I Love Working Out in the Morning

I got up at 4:30 a.m. and went to the gym. I seriously overloaded on lower body lifts - squats, leg press machine (did 90lbs more than previous best), etc. When I felt like I was going to fall down, I got on the elliptical and did cardio for 20 minutes.

I feel great now. The phrase "make this your best day possible"comes to my mind now. This is the kind of start to my day I want every day. Screw working out at night.
1. When I plan to workout at night, it just doesn't get done sometimes. Things come up. I'm in school. I work full time. I have a household to maintain. When I do it first thing, I control it. Something would literally have to come up overnight to make it not happen.
2. I feel better when I workout in the morning. I just do! More energy, better focus.
3. I have a sense of accomplishment to start the day.

Oh, for those keeping track, I was 312 on July 28, 2008. I now weigh 273. That's 39lbs gone. 33 more to go before I do a reevaluation.

No "Extra Stuff"

The doctors say no extra stuff... we're back to just the thyroid tests. Praise God!

?

"Their God is Their Stomach"

Phillipians 3.19 - "Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach"...

That's out of context, but that phrase stuck out at me like a fly on a projector.

The Election

I'm completely disgusted with the election. How did we get two democrats running against each other?

Doctor is not being encouraging

Yeah... the doctor is not being encouraging right now with what he's saying. I have to wait for the test results. There is a strong chance there is more going on than just a thyroid.

Apparently, my thyroid is being bad. Please pray for me!

I had some blood work done around September 15. Today, I received a phone call from the doctor. They want to do more blood work because my thyroid function is abnormal, especially compared to past tests they've done. It was a brief conversation that I had to end early. As such, I'm not sure if my function is low, or high.

I'll keep this updated. Please keep me in your prayers!
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Bike is FINALLY In!

I picked up my bike today at Peddler Bike Shop. I hope to start commuting to work Monday morning! I'm gonna take it out tonight and go for a test run to work Sunday.
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Really nice ear piece

I picked up a really nice custom molded ear piece from averysound.com. They are great to work with. My blue tooth (I use an original Jawbone) is easy for me to hear now, and it doesn't fall out of my ear now! Can't beat that with a ten foot pole. I've attached some pictures just in case you're not quite cleat about what an ear piece is.
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A Funny Gun Video

Bike Comes in on Tuesday & Why Cool Downs Are Important

The bike that I ordered last Monday should be in and ready for me to pick up Tuesday... so eight days from ordering it. I'm not sure what to think about that, since I can have a used engine from New York to CA in about 3-4 days. I'm not complaining though. I'm really excited to get this bicycle. My fitness plan is really going well and this will only enhance things. As I get more fit, and as I keep on my plan, not only is my body feeling better but my mind feels much sharper. I no longer enjoy overeating either - it leaves me feeling bloated and regretful.

The dog and I went jogging today around noon. Again, we did 1.5 miles plus a cool off. I just want to take a minute to let you know why cool downs are important in fitness. Until recently I never understood this, so I didn't cool down after runs. Here it is in a nutshell: If you aren't in great shape and you don't cool down, your body will pool blood in your extremities. The last time I tried to get in shape, I didn't cool down and when I would do strenuous things, I would think, "Man, my ankles are swelling! It must be because I'm fat." Well, there might be some truth to that, but this time around as I am really keeping an eye on things and cooling down, I'm hardly getting any swelling. It's great. :)

I hope to hit the gym later today after I've had a chance to recover. In the mean time I'm going to head to the office and work on getting everything reinstalled on my computer.

I hope you have a great day. Again, if you have anything you'd like another believer to pray with you about, please just leave a comment and I will pray for you!

Appreciation

My dad has a saying that is good, as far as sayings go: "the greatest sin in the world today is ingratitude." I think that this is very true, if you define greatest as existing in the greatest quantity. We're all ungrateful to a certain extent. The great tragedy of this ungratefulness is that it rarely just festers without harm, but instead germinates in our spirits and causes us to expend a lot of energy. You know what I'm talking about - pouting, whining, complaining, and sulking all take a lot of effort!

