So many blogs ... So little Content ...

Payback

2009-04-01T17:14:00.006-05:00

Yesterday I took some abuse from both my bosses and a co-worker. Being April 1st, I decided to deliver some graphical payback. The final product had the "Columbia Pictures Corporation" replaced with our company's name. Find original here. Once this was done I realized 'Curley' will also likely be shopped into Spock at some point. Click for the larger version, but then you'll see some of the ugly edges.

Presidentially Posterized

2009-03-31T21:20:00.008-05:00

Here's my latest products from Gimp and a new script I added to it. This is a pic of an office coworker that I took while on a field assignment.

Here's one I did a while back of the same co-worker ... he didn't appreciate it as much as the previous one:

Then while conversing with Jimmy Hamm ond we came up with this idea:
The original photo courtesy of: Native American Indians

Then since my old college roommate does ' web advertising &/or mobile web solutions' I made these with his twitter profile pic, and since I couldn't settle on one or think of anything funnier:

Don't cry over a little spilt ... Paint

2009-02-20T20:44:00.001-06:00

I knocked a bucket of pink paint off a stack of paint buckets, but thankfully it was only about halfway full/empty. She'd used it paint a dresser my mother bought for our daughter. Again that's my 10½ for size reference. I waited until it dried and peeled it up in one large piece, and put that on my prankster neighbor's back porch. Which was more funny to him than annoying I'm sure.

He then threw it onto the top of one of my trees out front (after 7-8 attempts he said). The wind and rain had already knocked it down by the time I got home from work. He wasn't real happy when he found that out. I threw it on my other neighbor's basketball goal ... it was there for 3-4 days ... he didn't seem to care.

Love thy Neighbor ...

2009-02-02T20:42:00.011-06:00

So my Neighbor across the street ... saw us leave for a bible study Thursday night (at his brother-law's). He then took the shovel I lent him, his ladder, and a cat that randomly died in his backyard to my house. He climbed on the roof and knocked off a lot of ice as we'd just had snowy/icy weather for a few days, so he is risking injury and maybe death, not just retaliation. He put it on the skylight in our master bathroom.

Thankfully I found it the next morning while brushing my teeth, and before my wife saw it. I finished getting ready for work, and kissed her good-bye like usual. Then I went to try to get the cat down. My ladder is on long term loan to our church, so it's in a storage room at the local movie theater. I have a key to my prankster neighbor's house, so I went and got his ladder out of his garage and knocked the cat off my roof/skylight with a different shovel of mine.

See how large it is next to my 10½. It was frozen solid ... and heavy. I put it in the bushes next to his mailbox. It was probably on my house for 10-12 hours.

Sunday afternoon, 3 days later, he finally tries to tell me about it. It hit 70º all three of those days, and he was just going to let me have a warm, dead cat on my skylight, which he knows has had leaking issues before ... jerk.

I put the dead cat in his bushes by his mailbox for the very reason that our pastor, my next door neighbor, wouldn't help him, and the reason he didn't want to prank me to begin with: Escalation. The ability I have to ratchet it up a few notches higher than I should ... usually in verbal combat. The best places I thought to put it were (remember he gave me a key to his house) in his pillow case, under his bed, in his bathtub, attic, wood burning stove, or his son's toy box. I explicitly chose not to escalate this prank ... yet.

He hit my shoulder when he found out I'd known about the cat for 3 days and didn't say anything to him. The cat was dropped in the bushes in a way that he would have to use his hands to get it out, as I'd planned/planted it. He said if he tried to pick it up it would feel like "warm spaghetti" .. which makes me want to yak right now. Lucky for him it froze over again that night and the next morning he picked it up and put in the trash bare handed.

Christmas History

2008-12-17T14:01:00.006-06:00

Here's a link I was sent after my last post: The Real Story of Christmas. It's written on a Judaism website. I'd heard a lot of it before, and I am willing to believe most of it. Take or leave it as you please, you will anyways, but don't believe everything you read on the internet or are taught by tradition.

Instead of a Hindu Christmas, it has a Hitlerday analogy. Oh and I meant to apologize for my ignorance concerning Hinduism in the last post as well. No offense intended, I just used the gimpshopped pics as illustrations of how non-biblical, and some might say even silly or lie-filled, our Christmas Traditions are.

Christmas Traditions

2008-12-16T17:16:00.007-06:00

If a 3rd or 11th generation "christian" in India or anywhere else (though of Indian desent) decorated the many arms of a large statue of Vishnu and put presents under it during a month of the year that might coincide with a Hindu holiday, but is now celebrated as the birth of Jesus, would you not look at it as odd or suspicious?

How would that family explain that to Jesus? "I trust you to save me, but I'm just keeping the tradition that my family has had for years ... because it's fun."

And maybe they tell their kids that a elephant named Ganesha delivers gifts to the kids like Jesus gave Himself as the greatest gift for us. Does that look different than what "we" in our "christian society" do now do? They aren't worshiping the pagan gods that their ancestors did, but it still looks that way doesn't it?

Dorks in a Candystore

2008-10-30T22:46:00.002-05:00

Today my boss brought in the all the loot he'd bought at an auction from a closed down business. There was some software, computers, phones, etc. I realized I was mildly excited about seeing what there was, and then we engineers buzzed around the boxes speculating about the value of the software and what each one of us wanted whether or not we needed any of it. Pretty sad, but it helped uplift a pretty uneventful day at work. I'd like to end up with some of the 3D modeling software, but we'll see. I did take a monitor stand to my office, how lame is that?

