GRAB A CALCULATOR: Key in the first three digits of your phone number (not the area code). Multiply by 80. Add 1. Multiply by 250. Add the last four digits of your phone number. Add the last four digits of your phone number again. Subtract 250. Divide that number by two. Recognize the answer? Now, is that a cool math trick or what?
* * * * * * * * * * *
POOR BOB: A group of fellows went deer hunting, pairing off in twos. After dark, one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under the weight of an eight-point buck. "Where's Bob?" the others asked. "Bob had an accident. He's a couple of miles back up the trail," the successful hunter replied. The others were shocked. "You left Bob lying out there and carried the deer back?" they asked. "It was a tough call," said the hunter, "but I figured no one would steal Bob."
* * * * * * * * * * *
You can read The Stroller on line at goupstate.com. This is the home page for the Spartanburg, SC Herald-Journal.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
another student dies after the big game
Saturday was the big game in Jacksonville, the one everyone talks about and waits for each year, the Florida-Georgia game. This game is always played here at Alltel stadium, home of the Jaguars, or as we locals still call it, the Gator Bowl. Next year it will be called the Georgia-Florida game, technically, but we don't care as long as the Gators win !! As they did this year, beating the undefeated Georgia Bulldogs 14-10.
Sadly, like last year, a Florida student died. Last year, a 19 year old male was so drunk from partying at the Jacksonville Landing, after the game, that he walked off the ledge of a parking garage. His body was found several days later in the space between two buildings, and near where his car had been parked. This year, a 23 year old male student, Tom Brown, died after being beaten up by 3 - 5 men, ranging in age from 18 - 22. Obviously, alcohol played a factor in both of these deaths. Which leads to the question: when are we going to start holding the breweries of this slop responsible for these deaths? Not just these two specific deaths, but thousands upon thousands of deaths, caused each year by alcohol. From drunk drivers killing innocent victims, to self-inflicted death in an alcoholic stupor, we need to start pointing fingers at the alcohol industry. This has gone on too long. Why do bartenders or servers allow people to continue drinking when they are already vomiting? Why are fans so drunk they pass out during the football games allowed to stay in their seats? (We witnessed this at the Jaguars game in person) Why do these people drink beer like it is water? I will never understand an addiction to alcohol myself, since I have never even tasted the slop, and cannot stand the smell. Why do these people "drown" their sorrows in alcohol?
Well, we know the real answer is because there is a void in their life. God is missing and the true happiness from "knowing Christ" cannot be found in the bottle. We can pray and encourage them as we have the opportunity and try to help them find their answer in Christ, only if they are willing to listen to us.
Proverbs 20:1
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Isaiah 5:11
Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
Proverbs 23:31
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
Sadly, like last year, a Florida student died. Last year, a 19 year old male was so drunk from partying at the Jacksonville Landing, after the game, that he walked off the ledge of a parking garage. His body was found several days later in the space between two buildings, and near where his car had been parked. This year, a 23 year old male student, Tom Brown, died after being beaten up by 3 - 5 men, ranging in age from 18 - 22. Obviously, alcohol played a factor in both of these deaths. Which leads to the question: when are we going to start holding the breweries of this slop responsible for these deaths? Not just these two specific deaths, but thousands upon thousands of deaths, caused each year by alcohol. From drunk drivers killing innocent victims, to self-inflicted death in an alcoholic stupor, we need to start pointing fingers at the alcohol industry. This has gone on too long. Why do bartenders or servers allow people to continue drinking when they are already vomiting? Why are fans so drunk they pass out during the football games allowed to stay in their seats? (We witnessed this at the Jaguars game in person) Why do these people drink beer like it is water? I will never understand an addiction to alcohol myself, since I have never even tasted the slop, and cannot stand the smell. Why do these people "drown" their sorrows in alcohol?
Well, we know the real answer is because there is a void in their life. God is missing and the true happiness from "knowing Christ" cannot be found in the bottle. We can pray and encourage them as we have the opportunity and try to help them find their answer in Christ, only if they are willing to listen to us.
Proverbs 20:1
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Isaiah 5:11
Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
Proverbs 23:31
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
Monday, October 31, 2005
at least they still have their sense of humor
cartoon by Steve Kelley of the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper
Sunday, October 30, 2005
the common voice
This web site is edited by Jonathan Pait, who many of you will recognize from Bob Jones University. (He was interviewed by Bill O'Reilly on Fox News as the public voice of BJU during the 2000 Presidential campaign) The paragraph below can be found on the home page of www.commonvoice.com
What is The Common Voice?
by Jonathan Pait
September 22, 2003
Recently I was asked the question, “What is The Common Voice and what do you hope to accomplish with the site?” Funny, but every time that question is asked, I am not sure how to respond. I even wrote out a mission in hopes of sorting it out.
