Digital Wilderness

Seinfeld fans will appreciate this one: Serenity Now

Saw this one on PaulAndEmily.com: Dad’s Life

And a related one from the same church: Mommy Rhapsody

Not all will enjoy this one, but I find it funny. It’s humor for math nerds, a parody of the education films of the late 70s and early 80s: Look Around You – Maths

And finally, in case you missed it end of last week (I don’t know how you could have!), be sure to check out the plethora (love that word!) of Old Spice videos in response to tweets. Brilliant marketing campaign! Here’s just one, a marriage proposal. You can see all at the Old Spice YouTube Channel.

In case you haven’t heard, Kentucky’s law banning texting while driving (more generally, distracted driving) went into effect on July 1st. Of course, you weren’t texting/Facebooking/Twittering while driving anyway, so this shouldn’t affect you in anyway, right?

The official press release from Gov. Beshear’s office is below. Here’s a link to the law itself:
Texting While Driving Law – House Bill 415

Ban on texting while driving takes effect Thursday
Ban extends to cell phone use for 16- and 17-year-old drivers

FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 14, 2010) – Governor Steve Beshear’s ongoing effort to make Kentucky roads safer takes a big step on Thursday, July 15, when a new law takes effect to ban texting for all drivers and cell phone use for drivers under 18.

Kentucky recorded more than 57,000 crashes last year – and more than 200 fatalities – attributed to driver distraction and inattention.

“I was proud to support and sign this law into effect, and strongly believe this will further our efforts to reduce fatalities on Kentucky roadways,” Gov. Beshear said. “Safety is a top priority of my administration, and this law will help increase awareness of the dangers of texting while driving and encourage drivers to stay focused on the road.”

The law bans texting for drivers of all ages while the vehicle is in motion. For drivers over 18, it allows the use of global positioning devices and reading, selecting or entering a telephone number or name for the purpose of making a phone call. Texting is allowed only to report illegal activity or to request medical or emergency aid.

“We are convinced that this new law will save lives,” said Acting Transportation Secretary Mike Hancock. “The message to drivers is to eliminate distractions and stay focused on the road. Driving a motor vehicle requires your undivided attention.”

For drivers under 18, use of all personal communication devices such as cell phones and pagers is not allowed while the vehicle is in motion. The use of a global positioning system is allowed, but manually entering information must be completed while the vehicle is stopped. Emergency and public safety vehicles are exempt when the use of a personal communication device is essential to the operator’s official duties.

In December 2009, Gov. Beshear launched his Eyes on the Road effort –an executive order prohibiting text messaging by state employees who are driving government-owned vehicles. In April 2010, Gov. Steve Beshear signed the law banning texting for all drivers and cell phone use for drivers under 18.

Law enforcement officers will issue warnings until Jan. 1, 2011. On or after Jan. 1, violators will be liable for fines of $25 on a first offense and $50 on each subsequent offense.

“Even though our total number of fatalities for 2009 was less than 2008, those killed in crashes resulting in distraction, inattention and cell phone use increased,” said Chuck Geveden, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety. “This legislation is sure to save lives, prevent injuries and cut down on crashes across Kentucky.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving distracted drivers, and more than a half million were injured. Inexperienced drivers under 20 years old have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes.

Information on distracted driving is at http://highwaysafety.ky.gov/.

You may have seen, or maybe heard about, the contestant who bid the exact correct value on the Showcase Showdown on The Price is Right. If you haven’t, watch below.

Never in the 38 years of the show had any contestant gotten the price exactly right – until Terry came along. There have been many conspiracy theories about how this happened. Many people think it was fixed due to Drew Carey’s lack of reaction when he announces the actual price of the showcase.

Chris Jones over at Esquire looks into how the perfect bid came to be. It’s a very interesting write up, well worth the read.

The article not only gives a glimpse behind the scenes of the show and explains how Terry studied and prepared for the moment, but also how luck came into play…and the changes that were made to the show so the chances of this happening again are incredibly slim.