The Way of the Master ... works!

2008-09-26T00:19:00.006-05:00

Exciting news: I had my doubts, but after watching some of the videos of Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort I was ready to watch them all. Well this evening during visitation The Way of the Master and the Holy Spirit came together to lead another lost soul to Christ. It's been a long time since I've seen someone accept Christ during door-knocking. So Cool! Pray for us as we disciple this person, that we as a new church plant do it by The Book. Not so exciting news: At work today we had another lunch-n-learn where we watched Patrick Lencioni speak at The Leadership Summit (2006 I think). Quality stuff, Silos=Barriers. I liked the quote "Jesus was the greatest manager." Just because we are or are using volunteers doesn't mean we shouldn't be professional. Other news: Our church is going to see Fireproof Saturday. It better not be cheesy.

Bikin'

2008-09-13T10:55:00.010-05:00

Jimmy and I went on our second bike ride on the Osage Trail from Sperry to Skiatook and back. My rear bearings are horrible, so I had to pedal the whole way whilst Jimmy coasted and took it slow trying not to leave me behind. Oh well, at least I was outside getting fresh air ... at a really high rate. Here's my bike, and I've already spent more trying to fix it than it is worth. Now I must decide to buy and install new bearings or just get a new bike. For those of you who haven't dropped your jaw in disbelief my wife is potty training our daughter, who is now 6 months old today. She has only changed 2-3 "dirty" diapers in about 3-4 weeks. Wet diapers still abound, but mostly during naps.

Smiles :)

2008-07-24T11:02:00.004-05:00

We hosted domino night at our house this week, and we managed to change the game from Mexican Train to the old-school straight-up Dominoes. We had six people, and we were playing with double twelves ... so the math was harder. Anyways my Mom took this picture of Brookelynn.

Busy

2008-06-24T18:12:00.002-05:00

Just when I thought not having anything to do at work was a bad thing! How I miss the lazy days of overhead, photoshopping my boss's head. I was given two good size projects to take over from someone leaving the company, and then I was given another task I could have been working on instead of all that overhead. I'm, sadly, very excited about all three jobs, but not so excited about having all three at once. Each becoming louder as their respective completion dates near. Hence the lack of posts ...

Anyways the girl-child is beautiful, rolling over, huge, laughing, screaming, being the sweetest little thing in my world. I had my first Father's Day, and my little girl had some professional photos taken of herself laughing and smiling. I haven't scanned any of them, but here's one from when my cousins came to visit.

Office Antics

2008-05-19T11:02:00.004-05:00

It was a successfully funny day at the office when I was in charge. I GIMP shopped the second and fourth pics as I saw fit. I love working here. Today he paged me over the phone system with "Barry please come the principal's office" for everyone to hear.

In Charge ... Again

2008-05-15T09:44:00.005-05:00

I'm in charge here at the office tomorrow. This happened last time:

It was then promptly defaced with a Hitler mustache, ear hair, and gold glitter earrings. This time when my boss informed everyone this was happening again, he referred to me as the "responsible party", to which another co-worker said the emphasis is on the "party". I've though I might reply with "it's a B.Y.O.B day", but they might the wrong idea, and things could get out of hand.

Another idea someone suggested is to move my large items into the main boss's office and take pictures of me to send to him later.

Either way it'll probably be a little fun and a little bit of a letdown. I'll have no real power.

Screw ... Drive ... er?

2008-04-16T08:27:00.003-05:00

Those crazy Soviet Engineers with their "lets try anything attitude." It looks cool, but I wonder how efficient it was ...
Sorry I haven't posted more pics of the child yet, but I'm trying to get Momma to make a photoblog I can set a link to. She has so much time on her hands ... I'm kidding. Brookelynn's been quite the handful lately, and she's just over a month old. She is the size of a 3 month old though. This concerns me. We've already been robbed of using anything "newborn" sized.
Last week at work we started a Golf League. I birdied the first hole with everyone from work watching, and later I won the closest to the pin challenge. This week I had the worst score of everyone.

Brookelynn Belle Antao

2008-03-31T10:07:00.004-05:00

She was born Thursday March 13th, at 8:58 pm. She weighed 9 lbs 3 oz! She and Momma are doing great!

Bought & finally Closed

2008-02-28T13:40:00.004-06:00

We finally closed on our house on Monday. It's nice to not have a load of cash in the bank and to have lots of debt again. Our house guests have moved across the street finally, and now we get to feed Koi when ever we want to. Here is some papercraft fun for your monitor.

Sweet Office Desk & Chair

2008-02-07T08:35:00.000-06:00

I found this on the Make Blog and it was too cool for just my shared items box (on the left with the green font). The pics link to the Nexus404 Blog. The first one is the Jet Engine Cowling from a B747, and the second one is an Ejection Seat from a B52. That Cowling would make a great playpen too. Interesting how my mind has new directions to wander.

Carpool

2008-02-05T09:26:00.000-06:00

Andrea H and I have carpooled the last two days. Neither one of us is dead ... I'm surprised too. As long as we remain cordial with each other this could continue, or until their truck is fixed. It makes the traffic from and back to Owasso a little better when someone is there to sympathize with your frustrations ... with traffic.