The Common Voice is a shared community of individuals with various ideologies and views on the issues of the day. It is a Web site that gives these community members an opportunity to respond to the issues of the day through interactive tools and discussion areas. All this is for the purpose of allowing us all to better understand one another - and ourselves
Saturday, October 29, 2005
web sites for teachers
I ran across this site called
The Top 101 Web Sites for Teachers
I thought many of you might benefit from this. The link is www.assortedstuff.com/top101/
The Top 101 Web Sites for Teachers
I thought many of you might benefit from this. The link is www.assortedstuff.com/top101/
Friday, October 28, 2005
Thursday, October 27, 2005
what do we do with Halloween?
There is a blog posted on sharperiron.org about the topic of “what do we as Christians do with Halloween?” If you have time, go read the blog and the 20 or so responses (comments) posted about this topic. This topic is obviously one with many different opinions. This is one of those areas where many people will agree to disagree. (If you like this article by Cindy Swanson, check out her blog called "Notes in the Key of Life")
In the meantime, here are my thoughts on the matter:
Halloween used to be for kids
When I was a kid, Halloween was basically “trick or treating” for children. Now, in our society we are faced with adults who still want to act like children. From dressing up at work, to costume parties, to the occult and witches, this is not just a “harmless” day any longer. Even when my kids were young, I would take them to a few homes for “trick or treats”, but we would not allow them to dress up in an evil way. Usually they dressed as Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. We tried to keep this as a fun time for them as kids with nothing evil or scary to worry about, and we always went with them. But more and more today, the focus of this day is on the occult, witches, etc., and we as Christians do not want to focus on evil. Our church is having a “Journey through Bible times” on Saturday night, and the children are dressing up as a favorite Bible character. This is a good alternative to going door to door.
Back in the day, when I was growing up, we used to go “trick or treating,” The unspoken rule back then was that you could go out “begging” for candy only until you turned 12 years old, or went to junior high. Usually, we would go with a bunch of friends in the neighborhood, and living in a small town of 2,000 people, we could almost cover the entire town walking door to door in a few hours. Almost, not quite. But we were only going for the treats. We did not even think about “tricks”. Of course, if someone would not give you a treat, then you were supposed to be able to play a trick on them. Now that is not a very good thing for kids to do, so we just emphasized the “treat” part of it, and everything worked out just fine. Except, one Halloween in particular. One year we went to a street “off the beaten path”, as we were older and braver that year. When we knocked on the front door, we heard a lady inside yell to her husband something like, “George! Go get your gun!” We looked at each other and shook our heads, “Nah! she’s got to be kidding” (surely!.) We knocked one more time and again heard the lady inside, this time a little louder, “George! Hurry up and go get your gun!” This time, we looked at each other and decided maybe we should leave this house and try another one. As we turned to walk away, “George” an old, old "codger," came from behind the house with a water hose and sprayed us really good!! We ran as fast as we could! We even warned as many others as we could not to go to that house!
I guess I can see why adults like to celebrate this day, as it was one of the fun times in your life, and you could eat all that candy! (Like Garfield the cat would say, “Candy! Candy! Candy!!”) Just do what I do, buy extra bags of candy, your favorite kind, and then when no one comes to your door, you have an excuse to eat it! And you don’t even have to count out the number of pieces!! (Shh! Don’t tell my wife!)
In the meantime, here are my thoughts on the matter:
Halloween used to be for kids
When I was a kid, Halloween was basically “trick or treating” for children. Now, in our society we are faced with adults who still want to act like children. From dressing up at work, to costume parties, to the occult and witches, this is not just a “harmless” day any longer. Even when my kids were young, I would take them to a few homes for “trick or treats”, but we would not allow them to dress up in an evil way. Usually they dressed as Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. We tried to keep this as a fun time for them as kids with nothing evil or scary to worry about, and we always went with them. But more and more today, the focus of this day is on the occult, witches, etc., and we as Christians do not want to focus on evil. Our church is having a “Journey through Bible times” on Saturday night, and the children are dressing up as a favorite Bible character. This is a good alternative to going door to door.
Back in the day, when I was growing up, we used to go “trick or treating,” The unspoken rule back then was that you could go out “begging” for candy only until you turned 12 years old, or went to junior high. Usually, we would go with a bunch of friends in the neighborhood, and living in a small town of 2,000 people, we could almost cover the entire town walking door to door in a few hours. Almost, not quite. But we were only going for the treats. We did not even think about “tricks”. Of course, if someone would not give you a treat, then you were supposed to be able to play a trick on them. Now that is not a very good thing for kids to do, so we just emphasized the “treat” part of it, and everything worked out just fine. Except, one Halloween in particular. One year we went to a street “off the beaten path”, as we were older and braver that year. When we knocked on the front door, we heard a lady inside yell to her husband something like, “George! Go get your gun!” We looked at each other and shook our heads, “Nah! she’s got to be kidding” (surely!.) We knocked one more time and again heard the lady inside, this time a little louder, “George! Hurry up and go get your gun!” This time, we looked at each other and decided maybe we should leave this house and try another one. As we turned to walk away, “George” an old, old "codger," came from behind the house with a water hose and sprayed us really good!! We ran as fast as we could! We even warned as many others as we could not to go to that house!
