Public service announcement

I would like to take this opportunity to address an issue that I seem to face almost every time I ride my bike. Normally I stay quiet on it, but after I encountered some bozo on the way home I feel I have to speak up again. When you are driving your car and you are making a right hand turn at a stop light, please, look for pedestrians or bicyclists before making the turn. Also, I know everyone likes a green light, but just because it is green does not give you the right to go blasting through without a second look, there are a few things to look out for like crosswalks and walk signs. I have lost count how many times (today included) I am waiting to go across with the flow of traffic, and I will be waiting right at the edge of the sidewalk in plain view, but when the light goes green and the walk sign comes on the people in the right hand turn lane get a knee jerk reaction and make their turn without any consideration at all. Today's less then bright driver was in a work truck, and never once did he acknowledge me, and I was there about 30 seconds before he ever pulled up to the light. So, that is my lesson for today, just because you own a car does not mean you own the whole road. Drive safe, drive smart.

Sorry for the delay

Sorry for a lack of updates the last few days, been enjoying my break from work a little bit. I realized I missed my posting date for another import car to make fun of, so here it goes.

One night while I was at Hastings I got a two for one special. I spotted a white Acura Integra and a white Honda Civic Coupe parked within two spaces of each other. Ugly birds of a feather flock together, here is car one from that night, the 'teg.


The first problem I noticed with this car was the attractive dent put in the passenger side wheel well. This give me an indication of how the rest of the car was going to look: wearing scars from battle.


Poorly fitted body kits are all the rage, who cares if it didn't get put together right, think of all the money you saved gluing it on yourself?


I promised battle scars, here is one on the back bumper. At first I thought the paint was just bubbling up and peeling away on its own, but actually there is a small dent to blame for that. This spot really sets off the altezzas he is running.


Up front is when I began to wonder if he drives this thing off road, there are scratches, cracks, and breaks all over this front clip. I am going to take a wild guess and say all the bug guts on it are holding it together.

Happy Christmas eve eve

So tomorrow is Christmas eve, and then with one more sunrise comes Christmas itself. I went to a play put on by my church tonight that re-tells the story of how Jesus was born. The last part that they did is one that can stick in your mind for a while about the holiday season. They have a family sitting around by a tree, and Santa shows up. He hands out his gifts, and everyone is enjoying themselves. What happens next kinda makes you sit up and take notice, Santa walks over to the manger scene, where Mary is holding baby Jesus, and he sets down his bag and kneels before him, and just stays like that. The family sees this happening, leaves all their things behind, and they too kneel at the manger. Kind of a nice reminder of where priorities should be.

Got yule log?

I made the decision last night, after making my decorating post and thinking things over, that I am just not in the decorating mode this year. Call me a Scrooge if you want, but I have participated in holiday things this year, just haven't felt the want to make my room look festive. On an unrelated note, I got the wild urge to pull out a small bbq grill and cook up the remaining hotdogs we had in the fridge. Should make for a good lunch tomorrow.

Decorating

Wow, its almost Christmas day. I act surprised because I have yet to finish decorating my room. Actually, I never started that much. Well, I opened up boxes and started taking stuff out and planning on where it would all go, but I never got back to it. Seems this year I am lacking the motivation and spirit to decorate my room. I don't want to do it "just because", that seems like a waste of time and I will just rush through it doing a second rate job. I guess I can give it one last try tomorrow, but I guess this year I haven't gotten much into traditional seasonal things. I have been more for spending time with people and shopping, but have passed on decorating, getting excited over Santa, and Christmas music.

An open letter

Dear God,
How are you? I know you are busy with running the whole universe, and I am not sure if you have a computer, but I was hoping to write out a little something to you. Normally in a letter I would go on and on about various boring details about my life, but you already know what I have been up to since the day I was born, so I will just jump into some other things. Sometimes, I feel that I am not measuring up. I know comparison can be a dangerous thing, but we are supposed to use the bible as a way to measure and compare, right? Sometimes I see the different examples of men in the bible, and while no one is perfect (except Your son of course) they all seemed like such a perfect mixture. They where firm in their faith, gentle when dealing with hard situations, and loving to everyone around them. I feel sometimes I get shaky in my dependence in you, I slip up and let anything but love come out to others around me, and I basically become someone I shouldn't be. I could probably make excuses for it all, but all excuses do is push the problem away for just a little while. I know you always promise to be around when we need help, and I guess what I am saying is that if that promise is still true, then I want to have a deeper relationship with you, beyond what I am doing now. I need to have you near before I get myself into trouble, which would be a lot easier then the way I am doing things now. Thanks for all the love, talk to you soon.

