change

is good. and sometimes necessary.

over the past month or so, i've only been able to go to the gym 1-3 times a week (as opposed to the routine 6 regimented weekly workouts of old). i've lost 7 pounds, none of i was willing to spare!

there is just TOO much going on after work between accountability meetings, Reality, life group, choir, the upcoming Christmas program rehearsals, etc.-not that i'd change any of that.

sooo, i'm going to get up at 5:30 every morning and go to the gym before work. who needs sleep anyways?

i gave it a trial run this morning. actually, Cougar woke me up at 4:45 and I couldn't fall back asleep. so i ate breakfast, had my Shaklee protein shake and sports drink, ironed my clothes, packed my bags and headed to Morton. the gym is MUCH emptier at 6:45 (yes it takes that long to get ready).

i felt great all morning and haven't crashed yet (1:56pm), so i think i could get used to this!


thank you Chris for telling me i looked "small" today at lunch. i'm going to punch you when i regain my strength!

Isaiah 48

10 See, I have refined you, though not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

How can we truly know what we are capable of
if we have not been pushed to the limit,
standing on the edge of the abyss,
and instead of cursing our lot,
we reach out to the ONE that begs us to call on Him-
to draw us in and hold us close.

This Movie is About Cats Flying

aaaaamazing.

thanks

Is it really Monday ALREADY?

What a great weekend. Gina and I spent Thanksgiving Day at her family's in Astoria. Dinner at Aunt Marcia's and then at Aunt Linda's (I think). Her brother, Wes, left with his cousin, Aaron, after dinner to go deer hunting. He called an hour or so later, very excited. He said he had shot a big buck at 35 yards through the woods. With a bow, this is quite a feat! They came back to the house to get some flashlights and insulated clothes for the tracking adventure that ensued. Usually when you shoot a deer with a bow, they run 30-200 yards before they expire. This ole buck had other plans. After an hour and a half, and 1.5 miles, we found him. What a great first buck for Wes and a Thanksgiving he'll never forget! Gina and I were supposed to meet some friends from Chicago in Peoria that evening, but we didn't get home until 11:30 by the time we got the deer back to the house and cleaned up.

Saturday, we went to my parent's house in Mendota for a second feast. Food was great, as usual. After dinner, we all played "Taboo," the game where you try to get your teammates to guess the word on your card by using any other words except the listed "forbidden words." The funniest moment was when my sister, Jillian, gave the clues, "what someone might call a large woman," followed by "kind of like a desert." What on earth could that be? Obviously, she needs to take a geography class at ISU, because the "Amazon" is as far from a desert as you can get without leaving the planet. funny.

I got some more work done on the thesis as well. The first draft of "chapter 1" is ready to be picked up for editing now and I will have "chapter 2" turned in by the end of the day. I guess being forced to wait until next semester to present and defend is not so bad after all. My stress level had dropped and I've been able to go to the gym a few times.

I've decided to make a conscious decision to be joyful through all of this. If I can't change the situation or the attitudes of others, might as well find the best it!
Happy Monday!

funny

a couple of "post secrets" that shined a little sunlight through the rain today!

beyond words.

People never cease to amaze me. I don't understand how a person can let it get this bad.

Yesterday, we were called out to a house by a local city inspector. In his words, "the house is filled with feces." One of our inspectors asked, "what kind," to which he responded, "all varieties." How could I pass this up.

When we arrived on the scene, we were joined by the city inspector, a code enforcement officer, a police officer, two firemen, and two EMT's. This was going to be a treat. The day before, the fire department had been called when the resident, a 350 pound man in his late 50's, got stuck in the hallway between the bedroom and the living room. It took five firefighters to remove him on a tarp, two of whom were injured in the process. We could smell the house 20 feet away. From the baby panda sticker in the front window, who would have expected what lie on the other side of the door.