The producers no longer rely on Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup; now they have different soups. They have different everything. They’ve built more luck into the games, dumb luck, and they’ve started doing sneaky things like changing the options on the cars — adding floor mats, taking away the stereo system — to mess with the prices. And they’ve started adding more luxury items, like Burberry coats, the sorts of things for which ordinary people who have lived their ordinary lives would never have clipped a coupon.

On the way home from work Tuesday, I stopped off at Meijer to pick up several things – a mixing bowl, a metal whisk, kosher salt and EVOO to name a few. Then I went to the library and checked out Alton Brown’s Gear For Your Kitchen and placed a request for Good Eats: The Early Years.

Yes, readers, you read that right. Your eyes are not deceiving you. It’s finally happening – the cooking bug has bit.

Those of you who have known me for some time know that I’m not a fan of cooking. At all. In the early years after college, pizza rolls and Twister were a staple in my fridge. Lunches consisted of fast food, frozen entrees and Hot Pockets. Dinners were of pizza and cereal. It didn’t seem to be the most efficient use of time to “slave” in the kitchen to prepare an elaborate meal with multiple portions for only one person, especially after a long day at work when all I wanted to do was grab a quick bite to eat and enjoy a relaxing evening doing anything else.

Those days on the bachelor diet are now behind me, though. I’ve learned to make much wiser and healthier choices about what to eat in more recent years. When I recovered from a nasty run-in with a Hot Pocket a couple years ago, I’ve tried to avoid eating as many processed foods. After being diagnosed with diabetes last year, I’ve had to pay more attention to the labels, and consequently, what’s in the food I eat, which has been quite the eye opener. Ignorance was bliss, but I can no longer be ignorant and it’s been an awakening learning what actually is, and isn’t, in the food I eat.

Still, I wasn’t moved to cook more. Instead, I just made smarter decisions about the quick and easy meals I bought at the store. I have cooked for others (namely Kristy!) on occasion, but still reverted back to old habits when it was just me at meal time. Back in 2007, I set a goal to learn how to make a signature dish. That was met with minimal success. The motivation to cook just wasn’t sticking.

However, earlier this year I watched Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and the desire to cook and eat healthier started getting stronger. Then, I watched Food, Inc. and, as happens with most people, was disgusted with what I saw. With this in mind, I’ve been making a concerted effort to cook dinner at least 2 nights a week, with leftovers to take to work.

Over the past couple months, I’ve been making chicken enchiladas (thanks Kristy!), pork chops and seasoned green beans (thanks Lori!) and french toast (thanks Alton Brown!) to name a few. I’m looking forward to more healthy and tasty meals to come, and all the benefits that will come with it! Do you have a favorite recipe? Share in the comments!

Two more months have passed since the last checkup on my 2010 goals, so time for another accounting. Made some good progress approaching mid-year. Two are completed, most others are in good shape!

Goal: Increase emergency fund to 3 months of expenses
Category: Financial
Time Frame: End of the year
Status: Still well ahead of schedule
Grade: A+

Goal: Get to work on time
Category: Personal
Time Frame: Daily
Status: Much better over the last two months!
Grade: B

Goal: Perform a Random Act of Kindness at least once a month
Category: Charity/Community
Time Frame: Monthly
Status: Still doing small things, but know I can step it up a notch.
Grade: B

Goal: Participate in a 5K/10K
Category: Exercise/Health
Time Frame: End of October
Status: On hold due to healthreasons.
Grade: F

Goal: Read a chapter of Proverbs every day Memorize 30 Proverbs
Category: Spiritual
Time Frame: Daily for 6 months End of September
Status: Changing this one to something more practical. 10 memorized so far.
Grade: C

Goal: Visit Cuyahoga National Park
Category: Travel
Time Frame: End of the year
Status: The Staifers, Kristy and I went over Memorial Day weekend. See pictures here
Grade: A+ (Completed)

Goal: Read 20 Books, at least 12 of them non-fiction
Category: Hobbies/Leisure
Time Frame: End of the year
Status: 9 read, on a good pace
Grade: A

Non-fiction:

