The Myth

A man walking along a California beach was deep in prayer. Suddenly the sky
clouded, and in a booming voice the Lord said,

"Because you have tried to be faithful to me, I will grant you one wish".

The man said, "Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can drive over anytime I want."

The Lord said, "Your request is very materialistic. Think of the enormity of the undertaking. The supports required to reach the bottom of the Pacific! The concrete and steel it will take! It will nearly exhaust all the natural resources. It is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little more time and think of something that would honor and glorify me".

The man thought about it for a long time.

Finally he said, "Lord, I wish that I could understand my wife. How she feels inside, what she's thinking when she's silent? Why she cries, what she means when she says nothing's wrong, and how to make her truly happy ".

The Lord replied, "Do you want four or six lanes on that bridge?

HEHE

Spastic Weather

I have lived in several states and traveled through many more and in almost every single one the locals have a saying that goes something like this, "If you don't like the weather in (insert state name here) then wait a few minutes and it will change."
And for some that is true, but I would have to say that in my experience Missouri is the weirdest state for weather.
Let me explain...
Feburary...we went from 10 Degrees with -10 windchill factor to upper 80's...in ten days time. I work construction and we are all bundled up for the cold, and then the same day I am working in a t-shirt and I am getting a sun burn!!! I never wanted to be a "red-neck", but I was for a few days. I was wearing sun-screen for crying out loud...
Then in another two weeks time it gets cold...then warm and humid...and then we get some tornado making storms. In one day Missouri got like...oh...113 tornados in one day!!!
I kid you not.
When I heard that number I thought it was just someone with an exageration problem, but then I heard it from an EMT that was on call at the fire dept. during that time. (And if you can't trust and EMT who can you trust in this world, right?)
I haven't stated my feelings in a long time about how much I miss Oregon, so let me reiterate it here...
OREGON ROCKS...AND I MISS LIVING THERE!!!
We don't have earthquakes...we don't have hurricanes...we don't have huge floodings...and we DON'T have 113 Tornados in one day.
Yeah, that is all I have to say about that...

The Pinnacle of Cynical

I have written before about being a cynical bugger and I thought that after time you would just sort of "plateau" and reach you height of cynicism. I was wrong. This past week I have been kicked to greater heights then ever before.
Let me explain. I live on a campus with about 500 or so other people. Not too big, but they are planning on it growing a huge amount over the next few years.
Well, this campus doesn't have a regular sewage system...it has what we refer to as, "pickle ponds". Yes, you have the correct image. Everything we flush down the toilet, drains into a series of 8 ponds. Using sun, air and bacteria by the time everythig reaches the 8th pond we can and do use it to water the soccer fields.
(no, I don't play soccer here...ever)
A crude yet effective way to get rid of all that waste.
Well, the ponds are out-dated and there are some concerns that they are beginning to leak into the lake that we live by and that when we end up with more students in the next few years they won't be able to keep up with the "flow".
So we are in the process of building a HUGE waste desposel plant. So big it can hold 2.5 million lbs of...well...crap.
Well, the past few weeks we have been digging a hole in the ground that is over 80feet wide/long and about 20 feet deep. We had problems with water in the hole and different stuff, so it has taken longer then we thought, but it is coming along.
Friday afternoon we got a surprise inspection by DRN. Department of Natural Resources. They are in charge of anything that might affect the lake water. Since we are digging close to the lake and in between two creeks that run into the lake, then they have the "right" to say how we should conduct our digging.
They only come out though when they get a call from someone complaining. Aparently someone complained about our hole in the ground. When the guy said that, my crew looked around where we were at, to see who could see the hole....Uhh...no one can see the hole except...EXCEPT some staff members that live on campus.
I was thinking that no way would someone here on campus complain to the county about us trying to make a sewage plant.
So we asked the guy who complained...but he can't "devolge that kind of infomation". So we asked if it was someone close....and he said "someone very close.
OH MY GOODNESS...you don't like the hole...it is "ruining your view" and one staff member said...and so you don't go to the board to complain...you go to the county????
This isn't the first time either...they have complained, again to DNR, about us cutting down trees so we can build more student housing....
They faculty live here for basically free. Part of the benifit of being a teacher....so then they turn around and whine when the school does something to their own land???
Arg...I guess that I am still young enough to be surprised be stuff...I guess that is a good thing...

Daughters

Have you ever loved someone so much, you'd give an arm for her,
Not the expression, no, literally give an arm for her.
When they know they are your heart, and you know you are their armor,
And you will destroy anyone who will try to harm her.
"When I'm gone" Eminem

I am not a super big fan of Eminem, but my brother introduced me to this song where he is talking about his daughter...and you know what...I can relate.
If you try anything with my daughter, I won't hurt you, I won't "mess you up"...I will destroy you.
I think that is why I am taking the death of my youngest daughter so hard. I failed her. I couldn't do anything to save her. You can give me all the logical "truth" why what I am feeling isn't true, but it doesn't help.
It was my genes that killed her. How much more physically "me" can one get then your genetic make-up?
Then I am the one that made the decision to remove the life support from her. Sure, my wife and I made the decision together, but as a mom she never would have implimented it. I was the one that had to tell the nurse that, "We were ready". What a lie. How could one ever be ready for something like that?
Anyway...feeling a bit bleak...Next time I will try to be a bit more up-beat...