If the mortgage bailout doesn't go through, maybe banks should consult this website before trying to turn their foreclosed properties.
It's Lovely! I'll Take It! is "A collection of poorly chosen photos from real estate listings. With love." A couple of them (1, 2) are right here in Lincoln, but this one is probably my favorite.
HT: Challies
My job has been keeping me pretty busy lately, and I've been going in early to try and keep up during one of the busiest parts of the year. One side-effect is that I also get up early (unintentionally) on the weekends. Saturday morning I woke up around 5:00 a.m. I worked on Amanda's new blog for awhile, and then decided to go on a bike ride before everyone else woke up.
I left the driveway around 5:50 and headed for the bike trail that winds from about 40th and Normal to the dam at Holmes Lake. When I rode past the apartments just north of 56th and Van Dorn I smelled smoke, and it kind of looked hazy back between the buildings. This would have been right around 6:00 or a little after. I slowed down a bit and looked to see if there were any flames or anything, but I decided that I didn't really want to interrupt my ride to go investigate and, besides, if there really was a fire I thought the local authorities would have everything under control.
When I looked at the paper Sunday morning, there was an article on the front page of the local section about a fire that had destroyed a 24-unit apartment building near 60th and Van Dorn. At first I thought it had probably burned down in the middle of the night, and that there was still smoke in the air when I rode by that morning. I read through the article and found out that "A resident called 911 and activated a fire alarm at 6:17 a.m. after hearing a smoke detector." 6:17 a.m. About 15 minutes after I had passed by.
The fire started outside, on a 3rd floor balcony. I would guess that the smoke detector didn't go off until the fire had reached the inside of the building. If I would have ridden over there to see what was going on, I might have been able to get somebody's attention before the fire got out of control. Fifteen minutes is a long time when you're talking about a building fire.
I can't stop thinking about this. Why didn't I just go check it out? What if somebody had died? Could I have helped to stop this fire that ended up causing almost $2.5 million in damages?
As promised, Elsie and I went on a date last night. She loved her pink earrings, and she had all the pizza, salad, breadsticks, and soda that she wanted at Olive Garden. On our way back out to the car she decided we should dance together in the grass for awhile. I kindly obliged.
This evening, a couple of our friends from church are getting married, so I'll get to dance with the *original* princess tonight. What a lucky guy!
I was listening to Dave Matthews Band's Similar Artists this morning when "My Way" by Frank Sinatra came on.
Can somebody please explain to me how Frank and Dave could possibly be considered similar artists?
By now you've probably heard about the tornadoes that killed four children at a Boy Scout camp in western Iowa. On the radio this morning they played an interview of one of the parents whose son survived the storm. During this interview, the father said something along the lines of "The whole time we were driving up there we were praying that our son wasn't one of the four who was dead." Apparently there were some significant delays between the time that the four nameless fatalities were announced and when parents were informed about the condition of their own respective children.
Now, I'm willing to cut this guy plenty of slack. I can't imagine sitting around for several hours wondering if my own son was dead. Good night. That being said, that quote has stuck with me today as I've wondered about the appropriateness of such a prayer. Knowing that there were indeed four fatalities, this man was basically praying that four other sets of parents would have to bear this grief, and that he would prefer this to himself having to suffer the loss of a child. I'm not saying that's an unreasonable preference, but is that something that he should have prayed? Would there have been something more appropriate for them to be praying? I'm not really sure.
If you've got an opinion on this, please leave a comment.
I've heard this list attributed to one source or another, but I found it here today. It's a list of questions that need to be answered before we do anything drastic about global warming.
(1) Is it occurring?
(2) If it is occurring, is it bad overall?
(3) If it is occurring and is bad overall, is it caused primarily by human factors?
(4) If (1) , (2), and (3) are true, can humans do anything significant about it that is not overbalanced by detrimental factors?
(On global warming, see the chapter on global warming in Tom Bethell's delightful book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science.)
After talking about this issue with Jared, I'm willing to concede that #3 isn't critical to the logical cohesiveness of the list1, but I would suggest that most folks that are truly concerned with this issue haven't answered (even in their own minds) #4. I would further suggest that many of them have barely answered #1 (can you say "scientific consensus" ten times fast?), and have used this as a launch pad for crusades involving funny-shaped light bulbs and unplugged cell phone chargers.
Anyway, back on track. Consider the following scenario: The earth is really getting warmer, and every one degree increase in the temperature will lead to the extinction of one endangered species. Our nasty addiction to internal combustion has been proven to be the cause, and the only way to turn the tide is to stop pumping oil out of the ground and instead to run cars on pure ethanol. While this course of action would guarantee the reversal of an increasing greenhouse effect, it would also lead to the collapse of any vestige of civilization in the Middle East, leading to civil wars and terrorist acts that would kill nearly a billion people throughout Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. One other byproduct would be for the U.S. to invest all surplus corn, wheat, soybeans, and any other food crop into clean fuel production, instead of exporting them, leading to the starvation of 750 million starving people in Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia.
