The problem with surveillance cameras

They see things that cannot be unseen.

Evidence for the prosecution:

I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of Storm Trooper armor at my domicile
(h/t to my friend Techie)

Did I sleep through a few months?

It's the middle of March. Why is the high for today supposed to be 80°?

I actually did my annual PM on the lawn mower this past weekend. I changed the spark plug, oil and air filter and sharpened the blade (note to self: it has some bad nicks, probably need to replace it next year).

I am actively planning on mowing the yard next weekend.

In March.

In Northern Kentucky.

Please tell me I slept through a few months and it's actually mid-May instead. Then this would all make sense.

Lessons in Perspective

Today's lesson comes courtesy of some friends. Our friends have choir practice for the Passion Play this morning. Because it's a Saturday, the church is not providing child care/babysitting/whatever your want to call it.

Since our kids and their kids are such good friends, it was a no-brainer for us to invite them over for a mid-morning play date. 5 minutes after the number of children in the house doubled, I just started laughing. My wife looked at me and asked what was so funny.

I told her "Most people look at us and say 'Oh my! You have four kids?!?!?' At this moment, I'm thankful we ONLY have four kids."

Perspective, it's good to have some.

By the power of. . . .what, exactly?

Society tells us that if we want to do something, if we want to accomplish something, if we want to be something, we must apply ourselves. Our success or failure is determined by our mindset, and by the power of our will.

Dan Millman, a self-help author, sums up this attitude:

"Willpower is the key to success. Successful people strive no matter what they feel by applying their will to overcome apathy, doubt or fear."

Marilyn Manson epitomizes this philosophy:

"I think every man and woman is a star. It's just a matter of realizing and becoming it. It's all a matter of willpower. The world is just how you see it. If you want to have other people tell you how to see it, then you can. But if you want to look at it differently, then it's limitless what you can do. That's why I don't feel the need to be one person. I can be as many people as I like."

As Christians though, we have to recognize this as a failed philosophy. We do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13), and outside of Him we will fail. In Psalm 143:10, David appeals to God:

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!

 Notice the critical difference. It is not our will that is important; it's God's will. True willpower is not exerting our own mind over our individual matter. Rather, it is learning to rely on God's will, to trust in His teachings, to trust in His will. After all, God tells us in Jeremiah 29:11:

For I know the plans I have for you, [...] plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

If we learn to submit to His will, if we answer the question by claiming the power of the blood of Christ, then our paths will be made straight (Proverbs 3:6). After all, as Paul reminds us in Philippians 1:6, the good work begun in us by God will surely be completed. We need to "trust in the Lord with all [our] heart, and do not lean on [our] own understanding."

Otherwise, we're reduced to pulling out our magic sword, declaiming our special incantation, and waiting for our trusty pet Cringer to be transformed into a fearless Battle Cat.

Well, hello there!

(h/t to the Gormogons)

I guess I should "pin" all my hopes on humour posts

I've noticed in the last few weeks that my daily traffic has seen a bit of an uptick.

Now, this is a very low-rent blog, and I don't get a lot of traffic (guess I should post more, huh?), so even a small increase in hits is noticeable.

Digging through my sitemeter logs, I noticed lots of hits were going to this old post about Jesus and one set of footprints.

At first, I couldn't quite figure out what was drawing everybody over, but then I stumbled across one entry in the logs. Apparently, someone found the picture, liked it, and added it to one of their pinterest boards. From there, it's apparently been re-pinned several times.

I wish I could even claim credit for the pic, but I can't.

Overheard in the office

PM: The new servers are ready!
Me: c:\ping server1
Computer: Request timed out
Me: Hey PM, I can't ping the new servers.
PM: Hold on a sec. . .
PM: Um, yeah, they just told me they're not in DNS yet
Me: Then they're not "ready" are they?

*headdesk*

No wonder my task list doesn't get any shorter.