Hmm... what's new? Well obviously it's (for many people) Christmas day, unless your Orthodox Christian, in which case that's (I might be wrong on this) January 6th. Anyways, per tradition, my family is having their celebration on Monday. I'll be spending today drifting from family to family, spending time with friends.

Going back a bit in time, traveling up to the present... I met a nice young lady online about a week ago (this is becoming a theme now, isn't it?) that is actually local. I mean... wow. But it doesn't end there. From initial conversations, she not only says she is Christian, but seems to be so. Furthermore, she's single, in college (going for a nursing degree), and seems rather intelligent, has the many of the same ideas as I do concerning non-dating/going out (and while this shouldn't really be mentioned like it's a priority, she's also pleasing to the eye).

So Robin (yes, that's her name, try to keep up will you?) invited me out to their 11pm service on Saturday (which is yesterday for those of you reading this without a calendar), and that went pretty well. It was a Lutheran candlelight service, which is rife with tradition, but contrary to popular belief, I'm not actually against tradition, and I was pleased with the service, as well as the meeting with Robin. We didn't get much time to talk, but after I got home, she caught me online before going to bed and invited me over for xmas dinner, which I gladly accepted.

So... all in all, a good week. I won't really get into the Toys For Tots thing our unit did last weekend, other than to say it was a decently good weekend, I was exhausted at the end of it, and that's about all I'm going into. Hmmm... this site is tourning more into a journal than a rant site, isn't it? I'll have to change that back. Also, I will be sticking with the Marines for another month or two on "non-obligated" status, which means I can quit/walk out at any time. I am definately not going with them on AT come June, so I will be quitting before that comes.

Ok, and with that, I am off to bed.

Oh, why am I one of the few that love winter, loves snow, performs best in cold weather? We've had our second snow storm of the season (yes, winter hasn't officially started yet, I know -- work with me here). I've had to shovel the parking lot three times so far. I'm not disliking that activity as much as previous years. In fact, it's a great excercise -- but I'm usually left standing outside in a t-shirt sweating profusely as the wind whips around me. People think I'm crazy, and they are right. Anyways, this year I traded my VW Fox for a Wizard snowblower. I had to put a new spark plug in it, and I didn't quite understand how the choke worked on it. On lawn mowers, the choke is part of the throttle, and regulates the engine speed. I have to fully open the choke on this to get it going (some of the time), and then I must gradually lower it and close it. Until I got the hang of this, it kept shutting off on me every couple minutes -- very annoying. Anyway, the thing will blow snow, but will not blow the packed ice at the bottom of the parking lot, which I must pick up and move with the shovel to one of my piles, which could be as far as 20' away. Even with this, I still am enjoying the winter season once again. It's so nice to walk outside and feel the crisp air moving across your face -- everything seems very fresh and very exciting. I do miss my Jeep though.

My last post reminded me of a Bible verse, so I went ahead and looked it up. Matt 23:24 "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel!".

Come home Sunday, walk to my room.. neither the microwave or the fridge are running. So, I check the power strips, unplug, plug back in, no love. Down to the basement, check all the breakers -- only one is turned off. I can't flip it on. Back upstairs, I notice another device plugged into the same circuit, I unplug everything on the circuit and try again. Still... no love. Hmmm... the breaker seems a bit loose in the box, so I turn off power to the building, fiddle with it, turn power back on, the breaker turns on, yet no love at the plugs. Again fiddle with the breaker, nearby breakers, still no love. A friend comes over and we both fiddle with the breaker box. By this point, I want to see if the breaker actually works or not, but I can't find my multimeter. The next day, I call someone to see if I can borrow their multimeter. They stop by later that evening look at the breaker, then they ask about this other breaker near the top that is turned off. This other break near the top that is turned off? I turn it on, check the plugs, they work. The breaker I was playing with... terminates into nothing later on.

