My Life In Rockwall, TX

Another one bites the dust.

2009-03-26T19:47:00.003-05:00

I've decided to move this blog to my own servers. So in a few hours, http://jerrywelch.name will be the new home of http://mylifeinrockwall.blogspot.com.

jerrywelch.name has always been forwarded to this Blogger Blog, but now will be the only way to direct yourself to my site.

Here's the links to the old posts covering the renaming history and some transom links:

For what it's worth ...

Fingerprints

2009-03-20T13:48:00.002-05:00

... what do you have to complain about?

Go to http://connorcruse.com/

Nuts of Grape

2009-03-19T09:26:00.002-05:00

I don't even know what to say about this. Ugh. Barely made it through myself ...

Essence of Radical Reformission

2009-03-17T15:12:00.001-05:00

http://theresurgence.com/Gospel_Community_and_the_Poor

Great article.

2,557 x 2,557 x 2,557

2009-03-16T13:16:00.005-05:00

Today marks the 7 year anniversary of my marriage to Elizabeth. Pretty cool. To commemorate, I'm going to publicly list 50 things about her that I love. Hopefully, this does not embarrass ... I just feel like shouting my love from the roof tops like a hapless romantic.

For a funny:
In the words of the great Burgundy/Corningstone romance ...

always hunting to be better
athletic
Christmas angel - loves the holidays
dedicated
drinks beer with me
drop dead legs
enjoys discussing sermons
good "mother hen"
good bible study teacher
good daughter
good sister
good story teller
good taste in movies
good traveler
good with my friends
great blue eyes
great cake maker
great cook
great girl friend
great hugger
great kisser
great singer
has nice friends
hates basketball (that's a good thing)
heart for humanity
helps do car work
involved church member
knows a lot of scripture
likes football!
likes golf!
looks good in jeans
loves animals
loves Jesus
loves serving people
manages the house while I'm away
modest
nice skin
our children cannot do without her
picks up anything fast
pretty smile
really good at crafts
savvy with money
smart
takes her walk seriously
talented career admin (retired)
turns me on
understands and embraces technology
very creative
watches hockey with me
works out religiously

Praying is for morrons ...

2009-03-09T12:57:00.007-05:00

Yes it is.

It's also for perverts, pukes, punks, junkies, jocks, nerds, metal heads, losers, Christians, posers, etc.

In case you were wondering, the misspell in the post title was intentional (unlike the patriotic gentlemen to the right.) It happens to be a direct quote of a Facebook member that is "friends" with my wife. I thought is was a comical comment considering the misspell. As I was giggling like a little school girl, I started speculating if the proclamation was an autobiographical testimony.

If that was the case, I could consider it a prophetic moment in my life since the term "moron" would certainly fit the bill of materials when cataloging my high jinks.

Perhaps he was insinuating that prayer is an avoidable pursuit in one's life in general. If that's the case, I should probably start praying for him. As Hendricks satisfies "Why should I read the bible?," I remedy "Why should I pray?" with the same resolve ... "Because you must!"

Three months since my last post and I'm already picking fights and remarking about topics that not only bore but may have problematic positioning for some readers. Sigh.

So here's what I'll be focusing on to fill my life's free time: bible, Betsy, and biking. 752. That's it.

Here's some Transom links along those lines:

Bible

Betsy

Jerry, Elizabeth & the 3 A's

Biking

Mountain Bike (Trials Bike) Trickster - Danny Macaskill
Bike Videos | LUCAS BRUNELLE PRODUCTIONS - DRAG RACE NYC is especially cool.

On with the madness!

Where's the Corsendonk?

2009-01-13T16:09:00.002-06:00

Indeed. I just can't get into the blogging mood. Long holiday (which was wonderful.) Lot's of family, extended family ... and our ABF is rocking.

I do have a story to tell - but not today. Soon. Since it's been so long, here is the laundry list of sites that have flown through my transom since we last touched base ...

Oovoo.com
Heatsurgetv.com - the hilarious Amish electrical advancement!
Wesabe.com
David Hentschel’s BLOG
Milton singing "The Man Song" by Sean Morey (video)
Meaning of X-Mas: for those that felt the need to blast Angie Smith
If programming languages were religions...
The Escapist (game)
Stixy Beta
Peel p50 on topgear (video)
The New Monastics? Hey Man, They're Trying
Wing Suit Base Jumping! (video)

Random thoughts and revelations ...

We often don't think rather rearrange our prejudices. ~ Hendricks
I've come to think that good parenting is about increasing the duration between timeout sessions. ~ Welch
If you calmly take your pants off at airport while in the security line, others will follow in suit. ~ A comedian I saw over break ...

Upcoming blog topics ...

Praying is for morons.
My lyrics and where they may surface on the web.
Box of sex.
The great and powerful Oz knows why you have come!
Agnostic definition.

United Abominations

2008-12-15T14:05:00.006-06:00

From Mumbai to Illinois ... how can I post when the world is going to hell in a hand basket? If you haven't noticed, I'm just not going to be much of a blogger through the holidays. There has been plenty of inspiration though:

10 guys, 2 truck loads, 100+ burgers, and 10 cases of water made its way down to the bridges of Dallas late last Friday night. We ministered to a few hundred until 2 am.
Joyous Christmas parties thrown by our good friends the Griggs & McIlraths - two fantastically gracious hosts.
Stellar corporate and small group worship up at Lake Pointe with music and manna to die for.
Team Tri-Prosoap posted several sub-4 times at the White Rock Marathon and qualified one team member for Boston! See the video link below.
My wife is making the trek to Boxtown with me on Christmas Eve to sing carols - the first time she's been able to go since we started having kids.
Sean Avery is no longer a Dallas Star ...

I could go on and on. 'Tis the season. So no pontificating today - but I've amassed quite a few Transom Links to share ... enjoy:

IAMSECOND - Brian "Head" Welch's was my fav.
Studylight.org - great study site.
Next Bible Learning Environment
For those of us parents that are potty training ... Tiny Toons - Henny Yougman Day - Potty Years
How to Start Your Own Country
Fantastic Art by Charles Reid
This Is Sand
Bike riders amazing recovery!
Dallas White Rock Marathon 2008 Team Tri-Prosoap Video
Check out our friend's AMAZING gift of photography - her blog often has the latest work.

Good movie download site.
Not as good movie download site, but OK as far as safety.
Santa's JigSaw Puzzle - this one is for Logston.

The System Has Failed

2008-12-04T08:04:00.005-06:00

Good bye November - Hello December. Jack Frost is making his annual sabbatical to Texas ... finally. As the year winds down, my blog-preneurship is certainly taking a turn for the worse. Numbers will certainly fall. Besides, I don't want to have an unreachable number for next year's Q4, YoY.

The good news is that the dollar is gaining, I survived the Griswold-roof-climbing-Christmas lights-hanging endeavor, the tree is lit, and our wagons are full of clothes, blankets and socks for Boxtown. We'll be making 2 trips in December ... on Christmas we plan to do an ad hoc service under the Good Latimer bridge behind Pilgrim's Pride. Pray the strings of my guitar don't snap in the cold, dry air as we fill the dark night with Christmas music.

So I blame the system for this boring post ... nothing profound to pontificate ... nothing alarming to assail ... nothing demoralizing or in need of fortification ... nothing to resuscitate.

Not even Sean Avery being unsavory could get me riled up. I blame the system. When you suffer a sports year like I have (Stars lose in the Western Conference Finals, Mets mishap, Notre Dame's debacle of a season, Bears barely hanging on, and one of the worst starts in Stars franchise history) and find yourself surrounded by Texans talking about Romo's momma, there becomes no vacancy for vexation in one's life.

Just try to derail me from having a marvelous, miraculous Holiday. I dare ya! There's no news story, apocalyptic premonition, political uprising, financial crisis, or Debbie Downer that's going to reduce this holiday to rubble. The system has caused me to go from cynical to critical in one fail swoop! I've become critically inane. What were they thinking, turning this jaded lad into a happy-go-lucky cheer monkey full of childish sensibilities? Lights, trees, ministry and happiness?

No no no. Not even the State Trooper that pulled me over the day after Thanksgiving as Billy and I returned from visiting our homeless friend, Teardrop, on his birthday could put the sour back in this puss. Click here for my response.

Is it the system? Have I gone off the deep end scatter shooting again? Before you leave this post in disgust and remorse for having wasted 5 minutes of your precious life, please do me one favor.

Stop. Take a deep breath. Go to that place. Who's there? Do you have peace?

If the answer is no or no one ... click here.

I hope to bring more of a balanced post next time with less free hand. But I promise you that these Transom Links won't disappoint:

Still Alive... And Well?

2008-11-25T10:46:00.003-06:00

I haven't been around to a good brain dump session in almost 2 weeks! So this one will probably cause a good deal of scatter shooting.

Every time I peel a layer off myself some other flaw rears its ugly head that I must come to terms with ... anyone else feel that way? It disrupts my walk, my marriage, my friendships and my work. And it is frustrating.

I rarely have the patience to recognize that everyone must go through a refining process from time to time when they are discovering how jacked up they are ... and the love of Jesus is enough. Look around - all this and Jesus too?

An old friend hunted me down and we connected on the phone last night. Alex Glass. The better half of our acoustic group in college that went by the name of Glass Weazel. Guess who the Weazel was?

Alex was the only person during my time at Ohio Northern University that shared Christ with me. I remember getting upset with him refusing to sing one of my songs that reflected my jaded views on religion. I though he was NUTS!

Not to mention my sacrifice in accompanying him for his song about prayer! The nerve! To be honest, I would do anything to record and Alex is one of the few that had the patience to deal with me.

It was seriously Flanders and Homer living directly across from each other in the freshman dorm. But we could both play and he was a great singer. And even though I probably made his life miserable, he was always there to jam, talk, hike, or whatever. A good friend is what he was. And he planted a seed. I'm still baffled at how he endured my tirade for 4 years as we played to hundreds (thousands?) of people on the Tundra.

Last night as we both found out we're each alive and well, he also got to witness the full rebirth of someone he never gave up on even as far from the cross as I was.

He found me on a blog somewhere in cyberspace. Now we can share our walks, our awesome wives, beautiful children, and exciting travels that separated the past 11 years. (Chalk that up as one good reason for the Internet and one other reason why I journal digitally.)

And those layers? Well ... let's just say I'm ready to press on. It may be the end of the world as we know it, but I feel loved. And that's enough for me.

Ok ... enough sappy, anecdotal crap. Wake up readers and learn something ... Gmail Theater: Why Use Gmail? Thanks to Good 'ol Billy Boy for sending this one ...

If you want a Gmail account, shoot me a note and I'll forward an invite to your old, decrepit email.

And here are some Transom Links:

Ok ... here are some Interactive Transom Links:

I can't tell which side of the argument this shirt represents ... can you? CLICK HERE.
Definitely check out the entire Woot! Shirt Reckoning List.
And I will ship you a free FaceWash from ProSoap.com (Right, Billy?) if you can interpret this binary ... 01001101 01100001 01100100 01100101 00100000 01110101 00100000 01101100 01101111 01101111 01101011

Daily Manna from the 'Net for Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Then I said: 'O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. 'Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.' Nehemiah 1:5-9 NIV | Listen

Rude Awakening

2008-11-13T14:12:00.007-06:00

Attended Man Church last night ... the topic was Sexual Purity. I can't handle the subject matter here so I will simply say this:

Dr. Tim Young is a brilliant speaker.
Thank you Mr. Beauchamp for hooking that up.
I will never forget that you can't spend the same dollar in two places - sounds simple but we forget such trouble-free conventions.

I highly suggest visiting Dr. Young's website - there are some poignant pod casts available and other pertinent media.

Fellas - you need to hear this stuff. I needed to hear this stuff. Stop spinning your wheels.

The good news? Light doesn't manage the darkness - it eliminates it! Which is why I have complete optimism for the Humanist movement. Yup ... switching gears.

So the latest $40,000 ad campaign to confuse (as if there is another kind of ad campaign) simply states "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake," (from the article, "Group's new Christmas message: Be good, not godly" on CNN.com.)

Good argument. Good argument. OK.

There is no doubt that the #1 thing that a Satanist prays for is the destruction of Christian homes. Nice and slow. And it works too! Otherwise they wouldn't pray about it so much.

So let me list some other items that major religions and Christian groups are up in arms about and fighting for the abolition of this ad expenditure:

(Again, from the article, "Group's new Christmas message: Be good, not godly" on CNN.com.)

"Our reason for doing it during the holidays is there are an awful lot of agnostics, atheists and other types of nontheists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion."

"... the purpose isn't to argue that God doesn't exist or change minds about a deity, although "we are trying to plant a seed of rational thought and critical thinking and questioning in people's minds."

And my personal favorite ... (drum roll, please)

"There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

Christians are really freaking out! You know what I see? Sorry folks - I'm going to abandon facts and go for opinion here.

Those that don't have Jesus are looking to cling to someone/something as we, the fortunate ones, celebrate His birth ... separated from those who really need Him.
Humanist apologists are turning towards planting seeds of rational thought in the absence of Christians who have turned their backs to a flailing culture that desire the Truth seed.
Apathy is so prevalent that we've given up searching for something different just because there probably is not a God.

Love covers a multitude of sins. Can I make a call out to the DC brothers and sisters? Check out these bus ads, show up to the meetings, and share the Light. It will eliminate the darkness. It will eliminate the need for something new just because they weren't reached.

Rude awakening ... Humanists are not the problem. Christians are the problem. Too harsh? Than why do the same percentage of Christian men struggle with pornography as non-Christian men?

I despise ending with a question so here are some Transom Links:

The World Needs A Hero

2008-11-11T14:16:00.003-06:00

Desperately! I'm mean ... putting your faith in Jesus is crazy, right? Christianity is just a random, fabricated religion full of legalistic rhetoric and conformity disguised as tradition. Right?

So says the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster! What would Flying Spaghetti Monster do anyway? They'd tell us but we wouldn't believe what's in it.

This is what happens when Jerry's cynicism rears it's ugly head. Please be kind though. What started out as an argument against intelligent design in school really has caught on in a massive movement across America.

So the very thing that FSM argues against, is proving the inner desire for people to worship ... something bigger than themselves. Someone bigger than themselves. It certainly is warranted when reviewing Christians as a whole to box us in with those that jerk verses from the bible and use the Good Word for agenda driven apologetics.

But our God is not so wishy-washy. And He is the God of the World.

Call Jesus crazy ... I can buy that. Claim God not to be the creator of the World ... I can buy that. But substantiate your argument. Pure mockery just comes off as dimwitted nonsense.

My point? I am willing to dress up as a pirate and concede that there will be a stripper factory and keg parties in heaven if ONE (just one) FSMer is willing to discuss the real God, His Son, Jesus Christ, and what that really means based on the Scriptures.

Who knows - we might find some neutral grounds around topics such as religiosity, legalism, fundamentalism, and traditionalism. I have no idea where I'm going with this other than I hope you take a look at the Flying Speghetti Monster followers and educate yourself on this little movement.

How do they celebrate the Holidays anyway? Looks like Christmas to me!

So enjoy these links and try not to be cynical like me:

Capitol Punishment

2008-11-05T20:10:00.004-06:00

Now that all the bleeding heart liberals can breath a sigh of relief, Oprah has had a good cry, and Tina Fey's career is back in the crapper, we are free to return to our customary complaints and excuses about why the upshot of our lives is at the foot of another man's bed.

Not sure what that means but here's what's up this week with me - we're headed back downtown this weekend - the first midnight trip of the year. The big stop gap this time is not manpower or lack of physical distribution.