Me

Fa la la la laaaaaa

So today I think I finally got a little bit into the spirit, and I wasn't pushed or shoved into it. I sat down in front of the tv with some gifts, wrapping paper, and the movie "Elf", and enjoyed myself for about an hour and a half wrapping up goodies and having a few good laughs. I have a confession to make: I enjoy wrapping presents. I see each box or bag as a canvas to express my limited creativity with paper, bows, ribbon, and gift tags. Each year I try new ideas and see how it looks, and if it is not the greatest in the world there is no need to worry, it will be ripped off and forgotten December 25th.

Random Gibberish

Seems like the Charlie Brown Christmas Special has been in the news lately, and with good reason, this year marks the 40th year it has aired on TV. Kind of interesting to read about it, it was the Christmas special that almost didn't happen. Some people felt that it was rushed, that using nothing but kids voices was a bad idea, people where saying that you don't dare read the whole Christmas story from the gospel on TV, and even Schultz himself didn't like some of the animation. Well, despite all the reasons it shouldn't air, or be successful, it has gone on to be one of the most memorable and viewed Christmas specials. On a side note, I have a few holiday t-shirts with Charlie Brown and the gang on them, maybe I should iron out the wrinkles and wear them this weekend.

In other news, I have a ricer update! Remember the white Honda I posted a few days ago? Well, I was near my old local high school coming home the other day, and I spotted him pulling out of the parking lot. Has I got closer to my house I spotted him turning into that same McDonald's where I took pictures of it. Kinda made me feel sick to know that the proud owner of that heap is attending the same school I went to, makes me want to hide my class ring.

The soft glow of fire

Wood charcoal for grill: $6. Lighter fluid: $3. Miniature marshmallows: found in cupboard. Roasting marshmallows on a clear, chilly night in December: priceless.

Another Mad Tyte Ride

First off, shout out to my boy Jon D, we said he spotted me when I was taking pictures of this car. An offender spotted at the local McDonalds. His weapon of choice is a late 80's or early 90's Honda Accord. One word sums up this car: rough. Seems like everywhere I looked parts of the body and bits of a body kit where all misaligned or beat up. In the interest of keeping file sizes and page load time down I present just some of the highlights of this mad tyte car.


First off the front passenger side wheel well grabbed my attention, mainly due to all the rock chips, the dent put into it (looks like it might have been from the tire coming into contact with it), and his lower body skirt coming loose.


No interior is complete without that "stripped" look, makes it look like you are trying to save weight for racing. He had some carpet missing and a few holes in the center console, the ripped seats where also a nice touch.


The back end, judging by the looks of things I think I know what happened. I think those two fart cannons back there blew the back bumper right off.

Like fireflys in a jar

I would like to take a moment to point out one of the links I have off to the right hand side. If you are looking for a unique or special gift for someone you know check out The Firefly Jar. While there are no fireflys involved, the products are pretty nifty. I know this is some shameless promotion for them, but maybe they will give me a discount when I go to order one (Hey Nick, hint hint). Give them a look, and if you like something don't be afraid to order.

Candy canes

Heard something on the radio today, went searching through the internet and found some info to post:

According to some candy cane tradition, the meaning of the "J"-shaped treat can be traced back to the birth of Christ. The shepherd's staff, it is said, was the inspiration for the candy cane. Of course, the image of the shepherd fills the pages of the New Testament: Christ is called the Good Shepherd; angels appeared to shepherds at His birth, etc. In addition, there is another symbolism in the candy cane design: if you turn the candy cane upside down, it becomes the letter "J" for Jesus. And there is more. Tradition suggests that the candy cane's stripes symbolize the stripes, or whipping, that Christ received before He was crucified. It is said that the candy cane is made with red stripes as a representation of the blood of Jesus, who washed away our sins. The white stripes (sometimes symbolizing the Virgin Birth) represent Christ's ability to make us pure as snow. The hardness of the candy cane is said to represent the solid rock or the firm foundation of Christ and His promises.