I left my window slightly open last night, since we had a beautiful 80 degree day, and of course it rained walrus buckets for about 2 hours before and during my leaving my house. My seat had a puddle, and Andrea's was splashed a bit. It makes me think of an odd reality show: put two people in a hot, humid car and lets dump water on them ... and then make them sit in traffic. It may sound stupid, but have you seen reality TV?

BOUGHT!

2008-01-08T12:05:00.000-06:00

Technically, we're renting until we close, but we are in a house! Marnie Gregg got the phone number Tuesday, I called that night, we saw the house Thursday, we made an offer that night, we signed the papers Friday evening, and we slept there Friday night on an air mattress. Baby is due in March. God is good. Only He could make this happen like this. Master Bathroom

We also visited the Asian Market near the Plano/Dallas area just after Christmas. Even I would balk at eating some of this stuff.

This is Unagi, my favorite food ever!

These are the scary foods, just because they are weird and different from what I know.

Where did the parts go?

You're kidding right?

Does it have white meat?

Geoduck? Clam? Is this a missing part?

Doug to the Rescue!

2007-12-27T14:30:00.000-06:00

After another awesome Lifepoint Launch Team Meeting, I, being the treasurer, went to deposit the offerings at the bank. Well, being me, I'm already low on gas, and I sit with the car idling in the night depository lane at the bank for probably 15-20 mins.

I didn't make it past the 56th street exit. I made it to the bridge right before the exit. I called Doug, who's home we'd just left. He frantically and quickly brought us a newly bought gas can with a couple of gallons of newly bought gas. Thanks Doug, you kept us from freezing to death and/or cannibalizing each other.

Office Visitors Beware!

2007-12-27T10:40:00.001-06:00

USB Rocket Launcher

Your Eye, My Dart, they'll meet.

Thanks M-I-L.

SOLD!

2007-12-18T14:08:00.001-06:00

Timing

11 Months to the day. We closed on our house on January 18th as Buyers, and now we've closed again this morning December 18th as Sellers.

We also have less than a month to find a home in Owasso in order to get a contract signed and be able to close in early February so our baby can be born and brought to our home. Strange my desk job had not properly maintained or prepared me for moving again.

Shout-Outs

Thanks to Hambone for helping me unload last night and for keeping a few choice items at his place that we couldn't fit into storage unit #2. Thanks to Marnie for helping clean this morning, even though she came only under the premise of being paid, and then refused to payment. Thanks to Brian Hyatt for taking apart our swing set (and agreeing to put it back together) and hauling it to be stored in my mother's back yard, he also refused monetary payment, but did accept our Xbox (original) and some steel toe work boots. I also slipped him an O-State hat (inside a boot), it's all black, even the emblem, so it isn't too loud and proud for a Sooner fan like him.

Blest

And thanks most of all to God, my back has been spasming sporadically (yet usually when I need it most) for the last 6 months, but not once did that debilitating pain come during this move. Well, our house sold way fast, but we haven't found the "one" in Owasso yet. God has given us every reason to trust Him, and even though in my feeble mind the clock is ticking to get my preggers wife into a house, I'm not worried, He owns it all, including me :)

Ice, CSI, Shark ...

2007-12-10T12:28:00.000-06:00

Well I rolled into work at the crack of Noon, and I'm really not motivated to be on the clock yet, lucky for you blog-savvy few. First off, mad props to Jeremy, Brian, & Matthole for helping move 90% of all my furniture. I hate asking people to help me move, and these fine few volunteered w/o me asking. Also, props to Eileen and the Mothers for helping my wife pack up stuff in the house. Anyways ICE. Our power, like 100k other people's, went out last night, but that didn't wake us up, the Snap, Crackle, and BAM! of 6"-8" diameter (10'-20' length) tree limbs falling on our house and in our back yard woke us up. All the trees are wrecked, and part of our gutter is too, but it's just at the end of the porch. I'll post pics later when the power is on at the home front. My wife and I are fans of the CSI shows in general, but CSI:Miami's lead role of Horatio Caine is so annoying with the over-dramatic sunglasses, extended pauses, and sort of raspy voice. Well we've seen another show twice now, and my wife had a great realization that what David Caruso is trying pull off as Horatio Caine, James Woods nails as a Sebastian Stark in Shark. No they aren't exactly the same character, but Woods just sells it so much better than Caruso. Maybe if I see Shark more than twice I might get annoyed with Stark as well, but at least it's believable w/o having to look at the others watching the show with you and saying with one raised eyebrow "Really? He had to say that, and he had to say it that way, AND he had to take his sunglasses off &/or put them back on to say that?" Who would your rather fight?

Moving ... again ...

2007-12-04T07:45:00.000-06:00

Yes, yes, my wife and I are moving again ... much to my family's disappointment. Owasso here we come! ... eventually. We put a "For Sale by Owner" sign in our yard and at the end of our street, and then a few days later made a website for it fsbo4u.blogspot.com which ended up being our huckleberry. No we didn't get the asking price, but God did provide the amount I said I had to have before we ever picked a price. TO THE VERY DOLLAR, in less than a week considering the buyer found the house online, right at 8 days if you consider the yard sign. I'm such an unworthy monkey who doesn't deserve the shadow of God much less His light. We still have some details to work out, like what house to buy in Owasso, who to live with in the mean time, and how will this affect our unborn Brookelynn Belle? We close the 18th. Feed the Hungry, Increase your Vocab If you don't do it for the food donation, do it for your education. If you're into competition, the highest I got was 39 out of 50 with 1000 grains of rice my first time. Pretty lame I thought, but they adjust the difficulty depending on your correctness.

