Tired

I worked late last night, and was back at work early this morning. Not a great combination. My posts aren't very long because there isn't much to report. I'm sick of work, and tired of myself not doing enough to change the situation. Tomorrow is my last day of work this week as I have Friday and Saturday off! I'm trying to develop plans to use the time quite productively.

~Matt

Today was a long day

I was on my own from five until I left at ten thirty. Thankfully we've been somewhat slow recently, and Tuesday (especially a end of the month Tuesday) is a normally slow day as well. Of course this didn't mean that I was called in to clean up spills several times when I was trying to get carts caught up. Thankfully though I only cleared each side of the lot twice--and I don't think Dan had been out at all before I came in at 14:30.

~Matt

The New World

Well, this was the second film I've rented from Redbox. It isn't the best. The film wasn't bad, but it was not at all what I expected. I expected a plot--but there was none to be found.

Dialogue is scarce--most consists of voiceovers from John Smith, Pocahontas, and John Rolfe. There is no conflict or resolution, or any other traditional literary features that I could detect. Basically the movie consists of the life of Pocahontas (at least partially fictionalized) from the time English settlers land at Jamestown. *shrugs* Perhaps if I'd known what it was at first I would have enjoyed it more--but for now all I can say is that it was not my cup of tea.

Visually the film was beautiful. Apparently it was all shot with natural light, and some magnificant shots were captured. However, the fact that the majority of the film has no dialogue somewhat detracts from this visual delight. I prefer movies to have a plot that engages me--and this is entirely possible within a historical framework. This time, I don't know what happened...

~Matt

Tim Burton's

My previous post was so short because I needed to pop a DVD into my computer. Today as I left work I rented Corpse Bride from the Redbox machine that was just installed. At the time I wasn't even thinking about Cars. Then after I came home I was browsing on-line when I realized that I hadn't seen Cars yet. My must-see list this summer has a minimum of three titles for theater viewing: Cars, Pirates, and Lady in the Water. The latter two do not come out until July (07 and 21). Cars had so many great touches--from Mater, to the "bugs" that were actually tiny VWs, to the celebrity personalities that appeared as cars. I don't like sports, and NASCAR less than football, baseball, tennis and the like. However, I was nevertheless enthralled with Cars and finding myself having a good time throughout. I especially had fun noticing how many things were different and/or the same because of a lack of human people.

I did see Batman Begins in theaters, but I think I'm less likely to see Superman Returns. I've already decided to pass on X-Men III until it hits DVDs, partly because of cost. I will probably force myself to relegate SR into that category as well, though I did just request a copy of Superman: The Movie on DVD from the library, ;-).

I am trying to keep my theater ticket purchases down though because I get less tangible returns. A book I can reread--and if it isn't that great I could always resell it--I'm not out that much (and I rarely buy books that don't at least look like they'll be something I will like). With a movie I'm sunk if I don't like it (another reason not to buy overpriced popcorn and drinks) and have just wasted money. In that case I'd rather wait for the DVD so I can stop it if it is absolutely terrible--or at least I can watch it on my own and heckle.

I did have part of the ending figured out a while ahead of time, but it was still quite entertaining to watch the story unfold. I've always enjoyed Pixar thus far, and so far I'm 2 for 2 with Tim Burton's stop animation. I especially need to sleep tonight, so I need to sign off now (I won't have time for special features because I want to return the DVD tomorrow so I don't have to pay anymore than the $1.00 it has cost me).

~Matt

Route 66

That was apparently supposed to be the initial title for Cars. It doesn't have the same zing methinks, but 'tis good nonetheless. The film was about Route 66. For a well written review click here for one Mark wrote.

It was a great movie. You must stick around for the credits though, you must! I simply love the way Pixar plays around with such things.

