No life... no inspiration. :(

< /random >
I've been wanting to redo my blog for a while. I want to design it myself, not use someone else's template. No matter how cool the template is, it's still someone else's.

The problem is that I'm still unemployed and am in a real slump right now. I spend my days hanging out with Nick, looking for work and playing World of Warcraft. We're down to only one car and Beth needs that for work. I've tried dropping her off and picking her up but that doesn't really leave time to do anything. Basically it's drop Beth of by 12, get some lunch, get Nick down for a nap, snacks after nap, then leave by 6:15 to fight the commute traffic to pick Beth up from work at 7. Not to mention that we end up spending twice as much on gas for little to no return.

Being stuck at home, watching Transformers or Herbie Fully Loaded for the seven hundredth time gives little in the way of inspiration. Maybe Nicky and Daddy can use old BART tickets and ride the train sometime this week. There's no place in particular to go, and we don't really have any money to do anything when we get there, but who knows... At least Nick will get to ride the train.

The only thing that would put a damper on an outing like that is the weather. Unlike New York and places back east where it's freezing cold and iced over, California winters are wet. It's not just bundling up in somethin warm, but you have to make sure that you're dry. Maybe we'll go to San Francisco to get an umbrella for Nick. It might not be the most sensible of outings, but at least it's a reason and a destination. I think I'll take the video camera and see what I get.

< /random >

News from the front lines

So, I'm still unemployed. Nothing new there yet.

I went down and took a test recently that may change that though. I've kicked around the idea of being a police dispatcher a couple of times and had even gone into the Sheriff's dispatch center for the good portion of a shift and shadowed a couple of the dispatchers. (Some departments allow you to shadow an officer for a shift. It's known as a "ride along." Does that make what I did in dispatch a "sit in"?)

I went down on Thursday and took the California Dispatcher 1 POST (Police Officer Standards and Training) test. I feel like I did pretty good, even in the section that I felt weakest on.

A couple words of advice if you ever find yourself about to take this test: Before going in to the test, make sure that you're well fed and caffineted. The test is three hours long. No matter if you take tests fast or if you use every last minute, you're there for three hours. Also, if you have even the slightest hint of a headache before you start, make sure that you take something for it. I'd advise taking something for a headache even if you don't have one, because by the time it's over, you will.

Test results will be back and letters sent out the second week of January. If I scored 50 or higher on the test, I will move on to the oral board portion of the hiring process. I'm not worried about oral boards as I've done them twice already; once for the Search and Rescue team, the other when I had applied for Animal Control with the county. Both times I scored very high among the group of interviewees. Everyone who passes oral boards goes through background checks (again, no problem) and put on an eligibility list and remain eligible for a year. The top two get hired. Hopefully, I'm one of those two.

guysforlife.org

I just received an email from a YouTube member, requesting that I be their "friend." I've received a couple of these requests from members in the past who were obviously just going through subscriber names using the "friends" request as a promotional tool to get more people to view their videos. While I don't think it's the best way to promote yourself on YouTube, I guess it works for some.

So far, I've ignored the requests, but this time, for some reason, I followed the links to their YouTube page. Turns out that they're using YouTube as a ministry tool to reach out to guys that have just learned that their wife or girlfriend or even daughter (if she's old enough) is unexpectedly pregnant.

I watched the "welcome" video and read the channel biography and was amazed. This is an awesome idea that has the potential to reach millions of guys who are probably scared and don't know what to do or where to go for help. I've not had a chance to watch all the videos yet, but plan to soon.

If you are a guy who's in that same situation, please go check out the videos. Chances are, that there are answers there that may help you through the difficult choices that you now need to make. If you know of a guy who just found out that he's to become father, share this with him. Chances are that you'll both be glad that you did.

http://www.youtube.com/user/guysforlifeorg
www.guysforlife.org

God bless.

Election 2008, an Essay

This was passed along to me by a friend of mine. The author has been a lifelong friend of his. Though you might not agree with everything that he says, please take into consideration what he is saying, what he is asking you to do.

Election 2008

by

Robert W. Sweet, Jr

Commonwealth of Virginia

October 27, 2008

Far too many Americans take the position that all “politicians” are crooks, and therefore there is no reason to vote at all. I do understand that sentiment, but let me offer another perspective. This comes from nearly 40 years of being in elected and appointed, in local, state and federal government positions of public trust.

First, only human beings are elected to public office. NONE of them are perfect, NONE. Those who promote the idea that we will have the Kingdom of God on Earth if we only elect the "right President" have been "smoking something."

Second, governments are ordained of God, and we are to be subject to them, that is the Bible way.

Third, in the case of the United States of America, we did have Godly men who drew up our Declaration of Independence, and our Constitution. They based these documents on the principles of the Bible, and Old Testament Jewish law. The Ten Commandments are prominently displayed on our buildings in Washington, including the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Congress. In addition, there many federal buildings that have quotes from the Bible that remind us that the Founders of our Republic recognized that to remain a free people, government should be strictly limited. That is what our Constitution does, and we depart from those principles at our peril.

Old Ben Franklin, who was a key player in the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, is quoted as saying the following. When he was leaving Constitution Hall in Philadelphia in 1778 a woman asked him what they had produced. He said: "A Republic, Madam, IF you can keep it."