Surfacing Technology

2007-10-02T10:15:00.000-05:00

Check out the latest medium for a "blue screen of death" at Microsoft Surface. All historical bug experiences aside, this is cool, and I got to say, it's about time. Here's my last experience with a BSoD:

We Are Currently Clothed

2007-09-17T10:48:00.000-05:00

Sunday afternoon, the wife and I went through all of our clothes and have determined to donate or save for a garage sale about one third of what we've been dragging around with us, but not wearing. Although I did say "currently", my wife still insists upon wearing a few items from the 80s and early 90s, and not just the cool stuff. She pulled the shoulder pads out of one shirt to see if it would work as a maternity shirt. We also divided out another smaller set of t-shirts of the "Christian" variety (A few are from my first roommate in his attempt to make me less of a nerd), well mostly church camps, retreats, organizations, etc. It's unreal how many different things I've had the opportunity to be apart of. The plan is for the wife-o-loco to make them into a quilt, or if my weight loss continues, I'll likely be able to wear the ones I still like, but we'll see. Neither of those are likely for the near future. Here's the latest baby pic: And now in Video!:

Where I was 6 years ago today ...

2007-09-11T09:36:00.000-05:00

In my third year of college, in Stillwater, and in the "Duck House", about to go to my "Teachings of Jesus in History" class, when my roommate, Seth, came out of his bedroom because his then girlfriend and now wife called to tell him to turn the news on because of an airplane crash on the news. Needless to say we didn't go to class, but we sat there and watched the news all day long. A friend of Seth's called to check on me, much to our surprise and suspicion. Thankfully they were just calling to see if I was all right, not to see if I was involved. They'd thought people might have tried to take their frustrations out on this brother of color. They asked him what my nationality was/is and he told them I was Indo/Panistani-American or something to that affect. When he got off the phone he was ticked at himself for not just saying "American". Later that day I rode with him to get gas when everybody panicked. I didn't, and I thought it was fair to raise prices because of the hysteria too. I've had to pay for my ignorance at times, why shouldn't everyone else? I don't think he got gas because the lines were so long. Well it seems my overhead is over with, back to work!

How Important is Community, really?

2007-09-05T10:45:00.000-05:00

I met my wife in Owasso Monday night last week to look at a couple of houses. I've had this as a draft since then, but it's lunch time with some home-made boneless Buffalo wings, and time to post. Traffic Not cool. 169 North was great when I left work, until 244 merged, then I came to a stand still about 10 times. It didn't help that I kept changing lanes and each time they became the slower lane when I got there. I thought the commute back and forth to BA was bad, and at least there are 3 lanes each way. There will be much road rage to come I'm sure. How does that cliché go? If God brings you to it, He'll bring you through it? I guess that applies here. And 86th St was a nightmare with a two or three schools in a row, and a ton of stop lights. Sure it's safe, but there is no room for expansion. The HWY 169 overpass isn't getting any bigger without some demolition. Housing Expensive. I'm very much a tight-wad ... most of the time. Especially when it comes to spending money on myself. Hence the dorkiness of my life ... style. I'm sure it is a good deal compared to most suburban areas in the USA, but like I said I'm a tight-wad. And I'm probably going to have to pay the same or more money for less house. The cheaper houses are usually in the country and from the 50s or 60s. I don't mind the country, other than the mowing, but I could do without the "vintage" look ... unless it's really cool and kept up, but then so is the price. Conclusion Boo-hoo, woe is me, blah blah blah. I need some persecution to make these complaints seem anything close to real. The worst I've had is from my Grandparents, who live less than a mile from my current house, and yet they are proud we're going to help start a church. The worst thing right now is we haven't already launched. I even went golfing last week, and probably will again this week. What have I done to deserve such blessings?

Hotel Gregg

2007-08-21T11:03:00.000-05:00

For those of you who haven't experience the wonderful time that is the Gregg family, my sincerest regards. Hotel Gregg 1.0 will soon be coming to an end, hopefully, when they sell their Norman abode and relocate to Owasso, where car dealers don't know how to rhyme and people need Jesus. My wife was happy to finally get to partake of the Gregg hospitality after hearing so much about it from the Hammonds and myself. I got to experience a new perk of being there now that they have a child ... who is 3 years old now, and this just made me realize how long it'd been since I'd been to stay at Hotel Gregg. Doug invited me to his son's room where violence is permitted. I have never in my life seen a little boy get hit in the face and head with foam and plastic baseballs, basketball, and soccer balls and never once cry. Most of my experience has been with kids a little older and they cry at the first or second head shot, but not Collin. He can throw hard and fast and sometimes with both hands. The 15-20 minutes we spent playing hyped him up so much it took him about an hour or more to calm down. Which mostly consisted of him head-butting his Dad and kicking him with both feet at the same time.

