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Originally uploaded by Jonathan D. Blundell.
its awfully cold today in North Texas. maybe not as cold as other places, but following a weekend of 80 degrees, 30 degrees feels super cold.
we’re lucky. even in my garage its not that cold. i had a nice hot shower and settled down with a cold beer before remembering i needed to take this photo. then i put on a nice warm beanie and my extra warm new coat and took this photo. i even have some nice warm gloves in my pocket that i could have put on.
yet tonight around north texas and elsewhere who knows how many men, women and children are trying to stay warm outside.
this weekend my friends Josh and Jeff spent 29 hours on the street in waco, living as though they were homeless. Josh said he realized fairly quickly that it was a lot harder than he imagined. just 29 hours. yet folks do it 24/7.
thanks to folks like invisiblepeople.tv who help remind us that these are real people with real stories. i hope to tell Josh and Jeff’s story soon on the podcast and hopefully Mark (from
invisiblepeople.tv) as well.
until then, chew on this and then check out the website ::
On the street I saw a small girl cold and shivering in a thin dress, with little hope of a decent meal. I became angry and said to God; “Why did you permit this? Why don’t you do something about it?” For a while God said nothing. That night he replied, quite suddenly:
“I certainly did something about it. I made you.”
also - read my first night homeless
links for 2009-01-05
Jeff Brady in Brad Hawkins out at WFAA Channel 8’s Daybreak
Jeff Brady
Jeff Brady is taking over for Brad Hawkins now on WFAA’s Daybreak.
Brad Hawkins
Brad Hawkins has left Daybreak for “corporate America” and former 5 p.m. anchor, Jeff Brady is taking his slot alongside Cynthia Izaguirre “for the time being.”
Hawkins posted a video blog on WFAA explaining the switch and seemed to really put an emphasis on “this is not permanent.” Sounded like perhaps he’s not too happy with the switch.
Been a crazy 12 months for the Daybreak team. First was the change of bringing in Izaguirre, next was the departure of Justin Farmer, who was replaced by Brad Hawkins, and now Hawkin’s departure. Will be interesting to see what happens next.
It’ll also be interesting to see what kind of reaction this gets - the original announcement about Justin Farmer remains the #1 blog post on my site. Crazy!
Some crazy things about me
Well, Sara posted a list of 100 things about her on Myspace a couple years back. I followed suite and did it as well.
She just posted an updated/shorter list on her blog. Guess that means I should post a Jan. 2, 2009 version as well?
1. I tend to find things to complain about related to work too easily, but I am super thankful I have a good job.
2. I’m envious that my Life, Laurie really loves her new job.
3. I started using Uni-ball vision pens over the last year or so - I love them!
4. I’ve been carrying the same purple and green one in my pocket for a couple months.
5. I hate when you find a great pen and it turns up missing.
6. I love a great cup of coffee.
7. I have a french press at my desk so I can make a great cup whenever I choose.
8. I used the last of my Columbian coffee here at work this morning.
9. I loathe buying things based on a brand name or because they’re the “cool thing” to have.
10. Despite #9, I’ve only owned Chevy trucks and don’t plan to buy anything else.
11. I will buy a “brand name” if I think the cost:value ratio is right (hense #10).
12. A pack of Starbursts in our vending machine at work now costs $1! (see #1).
13. I used to sell candy and Little Debbies at school, usually with at least a 100% markup.
14. I may need to start a new side-job at work :-).
15. I’ve been designing websites for nearly 15 years now — self taught.
16. I think I’ve actually been paid to build 4 or 5 of them.
17. Looking back on my old designs, they suck.
18. I’m not thrilled with the current design/layout on my blog.
19. Starting the something beautiful podcasts likely tops the list of my favorite things in 2008.
20. Writing a novel is within the top 5.
21. I’d do a daily podcast/radio show if someone would pay me or I could find a couple more hours in the day.
22. I wonder if I can find someone to sponsor me, just living life and doing the things I love.
23. I’d be willing to sellout and wear a “brand name shirt” from 8-5 everyday if someone wanted to sponsor me to the tune of $40-$50k a year.
24. I have almost as much fun putting together an hour of “indie” music for the podcast as I do chatting with very cool folks like @kevinhendricks, @truckerfrank, @frankviola, @knightopia, @tallskinnykiwi and the 20 or so others I got to chat with in 2008.