How do we avoid playing the adult version of the popular children's game, Duck, Duck, Damned? For those of you reading Radical Reformission right now, you know what I'm talking about.

If we can dodge that rut, how do we swerve back without simply stating "Go on and save yourself?" How do we keep the Message straight while walking among the forgotten drunks, junkies, and prostitutes of our city?

I'm going to take a stab at this - Prepare ourselves in the Word. Pray that God goes before us and the Spirit guides our hands. Repeat.

Let's get to work. Here's a link to the new site:

https://sites.google.com/site/boxtowndfw

Transom links ...

Risk

2008-11-04T11:07:00.003-06:00

Election Day is upon us! Will it be McCain or Obama? Pretty risky either way ... just an opinion. But which is more precarious: the outcome of the election or this picture?

Funny People Pictures!

Phew ... I still say the election. For all I know, this marriage could defy time. What can I possibly gain by posting stuff like this? Nothing really. I was listening to Mozart's La Finta Semplice: Overture (otherwise known as "The Counterfeit Simpleton") and could not stop thinking about the candidates and this picture.

So call me short like everyone else. There's nothing wrong with standing short - it's good enough because everyone else is sitting. Before you head to the polls or brag about your early vote, my desire is that we do something less arbitrary than praying to the Flying Spaghetti Monster or claiming you felt the Dallas earth quake last Friday.

Say a prayer ... ask the Lord to go before you ... meditate on some scripture. I believe if this nation could do that before going to the grocery store, let alone voting, we would be more pleasing in the presence of the Lord.

And no matter what happens, here's something that has stood the test of time and precedes all presidents of the past ...

Daily Manna from the 'Net for Tuesday, November 4, 2008

I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself. You said, 'I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, 'I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.' ' Selah The heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD ? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings? Psalm 89:2-6 NIV | Listen

Transom Links ...

Cryptic Writings

2008-10-31T10:42:00.010-05:00

Good title for Halloween, eh? Beaucoup to cover ... my awesome wife, local jerks, Thriller remakes, and maybe a few non-related jabbers. Let's see where this goes ...

Right now I'm sitting at work disguised as giant iPhone. I am iJerry. And for the first time ever, I'm going to post a picture of myself. Allow me to explain. I despise Halloween. Mostly because if I just didn't feel like dressing up in the past, EVERYONE would be scolding me for being a party pooper. God forbid we celebrate the birth of Christ as exuberantly. I don't care if you get into it - it's just not my bag baby!

Despite that, my employer gets pretty tangled into the tortuous ordeal known as costume partying ... contests, prizes, etc. My VP is having an extra give away for Thanksgiving Day Cowboys tickets - as long as you are dressed up. Upon hearing this, my wife told me to get my derriere in the car and get over to Hobby Lobby. We discussed Benny the Bellhop, the retired Hotels.com mascot.

This was too difficult. But what she churned out between the kids bedtime and 1 am this morning ... let's just say she may have been selling herself short. I have a good chance to win (JD@kronos, eat your heart out). Go ahead and give them a click - it's even more impressive with the picture blown up - it will open in a separate window/tab.

Thanks babe (Elizabeth) - you rock!

Finally proud of something to wear for Halloween ... so allow me to digress and talk about a local cryptic photographer who decided to take my good buddy down a notch for no good reason. Now - Billy should never have copy and pasted a news article directly into his blog, but the ensuing "holier-than-thou" attitude just blows my mind.

Kinda like the pompous radio station personalities, these media babies are getting out of hand. Masquerading as grown men, they are nothing more than the old ladies in the hair salon that just have to be the first to bring the dirty news to the Grey hairs. And if the don't get proper credit ... watch out. The result is childish whining. Have a gander:

From: Mark M. Hancock
Date: Wed, Oct 22, 2008 at 4:44 PM
To: billy@tri-prosoap.com

Billy,
I noticed unauthorized use of one of my images on the blog http://www.blogger.com/profile/18205350178441371908. I need a physical mailing address to the owner of this blog.

-- Mark M. Hancock
Photojournalist
Plano, Texas
www.newseagles.com
http://markhancock.blogspot.com

----------
From: Billy Self
Date: Wed, Oct 22, 2008 at 6:19 PM
To: "Mark M. Hancock"

Hi Mark, I'm the owner of the blog... Which photo are you talking about? Also, if I ask for your permission (albeit a touch late), will you allow it?

----------
From: Mark M. Hancock
Date: Wed, Oct 22, 2008 at 6:30 PM
To: Billy Self

Billy,
I can't express how angry your note makes me. You want use of one of my images after I've found YOU'VE VIOLATED MY LEGAL RIGHTS. You should know which one(s) are mine. It's your legal OBLIGATION to know the origin and make proper payment for content you publish before it's published.

Remove the image(s), don't ever post them again and I won't have Blogger kill your account for copyright violations.
-- Mark

----------
From: Billy Self
Date: Wed, Oct 22, 2008 at 6:35 PM
To: "Mark M. Hancock"

Mark, please forgive my ignorance to blogging. It is not intent to anger anyone. www.tri-prosoap.blogspot.com the photo has been removed.

Oh Mark. I understand protecting your work. But are such threats really necessary? I mean ... it was a picture of kid that we all know in a triathlon article on the triathlon blog of the team that the boy's father is a member of. Sheesh ... what a T-I-R-D, tird.

Mark - if you want to look like a chump, look no further. I have a knack for finding imperfection in just about anyone - probably because I'm so full of them myself! You know what we do though? Lighten up and laugh about it. I'm sure you could find plenty of grammatical errors and none-too-good Franglais right here. Give it a whirl ...

But if you don't want to have fun we can always go see my buddies up at the Intellectual Property offices of ... well, we'll see if you even pick this up.

Happy Hunting ... here are transom links to some hauntingly horrible video remakes of MJ's Thriller - enoy (all from Glumbert):

Punjabi Thriller - http://www.glumbert.com/media/thriller (truly disturbing)
Prison Thriller - http://www.glumbert.com/media/prisonthriller (scary or cool?)
Thriller Acapella - http://glumbert.org/media/thrilleraca (see comments)

Hidden Treasures

2008-10-28T11:13:00.008-05:00

Hidden Treasure #1
Deep in the mass of Dallas' concrete commercialism lies a sliver of paradise ... the Dallas Arboretum. Me, Elizabeth and the 3 A's made the trek downtown this past weekend to enjoy the final fall festivities with our good friends, the Grimey family. My 2 oldest ...

Don't let me fool ya - I complained on entrance and exit. The Disney-like mob of humanity yelling at their kids and hip checking me like Sean Avery over the best pumpkin pile was distracting. But when I could open my eyes and soak the beauty in, it was quite a serene stroll through the inner city's blossom brigade.

Hidden Treasure #2
Christians from Cairo ... I met a new friend over coffee this Monday morning. His name is Michael. He hails from a Lake Pointe sister church in Egypt. As we discussed the ways of the Lord and shared our testimonies, I arrived at a moment where no words could be uttered for a few moments ... just silent reflection. What comment would cause such an instant? How about the difference between Michael and me when it comes to bringing the Gospel to the culture.

Let's skip me and go straight to Cairo ... you will be (not maybe) disowned and possibly killed for your faith. And he is at peace knowing that if he is killed, that Jesus' name will become more famous.

Perspective ... more to come on Michael later.

Hidden Treasure #3
I like New Yorkers. Especially smart New Yorkers. Add in the pledge of allegiance, a prayer, current economics and some free breakfast. That equals another great morning with the Rockwall Breakfast Rotary Club. I did notice that some of the grey-beards were not so thrilled with the Federal Reserve representative's views on the historical importance and resurgence after the sub-prime mortgage implosion. The ones that spoke up sounded like the Darrell Hammond version of Sean Connery on SNL's Jeopardy spoof. Was it that Mr Duca's pill is hard to swallow or Texans would prefer not to concede to a Yankee?

Either way, thanks to Mr. Self for having me as a guest. Have I mentioned they now have black ProSoap.com t-shirts for $5?

All's well that ends well - but I aim to disappoint. So here are some transom links and a picture of the human hippo. Cheers!

Grimm's Ugly Pictures!

Youthanasia

2008-10-24T12:35:00.006-05:00

You know that with Halloween coming up that our youth are going to be bombarded with all sorts of imagery, parties, rituals, traditions and ... fun, I guess. There is a percentage of the population that deems this time of year to be demonic.

As my family and our friends descend on the parking lot of Lake Pointe Church for a fun-filled evening of carnival rides, candy and food, I can't help but think this is a great alternative to Halloween for our community.

At the same time, it could be an awful excuse for us to ignore the rest of the local culture who will be out on the following weekend. I encourage you to participate in your neighborhood's Halloween festivities with one simple goal - find someone new and establish a relationship with them and their family.

Give our Lord the chance to work through you. Demons hate light. Kids aren't demons (no comments from the Moms that read this blog) - the kids will respond to anything as long as you pay attention to them!

So enjoy all the festivities. And if you get a chance to stop by tonight ... come join us for some fun. Here are the details ...

http://fallfestival.lakepointe.org/RW/Default.aspx

This is not a church-only event. Come one, come all, come as you are! Email me and I'll hang with you. And if you are a visitor, there is no charge to enter.

Enjoy these transom links:

Countdown To Extinction

2008-10-22T15:59:00.003-05:00

Or last week's signs of the apocalypse? Either way, we must be near the end.

I can't claim these stories for my own but was in awe ...

DISCLAIMER: The second one is not necessarily kid friendly. So heads up. This first one is just sad ...

The Illiterate State Fair of Texas

Posted on October 18th, 2008 5:49pm by Tim Rogers
Filed under Local News

I can’t tell you how proud this sign makes me. (Wife to self: “You better tell everyone that I’m the one who caught it!”) No child left behind. Go, TAKS!

** GO CHECK OUT THE COMMENTS - THEY ARE HILARIOUS **

Ok ... don't look if you are easily offended ...

“Good Christian Bitches” Might Be Making Dallas Women A Little Nervous

from FrontBurner by Sarah Eveans

Tim dropped a copy of Kim Gatlin’s new book, “Good Christian Bitches,” on my desk yesterday. I’m sure many of you know Kim–she’s a lady-about-town, a commercial real estate agent, and she’s involved in a lot of charitable organizations. I’ve been flipping through it, and so far, I’m really enjoying it. Mostly because I’m trying to figure out which Dallasites appear in the story. The book seems like it could be a thinly-veiled account of Gatlin’s life. For example: The story is set in “Hillside Park” (ahem). The “Longhorn Ball” is “the only high profile event where the men didn’t have to wear tuxes; they could wear jeans” (hello, Cattle Baron’s). Later in the book, the main character, Amanda Vaughn, goes for drinks with her friends at “Al’s.” (Oh wait, that’s the same). Incidentally, Vaughn is divorced with two children…and so is Kim.

I’m looking forward to reading this, mostly because it feels like a tell-all. I’m sure Gatlin would say that the characters are fictional, but I’m wondering how much is based on fact. I’m guessing Dallas women will be curious too, especially since the descriptions of the characters are fairly specific, and a little brutal (like Sharon Peavy, Amanda’s former best friend, who works in the hospitality industry, has the “best chest” in Hillside Park, and who “isn’t marriage material”). In the first chapter, Gatlin — I mean, Amanda — hears herself being discussed during Bible study at “Hillside Park Presbyterian” by a bunch of ladies she thought were her friends. In a prayer request, no less. Sounds like a great way to get back at a few people who’ve wronged you, and if that’s the case, there are a few of us who’d like to buy you a drink at the real Al’s. Stop by Barnes and Noble to pick up a copy. (Report from the field: It won’t be at NorthPark Barnes and Noble until Oct 31. Boo.) It’s already out of stock on Amazon.

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Let the hate mail roll in!

Rust In Peace

2008-10-21T10:03:00.007-05:00

I often hang my head in despair after making the decision to listen to sports radio in any length. Last week was no exception. The babble I ingested claimed that having Brad Johnson as the #2 QB for the Cowboys is a blessing (?!) based on the fact he does not need to take a lot of snaps in practice ... because he's so veteran. They claim this would allow the coaches to make a better game day decision on whether Romo could be effective with the bad pinky.

We all know how that worked out.

Two good buddies and my wife backed me into a corner last week and forced me to list out the members of society that I am either unwilling to reach out to or carrying around to much hatred to effectively be Christ-like.

The result of my prejudice and the hatred I must repent from is as follows (otherwise known as the Grimey Cultural Limitation): "Gay unicyclists covered in tattoos who hate babies cause they can't have them and sit around all day wasting their life watching Oprah and fantasizing about Brad Johnson's butt in his uniform."

Sounds extreme but at least my hatred is specific and easily overcome. So just to smooth things over, I plan to go out to http://www.ogreshirts.com/ and purchase one of these awesome unicyclists t-shirts to wear on a night out at a gay bar in tote with pictures of my kids and a bible.

Now I'm in real trouble ... sigh.

Not to take hatred and prejudice lightly, allow me to pull a page from the Radical Reformission and confess a real cultural block that I ran into this week.

Downtown, at the Greenville and Lovers Borders Books, I found myself at the information kiosk searching for a Max Lucado book for my wife. I heard the shadow of a congenial, red-bibbed, employee getting ready to pounce. Keeping my eyes on the screen, I played dead as if a bear were approaching.

The ploy did not work ... and I heard the words that we all fear based on every car buying experience known to man - "Can I help you?"

As I raised my brow and thought the words "No, you retail, paperboy freak - I'm an idiot that can't figure out how to press the big, red Search button" my imagination flashed a few possibilities of the poor soul standing across the table from me trying to execute the futile company training they received in their first week on the job.

Would it be the lonely, heavy-set, pale female that finished some college but was only there to find a man until she found out that wasn't working?
Or the young, not-quite-out-of-the-closet male in nicely pressed Gap clothes that still lives with his parents and desperately wanted to be downtown but could only find this flexible, lazy scheduled uptown job?
Considering where I am it could just be the post-Goth, scrawny genius girl that hates everything but really needs the paycheck to fund her exotic butterfly collection and 19th century original print poetry books.

I was not so fortunate ... the creature that lurked before me actually made him respond to my facial reaction ... his exact words were "I'm actually smarter than I look and can help you find your book." I replied, "I am never accused of being smart - don't let the glasses fool ya." He was not impressed.

This wasn't just tattoos ... I like tattoos ... the colorful, full-coverage body art just rounded out the Pin-Head-esque piercings and Ethiopian stretched out ear lobes. As he took me back to the Max Lucado book, his ears were flapping like a lab chasing a squirrel. I was walking behind the human form of Goofy.

As he turned and said "hear you are" I knew I needed to say something. This is what came out: "Cool ears. Why did you do that?"

His response: "That's a really long story. I'd tell it to you, but I have a hard enough time keeping my day job."

Finding myself wondering what his night job was, I soon realized that my poor attempt at building a relationship was futile and no longer possible at this juncture. I thanked him, paid for the book, and left defeated.

I didn't think there was much out there I haven't seen. Which is true except that I don't see enough of it that my brain is trained to expect only clean, white, lake community folk.

This is a problem ... if I am to live out the rest of my life not being able to see everyone as a person, I will surely never find peace. But if I can ask God to go before me, even when entering the book store, I can at least have Christ on my mind and ready to share the ministry.

The babbling for today is over ... enjoy yours and have a link or two if you're bored:

So Far, So Good... So What?

2008-10-16T08:56:00.007-05:00

Did you ever wonder why someone was doing something only to find out you'd rather not have known? You keep asking because you care and know the person enough that something is amiss. They don't want to tell you ... but they crumble knowing they need to tell someone out of their comfort zone. Then they feel better (probably.) But you wished you kept your mouth shut and never said anything. Happened to me a few days ago.