Another UItrasound

2007-08-15T15:02:00.000-05:00

I've become one of "those" people. Please ... be patient with me. Looks kind of like a teddy bear right now ... or a gummy bear.

Baby Pics

2007-08-10T14:54:00.001-05:00

It's my turn now to show off blurry, blobby ultrasound pictures of my pre-born child. The middle left with the red shows the heart and some blood flow. The lower right is a close up.

Changing Churches ... again

2007-07-23T16:30:00.000-05:00

Well, my now pregnant wife and I just moved our membership from Florence Street BC in Broken Arrow, OK to South Lakewood BC in Tulsa, OK. No we didn't leave for any "bad" reasons at Florence Street. I know so many people there I almost talked myself out of it at the last minute. We wanted to join with the Gregg's at SLBC and get to know the "sending" church for the the new church-plant in Owasso before we move there. I tried to liken the move to making the switch between from a PC to a Mac to Doug Gregg, who liked my joining SLBC, but is still skeptical of Macs (btw I don't own a Mac yet, I want to though). In my mind anyways, it's sort of a lateral move, I'm gaining a lot (more friends/connections/experience), but it's costing me more (it's a farther drive, I'm leaving a lot of people I grew up with behind). Quality/virus issues can be argued either way. Mac has answered/fixed all the problems I used to have with them (not that I ever got really in depth with it), but PCs are still cheaper. Yes, I'm daddy to a tiny mass of cells!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The due date is approximately March 6th :)

On Board for Owasso!

2007-07-05T07:15:00.000-05:00

For those who don't know, my wife and I are going to help start a church in Owasso, OK. For more information please check this out :) We're excited and ready to go and get started. A lot of foot work needs to be done, as any of you who've help start a church may know. A lot of knee work really. Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem and pray for souls in Owasso.

Hmmm Gun Control ...

2007-05-14T08:38:00.000-05:00

Check this video and article out, and sorry if you checked it before and it was a wrong link. It has no affiliation with this logo.

Shared Item's

2007-05-11T10:10:00.000-05:00

Check out my "Cool Things to Check Out" if you would like. I thought they were cool, you may or may not. If you use Google Reader you can add the same thing to your blog and share what you like, just click the "share" icon/word at the bottom of each thing you want to share on your Google Reader list, and then follow the instructions. If you don't use blogger you can cut and paste the java text. FYI

Mammaw beat us Home!

2007-05-11T08:29:00.000-05:00

Chrystal's grandmother "Mammaw" went home a week ago around 3:30 a.m. after a night of kids and grandkids singing hymns and country songs to her. They'd called in hospice a couple of days before, and the lady guessed Mammaw only had a couple of days left and she was right. So all the family came in from everywhere, even California. It was a bittersweet time because her affect on everyone's lives was so great. She had a great testimony, so we all know where she is and that she isn't on oxygen anymore. She fought off cancer twice before and had survived 11 years after she'd initially been "given" 9 months to live by the doctors. Her oldest son, a preacher in Pryor, preached the funeral, and summed up her life in the phrase "Don't be Stupid". Don't be stupid and accept Christ, and don't be stupid and keep smoking cigarettes. She smoked most of her life, but quit when the cancer came. Unfortunately her other kids smoke, and so do some of her grandkids, hence the messages of "don't be stupid." It was a rather enjoyable funeral. The grandkids and their spouses got on stage and sang some of her favorite songs. Family and friends stood up and testified about the lasting effects she had on their lives. It was probably the coolest funeral I've ever been too. I also got to know a lot of Chrystal's family a lot better and v.v. Apparently they all thought I was a lazy bum, but with all the time we spent together last weekend they found out I'm just quiet and non-intrusive around new people. I miss her too.

My Wife ...

2007-04-05T09:54:00.000-05:00

... cut my hair last night. I didn't see her crying, but she may have when I wasn't looking.

Church Marketing Sucketh

2007-03-19T15:14:00.000-05:00

10 Things You Should Know About People ... If You Want Them To Hear What You're Saying: 1. People don't care about the church database. 2. People aren't motivated by your need. They're motivated by theirs. 3. People don’t care about their next step until they know they're valued where they are now. 4. People don't know who you are, no matter how long you've been around the church. 5. People multi-task and can't remember squat. 6. People are turned off by lack of preparation. 7. People relate when you talk about them or people like them. 8. People feel left out and frustrated when you use insider's language. 9. People aren't impressed with your theological vocabulary and holy dialect. 10. People love stories not lectures. [and the bonus item...] 11. People shut down when your message sounds like a scolding. See where I found the post at ChurchMarketingsucks.com Or see the original post on Kem Meyer's Blog.

Hobomania!

