A Different Saturday

The day began nicely enough. I was privileged to speak to a men's breakfast at the nearby Eastridge Church. Easy topic: "Secrets of Good Parenting". Praise the Lord that Carole and I have been blessed with super kids. I basically told them what we had done that might have been different from other parents. Hope it helps a few fathers in the difficult job of being a parent.

But I get home and Carole reports she doesn't feel good and soon thereafter, she's chunking her cookies. I hope it's a 24-hour (or less) bug. Of all the things in the world to hate, she hates nausea more than any.

So I've stayed indoors, trying to be a good nurse. Got to see the Mavericks beat Memphis for a 3rd time in the playoffs. Dirk picks up a loose ball with a couple of seconds left and drills a three to tie the game. Mavs had all the momentum at that point and won the game easily in OT.

Say What?

I recently went to the blog of a minister in New York City and mildly chastised him for his crude language. I figured I was speaking for the silent majority of Christians who detest profanity and pseudo-profanity ("sucks" and "pissed off").

To my utter amazement, I was the voice of one crying in the wilderness. 95% of those who subsequently responded railed against me and my Victorian ways. Don't you know, they said, that you are showing yourself to be "real" and "authentic" when you use such words? Don't you realize that you are showing yourself to be vulnerable and approachable to the lost when you express yourself that way?

Only by using these words, they said, can you truly express your deep inner feelings. Ordinary, proper language can't do that, they moaned.

Oh, please.

Maybe all those respondents live in New York.

Interesting Quote

I ran across this quote from Mother Teresa the other day. I'll paraphrase it since the book isn't in front of me at the moment.

"When the person who has suffered more than any other human ever...arrives in heaven and experiences God's glory, the time spent in pain on this earth will seem nothing more than a night spent at an inconvenient hotel."

Sounds like she was familiar with my favorite verse, 2 Cor. 4:17..."For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison."

Lasik Update

About three weeks ago, my 20/16 eyesight began to change. I noticed that when I looked at printed matter from a distance of 2 to 6 feet, the image was slightly double. Since then, the situation has continued to worsen, slowly and in small increments. Now I have some eye strain...which creates a slight headache that rarely goes away.

I had hoped that I would avoid the "enhancement" phase of lasik. That's where they take the first procedure and improve on it. Looks like I'm a prime candidate now.

I had made an appointment with Dr. Boothe for next Wednesday some time ago. I can't wait for them to explain why this has happened. It must be fairly routine, since there are regular checkups throughout the first year. Best case scenario: I get the checkup on Wednesday and they do the enhancement on Friday.

Stay tuned.

Just One Thing...

I had looked forward to this morning all week. It had been a taxing week at school with lots of lecture and lots of disturbances and I pushed myself through it by envisioning a photo shoot at the airport this morning. The only kicker was that for this to be successful, I'd need morning sun.

So, I packed my gear last night and set the alarm for 6:20 this morning. When I woke up, I checked the weather at Love Field. "Cloudy, 68 degrees." Groan. I decided to wait until 7 in hopes that the skies would improve. Sure enough, "Partly cloudy, 68 degrees." I wolfed down breakfast, threw on my jeans and t-shirt and headed out. All during the drive west, I was encouraged because the skies were improving the whole way. This was gonna work out.

Pulled into the parking lot at Love Field a little before 8. I unzipped my camera bad and discovered to my horror that there was no camera. Lots of lenses, no camera. I had taken it out last night to recharge the battery and had forgotten to repack it.

I've been kicking myself all day. Only bright spot is that I bet I never make that mistake again.

Geesh.

More DISD Madness

Try this one on for size: On Monday, I wrote a referral on a guy who has caused lots of problems on my bus, created havoc in my hall during passing periods, and made a mockery of the school's dress code by wearing his pants below his derriere.

Well, I hadn't heard anything about the disposition of his case, so today I asked about it. The reply? "We won't do anything about it until after the TAKS test is over next week."

Down is up, bad is good, real is fake, and DISD is a great district.

Things I'm tired of...

1. War.
2. Politics
3. Kids with attitudes
4. College-ruled paper
5. Green beans that aren't "Blue Lake"
6. Drivers who signal left and turn right
7. The clutter in my garage
8. Cloudy weather when I have a day at the airport to shoot planes
9. Wiping the frost off the bar code on the sherbet I buy just so it'll scan
10. Our cat Alex...he may not be long for this world
11. Profanity...from adults and kids alike
12. Nut grass
13. Pro sports...never thought I'd say that
14. Coca-cola's taste...never thought I'd say that either
15. The pain that my beloved mother-in-law is experiencing

Hypotheticals...for men only

Whose body would you rather have...Gabe Kapler or Josh Howard?

Would you rather have blinding speed or enormous jumping ability?

Would you rather be able to sing bass like Gary Evans or write like Max Lucado?

Would you rather be 6'4"/ 210 lbs. or 6'8"/240 lbs?

Would you rather be Mike Modano or Dirk?

Would you rather people call you witty/funny or smart/intellectual?

Would you rather be poor/handsome or rich/ugly?

Would you rather have an Olympic gold medal or a Super Bowl championship ring?

"Airside"

"Airside" is aviation lingo for being on the inside of the airport as opposed to peering at planes through a chain-link fence. Today, I once again was treated to two hours of being airside at DFW with a guy who works there.

The weather service had teased me all week by predicting sun or partly cloudy skies. It's critical to have sun if you want good photographs. By Thursday, the forecast had changed to cloudy. But this morning, I awoke to the good news that there would be "partly cloudy" skies this afternoon. Hooray!

Uh, I got five minutes of sunlight in two hours. Fortunately, this big FedEx came rumbling in from Memphis during that five minutes. BTW, this plane was sitting abandoned in the Mojave Desert until recently. Out-of-work aircraft are stored there to avoid the inevitable decay and rust that moisture brings. FedEx bought this one and painted it and is now giving it a new career. Maybe some employer will do that to me soon.