tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78705652024-03-12T23:51:54.529-03:00Yet Another Boring BlogThis is like scrap paper... only brighter. I jot down the things I think about from day to day and through the magic of computers, anyone in the world can read it.
Now don't you have some work to do? Reading this blog is likely to make you curse or cheer or cry... things you don't want to do in your office. The person in the next cubicle is going to hear you and think you're a nut. You'd better quit reading this blog now.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.comBlogger151125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-27651083610431035482009-10-21T20:43:00.003-02:002009-10-21T21:21:28.151-02:00Thomas Campbell and Verbal KentTwo hundred years ago Thomas Campbell wrote a document for a group of Christians who saw the divisions between churches and denominations as a great failure. He called all who express faith in God to find unity in the teachings of the Bible and to allow the Bible to be our only guide. Clearly, we've not been able to fulfill Campbell's vision in the past two centuries. Why?Can we not extend Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-51011678665924998632009-10-16T12:22:00.000-02:002009-10-16T12:38:17.302-02:00If God refines us through suffering...I know some people watched The Prodigy and it changed their lives... I'm not one of them. It's a fascinating plot acted out by what looks like the night class of a "complete your GED in 4 weeks" school. But sometimes, when you sift through enough mud, you find a gold nugget.The question that this film asks, perhaps more succinctly than I've heard it asked before is, "If God refines us through Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-41902467679702610642007-08-29T10:47:00.001-03:002009-10-17T01:22:53.781-02:00NarlinsI've been hearing quite a bit about New Orleans since we've just passed the two year anniversary of Katrina's devastation. A story on NPR, a visit by Good Morning America, the obligatory helicopter flyover showing rows of trailers, flat concrete pads where houses used to be and of course, archive footage of people holding "help us" signs.These are all intended to evoke sympathy and compassion andMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-64485079086208426122007-08-25T14:49:00.001-03:002009-10-17T01:24:38.066-02:00Like Riding a Bike?Well, I'm "picking up the pen" after a lengthy hiatus and I'm hopeful that I'll find some viable, creative spark still brightly burning in the shallow bowl that is my brain.I've found that I missed this outlet. I've got plenty of work to do, even now on a Saturday, a substantial portion of the garage is occupied by junk, my '66 Scout languishes outside, the divine Mrs. L and I are going to buy a Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1162843649584366222006-11-06T18:00:00.001-02:002009-10-17T01:25:56.961-02:00My diseaseWell, as my faithful readers know I've struggled with truckaholism for most of my life and until very recently, was successfully dealing with my condition. I have a support group and a good wife and with their help I had managed to suppress the symptoms of my disease.No more. All is lost. I broke down when the Yellow Dog broke down one too many times and I bought a big, red Dodge truck. I pickedMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1156888909634575612006-08-29T18:55:00.000-03:002006-08-30T10:51:16.473-03:00My name is Michael...If you don't have a friend that can talk you out of buying a new truck you need to get one.The Yellow Dog is in the shop and it's going to cost a couple of bucks to get her back on her feet... and Ford's offering 0% financing for 72 months... and those new trucks look magnificent. They're safer. They get twice the gas mileage of the Dog. They have four doors. They ride smooth and have plenty of Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1155657002793312752006-08-15T11:28:00.001-03:002009-10-17T01:27:21.230-02:00A glimpse of European fashionIf clothing fashion in the US generally follows European clothing fashion then I am about to drop some fashion revelation in your lap.Soon, the fashionable American male will be wearing his necktie in a whole new way. The tie itself will be slightly wider and have a more firm inner structure than today's ties. But the most important thing is how the tie is tied. In today's traditional style the Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1155158971335043452006-08-09T15:16:00.001-03:002009-10-17T01:28:42.854-02:00Once again, to rest in the downy bosom of TexasI am ready for some Texas.I've never really believed Jon Bon Jovi to be a genius but if he's the one who first said "You don't know what you've got till it's gone" then his stock