Its part of the joy of getting to know people and not crossing the gossip/griping line. I went away for 24 hours this past weekend on a mens retreat. Pegged as a time of reflection and spirituality, I've been questioned by a few close to me (male and female) as to what I thought about the weekend's festivities.

In a round about way - what do I think was accomplished?

Well .. my opinions have not been well received at any point in my life - high or low, young or mature, work or home. What? A post from Jerry void of opinion or irreverence? Bollocks! Why would I do that? A refreshing change perhaps. To wet your appetite for conflict, I dodged the female queries because women are smarter than me and cause more damage. To the fellas, I recommended removing their thumbs from what should only be used to turn out excrement.

But I will tell you what I pulled together and, in some cases rediscovered while retreating with 14 other dudes from Lake Pointe that have committed to study the Word together on a weekly basis.

Duke is lending his home to the Boxtown Mission.
Robert is serving - always without hesitation.
Kevin desires more action.
Eric wants more interaction.
Tucker is young and fishing.
Grimey is on the brink and completely open and honest.
Billy is ready, can't get there, but willing to work at it.
Wes is wrapping it up.
Brandon is rebuilding.
Ryan is opening his abode.
Nick is looking for difficult answers concerning fatherhood.
Ben is working it out.

I feel like I'm forgetting someone ...

Everyone was pondering on the Holiest of Holies. We even had a guy catch his first fish! I have obviously taken that for granted.

I am in awe of these men as they take the first step towards a better way to live - an authentic manhood focused on Leading Courageously, Accepting Responsibility, Rejecting Passivity and Expecting God’s Greater Reward.

We've come a long way ... this rag-tag group of weirdos from the bowels of the mega church on the Wall. There is no argument that we all received a great understanding of where each other is in our personal walks and where we will be going as a group. If not ... well, you just weren't paying attention.

Do we get the picture? Probably not yet. But it's coming into focus. And amazing things will be accomplished for the Glory of God.

Click here for a small web album of the trip thanks to Billy ...

And don't forget to get-cho-Self the ONLY cool ProSoap shirt ... click here. There is a dude and dude-ette version. Back in Black.

Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?

2008-10-15T10:43:00.011-05:00

Discussing reformission with a dozen guys sounds like a daunting task. But when the Stecker/Graves Mens Bible Study met last night, there was no resistance or reluctance from the group when it came to sharing where we are at when it comes to bringing the social message of Jesus Christ to the culture. We had one guy go as far as to rededicate his life last night! That's huge!

And what is the culture? Are we going to set limitations? Are we too sheltered to make a difference?

It's really all over the place. However, I believe it is no more of a daunting task today than it was in previous eras. But our line of attack will have to adapt and overcome some diverse impediments. Improvisation may be our best instrument. The only unswerving focus of the past will be that the scripture NEVER changes ... merely the delivery.

Not bad prep work for this weekend as a group of us head out on the Boxtown Mission. Even this little ministry has changed radically over the past 6 years. There is no more Boxtown. But the unreachable are still there. There is only one Dallas shelter. But it feeds and does not reach out.

What are we to do? Endure. Keep going. Asking Him to go before us and prepare our hands.

Hebrews 13: 1-3 1 Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

They say sex sells. Violence sells. Everything but peace sells. Why? Most people want peace but are not willing to pay the price... losing your own life.

Next stop... Scorecards. Who's buying?

Transom Links:

Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!

2008-10-14T14:48:00.003-05:00

The next several blog posts will don the titles of Megadeth albums as I relate Mr. Mustaine's metal mastery and mayhem into biblical points concerning the people and experiences in my life.

I'm a big metal head that still can't go too long without a little Mechanix from time to time. Since the current state of spiritual music brutally irks me (even the heavy types frantically attempting to be culturally relevant), I have resorted mostly to classical/symphonic music to pacify my soul.

This post is neither a lesson in metal music nor biblical instruction. Rather a funny foray into some interesting time wasters that came to mind while pondering "Killing Is My Business ..."

As much as Megadeth is poking at the apocalyptic procedures that our government has taken over the years to spread democracy, it also sheds a light on the converse of killing: love. My father-in-law always says "kill em with kindness." Turns out he was talking about the way he takes an exotic out with his high powered rifle! Just kidding.

It was either hunting (as the season is upon us) or cartoons. Fictional characters trying to save the world from evil or the occasional suburbanite holding back from slaughtering the pimples working the drive thru seemed more fun! And one glam rocker that should be shot ... maybe by a hunter. Hey Robert? Got your gun? Please put Joe Elliot out of his misery!

Just enjoy these videos and sop up the Manna at the end of the post ...

How Superman Should Have Ended

Trapped in the Drive-Thru

This was the proverbial slow-motion car crash; like on "The Price is Right," when a contestant is about to put the $199 price tag on the tube of toothpaste and the crowd simultaneously shrieks "NO! NO!"

Daily Manna from the 'Net for Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does. If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:22-27 NIV | Listen

I'd sooner be the eagle ...

2008-10-07T13:20:00.006-05:00

I can't take credit for the rest of this post. Most of you have probably seen it around. But I thought it was pretty clever - thanks to my sis-in-law for sending it.

As I've discovered from previous posts, defending myself from the start is wise so here are a few disclaimers:

Some editing has been done to keep it mildly clean.
I'm not sure what version of the bible they are referring to when quoting Psalm 129. Unless there is some weird translation of Psalm 129, I'm not sure where that comes from.
Somewhere there might be a reference that could insinuate that Catholic priests don't know their scripture. That's not the objective ... get a grip this is supposed to be funny.
And all apologies to any wanna-be manager types out there currently practicing their ubiquitous life-styles.

So the scripture quoted is inaccurate and there is a lot of (edited out) swearing - sounds like a Pacific Coast reform parachurch, I know. But it is funny. Suspend some disbelief and have a chuckle on corporate America's expense ... (if you get bored, there are some good links at the bottom.)

A THREE MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE

Lesson 1
A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs.

When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, 'I'll give you $800 to drop that towel.' After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob.

After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.

The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, 'Who was that?'

'It was Bob the next door neighbor,' she replies.

'Great!' the husband says, 'did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?'

Moral of the story : If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

Lesson 2
A priest offered a Nun a lift. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.

The nun said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?' The priest removed his hand.

But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'

The priest apologized 'Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.' Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way.

On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, 'Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.'

Moral of the story: If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

Lesson 3
A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, 'I'll give each of you just one wish.'

'Me first! Me first!' says the admin clerk. 'I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.'

Puff! She's gone.

'Me next! Me next!' says the sales rep. 'I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.'

Puff! He's gone.

'OK, you're up,' the Genie says to the manager. The manager says, 'I want those two back in the office after lunch.'

Moral of the story: Always let your boss have the first say.

Lesson 4
An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, 'Can I also sit like you and do nothing?'

The eagle answered: 'Sure, why not.'

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Lesson 5
A turkey was chatting with a bull. 'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree,' sighed the turkey, 'but I haven't got the energy.'

'Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients.'

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.

He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story: BullCrap might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.

Lesson 6
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.

As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.

A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Moral(s) of the story:

Not everyone who craps on you is your enemy.
Not everyone who gets you out of crap is your friend.
And when you're in deep crap, it's best to keep your mouth shut!

This ends the 3-minute management course.

Transom Links:

That’s not chicken, I think. That’s ribs.

2008-10-02T11:37:00.006-05:00

"Wow."

Have you ever read a story and and simply could not utter any other word but, "Wow"? No exclamation point. Just "Wow."

I've always been a big David Feherty fan but had no idea of his writing prowess. That skill combined with the personal story creates an amazing, head-spinning piece of prose. "Because that guy in the pickup just had to beat me to the red light ..." could explain my daily drive to work. But it has a whole new meaning now!

Some choice quotes:

"Great, I’m dying and spending my last minutes as George Costanza. But the medics are talking about hockey, so maybe I’ll live."

"I had already successfully stifled several snotbursts with the old thumb-on-the-roof-of-the-mouth trick, but apparently the human sneeze is an adaptable little bastard. If you deny it an exit, I don’t know, maybe some of them turn into farts or something and find another way out."

I want you to read this story ...

Step #1 Click here to the read "David Feherty Got Hit by a Truck and Lived to Tell About It".

Step #2 Go visit Rockwall Bike Lanes ... http://www.rockwallbikelanes.com/.

Wow.

The Science of Being Scammed or possibly Scamola-ed: a book review.

2008-09-30T11:07:00.008-05:00

My wife ran her first 5k this weekend and I'm writing a book review. How selfish is that? Well, I promised back on the 3rd, that 2 topics would be delivered this month. This is the second of those, just in time for the month to roll over. It's going fast folks!

Besides, I only tried blowing through a few police blockades to get pictures of Elizabeth on the war path (with the kids in the car.) Conquered, we found ourselves rolling around the bounce house in front of Chili's unswervingly waiting for her to cross the finish line 6th overall in her bracket of the Chilis/St. Judes Rockwall 5K Classic!

On with the book review - The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles.

I must apologize ahead of time to all the Wattles fans out there ... but this has gone into my Colossal Waste Of Time bucket.

Rest assured, I do think Wallace was not recognized for his fine writing and extremely educated approach to thought and human process in the early 20th century. It makes sense that the extremely wealthy businessmen of today's culture site this as one of their most meaningful pieces of literary instruction.

Additionally, I will concede that there are plenty of people that consider my (re)views to be idiotic at best. That's not including the ones who express these feelings to me on a weekly basis. I am routinely out-thunk, out-degreed, and out-experienced on many levels.

But that's never stopped me before. And as I read, Wallace became more of man jaded by his own poverty stricken life than the self-proclaimed pioneer of New Thought.

If I may quote one of my partners in idiocy, "... if it is self-promoting and not glorifying God, it makes me skeptical. I thought they told you to stay off of Joel O's website." Yes ... they did tell me to stay away from Squinty.

As promised, I will give you a snapshot of my notes. You will find that I ascertained nothing, found a few admirable quotes, and captured a noteworthy concept here and there. Overall - I give this read a 2 out of 10. Up from a 1 merely based on the fact that this writing is nearly a century old.

Chapter 1

Agreed with nothing until the summary ... "for you can render to God and humanity no greater service than to make the most of yourself."

Chapter 2

Still speaking of getting rich but not by un-Godly promises.
Eliminating the excuses of environment, sex, opportunity, geographic location, poor, drowning in debt, etc for being poor - known fact based on ignorance.
Driving home the point of a "certain way" to get rich.
He's simply stating that it is ignorant for us to ignore the certain ways one becomes successful in their chosen business.

Chapter 3

There are possibilities for anyone to take advantage of an opportunity they would like to pursue and become successful - known fact.
Quote: "There is abundance of opportunity for the man who will go with the tide, instead of trying to swim against it."
States the US alone has enough materials and resources to house, clothe and feed the World lavishly - true today as it was in 1910.
God will provide even when we seemingly exhaust our resources - he will not let us go without ANY good things - well, no crap.
"... everything which can possibly minister to life is bountifully provided; there can be no lack unless God is to contradict himself and nullify his own works." - is he stating that he is privy to how God reacts? This is a dangerous quote.

Chapter 4

Man is a thinking center and can originate thought. The problem lies in the fact we rarely want to work with the Father - we'd rather take matters into our own hands. Agreed.
We must accept that there is only one Lord - one source of all that it is Good. He should have gone further here.
Starting to lose me on the first of three principals simply by claiming that anyone that reads and follows this book will get rich ... not liking this (p15)
To think truth regardless of appearance is laborious - yes - but he defines truth as thinking what you want to think ... not liking this either!
The bastard then sums up his 3 principals like a preacher would - I'm conflicted.

** IMPORTANT NOTE: He appears Christian but there are heavy tones of mid-eastern thought and dabbling in other religions.

Chapter 5

Basic business ethics and the laws of nature can be found here.
I would agree that many rich bastards need to here this stuff - but it's common sense to me - if I were to become monetarily rich, I would hope it would be by following these principals - but it wouldn't help me let go of it all - that should be in here somewhere.
He, himself, writes that the very riches produced by the original American multi-millionaires are the very riches that disposed of them! - and forever for anyone that competes to get rich!

There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the inter spaces of the universe.
A thought, in this substance, produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought, and, by impressing his thought upon formless substance, can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.

Chapter 6

Give every man more on use value than you take from him in cash value - I sure hope so.
Praises Jesus a little here.
Gets on a God trip - but loses me again with claims that my desire to be rich (monetarily) is the Infinite's desire to express Himself in me ... claiming the converse to be a track into poverty I believe is as ignorant as Wattle's claiming to not act a Certain Way is to say you won't be rich.

Chapter 7 - Gratitude ... this could be interesting. But no ...

Law of Gratitude?
God has worked a long time to get us where we are and to provide the opportunities available - we should be in communion with him over this. Agreed.

Chapter 8 - Ugh ...

By chapter 8 I have grown weary. I've gone back to try to finish this a half dozen times. But I have not been able to stomach topics such as Thinking in a Certain Way, How to Use the Will, Further Use of the Will, Acting in a Certain Way, Efficient Action, Getting into the Right Business, the Impression of Increase, The Advancing Man, etc.

Despite Wattles continued use of God's Word, the teachings of Jesus, and reliance on Faith, my attention could not be held through the overall objective or his mottled theology mixed within. I simply conclude that the idea of religion, biology, physics, psychology, and engineering working together to make one rich is clever, but all I found is the production of one COLOSSAL WASTE OF TIME (just like Blades of Glory)!!!

The end. Hate mail is welcome.

Here are some Transom Links:

25 Reasons Why I Hate Facebook

2008-09-22T22:31:00.005-05:00

Facebook, Plaxo Pulse, LinkedIn, Twitter, MySpace, whatever ...

... I'm tired of them all. One might say BLOGSPOT. But I like going out and reading other people's writing, thoughts, ideas, opinions, news, etc. RSS is a great way for me to get my news and leisure reading all in one place. All these social book marking sites are so tiring.

Maybe it's because part of my job involves incessant IM, jabbering, posting, updating, message boarding, perceptive thoughts - must I go on? Anyone else tired of this crap?

The answer is an resounding "NO." Because y'all are uploading new photos and leaving stupid messages on your high-school buddy's wall in Facebook as I write this. Trust me - they are ALL tired of hearing about your baby's first poop.

At least you're online though. I know some folks that still get excited about the time they'll save when we fall back for DST because they never change the time on their watch in the spring. Sheesh.

Moving on ... I have a post for the fellas. Still getting a tiny bit of flack for the SB mantra.

Allow me to reiterate the purpose ... a manly trigger to shift your focus towards God when things need fixing or are simply out of control. Now, since the word bastard causes problems, I am willing to shorten the phrase to Selfish B. That way we can all get over the perception of the term as opposed to the reputations of the men behind the philosophy.

SelfishB is often a response to marital issues. I believe that even when you're not at fault in a tough marital battle, there is certainly something in your life that you can shift your focus that would honor God and fill the void. Us men rarely encourage each other and offer our personal experiences.

What if you don't have someone to share with or your peers are simply useless and no mentor is available to you? Or perhaps you see your walk as so pristine there is no need for bettering yourself.

