered me for years that our current practice has moved us away from this tradition (our teens at my church know squat about scripture). I am proud that my home church is seeking to recapture this dependence through programs like the "66 Club," where children are encouraged to memorize not only the books of the Bible, but the 23rd Psalm and the Lord's Prayer. However, my faith is not in scripture. My faith is the Author. My faith is not in a set of interpretations of scripture. My faith is the Person of scripture. I realized long ago that scripture was not perfect (despite what I had been taught I Corinthians 13:10)*. Scripture is a tool to help us understand God, but it is not a replacement for God.

So, if your faith is in the Bible, then I could see how Rob Bell's statement could make you uncomfortable and I could see how disproving a "fact" of the Bible could indeed shake your faith. But, if your faith is in God, then a "fact" about the Bible that may not be accurate does not change your view of God. Now, like I said earlier, Bell's statement does not seem to be a big deal to me...but, then I just may be clueless.

*Note: My church heritage does not believe that spiritual gifts exist today and use this scripture as the crux of their argument. Basically, they believe that since we have scripture, then we don't need the gifts anymore. "The perfect" that came and removed the need for gifts was the New Testament. This interpretation was actually the "turning point" in my own faith exploration. I remember reading this scripture and saying to myself that if scripture were indeed perfect, then there would not be so many divisions over the interpretation of scripture. Therefore, the scriptures can't be perfect. Maybe they mean perfect as in "complete" instead of "without flaw." However, it is clear that the scriptures are not complete. There are lots of holes (also causing divisions). So, scripture is neither flawless nor complete, then my heritage misinterpreted this passage and spiritual gifts do indeed exist. I then had to start re-reading and question everything I had been taught. This is something I continually do. I am no longer afraid of not having the answer. I am comfortable questioning, seeking, striving to understand more.

The Towers of Baby Babel

Erin's school had an inservice yesterday and they traveled to Hunstville to have a joint meeting with a private, Christian school there. Erin and her mom decided that instead of driving all the way back last night, that they would stop in Birmingham, spend the night, and then spend some time shopping in Birmingham today. This, of course, means I am on full-time daddy-duty.

Anyway, Mihaela and Noah have intersected in a synergistic way. Mihaela is a stage where she loves to stack blocks and build towers. Noah loves to knock towers down. So, all morning, we have been building and knocking down towers. It is so funny. Mihaela will just laugh and laugh and laugh as Noah knocks the towers down. Then she will start to build again. Of course, it takes longer for her to build than it does for Noah to knock them down...but she doesn't seem to mind.

It warms my heart so much to see them playing together like this.

Republicans were stupid for asking

Chicago Not Interested In 2008 RNC

"Thanks but no thanks.

That's Chicago's answer to an invitation to submit a bid to host the 2008 Republican National Convention."

DUH!!! Everyone knows that Chicago is as Democrat as they come. The city leaders there are often cited for being the experts in Democrat voter fraud. You have a better chance of winning the lottery than finding a Republican in Chicago.

FDA: Cheese Question

Science & Nature - Tampa Bay's 10 News - WTSP: "The Food and Drug Administration gets to decide whether hard, salty, smelly cheese that's ripened for less than 10 months can still be called Parmesan."

Hmmm...do we really need the Federal Government to spend its time and resources deciding what to call cheese? WHO CARES?!? Call it whatever you want... It seems to be an indicator of a too large goverment when it has to decide if cheese can be called a certain name.

This makes me want to cry

McDonald's: Fries Have Potential Allergens

McDonald's had said until recently that its fries were free of gluten and milk or wheat allergens and safe to eat for those with dietary issues related to the consumption of dairy items. But the fast-food company quietly added "Contains wheat and milk ingredients" this month to the french fries listing on its Web site

There are few enough choices as is being gluten-intolerant...but now to learn that McDonald's French Fries are out as well...that is crushing and depressing.

Bush team seeks to sell public land

The Houston Chronicle reports that "The Bush administration Friday laid out plans to sell off more than $1 billion in public land during the next decade"

Sounds like a good start to me. Many people get upset when they see how much the national debt is. However, nobody ever tells us how much the national assets are. As anybody with any sense of economics knows, your net worth is based on your assets minus your debts.

So, when people complain that the national debt is too high (which it is), they also need to report that the national assets is some such amount to so that we can get a good picture of what our nations net worth is.

Now, to reduce the debt, takes 3 steps (just like in your home finances).
1. Reduce and Control your spending. This is step one. Anything you do after this will only be a short term fix if you don't get on a budget and live on a budget. You can not spend more than you make consistently and not get it trouble. Before proceeding to steps 2 and 3, you must get control of your finances.

2. Once you control your spending for a consistent timeframe (in personal finances it needs to be 3-6 months, in national finances probably 3-6 years), then you need to reduce your debt by selling assets. Get rid of the junk you don't need. Government has lots of lands, buildings, cars, boats, and airplanes. It has assets all over the place. Sell it!

3. If, after controlling your spending and selling off unneeded stuff, you are still in debt, then you need to bring in more money. In personal finances, this may mean working another job or working harder for more commissions. You have to increase your intake. For the federal government, this means raising taxes. However, the federal government has to be real careful, because raising taxes could actually result in lower revenues.

Anyway, I think it is a good idea for the government to sell off some land. I think they need to sale off a lot more and put it toward the debt, not towards new spending initiatives as the article articulates. However, I wish they would cut the budget by 15% first...

Microsoft to Unveil Paid Security Service

Microsoft to Unveil Paid Security Service - Yahoo! News: "new security service from Microsoft Corp. will charge users $49.95 per year to better protect its Windows operating system from spyware, viruses and other Internet attacks."

Why should I have to pay for a service to a company because of the way that companies product fails to operate?

If this is venture gets successful, what reason does MS have for writing better OSes? Write bad software, then charge the users fees to protect it. That's a great business model!!!

Bogus rights by Walter E. Williams

Walter Willaimas writes a brilliant piece that explains concisely the principles of liberties and rights.

Townhall.com :: Columns :: Bogus rights by Walter E. Williams - Feb 8, 2006

Succinct argument against government provided welfare...

John Stossel: School Competition Remains "Unproven"

The advocate for bringing competition to government schools, John Stossel, writes about the Governor of South Carolina's effort to give everyone the same opportunities his children have and how, despite overwhelming public support, he lost the battle to State Legislators and Teacher Unions.

V7ndotcom Elursrebmem for Celiac Charity

V7ndotcom Elursrebmem for Celiac Charity

The Search Engine Optimizers of the world are having a contest with the goal of a website to rank #1 in Google for the keyword phrase V7ndotcom elursrebmem (v7n.com MembersRule (backwards)) on May 15th, 2006 with a first prize of $7,000.

The guy at the link above is entering the contest promising to donate 100% of this winnings to Celiac Disease Research. As a celiac (gluten-intolerant person), I have to help this guy win. You can help too.