Traci: Is this normal?

This was at one point a comment on Traci's blog, but it passed the length threshold for comments and it started getting deeper. So, I decided to post it here instead.

The other day the good Reverend Ramsey referred to me as a computer guy. I tried to explain to him that I do the computer thing for a living, but it's not my life. I tend to think of myself as an unemployed professional athlete.

Patrick commented that men, specifically young professionals, get caught up in our careers and our vocation becomes our identity, who we are. My struggle isn't in seeking my identity in what I currently do, I struggle with the security of my current place in the work force. I know I can do what I am doing, and I can do it relatively well. I am blessed to have a job at a place some people refer to as Disneyland. I get paid well, I have very little risk of being laid-off, and I have incredible benefits.

The problem is I don't think I was made to test software. However, I have a wife, a kid, and a pile of bills, including a mortgage. I ask myself often, "Is my faith big enough to leave the cozy life for uncertainty?"

If you take away my wife and my son, the answer is absolutely. However, I am a lot more willing to put myself at risk than I am willing to put Kim and Palmer in a situation where they are at risk.

Am I doing myself and, more importantly, my family a disservice by not relinquishing control to God? In my heart I feel that the the answer is yes, but in my mind I think differently. It is a struggle that eats at me. One that tests the core of who I am. And honestly sometimes I feel like I am failing that test.

Labels: blogosphere

I started a new book the other day. Someone referenced it on their blog, so I picked it up. The Organic God is by Margaret Fienberg, who I don't think is much older than me. She mixes personal stories with her insights on God. I wouldn't say I was captivated in the beginning, but the more I read, the more I like what she has to say.

Why call it The Organic God? She says:

While [organic] is a word usually associated with food grown without chemical based fertilizers or pesticides, organic is also used to describe a lifestyle: simple, healthful, and close to nature. Those are all things I desire in my relationship with God.

Labels: books

Last night I was up late, mainly working, but at one point I took a break and went to espn.com. When the page loaded, my heart skipped a beat. Right in the center of my screen was a second-by-second countdown to the start of the 2007 College Football season.

Some might view this as a problem, but I love football, and it's almost here.

On a side note, happy birthday to Matt Rowe, who spends a lot of time on the internet, but rarely reads my blog. Thanks best man.

Labels: sports

I grew up in a small town about half-way between Greensboro and Durham called Mebane. Since I left for college nine years ago, Mebane has changed a lot. There has been quite a bit of development around I-40, and they have tried to make the downton area a place where people want to come hang out.

Today, I went to Mebane to pick up some t-shirts for my softball team1. While I was waiting for my order, I talked to the lady who runs the sporting goods store. She mentioned that someone is filming a movie about zombies in Mebane. I didn't have a clue what she was talking about. So, I came home and Googled: Zombies Mebane. Mebane has hit the big time. The Southern Undead, formerly known as Redneck Zombies from Mebane is in the works.

In other Alamance County news...
The Burlington Indians are now The Burlington Royals

Jimmy Mayton has been inducted into the Mebane Sports Hall of Fame2 Seriously.

You can get dinner at A&M Grill for $2.95. The early bird special comes with BBQ, fries, cole slaw, and all the hush puppies you can eat for less than three bucks.3

In unrelated news...
My kid is probably the cutest two foot tall human on the planet.

1. back I can't find a place like this in Raleigh. Does anyone know of a place that prints t-shirts as a part of their business? I have found plenty of t-shirt vendors, but they don't really like to print six shirts. They usually want you to order like 25 or more.


2. back What?!? They have a Mebane Sports Hall of Fame?


3. back You can't get fast food for that price. Rachael Ray should do $40 a day in Mebane.

Labels: indiscriminate

We saw The Bourne Ultimatum yesterday afternoon. It was a good one.

Thanks to Dan for posting this video.

Labels: entertainment

I built a desk today. Our other desk was just too big. It took up a lot of space and provided a large area to collect junk. The hope is that the new desk will not collect as much junk. Here are some pictures...



For those that care, I made it out of one 4x8 sheet of Blondwood plywood, one 2x4, and 16 1.5" wood screws. I put to use the skill saw, the compound miter saw, the router, and the drill. I cost me about $35 and three hours of m life. I plan to stain it, but I am not sure what color, yet.

Labels: indiscriminate

Next Tuesday, August 21, the United Nations Association (UNA) Wake County Chapter and the chapter's Young Professionals Program are holding "a speaker event and get-together."