Need something to work on? There is a list that the wonderful Robert Lewis put together for those on the Quest for Authentic Manhood. I thought to post this as a reference - not something to perfect today but rather work on over a lifetime. Read this carefully and check which ones you've mastered as the Servant-Leader and Spiritual Leader of your home:

25 Ways to Be a Servant-Leader

A servant-leader ...

includes his wife in envisioning the future.
accepts spiritual responsibility for his family.
is willing to say "I'm sorry" and "Forgive Me" to his family.
discusses household responsibilities with his wife and makes sure they are evenly distributed.
seeks the consultation of his wife on all major financial decisions.
follows through with commitments he has made to his wife.
anticipates the different seasons his marriage will pass through.
anticipates the different stages his children will pass through.
frequently tells his wife what he likes about her.
provides financially for his family's basic living expenses.
deals with distractions so he can talk with his wife and family.
prays with his wife on a regular basis.
initiates meaningful family traditions.
plans fun outings for the family on a regular basis.
takes the time to give his children practical instructions about life, which in turn gives them confidence with their peers.
manages the schedule of the home and anticipates any pressure points.
keeps his family financially sound and out of harmful debt.
makes sure he and his wife have drawn up a will and arranged a well-conceived plan for their children in case of death.
lets his wife and children into the interior of his life.
honors his wife often in public.
explains sex to each child in a way that gives them a wholesome perspective.
encourages his wife to grow as an individual.
takes the lead in establishing with his wife sound, biblically-supportable family values.
joins a small group of men who are dedicated to improving their skills as a man, husband, and father.
provides times for his wife to pursue her own personal interests.

That's a tall order! If you have mastered all of these, please leave me your number ... I'm looking for a good mentor. I, for one, am going to try #20 this week. Where are you at?

Transom Links:

What's the "G" stand for?

2008-09-18T12:21:00.008-05:00

I grew up in the north east. Yes ... I'm a Yank. When I first heard someone refer to G-town, my initial thoughts brought me to Georgetown (D.C.) I forgot that I live in another country now. In Texas, that means Galveston.

For the 3rd time on the blog known as My Life In Rockwall, TX, I am dedicating a post to this lovely little pirate town. I've grown close to this little community over the past year ... it's a distance relationship but one of great endearment.

Between links with the sailing community, friends with school ties, and my own vacation, the historical significance, modern offerings, and shear beauty of this little island off the coast has rekindled a geographical pull on my spirit that only one other place in the world has rendered.

I think most of Texas, and quite possibly the nation, have tuned into Ike's destruction over the past week. There is little more to say on the subject. But I thought to share some images from the wreckage that hits home ... Clint and Chandler Rainey, family of our fellow ABFers, have been so good to share their experiences while they piece their physical home, professional, and educational lives back together.

Let me bring your attention to a small peak at the Rainey's downtown home - yes, the picture above shows the flood line that is about 4-5 feet deep. Below you will see that someone from the Texas A&M alumni department needs to ship out a new diploma.

Fortunately, Billy & Katie Self (Billy is Chandler's brother) has informed me of all the physical needs that are being covered. Action has been taken on the Rainey's situation as well as all over the island.

Even so, as it will be weeks before power is restored on the island, I call us all to commit the Rainey's (and all those hit by Ike) to prayer until full relief has been delivered. Will you join me?

Matthew 18:19-20

19 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

Also, please read the fine journalism from Clint, published by Newsweek with 3 other authors. This fella went into the trenches with gas and rope to get the inside story.

This Thing Is Huge
http://www.newsweek.com/id/158675

A public Facebook album with all the pictures can be viewed at:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2591005&l=198ce&id=8317884

Leave them a note of encouragement. Peace.

Nominate "Bring the Rain"

2008-09-17T12:40:00.002-05:00

If you know Angie Smith, please find her latest post for a link to nominate her blog. Her winnings will be donated to the Hope Clinic.

http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/2008/09/so-i-am-nominated.html

If you have never visited Angie Smith's site, then I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul. But you can still go get familiar with the story by starting here:

http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/2008/01/beginning-of-story.html

There is a voting button on her side bar.

Hovercraft Schematics - Only $19.97!

2008-09-16T08:57:00.008-05:00

Jesus knew that sugarcoating his message never made for a "salty saint" ...

Luke 14:25-27 (NIV)

The Cost of Being a Disciple

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Is that why we have such a hard time sharing our faith? It's a tough sell for sure. Food for thought.

I think we're more likely to take the soft soap route (audio clip). I don't like beating around the bush so it eases me to know that the World's Savior makes no apologies for His message. We love a strong, uncompromising God that offers abundance simply by following him. Simple things with simple rules ... hard to do and follow through.

So I lied - I don't have any Hovercraft schematics but would be interested in reselling yours if you have a proven concept, design, and working model. As the self-appointed Ambassador of Rock at ProSoap Industries, I could really use a sweet ride to promote industrial hand soap manufacturers, clean room constructors, triathlon teams, Lake Pointe ministries, JustinShouldNeverReadInClassAgain.com, local photographers, etc.

Everyone has a pimped out, customized Hummer - it does not impress anymore. The Hover Craft will though! So submit your designs today and I'll shoot you an offer.

Here's some transom links:

Baby Swimming Survival Video - warning ... this is scary!
Forearm Forklift - very cool tool.
Opera Mini for the Blackberry - best phone browser ever ... that isn't SkyFire!

Waking up on the edge of a King Size.

2008-09-09T10:02:00.009-05:00

I'm in Springfield, MO. At a Residence Inn. With my very own king size bed. Six fluffy pillows. My sweet wife at home running the house with no help ... and I go to bed early and wake up on the edge of the bed.

I tried to spread out and consume as much of the comfy freedom that my employer is so gracefully providing on this futile business trip. Alas, I found myself balled up on the edge, making certain I would not miss out on any information the foreign alarm clock had to share.

After all, it's a work week. Not traveling much anymore would make it nonsensical for me to subconsciously deny my wife's sleeping space. I must admit that it's comforting to know my marriage has that much of an impact on my inate sensibilities.

On the other hand, it does bring to thought some humorous truths that I call ...

The wife's sleeping space - safety first!

DISCLAIMER - keep in mind this is a generality and in whole or partially true in over 99% of all marital arrangements - this is NOT an exact reflection of the Welch household - I am trying to be funny, not stupid - I can easily apologize if I'm not funny.

DISCLAIMER 2 - Over 70% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

The wife's sleeping space consists of the following areas and disciplines:

The Cold Toes Region.
The Violent-Kick-To-The-Shins-Region (more prominent during times of pregnancy.)
The Ankle-slice-from-the-freshly-manicured-dagger-toe-nails Zone - nicely painted though.
The Ankle-slice-from-the-severely-neglected-broken-toe-nails Zone - not so nicely painted.
The Cold Turkey Spoon Eclipse ... why do their buttocks drop to -30 degrees during the winter?
The "sorry-about-the-get-away-from-me" arm swing drop.
And of course, the inevitable gentle-unraveling-of-the-sheets-to-get-what-little-coverage-you-can-manage-before-having-to-get-up-and-go-pee Maneuver.

To be fair - the women's list would/should be much longer, detailed and harsh - I understand that we men are much more difficult to sleep with - but I only have one accurate point of view.

Due to my involuntary understanding of these sleeping phenomenon, I woke alone in a king size bed, grasping to 2 feet of comforter, the corner of 1 pillow, on the edge of the bed, hoping I did not sleep in.

So one my entire posts actually matched the title! It's a story! And a boring one at that. So here are some Transom Links:

Looking towards December ...

Daily Manna ...

Daily Manna from the 'Net for Tuesday, September 9, 2008

'You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48 NIV | Listen

Even Jason Bonham has a cheesy side.

2008-09-04T10:08:00.009-05:00

How Foreigner talked Jason Bonham into drumming for them on a Def Leppard and Styx 2007 reunion tour is beyond comprehension. The conversation must have a gone a little like this:

Mick Jones: "Hey Jason, we're kicking off an old guy tour to promote our latest compilation box set titled 'Foreigner - The Colby Jack Years - 3 Decades of Chart Topping Cheese'. Would you be our drummer?"

Bonham: "Can we do some Zep covers?"

Mick: "Ummm ... sure."

Rock 'n roll history.

Anyhoo, I'm a Dirty White Boy and I wanna know what love is! So I posed 2 questions to my buddy, Eric. I've been on an epic quest the past few years, soliciting these queries to all varieties of men. I've obtained everything from blank stares to book recommendations. Eric was able to conclude so simply and matter-of-fact-ly that there could only be 2 possibilities why it hasn't made sense to me yet:

I'm entirely too obtuse to have appreciated others wisdom.
All the other men I've asked really haven't mastered the skills to give a pragmatic answer.

This may appear cheesy ... and my wife might be wondering when I'm going to get off my back-side and apply this in our lives ... but it would be irresponsible of me not to share this with any man that graces the posts here.

(Quoted verbatim from Mr Gebhardt with his explicit approval ...)

how to beat a slump - time away from kids talking through stuff with wife. slumps are typically caused by wives feeling that their emotional relationship with their spouse is troubled, or clouded by lack of time for clear communication of concerns.

how to lead a wife in prayer - lay her down. pet her hair. close your eyes. speak to God about the ways each of your family members is blessed. thank Him specifically for the ways he has blessed each of you. thank God for you wife last. her heart will open. kiss her.

Thanks Eric for your practical wisdom. It's obvious you have done this and found what works. I think the key for any other man trying is the following:

Create the time for you and your lovely to consistently "air the dirty laundry."
Recognize the times of comfort you share with your wife.
Follow through by using that comfort time to advance your marriage.

Easy rules - challenging to endure. On with the madness!

AN algorithm IN OBSCURITY

2008-09-03T10:48:00.005-05:00

Haven't been feeling too bloggepreneurial lately. And it's already September.

Imagine if your job was to be bad at your job ... really bad. Feeling under the weather this weekend, I watched a little TV that would normally be missed. Dirty Jobs. With Mike Rowe. Everyone is always yelling at him. Every job he goes to ... he's never experienced. Yet most of these loosely educated proletarians scream at him for coming up short, damaging raw materials, or misusing the tools.

As quickly as I started wondering about how frustrated he could really be with the money he makes for hosting a silly TV show, I began feeling empathy for his job. He sucks at everything and is justified in the frustration expressed towards the people profiled on the show.

On a single show he got multiple bee stings, environmental sludge in his face, and patronized by a surf board manufacturer. At least I get a few wins here and there up at Hotels.com!

So I was testing a new algorithm that is a piece of SEO optimization research and ran it against my blog. Almost every paragraph came back with suggestions. I would say it works! Some of the funnier ones that I can't believe I ever wrote:

Ironically, it only picked up one sentence that used the word "obscure" and none of my usual grammatical errors. Oh well.

Should have warned you this would not be a riveting or meaningful post even given a wide berth. So I'll leave you with something that is both enthralling and consequential:

Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.

Psalm 25:7

Unrelated Transom Links

Coming this September ...

Why I hate Facebook
The Science of Being Scammed or possible Scamola-ed: a book review.

FYI - "bloggepreneur" was coined last week by Mark Cuban when some blogger challenged the fact that he was not technically proficient, just Internet lucky. He simply agreed sarcastically that he was a minion compared to the mighty bloggepreneur that figured out his secret. Nicely played Cubby ...

Is it the Michelobe or the Lame Excuses Gland?

2008-08-27T15:21:00.009-05:00

Subtitle: Commitment Molecule vs. Ice Cream Receptor - the next Battle of the Sexes

Most boring post title ever! That being said, this is awesome ...

(click on the image to enlarge)

-----

(click on the image to enlarge)

Where Pregnant Acrobats & Undercooked Brats Collide

2008-08-25T11:53:00.011-05:00

Absolute truth is a tough pill to swallow. But the rules are simple and easy to find. I find joy in being surrounded by truth seekers. The journey is challenging and we have the world to contend with ... whether we're ready or not!

As my neighbor fired up his own grill and peeked over the fence on Saturday, he may have witnessed just another backyard barbecue. Until I get a chance to share with him again, he will never know the true nature of our gathering.

Emotional physics.

A fantastic term brought to us by the Men's Fraternity. The laws of emotional physics were at large this weekend in the quiet little town of Fate. ABFers from all over descended on our backyard. Cheeseburgers became catalysts of good will. Badminton foretold the collaboration of a generation of men. And the mighty Wii measured our will to assert ourselves!

Emotional physics 101, folks. I started with a pile of raw meat on the grill and walked back into a house teeming with a spread of toppings, desserts, side dishes, snacks, and drinks. Infants were cared for. Stories were told. Quelf was played. Our resident triathlete even caught a nap amidst the chaos.

I won't prattle too much about it ... however, I want to bring to light one amazing story from that party. Nicole Clifton, wife of Woodcreek fantasy football expert, Justin, is just a few weeks away from delivering their first child. An anomaly with her placenta (Placenta abruptio?) causes her severe abdominal pain. Despite the setback, this woman was strolling through the mob of ABFers with a smile on her face that would indicate nothing less of a carefree socialite.

That's what I call "an invested, self-less, team member."

After this weekend's lesson, I thought I might fly off the handle and give my thesis on agnosticism. My posts are really void of any reasonable opinions so I canned the idea. So what did I learn? You can examine the recap at http://gravesabf.blogspot.com/. While so many great testimonies were shared, I thought of one who didn't speak.

When we finally dug into the scriptures, I brushed by Romans 1:16.

16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

or

Eric Gebhardt quietly reading his bible, over lunch, in plain view of the world.

These are our friends ABFers! There are countless more examples. Aren't you excited? We're going places and contending the whole way. We're making an impact. And these little gatherings that look like any other backyard barbecue? Don't be fooled - they are training exercises in preparation for caring outside of the backyard.

So I don't have to conclude ineptly, let me brag on another fellow ABFer's accomplishments this weekend. Good 'ol Billy Boy brought home the Tri The Rock Triathlon 10th overall and 4th in his age group. Too fast for me to make it to the end of Fate Main as he zipped by on his Orbea. Not to mention a personal best in swimming which put him only 20 seconds behind SMU's 2006 swim captain.

For details, click on the previous post or go to http://tri-prosoap.blogspot.com.

Unrelated Transom Links

SkyFire Beta
Weirdness abounds - pratical atheism at its best or authenic Christian business? See ... Interstatebatteries.com/godslove
Alisha the Agnostic

How we are viewed by Agnostics (pictorially):

Tri-ProSoap Racing: We're #1...

2008-08-25T11:49:00.000-05:00

Tri-ProSoap Racing: We're #1...

Cornbread for the Simpleton

2008-08-21T14:56:00.005-05:00

"... and a slew of crazy friends and family!" is a partial quote at the top of this blog. It's so true ... Cornbread is not his name nor is he a simpleton - but that's what we joke about. Realistically, he possesses the name sake of one of the Bible's most noble characters: Cornelius.

And he has a knack for living up to it.

"We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all ..."

Although I highly doubt any of us will be leaving breakfast next week muttering that scripture, it's guys like Kevin as well as Billy, Robert, Justin, and Dave that inspire me to have wonderful talks with my wife who offers up supposition such as "every woman draws something from the relationship with her father that makes them fall in love with their husband."

Us guys really use that stuff! But we'd never get there unless we were sharing and doing life together.

There is so much happening in our home, our church, our ABF, our neighborhood, our community ... and it's all due to this crazy cast of friends. Who's reading today? You're all amazing. Pass the message on.

I'm blown away by some of the people that surround us. The support, the fun, the prayers, the walk ... it is baffling when I sit back and contemplate on the richness of life. I thought I had something to blurb about today ... but I'm speechless.

Here's some "transom" links if you're bored:

And a little manna ...

1 Peter 3:15
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

The Wonderful Social Message of Jesus

2008-08-19T15:11:00.010-05:00

The year is 1983. Based on the jacket-less mob of children, it's an unusually warm day in November ... for Ohio. My Mother planned my 9th birthday party a little earlier this year so I could enjoy it with friends as opposed to getting lost in the mess of the Christmas holiday break. Forever doomed to the "combo present", I was born 2 days after Christmas.

