Where was this camp when I was a kid?

From CNet:

There truly is something for everyone in summer camp these days. Just in time for July 4, The New York Times reports on a summer camp that’s a blast. The University of Missouri-Rolla engineering school offers a Summer Explosives Camp that teaches campers how to blow things up.
From watermelons to tree stumps to a 50-foot-high wall of quarry rock, the controlled mayhem serves a purpose, to boost the dwindling ranks of mining and explosives engineers.

Now granted we probably blew half that stuff up at Hidden Acres or in Matt’s backyard without paying for a camp – but camp would have been a lot more fun if we had been able to blow stuff up without getting in trouble.

Sleeping patterns

It’s funny how sometimes you have to adjust your sleeping patterns when you start a new job, get married or make other changes in your life.
Laurie and I are still working out the kinks of getting used to sleeping in the same bed together. Both of us have had our own bed our entire lives including several years where we both had our own rooms and our own beds that were at least full size if not king size. She’s probably a lot more controlled than I am because it seems that I have a tendency to still want to stretch out without thinking there might be someone else in the bed with me.
This morning my hip was bothering me and I started to stretch out my leg and jabbed her in the leg with my knee. Owww.
It’s not the first time I’ve started to stretch without thinking, hopefully the last, but probably not. DOH!
In addition, after working hard Saturday and Sunday, Laurie and I were pretty tired last night and ready to head to bed around 8:30 last night, as opposed to 9:30 or 10:30.
I think going to bed an hour or two earlier threw my internal sleep clock off as well. Normally I have a tendency to wake up around 3:30 a.m. for whatever reason. Still don’t know why but last night, going to bed an hour or so later my body decided to wake up at 1:30 and really threw me for a loop. I didn’t know what was going on.
I thought maybe my clock was broken or somehow I overslept but after gathering my thoughts and checking my cell phone I realized what had happened. Boy – very confusing.
Either way, while we’re still working out our sleep patterns there’s an article from WebMD that’s getting a lot of talk on countless blogs I read.
“Your Guide to Never Feeling Tired Again” has several pointers to increase your energy and get rid of those sluggish afternoons.

  • Eat breakfast
  • Eat every 3-4 hours
  • Fill up on more fiber
  • Fuel your brain with omega-3s (more fish)
  • Stay hydrated
  • Limit caffeine after noon

Good pointers. There’s more that can be found in the article. What have you found that helps increase your energy?

Nigerian militants to end cease-fire

The main militants group in Nigeria’s oil producing Niger Delta say it will not extend its month-long ceasefire which expires on Tuesday.
The militants say they want the citizens of Nigeria to benefit from the money brought into the country from oil production.
From the BBC:

The main militants group in Nigeria’s oil producing Niger Delta say it will not extend its month-long ceasefire which expires on Tuesday.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) says it has been kept on the sidelines of government-led talks about the region’s future.
Mend also condemned the killing of civilians during a recent military crackdown in the area.
Mend called the truce to give the new Nigerian leader time to set up talks.
The BBC’s Abdullahi Kaura in Nigeria’s oil capital Port Harcourt says the militants are likely to resume their attacks on oil installations and kidnapping of foreign workers.
But he says a second Mend faction based in Warri appears to want to maintain the ceasefire.
‘Justice’
Other criminal armed groups in the region have continued sporadic attacks and kidnappings in the region during Mend’s truce.
The unrest has led to a 25% cut in oil output from Nigeria – Africa’s largest producer.
“We cannot bear to pretend all is well,” Mend spokesman Jomo Gbomo said in an e-mail to the BBC, pointing out that talks with the new government of President Umaru Yar’Adua had achieved little so far.
Last month, Nigerian troops attacked an oil facility held by militants in Ogboinbiri village in Bayelsa State killing 12 militants and two civilians, military sources said.
Several oil workers held hostage were rescued in the operation.
“It is clear that the families of these victims won’t get justice,” Mend says.
The militants say Niger Delta residents see little benefit from the oil which is extracted from their region.

Olly (Mrs. Thomas) reflects on Rob Bell

Thomas’ wife Olly is back blogging again and she reflects on hearing Rob Bell over the weekend. (I don’t think she has permalinks turned on so the link doesn’t appear to be working but it’s one of her latest posts).

Rob spoke about how wonderful it would be if the world tried to find a third way of dealing with situations such as these. Jesus was the best at finding third ways. Diffusing situations where people where desperately trying to irritate Him…where people were trying to accuse Him of breaking some sort of law…. God’s law!….where people tried to bring Jesus down…..He found a third way…He found a way of diffusing it all without allowing people to humiliate Him or drag Him down or worst of all allow people to say that He wasn’t who He claimed to be…The Son of God…the Messiah! Yet He did it with such class! He didn’t just walk away from the situation and just give up, but yet neither did He retaliate in the same manner as what was done to Him…..He found a third way, and in doing so, didn’t lose face. He put his point across with such great authority and with such clarity that the disgruntled people were left at times speechless and with the ball well and truly being out of their court.
I really feel that for most people, finding a third way in which to react to a situation, especially one that comes unexpected and fast, is incredibly hard! We usually react quickly in one out of the two ways…and I desperately need to find a way of letting this third way of reacting come naturally to me. When I look back over my life and even at this very moment in my life I feel that I allow or have allowed people to put me down which is really in essence trying to humiliate me. It may be that they are unaware of what they are doing, yet it hurts. How do I deal with it. Well in my past I have usually “sucked it up” and as I don’t like confrontation and animosity particularly much, I usually just smile and pretend I don’t mind, and then go home upset about it…knowing full well that if I allowed myself to respond in the other way it would only be to my own shame the next day when I remember back to how I let it rip!

Good stuff – drop by and give Olly a visit and enjoy the rest of her thoughts on Bell.