For those who used to play Super Mario Brothers on the Nintendo, you should appreciate this:
Friday, March 21, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Excuses, excuses
Did you ever know you needed to do something? You know, really wanted and needed to do it? But then, when you went to do it, you just froze. Totally froze. Knees buckled, excuses made, and a golden opportunity just slips away like it's nothing. Nothing...just like it would come along again. Not wanting to be kicked out of your comfort zone. Geez...I had the words ready, I had the implentation ready, and then...nothing. I just left. Sigh. Help me God! How can I be so afraid of something I've wanted for how many years now? Do I really want it, or is it just the idea that somehow gives me a warm-fuzzy?
Monday, February 11, 2008
Greetings from Denver!
Hey all! I'm in the midst of 5 straight weeks on the road, where this is the last week. And what a way to finish...Denver in the winter. It's absolutely beautiful out here. Yesterday, I went up to Loveland Pass...it was a nice, sunny day, and the views were spectacular. At 11,990 feet, it was the highest I've ever been, not counting time in airplanes, and I met a Philadelphia Eagles fan while I was up there. Go figure!
Also, last week, I went to Cleveland and got together with a friend from Champaign...she was someone I knew via friends, but it was really my first chance to get to know her a little bit better. So thanks Michelle for getting together with me and giving me the tour of Cleveland! I also got to see the house from A Christmas Story...that movie was filmed in Cleveland.
Later!
Also, last week, I went to Cleveland and got together with a friend from Champaign...she was someone I knew via friends, but it was really my first chance to get to know her a little bit better. So thanks Michelle for getting together with me and giving me the tour of Cleveland! I also got to see the house from A Christmas Story...that movie was filmed in Cleveland.
Later!
Thursday, January 3, 2008
The upgrade streak has ended
On a minor note, I am sad to report that my streak of consecutive upgrades to first class has ended. I had 45 in a row, but missed out on a Boston-L.A. flight last November. I'm still at 48 out of the last 50 (also missed the return L.A.-Boston flight), so I'm not complaining!
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Greetings from Minneapolis!
Hey all! Greetings from Minneapolis...I'm here for the week on my last training trip of the year. I'll try to post all the stats later, but it looks like I'll end up with 140 nights in hotels and 68,000+ flight miles. Phew! Almost certainly my last full year doing this.
This morning, I went to Bethlehem Baptist Church...which may sound familiar to some of you. That's right...it's John Piper's church! I HEARD JOHN PIPER SPEAK IN PERSON!! Sorry...I'm just a bit giddy :-) :-). He's in the middle of a series of being born again...the last couple of weeks were on what being born again means, and today was the first day of why it's necessary. He started by quoting Calvin's opening sentence of Institutes of the Christian Religion: "Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom,consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves." Piper then argued that knowledge of ourselves is harder than knowledge of God, which surprised me a bit. Here's his argument:
1. True knowledge of ourselves can only come when we have true knowledge of God.
2. We think we know ourselves, but we don't (Jer 17:9--the classic "The heart is deceitful above all things" passage.)
Thinking about it, I do agree with him. And only by being born again, can we have any hope of truly knowing ourselves. He then went on to Ephesians 4:18 and talked about the four layers of having one's understanding darkened. I could go on, but I won't. But it was really really good...it's been so long since I've heard such a deep, solid, and balanced message (and that's nothing against any of the churches I've been to in the last couple of years.)
Then afterward, I shopped in the bookstore, and bought a bunch of books, including one called Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, adapted from a conference with Piper and others. Should be good!
Later!
This morning, I went to Bethlehem Baptist Church...which may sound familiar to some of you. That's right...it's John Piper's church! I HEARD JOHN PIPER SPEAK IN PERSON!! Sorry...I'm just a bit giddy :-) :-). He's in the middle of a series of being born again...the last couple of weeks were on what being born again means, and today was the first day of why it's necessary. He started by quoting Calvin's opening sentence of Institutes of the Christian Religion: "Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom,consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves." Piper then argued that knowledge of ourselves is harder than knowledge of God, which surprised me a bit. Here's his argument:
1. True knowledge of ourselves can only come when we have true knowledge of God.
2. We think we know ourselves, but we don't (Jer 17:9--the classic "The heart is deceitful above all things" passage.)
Thinking about it, I do agree with him. And only by being born again, can we have any hope of truly knowing ourselves. He then went on to Ephesians 4:18 and talked about the four layers of having one's understanding darkened. I could go on, but I won't. But it was really really good...it's been so long since I've heard such a deep, solid, and balanced message (and that's nothing against any of the churches I've been to in the last couple of years.)
