Quote of the Week

Wow, has it really been almost a week since I posted.  I’ve been busy for a few days trying to finish my son’s room, then I started work yesterday.  I probably had some down time at work when I could have posted (while the progress bars of the installs were going), but that probably isn’t the best way to start a new job.

So, for a new topic, I’ve got a “Quote of the week” to post.  Not sure how many people who read my blog watch American Idol.  We started watching after the writer’s strike put the kibosh on our other favorite shows.  So while I was putting together a closet system for my son’s closet last night, we caught up on Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s American Idol.  That’s where this week’s quote comes from.  Seen on a poster in the audience:

“Simon is my third favorite judge.”

I found this to be very funny.  For those of you who are not aware, the format of American Idol (at least at this point) is that the contestents sing, and the three judges comment on the song.  The judges are Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell.  Generally, Randy is a moderate judge.  Occassionally he will pronounce something as great or as horrible, but most of the time he is down the middle with a comment about the performance being good.

Paula is the positive judge.  She almost always has something positive to say, even if it doesn’t sound like it.  She is sometimes known for her inability to accurately articulate what she is wanting to say, often providing Simon and even sometimes Randy with an angle to pick on her.  But for the most part, even when she doesn’t like something, she tries to keep her comments positive.

Then there is Simon.  Simon makes the arrogant bully from high school look like a really friendly, nice guy.  Simon will often complain about how amateurish the contestent sounds, and has at least once this season said a performance was horrible.  (It wasn’t great, but horrible was an overstatement.)  To say that Simon is caustic is putting it mildly.

So that is what makes the sign very funny to me.  There are only three judges, but Simon was this person’s “third” favorite. ;)  Wink, wink, nod, nod.  Reminds me of when my parents used to tease me by saying I (their only child) was their most “favorite of all our kids.”  Or similarly when I tease my son telling him he is my “favorite son under 11 years old. 

CC

Success

Well, it finally happened this morning.  I accepted a position at a company this morning.  I start on Wednesday.  So here I sit, shortly to join the ranks of the gainfully employed.

I got the call Thursday afternoon with the offer after interviewing with them on Monday.  I was at the ballfield, waiting for my son’s baseball game to start.  I had gotten some information from them about benefits and such.  The main difference between my last job and this one as far as benefits is that the new company only allows 2 weeks of vacation rather than the 3 I was used to.  With my parents in Mississippi and my in-laws in Kentucky, we generally used all of my vacation.  So with only 2 weeks, I knew it would take some getting used to.

The offer was not as much as I was making at my last job, but at the same time, I will be working with newer technology, much more current.  That has to be one of the best reasons for getting laid off.  Working for a financial institution like MetLife, there is little chance to be anywere near the cutting edge of technology.  That is a good thing for a finance company.  After all, who wants their money being handled by a company that jumps on every new technology that comes around.  All those financial companies are gone with their data after that technology messed everything up one too many times.  So I get to work with newer technology, which is a plus. 

So after the call yesterday, I told them I needed to talk it over with my wife before I said yes, but that I would call them today.  I had every intention of taking the job, after all “employed” is far, far better than “unemployed”.  But I didn’t want to seem so desparate that I said yes right away and I did want to talk with my wife to see if she had any specific questions.  She didn’t, so I made my plans to call them this afternoon (Friday) after I was up and awake.

Then I get a call this morning on my cell phone.  My soon-to-be boss is letting me know that there was an HR policy change that took place this morning.  Seems my new employer is giving new employees 3 weeks of vacation instead of just 2 weeks.  This was really great news for us, and simply confirmed the fact that this was the job God had for me.

So I made the call, and I’ll have Monday and Tuesday to finish my son’s bedroom and closet before starting on Wednesday morning bright and early.  More about this new job as it progresses.

CC

Dreams

What are your dreams?  I’ve got plenty of dreams, including dreams for my kids and myself.  But the thing about dreams is that they grow and evolve as our beliefs change and as we grow older.

For example, I used to have a dream to run a Christian campground where churches could send their teens and young people for a weekend retreat, or a weekly camp in the summer.  But now, my beliefs have changed, and I don’t find anywhere in the Scriptures the consistent breaking up of families that we see in churches.

Families are not literally broken up, but when we hit the doors of the church, we are sending everyone to their own Sunday School class based on their age.  When that is done, we send them to children’s church, junior church, youth church or regular service.  We send our kids to children’s ministry activities during the week, while the teens are going to youth activities and the adults might meet for their activities (but generally they don’t).  We are tearing our families in every direction to keep up with the activities of the church.