Topic: Taking an Active Role in the future of your Community: ONE.org and YPIC Perfect Together?
Date: Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Time:7:00pm-8:30pm
Place:Community United Church of Christ, 814 Dixie Trail, Raleigh NC, 27607

Speaker: Melanie Mark, LSW, Vice-President, New Jersey ONE organization
Background:
Melanie is currently the Vice President of NJ One.org. Her duties include promoting and educating the public about the purpose and goals of One.org, an organization that was founded by Bono to eradicate poverty and AIDS from Africa. In addition, Melanie has participated in several events sponsored by One.org to learn about the current issues that affect the poverty stricken areas throughout this country.

She holds a Master's Degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland School of Social Work and a Master's Degree in Jewish Studies from the Baltimore Hebrew University. Her Bachelor's Degree in Middle Eastern Studies which included the One Year program at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel was completed at Wheaton College, in Massachusetts.

Price: FREE.
Refreshments will be served.

RSVP:
Email: WayneB@nc.rr.com
H. Wayne Bare
1307 Sycamore Dr.
Garner, NC 27529


I plan to attend. Anyone interested in going with me?

Labels: activism

As I've mentioned before, I am nine years removed from high school, which means next year will be ten years, and at ten years comes the famous/infamous ten year reunion. We recently traveled down to Florida for Kim's reunion, and my brother-in-law is in the middle of planning his reunion. So, I have seen and heard lots of ideas.

I have put together what my optimal reunion experience might look like. Feel free to comment on what you like and dislike, or to give more ideas. It got kind of long. So, I understand if you don't make it to the end.

The Basics:
My reunion would be a full weekend of events. This gives people an opportunity to choose which events they would like to attend and which they would rather skip. Also, this gives those people that have to travel from out of town a chance to get their money's worth.

I would have it about this time next year. Early August is before kids go back to school, and before football season starts. Those people with school aged kids would be less inclined to drag them off for the weekend once school is in swing, and people like me find it hard to get away for the weekend when their beloved Wolfpack, I mean, football team has a home game.

The Rundown:
Friday night
On Friday, there would be a mixer. It would be a non-formal, hey-come-out-to-the-bar-if-you-are-in-town type of thing. In my case, there's a guy that I graduated with that is in a band that plays gigs around where I went to high school. I would have him set up a gig at someplace where he usually plays, and then tell everyone to go there and hang out. People could come and go as the pleased and there would be no commitment required from anyone except for the dude and his band, of course.

The organizer of Kim's reunion did something like this and invited everyone out to a dance club, which was a lot of fun. However, the club scene in Alamance county is not quite like the club scene in Orlando. So, we would stick with a bar.

The one improvement I would make to Jami's plan is that I would invite not only the people from the class of '98, but I would invite any one who graduated from Eastern High School. In high school you didn't just hang out with those people in your class. You hung out with people older and younger than you. The organizer would not have to do anything to entertain the people who come out. So, I say the more the merrier.

Music + beer + catching up with people you haven't seen in years = good time in my book.

Saturday
Saturday morning, I would go play golf with some people. I would open it up to anyone from our class that wanted to play, if enough people signed up it would turn into some sort of tournament. I organized a small tournament for a bachelor party, and it didn't take much effort. We had five groups and played a Captains choice style tournament. I even had prizes and the whole thing cost less than $50. The players would pay for their own round of course. If only a few people wanted to play, it would just be me playing golf with a few people.

Saturday night, I would have a wedding reception without the wedding. There would be food, a DJ, and a dance floor. This would be the thing that people think of when they think of reunions. People would dress up and come out for a night of dinner and dancing. This would take place in a local hotel ball room.

There would be a cocktail hour where the bar would be open and some hors d'oeuvres like cheese, crackers, fruit, and maybe even chocolate fondue would be served. The bar would probably be a cash bar serving beer, wine, and your basic liquors. The dinner would be a buffet offering a variety of foods. The DJ would play a mix of hits from today and hits from the nineties, and the occasional slow song for those non-dancers in the crowd.

The room would be littered with pictures from high school that had been collected and copies made. Each attendee would given a memory book that chronicled the lives of their classmates. This book would be created by soliciting responses to questions like "What the heck are you doing now?" from all the classmates months prior to the event. It would also contain contact information for those people that wanted to share it. There might also be door prizes to give away. These would be procured as donations from local vendors.

Sunday
Sunday afternoon I would arrange for people to come to a local park for a picnic. The families would bring their own lunches. This would be a time for people to show off their kids and one last time for everyone to get together. There may be volleyball, kickball, or some other sort of activity, but for the most part, it would just be people hanging out, talking, and eating.


So, there you have it, my reunion. Would you like to come?

Labels: indiscriminate

I'm not talking about a beer bottle, a liquor bottle, or even a baby bottle. I'm talking about the water bottle. I saw this article and thought you all should read it. It's pretty long, i.e. I didn't read the entire thing, but what I did read was disturbing.

So, put down the water bottles, and go find your Nalgene and fill it up with some tap water.

