Impressive

You have to see this video.

My Work makes the News

My work has made the news (in a good way). The month of May I was terribly busy working on a team with a special project for the Governor of Alabama. We were charged with creating a plan for using the public, two-year colleges in the state as hurricane evacuation shelters. We created a 150+ page plan that we presented to the Governor on June 1. This week he released that plan to the media.

In the video, you will see a close-up shot of map. That is the work of my network administrator. He spent a lot of time creating a single pictorial representation of the entire plan that was simple and easy to read. He knocked it out of the park. It was so good that the governor's staff actually confiscated the map for their own use.

Communion Thought: Family Dinner

I was responsible for leading the communion thought at church this week. The theme of the service centered around the concept of family, especially the role of children. I tied the Lord's Supper to the family dinner. Here is the text of my thoughts.

Magnificent Hotel

Erin and I dropped the children off yesterday to spend the week with Mam-maw, Pap-paw, and Aunt Summer. We left the house about 7:15 AM. We had to run by the library and return some books before we left on our trip. We actually hit the interstate about 7:30. However, before we got to the next exit (9 miles away), Erin realized that I had forgotten to pack the diaper bag. DOH!!! So, we turned around and went back home and got the diaper bag. We finally actually got on the road about 8:15 AM.

We had a safe and uneventful trip from Millbrook, AL to Clarksville, TN. We put Mihaela in a diaper for the trip, but stopped everytime she said she needed to go potty...which was four or five times. We got to Clarksville about 12:45 and met Mom and Summer at a McDonald's. We ate lunch and then I moved the stuff over to the van and off the kids went away. Erin and I misted up a bit...

However, we drove back to Florence, AL and to our hotel, the Marriott Grand. I can not tell you what a great hotel this is. It rocks. We had dinner at the hotel's Bronzeback restaurant and then crashed. This morning we got up when woke up (i.e., no alarm clocks or hungry babies awakened us). We drove over to a riverfront park where an antique fair was being held. We walked around and purchased some small antiques. Then, we drove over to Tuscumbia (the birth place of Helen Keller) and found a small local "meat-and-three" for lunch. It was fabulous. After lunch we came back to the hotel and laid out by the pool for several hours. It was great! I read the entire book "The Magician's Nephew."

Tonight we had a reception for the conference. I networked a little bit. Very uncomfortable for me. Anyway, tomorrow we start the conference in full swing. I speak on Tuesday morning and don't have my stuff ready yet. I guess I will work on it tomorrow....tonight, I am just relaxing and having fun. This has been my first day of just goofing off in a long time and I have enjoyed it.

Playgrounds Are So Safe...they are boring

DUH!!!

CBBC Newsround | UK | Playgrounds 'need more adventure': "he Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) says worries about making equipment safe to play on has led to play areas becoming boring"

Back in my day, we didn't have soft rubber pieces in our playground. We had asphalt. If you fell, you busted your head and we liked it. We loved it. (~SNL)

Google's Message on Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality: "A Note to Google Users on Net Neutrality"

Read it!

Boys are being failed by our schools

The Daily Mail, a British newspaper, is reporting that schools are failing boys by feminizing the schoolwork. Basically, the boys are growing up not knowing how to be men due to a generation of man-hating feminist slowly eroding away the foundations and meanings of masculinity. We have missed the boat.

Any desire to compete and win has been discouraged as savage and barbaric. However, boys are hard-wired by God to be competitive. Now, no one thinks boys should be taught to win at all costs and to cheat. Masculinity is winning within the framework of the game, the rules. Play hard. Work hard. Play nobly. Win with honor.

Blowing Cool Air

Current Mood: Feeling stupid

Repairmen came very quickly. Charged us a $100 service call to reset the breaker. Apparently, the storm last night tripped the breaker.

Blowing Hot Air

No...not me. Although some people think that is all I do. Our air conditioner is blowing hot air. Erin just called me and said the house is like 90 degrees inside. Repairmen have been summoned. Stretching wallet now for payout.

Follow-Up: Net Neutraility

Previous Post

Follow-up
With a big "middle-finger-up-in-the-air" to consumers, small business owners, and other companies, the Republicans in the House have dutifully cow-towed to the demands of the Telecomms. ATT&T, BellSouth, et. al. have recieved the return of their "investment" into the campaigns of House Republicans.

It is rare that I agree with Democrats, but they got it right on this one. Read the article:

House rejects Net neutrality rules | Tech News on ZDNet:

"The U.S. House of Representatives definitively rejected the concept of Net neutrality on Thursday, dealing a bitter blow to Internet companies like Amazon.com, eBay and Google that had engaged in a last-minute lobbying campaign to support it."

Happy Birthday, Oldest Niece

My oldest niece turns 16 today. In honor of her birthday, I want to tell you a story about her. My Oldest Niece is a natural blonde, with all the stereotypes that come with the hair. Recently, at the dinner table, she told an "off-color" joke that played-off of a racial stereotype. My brother-in-law seized this as a teaching moment and warned my niece to be wary of where and to whom she told such jokes because she might hurt someone's feelings. In an effort to make the lesson personable to her, he asked her if she was offended when people told "blonde jokes."

My niece was quiet and the table could tell she was contemplating the question. My brother-in-law was inwardly dancing with glee, thinking he had effictively communicated a principle. After a few moments of thinking, my niece replied by saying "Only when I get them."