We visited a church on Sunday that is more family oriented than a traditional church.  My parent’s church is the same way.  The families stay together during the service, and the activities that the church may have are for the family as a whole, not for individual age groups within the church.

This may seem an odd stance coming from someon who was a Youth Director in four different churches.  But as I study the scriptures, I find that splitting up the family in order to minister to them independently doesn’t match the teachings of the scripture.  True, we have the admonision to have the older women and older men teach the younger women and younger men, respectively.  That, however, does not preclude an environment where families are kept together.  More importantly, the idea of “turning the hearts of children to their fathers and the hearts of fathers to children” is a vital part of the ministry of Christ.  We also see the teaching for women to remain silent in the church, but to learn from their husbands at home.

I do want to clarify that last point.  I don’t think the Apostle Paul was a woman hater.  I think he was expounding God’s order for things.  God created Adam to be the head of his household, and that is the way God designed the family to exist.  The husband is the head.  That does not give the husband the authority to be an unrelenting dictator.  In fact, quite the opposite.  The husband is to show the same love for his spouse that Christ showed for the church.  Christ died for the church despite the church being unfaithful and disobedient to Him.  In addition, the husband is not to “provoke his children to wrath.”  This precludes any sort of evil dictatorship, and requires a humble, Christ-like leader.

So, my dream has changed.  Rather than a youth and children’s camp, I want to have a family camp.  A place where families of all sizes can come to get away and spend some time with God.  Most specifically, I’d like to offer family camps for churches.  A time for a church to get away as families and learn more about God.  A place where fun and worship can meet.  A place where families can grow more close to each other as well as closer to God.  Also, a place where families can learn from one another how to better worship as a family.

That is one of my dreams.  I would like to find someplace for the camp with several thousand acres and a seasonable climate.  I know that this dream is likely not to happen unless God graces us with either a benefactor or a large sum of money.  But that is what a dream is all about.  Sometimes it doesn’t matter whether you actually ever attain your dream, just that you have it.

CC

I’ve been tagged

I’ve been tagged.  Ron who is Retired in Delaware tagged me and here is my reply. I don’t generally reply to these kinds of emails when I get them (I don’t like clogging up mailboxes). But this is a bit different, because it is a blog. And Ron has been more than friendly and supportive through my recent layoff. The rules seem to be simple:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.

2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.

3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Like Ron, I will follow all the rules except rule number 3.  My reason is because I don’t have very many people to send this to.

So, here goes…

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago I was working for Halter Marine in Gulfport, Mississippi.  I had recently purchased my first house and enjoying my third son who was just about 3 months old.  I had been programming for about a year by then and was really enjoying it.  Little did we know we would be dealing with our first hurricane and watching Mark McGuire surpass Roger Maris’ single-season home run record.  (Can I get an asterisk, anyone?)

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?

1. Interview at 2:00 (It went well, but we shall see.)
2. Take my sons to see Iron Man (It was pretty good.)
3. Pay the bills (still to do.)
4. Finish the report for my fantasy baseball games (still to do.)
5. Reply to my “tagged” blog (in progress.) 

3) Snacks I enjoy:

I’m a sucker for sweets, much to my waistline’s dismay.  I have a need for chocolate every once in a while, but that is different because it is a biological urgency, not just a tasty snack.  Other than that, I will munch on chips or other sweets.  I’ve done a lot more snacking since I’ve been home.  I didn’t snack much at work.  I have also enjoyed smoothies and “mixed” drinks more since I’ve been home.  I have to clarify, because I don’t drink alcohol, but I do like “virgin” “mixed” drinks.  I’ll post some of my favorites soon.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire (in this order):

1. I would immediately invest enough to be able to live off the interest at slightly above our current standard of living.  I would do this for my family, my parents, and my in-laws.  I would also set up a trust for all four of my kids for college and weddings (if necessary).

2.  I would purchase some land (50+ acres) and allow my wife (with some input from me) to design the house of her dreams.

3.  I would purchase a 1968 Karmann Ghia which I would work to restore with my father.  Actually, I would probably buy two, one for him and one for me.

4.  I would take my dream vacations to Europe, Australia, and a whirlwind tour to every baseball stadium for a game within a season, including the All-Star break and the playoffs/World Series.  I would take my family, of course.

5.  I would consider buying a share of a Major League (or Minor League) baseball team.  Enough of a share to get my family and my future generations permanent seats behind (or in) the dugout or in an owners box.

6.  I would pay to see some of my favorite novels made into movies.

7.  I would donate several hundred thousand to both the CLA (Christian Legal Association) and the HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association).