Labels: activism

Tonight, I saw something that brought a sense of joy to my heart.

It was an eight yard run up the middle by a Seattle running-back against the San Deigo defense. There was nothing special about the play. It was an insignifigant play in an insignifigant preseason NFL game, but it was the first play I had seen of the 2007 football season.

It has begun.

Labels: entertainment, sports

Starting on Thursday night, when I stayed up until 4am, and ending on Saturday night, it was like I was on a mission. I read the second half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It took me a few weeks, but I finally got wrapped up in it. When I got going, I couldn't stop.

However, during this sprint to the finish, I had mixed emotions. I was excited, I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Then, I was also sad, knowing that when I finished the book, that the story would be over. I've invested many hours of my life into the lives of Harry Potter and his friends, any now I would no longer get to know what they were up to. It is sort of like having a friend move away after middle school, and being left to wonder what ever happen to Bryant Howren.

Unfortunately, as they say, you can't have your cake and eat it too. I finished the book and the story ended. I am pleased with the way the author chose to close out the series. I look forward to re-reading the books later in life, maybe with Palmer. I also look forward to discussing the final book with some of you, but for the sake of those that have not read the novel, please do not discuss the story here on my blog.

Labels: books

Well, I did it. I signed up. I am now one of those people.

You can check me out at myspace.com/rshannonsmith.

Labels: indiscriminate

For a long time, I have been a hater of MySpace, but now I'm about to become a sell out.

I graduated from Eastern Alamance High School in 1998. So, next year, 2008, I will be ten years removed from the Glory Daze. Having just gone to Kim's ten year reunion has gotten me to thinking about my own.

I've talked with a few friends from my graduating class and we began wondering if anyone was working on, or even thinking of working on, putting one together. So, I decided to look into it and if nothing had been done, I had planned to get the ball rolling. I got the number for our class president from a friend's mom. I called him, and left a message, but I haven't heard back.

Last night, Kim was on her myspace page updating her profile and whatnot, and I asked her to do a search for people from my high school and my graduating class. The search not only turned up like fifty people, but it also turned up a page dedicated to our ten year reunion.

So, now I want to know who is behind this page. I want to know who is doing what to organize this reunion. I want to be involved. The problem is, the only way I know of contacting the person responsible for the page is by leaving them a message on the page. Okay, so I'll just get Kim to leave a message on the page. Nope. You have to be a friend to leave a message, but Kim is not from the EHS c/o '98. It would be weird for her to ask to be a friend.

So... It seems like my hatin' days are over, and I am going to have to become a sell out and get a frickin' myspace account. I'll update you with my URL when I get one so you can request to be my friend.

Labels: indiscriminate

I apologize in advance for the length of this post.

As mentioned in previous posts, Kim, Palmer and I went out of town this past weekend. We returned after our mini-vacation to find an unwanted guest in our house. Actually, we found hundreds, if not thousands of unwanted guests. We have ourselves a little ant problem.

We came in on Monday night to find a trail of ants running across our kitchen counter. I followed the trail and it led me all the way to the door leading to the patio1. I found a small hole at the bottom of the door that the ants were using to gain access to our house. It was late and I was tired, so nothing was done about the problem that night.

Tuesday while at work, I researched organic/natural/enviromentally friendly ant control. I found that there is something poisionous to ants found in orange peels. There are several brands of natural "ant-icide" that take advantage of that fact. Tuesday night, I went to Lowe's and Target, but unfortunately neither store carried any natural pesticide.

This morning, I caulked up the hole the ants were using and put out these ant house things that contain boric acid. The ants are supposed to come to the house, get the boric acid, take it back to their friends, and then they all croak2. I came home this afternoon and found no less ants.

Tonight, I applied caulk to more holes and went outside to find a huge ant hill in the patio under a mat3. I still have not gotten any ant-icide. So, I sprayed them with the hose. I'm not sure that theyare dead4.

After hosing their home away, I went back inside and felt like I had to deal with those ants that were already inside the house. I decided that the simplest way to get them up would be to vaccuum them. It was a lot easier than squashing them individually. I always feel bad when I squash them. This was my form of humane extermination.

So, finally, here's my point. Should I feel bad for killing the ants that come into my house? I feel like they, or at least their ancestors, were here way before I was. They may have lived in this yard since before it was a yard5. Sure I am bigger and badder than they are, and I have a hose that will wash them away, but should I? I mean, they are just doing what ants do, and here I come with my water hose, caulk, and vaccuum cleaner wiping them out. Holding them down like the man.