The power of attorney opened the front door and a wave of stagnant air belched forth, contaminating the oxygen outside. I watched as each of the men walked into the residence, turning back for one more gasp of fresh air before confronting the horrors inside. The city inspector (a former police officer) came right back out, trying to keep his cool demeanor, but began gagging and coughing, spitting in the yard. I had to check this out.

When I walked in, it was like a scene from a horror movie. There was a path approximately 12 inches wide through the house where the former resident waded through the garbage, cat food cans, and filth. The odor was a mixture of a hog lot, body odor, and sewage. There were roaches crawling through the debris in broad daylight. not a good sign. In the kitchen, there had apparently been a fire on the stove, which had burned the wall and cabinets. No need to call the fire department though, or even attempt to clean up. The kitchen table had a pile of garbage and empty frozen food container approximately 2 feet deep. The carpet had been warn away to nothing. The toilet and tub plumbing hadn't worked in years and the power of attorney said the last time he was in the building, they had pulled the stool off the sewer pipe and were just "going" in the empty pipe, which had filled to the brim. I didn't even venture into the bedrooms.

My question is how do you come to the point where nothing matters anymore? Not even living in your own filth. When it becomes too much of a chore to take out the trash and it's easier to just surround yourself with it? It's sad.

I'm glad I don't see this everyday. When the emergency personnel are grossed out, you know it's bad.

timely

"Who feels tired and under-qualified
Who feels deserted, and hung out to dry
This is a song for the broken, the beat-up
And so-called losers

Little is much when God's in it
And no one can fathom the plans He holds
Little is much when God's in it
He changes the world with the seeds we sow
Little is much, little is much"


i don't understand it, but i don't need to. YOU are in control. i'm just thankful to be a part of the plan...

just recieved word my advisor won't sign the notice of my thesis defense because "it's impossible".

great.

let's drag the "two year graduate degree" into 5 full years.

and now my car, which has been running great for a week, has another cylinder misfiring.

can't i EVER catch a break?

beating a nearly dead horse.

the weekend was good. but it's hard to relax when there's such a dark cloud looming directly overhead, no matter how far you run.

i spent three full days sitting in the woods, which was the good part of the weekend. the bad was the impending deadline and the reality that each day passing was a day closer to it. i worked on the first paper several hours every night and just had to button up a few things i needed internet access for when i got home last night.

when i opened my email, i had a message from my advisor stating, "this is not going to work. Your committee thinks it is impossible for you to have a completed thesis by November 30 th."

just one more kick in the gut on this seemingly endless comedy of errors. no support once again from my "advisor." there are two weeks before the presentation. one paper is completed, except for the revisions they give me. the other is in pieces and will be done by Wednesday night.

i'm just sick of being sick, loosing sleep, skipping meals (thanks for the 10:30pm macaroni, Gina), and this consuming my every thought. i just need to hear "good job, keep going" from the people who are supposed to be guiding me.

thank you to everyone else who is. i don't know what i'd do without you.

the sis.

i can't wait for this project (four-and-a-half years in the making) to be done.

i slaved away for four full days over the results section, read a stats book, performed all kinds of statistical tests and made a dozen graphs, only to be told after the fact that the population of deer i studied was too small to make any statistically significant statements about. in other words, after all this time and work, i can conclude nothing.

i guess that's science. just discouraging. the first half of the thesis is due by the weekend and i'm leaving tomorrow night for deer hunting.



deer season is always a time of restoration. just being out in the woods before daylight, witnessing the transition of the nocturnal creatures returning to their burrows and havens and the emergence of song birds, squirrels, hawks, and other animals of the day is an incredible thing to witness. to sit amidst it all, undetected, is like stepping into another world. a place where there are no deadlines, timeclocks, ringing phones, or traffic.
while i will be working diligently on the project as soon as the sun goes down, the days are peaceful and rejuvenating.

vroom VROOM.

I'm feeling much better after a week-long cold and so is my poor lil' Pontiac.