just doubled in my mind. If someone else said it first and he just used it... then he's just another millionaire "has been." Either way, the phrase has great value.The good doctor and I have been speaking in almost Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1155147374999825522006-08-09T14:45:00.001-03:002009-10-17T01:30:03.678-02:00Last DaysToday is our last day in Oxford. We're off to London tomorrow and we'll fly home over the weekend. I'm looking back over the last five weeks and here is a quick overview of what I've observed.The English have an ill-founded superiority complex and are generally unfriendly.This is likely due to the fact that their food is terrible. Or maybe because their country is so crowded that you can never beMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1154896444559527962006-08-06T16:00:00.001-03:002009-10-17T01:36:02.468-02:00Bon jour, gay Paris!We've just returned from a short stay in Paris... and I'm happy to tell you that the Eiffel Tower is still standing.If you've never been to Paris you might not be able to grasp how that city is completely lousy with historic monuments and gilded statues and huge buildings. I don't want to hear one more comment about "American excess." Seriously, we'd be walking down a Rue de Something or other Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1154530614636202582006-08-02T11:56:00.001-03:002009-10-17T01:39:57.033-02:00"Let's plow."The adorable Dr. Lewis, knowing of my disdain for cities and my love of countryside, planned for a weekend in the Kyffhauser Forest while we were in Germany. We stayed in Bad Frankenhausen (I enjoyed saying Bad Frankensusan) in a B&B that backed up to the forest.As we considered what to do in and around this little city I, of course, wanted to hike in the woods. Susan chose to drive to Lauscha, Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1154530538762595852006-08-02T09:33:00.000-03:002006-08-06T19:18:31.590-03:00Germany vs. BritainThe best preparation for a trip to Germany, ensuring the enjoyment of those travelling, is a visit to England first. Here's a point-by-point comparison.When we beheld the complimentary breakfast buffet at our hotel in Wittenburg I got a little tear in my eye. It was a thing of beauty. Scrambled eggs, sausages, breads, fruits, yogurt, cereal, dark coffee... I still get a bit misty, remembering it.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1154521355192246532006-08-02T07:23:00.001-03:002009-10-17T01:48:04.170-02:00Unter den LindenOur visit to Germany started and ended in Berlin, a city of 3.5 million. The city had a fascinating role in the Cold War as the most conspicuous example of East versus West. The wall is down now and the city has worked wonders to bring the former poverty and dilapidation of the east up to modern standards. Roads have been built. Buildings have been renovated and parks and monuments have been Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1153734202249828942006-07-24T05:45:00.001-03:002009-10-17T01:49:16.514-02:00CymruWe've just returned from a trip up to Wales. Wales is a part of the United Kingdom but is it's own country. The Welsh call their country Cymru. It has it's own language, very ancient and much like Celtic and Gaelic. All the signs are written in both Welsh and English. The Welsh people, in my three day experience, are much more friendly and welcoming than those I've met in England. When you think Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1153349375587642482006-07-19T18:37:00.001-03:002009-10-17T01:50:28.128-02:00Odd bitsA couple of random things since today I spent mainly cleaning and getting ready to be gone for a week.Overheard on the street last week and never, ever heard on the streets of Abilene: "I sure did fancy that mackerel pate."No lie, I actually heard a woman say this to her friend.I thought I would find the British to be substantially healthier than Americans, especially in this community where Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1153253488231767042006-07-18T16:48:00.001-03:002009-10-17T01:53:29.895-02:00When in doubt... punt.We've heard much about punting the Thames. Come to find out the Thames is a nasty river and punting it is such a tourist attraction that punting the Thames is a pricey undertaking. So, spendthrifts that we are... we went punting the Cherwell.A punt is a flat bottom boat about 16 feet long. It's about three feet wide at the center and tapers to about 20" on the ends. The pole is about 16 feet longMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1153228209509426622006-07-18T09:38:00.001-03:002009-10-17T01:54:45.735-02:00Still doesn't explain their terrible foodI've decided that one of the key differences between England and the US is a fundamental difference in