Now, I'll admit that this scenario may be far-fetched. However, humor me for a second. If the "cost to cure" global warming would be the death of 1.75 billion people, would it be worth fighting in order to save polar bears? What if the number was *only* 1 billion? Would that be any different? What if coastal flooding, induced by the complete disappearance of the polar caps, would kill or displace 100 million people, while global warming counter measures would kill or displace 200 million? No matter what you believe, you would have to admit that efforts to combat global warming come with a price tag.
I saw one estimate the other day that said it would take $45 trillion to effectively fight global warming. The Global Warming Zealots will tell you that this "investment" would actually have a positive effect on the global economy, but that can't possibly be true. Every dollar that is invested into the science of "carbon capture and storage", for example, is a dollar that won't be invested into the production of something that would actually be useful. Look at it this way; I could pay you $45k a year to walk in circles in my back yard all day, and that would impact the economy because you now have a job, you pay taxes, and you spend that money on "stuff," which keeps the economy rolling. Or, I could pay you $45k to tend a garden in my back yard, producing $10 a week in vegetables that wouldn't exist if not for your hard work. In scenario 1, the "investment" of $45k yields less per year in productivity, because in scenario 2 I still have all of the benefits of scenario 1, plus $520 in fruits and vegetables.
Now, think about the effect of pulling $45 trillion out of the global economy to produce goods and services nobody really wants, nobody really needs, and that will likely decrease global production instead of increasing it. You think high gas prices are hitting the economy hard?
Here's the bottom line. Global warming may or may not be happening. Global warming may or may not be bad. Global warming may or may not be caused by man. That's not the point. Even if these three things are true, before we start taking action we first need to realize that such actions will have consequences. And, if these consequences outweigh the initial threat proposed by global warming, then the best course of action would be to just get out of the way and to try not make things worse by starving people and shipwrecking economies in the name of environmentalism.
As I mentioned a few posts back, a couple weekends ago I built a rain collection system to collect and store rain water. We have a small detached garage, and behind it we now have a garden. I installed a gutter along the edge of the roof, and then added a downspout that feeds into a two-barrel storage system placed at the end of the garage. I built a small stand that elevates the barrels to improve water pressure and usability.
When I first started looking into this, everything I read led me to believe that one would need to spend somewhere between $79 and $150 for a 55 gal. container. I guess these experts have never heard of Craig's List because within a week I found a guy in Bellevue that had 55 gal. plastic containers for sale at $10 a pop. These are food-grade containers that used to hold tomato sauce and can be sealed water-tight. The guy goes to school at UNL, so he agreed to deliver them for free.
You might be surprised at just how advanced a "simple" rain collection system can get. In order to use both tanks I had to build a connection between them so the water level would equalize in the separate tanks. For this I threaded a male 3/4" threaded PVC adapter through a 1" hole in the side of each barrel. Surprisingly, the hole was a tight enough fit that it threaded itself in perfectly. From the inside of the barrel I placed a rubber O ring over the threads coming in from the outside, and then threaded a female adapter covered in thread compound onto the male adapter, pulling the whole assembly tight. I connected the two using a short piece of 3/4" PVC pipe.
I did basically the same thing with a 3/4" hose bib on the front of the system. I had a couple of 1/2" hose bibs laying around from previous home improvement projects, but I didn't realize they were smaller until I had already drilled my hole. This was at about 8:30 on a Sunday night. I drove out to Menards, but they were closed. I doubled back to Home Depot; closed. There's a QP Hardware store on north 48th that's known for having strange hours, so I decided to stop by there on my way back home. Sure enough, at about 9:15 on a Sunday night, they were open. They sold me my hose bib, and I was on my way.
Not one to waste an opportunity for an "upgrade," I drilled a smaller hole toward the top of the inlet barrel and installed one of the 1/2" hose bibs to function as an overflow valve. I drilled a 3/4" hole and it threaded in perfectly.
In order to keep mosquitoes out I added a piece of standard-issue window screen over the top and bottom of the downspout. I also drilled small (1/8", maybe) holes around the inside rims of the lids to vent the system and also so rain water that collects on the lids can drain into the barrels.
Once I had everything built (around 10:00 on a Sunday night), I turned on the hose and started "testing" the system. The water splashed onto the roof, trickled into the gutter, and began flowing into the barrels. Perfect. As they started to fill I wondered if the stand I had used would hold up at full capacity. At about 2/3 capacity I noticed the whole thing was leaning a little. I went to the garage to find some deck screws to shore things up a bit. By the time I got back, things were leaning a lot. I pushed against the side of the barrel, bringing things back toward level, but since I had dropped the drill I couldn't reach it to add any reinforcement to the platform. Oh, and the water was still running. I slowly moved away from the barrels, and they quickly returned to their precarious state. As I ran to the spigot to turn the hose off, I heard a cracking sound followed by a loud SPLOOSH.