8.  I would invest in a bucking bull ranch to provide bulls for PBR (Professional Bull Riders) events.  I would take my family to Vegas for the two weeks of PBR finals.

I think that my cover about 200-300 million, so I would spend several years deciding what I wanted to do with the rest.

5.) Three of my bad habits:

1. Talking too much about me and my experiences.  Although I don’t intend for it to be, I sometimes talk about stuff and it seems (to me at least) that I’m getting into a one-up discussion.  (As in I have a better story about that than you do.)

2. Keeping too much junk.  I don’t throw things away that I should throw away.  Yes, I’m a packrat.

3. Lack of diligence/initiative.  I have a lot of projects that I want to start or have started that are not getting done.  I really should try to be more diligent to get these things done.

6) 5 places I have lived (in order):

1. Diamondhead, Mississippi
2. St. Martin, Mississippi
3. Greer, South Carolina
4. Mauldin, South Carolina
5. Simpsonville, South Carolina

7) 5 jobs I have had (in order):

1. Buyer (Halter Marine)
2. Programmer Analyst (Halter Marine)
3. Programmer Analyst (Rockwell Automation)
4. Programmer Analyst (MetLife)
5. Production Support Analyst (MetLife)

8) 2 bloggers I want to know more about (well, sort of)

1. Patti’s Originals - my mom

2.  Scott W. Kay - one of my best friends from my teen years with whom I recently was reunited.

 

So there are my answers.  I need to go post a comment for Scott and mom so they can fill it out as well.

CC

“Walker luck”

I play in a simulation fantasy league called IBL, the Internet Baseball League.  My team is, of course, the Carolina Cajuns.  What “Simulation” means is that we actually play out the games.  Each player that qualifies is given a card with a set of numbers on it for different outcomes.  We use a private IRC server that generates random numbers to determine the outcome of the play, the batter from 0-499 and the pitcher from 500-999.

So I played my first series earlier this week.  Actually, I played my home and away games (3 games each), and I had a very difficult time getting a win.  I only won 2 out of the 6 games, which is very frustrating because I am supposed to have a good team this year according to some of the other owners.  The problem is that I have what we call in our family “Walker luck.”

“Walker luck” is somewhat like Murphey’s Law applied to randomness.  My dad is probably the founder of “Walker luck,” and I probably inherited it from him, so he is to blame. :)  The idea is that when you need to roll/generate a random number, and you need it to be anything but a 4, you will roll a 4.  There isn’t any question or doubt in our minds, it will happen.

So, this translates to my fantasy baseball league in several ways.  The most frustrating is when I need to roll a 3-digit number between 265 and 332 for a positive outcome (home run or walk), I will generally roll a 264 (high fly to right field) or a 333 (strike out).  Same goes for my pitchers.  When I need to roll a 763 to 920 for a strike out, I’ll roll a 762 (deep fly, possible home run) or, more likely, 921 (walk).  That is what Walker luck is all about.

I was grateful to roll well enough in two of my games to win them, but I didn’t keep that much luck in my week 2 games that I played on Friday (just home games).  I lost all three of those, and “Walker luck” was in full force.  I rolled a “wild play” which means we have to consult a special chart with an additional roll, and it will often end up in an injured player.  Well, it did, and it wasn’t my player.  Sounds like “Walker luck” was not hurting me, right.  Well, that is how “Walker luck” works; it strings you along so you can fall farther or harded with the rub comes.

Yes, it was the other guys player who was injured.  Unfortunately, it was his pitcher, and it was only for one day.  That means the lineup that I had set up to bat strong and well against a left handed pitcher was gone when he brough in a right handed pitcher for long relief.  Not only that, it was the worst of his starters for the series.  Even worse, it was my best pitcher throwing.  So, “Walker luck” gave my opponent a chance to bring in a better pitcher, who my lineup wasn’t ready to face, all when my best hurler is on the mound.  Well, 10 long innings later, we lost 3 to 2.

That is what “Walker luck” is all about.  It is a very good thing that I enjoy the fantasy baseball league I am in because otherwise the frustration generated would drive me away from it permanently.

CC

Happy Birthday Mom

Mom’s birthday was actually yesterday, and while I did indeed call her and wish her a happy birthday, I didn’t get to post this (didn’t get to bed until almost 3am).  So anyway, I wanted to get this posted before it was too late.

I know there are a lot of people who didn’t have good home lives, and who don’t have good memories of their parents.  I am not among those people.  I was an only child (and an only grandchild on my mom’s side for almost 12 years).  I had plenty of friends, but I always could come home to a loving family.