I guess I can see why adults like to celebrate this day, as it was one of the fun times in your life, and you could eat all that candy! (Like Garfield the cat would say, “Candy! Candy! Candy!!”) Just do what I do, buy extra bags of candy, your favorite kind, and then when no one comes to your door, you have an excuse to eat it! And you don’t even have to count out the number of pieces!! (Shh! Don’t tell my wife!)
photo gallery
The female co-pilot was overheard saying to the male pilot as they exited the plane...
"I told you we should have stopped and asked for directions!"
****
NORFOLK Naval Air Station, Virginia -- One of the military's largest
transports got stuck at the end of a runway atop the I-564 overpass for more
than 16 hours. It was unable to turn around at the West end of Chambers
Field at the Norfolk Naval Station. The incident forced the closing of the
field to all but helicopter traffic and made for a dramatic sight for
hundreds of motorists passing beneath it during morning rush hour.
"That thing's like a big building sitting there.'' said motorists. The nose
of the aircraft actually stuck out and OVER the Interstate!
The aircraft's nose was so far over the end of the ramp, the crew was unable
to see the runway where it was supposed to turn around so the pilot simply
had to leave it at the end of the runway. The Air Force C-5 Galaxy, largest
airplane in the free world, is almost as long as a football field and as
high as a six-story building.
Weighing 420 tons with a full load, it uses a system of 28 wheels to
distribute its weight. The aircraft had to wait for a specially made tow
bar trucked in from Dover, Del. When the tow bar arrived, it was used to
hook the C-5 to a tractor that then turned the aircraft around. The plane
was not damaged.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
judge shuts down free speech
On September 13, 2005, Judge William A. MacLaughlin issued a court order forbidding public speech on the public property of any courthouse in Los Angeles County. The order was delivered by two police officers to best-selling author and award-winning TV show host Ray Comfort this past Friday, as he addressed about 40 people on public property outside of the Bellflower city courthouse in Los Angeles County.
You can read more about this at www.freespeechrights.com At this website you can watch videos of the street preaching that the judge has banned. Also there are links which give you more information about your rights to free speech in America, such as "Practical Guidelines for speaking in public."
Thought you all would want to know what is taking place in our country, not Russia, not China, but the good old U.S.A.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
redneck photos
I usually post one "photo" of the week, but I just had to get these two out of my system. (My apologies to my wife ahead of time!!)
Janelle, doesn't this look like your hubby's baby picture??
I have some neighbors who must use this redneck car alarm!!
Janelle, doesn't this look like your hubby's baby picture??
I have some neighbors who must use this redneck car alarm!!
Monday, October 24, 2005
duke blue devils
You can preview the DVD about Duke basketball at this link to "A Cut Above"
Baseball is winding down with the World Series this week, and football is in full swing. You know what that means... basketball is just around the corner. Here is a link to goduke.com with photos from this past weekend's "blue-white scrimmage". Duke has four returning seniors and has been picked by many in the media to be the number one team in the ACC this year. All four seniors are co-captains of this year's team.
Duke was the unanimous choice to capture the 2005-06 ACC regular season basketball title in voting by the media at the league’s 44th annual Operation Basketball day at the Grandover Resort & Conference Center in Greensboro, N.C. The Blue Devils received all 87 first place votes en route to being selected as the pre-season favorite for the fifth time in the past six years and 11th time overall.
Coach K speaking at the "blue-white scrimmage" last weekend
Duke Men's Basketball - 2005-06 Schedule
Sat, Oct 22 BLUE-WHITE SCRIMMAGE Durham, N.C. 1 p.m. White W 47-24 & 38-30
Exhibition Games
Thu, Nov 03 CONCORDIA (CANADA) Durham, N.C. 7 p.m. GoDuke.com
Thu, Nov 10 N.C. CENTRAL Durham, N.C. 7 p.m. GoDuke.com
PRESEASON NIT
Mon, Nov 14 BOSTON UNIVERSITY Durham, N.C. 7:30 p.m. espn2
Wed, Nov 16 MANHATTAN / SETON HALL Durham, N.C. 7:30 p.m. ESPN
Sat, Nov 19 DAVIDSON Durham, N.C. 5 p.m. espn2
Wed, Nov 23 Semifinals at New York, N.Y. TBA espn2
Fri, Nov 25 Championship/Consolation at New York, N.Y. TBA espn
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Saturday, October 22, 2005
hurricane season is almost over
Current forecast at accuweather.com
Current forecast from the national hurricane center at www.nhc.noaa.gov
Wilma satellite image from accuweather.com
They say this should be the last hurricane of the year, even though the hurricane season still has about six more weeks to go.