Then afterward, I shopped in the bookstore, and bought a bunch of books, including one called Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, adapted from a conference with Piper and others. Should be good!
Later!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Upcoming schedule...
Sorry it's been so long since I've posted! The Honduras trip was downright awesome...got to see a completely different side of things. I'll try to write more about that later. This post is simply about my upcoming schedule:
Nov. 13-15: Training at Intel in Sacramento, CA
Nov. 26-27: Training at Lockheed Martin in Ft. Worth, TX--6th Texas trip this year!
Dec. 3-5: Training at MIT Lincoln Labs, just outside Boston
Dec. 10-14: Training in Minneapolis, MN. BRRRRRRR!
Jan. 21-25: TA'ing for someone in Phoenix. Phoenix in January...sweet!
Feb. 11-15: Training in Denver, CO...my first ever trip to Denver. Can't wait!!
Mar. 10-14: Training in Albuquerque, NM. I love the scenery.
May 12-16: Training in Philly. Yay Pat's Cheesesteaks!
Many more are coming. Stay tuned!
Nov. 13-15: Training at Intel in Sacramento, CA
Nov. 26-27: Training at Lockheed Martin in Ft. Worth, TX--6th Texas trip this year!
Dec. 3-5: Training at MIT Lincoln Labs, just outside Boston
Dec. 10-14: Training in Minneapolis, MN. BRRRRRRR!
Jan. 21-25: TA'ing for someone in Phoenix. Phoenix in January...sweet!
Feb. 11-15: Training in Denver, CO...my first ever trip to Denver. Can't wait!!
Mar. 10-14: Training in Albuquerque, NM. I love the scenery.
May 12-16: Training in Philly. Yay Pat's Cheesesteaks!
Many more are coming. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Three days until Honduras!
Dear all,
Hey! Sorry it's been so long since my last post...it's been a crazy time. Those of you who get e-mails from me know that I've moved, and I am really excited about my new place...it's one bedroom, just a 15 minute walk from the train station where I catch the commuter rail to go to work every morning I'm in town. Much better than the 30 minute commute just to the station I had before. Plus, being one bedroom, I can finally have people over and the like...I've really missed that from my days in Illinois. Woo-hoo!
So...I've been on the road, and I have mixed feelings about whether to continue the job or not. Each trip reminds me of both the good and the bad of this position: the bad, that I need to deal with airports and I have to be in "ready position" all the time (i.e. I can't just take 10 minutes to unwind if I feel I need to), but the great that I get to see really cool things and meet great people. Right now, I'm in Cape Canaveal, FL, where they launch space shuttles. I took the tour on Sunday, and it was awesome! Got to see the launch pad, the countdown box they show on TV, and the room where the launch of Apollo 8 (the first one to circle the moon) was controlled. Last week, I got to see a good friend I hadn't seen for 2.5 years. When would I have the opportunity to do so much that I've gotten to do with this job again in the future? But then, there are the trips to places like Midland, MI, and Rochester, NY that just make me go...blah.
Speaking of which, here's my upcoming schedule:
Oct. 1-5: Doing a service project at an orphanage in Honduras. More below.
Oct. 15-19: Austin, TX. Looking like it will only be two days.
Oct. 22-26: Raleigh, NC. Looking like it will be 2-4 days, but not all five.
Nov. 3: Friend's wedding near Philly. YAY!
Nov. 5-9: Rochester, NY. Yuk.
Nov. 12-16: Natick, MA. Training at our headquarters.
Dec. 10-14: Minneapolis. BRRRRRR.
Now...as for Honduras. There are 6 of us from work going to the El Hogar orphanage. Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Americas, and that was before Hurricane Mitch ravaged it in 1998. El Hogar takes in kids who don't have parents and puts them through their school. This year, for the first time, they've started to accept girls as well as boys. I know a couple of people who went last year, and they said it was awesome. It's been 8 years since I've done a trip like this, and I'm nervous, but looking forward to it. It's been a while since I've been kicked this far outside my comfort zone, and I can't wait to see what God does. El Hogar is a Christian ministry; however, most of the people I'm going with are not Christians (I believe the only other Christian is the guy who's organizing the trip.) The plan is for me to drive directly to Miami tomorrow (Thursday), then meet up with the team on Saturday (9/29) morning at Miami airport, where they're connecting. Then I'll fly back next Saturday (10/6) directly back to Boston. It'll be quite the culture shift...I'm staying on South Beach in Miami, then going to Honduras. Yikes!
