Cold December Night

     I was outside this evening playing a challenge tennis match at the Cary Tennis Park. The wind was gusty and the temperature must have been around freezing. With a new grip on the tennis racquet and good lights, I played good to win the match. It was the final week in this fall challenge ladder and I finished with a record of 10-0, but now the tournament week starts. In the background my new Sony HDTV is showing SNF in 1080i HD video. The digital channels like 17.1 and DVD's played through my laptop, connected with an HDMI cable look super sharp. PowerDVD and Windows Media Center will upconvert the movies when played through the HDMI output connection to the 32" HDTV. I like the various features like wide zoom and scene modes that are available with this TV. Besides watching movies, sports, and news programs, I created several greeting cards to send to family and friends this year. I upgraded my software to the 2011 Deluxe version and printed out a card for my sister and sent it out. This weekend, I took two vacation days for a break from my regular schedule. My schedule includes spending about an hour each day staying updated with the latest computer and network technology to offer excellent computer repair services. In addition, I try to complete a small electronics project or practice flying my new RC helicopter outdoors in an open field once a week. Saturday, while hiking a trail it started to snow. On the drive home, it was heavy snow and sticking to the grassy surfaces. I got this slavation bracelet for Christmas from Mom and it has six different colors on it. The white or clear color beed represents when we become a Christian, we are clean and are sins are forgiven. This bracelet is a good way to share the salvation message with strangers if they ask about what the colors mean. This afternoon I did some shopping around town and used a gift card that my parents gave me for Christmas. I browsed in outdoors, electronics, office, and  discount stores at Crossroads and the Kildare Farms areas. With temps in the 30's most of today, it sure felt like winter and was a good day to hang out inside. Well, it is getting late tonight, so without any more words, here are some select photos that I took with my phone camera last month and the descriptions:

RC Helicopters for some flying fun.

Hours of studying computer technology books.

Home for Thanksgiving with Family.

The trees changing colors and falling behind my apartment.

October Arrives

     Today is the first day of October. In a few minutes I will walk down to the apartment clubhouse to pay my rent for the month. I am thankful for a new paycheck the other day in my bank account from Fastteks. It has been a busy week with my on-site tech support job. I had to clean up several Windows machines from infected malware files. One site that I read some articles from about computer security and removal instructions is at www.2-viruses.com. I use Open DNS for my internet connection servers and it works great to keep I.E. from being re-directed to rogue anti-virus and spyware websites. I also setup a BIOS supervisor password today on my Vista desktop, just another way to increase the security level. In the news today I read about a worm that is infecting computers in Iran, called the Suxtnet worm. However, this one targets industrial computer systems, not home PCs, like the ones that I deal with often. I enjoyed playing a new puzzle and concentration game that I got for my Windows 7 laptop, called Brain Games2. The jigsaw puzzle game is my favorite so far. There are alot of birds outside my window this morning, enjoying the bird seed in the bird feeder. Small, fast birds, red cardinals, gray colored birds, and brown ones. At one point, it looked like five or six birds flying around. Yesterday I went in a PetSmart store at Beaver Creek to look at the fish and birds. I saw a beta fish that looked very similar to my ECU fish I had for a few years. A couple of other activities I did last week, attend the SAS golf tournament at Prestonwood on the free day to walk around, and take pictures, and go to a tennis meetup group at Pullen Park. Thankfully, this area got some much needed rain last week. It finally stopped raining today, after two full days of heavy rain, over 6" in Raleigh, and over 22" at the coast, and is now sunny outside. This weather and my reading on a Christian prophecy website, reminds me of Noah's Ark. In fact Noah entered the Ark during this time of year, thousands of years ago, which is late October to November. After safe in the Ark, the 40 days of rains began, which maybe is a foreshadowing of the final seven years of Jacob's trouble or the tribulation that may begin soon. After those seven years I expect the Lord to return to the Mt. of Olives along with the church to start the new millenium. I downloaded some Christian mp3 files to my sansa clip player and listened to them while walking on a greenway in Apex yesterday. The songs are positive and encouraging for the challenges I face each day. Here are some pics from my various travels the last few weeks:

