Bible Locations

Have you ever wondered where some of the Bible locations are in relation to modern cities and places? Wonder no more.



OpenBible.info has some great resources. You can use the free Google Earth (download here) and put the overlays from Open Bible on it. The overlays are setup by chapter in the Bible so you can easily find the sites you'd like to see.

Very cool.

Useless or Annoying

I don't know if anyone else has this issue or if it’s just me, but have you ever noticed that there is a fine line between useless and annoying?

For example, most motorcycles do not come with clocks. That’s annoying. You can’t use your wristwatch because it’s under your gloves and jacket. So I bought a little clock that you can mount to your handlebars. It’s a decent clock. It has a glow-in-the-dark face – for at least 15 minutes of darkness (useless). And a thin little brass second hand (REALLY useless). When I’m riding my bike, I never need to know that it’s 6:04 and 26 seconds. Plus the thin brass is very difficult to see against the glow-in-the-dark face when you are bouncing down the freeway at, umm, California freeway speeds.

But the useless second hand doesn’t bother me. I’ve learned to ignore it. Until yesterday.

Yesterday the second hand fell off the spindle and now it resides at the bottom of the clock. For the first time I noticed that the second hand actually has a big round part that goes over the spindle where the hand attaches to the movement. Now that it’s at the bottom of the clock, the big round part is as annoying as it can be. Every time I look at the clock all I can see is that stupid second hand bouncing around. It went from useless to annoying in one brief moment.

The clock still seems to keep time just fine. But I’m going to have to replace simply because that stupid second hand bothers me.

What in your life has gone from useless to annoying?

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

I like this guy's sense of humor.


An Engineer's Guide to Cats

It's Been Quiet Here

Yea, it's been a little quiet here. We've been working on the 50th Anniversary weekend for our church (Downey Adventist Church). Man, has that been a lot of work!

The good news is the event was this weekend and it went extremely well. Lots of visitors (the worship service was standing room only!). Lots of goods times, memories and pictures. It was great.

Now I'm going to sleep for two days.....

A Beautiful Mind

This guy has an amazing ability!!



I've heard of photographic memories before, but that's over the top.

Bumper Stickers

I don't know why I read bumper stickers. Most of them are, well I guess I should just say it, dumb. Occasionally you find a gem, but generally they're just pretty goofy. I don't know why I continue to read them. I guess it's a bit like gold panning, usually you don't find anything but there's always the chance you could bring home a nugget.

The other day I saw one that went beyond dumb, it was offensive. The guy was driving a mid-1980's Camaro. My folks used to have one of these cars. An OK car, not the best GM ever put out, but not the worst either. On the back of this particular Camaro was a Chevy bow-tie sticker. So far so good. Above the bow-tie sticker it said, "This car was made with tools" and below the bow-tie it said "not with chopsticks." What?! Did he really put that on his car?

I'm usually not a big fan of being PC (Politically Correct). I think we are too sensitive about too much stuff. However even I found that bumper sticker offensive. I'm sure all those Asian workers are putting together inferior products with their chopsticks. They're too stupid to even use tools. Crazy! Can you imagine an import car with the sticker "This car was made with tools, not with forks"? Me neither. Although it would make a lot more sense given the average weight of Americans verse the average weight of Asians.

The really interesting thing is if the sticker had said, "I support American products" or "Buy American". I probably would have agreed with him. No problem. I guess it's all in how you phrase it. There can be a fine line between providing support for something vs tearing the other thing down.

Today I choose to be positive. To build things up. What will you choose?

That's worth pondering about.

NBA Playoffs!

I love me some NBA Playoffs! Win or Go Home! It's great. I'm very happy this year because the Celtics have a great chance of doing very well. That just makes me so happy I can't even see straight.

I'm a little bummed about one thing. I enjoy watching the Suns and the Spurs play. This year they face each other in the opening round. That means that either way, a good team that I enjoy watching is going home early. Bummer...

But other than that... I'm very, very happy!