When I was young, Mom had plenty of time for me.  Whether it was playing a game or fixing my favorite dinner.  She was always wiling to spend that little bit of time to make me feel special.  Sure, there was also discipline and correction (which I surely needed), but there was a lot of fun, too.

As I got older, my parents decided to home school me.  Mom was my teacher for many subjects, and for some, we “learned” together.  Mom always had time to read with me when I was finding something a bit too boring.  She would gladly review me when I wasn’t sure that I knew the subject well enough.  Once the laws were relaxed enough, she even would award my hard work by taking me out to lunch on Friday if I had finished my week’s worth of work by then.

After I married, my Mom could have easily been a typical mother-in-law and caused problems with my wife.  Initially, things were not always the easiest as Shannon and Mom both adjusted to their new relationship, but within a few years, they had grown to be close.  Now they enjoy spending time together, shopping and talking (and, yes, Mom even enjoys it when the grandkids aren’t there).

Mom isn’t working anymore, at least not outside of the home.  She runs a home based business called Patti’s Originals.  Mostly sewing, but some gift baskets and accessories thrown in.  If you have a daughter or granddaughter, you will not find a place to get more lovingly created clothing.  I know because my Mom is frequently making clothes for my kids.

All in all, I have a great Mom and in addition to a hearty Happy Birthday, I want her to know that I love her very much.

CC

The Finality of It All

The severance package pay arrived in my bank account yesterday.  It made my layoff seem so final.  I didn’t realize until today that the payout for my pending vacation had also come.  So I’m now officially unemployed and I don’t have any income (asside from unemployment).

The total amount is nice, and if Uncle Sam sends that money he keeps promising, I will likely be OK with no changes through September.  Of course, if I’m not working, we will definitely be cutting back.  That will let us last longer, maybe through November.

That, of course, is worst case scenario.  Far before then, I would take a job doing something to have an income.  Hopefully it will not get to that point.  I hope to get a job before the end of June, but that may not be the case.

In any case, finally having the payout has generated some unexpected feelings.  It just seems so final.

CC

A Father’s Fear

One of my biggest fears as a father is that I will do something to let my kids down.  I try my best to be there for them.  While I don’t give them everything they want, I do sometimes find that they are upset with me.  Sometimes this is good (when they want something not good for them), other times it isn’t (when I needed to do something for them).  Here’s my story from today to explain.

Before Lydia started her (11:00 am) ballgame today, she had to take off her jewelry.  So she was headed to the bench to give her mom her watch and ring.  Only she was supposed to be lining up, so I told her to give it to me instead (as an assistant coach, I like up with them).  I put it in my pocket not realizing that her ring was with her watch.

Fast forward to sometime durring the game.  The watch was jabbing into my thigh whenever I sat down on the bench between innings.  So I pulled it out of my pocket to give to my wife.  Unfortunately, I still didn’t realize the ring was there.  The ring fell out at some point.  The watch took its place in my wife’s purse, the ring settling on the ground somewhere.

More fast forward, and we are leaving (after our 9:00 am, 11:00 am and 1:15 pm games) to come home.  After my wife calls to order pizza for dinner, Lydia asks for her watch and ring from her mom.  Shannon digs the watch out of her purse, but couldn’t find the ring.  She emptied her purse and still nothing.  I checked my pockets (finally realizing that I was supposed to have the ring as well), and nothing.  We turned around and headed back to the fields.

Lydia, Christian and I got out of the van and looked around the field while Shannon manned the van.  We looked for 10 minutes or so, and found nothing.  I called her coach to check and they hadn’t found it.  I was feeling lower than the dirt and grass we were looking through.  We checked the two other places on the fields where I took stuff out of my pocket.  Nothing, nothing, nothing.

We drove home as I beat myself up for losing the ring.  Lydia for her part, tried to help her dad feel better.  I had told her that we would get her another ring if we couldn’t find it.  This ring was a promise ring that her mother and I gave her for her 13th birthday.  It was a promise by her to wait on the person God has for her.  It is a heart with a keyhole in it, and it came with a key tie tack for me to where.  It represents the fact that God has tasked me to guard her heart.

You see, we have taught Lydia that it is as important to keep herself emotionally pure as it is for her to be physically pure.  How beautiful it will be if her husband is her first love.  How much pain and sorrow will she avoid by staying away from the typical “dating” lifestyle.  She wants for part of her wedding ceremony to be a moment when I give the key to her husband to represent the passing of the responsibility for guarding her emotions.  More on that some other day.  Anyway, suffice it to say that this was a very special ring for her.

