Perspective Matters

Thanks Mom and Dad!

I was at a high school graduation today. That in itself is not all that interesting.  There’s an almost uncountable number of graduations going on this time year.  The graduation I attended was for a smaller, Christian school. If you never been to a graduation at one, it’s quite a different experience than the megalopolis high school graduation. The smaller school is able to do something things that just aren't possible when hundreds and hundreds of students are graduating.

One part of these smaller graduations I like is when the students have a moment to thank their parents. Today this was done via pre-recorded video messages. Some of the students are heartfelt in their thanks and some are humorous. But what is constant in nearly all of them is theme of “how far we’ve come.” The graduates talk about “having made it all this way,” or “you’ve really supported me in this long journey,” or some such statement. Those comments always make me smile.

I’m sure to the 18 year old graduate, it does seem like a long journey to graduation. After all, it’s been their whole life.  However, to those of us who are a little, well, ummm, a little more seasoned - 18 years just doesn’t seem like that long of a journey. Perspective matters. Those 'long' 18 years don't seem so long when you are two or three times older than that. I'm sure the grandparents in the audience really understand that irony.

It made me think about how God must view my few short years. I wonder if he smiles just a little bit when I remind him how long I’ve been waiting for something. How short my few years must seem in compared to all eternity.  But I think the real issue is not for God to understand my impatience and my short time line view, but for me to try to grasp God’s timing.

Are you stuck on your short time span? Or are you considering God’s much longer time span? That’s worth pondering about. 

And congratulations to the class of 2011. May God bless and direct your paths.

That Doesn’t Look Right to Me!

Have you ever noticed when things just seem wrong? Maybe it’s something that you’re not very knowledgeable about, but it still doesn’t ‘look right’ too you. Recently I noticed a transition ramp between two freeways. This ramp takes you from a lower freeway up to the freeway that is crossing over the first one. If you are local in So Cal, it’s the 605 S to the 91 W. This particular transition ramp is on top of a large berm of dirt to help it rise to the higher 91 freeway. However, the drop off is very steep, nearly vertical.

What’s weird about this whole thing is, there is a guardrail on the inside of the turn on the transition ramp, but not the outside of the turn. That just doesn’t seem right to me. I’m not an expert on such things, but I’ve never seen a car miss a turn because they turned too sharply. Generally they are going too fast and go off the outside edge of the turn. If it’s raining and slippery, the car isn’t going to slide off the inside of the turn (this transition ramp has nearly no banking), the car is going to slide off the outside of the turn, where there is no guardrail. It just doesn’t seem right to me.

I guess I’m supposed to trust Cal Trans and their experts that they know what they are doing and a guardrail is not need in that spot. But that’s kind of tough to do. Because right where this transition ramp joins the 91 freeway, I’ve only got a few car lengths to merge through 5 lanes of traffic to make it to the carpool lane. That monster merge turns out to be fairly challenging most days. If the people designing this couldn’t see that this arrangement was going to make those merges really hard and move the carpool entrance a few feet further down the freeway – how am I supposed to trust them that they know where a guardrail should be? You’ve got to be able to handle the small things (where the carpool entrance should be) before I’ll trust you with the big things (safety).

I’ve seen this same principle at work in spiritual matters. Someone reads a story about having strong faith and they want a deep faith like that too. So they attempt to trust God with something. Generally with something big and heavy. And if things don’t turn out just exactly like they wanted, their faith in God is shattered. But it was a fragile faith to begin with. Because it was not grounded in a lot of small things, but perched on top of one big thing. That just doesn’t seem right to me. A strong, dynamic faith is grounded in a ponderance of small, little things. That’s what makes it strong, many data points. Consider the example Jesus used to demonstrate faithfulness.

You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness! Matthew 25:21 (NIV)

How is your faith? Is it grounded in the little things? Or just balanced, precariously, on one big thing?

That’s worth pondering about.

3 Reasons Why Friday is the Best Day of the Week

I love Fridays. That's not unusual. Nearly everyone who works in an office all week long loves Friday. It's the end of the work week. The beginning of the weekend. Time for some R and R. T.G.I.F. We all know the drill about Fridays. 