The Psalms give us some great examples of how to deal with these situations: bring the goodness of God into the mix. Some folks take this to mean we should deny our reality if we're having problems. They say to speak things that aren't as though they are. When I read Psalms though, I see acknowledgment of the situation, a cry to God, and a resignation to providence.
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The Ebb and Flow

If you're like me with regards to time management, you have enough time to do everything you need to do. What you're (really we're) bad at is spreading things out so that we can work at a leisurely pace. I stayed up last night working on some writing projects I should have started on Saturday and finished Sunday, but I let frivolous things pull my attention away.

Another example is my morning schedule. I wish that I could get to the gym every morning, but I find myself going only at night. The reason, in all honesty, is that I allow my desire for sleep to overcome my desire to get up early and go to the gym.

If I'm to get where I want to be... Time discipline is required. .
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The Truth About Sarah Palin

This made me laugh!

Interesting Take on Abortion

This is nothing new, but it's well phrased. It was posted on a bulletin board I frequent. Here is a link to the original post.

It's so funny to hear people all up in arms about the "constant fight to chip away at the right to abortion."

The reactions are the exact same ones you read about from the 19th century: "They are constantly chipping away at the right to own slaves."

The same old argument, but with the actors reversed: "You can't let them be considered people the same as us! That completely takes away our right to do with and to them what we want!"

Perhaps it helps those who uphold the right to abortion to better understand why getting rid of slavery was so hard and took so long: A lot of people, defending their "rights" (= self-interest), were making the same kinds of arguments you are, and invoking the same financial, personal and philosophical reasons.

And perhaps it helps those who oppose abortion, also, to understand that a long fight to see people's rights recognized is still worth it. It was a couple of centuries from the time some progressives actually said that those of African descent were as much human beings as those of European descent, until that was widely recognized, with all its legal implications, in Western cultures. The generation that started it never saw the end of it. In fact, in some ways, the battle still isn't over. But the tide is clearly in favor of recognizing the rights of all human beings, regardless of their color, sex, or ethnic origin. The fight was worth it, no matter how long it took.

The next step, for that humanity to be recognized regardless of age, is not won. But it is worth it.

I will say it very openly: Yes, I want to see Roe v. Wade overturned. From a legal point of view, it was very bad law. From an ethical point of view, it was very bad policy. From a philosophical point of view, it was very bad reasoning. It should be overturned.

Dare I say it? I think I will:

I have a dream. A dream that one day, even the very youngest human beings, even those still in need of the protection of their mother's womb, will be seen as precious lives, lives to be cared for, not dumped in the trash because they are in someone's way. The battle may take centuries, just as the battle to recognize humanity regardless of skin color has, but it is still a wonderful dream.

The irony is that many of those who will carry on that fight are in their mothers' wombs right now. It's no wonder that, one day, they will fight for the rights of others in their mothers' wombs to get a chance to live their lives.

The every greater irony is that many of those who will continue the fight to protect abortion are also in their mothers' wombs right now. And those of us fighting against abortion are fighting for their right to life, too.

How many of those who, given the chance, would have taken part in the battle on both sides won't get that chance, because someone will decide that they didn't have the right to live? And our law protected that "right" to deprive someone else of the right to live, just because they were in the way...

(Let the insults and negreps from those who want to show their moral high-ground in the debate begin!)

Youtube Music

My dad has recently discovered that you can listen to music on youtube. The funny thing about this is that he thinks no one else in the world knows, and he tells EVERYONE.

Too bad he didn't know how to use computers back in the Napster days!
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Good Health is a Good Thing

Yesterday was a great day. I got a great report from my doctor about the impact of my lifestyle change on my body. My blood pressure is no longer high (it wasn't high for long to begin with, I just... let myself go), it's perfect. I'm losing weight, and even he said "Man, you're changing shape!"

Last night after work, I went to a bike shop and ordered a bike (link to what I got). It should be here this weekend. I'm not sure how good at biking I'll be endurance wise, but I plan to start biking to work twice a week (Mondays and Fridays). This should burn about 450 calories one way, and save me about $40 a week in gas money. If I get to the point where I'm "speedy" then I'll add Wednesdays. I've looked into taking classes on Saturdays next semester instead of at night. If I did that, I could bike to work EVERY day. That would be REALLY great all the way around. My hope is that this will be a practical way to lose more weight, increase my "wind," and save some money on gasoline. Also, I am running a little bit, but my puppy really, really likes to run. Hopefully this will help me to exercise him.