~Matt

The Morning

Well I'm not going to church today. No, I don't do this often--but I've been scheduled to work first shift today. When I started this job I told them that I wasn't available Sunday mornings, but I've said that if they need me I'll work (but no more than at once a month at the very most). I don't mind it occasionally, but as much as I don't like not working on Sundays I'd rather not work than work through church (normally). Hmm...did that make sense or do I ramble too much? ;-)

~Matt

Final Fantasy

I just watched a movie based off a Final Fantasy game--it was Advent Children, from FF VII. The graphics weren't that bad, and it was somewhat interesting, but... I've not yet played the game (I might though...) and so I wasn't very familiar with the setting. Furthermore it flowed much like a video game. It wasn't like Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within--in the real world with RL physics. These were FF physics, and it seemed to be a series of cut scenes stitched together. But these cut scenes weren't the normal ones (such as those I'm familiar with from FFX), rather they were the combat and such. *shrugs* If I play the game someday I might come back to rewatch this--but right now it was largely a waste of time.

~Matt

The Princess Bride

In the midst of several errands today I stopped by our local Wal-Mart. While browsing through the electronics section I came across a "Dread Pirate" edition of The Princess Bride. I was somewhat curious--so I took it over to a price checking device. There I discovered that it cost nearly twenty dollars (actually around $19.97 I believe). I did want the movie, but I wasn't quite ready to pay that much. I thought about it for a bit, though, until I saw another edition. I price-checked this one and was quite excited to discover that it was only $7.50. I decided that I could definately not pass up this opportunity. Therefore I purchased the movie, and tonight I watched it with three of my nephews.

I didn't watch the movie until I was in college (my parents didn't watch many movies while I was growing up), but I don't see why others should suffer as I did! ;-) Once my friends found out that I hadn't seen the movie many of them quoted the best lines until I felt that half the movie had been quoted to me before I ever saw it. Of course, once I saw the movie for the first time I understood what all of the fuss was about. The story is both a timeless fairy tale, and a humorous take off on fairy tales. The casting is truly superb, and I couldn't imagine the characters any differently. Now the only thing I need to do is to find the book and read it. I don't think that I will be disappointed because the author wrote the screenplay and from all reports quite enjoyed the movie.

~Matt

Back to work

Well today I go back to work--we'll see how it goes. For my part I'm still resolved to leave as soon as possible, ;-). I'll still work as hard as ever, and do my best to ensure no futher misunderstandings occur. I also need to return my benefits package information saying that I don't want benefits. I don't know how long I'll keep the job, but probably not long enough to have benefits. See, by law you are supposed to take several breaks throughout your day--e.g. in an eight hour day you take two fifteen minute paid breaks and a half-hour lunch (unless your employer said to take more...) Well they neglected to tell me at bigg's that if I take that lunch I will not meet the 40 hour per week average required to acquire benefits in three months. You can only do that if you skip your full lunch--as apparently many people do. I prefer that break, that half-hour of sanity in the middle of my day, so I always take it. Grr...just another bad thing about the whole place.

I've turned in an application at McDonalds to apply to be a manager--my nephew who works there thinks I can get the job. I'm hoping! Even if it doesn't pay more it should be a better job and look much better on my resume. I have several other applications pending on-line, and I should be calling my brother tomorrow night to talk career and job-hunting advice. I was supposed to call him the last two nights, but Tuesday I was at McDonald's applying and last night my event ran longer than expected. *sigh* Hopefully nothing will happen tomorrow night--I'm off and have no events scheduled, so I should be fine (unless Murphy strikes again!).

~Matt

Warming Tray

I worked an event at the museum tonight that was supposed to be over in an hour--instead I found that it would last about four and a half! My sister kept a plate of food in her oven's warming tray (placed in there during dinner around 17:30) and it was still great when I got home around 23:00 and devoured it!

Despite the confusion over the event tonight (originally it was a buy out of the entire building from 18:00-22:00), then just History from 18:00-19:00, then History from 18:00-22:30 I was reminded tonight how much I enjoy the museum. Besides the incident yesterday at bigg's, it isn't that great of a job. I need to get out of there as soon as I can. The museum is great--someplace where I enjoy working with people, I have responsibilities, and I feel like I matter--I'm not just a warm body taking up space.

~Matt

Early

First of all let me explain that what happened today has NEVER happened to me before. I may have hated certain jobs or had bad days--but I always put effort into my work and don't shirk my responsibilities. I take work very seriously!!

