Dinosaur print?

This giant claw print was found in our backyard. Dinosaur print? I had Alex pose next to it for scale.

Can you see?

Can you tell what's in the trailer of the truck in front of me? Click the pic to make it bigger if you are having trouble.

Funny yellow line

I was watching the Patriots/Titans game, in the snow, and it's funny: the "yellow line" (1st down marker) sometimes goes across the players, since the snow is similar in color to the white on the uniforms. In particular, there was one close-up of a Patriot as he walked backward to the formation or huddle, and his helmet is VERY close to the color of the snow, so the yellow line showed across his helmet, very plainly and obviously.

I would upload the video of it (took a short clip on my phone, pointed at the TV, which actually worked and is visible), but I think that might violate the Google/Blogger terms of use, since the NFL games always say, "Any rebroadcast without express, written consent of the NFL is prohibited." Sorry, but I will respect that little tagline and, since I don't have the NFL's express, written consent, not rebroadcast that tiny little clip of a portion of their original broadcast. But it was funny! Take my word for it!

My coaster...

My coaster has peanuts in it. I like peanuts. I like my coaster. And how about that picture, taken basically in the dark with my E71 led flash? Not bad. (Before the flash, I could not see the target at all, and missed with the first shot.)

Review of Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl

The book “Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl” (by N. D. Wilson) is one of the best I have read recently. This book characterizes God's creation in imaginative ways that may elude those of us stuck in the doldrums of daily life. Wilson's perspective on life, from ants to giant oaks, is refreshing and reminds the reader of the creativity and awesomeness of the creator. Further, Wilson expresses some concepts that are very intriguing, yet simple, but may easily be overlooked in either a casual or a deep study of creation.

Wilson's creative, often humorous look at things made me stop to appreciate just how wonderful the world is, and how often I fail to appreciate the wonder and the beauty of the world around me. Initially near comical, the book slowly turns into a more serious side, exploring the concept of an overarching creator from a mere worldly perspective while never abandoning its lighter side. This approach lends itself well to offering this book to an unbelieving friend with potential for more in-depth discussions of creation and, more importantly, the creator. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and have already encouraged others to read it.

Sandwich idea.

The other day my son was eating a peanut butter and honey sandwich, and my daughter was eating tuna, and I wondered, "What if you put tuna on a peanut butter and honey sandwich?"

So I tried it.

It tasted like... a peanut butter and honey sandwich; there wasn't really any tuna-ish flavor at all. It did, however, have "consistency" or "substance" that a mere peanut butter and honey sandwich did not have.

So, tonight, I suggested that perhaps we try this: start with peanut butter and honey sandwiches for dinner (tomorrow night). The next night, add tuna to the peanut butter & honey. The next night, add another ingredient, like apple: peanut butter & honey & tuna & apple. Keep adding one ingredient per night (e.g., hot dogs, bananas, chocolate syrup, vanilla ice cream, cauliflower, etc.) until you get to a "gross" sandwich, then back off one ingredient (to the previous night) and continue from there (until you run out of creative ingredients that no longer cause a "gross" sandwich).

Good idea, right? Now, eventually you'll probably get to a sandwich so thick you can't readily eat it, so you'll have to throw the whole thing into a blender and drink it, or maybe just the ingredients (besides the peanut butter & honey) and make a "paste" to lather on top of your peanut butter & honey, that might work.

If you get bored, you can go back and start at peanut butter and honey and try adding some of the ingredients that "grossed" your mix in previous days, adding them separately, and see if you can come up with other "good" mixtures to add to your peanut butter & honey sandwich.

Just a thought.

I'm going to Mars!

That's right - I'm going to Mars! Well, my name is, anyway. You can too; sign up here.

And don't forget to watch NASA crash some spaceships into the moon tomorrow (starting at 5:15 CDT on NASA TV, which you can watch online if you don't have it on your satellite or cable provider).

No, thank you!

Click the picture to zoom in. @ Logan's, and the cooler says, "Premium steakhouse cuts" and "Hand-cut Maurice." Huh? No, thank you, I'll just have the cow-steaks, no cannibalism for me. :)

Why would someone put an iPod in the offering?

I like the closing quote: "Isn't it funny what we're willing to give up when we know our Father is going to take care of us."

Time and place

To the lady in the greyish- brown Buick Park Avenue on the causeway across Mobile Bay (whom I don't know): the driver's seat of a moving vehicle isn't the best place To be dancing, as you probably aren't paying as much attention to the task of driving as you ought. Then again, I'm composing a blog post on my phone while driving...

Technological wonders...

Here I sit, in the passenger seat of our 2006 Kia Sedona LX minivan, on our way to Birmingham, typing this blog post on my computer (I'm taking a break from the manual flowcharting of the Matlab code that I'm tasked to convert to C# since I was unable to locate a good auto-Matlab-flowcharter to use as a starting point). When I'm done, I will post this to my blog, courtesy of my phone's internet connection. Now, I'm not on 3G or anything (it's T-Mobile, and they don't have much in the way of 3G, although it's coming), nor do I even have their "smartphone internet plan" (which is something like $20 or $30 per month). No, I'm using the old T-Zones WAP (wireless access protocol) internet, on EDGE speed, via my Nokia E-71 phone and JoikuSpot light (that is, the free version). It's $5.99/month (too bad I didn't get in when it was $2.99). The Nokia does a great job of passing the "internet" requests over the T-Zones (or T-Mobile WAP) settings, even though I don't have "real" access to the internet (in fact, I've only found one application that doesn't seem to work over the T-Zones connections, and that's Google Talk via Pidgin). All-in-all, I'm pretty pleased with my setup so far (despite the "slow" internet speed - almost like being on dial-up again!).

Just thought I'd throw that out there for your reading pleasure. Back to work...

What Is This?

I see these usually every other week or so, but sometimes more frequently, and occasionally more than one at a time. Anyone know what it is? The front, which you can't see, looks like it has a round airlock or something. My curiosity is getting to me, so I appeal to my super-knowledgeable readers for help.

Identity Theft part II and Fishing in Heaven

My 11-year-old and my wife were in the car yesterday listening to Cathedral Made of People (by Downhere; aside: really, really good music! check out their CD "Ending is Beginning") when the boy asked, "Mom, what will it be like in heaven?" To start with a counterpoint, my wife said, "Well, some people say it will be, 'Oh, there's ol' Grandpa, sittin' on a cloud bank, fishin'!'"

The boy, without missing a beat, responded something like, "OH!" Then did an "air cast and reel" and said, "Look, I caught an angelfish!"

Yeah, that's my boy! Here's the video of Cathedral Made of People:

So, I was thinking about the identity theft thing; as a preventive measure, why not, after you've already gotten your house (mortgage) and car (loan), just go ahead and ruin your credit yourself so that anyone stealing your identity won't be able to do anything with it anyway?

NOTE: THAT WAS INTENDED AS HUMOR ONLY, NOT SERIOUS ADVICE! PLEASE DO NOT FOLLOW THAT ADVICE IN REAL LIFE!