the efficiency that directs decisions all across both of our cultures.England is an island nation, 241,000 sq.km... or slightly smaller than the state of Oregon. It is home to 60 million people.By contrast, the US dominates the North American continent, occupies 9.16 million sq.km and is home toMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1153176777221487252006-07-17T18:54:00.001-03:002009-10-17T02:00:04.936-02:00Did I mention that we walked?My birthday was Sunday the 16th. I woke up to the sound of seagulls in Dover, England. I went downstairs with the Divine Mrs. L and my boys and ate a traditional English breakfast... one gently fried egg (very runny), toast, tomatoe, potato, coffee, juice, bacon and sausage. If you're ever offered an English breakfast sausage, politely refuse. If you're ever offered bacon, make sure you ask for Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1153173033035829072006-07-17T17:33:00.001-03:002009-10-17T02:02:52.126-02:00We greet the locals...We found Dover at the end of a couple hours of train riding. The trains were pleasant enough. Rocking gently along the English countryside, sitting in a "suite" of six seats facing each other with a small table, we talked, played games, watched the pastoral scenes of horses, sheep and wheat fields gliding by and dozed.Dover itself turned out to be something like Dodge City, KS. It's got a tiny Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1153149632428615452006-07-17T10:55:00.001-03:002009-10-17T02:07:57.977-02:00Pillaging PaysQuite a bit's happened since last update. I've got a couple of days to write about so here goes...Saturday morning we woke early enough to pack up and leave our "home" at #10 Canterbury, Oxford at 7:15. We walked downtown and caught the bus to London. We rode the double decker for about an hour and a half and were let off on a bustling sidewalk. We promptly caught a cab and were off for a 10 Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1152872397897154082006-07-14T07:06:00.001-03:002009-10-17T02:10:13.989-02:00Bird watching, England styleI made a comment yesterday about not seeing many birds here. There are trees and shrubs everywhere but not many birds. Then I began looking in earnest for the birds that I imagined must be living here and so, I began seeing them.There is a bird in our backyard that looks like a hybrid of a crow and a pigeon. The head is dark black, shiny with a crow's eyes and beak. The body then changes to whiteMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1152793472555514542006-07-13T09:01:00.001-03:002009-10-17T02:11:55.310-02:00The dog ate my homeworkI wrote an entry last night on the couch and the battery warning came on so I plugged the computer in and left it till this morning. I got up this morning and finished my writing and hit the Publish Post button... and just like that, it was all gone. I can assure you that had that blog entry survived... the writing was so brilliant and lucid that women would have fainted, children would have beenMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1152640586307135542006-07-11T14:55:00.002-03:002009-10-17T02:16:18.754-02:00Across the PondIf you've read or re-read any of the old posts you know that I spent a bit of electronic space writing primarily about political things. I stopped writing when I got a promotion at my old job and haven't had the time to pick up the "quill" since. Now, I've got five weeks to spend with wife and family in merry old England (and Germany, France and Wales) and I'm looking forward to recording some ofMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1129131772568483452005-10-12T13:33:00.000-02:002005-10-12T13:42:52.583-02:00So Zawahiri says to Zarqawi...Click on the title bar to follow the link. It's a letter from Ayman-al-Zawahiri to Abu Musab Zarqawi. Zarqawi, you may recall, is now famous for beheading his captives and sending the gruesome videotapes to sympathetic "news" agencies. Zawahiri is an Egyptian doctor who professed allegiance to Bin Ladin in 1999 and recently has been one of the highest ranking Al Quaida members.If this letter Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7870565.post-1128961706145313062005-10-10T14:20:00.000-02:002005-10-10T14:30:43.166-02:00Success in Iraq, largely unreportedIf you'd like a more accurate picture of what's happening in Iraq than you are getting from CNN... check out the link above by clicking on the title bar. Michael Yon is on the ground in Iraq and has been riding in combat, life and death missions with the American military and with ISF.If it bleeds, it leads. CNN has a financial motive for running the "bad" news. They are just paying the bills. Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08185114498525906819noreply@blogger.com0