global warming and a little education

Al Gore is way off base. I'm sorry ... but he is. There have been shifts in global temperatures ever since we've been tracking this information. (And many of the warming trends happened pre-industrial-revolution).

Remember in the 70's when they were all in a panic about the next ice age that was coming? It was all very similar rhetoric ... and you may notice that spring and summer still arrive every year.

For a nice balance to An Inconvenient Truth, have a look at this site. It's amazing how, once the media is convinced of the veracity of an idea (Iraq is a mistake ... global warming is an imminent threat ... blah blah blah), it immediately becomes commonly accepted. By the way, the graphic is my own "cabon footprint" ... so ... even without believing in human-being-caused-global-warming ... I'm still livin' MUCH cleaner than Mr. Gore. (It's called "frugality"!)

Our senior pastor was a professor at Calvary Bible College before he came here. There is a lady here who just needs one class, that he used to teach, in order to finish her degree.

She's going to take it independent study, and they're letting me join in. I won't get any credits for it (as I'm too cheap to pay for them!) But they don't mind if I study alongside, write the papers, take the test, etc. I just love taking classes ... I really do. :) I could easily be a professional student, if only I could figure out that how-to-get-paid-for-it part!

an excellent movie

I went to see Amazing Grace last night. It was just excellent.

It's the story of William Wilberforce's battle against the British slave trade.

The movie was exceptionally well done, and the story itself is one of those heroic bits of history that is interesting to begin with.

Go see it if you can!

Hollywood puts out so much that's centered on smut, or low humor ... when they do something good, let's get out and vote with our money. (End of unpaid advertisement!)

freezing fog

Lovely ... not only can you not see, you couldn't stop if you COULD see.

Yesterday was the second instance of the "non-surprise surprise" I've experienced in my life.

I dislike surprises. I find that anticipating a pleasant event is as much fun as the event itself ... so usually people tell me when something nice is in the works, because they know I enjoy the anticipation.

Yesterday was the second instance where I was sure I saw a surprise coming ... and was wrong.

The first was when I was just out of college, I went with a group of friends down to Battle Creek to see the Christmas lights and eat out. The date chosen was either on, or very near, my birthday. I was sure a surprise party was in the works, and then ... at the end of the evening, realized everyone had forgotten my birthday. :)

Yesterday, it happened again. A string of strange coincidences combined to make me certain that something was going on. And, while something MAY have been going on, it obviously had nothing to do with me!

I have weekly after-work-Tuesday plans with a friend, but this week she had to cancel. Odd -- she rarely cancels. But her reason made sense - her mom's been ill, and she needed to take her to the doctor.

The pastor had a meeting that went late, so I ended up needing to stay at work after my usual hours. No problem, because my plans had been canceled. Odd. He doesn't usually schedule meetings that late in the afternoon.

As I was leaving, he asked if I was going home. "Odd ... why would he care where I was going?" I told him that I was running errands first.

A few minutes later, I remembered something I'd forgotten to tell him, so I called back to the office. He asked, "is this your cell or home phone?" Again, odd question ... why would it matter?

Then, after I get home, my mother calls, and asks several times during the conversation, "anything interesting happen today?"

"Um ... I unloaded the dishwasher?"

So, this series of random, unusual occurrences combines to make me absolutely sure that SOMETHING is being planned. Some out-of-town guest is going to appear ... Publishers' Clearing House is going to show up ... SOMETHING.

Well ... actually ... no.

Ordinary night. Go to bed early. Nothing happens.

But I DID get my house cleaned. Nothing like a vague feeling that something is coming to make a person want to prepare!

On a totally different topic, about 7 years ago, I had a season where I was terribly dizzy. The doctor sent me to a specialist, who did this strange procedure where he moved my head around, had me sit up, lay down, sit up, etc. And when he was done - the dizziness was gone, and never came back. Yesterday I ran across a doctor's blog that described it ... see medical-type friends, I'm not nuts! The procedure really does exist ... I wasn't hallucinating. :)

in love on valentines day

This dog ... is adorable.

remembering a previous blizzard

I think the last time we had weather similar to this past weekend was New Years' Eve weekend 2001.

The reason I'm remembering it specifically is because, not only was the weather rotten, but it was the weekend the baby of some acquaintances was kidnapped when someone stole their car.

It had been snowing heavily for a long time, and it was bitterly cold just like this past weekend. Nobody was going anywhere. In fact, a friend was staying with me, because she wasn't able to get home after work Friday night.

We got a phone call Saturday morning asking us to pray for this young couple, and their baby, Rachel. The husband ran into a gas station to pick something up and left the baby in the car, with the engine running. (I know ... stupid ... he figured that out quickly). When he came back outside, the car was gone.

It was all over the television and radio -- asking for people to watch for this car. It was missing for several hours.