The Front Fell Off

I saw this video and it made me laugh. This is a comedy duo from Australia.



This kind of reminds me of the political speeches and interviews that are happening right now in the US as the race for the presidency heats up - much of the rhetoric is pretty bizarre.


[ht BrokenHeadStock]

Commercial Technology

With all of the technology we have in the world, you'd think someone would fix commercials. I'm not talking about stupid commercials. There's no technology that can fix the amazing stupidity shown in some of the commercials. I'm talking about showing commercials to a completely wrong audience.

I was watching a program on TV last night and they kept showing all these DR commercials. You've probably seen them. They make the most awesome chipper shredders, roto-a-tillers and brush whackers. These are the most amazing things ever made for the home owner - at least according to the commercial. The problem is you need to own like 20 acres of untamed wilderness to put these tools to use. I'm sure somewhere in the US there are people who have these untamed wildernesses that need these high powered tools to control the thick brush that threatens their family homestead. Those folks just don't live within a few hundred miles of here. Actually the nearest one maybe a few states away.

I live in Los Angeles. No one has huge yards with thick underbrush that needs these types of tools. It seems like the DR company is wasting advertising dollars and wasting my time showing me these commercials. Why isn't there a technology that would only show commercials to a locale if there was a need? The Sonic commercials are another example. There aren't any Sonics within miles of here, but boy they sure do show a lot of commercials. Why?

If you could invite such a technology, I sure would appreciate it. If you get rich from it, a 2% idea fee would be much appreciated too.

Assuming the Worst

Have you ever noticed that sometimes we assume the worst?

The other day as I finished my shower, I could hear a sound that didn't sound good. I'm always leary of unidentified sounds in the bathroom, they can mean plumbing problems - and I HATE plumbing problems. The sound I could hear sounded like a pinhole in water pipe. There was a ssssssssss sound, like water leaking under pressure. Terror struck my heart.

I turned off the lights in the bathroom, so the fan would go off and it would be quieter and I could identify which pipe was leaking. As I fumbled around the dark trying to determine where the sound was coming from, I could picture how badly my day was going to go. Visions of sledgehammers, breaking tile and drywall filled my mind. What a great day this was going to be. Not!

As I continued searching for the source of the sound, I noticed that it seemed to be coming from the wrong end of the shower. The end without water pipes. There I found a pressurized can of lotion that my wife uses. It looked like a plastic bottle, but closer inspection revealed that it was a steel can coated in plastic. Apparently it had developed a leak and the contents were bubbling out. What a relief!

I quickly emptied the can to relieve the pressure. Visions of exploding steel cans aren't pretty either. I started to realize that it was going to be an ordinary, regular, even boring day. And that was a good thing!

Why do we look for the hardest, most difficult solution to the issues we face? Why does a noise in the bathroom equal leaking pipes instead of just a defective can? Have you ever wondered if something dreadful happened to someone you were waiting for when they were late? We don't wonder if something simple happened like they are just running late because they were visiting with friends, we often think of the worst case scenario. Why?

How much less stress would you have if you looked for the simplest, easiest, best solutions instead of the most complex, hardest, worst solutions? I'm guessing that would be a big improvement.

Sunny So Cal

I took a day off during Spring Break to hang out with the familia. We went to an outdoor mall and while the boys were playing a few video games, I snapped this pic on my cell phone. Not the greatest quality ever...

I sure do love living in Southern California!

She Called

Give this a listen.




I'm proud to have young men and women like this in our Armed Forces.

Here's the words.

And she called...

Blacks, Whites...wait
African Americans and Caucasians, Asians, excuse me.
Vietnamese, Philipenes, Koreans and Jamaicans or
Haitans, waitin' Hispanics y'all.

Please be paitent
Mexican, Puerto Ricans, Venezualean, Cuban, Dominican, Panamanian Democrats
I beg your pardon, you partied with the late, great Reagan?
Republican, Independent, Christian, Catholic,
Methodist, Baptist, 7th Day Adventist, 5 Percenters,
Hindu, Sunii Muslim, Brothers and Sisters who never seen the New York city skyline when the twin towers still existed.