Now, I've been known to over-engineer a project or two in the past, but you should see me go when I'm rebuilding something that's already failed once. When I rebuilt the platform I used 4×4 posts on all four corners, and the top level is composed of a couple layers of 2×4s arranged in various orientations to maximize their strength. The whole thing is held together using 3" coated deck screws. You could probably park a small German tank on it.
The first night after I re-built it we got a nice, light rain overnight. I'm not sure how many inches we got (1/2, maybe?) but I ended up collecting about 46 gallons of water. The water pressure isn't too bad, either. At ground level there is enough pressure to push a steady stream through one of those fan sprayers. My plan is to make my own soaker hose by poking holes in an old hose that is already missing its male end. That way I can snake it through the garden and only water the spots where I have things planted. This should help me save some water, and it will also deliver the water right at the roots so not as much evaporates.
Last night I added what should be the second-to-last "upgrade" to the system. Using a threaded elbow, an adapter, and a piece of clear plastic tubing I added a gauge on the side that shows the water level inside the barrels. Until now I've had to undo the clamp that holds the lid closed to check the water level. Now, I shouldn't have to open the lids for anything.
The final upgrade in the plans is to add a plug at the bottom of each barrel so they can be drained before winter, but that can wait until this fall. And, knowing me, I'm sure I'll come up with other modifications between now and then.
You can see more pictures of the system here.
I'm not normally one for making New Year's Resolutions. I think they're cliche, and most of them are forgotten about by the time the Super Bowl rolls around. If you become convicted that you need to change something in your life, don't wait until New Year's Day to get it right. Imitate the disciples who immediately left their nets and followed Him.
Having said that, some resolutions are best timed in correspondence with the starting of a new year. The missus and I have talked, and we're both tired of *knowing* that we need to be reading God's Word on a daily basis while *living* as if that weren't true. We are, just like most Americans, "too busy" to find 15-30 minutes a day to spend in the Bible, but can watch 2 episodes of season 3 of The Office before we go to bed. We also both have our fair share of biblical/theological training in our pasts. It's just enough to make us both sound like we know what we're talking about on Sunday mornings, but we both realize the dangers of living off of meals from years ago.
I come from a background in college that hyper-emphasized spiritual disciplines. If you were having seven "quiet times" a week, coupled with regular progress through the Topical Memory System, you could be pretty sure you "meant it" when you got saved. OK, so it wasn't quite like that but a person could get the feeling that failing to keep pace on the spiritual disciplines treadmill was a sign that his "walk" wasn't what it ought to be. The up side of this attack was that I left college with a wealth of biblical knowledge. The down side was that when the pendulum swung the other way, I had enough biblical knowledge to keep me ahead of most other Christians around me, making it easy to find excuses to not crack open my Bible.
Hopefully I've come to a point that I can find a balance somewhere in the middle. I know that if I don't have a system in place, I won't do it. I also know that keeping up with the system isn't the goal, but rather a means to an end. Just like a financial budget (I'm not so great with those, either), having a daily reading plan in place will help me to allocate time to something that I have already decided should be a priority. I also expect that each day of building this routine will make the next day a little bit easier.
We decided that the best plan would be to get through the whole Bible in a year. We both realize that there are going to be days where we fall behind, so Sundays will be our catch up day. Also, it doesn't hurt that it's a leap year so we'll actually be reading through the Bible in 366 days instead of the customary 365. If ever there was a time to go for it, this is it!
Once my mind was made up, the only thing left to do was to find a plan that would get us through the Scriptures in a year. I don't really like the cover-to-cover variety. If a guy can make it through Leviticus, he shouldn't have to face Numbers and then Deuteronomy. Yes, these books are equally inspired. No, they are not as easy to read as Genesis or Acts. Through the magic of Google, I finally found a couple of plans I thought might work. I was originally leaning toward M'Cheyne's Daily Bread. I really liked that it had two passages for reading as a family at meal times, and two to be read privately. The only thing I didn't like about it was that reading one chapter each from four different books seemed like it would be tough to follow, like watching clips from four different movies each day and trying to keep them all straight.
So, I finally settled on a "blended" plan from Back to the Bible. I like that it has just two different readings each day, with about a chapter or so from the New Testament and two or three chapters from the Old Testament. It doesn't jump around as much as some of the "thematic" plans out there since each book is read with the first through last chapters in order. It does, however, jump around in terms of the order of the books (eg. Gen. - Isa. - Ex. - Job…) so you don't get bogged down in any one section or type of literature.
I took some time and put together a PDF with all of the months neatly laid out on three pages. If you're interested, you can download the PDF here. I think it would be kind of fun to have two or three others "out there" keeping the same pace. If you're in, leave a comment to let me know.
Jared is right. This is funny!
"And friends are friends fa-eva… and friends are friends fa-eva…"
Word.
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