After visiting a third mechanic in a year to try and diagnosis her stuttering problem, Pro Automotive determined it was just a fuel injector. I replaced them all last summer, so everyone else who looked at it figured that was too simple to be the problem. But it wasn't. Pro Auto didn't even charge me for the diagnosis! I highly recommend them if you need a car fixed in Peoria. Awesome guys!

Anywho, I replaced the faulty injector, installed a K&N air filter and two new front marker bulbs with Silver Streaks and now she purrs like a cougar. I haven't had a tuned machine in over a year, so it's quite a nice change.

The best part is labor was free (i'm too broke to pay myself)!

Going to the Rivermen game in a few minutes with Gina and the Potter's. Decemberadio is playing afterwards. Should be awesome!

brain DRAIN.

I've been sitting in the same wooden chair in front of the same wooden table for 10 hours, 20 minutes. why?

I love this book. Basic Business Statistics, Concepts, and Applications. Ok, that's a lie.

But I've been blessed with a cold since Sunday and it was finally enough for me to call in sick today. So I dove into what I knew was going to be a challenge, but didn't anticipate being this deep. I'm now on page 354.

I've never been the best with numbers, so I'm really struggling with the "results" section of my thesis. But at least now I have some background for support. Hopefully I can knock out the number crunching in another day or two.

November 30th is quickly approaching. sink or swim.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Love, your favorite son.

Office Essentials

Things I MUST have (hint, hint gift buyers abroad) from www.thinkgeek.com.

#1. USB-controlled rocket launcher. This is absolutely critical to maintain my safety and to protect the integrity of sensitive information within my cubicle. It has 360 degrees of horizontal rotation and 45 degrees of vertical rotation. excellent...



#2. Annoy-a-tron. This crafty device can be hidden anywhere. It emmits highly annoying beeps at 2-8 minute intervals to annoy the bejesus out of a pesky coworker. It's nearly impossible for them to find the source of the sound because of the changing interval of emmision. I could have a LOT of fun with this!



#3. Airzooka Air Gun. "Airzooka is the 'fun gun' that blows a harmless ball of air towards any object, person (or animal!). The airball will travel up to thirty feet and beyond... Cackle with amusement as, seemingly from nowhere, you are able to mess up a person's hair, ruffle their shirt, dress, or TPS reports from a distance, or just plain blow 'em away!." Need I say more?



wow, i'm bored.

Helpful Hints to avoid Food Folleys

In light of the recent rash of food-borne illnesses reported to good ole' TCHD, I'd like to use this platform to speak out on proper food safety in the home. Ever think about how Aunt Fanny prepared her special meatloaf or how long the macaroni salad was sitting out at the family reunion before you dug in? Sure, "mom always did it this way," is a great excuse for leaving the turkey out on the kitchen table to thaw over night, but it's also a great way to give you and your family a gift that keeps on giving (a trip to the porcelain throne every 20 minutes).

So let's start with thawing.
If you're going to cook a big hunk of meat, thaw it one of three ways:
1. In the fridge at 41F or below.
2. Under running water (70F) for up to two hours.
3. As part of the cooking process.

What about final cooking temperatures? This ensures the bacteria, or other parasites specific to that animal are killed during the cooking process.
Poultry, Stuffed meats, and ANY reheated food: 165F
Beef, Pork, Ground meats, Game animals: 155F
Fish, Eggs: 145F

Holding Temperatures. No, a picnic basket is not a proper hot-holding unit for the commute from home to Uncle Bob's in Chicago.
Hot foods: 140F or above
Cold foods: 41F or below
Why is this important? Bacteria double in population approximately every 20 minutes. Therefore food contaminated with 100 bacteria becomes 6,400 in just over 2 hours and 25,600 in 3 hours. MMMMMM...