Fast moving water after lots of rain



Driving range at Prestonwood CC




Tennis meetup group at Pullen Park



September Journeys

This month has about ten days left in it. Although it is late September the weather is still like hot summer days. The high temp today and for most of the week will be in the mid 90's. Tough weather for staying active and cool at the same time. I rode my bike after work this evening at Bond park, and it was still hot and humid. It gets dark earlier each passing day and I used a bike headlight to see the trails and get back home safely. Going to a gym that is air conditioned and lighted helps out when it gets darker earlier. My journey in the gym started with a one hour workout on September 1st. They moved the fitness equipment around in the gym and there was a new tread mill machine. They also added a nice 32" HDTV so people can watch sports or news while running or riding the exercise bikes. I usually see the same faces working out each time that I use this apartment gym. Most of this month I have been fairly consistent in using the gym about one day a week. I am still playing tennis at least once every two weeks and I attended an RDU tennis meetup the first week in September at Lion's park. It was the advanced singles group, and I won all the sets that I played. I played one or two additional evenings of singles as well as doubles. On Saturday mornings this month I have been attending a disc golf meetup group that plays different courses in the area. I got an "ace", hole in one at the Cornwallis course on September 11th. However, I lost another good driver disc at Harris Lake park trying to clear the lake on hole #10 from the pro tee. Last weekend I played a new course with the meetup group near Fuquay for the first time. I purchased a headlight for my bike and since have been riding more often. This month I have rode about two days each week, at parks such as Harris Lake, Lake Crabtree, the ATT, and Lake Johnson trails. I am thankful for my good health and the beauty of God's creation that I can enjoy while outdoors. The fall season is just a few days away, this Wednesday is the first day of fall. There is also a full moon this Thursday and the start of the Feast of Tabernacles for the Jewish people. I am hoping for the rapture to possibly happen this week or early next week. I was reading lots of articles that point to this time of year as the Lord's return nears. I hope that my journey will take me to heaven sometime before the end of this month. I attended the journey single's worship night at HCC on Friday and won a door prize, a devotional book for Men. Now I can read through the Bible in a year. It was a good evening of fellowship, singing, and listening to a sermon about how women think. I hope this will help me to get some more dates and better relationships in the weeks ahead. Last Thursday there was a single's social night with pizza and small group discussions at a friend's house a few minutes down the road. I wish I would not have to work so many weekends so that I can enter tournaments and win a prize or trophy. But then I think that rewards in heaven are better to achieve then earthly rewards. I chose this orange color type font because it is getter closer to that "Harvest" time of year. Even at work, lots of the displays are changing to orange color as the marketing guys know that fall is in the air. But I don't want to fall I want to rise up into the clouds someday. Here are some photos that I took with my phone camera on this September journey, enjoy: 



By Harris Lake, tall reeds growing, and lily pads in the waters.



Driving on I-40 at night, view from driver's seat with night mode on.





That's a "hole in one" ace at Cornwallis DGC, hole #4.



Yellow sunflowers off the trail on a September bike ride.



August Insights

Red is the color that best describes a very hot month in the summer. Last week I was outside playing sports and riding my bike on my days off work. There was a heat advisory on a couple of days but that did not stop me from getting out. I went to Millbrook Exchange park one afternoon and played tennis doubles for several hours. These courts are about a half hour drive time away, so I don't play there very often. Here is a picture of the challenge court were I played a set:

Millbrook Exchange Tennis Park

Today the finals of the Roger's Masters tournament was on ESPN and Andy Murray got the win over Federer. I also watched the final round of the PGA tournament on TV this evening where a new guy won it. I played singles last week as well and won in straight sets, my partner said I should sign up for the North Hills tournament next weekend, which I played in a few years ago. A few weeks ago I took a weekend trip to the mountains to see my cousin get married. Here are some of the photos that I took with my phone camera:

Austin's Dell desktop computer

I helped to setup a new printer and router at my sister's apartment. Also helped my Dad to pick out an HP netbook for Mom's b-day and then I set it up to connect to there wireless router. While in the mountains I setup another router at Megan's house. Austin and I played the Wii resort game at Rick's gameroom.

Moutain lake and bag pipe player

This location was near a ski resort north of Asheville. It was a cool and rainy day with a temp in the 60's. There was probably about 25 people there and the reception had lots of food to eat. Austin talked about the chocolate fountain on the patio of that home.