25. My favorite part of editing a weekly podcast is adding Laurie’s closing statement at the end of each podcast.
26. The older I get, the worse my allergies seem to get - especially at night.
27. I think we’ve found a combination of meds that seem to really work - but I hate using nasal sprays.
28. Laurie says she can tell a big difference at night between when I use the new meds and when I don’t.
29. I used to sleep with music on almost every night.
30. Now I fall asleep to the sound of a fan.
31. I wish I was a better wood-worker.
32. My greatest achievement in wood-working thus far is a shelf I built for the garage.
33. It took me a year to finish building/staining a keep sake box for Laurie.
34. It was a wedding gift. I think she got it around our one year anniversary. :-(.
35. I don’t remember being very popular while I was growing up, but somehow I have over 400 friends on Facebook. What’s that about?
36. I would love to have kids.
37. The idea of having kids still terrifies me when I start thinking about it too much.
38. Love playing with them and enjoying them when they’re behaving. Not a big fan when they start acting up.
39. I’d secretly be thrilled if we had a baby by next Christmas.
40. Some days I feel like a walking contradiction.
41. I’ve been riding the DART bus to work for more than a year now.
42. It’s probably one thing I do that I get asked the most questions about.
43. I’m amused that riding public transportation is still so foreign to Texans.
44. Many people think the bus and rail are full of lowlifes that should be avoided no matter how much money it might save you.
45. Even though we can park for free at our new office building - I’d still rather ride the bus most days.
46. I often give Laurie a hard time about her wanting to buy nice things for me and/or our house, like a dining room table, or painting the walls.
47. Secretly I’m glad she’s doing it all and I love all that she’s done so far.
48. Laurie always gives awesome gifts.
49. I hope to one day do the “Hotter Than Hell” bike race in Wichita Falls.
50. I’d like to go skydiving and bungee jumping at some point.
Repetition is key to learning
Repetition is key to learning
Repetition is key to learning
Repetition is key to learning
Repetition is key to learning
Repetition is key to learning
Repetition is key to learning
Repetition is key to learning
Orison’s parents read him Luke 2 each night during the month of December. By Dec 23rd he told the story himself, verses 1-21.
Repetition is the key to learning
Repetition is the key to learning
Repetition is the key to learning
Kingdom coming
“Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? It’s your life that must change, not your skin! And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire.
“I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him I’m a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.” Jesus then appeared, arriving at the Jordan River from Galilee. He wanted John to baptize him. John objected, “I’m the one who needs to be baptized, not you!” But Jesus insisted. “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” So John did it.
(matthew 3:7b-15)
A few resolutions for 2009
I’ve been thinking through things I want to get done this next year.
I’m hoping to keep things simple this year. I hope this year is less about me and more about others. I hope to simplify in areas where I can. I hope to love more and I hope to give more.
Here are a few other specifics I’m wanting to do this year.
- Restarting - and completing the Flickr 365 challenge. One photo of me per day for an entire year.
- Publishing my first book - St. Peter’s Brewery.
- Read through the entire Bible again this year. (I plan to use YouVersion on my Blackberry to help me get it done.
- Read at least 20 books this year.
- Spend more quality time with my Life.
- Ask her less annoying questions of my Life.
A few things I’d also like to shoot for but I haven’t moved into the “goal” category quite yet…
- Finish paying off our consumer debt
- Plant a garden
- Recycle more
- Consume less
- Give 10% of my income away
What are your goals for the new year?
Microsoft Zune freezes — joins others world wide
My Zune
So this afternoon, I got in my truck and turned on my 30 GB Zune, just like normal and the device froze on boot-up.
I figured it was a random fluke but later after letting it charge for a while, the same issue occurred. The device simply froze on boot-up.
A quick Google search showed me that apparently everyone around the world is having this same issue.
Microsoft has gathered that the issue is related to the way the internal clock handles leap-years (feels like Y2K all over again).
From Microsoft support ::
My Zune 30 is frozen on the boot screen, now what do I do?
You will need to reboot your device after noon GMT on Jan 1, 2009.
Please unplug your Zune (no AC or USB cables).
Because your Zune is frozen your device battery will begin draining, this is good.
The battery will eventually be fully depleted and the screen will go black.
After noon GMT on January 1 (that’s 7 a.m. Eastern or 4 a.m. Pacific time) connect your AC power or USB cable such that the battery can begin charging again.
Once the Zune has enough battery to boot it should do so normally and you can go back to enjoying your Zune!
So, I’ll go without my Zune till sometime tomorrow and hope that fixes it all.
Of course, the mention of the issue on Twitter brings all the tweets from my friends to go out and buy an iPod.
But I’m also pleased to say it brought about comments from a Microsoft Techie as well ::
microsoft_cares @jdblundell We tried our best to repair the issue, but due to the nature of the problem even if a patch was released, no one could use it
So, while I started to write a post that bashed Microsoft for the malfunction and lack of an available patch, I’ll hope that their solution is a fix tomorrow and I’ll applaud Microsoft for taking notice and reaching out to their customers. Thanks!