The birthday was a good one. I was wearing gray parachute pants which took the focus off my uber-nerd, bowl-cut/broom-end of blond strings. These days I wouldn't be so picky as long as I had some hair.

Romping through the front yard of the neighborhood before piling in the mini-van with fake, wood-grain paneling for presents and treats at the local roller skating alley.

Holding hands with the cutest girl in 3rd grade while rolling around to "Endless Love" & "Faithfully" should have been the end to the blurry saunter down amnesia lane.

After a riveting message on Prejudice this weekend, a horribly vivid memory from that day still haunts me. No - not the yellow and green striped pack of tube socks from JC Penny's my grandma gave me as a birthday present.

Enter Cindy Spitz. As I mentioned before, about 10 of us 3rd graders from Saint Joe's Catholic School were gathered in my front yard for pictures before the Birthday celebration. Cindy, a 3rd grade class mate of ours, was walking in front of the house ... alone.

She was pushing her Cabbage Patch doll in an umbrella stroller. She lived at the end of the street, with parents old enough to be her grandparents. At 9, she wore coke-bottle thick glasses, braces on her teeth, braces on her legs, walked like a duck, and was dressed like Laura Ingalls from Little House On The Prairie. She was not invited.

Day in and day out she was mercilessly tormented at school and on the bus. I knew this. She was at my assigned bus stop. Horribly shy and most definitely warped by the abuse, she stood strong and strolled in front of the group from her class celebrating her bus mate's birth.

And we mocked her. Ruthlessly. My Mom stepped in and stopped it ... but the memory has never left me.

Cindy ... I apologize and request your forgiveness for that day.

...

Some have been so bold as to question my "Selfish Bastard" mantra. And it really got me thinking lately. Is my life mantra flawed? To my detractor's shame, no.

The Story of the Selfish Bastard

About 2 years ago, I walked into my good friend's office, Ryan, handed him his cup of java and said, "I just saved your life." It was about 6:45 AM and my turn to bring coffee to work.

Ryan - "How's that?"
Jerry - "You're a selfish bastard."
Ryan - "What did I do?"
Jerry - "See? Why does it always have to be about you?"

Pause. Laughter.

No matter how right you are or how well things are going, there is something in your life that the Lord is endlessly and patiently waiting for you to let go. "Selfish Bastard" is just a trick for us more irreverent types to trigger a turn towards God.

When you've had it with your wife and you even know she's at fault (less than 0.1% of the time, of course) there is probably something out there that God has "had it" with you. End of argument. Unless of course you've figured out everything on this side of heaven.

So if you are an adversary of the "Selfish Bastard" mantra, feel free to substantiate your argument by citing a specific example in your life where you were 100% in the right and God revealed to you that your walk was as pristine as a disciple of Christ could become and no further action would be necessary on that day. I will then bow out humbly.

Until then ... I'm telling you for the last time ... you're a selfish bastard.

So what about this social message of Jesus? Well, I've always been one to try and strike gold and philosophize about it later. Selfish Bastard is an example of that. Most would say that I just don't have the discipline to be still and learn first. That made it more weird when I started reading "The Science of Getting Rich", a 1910 publication by a weakling named Wallace D. Wattles. The title was a bit suspect when handed over to me by a good friend. But I gave it a whirl.

Chapter 1 - absolutely agreed with NOTHING until the summary - "... for you can render to God and humanity no greater service than to make the most of yourself."

I plan to read through this and read it again. I find myself wondering what the fortnight I'm reading sometimes until this Wattles freak blows me away with an ideal I completely align to. Since I'm usually left conflicted on why I puke on everything except his conclusions, I plan to publish my full notes on the piece here in a follow-up post.

To give you an idea of this guy's topical prowess, have a look at the other titles he penned before succumbing to an untimely death:

Health Through New Thought and Fasting
Hellfire Harrison (his only novel)
Making of the Man Who Can
A New Christ
The Science of Being Great
The Science of Being Well
The Science of Getting Rich (1910)

No matter the mantra, I leave you with this:

1 John 4:19-21

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Protect the Cindy Spitz of the world when the opportunity arises. Do not fall into the child-like folly of taunting the weak. And above all, always go to your Father for the guidance in taking the next step to becoming His vision for you, for the merit of His Son's Passion, by the strength through the Holy Spirit.

For some, this is simply cleaning up the massive nacho cheese spills in our life without saying a word ...

For a little levity, here are some entertaining links residing far from this digital space:

Peace.

Movies, games, and suitcases ... hand soap?

2008-08-18T08:31:00.002-05:00

ABF Teamsters and other readers ... see the following message from mens morning mentoring friend, Dave McIlrath ...

I highlighted a few key points of the message. Movies, games, and suitcases ... I think we can do that! And make a huge impact in Africa. Let's pony up. Either hook up with Justin, Robert, Billy, myself or anyone else that sees Dave on Thursday mornings or bring something to class this weekend and we'll hunt down Dave at church.

How 'bout some ProSoap in each room? Huh? Huh? Self?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dave McIlrath
Date: Sun, Aug 17, 2008 at 8:30 PM
Subject: Do you have any DVDs, boardgames, or suitcases for Ethiopia?

We are really excited about the work in Ethiopia! The guest home for volunteers and adoptive parents saw over 80 volunteers this summer…all coming to help the cause of the orphan.

As we are transitioning to hosting adoptive parents, we are looking to send children’s DVDs and/or family friendly DVDs to Ethiopia for families staying at the guest home.

We would love for you to look through your DVD collection and help us by sending the ones that are children’s/family friendly. Also, we are collecting board games and suitcases to take them in. If you have any DVDs, board games, or suitcases that you’d like to donate to Ethiopia Guest Home, please email me back or call us at 972-722-1438.

Sunday (a week from now) is the very last day we can gather any donations…so let us know as soon as possible. Please don’t go out and buy anything new…used items are great.

Thanks for your help in helping the cause of the orphan…and families whom are adopting.

Blessings,

Dave McIlrath, MA

Orphan Advocate

www.ethiopiaguesthome.com

More Than a Place to Stay

(951) 491-9675

Boots to Beijing

2008-08-13T08:17:00.002-05:00

Dallas Realtor Robbie Briggs is blogging from Beijing, sometimes from the stadium. I thought this was a cool link ...

http://www.bootstobeijing.com/

And since this is a short post with no content, I give you an Olympic related public service message (or is it massage?)

"I hate Gandhi" and other potentially offending phrases.

2008-08-11T13:30:00.012-05:00

Back in July, in response to feeling patronized, the Reverend Jessie Jackson threatened to "cut out" Barack Obama's fellas (family jewels, twig and berries, fishing tackle, etc)! I would say that's pretty offensive - at least if you are Barack or someone close to him. Apparently, "cut out" is much more demeaning of an action that "cut off." If you ask those that have had a staph infection in that area or the likes of John Wayne Bobbit, it probably boils down to "6 to one and half dozen to another."

What's my point? I often don't have one. Well ... got a few "comments" about previous posts' titles that appear to be offensive to a certain demographic. The note was anonymous spam but included the following titles:

No substantiation was given for the offensive nature nor was there any mention of the content of the posts (which in my biased opinion is the whole point of the post.)

So to all the Fidel apologists, Harpo fans, poor people in Africa, morons, bible bashers, Amish that have internet connections, Ukrainians, and working girls, I'd like to issue the following statement:

"For any harm or hurt that this hot mic conversation may have caused, I apologize ..."

Actually, I stole that from Jessie ... Jackson said he couldn't recall everything he'd said in the studio. Either way, those titles don't seem so bad when stacked up against publicly threatening to castrate a public figure. So I tried to think of another offensive title and "I hate Gandhi" seemed pretty disturbing.

Here's a picture that is more disturbing than offensive ...

... that's my good friend Kevin riding his daughter's bike - not one of Rockwall's mentally disturbed. Thanks for the fodder, Kev.

Speaking of Kev, a few of us rolled downtown this weekend to old Boxtown. Although unsure of how to measure success on the streets, the fact that 5 guys in 2 cars with 90 sandwiches, 50 biscuits, 15 cases of water, and Jesus leading the way through the dirt, made the trip worthwhile.

Despite walking in on a drug deal, witnessing the act of prostitution, and getting berated by a drunk, we managed to form a prayer circle, share the Word, and distribute a lot of H2O to the summer street and bridge "lifers". Getting a hug and a thank you from a fella named James validated the whole trek.

I took a few pictures with my phone (visit Graves ABF for more pics) - something I usually would not do out of respect for others homes. Most of the pics did not turn out well. But one tells the tale of 2 worlds, separated mostly by skin color and commercialism:

That's Mack. 3 years ago he would not speak to us. Last Christmas he told us why. We formed a friendship. Now the city has doubled up on the fencing so no one can get back to him and it's difficult for him to get out.

"Well, he chooses to live that life." I've been told that. But everyone who's ever said that to me has never seen his cracked, swollen, bleeding feet that make it impossible for him to walk more than 20 yards without having to rest.

Despite Mack's choices in life, I will keep going to see him and the others that shelters can not reach for these reasons:

Everyone needs a good friend.
Everyone deserves my Jesus.
I have the means, knowledge and ability to share both.

But do I have the endurance? Time will tell. Colin, Kevin, John and Chris - my fellow brothers in Christ - sure did keep me motivated this weekend. Those 90 sandwiches didn't make themselves - thanks to the Self's for being so Self-less and providing us with food and ultimately the ability to give "service with a smile." I don't know who gave the $50 for biscuits, but thank you too! It's astonishing once one thinks about all the giving that occurred just for us to be able to go ... my favorite scripture when thinking of Boxtown:

Hebrews 13

1Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

By the way ... the new shelter, The Bridge, is a fantastic facility serving hundreds a day and empowering people to change their lives. I should clarify though, that feeding everyone is not the focus of the Boxtown Mission. To find out more, contact me and plan a trip down with us. Don't forget Charles Reid's testimonia l on a previous post - you know, the one that I offended Ukrainians ... click here if interested.

And to wrap up, here are 2 things that have nothing to do with hating Gandhi but may be offensive ...

Unrelated link to check out - http://www.breakfastwithfred.com/
Unrelated question to ponder - Why would someone name their child Macy Dickson?

Why are your blogs so long?

2008-08-07T10:19:00.011-05:00

Or for that matter, why do you blog at all? Could my time wasted doing this go towards more productive activities? No one really reads blogs. Right?

As Bart would say, "Eat my shorts."

It's a brain dump folks. It's healthy to journal. In today's digital world, the blog is the perfect tool. So I say, "Bloggers unite!" And as for this post, I plan to make it one of the most disjointed, topical lapses in the short history of this social bookmark. This one's for our Amish ABF leader, Mr. Graves (that's Gra-vez). Assuming he can pedal over to a dial-up connection somewhere and wait for jerrywelch.name to propagate.

Have you ever Googled yourself? Of course you have - what a silly question. Well, I didn't until today. Not sure why I waited so long. Oh yeah - so I didn't have to be depressed by the top 10 Jerry Welch's in the world:

MySpace.com - Jerry Welch - Breeder of Fine Peacocks - 46 - Male ...

Never again. Didn't even bother to check out the 2nd page of results.

My beautiful wife presented our class this weekend with the bible lesson. In the back of mind (way back there - somewhere around the early 90's bong resin and memory of my first Van Halen concert) I felt a little concerned about the perception of a woman in her young 30's bringing a biblical lesson to a peer group of couples.

Ya know what? She was great. We learned, laughed, and lunged into the Word. A bunch of 20 & 30-somethings praising and fellowshipping with the Lord. If the Church wants more from a substitute teacher, I would find myself at a loss.

Watch out for Girl Power though! We don't want to give them too much latitude do we? Awwww, yeah ... now I might get your attention while scatter shooting. Realistically, that's what one might think when reading through other posts on this site. Might I remind you I'm a big fan of the ladies. And to prove that, I'm going to promote some well-deserved, women-run, local businesses:

JC Originals
I'm an actual customer. Jill is not only talented at an array of design skills, but "easy to work with", "kind" and "country sweetness" comes to mind if I had to write a description. Her husband is my good buddy, Kevin - he tries to help ... emphasis on try. Need a family photo? Invitations for a special event? Composite? Check out her web site - www.jc-originals.com - or hed over to the JC Originals Blog - www.jc-originals.blogspot.com.

Andrea Wheat ... well, I know she has an artistic-based side business as well. But I can't remember the website, what it's called, or what she does. Something about paper ... hopefully her husband, Ryan (an MMA enthusiast), will get back to me so I can make sense out of this post.

UPDATE! Almost a day after the post I got the info from Ryan:

Vintage Paper Concepts
Andrea's site is really well done. And I know she's talented. My favorite product section on the site would be http://www.vintagepaperconcepts.com/forhome.html. Two reasons ... 1 - this seams like practical items people would want to dress up the domicile; 2 - they show an address sign that says "Butternut." Just the name of the street makes me giggle like a little school girl. So visit http://www.vintagepaperconcepts.com/ today - don't forget her blog as well - http://andreawheat.blogspot.com/.

ProSoap
I ran out of ideas for local, woman-owned businesses that I consciously could remember. So the closest thing to a girl I could think of was Billy - it's a stretch but he's the only dude I know that shaves his legs. ProSoap - I'm telling you again - this is great hand soap! It removed the wax off my hands from a toilet bowl wax ring! Grease from the Saab? Washed away like dust in the wind. Fishy smell after a good catch? Your wife will hold your hand after a quick scrub. Official ProSoap campaign for August ... "Stop being a fool and buy a tub!" (Disclaimer: official campaign may not have been approved by ProSoap management.)

OK - that was a pathetic local-woman-business plug. But at least I got Jill a back link ... she deserves it merely for reading this filth! And her work is merited.

Have a blessed week and pray for our safety on Saturday as we comb the streets of Dallas ministering to the needs of the unreached, untouched, and unloved.

Questions for the week

What does freemasonry and Mormonism have in common?
Why does Justin Graves refuse to set his wrist watch to conform to DST?
Explain why the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy nor Roman nor an empire. (Based on a famous comment by Voltaire.)

Fun Links Sent To Me This Week

Ta-Da!

2008-08-02T17:09:00.004-05:00

My new blog name says it all - MyLifeInRockwall. It also ensures this place on the Internet a level of obscurity only endured by local hand soap manufacturers and clean-room construction companies.

I put a lot of thought into this process and it made the most sense out of any other feasible option available on blogspot. Here are some that were available:

Choices #2 & #3

jerry-welch
abrahamsbeard (but not zeusbeard?)

Choices considered but never made the final round ...

The following desirable blog names were taken. What's worse is NONE of them has ever been used for anything (even stupid stuff - just void spaces on the Internet!) 2005 is the most recent post!

click here for an audio clip that illustrates my feelings about these folks

bestblogever
bestbloggerever
bestblogspotever
whyaskwhy (do not go here)
thisblogsucks
1974
zeusbeard
farbeyonddriven (high hopes here as a Pantera fan ... nothing but white space)
vandownbytheriver (also high hopes but worthless)
selfishbastard
ihateblogs
ihateblogspot
ihateblogging
ihateblogger
mmm
scattershooting (would've been a top 3 choice for me)
feeblesouls

Anyway - I like the new name. It couldn't be more precise. Given its simplicity, it's "doubly" more creative than any domain Billy Self has ever purchased. McIlrath still has us all beat ... but he's borderline clinical when it comes to domain ownership. I didn't spend a penny.