I certainly like those things about Fridays too. But that's not the real reason I love Friday. I really love Friday because on nearly every Friday night of the year, I get together with 8 of my friends for band practice. Yup, that's right, I absolutely love band practice. Weird, huh? This particular band practice is for the worship team at our church on Saturday mornings. Even when the week has been long and tiring, I look forward to band practice.  It's rejuvenating. It's fun. It restores me. It's hard to describe why all these things are true. It's many, many reasons and factors, but I'll keep it to just 3 for now.

1. I love music. I always have and suspect I always will. Music is unique in the way it works within us. Words and logic are useful in expressing ideas. Pictures are worth a thousand words. But music trumps them all. It has the ability make us feel. Music has the unique ability to lift my spirits without all the side effects of caffeine or an energy drink. I could go on and on about why I love music and all its endearing qualities. So I guess I'll just leave it at, I really love music. Getting together on Friday evening with my friends to make some music is one of the highlights of the week. Sometimes I enjoy practice more than playing at church. At practice there's no pressure and we have a lot of fun. We try different things, mess around. It's great. Playing for the worship service is wonderful, but it's more structured, and not quite as freeing as just playing at practice.

2. I love my band mates. Seriously. The folks in our praise band at church are great people. I like spending time with them. It's fun. It's uplifting. We don't have a lot of problems with attitudes or whatever. If you've ever been in a small group and you've enjoyed the fellowship, then you know what I'm talking about. Some of the people in the group I've known for many years and some of the people I've only known a few years. Yet, we all get along like we've been friends for decades. I look forward to spending time with these people. It makes ministry fun when you are serving with people you like.

3. I love God. That's easy to say, or put on a t-shirt or bumper sticker. But sometimes it's pretty hard to figure out what we are supposed to do to show that we love God. We try all kinds of things, like good works, Bible reading, study time, prayer, the list is long of things we try to do to show our love. These things can be good and worthy. But for me, music is such a simple way to show how much I love God. I sing his praise. Not only do I sing, but I encourage others to sing it too.  Music helps open our hearts to God. It prepares us as we enter into his presence. Yes, all the parts of a worship service are important. The Bible readings, the prayers, the sermon, the giving, it all works together. But I just can't imagine a worship being effective without music. I know it wouldn't work for me. Music begins and ends the service. It's the bookends that hold the whole thing together.

Do you look forward to the time when you are serving in your ministry? If not, why not? Do you love what you're doing for God? Do you love the people you are serving with?  If the answer is no, how are you going to change that?

That's worth pondering about.

What a Coincidence

I tend to notice coincidences. Unique little quirky things that happen seem to get my attention. Patterns also jump out at me. I don't know why, they just do. I notice when numbers line up in a pattern. I notice when an unusual number of the same make of car are around me as I drive. There's a thousand and one little things that happen like that seem to be grabbing for my attention. The other thing I've noticed, is that most people don't notice these things, and really don't care when I point them out.

However the other day there was one that really kind of tickled me. I was driving in my truck, when I noticed two Cadillacs in front of me. Side by side, going down the street in front of me. They were the same model and roughly the same year. Certainly the same body style. That's the kind of little thing that I regularly notice, but that in itself was not the interesting part. One car was driven by an elderly gentleman and, what I presume to be his wife, was in the front with him. They were what I consider the typical Cadillac driver. They were nicely dressed. They sat up nice and straight in their seats. They almost looked regal, like they were going out somewhere. The other car was a completely different story. It contained 4 young men who looked like gang members, or at least wanna be's. They all slouched and leaned over as they were attempting to be cool. Their clothes consisted of white tank top t-shirts, and flannel shirts. Two of them had bandannas on their heads.

The occupants of these two very similar cars were about as different as they could be.  Opposite ends of the spectrum is how they might be described. I suspect they picked similar vehicles for very different reasons. Yet the same vehicle was meeting the needs of these very different groups. I wonder if Cadillac considers both groups when designing their cars? That seems unlikely.

In a small way, this reminds me of God. God is the same for everyone, yet some how he's able to meet the needs of some very diverse people and groups. He doesn't need to change for you or me or anyone. He's able to provide for all of us.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8 (NIV)

Are you willing to give him a try? I mean really try it. Let him help with some of the hard problems in life. That's worth pondering about...

25 years

Today is my 25th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that 25 years has gone by so fast. It's hard to believe that I'm old enough to have been married 25 years.

It's been a great ride Linda. I love you more each day.

Size matters....

I don't know how my wife does it. She can walk into a clothing store and go to any type of clothing, pick up her size, take it home and it fits. It doesn't matter if it's jeans, shorts, skirts or tops. It's always the same. She just holds it up and somehow declares this will fit and it does. It is amazing.