Small Groups

In about an hour, I start my first small group at The Life Church. I'm kind of excited for it. I know I'll be in Memphis for at least two more years, so this is part of my acceptance of that fact. Going beyond that, its part of my effort to really connect. I'm not working 80 hours a week, but I don't have much free time either working full time and going to school part time, either. Anyways, I'm excited to connect.
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Cleaning sponges

I hate that I have to throw away sponges simply because they get dirty. I tried putting one into the dishwasher tonight, and it seemed to remove the smell. Is this safe germ wise?
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A really big spider can ruin a walk

Midnight and I love to walk. We have a route by my apartment that is almost exactly 1.5 miles. Many times small spiders put webs up across the sidewalks. So at night I take my flashlight with me to help spot their webs. Attached to this post is a picture of a web I'm ad I didn't run into. It was at least 4 feet in diameter and had the largest, hairiest, nastiest looking spider in it that I've ever seen. I'm not sure if it wa4 poisonous, bit I'm glad that I didn't just rely on my eyes natural ability to capture light and instead used the flashlight to pierce the darkness.

Now if this were a children"s video, Steve Green would pop out right now and staryt sining a song to the effect of "your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." We're all adults and know that though, right? That said, I can't help but wonder why I and so many other Christians only pull out our lights when we slam into an obstacle so large we can't just fumble over it. We'll come to the good Lord when we need a financial miacle, but we've not allowed his word to illuminate the day to day steps we have taken in our personal finances.

"Free me oh God!" we cry, even though the debt we're in is called that which makes us a slave in scripture.

Other examples could be child rearing, how we treat those around us, etc.

So... Yeah. Just start reading and APPLYING the Word of God folks. Please?
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New Scale

I got a new scale today. Among several things it does is measure your body fat percent. The goal is that as I lose weight, the body fat percentage will drop. I'll let you know in the future how it works out.
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Thought for the Day

I have a few great suppliers I work with in New England... But the majority of folks I talk to there are rude, abrubt, and just flat out unpleasant to speak to.

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Keep Houston in Your Prayers

Houston is not seeing the evacuation numbers that it should be seeing. I have a friend who has three relatives in low lying areas who live in trailers who haven't left. Its a very sad thing. Already, waves of 20' are being reported. We might see loss of life... Which is sad. We need to pray for the safety of our people in Houston.

We also need to pray for the oil refineries there. Whether we see displacement of workers or damage to the facilities, prices in the middle of the country WILL go up... This will hurt us all econically.
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The Goings on and Some Prayer Requests

I have a lot going on in my life right now, as do most people. If anyone has needs or issues, I would be happy to pray for you if you'll just make a blog comment and mention what you need prayer for.

Here is where I'm at:
1. I'm changing some of my non-core theology. This basically revolves around the concept of Baptism on the Holy Spirit and the concept of "initial physical evidence." This is very difficult, as it means I cannot pastor in the AG and will have to go independent.

2. I'm in school and working full time. No biggey. A lot of people make that choice, right? Well, while I'm getting better at time management, I'm not the best at it yet. So, please keep me in your prayers!

3. I'm on a strenuous physical fitness program. I've lost 31 lbs so far and feel great. I just need to keep it up. The next six months will change my physical health for the rest of my life and dictate my energy levels, ability to focus, and how well I do nearly every task I'm presented with.

4. I'm working on becoming a reserve law enforcement officer with either a suburb in the area or the county. Memphis is the most violent city in the country, according to the FBI, and helping change that just seems like the duty of all who are able.
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Oil

Oil will probably fall below $100 on September 12 unless the markets do something crazy. Let us hope that America gets back cheap fuel but that we also have the foresite to develop better ways to supply electricity to power stationary objects attached to out power grid. We are the Saudi Arabia of coal, with enough to supply us for perhaps 500 years. We should be pursuing the production of clean coal plants and the completion of Yucca Mountain so we have a place to store spent nuclear waste and can tus expand our nuclear program. Finally, let us pursue multiple new ways to power vehicles, including an already existing technology with an existing distribution network: natural gas. We are, again, a world leader in reserves.