Cousins at Rick and Lucy's place near Asheville

We watched a movie on an HDTV, had some lunch and then I troubleshot an XP desktop that had an invalid product key. From left to right is Jenny, Andy, and Stu. The next morning we had breakfast at the Mission Hospital cafe where Andy works. Then Dad, Shelley, Austin and I travelled back to Charlotte in his car. On the way back, we went past the giant Peach near Gaffney, SC. I read some articles in my computer magazine during the trip but looked out the windows alot.

After my Birthday

Well I turned 38 on July 20th and celebrated another year of living on this planet under the star we call the sun. I thank the Lord for his blessings and that I can follow Him for another complete orbit around that yellow star in the sky.

Me at the gym at WF apts.

(that's a really clean mirror, right?)

This month I have seen some really cool views of nature will outside during the morning, afternoon, and night. I remember seeing the full moon last night while playing tennis. I like to watch the dark clouds form during the hot day and turn into thunderstorms. While biking last week I recall that I just finished a ride before a rain storm with thunder and lightning arrived.

Photo of a lake from a bike trail in Raleigh

So, how would I rate last year on a scale of 1 to 10? I guess it would be a 7, not to bad, but there was some muddy water along the way, like in that photo above. Have I ever seen the rain, yes in more ways than one. Without going into any details I am going to move on and move up to a better life this time around. Like that commercial on the radio, Mr. opportunity is knocking and ready to tackle what lies ahead. I thank my Mom and Dad, sister, and Aunt for the nice birthday cards they sent last week. They were on display on my coffee table for about a week and now are filed away for safe keeping. I was reading a profile of my former district manager on LinkedIn today and realized that we are the same age. He is now a store manager for an auto parts shop, but I am in the electronics and computer industry. However, one of my co-workers is very interested in car parts and is upgrading an old chevy camaro. My car, with the Fast-tek car sign still on display, is running well although I didn't put that many miles on it this year:

I have parked my car in strategic places at retail shopping centers and parks so that people can walk by and see the car sign, and call the phone number to get there computers repaired or upgraded. Today I was at the Walmart on Kildaire Farm Rd. and last week I parked it at Crossroads and also at a business in RTP. I purchased a lamp shade to replace the damaged one on my den light while at the Walmart today. I also shop at Kmart, Target, and Lowes very frequently. But the color of the day and the products is what I like to look at; to add some art and design, like Extreme makeover home edition to help make the world a more peaceful place. For, tomorrow is July 27th and it could be the secret day of the rapture the many are forecasting: and like a 727 jet I might be rocketed out to circle the sun in a whole new way. For now, I take it one day at a time as the days turn to years and I grow closer to 40 and we all work to finish the race and get that prize that is only available to the believer in the wonderful colors of the sometime future "New Jerusalem".   

  

After Independence Day

Photo of the team RadioShack car before the Tour De France.

Rain drops on a car windshield that reflect the US Flag in the background.

These are some cool web photos that I found online. I was watching some of the TDF on TV this morning. The bike riders are in the second stage of the race, and Lance is in fourth place for team RadioShack. In the second photo, look how the flag is reflected in the water droplets on the car windshield. On Saturday, which was July 3rd, I watched the fireworks in Garner with a single's social group. We were sitting close to the rocket launch site, and could see them take off into the dark evening sky around 9:45pm. There was a malfunction on one rocket that seemed to explode near the ground. I walked back to my car to drive out of the grass church parking lot while the fireworks ended. On July 4th I watched the Wimbledon tennis finals and the first stage of the TDF on TV. Later on in the day I attended a BBQ cookout with another single's group from church. Now it is Monday morning and I have to go to work soon. It is sunny and hot outside and has not rained here in over a week. I purchased two plants at a Kmart garden shop last weekend and placed them beside my den window. They will need to be watered about two times a week and get sunlight most of the day. There is just over two weeks left until my 38th birthday. Don't really have any plans yet, but I remember last year some friends came over for cake and to watch a movie. I hope that everyone has a blessed week and here are some more pictures:

Reeds and water Lilly's at Harris Lake Park DGC.

Jen at Chubby's Tacos in Raleigh.

Having a Bud and water at a bar watching the World Cup soccer match.