I on the other hand, know the exact manufacture of my jeans AND the exact model AND the exact size and can't get them to fit. I don't understand how I can take off my old jeans, put on the exact same make, model and size and have them fit differently. They will be too long, too short, too big, too small, too something. It drives me nuts. I have shoes, that I regularly wear, that range from size 10.5 to 12. That's not even close to the same. I've been buying the same brand of walking shoes for a while. Last time I went to the store I had to get them a size and half larger so they would fit. I'm pretty sure my foot is not longer than it used to be.

This just frustrates me to no end, which is why I hate shopping for clothes. Congress should be doing something about this catastrophe!

Size matters. It matters in more than just our clothes. It matters in our living quarters. It matters in personal space. It matters in the garage/storage unit. It matters on our hard disk. It matters in our TV size. It matters in the amount of food we get for a meal. It matters when we select a church to belong too. Size matters in a lot of places. When the size is right, we don't even think about it. It's just so perfect it's not even something that crosses our mind. When it's wrong, it is so frustrating and it drives us nuts.

Fortunately God understands that.

"And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." Matt 10:30 (NIV)

If he's got the hair on your head numbered, he won't get the size wrong. Don't fall into the trap of thinking something is too big, or too small, for God to be concerned about. What is the thing that you are dealing with that you are concerned God won't help you with? The thing that you feel like you need to deal with on your own. That's worth pondering about....

Rigged

I was filling out one of those online satisfaction surveys that has a possibility to win some grandiose prize (ok, it was just an iPod). The game has one of those spinny wheel thingies that will tell you if you've won. I give it a spin and before it's finished spinning and I know the results, I have an email telling me I didn't win.

I can safely assume it is rigged.

Patience is ....

over-rated. I need some patience and I need it now! Seriously though, you've probably heard that "patience is a virtue." I guess that's why it can be quite difficult for me to have patience, I'm just not that virtuous some days.

What can really make it hard for me to be patient, is incompetence. It frustrates me to no end when I'm dealing with someone who is just plain old incompetent. It's even worse when you are paying for the privilege of dealing this with this individual. Business and organizations that want me to spend money with them, but then hire people who are incapable of doing the job just drive me crazy.

I recently had way too much fun with the L.A. World Honda dealer. We've been getting our cars serviced there for quite a while. To make a long story short, they really screwed up and wanted me to pay nearly $4000 to fix their mistake. Can you say "forget that"? I told the service rep that their mess up was going to cost them way more than $4000, because I was going to take my three Hondas somewhere else from now on. They'd more than recoup their money if they fixed their mistake and made it right. They didn't want anything to do with it. Maybe my 3 little Hondas just aren't enough to affect them, I don't know. But in any case, I'm done with them.  I found another shop to fix their mistake and it only cost me $2500. (I still think the dealer should have fixed it for free...) But if you need a great transmission shop, I HIGHLY recommend Stu's Transmission on Cherry Ave in Long Beach, CA. Great place. Oh and did I mention that you should avoid L.A. World Honda like it's the plague? But in all the hassle, I had to learn to be patient -- once again. It wasn't easy because I really wanted to choke someone.

Why is it harder to act like a responsible, decent human being, than it is to be a complete jerk? Maybe because we are all a little weird and dysfunctional. Maybe because it's just easier to take the low road instead of the high road. Maybe because we think expressing some of our frustration will make everything better - or at least make us feel better. Neither of which is true in my experience. So I guess I need to continue to work on my patience. Sigh....

What virtue do you need to work on? That's worth pondering about.

Overhaul

Blogger has rolled out a new tool for updating the look and feel of your blog. I was so impressed with their new template designer that I got all inspired and stuff and put a new virtual coat of paint on the place. Their tool is so easy to use, I could update the look every week. Ok, maybe that's not the best idea. But if you have a blog on Blogger, I highly suggest you check it out.

People are......

weird. Yup, that's right people are weird. All people are weird. Some are weirder than others. And what's weird to some, might not be weird to others. But in one way or another, we are a little weird.

Here's a recent example in my little world...