Let us be thankful for and utilize cheap oil... But let's not rest on our laurels.
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Hebrews

I've been doing a Bible study of Hebrews this fall as part of my daily reading and deeper study. Hebrews is in my opinion the most difficult book to study in the New Testament, with the exception of Revelations, but the depth of theology in it is so incredibly deep. I'm probably only 1/9 worked through the commentaries I'm using to study this and don't feel remotely qualified to offer anything of substantive length yet, but if my readers would be interested I would love to share any nuggets of truth or gems of novelty I stumble across. Just let me know.

And no, I won't post who I think wrote Hebrews. I will only say that due to the heavy use of maritime metaphors and a Vocabulary very different from Paul's writings, I don't think Paul is our author.
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My election thoughts

They can be summed up quickly:
1. Oil dropped below. $100 * barrel in some markets today. Bad for the dems.
2. The Obamessiah only got a 4 point bump after his convention. McCain got 11 point. Bad for the dems.
3. Palin is as good a speaker as Obama and doesn't require a teleprompter. Bad for the Dems.
4. The Obamessiah is not holding up well under scrutiny. For example, his political career was launched in the living room of an admitted domestic terrorist (Ayers - Bombed the Pentagon). There really isn't much one can do to counter that.
5. Palin vs. Obama will ignite evangelicals on the abortion issue. Obama is a babykiller, and there is no way around it.
6. McCain is beating Obama on specifics and clarity of planning. A good example of this is policy on NUCLEAR POWER. McCain has specific financial outlays and scheduling... Obama has nothing but vagueness, save on paying for it. His plan to pay for it is, of course, to raise taxes.

That's a start. I would love to support a third party candidate (or Palin), but with Barack being the most liberal threat this country has faced in an election (well, since the communists were a legitimate threat during the depression), I don't think it would be responsible.
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Mobile Blog

This is a test of a mobile blog. If it works, I'll start blogging more again.
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Fully Understanding The Good Things We Have in Christ

Philemon 1:6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

This verse is very self-explanatory. I'm not going to add much, except to ask you to meditate on it. I feel incredibly challenged to increase my activity sharing my faith right now, and I hope you'll join me in doing so.

Los Angeles

I'm sitting in a conference Room at the Los Angeles Airport Sheridan Hotel right now at a Microsoft Ad Center conference. Currently, it is 37 minutes overdue to start. I'm not pleased with that at all. I flew in from Memphis for this conference, and if I had known it was going to start late, I would have slept longer!

Yikes! Obama Says Something I Agree With!

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Barack Obama celebrated Father's Day by calling on black fathers, who he said are "missing from too many lives and too many homes," to become active in raising their children.


Black fathers are "missing from too many lives and too many homes," Barack Obama said Sunday.

"They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it," the Democratic presidential candidate said Sunday at a largely black church in his hometown.

The full article can be found at CNN (link)


So, what's a Republican to do? McCain divorced his wife because she became disfigured during his POW torture internment in Vietnam before marrying a bombshell blonde. Obama is... speaking the truth about a family issue.

So, we have a socialist who would destroy America's economy and military saying good things on family values, and a Republican with no family values who would is a closet socialist who would do nothing about illegal immigration.

I think I'm voting third party.

Cleaning like a.. cleaning fiend

When I was young, I hated cleaning. My mom was like the cleaning Nazi, and while I know now that it was great, when I was young I always felt like our home was so clean that it was almost sterile. It was so clean that you felt like you couldn't do anything in it, because then you would have to do the work to get it that clean again.

Perhaps because of that, perhaps because of laziness, or a little bit of both, when I got out of high school and moved on, I almost basked in messiness. Silly, yeah. It's what happened though.

That's why since I've had this new apartment, I've been surprised at how clean I've kept it. I clean at least every other night, vacuum often and tidy up daily. I'm finding that I enjoy the clean feeling and a tidy atmosphere.

I'm having a few difficulties though.

The first difficulty is that I'm a pack-rat. I like to hold on to everything, largely because I hate the idea of wanting or needing something and not having it because I tossed it. For example, I have a book of all the A/G Churches, and of all the A/G Pastor's addresses I picked up a few sumers ago when I was interning. I'm not licensed, so I don't get a copy of it or have access to the web records available to A/G pastors, but so many of my friends are pastors that I want it, in case I never need to contact someone. It's from 2005 though, so it's losing accuracy (average youth pastor stay at a church is just over a year, senior pastors are 3 years). I probably should toss them. I think I will.