But still She called.

From the bowels of Ground Zero she sent this 911 distress signal.
Because She was in desperate need of a hero,
and didn't have time to decipher what to call 'em,
so she called 'em all Her children.

The children of the stars and bars who needed to know nothing more than the fact that she called.
The fact that someone attempted to harm us
this daughter who covered us all with her loving arms.
And now these arms are sprawled across New York City streets.

A smoke filled lung, a silt covered faced,
and a solitary tear poured out of her cheek.
Her singed garments carpets Pennsylvania Avenue and the Pentagon was under her feet.
As she began to talk, she began to cough up small particles of debris
and said, "I am America, and I'm calling on the land of the free."

So they answered.

All personal differences set to the side
because right now there was no time to decide which state building the Confederate flag should fly over,
and which trimester the embryo is considered alive,
or on our monetary units, and which God we should confide.
You see, someone attempted to choke the voice
of the one who gave us the right for choice,
and now she was callin.
And somebody had to answer.
Who was going to answer?

So they did.
Stern faces and chisled chins.
Devoted women and disciplined men,
who rose from the ashes like a phoenix
and said "don't worry, we'll stand in your defense."
They tightened up their bootlaces
and said goodbye to loved ones, family and friends.
They tried to bombard them with the "hold on", "wait-a-minute's", and "what-if's".
And "Daddy, where you goin?".
And, "Mommy, why you leavin?".
And they merely kissed them on their foreheads and said "Don't worry, I have my reasons.
You see, to this country I pledged my allegience
to defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic.
So as long as I'm breathin, I'll run though hell-fire,
meet the enemy on the front lines,
look him directly in his face,
stare directly in his eyes and scream,
"I AM AMERICA! WE WILL NOT BE TERRORIZED!
WE WILL NOT BE TERRORIZED!
I REFUSE TO BE AFRAID!
I'LL FIGHT YOU ANY COUNTRY, ANY CONTINENT, ANY TERRAIN.
I'LL FIGHT TO MY LAST BREATH!"

And if by chance death is my fate,
pin my medals upon my chest,
and throw Old Glory on my grave.
But, don't y'all cry for me.
You see, my Father's prepared a place.
I'll be a part of his Holy army standing a watch at the Pearly Gates.
Because freedom was never free.
POW's, and fallen soldiers
all paid the ultimate sacrafice
along side veterans who put themselves in harms way.
Risking their lives and limbs just to hold up democracy's weight,
but still standing on them broken appendages anytime the National Anthem was played.
You see, these were the brave warriors that gave me the right
to say that I'm Black. Or white.

Or
African American or Caucasian,
I'm Asian, excuse me.
I'm Vietnamese, Philipene, Korean, or Jamaican.
I'm Haitan, Hispanic

Y'all, Please be paitent.

I'm Mexican, Puerto Rican, Venezualean, Cuban,
Dominican, Panamanian, Democrat
I beg your pardon, you see I partied with the late, great Reagan.
I'm Republican, Independent, Christian, Catholic,
Methodist, Baptist, 7th Day Adventist, 5 Percenters,
Hindu, Sunii Muslim,

Brothers and Sisters We're just Americans.
So with that I say
"Thank You" to the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines,
for preserving my rights
to live and die for this life
and paying the ultimate price for me to be...FREE!

What Are You Looking For?

Watch this.



Motorcyclists too. (that will make sense after you watch the video)

Did you see it?

New WALL*E trailer

Check out the new WALL*E trailer. This looks fun.


Will you go see this?

Super Bright Headlights are Social Commentary

I go to work pretty early in the morning. The official military time that time of day is "O dark thirty." Basically that's so early it's still dark. I'm not complaining. I'm kind of a morning person and usually I get out of work a little earlier, so it's all good.