Alright...all prayers would be greatly appreciated, for the team, for the kids, for myself. Thanks and talk to you on the other side of the trip!
Hey! Sorry it's been so long since my last post...it's been a crazy time. Those of you who get e-mails from me know that I've moved, and I am really excited about my new place...it's one bedroom, just a 15 minute walk from the train station where I catch the commuter rail to go to work every morning I'm in town. Much better than the 30 minute commute just to the station I had before. Plus, being one bedroom, I can finally have people over and the like...I've really missed that from my days in Illinois. Woo-hoo!
So...I've been on the road, and I have mixed feelings about whether to continue the job or not. Each trip reminds me of both the good and the bad of this position: the bad, that I need to deal with airports and I have to be in "ready position" all the time (i.e. I can't just take 10 minutes to unwind if I feel I need to), but the great that I get to see really cool things and meet great people. Right now, I'm in Cape Canaveal, FL, where they launch space shuttles. I took the tour on Sunday, and it was awesome! Got to see the launch pad, the countdown box they show on TV, and the room where the launch of Apollo 8 (the first one to circle the moon) was controlled. Last week, I got to see a good friend I hadn't seen for 2.5 years. When would I have the opportunity to do so much that I've gotten to do with this job again in the future? But then, there are the trips to places like Midland, MI, and Rochester, NY that just make me go...blah.
Speaking of which, here's my upcoming schedule:
Oct. 1-5: Doing a service project at an orphanage in Honduras. More below.
Oct. 15-19: Austin, TX. Looking like it will only be two days.
Oct. 22-26: Raleigh, NC. Looking like it will be 2-4 days, but not all five.
Nov. 3: Friend's wedding near Philly. YAY!
Nov. 5-9: Rochester, NY. Yuk.
Nov. 12-16: Natick, MA. Training at our headquarters.
Dec. 10-14: Minneapolis. BRRRRRR.
Now...as for Honduras. There are 6 of us from work going to the El Hogar orphanage. Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Americas, and that was before Hurricane Mitch ravaged it in 1998. El Hogar takes in kids who don't have parents and puts them through their school. This year, for the first time, they've started to accept girls as well as boys. I know a couple of people who went last year, and they said it was awesome. It's been 8 years since I've done a trip like this, and I'm nervous, but looking forward to it. It's been a while since I've been kicked this far outside my comfort zone, and I can't wait to see what God does. El Hogar is a Christian ministry; however, most of the people I'm going with are not Christians (I believe the only other Christian is the guy who's organizing the trip.) The plan is for me to drive directly to Miami tomorrow (Thursday), then meet up with the team on Saturday (9/29) morning at Miami airport, where they're connecting. Then I'll fly back next Saturday (10/6) directly back to Boston. It'll be quite the culture shift...I'm staying on South Beach in Miami, then going to Honduras. Yikes!
Alright...all prayers would be greatly appreciated, for the team, for the kids, for myself. Thanks and talk to you on the other side of the trip!
Friday, August 24, 2007
More YouTube madness
This is Here it Goes Again by OK Go. Really, not all that great of a song, but the video is awesome. When I was in Sweden last year, it was ranked #1 all time in MTV Europe's "Most genius videos." #2 was one of my personal favorites, Tonight Tonight by The Smashing Pumpkins. Enjoy!
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Sunday, August 5, 2007
When am I getting married?
I know when I'm getting married! How? Well, I opened up MATLAB and ran the following piece of code:
>> rand('twister',sum(100*clock)) % Reset the random number generator
>> datestr(today+ceil((365*3+1)*rand)) % Pick a random date in the next three years
ans =
09-Nov-2008
There you go. Clearly, I am getting married on November 9, 2008. That's a Sunday, so it'll have to be after church. Mark your calendars now! :-)
>> rand('twister',sum(100*clock)) % Reset the random number generator
>> datestr(today+ceil((365*3+1)*rand)) % Pick a random date in the next three years
ans =
09-Nov-2008
There you go. Clearly, I am getting married on November 9, 2008. That's a Sunday, so it'll have to be after church. Mark your calendars now! :-)
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Now that's freaky...
I just heard about the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. I was just there two weeks ago, and was no more than 1500 feet from that bridge from some of my walking. Wow...I praise God that I wasn't there at this time, but I'm praying for the people affected by this. Wow.
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