Category: misc

Geocaching Wednesday

Well, Wednesday used to be date night for Laurie and I, but with the new semester starting, we’ve moved it to Friday night now.
And so Monday and Wednesday night’s I’m pretty much on my own from 6:30 to 9:30.
I went out and bought a kickstand and water cage for my bike after dinner and installed them both fairly easily.
Afterwards I found a new geocaching trick I’ll share in the next post.
I grabbed some new coordinates and headed out for an evening hunt and ride.
As far as workouts go – it was good.
As far as geocaching goes – I’d give it an C.
My first cache was located at the Oncor (TXU) facility down the road from us. I rode by the first time to scope it out and then pulled into the parking lot to check my coordinates. Luckily I had my bike and water container with me because shortly after stopping a security guard came around the corner to find out what was going on.
I just played everything off and said I was taking a break from my bike ride and checking my route distance on my GPS unit. So much for that cache.
The next cache was located at SAGU. I made a trip around the dorm it was located by and students kept coming in and out and in and out. I figured I’d better wait till next time when the campus is less busy – would have had a lot more luck three weeks ago before class started.
My third and final cache was at a nearby alternative school. Being almost 9 p.m. it was getting dark and as I rode around the campus I figured my chances of finding the cache in the dark were probably a lot less than being stopped by a local police officer or school security.
So I wrapped my hunt up and headed back home.
Now it’s time to get a shower and head to bed.

Wait! I almost forgot – our latest cache is now published, so search, hunt and find. Enjoy!

More ways to listen to OrangeNoiseRadio and Live365

If you don’t like being tied to your computer all the time to listen to OrangeNoiseRadio, there are a number of products out now that will enable you to listen to True Music :: OrangeNoiseRadio from anywhere in your home. You can look at each of the items below or at the Casa de Blundell.com store on the right hand side of the page.

Marketing or action


I’m a big fan of Mark Batterson’s blog. He tends to find unique ways of looking at faith that challenge me and keep me moving forward.
Today he shared a mailer that his church (National Community Church) plans to send to 10,000 Washinton D.C.’ers.
That’s a load of mail! Batterson says, “We have a simple marketing mantra: we don’t want anybody in the metro DC area to be able to deny our existence.”
I love the idea behind the mantra – but I wonder how effective a mailer is for getting people to come to church. Now keep in mind, I also agree with Batterson that “The greatest message needs the greatest marketing” – but what if we improved the delivery and marketing by increasing the personal touch of a church.
Batterson himself says that 86% of NCCers initially visit one of their church campuses because of a personal invitation. I would bet that stat holds pretty true for encounter as well.
When people are asked how they found out about encounter there are three things I remember hearing, “Someone told us about it” or “We saw the add in the theater” or “We saw a bumper sticker.” For a couple friends of mine, they said they kept seeing the encounter name/logo everywhere. They saw bumper stickers, the add in the theater and a flyer or business card in different businesses. So while word of mouth may be the most effective way to get people to come to your church – it’s sure not the only way.
But I’d love it if church was done so well and we “stopped being the church and started doing church” so that people could not deny our existence because of the impact we had in our community.
I’d love if people knew us, not because of a mailer or a huge billboard, or a huge fancy building along I-35, but because they actually saw our people quietly living the Christian life in a relevant way in our community.
I’d love if instead of spending X dollars on a mailer, we spent that money to deliver food to the needy in Ellis County or spent that money to give water to joggers on the Hike and Bike trail. If we as church members could truly live out our faith – then I would imagine it would be hard for anyone in Waxahachie to deny the existence of our church – or better yet, deny the existence of God.

Three words – no more, no less

Task: You have to use 3 words to answer each question. No more, no less. It’s harder than you think.

1. Where is your cell phone?
in my pocket

2. Your girlfriend/boyfriend/hubby?
Laurie Janine Blundell

3. Your hair?
brown, medium length

4. Where is your father?
probably at work

5. Your favorite thing to do?
create cool things

6. Your dream last night?
it was weird

7. Your favorite drink?
cold Dr. Pepper

8. Your dream car?
Chevy pickup truck

9. The room you’re in?
my work office

10. Your fears?
small tight places

11. Who did you hang out with last night?
Laurie and Presley

12. What aren’t you good at?
matching my clothes

13. Muffins?
I like them

14. One of your wish list items?
new media computer

15. The last thing you did?
talked with Heath

16. What are you wearing?
polo and jeans

17. Your pet?
crazy demon dog

18. Your computer?
two PC laptops

19. Your life?
looking for direction

20. Your mood?
i feel good

21. Missing?
my sister amy

22. What are you thinking about right now?
finishing this survey

23. Your car?
Chevy pickup truck

24. Your work?
Ellis County government

25. Your summer?
nothing to special

26. Your relationship status?
happy and married

27. Your favorite color(s)?
green and brown

28. When is the last time you laughed?
few minutes ago

29. Last time you cried?
late Sunday night

30. School?
finished in 2003

Levine does Dallas

Comedy writer, Ken Levine, visited Dallas recently and shared his thoughts on the trip on his blog.
Great review from a writer who’s credits include: M*A*S*H, Cheers, and Frasier.

On every corner there’s either a steakhouse or a church. One place called “Holy Cow” could be either or both…They’re building a new stadium for the Cowboys in Arlington, affectionately known as “Jerry’s World” (for Jerry Jones, the team’s owner). It’s costing in the neighborhood of one billion dollars, will have a retractable roof, and the two largest glass panels in the world. Which makes sense financially because the stadium will be in use eight times a year.

Read the full blog entry

Huckabee buzz

This just in from the DMN:

Suddenly there’s some buzz surrounding the GOP presidential candidacy of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.
And I may join the bandwagon based on a quote in this week’s U.S. News & World Report. Talking about the photo of shirtless Vladimir Putin, Mr. Huckabee said it “doesn’t do anything for me.”
He added, “Now, if it was a picture of Scarlett Johansson, that would be another story.”
It’s the most honest thing I’ve heard any candidate say so far. And shows such excellent judgment.
—Steve Blow

Also, you can read the transcript from Fox News on Sunday with Gov. Huckabee