Well, maybe I should find some sort of content, have some sort of opinion. But opinions can be ill-informed, illogical, irrational, irritating and irreverent. Or I could stick with irreverence for just a while. I'm fairly talented in that realm.

At the end of the day, this place is nothing but a creative outlet for me. I do hope someone comes along and enjoys the humor and love that I will dedicate to writing here. But it's nothing more than a brain dump and a chance to increase link activity to my friend's web sites. In fact, if you ever want something represented, I will gladly promote what you're doing and why. With the exception of porn, violence, or God smacking. Just send me an email.

I'll leave you today with something void of opinion, grammatical error, or misdirection:

Daily Manna from the 'Net for Saturday, August 2, 2008

'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matthew 6:25-27 NIV

I pledge aledgience to the flag ...

2008-07-31T20:09:00.007-05:00

It's been a long while since I muttered those words. In fact, I'm pretty sure it would have been the last time I was in a public school classroom - senior year, Pittsford Mendon HS, 1993.

If you have been wondering about my age, now you can do the math. Or you could have just looked at my bio (to the right with a bunch of cool links and other information.)

As Billy Self's guest, I made my first Rockwall Rotary breakfast. We opened with prayer and then said the pledge together - Rockwall's finest Rotarians in unison. On the verge of asking myself "Why am I here?" an overwhelming feeling of oneness came over me. That may sound weird but it took me back to the simple days of elementary school. The Pledge of Allegi ance. A presentation of the Colin County Cold Case/Fugitive Unit by DA, John Roach. Good eats. Not a bad way to start a morning.

I have a lot to say today and no one to listen. Or is it a little to say and too many people talking to me? Something about my persona was revealed to me today. I complain about complaining. Amazingly I was not surprised.

Have you ever been in a God coma? Something wakes you out of it. Blink.

At work catching up on Google Reader, I started sifting through a post called Blink. Nothing makes you feel less manly when your tear ducts well up at work. I felt broken. Darn you, Angie Smith! Ya finally got me. I was broken. Read the post for yourself ... but I will share the beautiful conclusion:

...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you...Philippians 4:8-9

Blink. She's good.

There is a world outside of our own. We lose site of it. I have a photo memory of Boxtown. This is just a blog, but together we can open the door to change on the streets. As I approach the trek back to downtown Dallas' most desperate areas, I pray that all involved can use Angie's application of the snapshot to our local mission work.

Boxtown.

"No Reserves. No Retreats. No Regrets." ~ William Borden ... truly a great missionary.

In 2 days I will be back here to rename the blog - CLICK HERE for a recap on the renaming campaign. It will be a busy day for sure. Celebrating Dad's birthday in Plano, new blog name, friends visiting in the evening for fun and games, church on Sunday. It's shaping up to be a great weekend.

So press on, look for that Boxtown email, and enjoy these links.

FrontBurner (way better blog than mine)
The Hugging Lion
The Venture Bros

Here's Rusty Venture (image on the right) - my Team at work seems to think I was the model for the character's likeness. What do you think?

Whores, whores, whores.

2008-07-28T13:03:00.009-05:00

Subtitle: Why most whores are better at marketing than you.

Motley Crue certainly had a hit when they penned the eerily similar Girls, Girls, Girls. I am neither a Crue fan or about to express my disgust of most glam rock.

On my recent visit to Galveston, I learned of the well-known issue of the town's battle with prostitution. If confronted during a debate, I would certainly consider myself an adversary of the practice. Nonetheless, you have to admire the ingenuity of this taboo magnate.

In order to keep the "business" rolling while dumb-founding local authorities, ongoing investigations, and an overall distaste for the professional, organized pimp organizations, the island's escort distributors changed tactics. We all know when to look the other way, keep the doors locked and cover the kids' eyes, right? When the sun sets on the strip.

Wrong! Most of the sexual transactions now occur at COB - close of business. Right when the men get out of the office and kill a little time before going home to the wifey. Genius. Pure genius.

Why can't we be more thoughtful and driven towards the needs of the customers in our respectable, respective businesses. Or for that matter, don't we tend to minister when it fits our schedule? "That prayer can wait", "this person will be there next week", "the homeless are always homeless." Typical thoughts of the average Christian. I am as guilty as anyone.

I'm not out to bring anyone down today or level the playing field. Life is good and there are tons of Christians out there doing the right thing. My point is that there might be something to learn in the strangest of places. Check out this video of the past weekend's message from Wes Hamilton (not a strange place to learn just a great commentary on obedience) ...

Title: "Old School - Gideon" by Wes Hamilton on July 27, 2008

Is there anything good or is this all about gloom and doom? In case you feel like not reading anymore or skipping to a particular topic, here's the agenda for remainder of this post:

SCRUM for the non-SCRUMMER
The Wii Fit and Mii
Fun links from the Web
Conclusion

SCRUM for the non-SCRUMMER
When people learn that I'm a certified scrum master, I usually get a few odd looks, occasionally get called a SCUM master, and from time to time, the person justs walk away in disbelief. It's not my position but a way to manage agile projects. In my case, agile projects are software headlines that deliver value back to the customer in an incremental, iterative fashion. Each increment is shippable (ready for the world) and the work is defined as a planned, committed iteration.

That's all there is to it. Of those of us managers that implement this scrum style, there are even more questions. Folks just get lost in the details. Here are my Top 3 rules of SCRUM:

Common Sense
BOCTAOE (click the link to find out)
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment." - (Google says) Mullah Nasrudin

The problem with these rules? Common sense is not so common, exceptions turn into panic buttons, and failure is frowned upon.

A lot of people say Scrum is about common sense. I wonder if it's because of hindsight, after a person has learned about Scrum, it appears like it should have been common sense all along. Everyone in my profession has been conditioned to think about and carry out software development in a non-commonsensical way for the past several decades. When someone finally points it out, it's only natural to react with, "Oh, yeah. Of course. Why didn't I think of that?"

If you really want an overview of the Scrum process and some case studies of success and failure, pickup the following book:

Agile Project Management with Scrum by Ken Schwaber

The Wii Fit and Mii
So I got a Wii Fit. This is an amazing advancement in gaming. Alright - so I'm not a gamer. But I'm having a blast. The poularity of the Wii unit and its accessories is astonishing. The poor kid at Game Stop can't even keep a copy of Mario Carts for himself.

Elizabeth and I basically wrestle for position on this thing. It is a fun, organized, and accountable way of working out. I wouldn't suggest it for the triathlete, but it has certainly improved the quality of life for this psoriatic arthritic, sendintary, software manager.

Fun links from the Web
On my way around the Internet, I occasionally run into little jems ... noticably bais towards my tastes:

BeerAdvocate | Respect Beer.TM
Rush plays Rock Band to Tom Sawyer NOTE - I despise Rush but thought it was interesting to see an actual band interact with the game (other than Slash being drunk on a commercial.)
Shatter Sports - Did you know this is a Rockwall based company?!

Conclusion
We've gone on a roller coaster ride - whores, Jesus, Scrum, Wii, beer, Rush, and Rockwall. Not the finest or well planned posts of the week. But this blog is as obscure as a Malaysian beauty contest winner. So be it.

For inspiration and a cleansing of filth from this post, read Psalm 7 today.

Stay wise.

Without Jesus we'd all be Ukranian.

2008-07-23T08:48:00.006-05:00

When you feel like crying ... do you feel a piercing pain in your fingers?

Now that I don't have your attention (see Angie Smith's blog for well written, purposeful prose), I would like to share some wisdom from the Word that was just revelaed to me last night:

Titus 2:4-5 (New International Version)

4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Now before anyone freaks out, I'm not going down the male shovanistic route - OK? What is revealed here is a description of a Godly woman as a Servant-Lover. If we men were built to be Servant-Leaders, than this certainly makes a lot of sense. More interesting is the company that women are placed in when described as Servant-Helpers. There are only 4 people in the Bible mentioned as Helpers ...

God the Father
God the Son
God the Holy Spirit
and Woman

Noodle on that the next time you look at your wife, girlfriend, mother, etc. Moving forward, I'd like to share a personal story.

I have psoriatic arthritis. There have been rare moments over the past 7 years that I've felt comfortable saying that. Recently, I've been getting more confident in sharing the disease. It just sounds fake, doesn't it? So allow me to explain ...

I am not a talented writer or expert in loss and pain (again - see Angie Smith's blog for literary power in laying your life down.) Psoriatic arthritis is similar to rheumatoid arthritis in that that treatments and effects on the body are related. However, PA is an extension of psoriasis, the better known skin disease that has been historically and erroneously treated as a dermatological disorder. That topic is for another day (psoriasis is an autoimmune disorder.)

As the arthristis started to take over my joints, a rush of worry polluted my thoughts for several years. More and more inflamation, increased pain, and less physical activity led to an overall feeling of being less of a man. Eventually, I could not hold my children, button my shirts, or even have confidence that I would stand up after getting out of bed.

My wife, Elizabeth, and I delt with this alone for several years, continuing our rapid pace of life, hoping God would just swoop in and heal me. When we heard the wonderful news that she was pregnant with our third child, we decided that I needed to take some action.

To shorten the story, I had become an expert on psoriasis over the years and knew of only one possibility. We scheduled an appointment with a rheumatologist to discuss the options for biologics to supress my immune system, essentially "sponging" up the extra cells that my body repidly produces. I went to the teaching hospital, University of North Texas Health Science Center, in Fort Worth and asked every question I could conjure. The doctor was patient with me and after much prayer and diliberation, I chose Enbrel as my biologic.

Combined with methotrexate and a folic acid balancer, I not only was redeemed from a cripling disease, but my skin went from 80% covered in psoriasis to less than 1% ... in 3 weeks. Praise Jehovah-rapha, right? You betcha.

But every so often, He reminds me that this disease is just supressed. I still have psoriasis and PA. It is a blessing. And I'll tell you why ... when I am confronted with other people's pain or suffering, I can feel it in my fingers. A piercing pain will shoot through my digits allowing me to shift to an empathatic mode or in some cases act on what God wants me to do.

OK - so I proabably just lost anyone because of how crazy that sounds. I can assure you it is neither crazy or even sensational. Everyone has this gift. You may not feel it in your digits but you do have the ability to see people through Jesus' eyes and apply this in ministry to God, the Church, and the World.

Boxtown is my ministry - "Feeding the Hungry One Soul at a Time." It has been since Christmas of 2002. I'm reorganizing this effort. I'm scheduling it. Scheduling is something that I used to steer clear from. But if there is one thing I've learned from my buddy's triathlon team (Tri-Prosoap) is that you must train. In ministry, we must train our hearts. So get ready. An email will be broadcast with the details on what happens during a trip to Boxtown. If you don't get that email, my Google Calendar will be updated and open for folks to join the guest list.

To conclude, here is a note from our former ABF leader with his thoughts on the Boxtown ministry:

One of the things that has always drawn me to Jesus was the fact that he genuinely loved those who were considered by society to be worthless, filthy and low. When asked why he was spending so much time amidst the "unclean", he responded that it wasn't those who were healthy that needed a doctor, but those who were sick. In essence, Jesus came to minister specifically to those who lived in the "bad" parts of town, the forgotten and overlooked parts of town, the parts of town that we wish would just go away or simply did not exist. Jesus reached down into the gutter, healed the sick, spoke the truth in love and, in doing so, painted a beautiful image of what the transformative power of God's love in our lives can look like.

When we entered into the shadows of the looming overpass that is Boxtown at midnight armed with little more than clothes, a large bag of hamburgers and loads of bottled water, we had no idea what we would encounter. Guns, knives, drugs; anything was possible. We didn't bring any Bibles. We didn't bring any tracts. All we brought was a desire to see the light and love of Jesus penetrate a place as dark and hopeless as this. The mere fact that we had ventured from wherever we came from just to do this seemed mind-boggling to the people we met. When they asked why we were giving away clothes, food and water, we told them it was because of Jesus: because he loved us, now we love you. That was it. Plain and simple. Some thought it remarkable; others didn't care. Many were just happy for what we had brought with us. Some, however, were truly intrigued by this rag-tag group of young men willing to enter their world just to show them some love.

We had chances to share about our lives and so did they. We even prayed with a few of them; for their health, for their families they no longer saw, that God would speak to them again. Mostly, we just loved them and listened. I left that place that night feeling like I had walked in that narrow way that Jesus talked about. You know, the one that few will ever find? I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to watch God work as we stepped out in faith; to take part in Jesus' ministry. I pray that you might consider doing the same.

You will be changed.

Peace, grace and truth,

Charles

Boys, Beer, Baby food, Bug spray, & Bananas

2008-07-22T09:25:00.002-05:00

Yup - most of our vacation photos included at least 3 of the above. It was a wondrous trek around Texas culminating in a relaxing, beach-bumming foray around Galveston. Rich with historical perspective, warm gulf waters, good eats, and plenty of commercial excitement, I could not have been more impressed with our dirty, little Gulf city - the seat of the county bearing the same name.

Did you know Galveston was home to a number of state firsts, including:

the first post office (1836)
the first naval base (1836)
the first Texas chapter of a Masonic order (1840)
the first cotton compress (1842)
first Roman Catholic Cathedral (St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica) (1847)
the first parochial school (Ursuline Academy) (1847)
the first insurance company (1854)
the first gas lights (1856)
first Jewish Reform Congregation (Congregation B'nai Israel) (1868)
the first opera house (1870)
the first orphanage (1876)
the first telephone (1878)
the first electric lights (1883)
the first medical college (now the University of Texas Medical Branch) (1891)
and the first school for nurses (1890)

That only scratches the surface of this town's historical importance. If you like history and beaches, I strongly suggest visiting this little gem. And ask me where to go and NOT to go. I got some great advice from former locals and students. Hint: eat at The Original Mexican!

Why am I blogging like I'm some sort of travel review columnist? 3 reasons:

This is the HEB Plus of blogs - no one really goes there unless you live near by and ran out of gas.
I work for one of the largest OLTAs, which gives me an insider's perspective on the travel industry.
I'm always in the hunt for some self-indulgent, mundane, inane nonsense which I could publish only to never be heard.

Moving on ... a few days ago, Hotwire.com (a Hotels.com sister company - both are owned by Expedia.com) introduced an excellent new site for all the travel freaks out there. It is called Travel Ticker, dedicated to hot travel deals.

This is the first time Hotwire has introduced a new site since the original Hotwire site was created in 2000. Travel Ticker is a consumer-focused model versus a transactional site so visitors are taken off the site when they actually book any travel items. This allows the site to be fully devoted to uncovering great deals for U.S.-based travelers in a fun and innovative way.

Selections are updated hourly and geo-targeted – meaning visitors will first see deals related to where they live, whether its Seattle, St. Louis, or Sarasota. The site also uses a click-based rating system so deals sorted and ranked by visitor popularity throughout the day. As background, Travel Ticker was first established in 2006 as a free online newsletter for people looking for great travel deals. When the newsletter reached more than 11 million subscribers, it was clear that more frequent updates were needed and that a true community had formed. Thus, a new site joined the Hotwire family.

So how do they find these great rates? The team works around the clock to search for bargains and relies on the relationships and network of more than 10,000 contacts Hotwire has in the travel industry to highlight little-known deals for travelers.

Visit today at http://www.travel-ticker.com.

Now that I've bored everyone to tears (I think I'm up to 5 visitors now) I leave you with a "must-see" movie recommendation. American Splendor. Have you seen it?

