I have a friend.
I talk with my friend on a regular basis.
We discuss what is going on in our lives.
We talk about the good stuff.
And the tough stuff.
And for him, life is a lot tougher than it is good most weeks.
He has been through things I can't imagine and others that I find myself in on a regular basis.
Often, he believes God has left him, forgotten him.
Things seem to be getting deeper and darker for him.
And yet, when I ask if he has been praying over these things or spending time in the Word, he says, "no."
He understands that he NEEDS God.
He knows God.
And yet in his greatest hour of need, he puts all the burden on himself.


It's kind of like sitting in front of the tv, eating a gallon of ice cream and saying, I really need to get in shape.
Then downing a bottle of Mountain Dew and chasing it with a shot of maple syrup.

How can we expect to grow, heal, and thrive without excercising our faith?
You don't have to benchpress, squat, lunge, or curl anything.
Just get on your knees, fold your hands, and bow your head before the one who knows your deepest hurts and needs.

Until he realizes this, please join me in standing in the gap for my friend...

Back in the Saddle.

Well, I've oiled the guns and put them back in their cases, hung up the spurs, and boxed up the camo. While we didn't bag nearly as many pigs as in years past, we still managed to have an awesome adventure. There's just something about Texas, that would make a hailstorm enjoyable.

So today I'm back in the office and by 2:54pm, I've got the desk cleared off and the voicemail box emptied. Not too bad. I expected much worse. Maybe it's the grotesque boar skull I brought back to sit on my desk that is keeping the secretaries away. (it is a BIT creepy).

Last night I attended Gina's lifegroup meeting for the first time. Although they have invited me to parties and events in the past, this was the first weekly meeting. To be perfectly honest, I was a bit apprehensive at first, as it's another thing to add to the schedule each week. But it's much more than that. It's people that truly care about one another, who choose to become involved in one another's lives. It is a blessing. And I am grateful to be a part of it.

It's good to be back (but I miss my gun).

Truly Amazing.

Thank you Don for this video.

After seeing this, I had to order the Bible Experience. How can you listen to that passion and not be moved? A new way to experience the Word...

What a hog!

So, I haven't killed anything of the swine variety, but I did shot a hog last night! We went bowfishing on Richland Chambers Lake last night, which is a 41,000 acre man-made lake near Fairfield. Crossing the bridge, the thing looked like an ocean. It was huge!
The weather was iffy all day and it was supposed to rain during the night (when we were to be on the lake). It started misting just as we arrived at the marina, but when the boats showed up, it stopped and was still in the mid-60's when we pulled back into the dock at 2:30am.
The fishing was absolutely amazing! There were three of us on each of two boats. We were all standing on the bow, which was lit with floodlights. Some of the fish were clearly visible, but for the most part, you could only determine a fish's presence by a slightly lighter color in the sandy-colored water.



In all, we shot over 35 carp, drum, buffalo, and gar. I shot the biggest fish (some would argue the small ones are tougher targets), which was a 15lb buffalo.
I think I've discovered a new hobby! (sorry, Gina).

Big Boar Adventure 2008

So I've been here since Saturday afternoon and just now discovered I have wireless internet.

We've been having a blast in East Texas, but the boars are hard to come by this year. I have yet to even SEE a hog. My uncle and Kurt each shot a boar and Kurt also bagged a big bobcat, which I caught on film.


This afternoon we took some time off to fish a small pond on the property we hunt. I caught a 2-2.5lb bass on the first cast. The guys are out fileting the haul right now. We bowhunted tonight and all I saw were 2 skunks. Kurt shot two racoons with one arrow. He's the next Annie Oakley.


So, with the trip half-over now, I hope that by the end of Friday, I will have at least fired my new gun at something.


And from what I hear from the folks back home, it's a bit warmer here than there. Sorry!

My Balentime.