My "supervisor" (I don't really have a supervisor since the assistant manager responsible for our department left the store and wasn't replaced--but Loss Prevention, i.e. security, is now "responsible for us") asked me to leave work early today. I was utterly shocked to receive a call from him (the LP guy) asking me to clock out--I couldn't understand why he would make this utterly unusual request. He refused to explain until I clocked out--then he said that he was upset with me for not doing what he had asked me to do hours before and that I had to go home. I have no idea what my situation is and am grateful that I have tomorrow off so that I have some time to figure out what is going on.

Today was a very busy day and partway through the morning he called me asking me to move some carts from the back of the store since they were in the way and some people (I assumed inspectors or the like) would be coming through the next day. I assumed that it needed to be done before the end of the day and so I kept going with my normal duties. I wasn't making up work, I was busy the entire day and I didn't take a single break until four and a half hours into my eight hour shift after another guy showed up at 14:00 to work with carts. I recieved a second call during my lunch asking me why the job hadn't been done yet--I replied that I had been quite busy all morning. I was told that it should become a priority. Never once was I told "Do it now regardless of anything else." I was only told to make it a priority.

Coming off break I found that my carts coworker was off to take care of a spill--the LP guy had told him to take care of it. I simply assumed this was because I'd been on break, so I started my scans (we scan a series of barcodes around the store each hour to log that we've walked the floor and removed any spills and such) and made my way to the spill. Once there a vendor told us of another spill a couple aisles over where he had spilled beer. I obtained the necessary equipment and we cleaned up both spills. At this time I told my coworker about the request to move the carts--and he said he'd collect the similar carts from around the lot (the few remaining with quarter locks on them) so they could be put into one area until the locks could be removed. At this point I assumed that either he would remove the carts or that I would help him a bit later--I hadn't had a chance to go collect carts at all in the four hours between ten (when I arrived) and two, when he came in--this was about 15:15, so the lot was still a bit busy and he was busy working in it. After I finished the scans I checked the restrooms up front and recieved the call wherein I was instructed to clock out.

I tried to explain, but I could barely get in a word edgewise. For some reason the LP guy asked my coworker to stick around for the "discussion"--but he didn't say anything, and I barely had the chance to say anything. I suppose it was just so I couldn't lie about anything that he told me--if there was a witness.

I believe this to be a huge case of miscommunication--where the LP guy thinks that he told me point blank to do something now, and I refused to obey--but I see it completely differently. I cannot understand why I was ordered home early and I was never rude, disobedient, or confrontational--merely busy and confused. This, however, only reinforces my already strong desire to get away from this job as soon as possible!!! I'm sick of this place. Not only do I not like the work (and it doesn't further any chance I have of a meaningful career) but the place isn't run very well...

~Matt

Dreams

Yesterday I worked the latest shift (15:00-23:00) and today I work a morning shift (though thankfully not the earliest one) from ten to six. This morning I had my alarm set early, for seven--but I didn't get up then, I just hit the snooze a few times. After I started hitting the snooze I started remembering my dream.

Somehow I was back at Master's--but the campus was different. There were more paths and students than I remember, plus I think there was a lake somewhere. Even stranger there were shopping carts scattered around the campus, including some very strange ones. I was still collecting carts, but I was also back to be a student (though I don't remember for what exact purpose). I was talking to someone and I mentioned that I knew I could get a job in the cafeteria because I had worked there before--but I didn't know what else I would do for work.

About this time I started to finally wake up and knowing that I didn't have too much time I couldn't go back to sleep to dream more.

~Matt

Mis Padres

Yes, I've not been worrying about updating this for a few days. Friday and Saturday I didn't work at bigg's, so I spent those nights at my parent's fifth wheel "camping out" with them. I've been spending time with them and not bothering myself with the internet as much as I normally would.

They leave tomorrow morning. After they stop in and say goodbye (I'm supposed to pick them up in the Kroger parking lot) I might be back here with more information about the past few days. All this though is merely to illustrate that I knew I wasn't updating, but I simply wasn't worrying about it because of extraordinary circumstances.

~Matt

Lime Yogurt

There is nothing quite like lime yogurt. Key Lime isn't anywhere close, and is the only thing that I can find out here. Bah! I could always find lime yogurt back in California--and it is so very delicious!! My parents brought me out some containers when they first got here--but those are gone by now. Just yesterday they purchased some north of Columbus as they returned from visiting some friends in Ohio. 'Tis wonderful to see it in the fridge again! :-) I need to remember to go into the local Kroger and ask them if they can/will stock it.