And last, but certainly not least, cool-down. "You mean I can't cook a 5 gallon pot of chili and just stick it in the fridge?" Remember the bacteria? If not properly cooled, those 100 bacteria will become 1,677,721,600 in just 8 hours. A hot pot of chili may take days to reach 41F in a commercial cooler. Talk about a biological weapon!
Here's what to do:
Divide the product into smaller portions (should be no deeper than 4" in a pan).
Cool the product from 140F to 70F within 2 hours. An easy way to do this is to add ice cubes (this won't destroy the product because water will be the first thing to evaporate when it is reheated). Cool from 70F to 41F within an additional 4 hours. Don't put the product into the cooler until it has reached 140F. All the excess heat will only raise the temperature of other items in the fridge! Loosely covering the product during cooling will allow heat to escape while still protecting the food from falling contaminants. Remember to reheat to 165F before consuming!

Following these basic guidelines can help ensure a happy and healthy holiday season!

I also do not recommend consuming more than 2 quarts of chili per sitting.

Chimney Sweep

This afternoon I decided it was past due time to remove the heavy carpet of maple leaves from the front lawn. As I do not own a rake, nor the extra funds to purchase such an implement, I was using a snow shovel to scoop them off the driveway. My friendly neighbor, who must not have noticed how efficiently the scoop shovel was working, offered me his rake. I obliged and before I knew it, I had (literally) a pile of leaves waist high, and 15 feet long in the front yard. Mind you, I only have one tree. I had already filled both of the garbage cans I own, so my only option was to go to the hardware store and buy a bunch of bags.
Done.
Upon returning home, I received a frantic call from my friend and neighbor, Shawn. His words: "A squirrel fell down the chimney. It is now in the fireplace in the living room. What do I do?"
My response: "I'll be right there."

Now, how exactly we were going to remove the furry fella hadn't crossed my mind. All I knew is that we could do it (after all, I HAVE speared a wild boar). But this was different. Squirrels are cute and cuddly.
My first plan was to use a large cardboard box and a sheet (as seen on popular Animal Planet shows). With the apparatus in place, Shawn and I slowly opened the glass doors to coerce the enraged rodent into the box.
No luck. He wouldn't budge. So Shawn got a broom and tried to strike the faux logs stacked in front of it. But there was a slight miscalculation and the pile of ceramic ended up falling on top of the intrepid tree dweller. I gingerly reached in and lifted each log, one by one, off the whimpering beast. When I pulled the last log off of him, the squirrel lept straight up and on top of the flu.
Time for a new plan. I went back home to bag the leaves while Shawn watched and waited for the intruder to come down from his hiding place. About an hour later, Shawn called back. "He's down."
By this time, I had filled all ten 30-gallon bags with leaves and had two piles left on the lawn. from one FREAKIN tree.
Anyway, I ran back to Shawn's house and re-evaluated the gameplan. First, we moved some furniture, opened the front door, and removed the box. This would provide a direct route to freedom. We slid back the glass doors on the fireplace once again and slipped quietly into the adjoining room. The squirrel first jumped at the opening, but then retreated into the corner of the fireplace once again, chucking and chirping loudly. This went on for about 10 minutes. He would not leave the dark safety.
Plan C. Let's use the blanket, catch the little devil, and throw it outside. I crept slowly up to the fireplace and reached inside for the chain to close the flu, just inches above the cowering creature's head. Got it. One more obstacle to overcome-the metal stand that hold the logs was directly in front of the animal, so throwing a sheet over it would be impossible. Shawn and I each reached in and grabbed an end and gently removed the stand.
"Ok, ready? On the count of three..."
"one"
"two"
We both flung the blanket over the animal, not thinking of what the next step would be. But before we could think, the squirrel freed itself from beneath the sheet, jumped out of the fireplace, right between us, scampered through the living room, and right out the front door.
Shawn's wife yelled, "Shut the door!"
Shawn cooly replied, "I don't think he's coming back."

All in a day's work for Justin Ganschow, Health Inspector/Leaf Shoveler/Squirrel Remover