So, I’m feeling aweful, and despite the fact that I promised to get her another one, it will not be the same.  When we got home, Lydia caught me at the door while everyone else was at the van.  She patted my shoulder and consoled me, “It’s OK dad.”  I almost cried then and there.

I sent an email to all the coaches asking if perhaps someone found it.  When that was done, I reached for the last chance in my quickly dwindling hopes.  I called the coach that was on the field for the game after Lydia’s.

God was watching over Lydia’s absentminded father.  Someone had found the ring during the next game, and turned it in to the other coach.  He held onto it and is keeping it safe for us until we can meet up to get it back.  After the long day, and the stress of my maximum mess up, I was drained.  I was so grateful that everything worked out so well.

CC

Technological Woes

Well, I heard from another company earlier this week.  They decided to go with another candidate because he had more of the supplimentary skills they were looking for (web development, networking, etc).  This is understandable, but very frustrating.

You see, when you work for a financial institution (like MetLife was), and you work in technology, you tend to be very far from the cutting edge.  Now, I know (and knew) that PowerBuilder (my forte) was dwindling in market share, but there was also a decent core of people using the product to keep a job base.  Now, however, the market for PowerBuilder programmers is open, but looking for something else (most often .NET).

So, for seven years I worked for MetLife on a product that was going out of style.  While there, no offers were made to upgrade our skills, we were just maintaining our applications with nothing new, especially nothing as “cutting edge” as .NET (please read the sarcasm in that).  So here I sit with skills that are a few years out of date watching others with more current skill sets get the jobs.

I will admit that it is difficult to not get bitter over this.  I mean after all, I honestly expected to be able to stay at MetLife until I retired.  I didn’t expect to need to find another job unless I wanted to.  Unfortunately, that was not the case.  And so, the temptation to get bitter comes.  Bitter because I have to find a job.  Bitter because my skills weren’t kept current while I was at Met.  Bitter over the entire situation.

But I can’t let myself get bitter.  Bitterness is a cancer that will not only eat away at me mentally and spiritually, but physically as well.  It will be a root that sprouts discord and discontent through my life and the lives of my family.  Fortunately, despite what seems to be a bad “lot”, I have and know the cure.

God is the cure.  I know that sounds simplistic, but it is true.  Once we have a true and correct concept of who God is, there is no need for the bitterness that fights to come in.  You see, God is perfect and has a perfect plan for each and every one of us.  Because of that, I know that God is in control of these events (not MetLife).  And while I may not understand or be aware of it now, He has a perfect plan for the resolution of these issues.

Faith, that is what we are talking about.  Faith in God and His perfect plan to overcome any doubts or problems we have with our current situation.  It is a constant, daily battle to fight the bitterness, and one that we have to keep in our attention.  Faith is the key to the victory, but we must still be vigilant in fighting the battle.

CC

Congrats to John Smoltz

Last night, the Braves played the Washington Nationals, and John Smoltz got strikeout number three-thousand in his career.  This is a major achievement, and should cement his eventual election to the Hall of Fame (not that there was much doubt beforehand).  Unfortunately, the Braves didn’t get the win despite Smoltz holding the Nats to only one run in his seven innings.

Smoltz is the sixteenth pitcher to reach the 3000 strikeout mark.  Some of the active players he joins:  Roger Clemens (4672), Randy Johnson (4629), Greg Maddux (3287), Curt Schilling (3116), and Pedro Martinez (3031).  Behind him, there are only seven active players with more than two thousand, and only Mike Mussina (2670) and Tom Glavine (2576) are close, but neither of them will likely reach 3000 before they retire.

Smoltz finished the past couple of years with an average of 204 K’s, so keeping close to that pace, he could finish with over 3500, putting him somewhere in the top 10 all time.  With the specialization in the bull pen and the way managing pitchers is changing, John my be in the top 10 for a very long time.  In fact, it will be difficult for anyone to displace him the way today’s game is played.

Last night, my son and I were driving home from his baseball practice listening to the game on XM Radio (thanks XM).  I will remember where we were when that strikeout came for many years to come.  I wish I had been home with the rest of my family to see the pitch.  My wife described it for me.  A typical sinker from Smoltz that dropped late and had the batter totally off balance.

Maddux, who was a teammate with Smoltz and Glavine for many successful years with the Braves, is said to have sent John a congratulatory text message.  Maddux told Smoltz that now he had one strike out for every hair he had lost. :)  Great to have friends to celebrate career milestones with you.

So congrats to John Smoltz.  A well deserved honor for a great pitcher.

CC

Nolan Ryan (5714),