It's only -4 degrees

I woke up this morning and thought "Man, this house is cold." I poured a cup of coffee and dreaded having to go outside to start my car this morning to get to work, and wished the long winter was over. This is probably one of the most common feelings for anyone who lives in this frozen waste/wonder-land called Minnesota in January.

But I was happy and somewhat encouraged to look at the thermometer outside and see that it was only 4 degrees below zero. I thought "Eh, that's not so bad, I must just be extra warm getting out of bed today."

That's when I realized that I was truly a Minnesotan. Four degrees below zero is officially "not that bad" from my perspective. Oh man, I need a vacation...

I owe my soul to the company store...

I woke this morning thinking about the old company stores of coal-mining fame. These stores were created by the company for which the miners worked, and they had all the food and supplies each employee needed to survive. The problem was that they needed to borrow against their paychecks for supplies to live, and when they got paid their checks didn't cover the necessities of life. Their checks barely covered the interest being charged for the over-priced goods they charged creating a spiral of debt that saw most of them working for nothing their entire lives.

Sound familiar?

I did a quick search for "company store" and found Charles Hugh Smith's blog about this very subject. He puts it all together pretty well, in my opinion.

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogoct08/serfdom10-08.html

It seems that our "company store" is simply a national store, and now that the company store is in trouble, it will be financed by the government. But it won't be the taxpayers who benefit - as one would expect in a government by the people and for the people. It will be the company store itself.

Hold on to your hats...I think we're about to lose them...

Ctl+Alt+Del to RDP

I seem to search for this once a month, you'd think I'd remember. I think I may just end up making this blog a place for me to store my geeky notes.

To send a Ctl+Alt+Del to a computer through a terminal (RDP) session, use:

Ctl+Alt+End

Easy...

Youths' drug of choice? Prescription - Los Angeles Times

This is really interesting to me. So many people have loads of drugs in their medicine cabinets - including me at times - but now our kids don't want to do those "hippie drugs." They go after the easy high, just like we did when we were kids.

Take that, "war on drugs." What are we going to do with this? It seems like I can't leave a doctor's office without a prescription for narcotics, and anybody who goes to a mental health professional will more likely than not walk away with a prescription for anti-depressants. We are a nation addicted, and until we deal with "why" we are getting high, the means of getting there will always sink to the easiest method. Unfortunately for our kids, the pusher is in their own homes now...

Youths' drug of choice? Prescription - Los Angeles Times

A month off?

Well, classes are over until September. I've got about a month off...from formal classes, that is.

I'm about to cram as much into one month as anyone should ever attempt. This weekend, it's our only camping trip of the year. Next weekend, it's the Rolling Family Reunion. The weekend after that...I don't remember, but I'm pretty sure something is planned. The weekend after that, Jadyn turns a year old. Can you believe that?

And in the middle of all that, I need to study for and pass my Cisco Certified Networking Associate certification. This is an entry-level IT certification offered by what is arguably the most important networking company in the world. (I know, Scott, I know...Extreme and Foundry both make very nice gear, also, and it may even be technologically better than Cisco. You just can't argue that Cisco holds the market in major networking infrastructure world-wide)

So I'm about to sit down with routers and firewalls and switches, oh my! I thought I might like to actually get some rest this month, but there will be no time for that. Recently I bought an mp4 of "4 Hz Theta Ocean Waves" off iTunes. It's supposed to help you relax. I'll be putting that on my iPod and listening to it while I sleep.

Oh, and at risk of forgetting my other recent interest, my dear friend and Brother in Christ, Jon Zens recently had his book "A Church Building Every 1/2 Mile" released. It is really a fantastic book, and I highly recommend it to anyone who feels like they want to know Jesus Christ more but feel that "churches" leave them wanting. This book gives great perspective and insight into what I think Jesus had in mind when he established His church. I highly recommend it to anyone.

Giving away my daughter

Friday, July 25th, 2008 I walked my beautiful daughter down the aisle and turned her primary care over to another man. I can't tell you how amazing this day was, and how it will rest in my heart and in my mind as long as I live.

Amber was, as always, stunningly beautiful. Without question she was the second most beautiful bride I have ever seen (but I guess I'm partial to my wife that way), and I'm pretty sure I shook just a little bit as I answered the pastor's "who gives this woman to be married to this man?" question. I'd be lying if I said that a big part of me didn't want to pick her up and take her away, as if that would have kept her being "my little girl" a little while longer. Of course, I didn't. Of course, I answered that her mother and I gave her. Of course I handed my daughter's hand over to her soon-to-be husband.

And in reality, it was much easier knowing that I was giving her hand to a young man who cherishes her like every man would want his daughter cherished. I'm glad to know that she has chosen a very genuine, godly man with whom to spend her life. Nick is one of the finest men I have had the pleasure to know, and I'm glad and honored to call him "son."

So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: Mr. and Mrs. Nick Siler. She may be his wife now, but she'll always be "my girl." God has blessed us richly.

Enough to make you scream

Every morning I drive to work on a busy highway. Every morning I see people dumping their still-smoldering cigarette butts out their window and I just want to shake them and say,

"HEY! PICK THAT DISGUSTING THING UP! I DON'T MIND IF YOU WANT TO POUR TOXINS INTO YOUR OWN BODY AND SHORTEN YOUR OWN LIFE! BUT MY KIDS ARE GOING TO HAVE TO LIVE IN THE WORLD YOU'RE USING AS AN ASHTRAY! I DON'T CARE IF YOU THINK SO LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF, BUT WOULD YOU MIND SPARING THE EARTH FROM YOUR SELF-ABSORBED DEATH WISH?!"

Then I go back to my commute. One of these days, though...one of these days...