~Matt

Good morning

Back to work today, though a slightly later shift starting at 10:00 instead of 09:00. *shrugs* I should still be home in time for dinner, and parents are gettting back from their short visit to friends up north in Ohio. It should be a good day. I am feeling even better than yesterday, though perhaps not yet one hundered percent.

Ah, fiddlesticks. My nephew Ryan just came up to remind me that the city is street sweeping today. They've had signs up, but no times!! If I'd left for work at my normal time I'd have been fine. *sigh* Chris and my sister were already moving vehicles so they moved mine while I rushed down to take my shower so I can leave for work.

~Matt

Food, or lack there of

I wasn't hungry today. I actually only ate about half of my lunch, which is quite unusual for me. Oftentimes I wonder for a bit why I didn't pack more that morning, ;-). Even that half honestly seemed like a bit much--or perhaps it was just too varied. I ate one piece of French toast this morning and that was mostly good (but not as good as it normally tastes.

I might go down and try to find something bland like crackers to snack on in a bit (I didn't eat dinner either), but I'm not sure. I know that not eating much for a couple days won't kill me--I've practically done it before at school when it wasn't convenient to get to the cafeteria (naps and good books can do that).

On the other hand I know I should probably be eating to keep my strength up. *shrugs* I'm not sure which way I'm leaning right now. Probably towards being lazy and not getting up for food. Oh well...

~Matt

Better

I'm definately feeling better. I just pulled my sheets, pillow cases, and spread out of the washer and dryer. The only thing I'm worried about right now is how much sleep I'll get tonight. Yes I didn't sleep much last night, but I caught up on that today, and perhaps more. I cannot afford to miss another day of work, so I'll have to hope that I'm feeling even better in the morning.

Right now the only problem seems to be that I'm somewhat lethargic and weak. Of course I haven't eaten anything today, so that could be part of the problem. Nothing has sounded good though. There are no saltine (soda) crackers in the house, and nothing else is at all tempting. "Real food" does not smell at all good, rather it turns my stomach.

I have no idea what happened at work today, so I'm just hoping that my days off later this week won't be changed. It will hurt to miss this day of pay, but right now I have enough extra that I'd rather enjoy my days off with my parents (they leave next Monday) than spend one of them working to make up for today. In that light I hope they didn't bring in one of the other staff today that I'll have to replace later in the week. Today is our slowest day usually, which is why only two people were scheduled.

~Matt

I...feel...like...crap...

First of all I couldn't sleep last night. I was lightly dozing much of the night, with vivid dreams that kept me feeling active and unable to relax. Then sometime after two in the morning I vomited--this repeated several times up into the morning today (probably will happen again as well). Oh, diahrea as well. But that is enough about that. All of this to say that I've had to call in sick to work for the first time since I moved to Kentucky.

At one point last night (or early this morning) as I was tossing and turning I was half hoping it was psychological because I didn't wan tto go to work. But i knew that when everything kept going that it was real. I can only hope this is a twenty-four hour flu such as the one I caught Thanksgiving of '04.

I might be on-line a bit today, but probably not much. I can't even keep water down right now so I'm trying ot eat ice chips (good motherly advice) and hope that will alleviate my thirst. Right now nothing sounds better than a tall cold glass of ice water or cranberry juice, but sadly I can have neither. :( Speaking of moms though, they make great nurses--even when you're no longer living with them. She listens to me, sympathizes with my groaning, and was quite helpful. I love my mom! :-)

~Matt

Olive Oil

Tonight (and into the early AM on Monday) our store is conducting an inventory check of the grocery section. Many staff are working (right now) to catalogue every item in the store. One of my housekeeping/carts coworkers was doing this in Aisle 39 when something happened. He either hit the shelf wrong or it simply collapsed--but about 20 glass bottles of olive oil hit the floor. Four or five of them shattered, and the other fifteen were too coated with crud to put back on the shelf by the time we finished cleaning up. Oh yeah, finishing cleaning? It took both of us over an hour to get it all cleaned up! *sigh* It wasn't fun...