I was going into work one morning and a woman entered using a different entrance about the same time. In this particular building you have to sign in if you arrive before 7am. She looks at me and realizes I'm going to make it to the sign-in book before she is. Apparently this is a big problem for her and she actually starts running to make it to the book before I do. So there she is running across the lobby in her high heels to make to the to sign-in book before the guy with the motorcycle helmet in his hand. Definitely weird, but no biggie - I wasn't in that much of a hurry to get to work. However, when she got to the sign-in book, she wrote her name with... well I don't really know how to describe it, I guess I'll just say with much flair and dignity. I am not sure why, maybe she's recently taken some calligraphy classes at the local adult night school and she wants to get her monies worth. Anyway, it took her like a minute and half to write her name, the time and the company she works for. It took me like 10 seconds. So she ran to get in front of me to write slowly and take her time. The whole thing was just weird.... especially for 6am in the morning.

Obviously, this is not a major event, but it illustrates the point well. We all do weird things. Things that from other people's point of view - make no sense at all. I'm sure that woman had a good reason, at least to her, for her weird behavior - but that reason completely alludes me. It's just weird.

So the next time some disappoints you, or hurts your feelings or is just plain old strange - remember that people are weird. ALL people are weird. And that includes you too.

A Good Thing or a Bad Thing?

When you get to work and the security guard tells you that only one of the 4 elevators in the building is working, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

It's good because I was at work earlier than most and there wasn't a huge demand for that one elevator.
It's bad because I wondered what my odds of getting stuck in the last elevator in a failing system are.

It's good because I didn't have to take the stairs to my floor.
It's bad because I didn't get the exercise of taking the stairs.

It's good because I safely arrived at my floor.
It's bad because I wonder how poorly our elevators were made and how poorly they are maintained.

Most of what happens to us in a our daily lives has a good side and a bad side. The question is, what side do you spend the most time dwelling on? That's worth pondering about....

Rain, Response and Re-Think

Rain in So Cal is a funny thing. For one thing, it makes the native Californians a little crazy. Secondly, it makes the transplanted Californians remember other places they lived with rain – sometimes with fond memories, sometimes it re-enforces why they moved. Thirdly, it never just rains in So Cal. It's always a storm. The local news goes crazy with “StormWatch.” They put our all their reporters out in various locales so they can comment on whether or not any moisture is falling from the sky yet. Sometimes it’s almost too much.

But the one place that rain really messes up, is the freeways. When it rains in So Cal, it divides people into two groups. Those who don’t slow down one bit and those who nearly stop completely. Neither of these options is the appropriate response. When the roads get slick from the rain, it’s a good idea to slow down some and take it easy. That doesn’t mean business as usual at 80 miles an hour. Nor does it mean that you should go 10 miles an hour on the freeway because there’s a light mist falling. (Does it make me a bad person to enjoying seeing the yahoo who went by at 80 facing the wrong way against the center divider a few miles later?)

Appropriate response is a good thing. Whether you are dealing with disciplining a wayward child, or dealing with an organization that has provided a poor service for your money, or dealing with a perceived slight from a co-worker or family member - take a moment to think about the appropriate response BEFORE you act. Maybe now is the time to re-think your response regarding spiritual matters as well. Have you responded appropriately to God's calling? That's worth pondering about....

Obvious Moments

Parents of young children often worry about child care. When our children were young, me and my wife were no different. We both worked and so at one point when our babysitter couldn't continue, we worried about what we were going to do. We were very blessed to find a wonderful family at church that was able to watch the boys. They stayed with this family the entire time until they started going to school. It was a great situation for us, and hopefully the other family. I guess they survived our boys, as we have remained close to this family these many years later.

At a recent event, I was introduced to an extended family member of this family. I had never met this man before, but he had often been to the house where they watched the boys and he remembered them. After we talked for a few minutes, he mentioned that often saw the boys on the way home from school on the bus. He remembered the boys well. The boys didn't remember him or recognize him. But he remembered them and would watch them on the bus each day with their friends.

At first glance this seems like a neat coincidence. But I believe it was more than that. Like many parents, I have often prayed for the safety of my boys. God seems to have answered my prayers. But now it seems that God has reminded me that he did answer my prayers. He provided a man who knew my boys, that the boys didn't remember and whom I had never met, who was on the bus each day with them. Someone, who if needed, would have stepped up to help my boys.

I have a friend who says "God is good all the time, and sometimes it's really obvious." I love those obvious moments. Those moments don't always happen as often as I'd like them to. But when they do it is so cool!

