God’s Dominion

Today I was behind a work truck of some sort, and he opened his window and tossed an empty soda (yeah, I know…”pop”) can onto the side of the road.  At lunch, I was walking to Applebee’s (it was just too beautiful not to walk) and noticed all the trash in the bushes on the side of the sidewalk.  I understand that some trash is a result of stuff blowing away or falling, but that was way too much to be all accidental.  Why are Americans such slobs?  I just don’t get it.  Doesn’t anybody have any pride in this country anymore?  If somebody bad mouths the US, Americans get defensive.  We aren’t even interested in taking care of our own country, though?  What difference does smog make if you’re going to dump all your trash on the sidewalk?  I remember how clean Germany was when I was there.  It was so clean I didn’t even want to throw any trash on the floor because it would be the only piece of trash on the floor and I would’ve been the one to put it there.  I don’t know, maybe it just struck a nerve, or something, but I really wish we would take care of our country.  We have to live here and I’d like it to be somewhat clean.  Laterz!

Somebody asked me about good quality inexpensive cameras recently and I never got back to her (sorry!). Anyway, today I found a link that lists ten good cameras for under $150 along with the same three sample pictures for each camera, making it easy to compare. Check it out here.

Laterz!

The other day on my way in to work, I passed a crew putting up a new speed limit sign.  What’s wrong with that, you might ask.  Well, I’m glad you asked.  In order to attach this sign to an existing light pole, they needed to shut down an entire lane (there were only two), use two trucks, and have at least four guys (who knows how many were sleeping in the trucks?).  Now, I’ve never tried to attach a sign to a light pole, but I would think I could do it with a ladder, the proper tools on my tool belt, and about ten minutes, all without affecting traffic.  Could be it’s a really complex, difficult process and they just make it look easy…much more likely that it’s a really quick, simple process that they make look difficult, though.  Laterz!

So, they’ve shut down my main route to get to work (only 11 1/2 more days…but who’s counting?) in order to remove the stop sign at the intersection and make one street go under the other.  No more stopping.  That should free up the traffic, right?  Well, not so much.  You see, a block to the south, they’ve added a new stop sign that wasn’t there before.  Final result?  I don’t foresee too much of an improvement to traffic flow since we’ll still have to stop at a stop sign, it’s just somewhere else.  Did I mention I have only 11 1/2 more days?  Laterz!

I thought I’d share a great story about a new mother for Mothers’ Day.  I have removed all the names to protect everybody involved.  There was a picture, but I wasn’t able to crop it well enough to only show the baby, so I won’t be using it.

Late last year, a new mother decided she didn’t want her baby.  For reasons we’ll never know, rather than dropping the baby off at a hospital or fire station (most states have “no questions asked” baby drop offs at fire stations), the baby was placed in a garbage bag.  The next morning, somebody discovered the baby and he was rushed to the hospital, barely alive.

Meanwhile, a relative of a good friend of mine and his wife have been trying to start a family together for ten years.  Well, earlier this year they were finally able to adopt a beautiful baby boy (no, not beautiful like all babies are beautiful, he’s a beautiful baby!)…yep, the same baby that was tossed out last year.  He was baptized last month and  I’m looking forward to receiving updates as he grows up (you hear that?).  I know the couple involved doesn’t read my blog (or know me), but I hope you forward my congratulations to them.  I praise God for wonderful stories like this that seem like such a tragedy at the beginning, but God turns into blessings for everybody involved.  Laterz!

Chicago decided they would be nice and spot Colorado 13 points in the first quarter…then outscore them 35-7 after that. Harrell, from Colorado, would dance around and egg on the crowd and even throw the ball into the stands every time he scored (the fans would then promptly throw the ball back). In the second half, he got nailed twice on crossing routes, once ending up on his hands and knees for a couple of minutes and the other time going into the wall upside down. After that, he pretty much just walked off the field when he scored. Chicago went on to win 59-48 to extend their team-record winning streak to eight games. Chicago will play on Monday Night Football again next week (third straight week!) in Dallas (9-1), who they hopefully won’t spot a couple of touchdowns before playing.

I saw something interesting in the news today. There’s a book coming out called Cities Ranked & Rated which ranks “more than 400 metropolitan areas” using various criteria to determine the best places to live in the country. Apparently, crime rate isn’t very important on their list. Some interesting notes, though: Gainesville, Florida came in first. Modesto, California came in at the bottom of their list ranked 375 (wait, weren’t they ranking more than 400 metropolitan areas? How come there are only 375 on their list?). The most interesting one to me was number 41: Lake County, Illinois. Yep. Wendy, you and I live in the 41st best place to live in the country. Pretty cool, huh?

I guess I’ll work on that calendar this week/weekend. There are quite a few local events coming up. I’m hoping to allow others to update it so you can add your own events. Sorry about not calling you. Didn’t even think about it. Even if you were working, Elijah could’ve come with us. Next time (Long Grove also has an Apple Festival and a Strawberry Festival) I’ll let you know. As far as my transition goes, there’s no news yet. I’ll be sure to let you know when I know something. I’m still trying to get a date and trying to get out of here as quickly as possible. I’m tired of this long commute. More tomorrow. Laterz!

Tonight, my brother, nephew and I will be going to watch the defending champion Chicago Rush (7-1) take on the Colorado Crush (6-3) on Monday Night Football (the AFL version). Look for us on ESPN2 tonight seated behind the end zone.

In other news, I’m please to announce that I’ve been getting fewer and fewer spam accounts on my forum (I think only one in the past week). However, I’ve now been getting a ton of spam here on my blog (sometimes as many as four or five in a day). Fortunately, I have to approve all messages by new posters and you haven’t seen them. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.

Saturday, I went to the Chocolate Fest in Long Grove. It was actually pretty nice. I bought some chocolate port (a sweet dessert wine) and I’m looking forward to trying it. There were pony rides and kiddie rides for Elijah. I bought some chocolate and some popcorn. I think I did a pretty good job of using my willpower. I’m considering adding a calendar here to my site so I can post events like this on my site for all my local readers (that would be you, Wendy) to know what’s going on. If I can convince the rest of my family to use it, we can also post family functions on there (Simone’s recital, Little Man’s birthday party, etc.). We’ll see.

I guess I’ll save some to post tomorrow. Laterz!

Well, my manager seemed okay with my plan.  We’re just working out all the details right now.  So, in a few weeks I’ll be working at a new independent contract much closer to home and making more money (spending less on gas, too!).  I’m pretty psyched about it.  Anyway, tonight or tomorrow I plan to going back to doing my reading and posting on the forum.  I had considered no longer posting since it seemed like I was pretty much doing it myself since Maria started getting busier and it’s a bit of a hassle to do it alone.  If Maria’s going to be involved I’ll continue.  Otherwise, I’ll just read on my own.   I was hoping for a group, but that didn’t happen.  Oh, well.

In other news, Thursday May 3rd is the National Day of Prayer.  The theme this year is “America United”.  Take a moment to pray while focusing on our country and our men and women in service.

I hope to be back to posting on a regular basis going forward.  Laterz!