2007-03-12T10:55:00.000-05:00

Wow! Schweet youth event this past weekend. I left work early, mostly out of boredom, not a lot going on at the moment, and went home to vegg out with the lights out, (Sky-lights are wicked cool!). Anyways after half an hour of boredom watching TV it occurs to me that the drive home was in the fabulous warm weather. So went outside to and raked leaves. I've never really enjoyed house/lawn work, unless I was helping a friend. Working for/on parents' homes just never was enjoyable. Doing it all for my own house, the one the bank lets me live in that is, was not all that bad, but after my kids are grown enough I can see that I'll be tired of it and want to make them do it. After raking leaves for an hour and a half (and finding a dead rat), we went to my grandparent-in-laws' for dinner, and then went to HOMELESS NIGHT! We walked to Wal-Mart(s), add the "s" if you're old, and had the 7 youth + my wife, to make it even teams, buy the best Hobo meal with 4 dollars. The Guy's were most authentic (as far as we know) by buying bread, bologna, skittles, & cheese. Which is probably what they'll eat after high school for a few years ... if they go to college. The girls fed the most by making spaghetti with sauce, breadsticks, jell-o, and orange soda, but they used the microwave, oven, and the stove! Not Hobo materials. We slept the night between the youth center and the new sanctuary in boxes (with sleeping bags & blankets ... no newspaper though). The grass caught on fire ... a few times. Jimmy devotionalized with sob-story stats, but I feel like the youth really got the picture, especially after walking to Wal-Mart(s) and back (a little over 2 miles round trip) with people honking and yelling at us along the way. The next morning, after a non-Hobo Braum's breakfast, we went to the Tulsa Food Bank and helped pack boxes full of canned goods. I made a disturbing discovery there as well, you can get a "whole chicken, without the giblets" in a CAN!!!!!!! Wow, who knew. Anyways we packed a lot of 15lb boxes. This sort of event didn't attract hordes of students, but the few faithful that did make it seemed to have a great time and wanted to do it again! There has been talk of making this service project a monthly program to get these suburbanites into a lifestyle of volunteering for the needs of others, especially the cause of Christ.

For those who might be wondering ...

2007-03-09T10:52:00.000-06:00

... I pretty much love my job. It's challenging, it expands my horizons, and it has taught & is teaching me a lot. Well, my last job, not the apartment management - that was just filler, was a ministry position, not engineering ... not exactly what people think of as engineering anyways. And, as a lot of people that know me know, I surrendered to ministry years ago. So why am I not "in the ministry" full-time anymore? The biggest one at the time I "quit" was that I was not "in" the vision I had for that particular ministry, quite odd really, but that was answer to the prayer whether I or anyone else liked it or not. I also took the advice of a father, not my earthly, but maybe indirectly my heavenly. Tim Johnson's dad, David Johnson, told him, (as I heard it from Tim concerning being "in the ministry") "if you can do anything else, do it." The deeper message in that says God will make you to know like Jonah found out when he ran from God's will if you are supposed to be "in the ministry" full-time. So far, I haven't been convicted to go back to full-time ministry. Certain things I miss, like seminary where, even though the answers I received for some of my questions were very weak, I learned a lot. Certain things I don't miss, like the lack of training in our association. (I'm sure this will step on some toes) Seminary is not training, like with my secular education you are exposed to and taught many different things, but not necessarily how to do a specific job (unless I missed those classes) because they don't know what exactly your job is going to be. Youth, Music, Education, Administration, Multimedia, Toilets, Pastoring, etc, etc. I also don't miss the lack of structure. I am glad to have a part in ministry. The small group I've been given the privilege to lead has been interesting. It's a challenge and a personal investment into the lives of others for the glory of God. I love to still get to play music in the orchestra and the youth band, even with my mediocre abilities on bass. Last thing that I've learned to appreciate since I "left" full-time (paid) ministry, is the building of relationships with people outside of my comfort zone. As a minister I talked to a lot of people, but only got the chance to build a relationship with those that were already saved & committed to the cause of Christ because the others came and went as they pleased. The opportunity to invite people to church takes on a different meaning when you are working out of an office full of different people from all walks of life as opposed to the typical "pastor" who might work from home, at church by himself, or makes his own hours whenever he wants to. I can now totally appreciate the "bi-vocational" pastor, like Paul the tent-maker, who is outside of the bubble or protective hedge of the church in the "real world", who tells to the congregation to witness to others. They have to live the same life as those they are preaching to while they are preaching, not just have the memories of having been there. It's nice having friends & co-workers outside my church/association who know where I stand, and may or may not disagree. I also like being able to tell my small group to tell their friends about Jesus & to invite their friends to come to church because I haven't just randomly met someone on the street or on their doorstep and done it (where there is no accountability or investment), but because I've done it and get to do it at work with people, and if they (people at work) don't like it I still have to see them tomorrow whether I like it or not, just like the students.

Woot!

2007-02-27T09:55:00.000-06:00

Today's Email if you didn't get it: The doctor called late last night and told us that 1. It was/is benign & 2. They got all of it in surgery! Chrystal is doing well, even without the total use of her right arm, it's sort of like the little T-Rex arm now. Her mother came by yesterday, stayed with her, and cleaned up all the half unpacked boxes in our living room too! Her grandparents brought them lunch, and my grandpa stopped by to visit for a little while as well. Thank you for your continued prayers. ~Barry Yesterday's email: Sorry for the mass email ... but it's BCC to protect the innocent ... mainly myself :) Feel free to forward this if you want to. This is the modified version of the email I sent to my family about an hour ago: Sorry for such a late news update, I haven't been on a computer since Wednesday last week. Chrystal is doing well. We should find out the results of the Biopsy today. The surgery was an "Excisional Biopsy" of a " phyllodes (fi-load-ease) tumor" which they'd thought was a "fibroadenoma" cyst. Anyways they took a "wide" margin out around it, about the size of a plum I believe. This was not exactly a rush job, but we'd found out Monday the surgery was Thursday, so if you weren't informed don't be bitter. We also celebrated our first anniversary Saturday. Being the "paper" anniversary, we got lifetime fishing licenses for each other, which arrived Friday just in time to not be used. It was still nice to stay home a few days from work to take care of her instead of rushing around to go camping as we'd planned on doing. It was nice for her too, as long as the pain pills were taken regularly ... and I didn't talk too much. ~Barry