~Matt

Offline

I'll be offline for a bit. My parents were in their fifth wheel behind my brother-in-law's mom's house, but somebody complained. The police came over yesterday and told them they had to move. Now they're staying at a nearby campground--I'm heading out to spend the night there. Thus I'll be offline for just a bit. I hope I live! ;-)

~Matt

Redesign

Please drop me a line to let me know what you think of the graphics redesign.  I'm almost done, but need to rush to work right now so I'll save the rest of the tweaks for later.

~Matt

--
"A room without books is as a body without a soul." -Cicero

Expedition

Yesterday my family and I set out on an expedition to Big Bone Lick and points beyond. I haven't been to the state park in years--and for many of those years all I had was a T-shirt. It was interesting as I tried to explain the shirt to people who saw it. Many people in California had absolutely no idea what it was about. I think the easiest way to describe it might be to compare it to the La Brea Tar Pits in Southern California. Both areas attracted many animals who fell into morasses and died. The attractors were quite different however. At BBL animals were attracted by the many salt deposits--hence the title of a "lick." It was quite a popular area for Indians to hunt because of the abundance of animals. The first Europeans in the area were amazed by the massive bones that they found, including those of mastadons and mammoths.

As you can see in the signs above even Lewis and Clark were involved in researching the area and hauling bones back to museums in the East. The only bad part about all of these expeditions which established the start of vertebrate paleontology in America is that there are no bones remaining at the site (or very few). The Shocktober exhibit at the Museum Center last October was partially based upon the premise that giant eggs had been discovered at Big Bone Lick (fictional of course).

The area includes several attractions, though they are small. There is a nature center (closed on Wednesdays), a trail with animal recreations, a .4 mile nature trail, a small museum, and a mini-herd of bison. The recreation area (right) was interesting. I even bought a postcard of the display--though the picture looked a bit better as the area was flooded. Actually it was that detail that allowed me to find out where the bison herd was located. They weren't where they had been previously (and were still listed on the park map) because apparently the area is subject to frequent flooding. Therefore a new bison pasture had been constructed and the clerk at the gift store gave us directions. After eating lunch under a pavilion at the picnic area (it had been threatening to rain and sprinkling a bit all day) we hiked up the trail to see the bison.

Before this though we had been through the "museum." Now perhaps quite understandably because there are not many bones left at the site and there isn't anything dramatic like tar pits the museum isn't too large. It actually consists of one large room with displays along the walls (such as the skull on the right), a large painting of mastadons and mammoths along one wall, and a central display with a large skull. The gift shop took up nearly as much room as the museum area. I didn't really find much too interesting in there, except for some shirts that were too expensive for me to consider at this time. I did find a small keychain related to the Lewis and Clark expedition bicentenial (1803-1806/2003-2006) along with the postcards mentioned above.

It was fun to see the bison as I don't think that I've seen any for many years--probably not since I was last in Yellowstone (probably during the last century). There weren't too terribly many, but it was still enjoyable to watch them--especially the several calves.

After Big Bone Lick our next objective was Kincaid Lake. Apparently my sister and brother-in-law have been hearing for quite a while about the campground there and wanted to check it out. I don't think they're going on a long summer trip this year so they are looking for camping places closer to home that they can enjoy. Unfortunately we headed east from Big Bone Lick. Only 40-50 miles separate the two areas (both have campgrounds so we checked out Big Bone Lick's before we left there) but it seemed much longer.

I think it was Route 22 that we took from the Interstate over towards Kincaid. Soon after leaving the freeway we were deep into the country and the road began winding, dipping, and curving. We passed a fifteen miles to Kincaid sign at one point and then about ten miles later we came to the ten miles to Kincaid sign. That might be a slight exageration, but on the other hand that road did curve quite a bit. I doubt there were any straight stretches longer than a couple car-lengths. Finally we arrived in the thriving metropolis of Falmouth, Kentucky. (In response to this my sister said "I don't know what was thriving there except for the graveyard business." --more on that in a bit)

Oh, I forgot to mention something earlier. At one point my brother-in-law's mom (who was following the van in her vehicle) lost us at the turnoff to Big Bone Lick. She didn't see us turn off and then we played phone tag for a bit until we managed to finally reconnect. Coming through Falmouth I spotted the sign to turn to Kincaid and I pointed it out--though my Dad (driving the van) didn't see until it was too late. After we came back around we headed up the road until everyone became convinced that we had made a wrong turn. We came back through the light and saw that no, the sign was there. Finally after asking two different people directions we found the proper way through Falmouth, over the blue bridge, and up the hill to the lake.