Since we are old and crotchety, Gina Bean and I went to The Riverstation on Tuesday night at 8pm, thus beating the Valentine's Day crowd by two full days. It was a lovely night. Our waiter was awesome and recommended a couple of wines and entrees. He was right on. I had a ribeye fromage, which was quite possibly the best meal I have ever consumed. It would even give Charlie and Ryan's New Year's smorgasboard a run for its money.

But more importantly, it was a chance to sit for an hour and just enjoy each other without a nagging cat prowling around or other distractions. and I didn't have to do the dishes.

We spent our first Valentine's Day doing what we usually do. We made chili, talked to Cougar, and then went to Bergener's to get a wedding shower gift. Not exciting, but nice. and quiet.

I'm going to miss you next week, Miss Gina! Please take good care of Cougar! Don't shoot him if he destroys your house. We love you!

The Time Has Come.

I can't believe that in 7 hours we'll be on the road for another boar hunt. On monday, I thought today would never come, and now it's here too soon. I haven't begun packing yet or even had time to make a list. Oh well, all I need is cameras, film, socks, and bullets.

While this is a "hunting" trip, it's so much more than chasing animals. It's a chance to spend time with my dad, which I cherish more each year, and my crazy uncles and the great people we've met in Texas over the years. Once we're down there, we're all treated as family. They cook for us, invite their friends to meet us, take us on guided hunts, etc. It's things like that that money can't buy. That's what we look forward to.

So as you drift off to slumber tonight, say a prayer for 4 guys in a big red Chevy, pulling a trailer full of 4-wheelers, camo, guns, bows, and ammo. Pray that nothing eats us and that the bullets hit their targets.

I'm kidding. well, kind of.

Until next time...

Pranksters.

It's been a regular episode of "The Office" around here lately. And I'm ashamed (not really) to say that I may have started it all.

Last Friday, one of the inspectors cleaned out our lab and set a big box of styrofoam packing peanuts in the kitchen. Ryan, a fellow prankster and culprit of covering the earpiece of my phone with lotion (try that one sometime), was working in the conference room all afternoon. I saw a target of opportunity. I ran back to our cubicle jungle and asked Melissa if she'd like to assist me in getting Ryan back. Grinning, she jumped up and followed me to retrieve the supplies. We opened all of his desk drawers and filled them until overflowing. Then we waited anxiously for Ryan to return. While he came back to his desk several times, he didn't open any drawers. The day ended and the surprise was still not found out. Monday passed and still nothing. Then Tuesday he discovered our gift and instantly started questioning people. With all involved playing it cool, he pinned it on our supervisor, Jerry, who was oblivious to the whole situation.
Ryan found a cardboard box and filled it with the peanuts and then perched it precariously on a ruler above his office door. Apparently Jerry has bat-like hearing though, and spied the trap before becoming the next victim. Ryan still has no idea who got him and has publicly declared a cease fire.

Today I filled our secretary's coat pocket with approximately 200 rubber bands. She didn't find it until she got home for lunch and took the dog out. Then she came back and put them in Ryan's coat pocket, thinking he was the guilty party.

I'm kind of scared to leave my desk unprotected next week. Maybe I'll set up a laser.

Bonus!!

I was just informed we are most likely going here http://www.fishstickerbowfishing.com/ on our trip!
We decided not to do the dog/spear hunting this year, so this will be something new and different. We attempted to shoot some flying carp on the Illinois River this summer, but this looks like more fun!

Mounting Excitement.

I spent five hours in the lab at Springfield on Saturday, which is twice as long as the procedure should have taken. However, this is par for the course in my world. Everything went well, as far as I know. We didn't actually read the results, because that would have taken another 50 minutes. So the data should be sent to me today.
In other news, I started preparing for the Texas safari by modifying the camera mount for my rifle. Last year, my buddy Kyle fabricated an aluminum "T" (sideways) that attached to the side of my gun. It worked well. But this year I have a new weapon of mass destruction, and the camera needs to hang below the gun. So this is what I came up with:

It consists of the original mount, which the camera attaches to, a nail plate (so height is adjustable), two shelf hangers, and a switch plate.