• Just Do Something – Kevin DeYoung (In Progress)
• Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
• Blink – Malcolm Gladwell
• Church History in Plain Language – Bruce Shelley
• Love and Respect – Emerson Eggerichs
• The Prodigal God – Tim Keller
• For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women – Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn (Finished)
• How the Mighty Fall – Jim Collins (Finished)
• Choosing to Cheat – Andy Stanley (Finished)
• What the Dog Saw And Other Adventures – Malcolm Gladwell (Finished)
• Men Are Like Waffles-Women Are Like Spaghetti – Bill and Pam Farrel (Finished)
• Traveler’s Gift – Andy Andrews (Finished)
• Predictably Irrational – Dan Ariely (Finished)

Fiction:

• Black/Red/White (The Circle Trilogy 1-3) – Ted Dekker (In Progress)
• The Road – Cormac McCarthy
• Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
• Last Mango in Texas – Ray Blackstone (Finished)
• Andromeda Strain – Michael Crichton (Finished)

Goal: Finish painting house
Category: Home Improvement
Time Frame: End of May
Status: A week late, but DONE!!! Many thanks to my dad for the help on this one!
Grade: A+ (Completed)

Goal: Reach 175 200 300 found geocaches
Category: Hobbies/Leisure
Time Frame: End of the year
Status: 248 found, still on a good pace, though slacked off some in the HOT weather
Grade: A+

OK Go, known for their very creative, if slightly off-the-wall, music videos (such as the treadmill and Rube Goldberg) comes out with another clever video:

How far we’ve come from the hamster dance. Now, we have the hamster rap…

Haven’t done a Music Monday in a quite a while…I really like this new song from Matt Maher, so I resurrected the series for this week. Hope you enjoy it as well!

Matt Maher – Hold Us Together

Listen:

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VERSE ONE:
It don’t have a job
Don’t pay your bills
Won’t buy you a home
In Beverly Hills

VERSE TWO:
Won’t fix your life
In five easy steps
Ain’t the law of the land
Or the government

PRE CHORUS:
But it’s all you need..

CHORUS:
Love, will, hold us together
Make us a shelter
to weather the storm

And I’ll, be, my brothers keeper
So the whole world will know
That we’re not alone

VERSE THREE:
It’s waiting for you
Knockin’ at your door!
Every moment of truth
When your heart hits the floor

PRE CHORUS TWO:
When you’re on your knees then…

CHORUS:
Love, will, hold us together
Make us a shelter
to weather the storm

And I’ll, be, my brothers keeper
So the whole world will know
That we’re not alone

BRIDGE:
This is the first, day of the rest of your life
This is the first, day of the rest of your life
‘Cause even in the dark you can still see the light
It’s gonna be alright, s’gonna be alright

This is the first, day of the rest of your life
This is the first, day of the rest of your life
‘Cause even in the dark you can still see the light
It’s gonna be alright, s’gonna be alright

CHORUS:
Love, will, hold us together
Make us a shelter
to weather the storm

And I’ll, be, my brothers keeper
So the whole world will know
That we’re not alone

I’m such a blog slacker. I’ve had things I’ve wanted to blog, but either haven’t set aside the time or found the motivation to write up a post. Made some time today to update the ol’ blog.

Vacation has come and gone… I ended up making the last minute decision to not travel to South Carolina. I had planned to head out to Huntington Beach State Park on Wed, camp on the beach for two nights, then head to Congaree National Park and camp there for a night before driving through the Smokey Mountains on the way home on Saturday.
    Several reasons led to the decision to turn the vacation into a “stay-cation.” First, I really wanted to take the canoe trip through Congaree NP, but all spots were filled within 10 minutes of when they started taking reservations. That’s crazy! I was still going to go (I still had a reservation for the Owl Prowl), but on Tuesday, I decided I didn’t feel like driving the 20 hours round trip to the SC coast and back for only a couple days of enjoyment, so that added a strong second reason to forgo the trip. Thirdly, Kristy had a few days off work, so I thought the time would be better spent with her.
    I will admit I was disappointed I wasn’t able to get away for a week long vacation. I really enjoy traveling and seeing new places and I had been planning this trip for months, so the anticipation had been high. Oh, well…I’ll definitely be ready next time! I shouldn’t be too disappointed, though; I spent 4 days at Cuyahoga NP over Memorial Day weekend and have a whitewater rafting trip to WV planned for August. Also, my dad and I finished painting! Feels great to have that off the list!