However, driving to work in the dark, at least in L.A., can be a bit frustrating. There are people in L.A. who drive around with their bright headlights on. Why? You don't need them in L.A., it's never really dark here. The city lights provide quite a bit of ambient lighting. And even if it was that dark here, you're on the freeway in L.A. The car in front of you is only a few feet away, you don't really need your high beam headlights on. And some folks don't stop there. They get those super bright, so bright they're blue, headlights. You know the ones, the lights that passenger jets use for their landing lights. They have roughly the same candle watt power as the Sun. Yea, those lights. And for some people, that's not even enough. They have their highbeams on, the super-bright-blue lights, AND they have their driving lights on. In California it's illegal to run brights and driving lights, so that means these folks went out of their way to change the wiring of the car to make this happen. Why? Are these folks so challenged to see in the dark that they need extra-ordinary amounts of lumens just to see? If so, I really want these people off the road!

I've been thinking about this for awhile and I'm sure there are many possible reasons for why people do this, but here are a few.
1) People are just clueless. I bet quite a few of those folks have no idea their highbeams are on and that they are blinding everyone else.
2) People just don't care. They know their highbeams are blinding everyone else, and they just don't care. They think it's their right to have their lights as bright as they want. I mean the car manufactures put the brights on the car for reason, right?
3) People are lazy. I'm betting some of the folks have burned out their low beams and have to drive around with their highbeams on, or they won't have any lights at all. It's easier for them to use their highbeams than it is to fix their lights. (You don't even want to know how many cars in L.A. are driving around with multiple idiot lights (warning indicators) flashing on their dashboards - but that's a different post.)

I suspect these three characteristics can be manifested in other areas of people's lives as well. Driving is just one indication of our over all care and concern for other people. Think about the people in your life at work, at school, in the neighborhood, etc. Are we clueless as to how they are doing? Do we not care? Are we just too lazy to do something about it? Those are hard questions we need to ask ourselves. While driving around L.A. with your highbeams on may not seem like the deepest social commentary ever, I do think that the lack of care we show other people in one area of our lives is likely to spill over into other areas of our lives. If we show no concern for others when we are driving, we probably will not show a lot of concern for people in other areas either.

What kind of care do you show for other people? When your driving and at other times too. That's worth pondering about...

Pimp My Stroller

I found these guys, Rhett & Link, from MicroExplosion. Pretty funny stuff.




Be sure to check out some of their other videos. Good stuff.

Spring Forward

California will make the switch to Daylight Saving Time at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 9. Don’t forget to change your clocks and electronic calendars.

This is also a good time to check your batteries in the smoke detectors and check the air filters on your heater/air conditioner.

I'm Superman!

Oh boy, is my son going to be disappointed to learn that I am Superman (and he's not).

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 80% Iron Man 70% Green Lantern 65% Supergirl 65% Robin 60% Wonder Woman 60% The Flash 55% Spider-Man 50% Hulk 50% Batman 40% Catwoman 35%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test


What Superhero are you?

Advertising

I help a couple of non-profits with some advertising and community awareness events. I'm certainly not the biggest expert regarding marketing and advertising, but I do know this. If you are going to send out something to promote your organization - PROOF-READ IT! Fix all the spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. And if that's not your thing, find someone who can help.

That seems like common sense, right? Yet, I continue to receive substandard writing and grammar for advertising. Amazing. I'm not talking about an occasional typo or mistake, these are articles riddled with errors. I received something today to include in our church bulletin, and frankly it was embarrassingly bad. I wish they had asked for help from someone before they sent it out.

Is English that difficult? Ok, maybe it is. English has some really crazy rules. But this is a skill that we should be able to master. What I’m really wondering is, what does it say about our educational system if so many of us have not mastered basic language skills? I guess the real thing to ponder is, are we going to do anything about it? Are future generations doomed to have poor English skills? Is there something can be done? Does it matter that we can’t write proper English?

For those of you who are bilingual, do other languages have this same issue? Does the quality of writing seem to continually degenerate?

What do you think?

Hey Jude!

This made me laugh for SO many reasons.



Maybe she'll be ready to help in the band in a few years.