Boob Job

2007-02-21T08:54:00.000-06:00

My wife is getting a boob job ... please pray for her, there is a 10% chance of malignancy. She goes under the knife @ approximately 10:45 a.m. Thursday (tomorrow). Not a Mastectomy, but a Minimalectomy ... well a Lumpectomy. Hmm those terms may only apply if it's certain it's cancerous/malignant, and it isn't certain. Anyways it'll be removed, set on fire, and then sent into space.

Leave it to the Japaneze

2007-02-21T08:52:00.000-06:00

Valentine's Gift

2007-02-13T15:44:00.000-06:00

I got my wife a necklace, the lame part was I let her pick it out. Which I guess could be really good or really bad depending on your P.O.V. I say it's kind of lame. Anyways she got me "Prince: The Hits/B-Sides" set of 3 CDs. She also got me a Binary Clock!!! Yes we are nerds. Here is a pick of one like it ... Can you tell the time? Each pair of columns stands for hours, minutes, then seconds respectively.

First Anniversary on it's way!

2007-02-09T10:07:00.000-06:00

Paper is the Traditional theme for the First Anniversary, thanks to Emily Post. My wonderful wife's idea is to get Lifetime Fishing Licenses. I also just realized she bought tix to the Merle Haggard/Willie Nelson concert ... hmmm those tix are paper too ...??? I digress, my wife and I will have been married 1 year in 2 weeks and one day. We've moved about five times since then. 1.) Moved her into my apt in Stilly. 2.) Moved to another apt in Stilly 3 months later. 3.) Moved my mother's RV/Trailer in Broken Arrow 1 month after moving to the 2nd apt, then when it got cold we moved inside my Mom's house and I joined the Boomerang Generation for about 6 months. I was very sad about that, but I didn't throw money away toward rent that I'd never see again ... just paid for it in other ways ... by living at my Mother's and feeling very transient (by trying to live at The Jimmy's apt whenever we could). 4.) Moved into our house 3 weeks ago. Schweet house with The Loft ... that I rarely use :( 5.) Moved from my "Free Spirit" ways of making everything (with money) work out in my head to a confining cage of a budget. It's very much a love-hate relationship with the budget, it's only been a week, but my iron-will in the situation and God's blessing for being a good steward (mostly this because my iron will had become very malleable since I got married). This is really hard for me conceptually, being on a budget, so I'm calling it a "move." Except my back doesn't hurt as much ... mostly because I haven't moved our furniture out of storage yet.

Seth Spillman's Mother died.

2007-02-08T09:14:00.000-06:00

Here is the email his wife sent me. He was my roommate @ OSU for four years. "Barry, I wanted to let you know that Seth's mom passed away last night. It was a hard struggle, and certainly has been a really rough time for Seth and me, but we are so relieved that she isn't struggling anymore and she is in Heaven with her Heavenly Father. The funeral is Saturday at 2 p.m. at Candlewood Chapel in Midwest City. The info is below, in case you want it. 315 S. Sooner Rd. Midwest City, OK 73110 (405) 677- 4281 Hope all is well with you buddy. We love you. Kayte"

The Knack

2007-01-31T14:58:00.000-06:00

New Bed/Friend in Need

2007-01-22T13:13:00.000-06:00

Wow, last week was a blessing, except for one thing. Prayer Request: My first roommate's, Seth Spillman, mother has survived a couple of bouts of breast cancer, but now has developed multiple small brain tumors. She hasn't been given very long by the doctor's estimates. Please remember this family. Praise Reports: Jonathan Stine was released Thursday, Jan, 18th, 2007 @ approx. 1-3 p.m. We closed on our house Thursday, Jan. 18th, 2007 @ approx. 5 p.m. We were given a King Size Pillowtop bed, Saturday, Jan. 20th, 2007 @ approx. 4 p.m. These things seem kinda of trivial in light of a friend's mother being near death ... again. She had 2 kids, adopted a third from Russia, and like I already mentioned survived breast cancer twice including the complications with the medication/radiation the first and second times.

Breakfast of Champions ... and fatties :(

2007-01-19T09:54:00.000-06:00

Jonathan Stine is FREE! Dr. Pepper & Pop Tarts, unless you very athletic then you could handle this. It's almost as bad as Mt. Dew and Powder DoughNuts. We stayed at our New (to us) house last night. We slept on an air mattress in The Loft (that is its proper name). It is much warmer in The Loft, especially since the heat isn't up very high right now.