There were some interesting sights in Falmouth, including a sign above a plumber's business that had us all in stitches and a library entrance that looked like a prison. Mostly though the buildings didn't look in great shape, and there weren't many people about. Graveyards and funeral homes were definately in abundance on our drive to the lake though. I think that (including right at the lake) we saw no fewer than six graveyards, some quite large.

We didn't really see the lake, except as we drove by, but we did explore the campground (it was nice, but a bit too open to visit if it was crowded) and the picnic area. The kids had a great time at the playground--but my nephew Chase got stuck when he climbed into the kiddie swing. He is small for his age (going into seventh grade next year) but not quite small enough that he could fit in the swing--though he had thought that he could. Around five it started pouring so we all retreated underneath the pavilion and dived into a picnic dinner of macaroni salad and rolls.

While it did sprinkle several times throughout the day it never truly rained when we wanted to be outside and so it was a great day, even with the long and twisty drive to Kincaid Lake. Thankfully we discovered a more direct route back that would be used if ever going back to the lake to camp or picnic.

On the way back I was dozing until we lost my brother-in-law's mom again when she stopped at a gas station. I was dropped off to get a better picture of the plumbing sign (though I misunderstood and snapped a picture of the historical sign at the left). I was upset that I had been largely woken up and so stood around and took pictures of the non-bustling downtown area. Then I spotted the gas station and decided to walk down, thinking that there was no point to my just standing around waiting to be picked up. On the way up the road I passed by the library though and decided to duck inside. I had an idea that I might ask about a library card (since Kenton County where I live abuts Pendleton County I might be able to get a card there) but these thoughts were dispelled when I spotted a table of books with signs reading "$1.00 per bag." I immediately forgot about the gas station and rationalized that if everybody else noticed I was missing they would of course look in the library for me. I spent a few minutes browsing books and was disappointed not to find too many that were interesting. After my dad and nephew Chase came in looking for me he picked out a kids book to get and I took the stack up front to pay my one dollar. At that point I wasn't at all disappointed that I had been dropped off. One of the books is all about eighteenth century American pioneers and the foods that they ate in different regions of the country. It also contains recpies! :-)

~Matt

Happy Birthday!

My (quite unevil) sister (the middle of three sisters) is forty years old today! Happy birthday Cheryl! She is the Idaho farmeress. I just wish I could be out there to wish her a happy birthday in person (and snag some of her fresh berries and other delicious food she grows, ;-)).

~Matt

Georg...I mean Julie!

Yes, Julie is out here to visit. She flew in Saturday and went to Christopher's graduation yesterday. Today I'm going to take her up to Cincinnati so that I can show her the museum before I have to go into bigg's to work.

~Matt

Graduation

Chris graduated today (with honors) as one of his school's four valedictorians. It was a good ceremony, and the gym wasn't too stuffy. Congrats Chris! :-)

~Matt

America and God

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
~Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson

Besides the fact that Jefferson did not believe in the God of the Bible we should not (as Christians) celebrate the Declaration of Independence. Much is made of the fact that Jefferson refers to rights granted by a Creator. He, however, believed in a God very different from what we find in the Bible. His Jesus was just an impossibly "good moral teacher" who never performed miracles or claimed to be part of the Godhead. Jefferson edited the Gospels and called the rest of the New Testament a "dungheap" (or was it dunghill?). Therefore we may safely assume no true Christian association is meant in the above sentence. This isn't the only evidence though.