On top of the switch plate is a conventional scope mount, which attaches to a rail on the rifle. I also included a pen light as a spacer and as an accessory.

The whole contraption is 12" high and it a big weightier that I would like when the camera is attached. The only way to fix this would be to buy a lighter camera, which I obviously can't do right now.

This is what it will look like on the rail. It can be easily removed from the gun with a thumb screw. Beneath the camera, you can see the quick-release thumb lever to remove the camera from the mount. This is essential, because you can't point the camera to film people while it's on the gun, only targets!
While it still needs a couple slight modifications, I'm quite pleased with the results. It's going to be another great hunt and another exciting video!

Thesis update.

My Master's degree was orgininally supposed to be completed on November 30th. Obviously that didn't happen, and it turned out to be a good thing. I had run myself into the ground working on the thesis day and night. My advisors had the first paper for a month before I got their revisions back. It has now been edited and updated and is only missing one crucial piece of data that I will acquire at SIU-Springfield tomorrow.
The second paper is almost ready to be resent to them, but that missing data point will change all the results for the second paper. Therefore, I have to redo all the graphs, charts, tables, etc. It won't be difficult, just tedious and time consuming. Hopefully it won't take another month for them to edit paper #2 or the revised paper #1.
Once they are satisfied with both papers of the thesis, I have to make a public announcement of my presentation and defense, wait 30 days and finally put an end to this 5-year ordeal.
What will I do without this gorilla on my back?!

1 year.

Today, February 6th, is my one-year anniversary at TCHD. To celebrate, I inspected three of the diners on the main drag of Tremont. Since getting back to the office, 4 different people have complimented me on my smell (i've been deep fried).

One place was so smokey from the grill that clouds of grease were visible in the dining room. I asked the owner if she had an exhaust fan. She then shouted, "anybody bothered by the smoke?," to the customers. They said no. So she decided the exhaust fan was not necessary. I guess they have to have something to inhale since the smoking ban went into effect.

I guess this is a good thing, as I only lasted 10 months at the the insurance company. And things are looking up. I am now the one in charge of testing everyone's poo water for the county. So, here's to 365 days as an inspector!

And remember, chew carefully.

It's about that time again...

11 days until we once again pack the trailer full of rifles, pistols, assault vests, ammo boxes, 4-wheelers, and all the associated gear required to do our part in assisting the Texas Department of Parks and Natural Resources control the wild hog population.
Needless to say, it's hard to not get excited. Last year was the best trip I've been on and we harvested 34 nasty beasts. This year, we hope to break the record of 36. I know we can do it!
The video below is from the final day of last year's hunt. WARNING: Do not view if you are easily offended. My attempts at censoring were sub-par. Those boys get a "bit" excited when the bullets start flying and the hogs start charging.

Enjoy.

P.S. I'm fighting with youtube. For some reason, the video quality is terrible, no matter what format I upload video in.

Super Weekend.

Snow days are not JUST for kids! I got the call at 5:15 on Friday morning that the health dept. was closed due to the weather. So I slept for a few more minutes and then got up and got to work. I had been wanting to paint the big room in the basement since I moved in, but it had been put on the back burner. Gina and I began painting at 8:30 and after finishing that room, we painted the hallway to the room and the stairway leading up to the theater. What an amazing difference a little paint makes! The problem is now I want to replace the basement ceiling, lights, etc. maybe some day...

Saturday night we had dinner with Josh and Trina at Olive Garden to give them their wedding video gift (the wedding was in June, but these things take time). Here's the opening clip:


Yesterday at Northwoods we had a high school/jr. high not-a-superbowl-party (due to legal restrictions imposed by the NFL). The game was on 6 or 7 screens so you could watch wherever you went, but the highlight was definitely the dodgeball games going on in the activity center. The half-time high vs. jr. high game could only be described as Braveheart-esque.
After dashing through the snow, I got to watch the second half at the Sletten's. Great end to the game, great end to the weekend.