Closing on a House/Parole Hearing

2007-01-18T10:24:00.000-06:00

First of all, in reverse order of the title, Pray for Jonathan Stine in that his parole/release hearing is today. Talk about jacked by the system, this poor kid RAHH, I don't even want to blog about it, ask The Jimmy if you want to know. Anyways, God is definitely working in his life, even though he's getting a raw deal, like Joseph in Egypt, he knows God has them there for a reason even if it is just to influence the others in his Pod. Well, a milestone in my life ... if it comes to pass ... is about to occur this evening. I get to join the rest of society that own a home ... well in the manner that the bank owns it and I pay them for letting me live there, don't let anyone tell you I'm delusional when it comes to these things. We are supposed to close on the house at 3 pm-ish. RAHH the water still isn't turned on, and I need to find out if there are any leaks!!! Might be closing tomorrow!!! Pray for Jonathan!

Career Inventory II

2007-01-12T07:46:00.001-06:00

Career Inventory Test Results

Extroversion	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Emotional Stability	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Orderliness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Altruism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Inquisitiveness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	73%

You are a Guide, possible professions include - career counselor, psychologist, educational consultant, special education teacher, librarian, artist, playwright, novelist/poet, editor/art director, information-graphics, designer, HRM manager, merchandise planner, environmental lawyer, marketer, job analyst, mental health counselor, dietitian/nutritionist, research, educational consultant, architects, interpreter/translator.

Take Free Career Test personality tests by similarminds.com Hmm I took it again, and it had different questions. Some were similar though, but my answers weren't exactly the same to some of the old questions, just close.

Career Inventory I

2007-01-11T15:58:00.001-06:00

Career Inventory Test Results

Extroversion	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	53%
Emotional Stability	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	60%
Orderliness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	53%
Altruism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	66%
Inquisitiveness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%

You are a Persuader, possible professions include - entertainer, recruiter, artist, newscaster, writer/journalist, recreation director, librarian, facilitator, politician, psychologist, housing director, career counselor, sales trainer, travel agent, program designer, corporate/team trainer, child welfare worker, social worker (elderly services), interpreter/translator, occupational therapist, executive

Take Free Career Test personality tests by similarminds.com

Did you know?

2007-01-08T14:41:00.000-06:00

This really happened ... today.

How I miss them so ...

2006-12-26T16:24:00.000-06:00

Olive Rub

2006-12-19T08:46:00.000-06:00

So the wifoloco and I went out to dinner last night to Olive Garden ... after we each had an hour long massage. Well they were only about 45-50 mins really, but either way they were cheap as free. I've had a professional massage before, but it was in Tokyo, twas awesome. This time she was a redhead and she used her forearms like rolling pins. Don't get me wrong, it was awesome too, but I did reach my pain tolerance a few times and even had the tolerances pushed farther I think. It was painfully funny actually. It hurt so much at times that I started to wonder if I would yelp or do something squirrelly like that. The thought of that was incredibly funny in my mind, so the more it hurt the more I started to laugh, so I explained to the lady that I'm not a total freak, just that it was painfully funny. She told me I should stretch more. NEways we went to Olive Garden. Wifo had Stuffed Chicken Marsala at my suggestion, ant it totally rocked awesome too. I had the Steak Gorgonzola-Alfredo pasta thing, which was quite good as well, but probably won't be ordered within the next 3 visits, which could be 3 years. The last time I went to Olive Garden they had Veal still ... which they quit having years ago. I also think I'm going to stop ordering beef cooked "Medium." The last few times it's been too chewy and bloody. Medium Well here I come :(

Koala Tea

2006-12-14T13:43:00.000-06:00

I like work, especially when I have plenty to do. Which I did until about 30 mins ago, when I finished all I can do at the moment. We had lunch at "Lenny's Sub Shop" at 51st and Memorial. Spectacular as usual. I split a large Philly CheeseSteak with The Menace. He flirted with cashier. Yesterday we ate at "Le Mansion," Spanish for "large freaking house that used to be Hardee's." They have, prepare to have your mind blown, an All-You-Can-Eat 'mexican' lunch. Not Poncho's or Casa Bonita's cheese whiz microwaved stuff either. It's not a buffet because they bring you the food for which you ask. We've determined that the majority of the ingredients are Koala-Tea (not koala meat), but what really makes it all so great is the Cheese Sauce. Spectacularrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrro! Tonight we'll either play Dominoe!s with the G-rents or chip away at the 8 gallons of Chicken Alfredo linguine left overs from the Youth Christmas Banquet last night. God bless our American appetites and estimations.

WifoLoco

2006-12-13T10:33:00.000-06:00

Wow ... I could post about recent events, but instead I'll link to my wife's page because she recently added a ton of pics about the last few months. Here is a pic of my Dad playing me at Ping Pong in my uncle's garage. Not exactly Pacific Rim skills, but the Indian Ocean isn't that far.

Blog since forgotten ...

2006-12-12T16:04:00.000-06:00

... I had forgotten I even had created this blog. Interesting new setup, Google has really tried to do everything except buy the whole of the internet it seems. But you can't fade free, and for now that seems to be what Google is all about. Recent news : My wife and I, well I guess the fact that I have a wife is news to some, recently "purchased" a house. We've signed a bunch of stuff, yet haven't "closed" yet. And by "purchased" I mean we've agreed to pay a mortgage company lots of interest on a house THEY will soon own. In the mean time I will slowly pay them until I own it or we move. It's always scary when I blog at work, mostly because I feel guilty, even though I have nothing else to do for the time being ... I wonder how long it'll take me to forget about this blog again ...

My other blog ...

2005-02-05T13:00:00.000-06:00