Daily Manna from the 'Net for Tuesday, July 22, 2008

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 'Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' 'But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' 'I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.' Luke 18:9-14 NIV | Listen

Amish Bling & The Art Of Bookmark Sharing

2008-07-10T14:57:00.004-05:00

How 7 guys eating greasy food can turn a prayer request session into a full blown discussion on the Amish is beyond me. But it does happen. We had a great time this morning ... really covered a lot of ground. African ministries, aging mothers, pregnant wives, ABF demographics, eating crow, travel mercies ... the list goes on and on.

As I get ready to leave on vacation, I thought I'd NOT come up with some insane analogy or attempt at being interesting. Instead, I leave you with some fun work. Kinda like home work but better. Warning! Some of these links may offend you. But I can assure you there are no naked women or grotesque violence. I was going to say no dirty pictures but there is literal dirt in some of them so that would be inaccurate. Plus, not all of them have pictures. And everyone knows I don't like to be misleading ... have a great next week and I'll see ya on the flip flop!

Christian

The Authenticity of 2 Peter
The Authorship of Second Peter
Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram - http://lote.org/listen/listenDaily.php
Margaret Feinberg Books - http://www.margaretfeinberg.com/?page_id=4
Reunion Church Radio Message Guide - http://reunionchurch.org/dallas.php/radio

Fun

Traveling to Minnesota? Best concert of the summer - http://www.10klf.com/
Turn Yourself Into A Simpson Character
Ghost Cars Of The World ** NOTE: I've been known to drive a few of these to work.
The Dilbert Blog - http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/
Sound Bites From Movies - http://www.moviewavs.com/
Google TISP - http://www.google.com/tisp/

Links with a certain synonym for the word "donkey" but aren't related in any way

"Donkey" Driven Development (ADD) for the programming geek ** NOTE: This is a must read ... my fav being Cover Your A** Engineering (CYAE)
Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't

Sports

Hockey Futures - http://www.hockeysfuture.com/teams/dallas_stars
Tri-ProSoap Schedule & Results - http://www.tri-prosoap.com/schedule
Tri-Breakfast ??? No link yet ...
Custom NHL Shoes by RbK

Technology

Cool Bookmark Sharing for IE & Firefox (or across both) - http://www.zinkmo.com/
Don't buy a Mac before reading this site - http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/
Geek to Live: Automatically download and install your favorite software
AT&T Announces 3G iPhone Pricing and Plans

Youtube Clips

--- best links ever ---

Daily Manna from the 'Net for Thursday, July 10, 2008

'Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. Isaiah 43:18-21 NIV | Listen

I'm just here for the paycheck.

2008-07-09T09:26:00.006-05:00

Yes ... I am an IT concubine ... or so it would seem. My resume has always been the most interesting parts of the interview process.

"How many places have you been?"
"When were you there?"
"They actually paid you to do that?"

I never really heard the last question verbatim but the subject has been encroached upon. Where am I going with this? Right ... 15 guys piled in a church shuttle last night for Boys Night Out at the Ballpark. The Rangers squeaked out a win and everyone had a pretty good time.

What was even more impressive to me was the array of dudes that are connected through this wonderful church body at Lake Pointe. I didn't get to talk to everyone but discovered so many new things. The remarkable nature of each man's walk and how that translates into their family structure and careers is mind boggling. My career flakiness is really troublesome when considering some of these guys dedication.

So here's some more shameless promotions of local business dudes that are dedicated to their craft that I HAVEN'T mentioned before:

Jason Cooley - Integrity Mortgage
I've used Jason 3 times and would refer him to anyone looking to purchase a home that needs a loan. You just can't say that about too many lenders. He's been there longer than I've known him and never flounders. Check out his bio.

Eric Gebhardt
Another long-time empoyee in the lender biz (one of the biggies so I don't feel the need to promote.) The real story here is that Eric has been planning a career change for months. His goal is to become an art teacher. You wouldn't believe the arduous process he's going through. The planning and patience in execution is most impressive. Our community will be better off with someone like him in the class room.

Justin Graves - Pharmacist
Our fearless ABF leader has been a pharmicist for 15 years! Now that's dedication. I think he works for Walgreens or something ... but did you know he has aspirations of owning his own business? I was shocked to learn he even has a location and space! Maybe we could encourage him in that and provide some inspiration. Entrpreneurs, UNITE!

Paul Flemming - Westport Church - Hillsboro, Oregon
If you went to the Ballpark last night you proabably would ask why I would list someone that lives in Oregon. However, Paul came up several times. Cooincidentally, I received a LinkedIn invite from Paul while we were at the game. Several years ago, Paul left the exciting world of being an IT concubine to plant a church outside of Portland, OR. Westport has now become one of the best Lake Pointe sister church sucess stories. If you're looking for a national ministry to get involved with, look no further. Or simply make a meaningful contribution at http://www.westportcontributions.com/.

I could go on and on. As usual, I have no point. But I did bring the IT concubine reference from beginning to end! Sorry about that Paul.

Thanks for a great evening guys! I leave you with scripture and a You Tube video that may or may not work in your browser. If ou can't see it, I suggest becoming more technical ... it's the year 2008!

Proverbs 27:17 (New International Version)
17 As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another.

The Blog Formerly Known As JWebInfo

2008-07-08T12:17:00.007-05:00

What the heck does that mean anyway ... JWebInfo?

Well ... our family domain for years has been jweb-info.com. JWeb is an acronym that stands for:

Jerry Welch Elizabeth Barnett

It was inspired by my Grandpa Welch's business named WelMet - a combination of Welch and my late Grandma's maiden name, Metty.

So why not just jweb.com you ask? Amazingly it was taken - and written in Chinese. That's the skinny.

Recently my originality was challenged by my friend, Billy Self. He claimed that jwebinfo.blogspot.com was just too boring for such riveting commentary. Billy, the owner of such compelling domain names as:

ProSoap.com
Tri-ProSoap.com (wow - big reach there to name his triathlon team)
SailWithScott.com (guess what Scott does?)
BillySelf.com (what an amazing concept!)

He'll argue his business prowess against that list, but we're talking about originality here. So the question is, should I go with something benign like JerryWelch.name? Should I splurge and get some crazy new domain like ManTheFlyingSaucer.com? DuckButterAndTheChodes.org?

So I made my decision and will forward my name domain (jerrywelch.name) to the current blog URL and release a new blog URL on August 2nd. Why 8/2? It's my dad's birthday and has nothing to do with the new blog name. How's that for twisted originality, Mr. Self?

Instead of losing another bookmark or emailing me that the blog is gone, just sign up for an RSS feed (see to your right) so you get the latest and greatest ... and come back on 8/2 for the exciting release of the new blog name!

Here's my alternative list for Billy's major domains:

Tune in next week as I hack DallasRaceWeek.com to route to DrinkBeerAndSailForCharity.org.

Stay wise.

Jesus, could you get that for me?

2008-07-08T11:30:00.005-05:00

We take that for granted. What would it take for you to get down on your knees right now and let God know that you love him more than anything else in your life? That you trust him implicitly? That there is no sin you love more than Him?

Please visit this site http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/2008/01/beginning-of-story.html.

I don't speak directly about my wife much in this blog. But Elizabeth is a stellar chicky! She's a great mom, a great wife, supports me, serves our church body, serves our community, works out every day (with 3 kids to mother!), plans cool date nights, and still gives me butterflies when she touches my leg.

Recently she has been very moved by the commentary of Angie Smith through her blog. This lady has really challenged that way that Elizabeth and I see our personal relationship and walk with Jesus. I strongly urge you to read and react in your own way.

One thing Elizabeth does for our class is posting recaps of the weekly lessons on a blog. I think over time that it will be a great repository on how the church guides us through the Word. You can find a link at GravesABF.com under the Class Lessons page. The direct link is ...

http://gravesabf.blogspot.com/

Don't forget all the other popular domain names that will lead you to GravesABF.com like ...

BeyondOurFood.com

... and the easy-to-remember ...

IWantSomeoneToBringFoodToGravesABFThisSunday.com

And, yes, the links actually work. Anyone that reads this blog knows I only report the most precise information known to Rockwall County (cough, cough.)

In other news ... blah, blah, blah ... funny picture for no reason:

Peace.

Jane Fonda & Family Business Succession

2008-07-03T12:07:00.008-05:00

Jane Fonda is a ridiculous pop icon with links to infamous activities such as political activism and acting (if you can really call what she does acting.) Her divorce from Ted Turner was actually a planned media event for TBS revenue increase needs. You know, the Braves needed a new player spa in the locker room, or something.

Speaking of Ted, he shares a popular hobby/lifestyle/sport fetish with our boy, Billy ... sailing. Billy's dad, Scott, is an accomplished sailor. Billy and his dad used Ted's business succession planning for family business.

Personally, I think that should be a priority for every family business.

But as we found out, Robert could really use some mentoring in this area. Billy was happy to share his experience planning the empirical take over of ProSoap.com. Robert listened ...

Hey Logston - go pick up these books (kudos to Billy's suggestion):

Anyone else reading this blog that owns a business or works in a family business should do the same before you destroy each other!

That being said, Robert is the head foreman for a pretty cool little local business that I've never mentioned. It's called LL Clean Rooms. The web site isn't there but they have a domain so I linked to it!

One of the coolest services they provide is the construction of a CLEAN ROOM? Awesome stuff ... so if you need something like that, please call Robert at 214.325.9157.

I know I said Boxtown would be my next promotion but we talked about too much this morning ... being good husbands, encouraging our wives, encouraging each other, sports, etc, etc.

This blog has been saved since last Thursday so I have no train of thought to write any further ... it's a good thing to because I started to really bore myself.

Based on some user feedback I may be changing the name of this blog and/or possibly pointing it to a new domain. Any suggestions?

Warning ... you may be dumber after reading this.

2008-07-02T10:28:00.005-05:00

Sub-title: Feeling Bloggy This Week

I just feel like blogging this week. Not about anything in particular. Just an endless stream of irrational thoughts that I could be expressing.

Principal: Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Billy Madison: Okay, a simple "wrong" would've done just fine.

I've been feeling like that a lot lately. All of a sudden, there's no keeping up, no restful peace, no kudos, no accomplishment, no sense of satisfaction. Not even a little win. Everything seems to be a struggle.

Called my good buddy, Kevin ... nothing but the same on his noggin. So I'm praying ... or am I?

Quite often when I get to feeling this way is when I find that something is lacking in my relationship with God. There is nothing in particular that is causing the problems. Life is actually quite good. But something is stealing my joy. And I'm not filling the void with the Bread of Life. Daily Manna is not good enough for me.

That's the problem. I'm a selfish bastard. Too wrapped up to let God come meet me in that place where He can rebuild, rest, renew, reveal ... heck, my laugh is probably there. So, if you're reading this, let's all stop ... park ... and go meet our Savior.

Don't know how to do that? Post a comment. I'll respond.

Or go to biblegateway.com and start reading Proverbs. Or Matthew. Or anything in the Living Word that lets God speak to you.

Stay wise.

Daily Manna from the 'Net for Wednesday, July 2, 2008

'If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me! If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made. Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin. Job 14:13-16 NIV | Listen

Mansions In Africa Need Quality Hand Soap

2008-06-30T21:02:00.005-05:00

OK - I'm a shameless promoter of local businesses that happen to be run by my friends ... but give me some latitude here ... what you're about to read is pretty damn cool.

No one reads this blog so I can promote anything I want sans agenda.
ProSoap.com rocks the house - literally.
Why stay in a hotel when you can build your own guest home in Africa?

I know what you're thinking ... Jerry has gone off scatter shooting again while watching re-runs of the '99 Stanley Cup Western Finals. No, no ... keep reading.

The last morning breakfast featured the very first MMM leader (Dave McIlrath) and one of the most recent (Billy Self - or Silly Belf depending on how much sleep you've had.)

Billy's company, ProSoap.com, may not be a house hold name, but he truly goes the extra mile in trying to spruce up his visitor's experience. I've been meaning to ask him for months how he could have a tag line "Talk Dirty To Me" and not play the Poison hit of the same title in ALL radio, TV, and on-line audio promotions. Well ... he must have had that ESPN thing going on with me and delivered them all.

OK, OK. Poison isn't in them all BUT the latest additions to ProSoap.com's home page features the not-ready-for-prime-time soap manufacturing video, a dynamic juke box jamming out to "Talk Dirty To Me" as well as a nostalgic mix of questionably fun tunes. Everyone likes GnR, but November Rain? C'mon Billy ... great stuff overall. Additionally, you can hear the latest radio promo which is excellent. My only suggestion would be to overdub the radio lady's voice on the manufacturing video because the narrator sounds like a robot.

So what the smeltering plant does that have to do with Dave McIlrath? Well ... me and Dave go as far back as I wish to remember. He is one crazy bastard. Not only does he run his own Christian Coaching empire, TruthCoaching.com, but he's also incorporated his entire family into a successful network marketing conglomerate that funds an outpouring of ministry around the world. In other words, this Mick has more scamolas going on than the Irish Mob from Chicago. LOL!

Earlier this year, Dave and his wife adopted 2 children from Africa. You'd think he's nuts with 3 daughters of his own. But if you knew the McIlrath's hearts and how they open their home and make so many feel welcomed, it was just a matter of time before the world moved in.

But Dave didn't stop there ... no, no, no ... this man saw an opportunity to use his talents to serve the adoption process end-to-end. I couldn't believe it when he told me over a beer, but a simple vision of a guest home in Africa is a monumental, successful reality.

I can't do it justice, so please visit http://www.ethiopiaguesthome.com/ for all the details.

I know - how can I tie these 2 together? Well ... ProSoap.com manufactures the finest hand soap in the world and is always looking to expand into new markets. Ethiopia Guest Home is only the first in a string of adoption guest homes around the globe. Their workers need good soap. Both of these guys go to the same church, love the Lord, and run their businesses based on their own Christian values ...

C'Mon! It works. Get a PO together or something. Free samples. Blah, blah, blah ... the rest is up to you 2 crazy entrepreneurial pioneers. The rest of us need to focus on working for the man and writing stupid blogs with numerous grammatical errors, erroneous statistical claims, and mildly witty anecdotes that no one reads.

See ya Thursday ya crazy bunch of animals. And get ready for Boxtown ... that's my next promotion!

Hebrews 13
1Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Farewell to a friend ...

2008-06-26T09:28:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I got up early, showered, kissed my wife, put in a day at the office, met my family at the in-laws for dinner, wrestled with my 2 boys, and planned a vacation with my wife.

Yesterday, my friend from college, long suffering from a brain tumor, went home to be with the the Lord.

Joy in Texas. Sorrow in Ohio.

But when I say he went home to be with the Lord, I really do know he received his inheritance. Dave Gartrell spent the last few years of his life witnessing the Word to the world. Our brief friendship in a fraternity seemed meaningless as I watched him share his life, pain, and faith through it all.

Although we hadn't seen each other in years, I watched in awe as he stood strong, rejecting passivity, and caring for his family through the bitter end. He is in a wonderful place and is healed ... praise Jehovah-rapha.

I ask that anyone who reads this blog pray for his wife Sarah and their 2 daughters who have to continue life on this earth without him.

As the men met this morning, I could not describe how fortunate and diverse our existence is in this little, quiet, lake community. We had Kevin, Billy, Robert, Dave and myself sharing our lives and ministries while joking and being anecdotal. A printer, a president, a supervisor, a coach, and a manager. Reconciling, empathizing, preparing, sacrificing, and enduring. Selfish, ashamed, anxious, busy, and ... well, wicked selfish.

It's all amazing yet fleeting. We're food for worms lads so seize the Truth, spread the Word, and live for your inheritance ... Peace.

"Leadership is not a title."
~ Robert Lewis

Mini-Oprahs really do suck!