Where in Scripture can you find the idea that we as people have rights? We, the world, and everything created (i.e. everything in the universe) belong to God. We are His to do with as He will. He created each and every one of us. (Ps 139:13 For You [God] formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb.) God created a good world. He is good and perfect, if He calls something good (Genesis 1--multiple verses: "...and God saw that it was good.") then it must be good, i.e. perfect and sinless. We, humanity, were the ones who marred and crippled that awesome Creation. As beautiful and awe-inspiring as the natural world is today think of how much, much, much it must have been better before the Fall. So let us review. God makes us, we say to God "I don't need you, I'm breaking your laws, I hate you." Quite reasonably he declares that our just punishment is henceforth death--all shall die because they have sinned and broken his divine law.

We have absolutely no rights, save one. We have the right (or the obligation) to die. We do not have the right to live. We do not have the right to liberty or freedom. We do not have the right to happiness or its pursuit. We do not have the right to privacy (an omnipotent, omnipresent God sees and knows everything, everywhere, everywhen). We do not have the right to live the "American dream." We do not have the right to equal opportunity. We do not have the right to succeed. God is "I AM," and we just can't ever hope to compare. His rules, His laws are all that truly matter. We have all broken His law: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Rom 3:23) We have no rights.

Matt 22:21 They said to Him, "Caesar's." Then He said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's."

I claim dual citizenship. God owns my life, America owns my vote. Yes, my first and truest citizenship is in Heaven--but this does not mean that I should ignore everything that happens hear on Earth. I was born in and am a citizen of the United States. I have obligations to the United States because I accept her citizenship. I believe it is my civic duty to vote. But my obligations are somewhat like the relationship between a state and the federal goverment (I said somewhat, so be quiet you naysayers!). If my country calls on me to break God's law then I will say no (and accept the consequences). If my country asks me to do something in line with or not contradictory to God's law then I will answer the call because I believe it is my duty.

America isn't God's nation. God takes precedence, and in many ways His ways and precepts are contradictory with America. We have no rights with God--we have only His grace and mercy. We are completely dependent on Him. In America we are taught to be self-reliant and to pursue self-agrandizement. God teaches us to die to self, to crucify our old man with Christ. Even if you dig back to the Founding Fathers and their generation you'll find that they lived in a man-centered universe rather than one devoted to God. But even if they had lived lives completely devoted to God it wouldn't matter. You can't impose God, you can't impose Christianity upon others from the outside. If you do it becomes mere religion--it is not living, breathing faith. It becomes a pale mockery of its true self. Jesus didn't come to found a temporal kingdom on Earth (read Ben-Hur for an excellent understanding of this). He came to build up a spiritual kingdom that should permeate every facet of our lives, but life separately from the kingdoms of earth.

America isn't a Christian Nation. It never has been. It never will be until Christ returns to overthrow the puny "prince of the world" Satan and rules over every land as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

~Matt

Fifteen to Twenty

No, not a prison sentence, just the amount of free time I have left this afternoon. But that isn't all free as some of that time must include donning my uniform. *sigh* I'm really getting tired of this job--and no, that isn't just because today will be my first day without any quarters--though that is a part of it. I enjoy working directly with people, and I don't get that feeling at all with this job. I'm really wishing I could quit tomorrow and start another job. It isn't work that I hate--just this job right now. I couldn't imagine working this job for years...

~Matt

Garage Sale

I had a very successful adventure this morning at a garage sale down the street. I came home with a couple CDs that I've wanted for a while. The soundtracks to the movies Dances with Wolves and Maverick. I've been borrowing the second from my parents but am finally giving it back to them now that they're here. I also found a tripod for my digital camera, a VHS edition of NBC's Merlin, and a National Geographic DVD about US Embassies. But the best find was a DVD edition of the BBC's first season of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small. I didn't even know that it had ever been made into a TV show, I've just always loved his books. All of this for only $8.00! :-) I love garage sales!

~Matt

Adventure?

Well today I'm taking my parents up to the Museum Center. They haven't even seen the place before as far as I know. I know I never went up there when I was visiting this area before, unfortunately. I procured comp tickets for them to all three museums and one of the Omnimax shows (sadly not the new one--either my supervisor misunderstood or the new one isn't open for comp tickets yet).

I'm looking forward to the day as I haven't had the chance to just wander the museum for a while--especially with people that I know will be interested in the exhibits. It is a bit different than taking kids through who just want to play in the Children's museum. I've done that before and it was a bit of work to try to get them interested in other exhibits.


~Matt