The second difficulty is buying what I need. I'm not the most organized, list oriented person, so I find myself making a lot of trips to do something that should and could have been done in one trip. Whether it's grocery shopping, mailing, or picking up household items like paper towels, I make too many trips.

The last difficulty I'm facing is I'm in love, and I'm far, far away from the woman I'm in love with. I want to be married to her and sharing this apartment with her, but it's not time yet.

*Boom* Goes the Engine

4 weeks ago. 9:00 a.m.. My potential future father-in-law checks the oil future brother-in-law's Grand Marquis and finds it is 4 quarts low.

Fast forward to Sunday, June 8.
My girlfriend and I are in a caravan of a Honda CR-V and a Grand Marquis. She is driving her brother's Grand Marquis back from his wedding. He has been in New Hampshire for a day. Under the hood of his car, a worn valve train is chattering up and down in a furious harmony of timed chaos. Suddenly, a spring on one of cylinder 3's valves pops. While the vehicle is still drivable, the engine is instantly destroyed - it is only a matter of time until the engine locks up.

And this is what I'm dealing with today in Memphis, TN.

My Mattress Will Soon Be Here

I'd like some of ya'll's opinion: Was I dumb to order a queen size mattress, anticipating marrying in the next two years? Whether I was dumb, or not, it will be here next Tuesday!

Busier Than a Hen Picking Up Corn with a broken beak

Sorry, the title is the best I could come up with. I don't take much time when I write a blog - just fire out what's on my mind and publish it without any revision.

I'm working on launching the third incarnation of my company's website. We're using a "zipped" design written in php that will allow us to change everything site wide by editing 3 files - the only thing unique to each page will be its content, headers, and meta tag. Transferring over everything is taking a long time, but I think it will be worth it long term as part of our broad SEO strategy.

I'm enjoying the apartment. It's cheap to cool it, and I sleep better when it's cold. Thus, I'm sleeping better and am more alert during the day.

Sarah is at her parents right now. She fixed their lawnmower by replacing the belts on it and is now mowing her parent's yard. She's great. You might think I'm dumb, but one of the things I look forward to one day with her is working on our yard. It may be a while before we have a yard though. I mean, we're not married, she has to finish grad school, I have to finish school, I'm getting more tied to Memphis than I thought...

Such is life.

My advice for the day - five people to cultivate good relationships with

This is completely unspiritual, btw. Well, 80%.

You need to be tight with your pastor, lawyer, doctor, mechanic, and gunsmith.

That's it. Have a nice day.

"Moving Is Hard Work" - Captain Obvious

Before I go any farther, let me please ask that no one leaves comments about my title using phrases like, "Thank you, Captain Obvious." Obviously, most people know moving is hard work. I spent the entire weekend moving, and was blessed that Mom and Dad helped me all day Saturday. I rented an F-150 from U-Haul, and made about 4 trips to and from my previous residence. It wasn't that difficult, save moving my solid walnut dresser. That thing is heavy! It's beautiful though, and a family heirloom (it was saved from my Grandfather's furniture store after a fire wiped out the business in the late 40's).

My cable and internet are set up. I told Memphis Light, Gas, and Water to start billing me on Friday for utilities via a web form, and even gave them two week's notice. I've received no indication that they've done that yet, and they are impossible to reach through their "customer support line."

I have to make a trip to Minneapolis to get some stuff out of storage. I still plan on coming back, people, but I have a lot of furniture in a room that I need here, and I don't want to pay for storage any more!

Moving This Weekend

I'm moving this weekend into a new apartment. 1 large bedroom, 1 small one which I will use as an office, dining room, and living room. Kitchen is nice, bathroom is nice. I will slowly furnish it. Anyone know a source for a nice couch at a reasonable price? Preferably brown leather?


Also, this made me giggle.

BMC50 Bcm_m50r1 Line Monitor

This is just a throwout in case anyone has the same problem with their Nortel BCM50 that I just had. My line monitor went out. That's not good for me, as my business is rolling out an additional national advertising campaign - I have to be able to see how many lines are in use. Our line monitor had worked initially, but then Wham, out of nowhere, it died.