He was referring in part to the Preamble of the Constitution which states:

"We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Every official of government must "swear or affirm" to uphold the Constitution in every public office they hold. I have had to take this oath many times in my various Government positions. For me, it was, and is a sacred oath. I took that oath with my hand on the Bible...it brings tears to my eyes as I write this when I think back over the more that 25 years I spent in Washington, DC, and the many jobs I have held, from the White House, to the U.S. Department of Justice, to the U.S. Department of Education, to the U.S.Department of Health and Human Services, to the U.S. Congress as a staff member. Each and every time that oath was administered I felt the obligation to uphold it, and always "under God."

I know that there are many "politicians" (elected and appointed) to positions of trust who do not execute their responsibilities wisely, or even honestly. But I can also say with certainty, that there are many, many elected officials with whom I have worked at the local, state and federal level who do. I attended Bibles studies with them in the White House, the U.S. Senate that U.S House of Representatives and the Federal Agencies where I worked. We had fervent prayer for our leaders, for both parties, and for the preservation of our Republic.

It is more than the President and Vice President we are electing next Tuesday. We will elect a President and a Vice President true enough, but "WE THE PEOPLE" also will be electing ALL of the U.S. House of Representatives, one third of the United States Senate, at least half of the Governors of our States, and a large percentage of our State Legislators. And will be electing Mayors, Judges, and "dog catchers" too.

When we elect our President and Vice President, as imperfect as they are, we will be giving them the authority to appoint, without any approval from the electorate, more than 3,000 political appointees of their choosing. Those individuals will be the members of their Cabinet who will run the U.S.

Justice Department, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Energy, a total of 13 major agencies and myriads of sub agencies that literally control our daily life right down to our pocket books and our heath care and our courts. Not the least of which is the probable appointment of several Supreme Court Justices who can forever change the nature of how we deal with marriage, abortion, child abuse, pornography, home schooling, prayer, tax policy, national defense, and security, immigration policy, and the protection of erosion of the Bill of Rights that guarantee us the freedoms our nation has cherished and preserved for more than 220 years. When we elect the Members of the House and Senate we will be giving them the authority to appoint or hire more than 25,000 staff members who will run the U.S. Congress. These staffers will write the laws, advise Members of Congress and although unelected themselves will have a profound impact on the everyday life of all Americans.

It is "We the People" who determine our destiny...all Under God...but nevertheless we have our part to play in "keeping the Republic" that has made us the freest nation on earth, or we will authorize our elected officials and their appointees to place us in bondage like much of the rest of the world.

Many, many elections are won or lost by a single vote...democracies rise of fall by the will and the vote of the people.

In the election of 2008 we have choice between Obama/Biden who believe very strongly that government is the answer to all or most of our problems, whether health care, or financial, or social, or our national security. McCain/Palin believes that it is "We the People" who should decide our destiny. In my opinion, McCain/Palin is much more likely to appoint men and women who will preserve our Republic rather than destroy it.

All of these individuals are human. They are imperfect, just as we are, but it is our opportunity, our collective decision as voters to decide which candidates should have such power. It will make the difference between a socialistic nation and one that will continue to uphold the Constitutional principles that this nation was founded on more than 200 years ago. The American Republic has lasted longer than any other Republic in the history of the world, and as Ben Franklin said: "....if we can keep it."

The Oath of Office and the Constitution

Oath

I (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

That Oath for me was more than my allegiance to the United States of America….to “defend” her from “all enemies foreign and domestic. It was my solemn charge to pray and exemplify Jesus Christ in all my duties in public office.

I have been battered, bruised, criticized, ridiculed, fired, shouted at, scorned…because of stands I have taken for Christ and for the Constitution. I do not regret one moment of it, and I consider it an honor to have been able to serve. No one likes to be always on the offensive, but that seems to be the way it has been for me over the decades I have been fighting for the freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution.

One of my good friends during my White House years was a colleague of John McCain when he was in the Hanoi Hilton. Jim Warner spent 7.5 years imprisoned in the Hanoi Hilton. During the years I knew him he walked with a cane because of the torture and abuse he took while he was in prison. He used to come to my White House office to talk quite often, and when he would leave he would always say “Cheer up” because that is what he would say to his prison colleagues who day after day languished without hope of ever being free. I have never forgotten that, and when the times are tough, and the fight is difficult, and even overwhelming I say “Cheer UP!” We have a God who is watching, who has our best interests at heart, and who said he would “NEVER LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US.”

Now, for the sake of our beloved America…VOTE!!

The history of coffe as told on ThinkGeek.com

ThinkGeek (stuff for smart masses) has a cool product for the caffeine affectionado: The Handpresso Portable Espresso Maker.

On the item's page, there is the complete, if brief history of coffee. I've shamelessly ripped it off and posted it here for your enjoyment:

It used to be that people would travel for thousands of miles to get good coffee. As the story goes, the plant originated in what is now Yemen. It was popular with the Sufis there for its ability to drive away sleep. Coffee didn’t make it to Europe until 1600 when Pope Clement VIII, despite appeals to ban it. The habit spread across Europe, until the Dutch, sick and tired of paying out the nose to import the stuff from Ethiopia and the Ottoman Empire, illegally smuggled live plants and cultivated them in hothouses in Holland.

Then, in 1720, the French brought the first vines to the Americas. The following weekend, the first Starbucks opened [citation needed].

Check out their site, buy stuff and then tell them that you heard of them here. Then they can consider it free advertisement instead of copyright infringement. (Hopefully that will be enough to keep me from getting sued!)