Nothing like having someone else point out your inability to see the completely obvious. My only defense is that there was something more obvious drawing my attention, and in my opinion, that is even worse.

sigh

(17:19:33) anotherordinaryperson: ring
(17:19:40) anotherordinaryperson: ring
(17:19:50) anotherordinaryperson: hello
(17:19:53) anotherordinaryperson: hey
(17:19:54) anotherordinaryperson: good
(17:19:59) anotherordinaryperson: how are you
(17:20:01) anotherordinaryperson: that's good
(17:20:10) anotherordinaryperson: why are you typing what i'm saying?
(17:20:14) anotherordinaryperson: ali called you a dork
(17:21:05) April logged out.

More pictures are up now.. basically I just grouped all of November's (except the ball) into one album. Umm.. not too much going on, I feel like I've put my life on pause as I try to finish up some projects I've committed myself to. However, I am getting some good stuff accomplished that will help me out down the road, which is good.

I set my keys down...
I placed them on the ground.
The only thing I'd like to know-ow...
Is wherever did they go?
Oh I set my keys down!
Now they can't be fou-ound!
Oh where did my keys go?
I just set them on the ground.
And they don't make a sound-ound.
I set my keys down.
I'm still looking round.
I guess I'm nowhere bound.
On the counter, my keys are fou-ound!
I let out a joyful sound!
...
Let's go!

So yeah, it was a good holiday weekend. Met with family, met with friends (both local and long distance ones) and with the exception of some food poisoning (Which was healed within 4 hours, beat that!), I pretty much had a blast all weekend. I mean, healing is just amazing when it happens. Also, I managed to double the list of things that I know one of my long distance friends enjoys doing (bringing the total count to two).
Ok, cheers -- John

Turn to the left, turn to the right... potential problems fly by, I slip through in a frenzy of activity, and then I pause and breath. Take a moment, rock back on my heels, smile my happy smile and sigh. Friends appear, encouragement is shared and shared alike. I do good, I say, and I mean it as well. Time slips past me again, a raging torrent threatening to tear me from my precarious perch. I say a prayer, dive in and find my way. Feeling a sense of accomplishment and purpose again, I step out and collect my thoughts. Things are going right, and while I don't have nearly all of the pieces, the puzzle forms a picture. I feel like I've finally crawled out of a 2-year slump. Satisfied with where I am, the choices I've made, the friends that I've made, the ones that I've kept. No longer second guessing some of my decisions in the past, I know how I got where I am, and look foward to where things are going. God has really worked me over this year, and I can't begin to describe how good He has been to me. Ask me though, and I'll try. Phrases like "everyday miracles" now mean a lot more to me than they did six months ago. Cheers!

Never, ever, let me have a bright yellow plastic slicker again. dorks of the night

Sometimes when you think you have someone figured out, they can pleasantly surprise you. I guess it's all part of growing up. Let's see... the issue has become a non-issue, at least as far as I'm directly concerned, no one got injured, and with a flip of the switch, everything slides to the back burner, lowest setting.

So movie night was a decent success. The movies themselves were pretty bad choices. We had (in order): Extreme Days, Kung Fu Hustle, The Ring 2, and Anchorman. One movie that was there but didn't get watched was Constantine. Extreme Days was split perfectly down the middle between those that liked it and those that hated it. Kung Fu Hustle was liked by all but one, and the other two were viewed as lost time. We did have one dissenter in the group who is never allowed back into the movie night crowd, but the rest of the gang had a smashing good time and much talk was brandied about as far as having the next one. It broke up around 2am, but with the inner core sticking around till 4am.

Oh, another person recently attempted to defame my character. A group of us went to Denny's on Thursday. It was my twin, his girl, and two teeny boppers. This was my first actuall meeting of my twin bro's girl and I took an instant dislike to her -- it must have shown because the next day, she told a group of my friends that I made innapropriate advances towards one of the teeny boppers. This kind of backfired because not only did my friends (2/3s of which weren't there) defend my character vehemently, when the teeny bopper in question found out about it, she was just as surprised by the accusation as I was. I guess the guidelines of attempting to do the right thing, being honest about it when you didn't, and practicing what you preach really goes a long way. People can make up any story that they want to and it really doesn't matter, but I am glad to have friends that aren't swayed by those that seek to cause dissent.

Oh and for any and all people travelling to Illinois this week, safe travels!