I’ve been giving a lot of thought, and some action, to what I’m eating lately. It started several months ago, just a random pressing on my mind that I should avoid eating so many processed foods. A month or so later, I caught a few episodes of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, then I watched the movie Food, Inc. Ugh…I can’t believe some of the things that are done to our food. I’m not about to become a hard core rebel with a cause about this, but I am going to try to be smarter and more conscious of what I ingest. How many thousand of years did people survive and thrive on what was grown locally, eating what was in season without adding a bunch of junk to it? Sure, you can argue that their life expectancy was shorter, but their quality of life was better. Now, we’re living to 80, but only because of all the drugs we’re taking to combat the illnesses that have resulted from being so unhealthy. Don’t want to get into a long rant, but I personally think I can do so much better with my diet, and will feel better as a result. I’ve also given some thought to starting my own garden, too. I’m getting some experience with that by helping my men’s small group plant a garden at church. We’re donating the proceeds to Lifeline. Still looking for a good local butcher, and need to make myself go to a farmer’s market (the grocery store is still sooo convenient…) I’ll write more on this later. In theory…

Other odds and ends:

New pictures are up in the gallery, including the Cuyahoga trip, the Butterfly show and a bunch with Kristy.

The trailer for Voyage of the Dawn Treader is out! The book is my favorite of the Chronicles of Narnia series and was one of my childhood favorites, period. Hmm, not too sure about the movie, though. Doesn’t look very true to the book based on the minute of the teaser.

Apparently there are no other problems to work on right now – Jeopardy playing (and winning) computer

80s geeks everywhere drool over this one: Super Mario Brothers Crossover. Play Super Mario Brothers as Mario, Megaman, Link (from Zelda), Samus (Metroid), Simon (Castlevania), or Bill (Contra). Nice!

That’s all for now, but more soon!

Over Memorial Day weekend, Kristy and I met up with Dan and Lori in Northeast Ohio for a much needed trip out of town for all. We rented a lodge and spent the extended weekend celebrating Dan’s birthday, exploring Cuyahoga Valley National Park, playing games and simply relaxing and enjoying the time away from everyday life.

We stayed at the Moose Lips Lodge (yes, you read that right) at Country Cottage and Gardens.

It was a nice place, complete with a pool, hot tub and pond, away from the hustle and bustle of city life. The lodge itself was great, with open floor plan, fire ring and a screened-in porch. The only issue, mainly for the girls, was the lack of door on the bathroom, but we rigged up a system to help with that – We hung up a quilt and used birthday hats to signal if the bathroom was in use, yellow=proceed with caution, red=stop, occupied!

As many of you know, one of the items on my bucket list is to visit each National Park. Cuyahoga Valley NP is close to home and was still on my list, making it prime for a visit. A long weekend such as this provided a great time to make the trip. The weather was great – sunny, not too hot though a little humid. The park itself, the 5th most visited according to the National Park service, is not what one would normally expect. The park is the third newest, designated in 2000, and is located between Cleveland and Akron. Houses and neighborhoods dot the many roads throughout. The NP follows the banks of the Cuyahoga (“crooked river”), which was once one of the most polluted river in the US, so much so, it was devoid of fish and even caught fire! Parts of the park highlight the river and the other natural features of the area. The canal and lock system that was once vital to the region is also central to the park. Early rural living is also on display, showcasing the historic towns, farms and industries that sprung up along the river. Though not as scenic and nature-oriented as many of the National Parks, Cuyahoga Valley NP was still worth the visit and offered much to see and learn. We saw a demonstration on how the lock system worked and visited two caves, three waterfalls, remnants of three locks, a covered bridge and walked down a portion of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail along the Cuyahoga River.

A few selected pictures are below. View the rest in the gallery. Or better yet – take a visit to the park for yourself!

Many of you know about TomTom (a company that makes car navigation devices, among other things) and the voices that go along with the navigation. Well, they’ve just released a new voice – Darth Vader. Here’s a funny “behind the scenes” video for it:

I love the part at 1:20 mark when the guy asks Vader to make it sound less depressing Looking forward to seeing what they come up with for Han Solo, Yoda and C-3PO.