Author: Robert

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we’ve gone too far forward

technology has advanced too far and it is now causing me problems. the past few days i have been working on one of our computers. after trying desperately to discover why that fine piece of quality workmanship known as micro$oft xp was continually crashing on my system i was finally able to discover that xp doesn’t like the version of awardbios that i have on this particular desktop computer. the answer for fixing the poor relationship between micro$ft and awardbios was to get an upgrade for my bios. when i downloaded the bios upgrade and read the directions i discovered that i needed to create a bootdisk from a 3.5″ floopy disk. the problem is that i didn’t know where any floopy disks where. i searched all over the house to find an old, stray one.

zip. nada. nothing.

i would have considered burning a bootable cd with the necessary files on it but i didn’t have any cd’s around either.

have we progressed too far? i think we may have.

my run for the day
distance – 6.0 miles
time – 58:10
pace – 9:41/mile

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missing in action?

hello there guys and girls. i notice today that a few of the books that i really like are m.i.a. apparently i’ve loaned them out and didn’t record who i loaned them to. so here’s my plea. if you have any of my books (particularly “20 hot potatoes CHRISTians are afraid to touch” by tony campolo, “is JESUS a republican or a democrat” by tony campolo, “a history of western philosophy: the classical mind, volume 1” by w.t. jones, and others) could you let me know you have them or simply send them back anonymously? thanks.

my run for the day
distance – 5.4 miles
time – 49:29
pace – 9:09/mile

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keeping my mom posted

since my mother reads all the blogs that i link to (in posts and on my sidebar) i figured i would thrill her by adding two more:

  • jim’s blog – my brother-n-law, half marathon partner & future marathon partner
  • jill’s blog – my sister-n-law & half marathon partner

that should keep mom happy for awhile.

i once had a dog that could escape my house at any given moment. he was a great dog but he would get out every now and then. i always had to run after him because i was scared of what could happen – after all he was a dog and dogs can do odd things. so i understand what it’s like to have a dog that escapes. still, as a runner it gripes my butt beyond believe when people know their dogs are out of their yard and they don’t seem to care.

while i was running tonight i ran into the snarls of two bulldogs who live a block away from my house. their owner was leaning out her front door trying not to get wet and screaming for her dogs to come back in. instead of coming in her dogs decided it would be more fun to come after me. i turned towards them, screamed for them to leave me alone, and backed away. since they continued to come after me and the owner didn’t seem to care about getting out and grabbing them i shouted over to her that if her dogs came after me looking like they were going to bite me then i would respond by kicking them as hard as i possibly could. she said that i should stop and walk her dogs over to her. while she may have thought this was a great idea i thought it sounded lousy. i responded with my own idea which was that she should get outside and grab her dogs and i would just remain ready to pound her dogs if they attempted to come after me. either fear of me or disgust at the laziness of their owner confused the two bulldogs and they turned their backs on me. i took this as my chance and quickly moved down the street from them. last i saw the bull dogs were still moving away from the owner and she was finally having to get out in the rain and get her two dogs. i hope they kept her running after them for at least an hour.

btw, i sure wished the saints had won but now i’ll be satisfied if the colts win.

my run for the day
distance – 5.5. miles
time – 54:05
pace – 9:50/mile

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speaching

i’m presently reading doug pagitt’s “preaching re-imagined and i’m really enjoying it thus far. because of it i decided to focus on a more interactive approach to the preaching i was scheduled to do at zoar baptist church’s college retreat. i use such an approach all the time with my students but i’ve never tried it with strangers. i think it went okay but i really won’t know until i think about it for a few days and maybe hear from a few people i know who were at the retreat.

the thing that i have enjoyed the most from pagitt’s book has been his focus on an interactive approach to preparing the message. i’ve tried this a few times and i always enjoy it. the biggest problem for me has been trying to find the time since our church has been without a senior pastor.

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name change

i’m sure all of y’all have experienced moments in your life where one theme seems to come up over and over. everything you look at, everything you listen to, and everything you read seems to always come back to the same thing. I am in one of those moments right now. everything i read or experience seems to have something to do with people changing their names and what happens to their lives after doing so. here are some of the influences that have impacted me on this moment:

  • the biblical story of jacob becoming israel – every since i first read this story i have felt an overwhelming connection to it. there is just something about GOD coming down in response to jacob’s prayer for safety and answering that prayer by popping jacob in the mouth. it was exactly what jacob needed but i would imagine it was quite far from the answer that jacob was expecting. once again i am at a point in my life where this narrative draws me in.
  • alexander supertramp – i’m presently listening to john krakauer’s book “into the wild” about the young man chris mccanless. he went out to find a lifetimes worth of adventure (which ultimately cost him his life because of a lack of common sense). the start of this search for adventure began with him shedding his past life by taking on a new name. i don’t agree with much of what he did but i am fascinated by his resolve and convictions.
  • makalu gau – the taiwanese climber gau ming ho claimed the name “makalu gau” after his fifth attempt at summitting the makalu mountain. from that ascent on he went by “makalu gau” as a reminder of what he saw as a changed life. of course, if you read other people’s versions of his ascents he didn’t really live up to that moniker. apparently “makalu gau” was a pretty lousy climber that always got into trouble and wasted other people’s resources in having to be rescued on almost every climb he went on. he didn’t really live up to his claimed name.
  • buster butterfly mcleod – i read this guys 43 things list a few weeks ago. he wanted to change his name for one year to “test” how much a his personality was connected with his name. he chose a rather odd name and has legally changed his name to it for one year. after that year is up he will apparently change his name back to whatever it was before.

don’t worry mom i’m not planning on changing my name. i rather like my name. still i do find all of these stories interesting. it’s intriguing to consider how much of who we are is wrapped up in our names. while, i’m not really into changing my name i do want to make sure that the name i have stands for that which i believe is important. when people thing of my name i want them to have strong images occur within their mind. i hope they think of a person who …

  • is passionate about his faith & LORD
  • is a good husband and father
  • loves his family and friends because he realizes that the most important things are things
  • may be late often but will try with every ounce of discipline he has to not let someone down when a commitment has been made
  • is open to new ideas, people, and experiences
  • is amazed by beauty and trying to experience more of it
  • is not afraid to take big risks even after he has failed

i hope that’s what people think. if it’s not then you can just start calling me fred cause i’m starting over.

my run for the day
distance – 5.0 miles
time – 48.44
pace – 9:44/mile

[Listening to: The Moment I Said It – Imogen Heap – Speak For Yourself (5:56)]
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ouch

the weirdest thing has occurred today – well actually it isn’t really the weirdest thing, that would be me singing on and winning american idol, but this thing is at least a little odd. it has been two days since i ran the first light half marathon and i finally have the first part of my body that hurts. it’s my … shoulder that hurts. i don’t have any idea why my shoulder would hurt so bad but it is definitely painful. i don’t remember running on my hands but perhaps i did. that would at least explain why my shoulder hurts so bad. i think next time i will run on my hands and maybe my leg will hurt instead.

SIDE NOTE – who dat?

SIDE NOTE – on my runs i am presently listening to john krakauer’s “into the wild” about the death of christopher mccandless in the wilderness of alaska. mccanless was a young man you wanted to live out a jack london/henry thoreau/leo tolstoy lifestyle that pushed him to some pretty far extremes. it’s a fascinating book thus far.

my run for the day
distance – 5.1 miles
time – 53:02
pace – 10:23/mile