Thanks for all the birthday wishes yesterday as I passed that big milestone in life of "50". As we watch Wilma, we are also praying for my wife's family as her brother was killed Friday morning on the job by a drunk driver. He was getting ready to start work running the cement pump truck on SR 408 east of Orlando. There will be a memorial service for him at a later date, probably in Texas. For now, everyone is in a kind of shock over this.
Current forecast from the national hurricane center at www.nhc.noaa.gov
Wilma satellite image from accuweather.com
They say this should be the last hurricane of the year, even though the hurricane season still has about six more weeks to go.
Thanks for all the birthday wishes yesterday as I passed that big milestone in life of "50". As we watch Wilma, we are also praying for my wife's family as her brother was killed Friday morning on the job by a drunk driver. He was getting ready to start work running the cement pump truck on SR 408 east of Orlando. There will be a memorial service for him at a later date, probably in Texas. For now, everyone is in a kind of shock over this.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
new web sites and blogs
Our church's web site is back up and working now at www.victoryministry.com
If you are looking for good, conservative Christian music at a good price, I found this site. Always looking for a way to save a few bucks, the CD's are about $2.00 less than anywhere else I have shopped. Check it out at certainsound.com
A couple of blogsites that are not for the weak of heart! These two sites are from our soldiers in Iraq. I assume these bloggers are cleared by their superiors so there is no secret info on the sites. The photo albums are great, you can see what is really going on over there.
One site is at www.thunder6.typepad.com and is called "365 and a Wakeup." The other blog called "Major K." and is found at strengthandhonor.typepad.com/captaink/
Finally, a blog I like to read often is by Corey Godbey and is called "light night rains". He works as a digital illustrator and posts his work, or works in progress. I just wish I could do that with my computer!! Check it out sometime at lightnightrains.blogspot.com
wilma slowing down
national hurricane center at www.nhc.noaa.gov
five day forecast from www.accuweather.com
satellite view from accuweather.com
they say Hurricane Wilma is slowing down now and they are not real sure where this one is going to go ...
de gaulle of him
I have to gas up the car today so...
thanks to the Stroller for this bit of humor...
The Frenchman who almost got away with stealing several paintings from a Paris museum.
After planning the crime, getting in and then out past security, he was captured only two blocks away when his minivan ran out of gasoline. When asked how he could mastermind such an almost flawless crime and then make such a stupid error, he replied, "Monsieur, I had no Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh."
thanks to the Stroller for this bit of humor...
The Frenchman who almost got away with stealing several paintings from a Paris museum.
After planning the crime, getting in and then out past security, he was captured only two blocks away when his minivan ran out of gasoline. When asked how he could mastermind such an almost flawless crime and then make such a stupid error, he replied, "Monsieur, I had no Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh."
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
hurricane wilma tracking info
NOAA tracking
Accuweather.com
Hurricane Wilma at 175 mph - the latest forecast from 11:00 am Wednesday
Accuweather.com
Hurricane Wilma at 175 mph - the latest forecast from 11:00 am Wednesday
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
more footprints on the sands of time
My mother was able to attend her 54th year class reunion Saturday night. She graduated from high school in 1951, if my math is correct! I think there were 22 of the 55 graduates still alive and able to attend this reunion. I tried to find something on the web about her school in Caroleen, NC, but the closest thing I could find was this web site for Cliffside, NC. I think she had relatives that lived there back in the day! I am pretty sure I have been through this area and it is in the same geographical area as Caroleen and Sandy Mush, near Rutherfordton. This site is called remembercliffside.com with lots of pictures and history of the area. It sure reminds you of a happier time, a lot less hectic time, and it makes you wish you could live in this area of North Carolina.
photo gallery
New pictures to post of our granddaughter, Natalie. She's so cute!!!
I think she is playing in the kitchen, not cooking yet!
Monkeys jumping on the bed! Her babydoll looks oh so familiar!!
"I'm so busy working, Mom!"
Inquiring minds want to know "everything"!
As you can see, she likes ice cream! Just like grandpa!
I think she is playing in the kitchen, not cooking yet!
Monkeys jumping on the bed! Her babydoll looks oh so familiar!!
"I'm so busy working, Mom!"
Inquiring minds want to know "everything"!
As you can see, she likes ice cream! Just like grandpa!
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