While it was doubtful the thief knew the baby was in the car when he took it, it was obvious that if he abandoned the car once he discovered her, she couldn't live long, because of the cold.

The same day, some other acquaintances, who had also gotten a phone call to pray about this, were driving into Grand Rapids to work from about 30 miles away. It was terrible weather, and so the drive was nightmarish for them. For some reason they decided to get off the highway half-way to Grand Rapids and take surface streets.

They were talking about the missing baby as they drove and ... they saw the missing car. It was parked in the parking lot of a muffler shop. The hood was still warm, and the baby was inside.

It's one of those small miracles ...

it was snowing hard. Driving took all a person's attention to just keep the car on the road.

In minutes, the stolen car would have been covered with snow and not noticeable.

It was a part of town that no one we knew would have had reason to BE in ... it was a (normally) busy shopping artery out of the way where anyone from our part of town would normally be driving, and all the businesses on it were closed for New Years.

But God brought people who would recognize the car past it, while it was still visible, while it was still warm, and this young couple had their baby home that same day.

I haven't thought about it for years, but this weather makes me remember. It was just amazing.

I guess I'm not really surprised ...

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

a brisk, brief walk ...

It was mighty cold, but I was dying to get outside with my camera after work.

The sun peeked out, and it was just beautiful out there!

17 inches at 8 below

We've had 17 inches of snow since Friday, and it's been nose-freezing cold. The cold and snow is supposed to continue through this whole week.

So they haven't been able to get the ice off the roads, or keep up with the plowing.

Some nasty driving out there today! I had the obligatory 4-wheel drive coasting off my back bumper on the way to work this morning. They should put a warning sticker on the dashboards of those things ... "just because you can stop, does not mean everyone else can." I ended up pulling over, and letting her pass, so she could intimidate the driver in front of me.

Church was cancelled yesterday (as the police were pleading with people to stay off the roads). This basically means all my work last Thursday was for naught ... but it's made up by the fact that all the work I normally do on a Monday doesn't need to be done this week. I'm sorting through and de-cluttering cupboards. One of my favorite passtimes! (and what I did nearly all weekend at home.)

Got home at 3:00 Friday afternoon, and didn't budge from my house until 6:30 this morning. It was delightful - like a 2-week vacation all squeezed into 2 days. I think I might become a professional hermit after I retire.

I was reading in John 7 this morning, and thinking about how the people's responses to Jesus were so contradictory. He mentioned that the religious leaders were plotting to kill Him. In one place the people said He was crazy ... nobody was planning to kill him. In another place they said, "hey, is this the guy they're trying to kill?" In one place they said, "He can't be the Messiah ... because nobody knows where the Messiah will come from." In another place, they said, "this can't be the Messiah, because we all know the Messiah will come from Bethlehem, and this guy's from Galilee." (Which proves that not only were they contradicting themselves, they also didn't do their research! While Jesus was living in Galilee, He was born in Bethlehem.)

Got myself on the treadmill this morning (since I woke up at 4:00 when the plow truck came through). I've been enjoying my weight set this weekend, and am having an elliptical machine delivered tomorrow (if they can get through the snow.) My guest room is finally getting some use other than the 4-5 nights/year I have company. :)

Well ... back to cupboard-cleaning!

winter all at once

It's been snowing since Thursday. I heard the plow come through early this morning, and just now I walked out in the parking lot, and the snow was half-way to my knees. (now ... of course .... my knees are a lot closer to the ground than the average person's!).

I'm so thankful to be able to stay home today!

We have a guest speaker at church Sunday. He's flying in from Dallas today. I called him, and warned him that it was more than just cold-like-Michigan-in-winter here ... I sure hope he took me seriously. :) It's supposed to stay in single digit temps all weekend, and into early next week.

our esteemed governor ...

I disagree! I disagree! There. I feel better. Maybe SOMEONE will listen, even if she doesn't!

Kalamazoo has a wonderful program - a private, anonymous donor pays for college for all of their high-school graduates. (They may be required to maintain a certain GPA, but if so, it's not a very high requirement.)

Well ... Jennifer Granholm, our governor, thinks this is a wonderful thing. (Which it is!) And she wants to replicate it over the entire state. But ... of course ... she wants EVERYONE to pay for it.

grrrr! It makes me crazy! What happened in Kalamazoo is what SHOULD happen ... someone seeing a need and choosing to meet it. What J.G. is trying to do is what should NOT happen ... confiscating from me, in order to meet what she sees as a need.

It drives me batty!

They had a recent proposal to buy laptops for every 6th grader in the state, also. She justified this because it was "federal money" ... um ... excuse me ... and where did THAT money come from? Oh, yes, that's right ... US again.

Thank you for listening. I feel better (sort of) now.