Sometimes I wonder what I've done to deserve such favor from God. Then I remember, I haven't done anything. God loves me and provides for me as a good father cares for his children. Not because I am great, but because He is great.

What's Important?

This holiday season was quite a bit different than I expected. I was expecting a regular holiday. We have a bit of routine down and it's good. I was going to get some time off and do a few minor projects around the house. Just kind of lay low and enjoy the time off. It didn't really work out that way, but I'm ok with that.

However, part of the holiday was really unique, and dare I say it, even special. It was totally unexpected. Without going into all the details, several times during this holiday people did something or shared something with me and my family that was very thoughtful. We got one card from someone who really took their time to write something very nice and uplifting. We were invited to share the evening with some friends. Someone shared something with me about what had made their year one of the best ever. Just some little things. Nothing big. Certainly nothing expensive. But that's what made it so cool. It was personal. These things probably wouldn't mean much to anyone else, because they were custom tailored for me.

It really made me reflect on what is important. I tend to be very task oriented. I guess that's not all bad, someone has to get stuff done. But I need to be careful not to be only task oriented. Tasks don’t matter near as much as people do. I know that, but I’m afraid I don’t always act like that.

Take the time to be part of the lives of the people around you. Think about where you, your family and your friends are headed – not only in this life, but for eternity. When you are part of someone’s life, you have influence. You can make suggestions that could help in the course of their life. That’s a good thing. The question is, what suggestions are you making? What course adjustments are you responsible for? That’s worth pondering about.

Silly Questions

I was at the store buying a new computer the other day. I had already done my research and was pretty much ready to buy. I was just doing some final checking and comparisons on what was available.

After standing in front of various computers for 15 minutes or so, a sales lady approached and asked if I was interested in getting a computer. Now I suppose they have to ask the question because they get lots of looky-loos. But when you do want to buy a computer, it's a goofy question. I'm standing there thinking, "Yes, I want to buy a computer, that's why I'm standing in front of the computers."

Then she spent the next few minutes telling me how this other computer was better. It wasn't. It was slightly cheaper. But it had a smaller hard disk, a slower processor and less memory. The kicker was, after spending several minutes telling me how much better that computer was, she said "But we don't have this one is stock anyway." Huh?! You just spent your time telling me about a computer you don't have? Why?!

To her credit, she did tell me about a sale on some monitors, so I got two 24 inch monitors for just few dollars more than one 27 inch monitor. That was a no brainer.

I'm very happy with my new computer. But if you're in the market, I recommend you do your homework first - there's no telling what kind of sales person you're going to get at the store.

How Does that Affect Me?

Humans divide themselves into all kinds of different groups. Almost all of us group ourselves by family units. We live with our family, generally not with other families or in group settings. Sometimes we divide ourselves by our gender. Sometimes it's our profession and we will associate with people who work in the same field that we do. Sometimes it's by nationality, race or religion. Sometimes we group ourselves by hobbies or activities that we like to do. People who like to shoot guns generally hang out with other people who like to shoot guns. You get the idea...

Often times we can be protective of our groups too. If someone says something hurtful or mean-spirited about our group, we get defensive. We don't like it when someone else is tearing down our groups. We don't like it when someone else views us as bad, or substandard in someway. It's not unusual to hear about a group boycotting a movie because somehow their group was portrayed poorly in the movie. I'm quite sure the police officers and lawyers are tired of everyone viewing them as bad-guys because of some the members of their groups act poorly. Because of this defense mechanism, many times when we see someone in one of our groups acting in a way that might not reflect well for our group, we get concerned. Our first thought is usually, how does that affect me? If that group member continues with that behavior, will there be repercussions that affect me?

For example, if you've been reading this blog, you know I'm a member of the group of motorcyclists. Now motorcyclists, or bikers, are often portrayed poorly in the media. Sometimes the reputation is well earned. But I'm still often very aware of how bikers can actly badly and how that affects me. Recently I was riding home and the traffic was horrible. I was going between lanes trying to just move through without going too fast and upseting John Q Public in their cars. Another biker came up behind me and I let him pass as he wanted to go faster than I did. This guy was a piece of work. He was yelling at the cars, shaking his fist at them, acting like he was going to kick in their doors, I think he even spit on one car. He was one seriously angry dude. If someone didn't move over and let him pass, he acted like a federal offense had been committed. As I watch his tirades, I wondered - how does that affect me? Now I have to drive along behind him. What if the motorists are ticked off and they decide to take it out on me? What if they get fed up with bikers like him and they decided to change the laws so they are less friendly to bikers? etc. etc...