A discussion at a nortel forum, BCM Line Monitor - Lines Don't Appear in Monitor, helped. Hope this helps you!

All I had to do was adjust the gateway my nortel device was using to match the gateway everything else was using. It was so simple, I could have punched myself!

The Tip That Was More Than The Meal!

My father and I ate Friday evening at a restaurant in Midtown (The "trendy" area of Memphis). I had Maine lobster, and my father had a chicken dish. The food was excellent, though the portions were small.

What I did not like was looking at my credit card statement today and seeing that they charged me a $73.00 tip on a $56.00 meal.

What gives? I called the place. They're closed today, but if I don't hear anything back Monday, credit card company here I come!

The strange thing about this is that I had another processing error on Thursday, when I sent my gf flowers - the floral company that I always use charged my bank card [i]twice[/i].

The question thus is: Am I right in my assumption that I haven't been getting charged more than I've owed in years previous? I always try to keep my financial records in good order, but now I'm paranoid that I've been missing small things.

Balderdash!

P.S. - I'm back.

Midnight the II

Sarah got a poodle a few weeks ago. I've had the fun (seriously) job of babysitting him a lot this past weekend. Here is a picture of him:

Wow. A Blonde Quote.

This speaks for itself.

On my third trip to the doctor this year

He finally stopped acting like my condition is nothing, gave me a chest xray and announced "Bronchitis."

Wow. Why was a chest xray necessary for that? Finally I'm getting a medicine that will work on this.

Great Weekend of Deer Hunting

Finally broke away to go down to the farm this past weekend. Went out two mornings and two evenings. We really have an overpopulation problem, and some biologists from Mississippi State have told folks they wish they could go no limit hunting for a few years. In fact, we have greater than 45 deer per square mile, which is the most they release stats for. On our 500 acre farm, we estimate greater than 50 deer.

Anyways, I got my first deer walking. I was downwind headed north on a logging road. We have a spring and I think the deer were headed to that to drink - though it was a weird time to do so. It was 11 a.m. Saw a herd of 3 milling in the woods. Dropped to one knee. One popped its head out. It looked good size, so I waited for a better shot (I was at least 100 yards away). It stuck it's neck out, and that was all I needed. My unmodified 1896 Swedish Mauser fired 6.5x55mm round and got it right in the neck. Clean kill. It was nice because it was right on the road and we just brought the truck right to it.

That night I saw several and might have been able to take a nice buck, but I didn't want to shoot into brush - I like clean kills. Same thing next morning, 2x - they were bounding into roads as I explored the farm.

Finally, I decided to sit by our pond. We have a high, wooded bank (which is new to me, growing up it was cleared... also the drought has seen the pond drop about half it's size) that I sat on. It gave me good coverage of about 80% of the shoreline with good kill zones all the way around due to the pond shrinkage. I sat for four hours, then at about 4:50, a buck bounded out of the woods and kept going into the woods. He turned around like he was scouting to see if it was safe to drink. I pegged him. He never felt a thing - the shot broke his neck. Two football fields away, open sights.

So between me, my cousin, and our friends, we took six deer off the farm this year.

9 shy of what we want off there each year for the next few years to reduce population to healthy levels.

I just loved it though. Walking in the woods is the kind of thing that just brings a feeling of extreme relaxation. Also, walking the land my grandfather and father worked was surreal. Getting to know it was just amazing. I've decided to really work to make the land an even better hunting site, to research and plant food types conducive to a variety of game, and to enjoy enjoy enjoy it.

Also, you might find this video of a Buck attacking a hunter interesting: Click here for video.

If you have any recipes for deer meat - stews, jerky, etc - please reply with them!

Initial Deployment... Looks(ed) OK

I just got done deploying a new server at the office. It meets the requirements of everything I felt we needed - very redundant.

The only problem is, it appears our RAID card is defective. Gotta get a new one overnighted in. :(

New Years Was Great

I got to spend New Years day with Sarah's family, arriving late the 31st. I met her younger brother for the first time. He's a nice guy. I like her Dad, but he's still sizing me up I think. Her mother made as-always-wonderful meals for us. Sarah and I shopped that afternoon, relaxed, and simply enjoyed time together.