2008-06-19T09:32:00.016-05:00

So ya think you're a talent just because you cover the mike on a crappy radio station, eh? Oh yeah ... I'm starting off ornery today!

The Ticket came out to broadcast from the 27th Dallas Race Week yesterday on Lake Ray Hubbard. Sounds exciting, right? If they would have actually mentioned the corporate sponsored sailing event benefiting community service projects of the Rockwall Breakfast Rotary Club, than maybe it would have been cool. 15 seconds is what we got ... the rest of their crappy broadcast involved incoherent, self-indulged babbling.

But why complain about radio trash when that's what they think makes them successful? What do I know anyway? The Ticket is one of the most popular radio stations in the area. Although ... I don't really know where to turn the dial to get The Ticket. That's probably a good thing considering the volume of complaints that would blog up.

Despite The Ticket ignoring all the cool statistics surrounding Dallas Race Week, it's been a great success. We thank the Rockwall Breakfast Rotary Club for facilitating a great local event in our lake community. Go out to dallasraceweek.com to see all the cool sponsors, pics from the races, and other great info.

We did have substantiated conversation this morning at the MMM breakfast. Great praises in our families, businesses, and personal experiences. We also argued the pros and cons of corporate-run, non-profit, thrift stores. It was quite a heated debate until we realized they are nothing more than mini-Harpo corporations in a mini-Oprah world.

Kevin finally showed up but offered nothing up for ridicule. Billy on the other hand ...

Ahhhh yeahhhh ... he tries to deny it but basically pulled a Freudian slip and told us the true identity of his favorite author (drum roll, please):

Billy has been sitting home in the dark reading Joel Olsteen's latest book. Why read when you can watch? Probably because his wife is hogging the TV watching Oprah!

Become a Better You is marked down to $14.95 from $25! What a deal ... grab you a copy before supplies run out.

LOL! I think I've really asked for it this week.

I leave you with this:

Why don't more men relish community over competition? Please comment.

Fun links to waste some time:

Jay Is Games
8 FREE Blackberry Games
Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram
The Authorship of Second Peter
BillySelf.com (you can purchase Joel O's books there)

How Baggage Policies and Fees Add Up

2008-06-17T09:00:00.005-05:00

From Expedia Corporate Travel ... not really a blog by me ... I just thought it was good info ...

These days keeping track of airline baggage policies is a lot like keeping track of Abbot and Costello's "Who's on First?" You're never sure who's doing what. Sometimes it helps to have all the information in one place as travel rules change from week to week. Here's the latest in airline baggage policies with links to each airline's baggage policy section for the most up-to-date rules and fees as posted by the carrier. In addition, the following chart is available by link: checked bag policies.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL TABLE (for some reason I could not fit this table on the blog site with the way things are formatted.)

Airlines	Applicable destinations	Effective Date	1st bag¹	2nd bag¹	Mishandled baggage/ 1,000 passengers²
	Domestic	6/13/08 View policy	No Fee	$10³	3.25
	Domestic	7/01/2008 View policy	No Fee	$50	5.36
	Domestic, Mexico	5/12/2008 View policy	$15	$25	6.85
	Domestic, Latin America	5/05/2008 View policy	No Fee	$25	4.6
	Domestic	5/05/2008 View policy	No Fee	$25	6.9
	Domestic, International	6/10/2008 View policy	No Fee	$25	6.17
	Domestic	N/A View policy	No Fee	No Fee	2.25
	Domestic	6/01/2008 View policy	No Fee	$20	3.27
	Domestic	5/24/2008 View policy	No Fee	$20	N/A
	Domestic	5/05/2008 View policy	No Fee	$25	4.68
	Domestic, International	5/05/2008 View policy	No Fee	$25	N/A
	Domestic	5/05/2008 View policy	No Fee $15 on/after 8/18	$25	5.44
	Domestic	7/01/2008 View policy	$15 on/after 7/09	$25	5.36

Share your thoughts on the baggage fees at Overheardbin.com. Comment here.

¹ Baggage policies apply each way for select flights.
² Mishandled baggage data collected on domestic flights only by Air Travel Consumer Reports for 2007. Click here for monthly data
³ The charge for a second checked bag will be $10 when paid using Online Check-In or $20 when paid at the airport kiosks and ticket counter

Note: Baggage policy and fees are subject to change by the airlines at any time. Please see the airline's Web site for the most current information.

State Department Alerts

Read U.S. State Department Travel Warnings and Consular Information by Country.

A Salute to the Texas A&M Galveston Sailing Team

2008-06-13T14:59:00.003-05:00

It was another great MMM breakfast outing - lost of thrashing, trash-talking, fun stories, current life situations, etc. It can make one feel very blessed. But we rarely look at it that way ... until a tragedy hits home.

One of the topics discussed at the round table was the horrific wreck that the Texas A&M Galveston Offshore Sailing Team endured last weekend. To the amazement of most, only one life was lost. That life was a beloved sailor named Roger Stone. By all accounts, his selfless actions save the rest of the crew.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family of Roger Stone and the survivors.

Here's a link to one of the dozens of nationwide news stories:

http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou080607_tj_missingboat.d9411d3.html

The question I have for us men is ... what would you do if the keel just fell off?

Feel free to comment ...

Male Domination & The Spelling Bee

2008-06-09T10:48:00.004-05:00

"Male domination is a personal, moral failure ... not a biblical teaching." ~ Robert Lewis

I quoted this at the last mens' morning mentoring breakfast session with no intentions of it going much further. But it sparked a wonderful, personal discussion between 3 guys that struggle with the topic ourselves and the presence of male domination in our fathers' generation. Bad things happen when those worlds collide but we're learning and maturing the way we translate it and mold it into authentic male leadership.

'Nuff said.

What the bugger does that have to do with a spelling bee, you ask? Even if you didn't, I'm going to tell you.

One of my favorite dudes to write about is my new friend Billy Self. He has become a breakfast regular and routinely shares his life. I've mentioned before that he is the president of my favorite Rockwall business, ProSoap, and that he competes in triathlons with his team, Tri-ProSoap (check out the latest race results, Billy's highest finish ever ... click here). But now, and forever more, he will be remembered as the obscure segway that could have saved a young runner-up from the cloak of failure.

Allow me to explain ... A few weeks ago, Sameer Mishra, a 13-year-old from Indiana, crushed a field of nearly 300 to become the 2008 National Spelling Bee Champion. The winning spell came on "guerdon." But what was more interesting was the word his opponent stumbled on to give Sameer the winning word ... "prosopopoeia." No - it is not the method in which ProSoap is manufactured (although it should be.)

Anyhoo, the word means "a rhetorical device." Now ... if the child had known of the company ProSoap, he would have had a rhetoric link to the correct spelling! And since he obviously doesn't, we should give him a free sample tub so he can cleanse himself of the disappointment of choking on national TV.

OK - maybe I'm the only one that thinks that's funny.

I know Kevin (one of the other 3 people that may or may not read this) is wondering how he could get a contrived blog written about his life by his good friend ... well, frickin show up for breakfast ya banana head. You're a founding father of the MMM!

Speaking of the early knights of the MMM, Old Man Secules graced us with his presence which was a nice surprise. With the grave yard shift, 2 kids, and a wife that just went through ear surgery, this Bud's for you ... Mr ham-radio, AT&T cell tower, uber-geek van-driver guy ... a real American Hero in my book. Seriously though ... it was good seeing you.

Speaking of Bud, don't forget Dallas Race Week coming up ... details are at the site:

http://www.dallasraceweek.com/

In conclusion, I have nothing to conclude. This blog has officially digressed into one of the worst planned, poorly edited, and random writing efforts of my life. But it sure does feel good to express some thoughts from time to time. In this day and age, why not do it digitally?

I leave you with the following thoughts:

Where in the world are Kevin, Justin, Chris, Mike and Robert and the other Justin?
For MMA Justin, will the upcoming movie Redbelt be a must see for MMA enthusiasts? It's by the same guy that did Glengarry Glen Ross and Wag the Dog!

Stay wise ...

Castro Sails & Dissidents Thwarted

2008-06-03T14:19:00.003-05:00

Ahh ... a few thoughts left unheard from last week. I thought this was a funny description of my blog's admin setting before opening up for spam today:

"Tricky way to keep the man down and keep dissidents from commenting."

So bring it! Ya bunch of animals.

Last Thursday was also the Rockwall homecoming for Jason Castro of American Idol. Our very own breakfast stalemate had a cool connection to this fiasco ... Billy's dad, Scott, allowed Castro to steer the SeaWolf! I found a You Tube (1 of 10 million probably)

The guy with the hat is Scott Self, captain of the SeaWolf. You can read more about the boat at SailWithScott.com.

Origins of the French drain

2008-05-29T09:52:00.002-05:00

Ya know when a writer uses a title that has nothing to do with the topic being covered - just a clever reference or obscure analogy? Yeah ... not the case for this blog entry.

That's right - we actually had a rather formal discussion surrounding the topic of the construction, use, and even current plans that we have for this technology. No wonder no one else but me, Billy and Kevin show up for breakfast!

So for the 2nd week in a row, I'm absolutely positive I may be only 1 of 3 people that reads this blog. Kevin is from Royse City so I'm not sure we can really call what he does reading ... but we'll count it anyway.

I was only going to use it as a subject line because I was certain the topic would be a dead end but I was wrong - Billy needs to install the common drainage technique at ProSoap to protect some electrical lines and solve a pooling issue and Kevin ...

... STOP ...

I started writing this last Thursday and was not able to complete my thoughts. Considering I can barely remember how to get from the garage to the bathroom, I'm giving up on this week's blog. It was pretty boring anyway. And if it wasn't, I couldn't remember!

It did have a cool title. Anyhoo, a good friend of the MMM Breakfast Club sent me a note over the weekend stating that he could not post comments. I suppose I never looked at the admin settings which were set to only accept blog members responses.

Moving forward, I'm opening it up for abuse. So go ahead ... Jeff! I know you're dying to prove me wrong on a previous post.

Stay tuned for more wacky, inconclusive, scatter shooting from Yours Truly. I leave you with a great Proverb: “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1)

... and a picture of a French Drain ...

Alligators, Underwater Bandwidth, and Outsourcing in 3 Minutes

2008-05-22T08:31:00.010-05:00

Based on the title, I'm positive this will only be read by 2 people other than myself. This morning offered up a crazy array of topics and good 'ol man burns from all around the table. To recap ...

Billy claims that his new bike is 3 minutes faster than the old bike. Sounds crazy but since he is a triathlete (is that a word?), we should take his word for it - this is important stuff to him ...

What am I saying? The dude is off his rocker. I think he just pedaled faster due to the excitement of a new toy. That still doesn't take away from his athleticism - I hope the extra time translates into a higher finish in his next race. Check out his team at tri-prosoap.com.

OK - back to ripping on Billy. He also claimed this morning that there are alligators up in the north river on Lake Ray Hubbard. Although I'm willing to believe there has been the occasional alligator around Texas reservoirs, I've never seen any nest sitings while fishing through there over the past 7 years. To the left is a picture of an American Alligator nest. If you see one on Ray Hubbard, please call the Garland Police.

I know they are rampant in Texas around the Gulf. Ironically, that's where Billy used to drink too much beer. He's probably having a flashback or maybe he saw the guys that caught the fish on the right and got scared.

That is an Alligator Gar - a common fish found up in the river (although not that big - the picture is a record.)

Here's some links that I thought would give Billy's concerns some validity but turned out to be vague and downright silly in some respects (sill belf?) I like how the game warden never says there is one but there could be. Not a shred of proof ...

Video coverage of an alligator on Ray Hubbard - Nice try - it looks like the Loch Ness videos - a disgrace to Rockwall citizens - we look like the interviewees after a tornado in OK.

More vague reports that don't make sense:

Heavy rains sweep 10-foot alligator into Lake Ray Hubbard. - Although Lake Lavon is apparently a natural habitat for alligators.
Interesting forum - watch out jet-skiers!
Large alligator spotted in Lake Ray Hubbard: Rockwall: Heavy rains sweep reptile out of natural habitat.
Alligators Sighted Near Dallas, Texas - The author of this article is well known for his Big Foot research (no kidding!)

So what else? Well, I claimed that Global Crossing built 1/5 of the world's underwater bandwidth to Asia/Europe. I also stated that these monstrous networking wonders were encased in pipe measuring a mile or more in width.

No one really believed that so I would expect a response to this blog proving me wrong so I can be the moron that I advertise. When I'm wrong, I'm usually really wrong. Maybe my use of the word "mile" refers to the mileage of undersea cable that Global Marine has installed and services. So prove me wrong.

So what about Kevin? Well, the more we find out about what Odee Company does, the more we find out what they don't do. We're still not sure what Kevin is producing each day, but we do know that it's not t-shirts, hats, or anything else cool. He didn't deny invitations as a possibility and mostly makes Chris watch the machine while he checks his email.

Wow. I though Mens Morning Mentoring was supposed to be uplifting and encouraging! Well, we did get our heads together and pray ... which is a great way to start any work day.

Links:

MIT Open Course Ware

Unanswered questions:

Should Jerry start an Executive MBA later this summer or simply do a free one from MIT?
When will the Self's get a new grey hound to compliment Castor?
What happened to Robert, Justin (Billy's neighbor) and Mike?
Will Justin Graves ever show up?

Show up next week to find out the riveting details. And post a comment, will ya?

All the best, jerry

Hebrews 13

1Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Summer is officially here.

2008-05-22T08:11:00.002-05:00

So the Stars went out on a low point ... as a final kick in the pants before I get my summer amnesia on route to college football season, my Stanley Cup Final Home Game 1 tickets came in the mail today. Oh well - bust out the golf clubs and lawn chairs and enjoy watching Osgood get lit up by the you Pens (Crosby, Malkin, Staal and the likes.)

Anyhoo - the 33 year hope is dead, hockey will not waste any of my time until October and I've decided to re-purpose this blog and actually use it!

Today I plan to email some buddies and direct them here for recaps on our Mens Morning Mentoring breakfast talk. Whether it's just dudely topics that get noodled on while scatter shooting, prayer requests, scripture sharing ... whatever ... I'd like to capture our thought process as we grow in the fraternity of manship.

Stay wise ... Go Stars.

Stanley Cup Playoffs - Biggest Seven Game Comebacks

2008-05-13T11:53:00.002-05:00

So my Stars are in a deep hole against a Red Wings team that can seemingly score at will. All hockey knowledge aside, I am just the 13 year-old kid that remembers Mikey Mo getting drafted #1 and desperately watching my team try to get to Lord Stanley's Final.

OK - so hockey superstition rules and this is how I see it (which never works out but I don't care):

Besides the Boston RoidSox, only 2 other professional teams have come back to win a seven game series after being skunked 3-0. They are both NHL teams:

In 1942, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings after being down 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final!

In 1975, the New York Islanders manhandled the Pittsburgh Penguins after being down 3-0 in the Quarter-Finals.

There are 33 years separating those 2 come backs. There are 33 years separating 2008 from the last comeback. Is it in the ... Stars ... for the next NHL 3-0 comeback?

I'll be watching Wednesday to find out. Either way, what a great season! This team will only get better. Next stop ... Pittsburgh!

j

When will the family catch up?

2008-02-11T09:52:00.001-06:00

A question for the times ...

I'm hoping this blog will bring our extended family together for updating each other. I would bet there are dozens of family members with their own blogs, myspace pages, and other social book markings all over the internet.

I know for sure of at least 10 web sites maintained by other family members for photo albums, displays of work, and entertainment purposes.

Why not bring them all together here? Make a post - invite a family member or friend - share your site.

Or not ...