Never once was my concern for that individual or even the people that he was acting so poorly towards. All I could think about was myself and how his behavior might affect me. That makes me sad. It's hard to believe that I am so self-centered. Now I don't know what I could have done to help that individual. The middle of the freeway during rush hour is generally not a good time for an intervention. But I wish I had offered up a prayer or at least thought about something other than myself.

"How does that affect me?" is not something I want to ponder about too much. Apparently I spend way too much time thinking about me and not near enough time thinking about the people around me. What, or who, are you thinking about?

Creativity and School

This is an incredible talk about the educational system. It's 19 minutes long, but worth every minute.



Thanks to nikao for posting this....

Risky Business

Recently son #2 very thoughtfully bought me a package of Jelly Bellies. He was getting himself a bag and he remembered dear ol' dad and got me one too. That's my boy.

So for the past few days I've been snacking on Jelly Bellies while I work on the computer in the evening. The problem is, eating Jelly Bellies is risky business. The bag I have has 30 different flavors. My unscientific guess is about a quarter of those flavors are just plain old nasty. You never know what flavor your going get. You could get a couple of great ones and then one that tastes like the cross between the bottom of a coffee cup and an ashtray. Not that I've ever tried eating either one of those, but I imagine that's what it might taste like. When I mentioned it to son #2 as we were in the car headed somewhere, he laughed and said "Oh, that's the cappuccino. I didn't like it either." That's my boy.

Eating Jelly Bellies is not the only activity that is risky. In fact all of life is risky. People often comment that my riding motorcycles is risky. And there is an element of risk to riding. But anyone could trip, fall and die at almost anytime. Life is fragile and valuable. You can't just stay at home and avoid all risks. That's no way to live. The Christian life is no different. Often we long for safety, security and assurance. And while I understand that, being a follower of Christ should have an element of risk to it. You should be out there doing things, and some of those things will be risky in nature. People might laugh at you, or belittle you for your beliefs, or cuss you out, or who knows what. But how much did Jesus risk for you?

Reminds me of the old quote.

"A ship in harbor is safe -- but that is not what ships are built for."

John A. Shedd, Salt from My Attic, 1928

Are you hanging out in the harbor when you should be out sailing? What are you built for? Are you willing to take the risk to find out? That's worth pondering about.

Tap To Go

LA Metro has a new system to pay for your ride. It's called Tap to Go. You get this card that's kind of like credit card, you load it up for the month and then when you get on the bus you just tap it on some type of reader and then you go. Seems simple enough.

However, I think a better name would be Try to Tap and No Go. Ok, not the catchest title ever. But what a disaster it's been in rolling this program out. It was supposed to start in January. So every month when we made the trek to buy the boy's ticket for the month, they would tell us we need to get Tap to Go. We reply "Sure, let's do it." And then they would say "Well, it's not quite available yet. But you really need to get one." Huh? Eventually a lady ordered the two cards for us (because you can't order them online yourself). Twenty some days later, they arrived in the mail. Twenty days just mail us two cards. I tried to go online to prepay them so the boys could use them. What a horrible website they have. I created an account, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to add the cards to my account so I could put money on them. This would seem like an important part of the process. Eventually, I gave up and sent a message to support. They are supposed to answer in 24 to 48 hours. It's been a week and I still haven't heard from them. So I decided to get brave and call the help line. Surprisingly the wait time wasn't too bad and I got a friendly guy who told me they created accounts for the cards when they sent them to us. Really? That would have been useful information to include with the cards! He emailed me the info so I could log into each card and fill it up. Apparently, I'm not allowed to put both of them on one account. So this thing that is supposed to be so easy, apparently isn't.

This is the government bureaucracy that wants to run my health care. I can't imagine that ever being better that what I have now. I know our health care system needs help. But I think we could do better by fixing what we have instead the major change that has currently been proposed. The government has a hard time figuring out how to get people to pay a few bucks for a bus pass - I can't wait for the problems I'm going to have trying to get them pay for a surgery or a hospital visit. Just the thought of it gives me nightmares.

Oh well, at least my boys can ride the bus. I guess that's something.

Kids' Rock

Funny parody on those commercials that take pop songs and make them into kids songs.




Video Link

[HT Terrace Crawford]