1. back On the back of our house we have a patio. It is about ten feet wide by fifteen feet long. It has the look of something that a previous homeowner built. Though the patio is not awful, it is not what I would consider nice. After having watched quite a bit of the DIY Network, I have deducted that the patio was most likely built using a base of playground sand and not concrete sand. Playground sand is more suseptible to plant growth and ant infestation. Also, the pavers used for the patio have gaps of up to three-quarters of an inch between them. This creates a good place for plants and ants to take up residence. I have wanted to redo the patio since we moved in, but it has not been very high on the priority list. This latest development may cause it to jump up a little higher on that list.


2. back I think this is similar to the strategy employeed by most pyramid schemes.


3. back There may have been millions of ants there.


4. back I imagine they are like tiny Katrina victims and it is only a matter of time before they rebuild. They may even get ants to come in from other yards to help them rebuild their hill. They may evn lay some ceramic tile while they are at it.


5. back It is sort of like the Native Americans and the Pilgrims. Maybe I should have a picnic on the patio and let them come eat before I take their land and spread disease among them.

Labels: indiscriminate

Kim and I make several trips to Florida each year. We have started splitting the drive south into two parts. We usually leave after work and drive for about four or five hours and then stop for the night somewhere near the South Carolina/Georgia border.

Last Thursday we left home and headed south toward Kim's parent's house in Poinciana, Florida. The difference this time was that I had taken the day off. So, we able to leave earlier, which allowed us to do a little more than sleep when we made our stop.

We choose to stop in Charleston, South Carolina. I had been to Charleston once before when I was like ten, and Kim had never been before. We didn't have a plan. We just got off of I-95 where the sign said Charleston and figured we would work it out from there.

We ended up at a visitor's center. There we watched a thirty-five minute film on the history of Charleston, Forever Charleston. It was a great introduction to the city. There were several things that we would have overlooked had we not watched the movie.

After watching the movie, we spoke with a visitor's center employee and she suggested we walk down to the City Market. Kim and I took the eight-block walk and then briefly walked around the market. We didn't do much shopping as most of the vendors were packing up for the day, and we were on a different mission. We were in search of a good place to have dinner.


We ended up at a small place called Jestine's Kitchen. It was a home cookin' joint, famous for fried chicken and gumbo. We had to wait in line outside until tables opened up. The line was around the corner. So, we knew this place must be good. Dinner was great and the chocolate coke-a-cola cake was incredible.

After dinner, we got back on the road and made our way to our hotel, which was a few hours down the road in Brunswick, Georgia. Charleston seemed like a cool city with much more to explore. We will be back.

Labels: travel

I started reading1 The Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman on the ride home from our trip to Florida. It is full of interesting information about how Wal-Mart effects the world we live in. Thus far, it has been relatively unbiased, as it details all of the positive and negative ways our world is impacted by the force that is Wal-Mart.

More than half of all Americans live within five miles of a Wal-Mart store; less than a ten minute drive away. Ninety percent of Americans live within fifteen minutes of Wal-Mart. [As of the writing of the book] Wal-Mart has 3,811 stores in the United States, including 10 in Alaska and 9 in Hawaii. That equates to more than one Wal-Mart for every county in the U.S..

Everyone has their opinions about Wal-Mart, both good and bad, but most are based on personal experiences, hearsay, and the stigma attached Wal-Mart. This book gives you a lot of facts to base your opinions on: facts about how the company was started, facts about how it grew to where it is now, and facts about how they do business with their suppliers.

Has anyone read this book? I would love to discuss it with others.

1. back I actually have been listening to it. I got it from Audible.com.

Labels: books

Cats are rumored to have nine lives. Well, if our cat, Bandit, gets in Palmer's crib one more time, he may lose all of his at once.

We got Bandit, along with his brother Smokey1, from my mom in May 2005. They were kittens from the same litter and about seven or eight weeks old. The similarity in the two stops there.

Bandit is leaner with tabby short hair2. Smokey has always looked "healthy" and has long gray hair. Bandit is very affectionate and loves to be near people. Smokey is more of a loner and would rather lay by the window than come to you so you can pet him. Bandit, rightfully named, is into and on everything. He always wants to explore open cabinets, or climb onto the counter to see what's new. Smokey is content laying on the ottoman eighteen hours a day an couldn't care less what is on the counter or in the cabinet. When to door opens, Bandit is right there ready to escape, while Smokey may get up, or may only lift his head, to see who is coming in.

With the new baby in the house, the areas above the ground for Bandit to explore have increased and unfortunately for him patience has decreased. Upon our return from Florida3, Bandit will be made an outdoor cat4, or he will be given away.

It makes me sad to think about giving him away, but it might come to it.

Does anyone know if there are rules/laws about cats living outside in Raleigh?

1. back Clever. I know.


2. back Well, at least he was. Now, I think he is bigger/fatter than Smokey.


3. back We are headed to Kissimmee this weekend for Kim's ten year high school reunion.


4. back It seems like that is what he wants anyhow.

Labels: indiscriminate