My Weekly Adventures

When I am not selling electronics or repairing computers I am enjoying my time on the go. With God at the wheel as my pilot I navigate the waters of opportunity and set sail on new adventures. Fresh on my mind is yesterday, which was Monday. In the morning the weather forecast for a hot, sunny day in the upper 90's. I wanted to go for a bike ride and also stop by and use a mail coupon at a local bike shop. I left in the morning around 10am with my mountain bike on the road gear car carrier rack. The trails I chose this time were easy, with not too many climbs or miles to ride. I rode for about 1.5 hours and took some pictures with my phone camera while riding the trails. There was a lake in the middle of the park and some kids were swimming. It was not to hot, and there was a breeze that cooled me off as I stood in the shade of a tree at the end of the ride. My next stop was the bike shop were I bought some comfort grips and a red, cooling material type of shirt. I had a good sandwich at Subway for lunch and then went to Advanced Auto to buy some oil for my car. I hope that BP will find a way to stop the oil leak in the Gulf soon. Next, I played a round of disc golf because the course was close to where I had lunch. On hole #16 I lost a frisbee in the woods, but got help from other golfers and found it. There was a guy flying a yellow radio controlled (rc) airplane around at the park when I was leaving. The day before on Sunday, a friend and I played disc golf at a new course in the area. However, it started to thunder and we had to leave for shelter in our cars after hole #16. Another activity this week was Thursday night tennis with the PTL. It was two sets of doubles and we almost won them, losing in the tiebreaker each set. I broke strings on one racquet and am down to one left, and have not had the other two racquets re-strung yet, because it is expensive. Those are a few of the adventures I had while on the go this week.

The Last Week in May

My last post was titled the first week in May, and now it is the last week. Since then a lot has happened around my apartment and community in Cary. It has rained more often and thankfully the plants and trees are green and healthy outside. I hear a bird outside my patio and can see that the ground is damp from a very rainy day yesterday. There were several heavy downpours and thunder many times during the morning, afternoon, and evening on Sunday. Since it was a Pentecost Sunday I thought maybe the rapture was about to happen, and the storms were a sign from God of the coming tribulation. However, it is now Monday morning and I am still here, but I did read a post were the author says that today is the real day 50 in the count of the omer. Next Monday is Memorial Day and a holiday to watch for the Lord's return. I remember this day begins the grilling season, were people get outside and grill. I once had an assembly job at a hardware store, were I had to build grills, and people would really start to buy them around Memorial Day through July 4th. Sometimes I would think that the grilling season could be the time that the tribulation begins. The fire and heat of a grill is similar to the fire and heat of magna from the earth arriving in erupting volcanos and underwater natural gas explosions that could cause damage to the earth. It has been cooler lately with high temps in the 70's and low 80's. The cool down could be the result of a new trend of global cooling that was in an article on the web. The scientist said that it could be a cycle of cooling that will last the next decade or longer. That oil leak in the Gulf is very alarming, and someone said could cause an evacuation of people living near the coast because of chemicals and fire hazards. The Tampa area is where my Mom and Dad currently live, and one that is affected by the oil slick. However, they purchased a new house in NC to be closer to us, and plan to move in the next few months. I will travel to visit them more often since they will live about 3 hours drive time away. Both Shelley and Austin live in that area too. I am going to the bank this morning to cash a check and then look at some apartments in the area. My lease ends in August so I need to check out what deals are out there, and a possible move. I go in to work at 12:30 and I have been working everyday since last Saturday. Will finally get a break from work this coming Thursday, which is also a full moon day, and a watch day for the rapture. I got a new bike seat and water holder so looking forward to a ride later this week. Peace out.

First Week in May

The first week in May went by fast. Sunday, after church I had to work for the day until 7:15. Sales of no contract phones and extended warranties on various products were strong last week. I remember having two tech appointments on Monday that both involved fixing laptop computers instead of desktops. Most of my tech work has been with repairing and optimizing older desktop systems from brands like Dell, Compaq, and HP. I remember seeing lots of colorful birds flying during my travels this week. I just saw and heard the chirp of a red cardinal outside on the small tree beside my patio. It must be fun to fly like a bird or like an eagle as that song says. I watched a superman movie on Saturday night and saw him fly around faster than a speeding bullet. In one scene he flys straight up into the clouds to get more energy from the sun. In the same way, the Christ follower gets new life, energy from Jesus, the Son of God. Someday at the rapture, the believer's body will fly just like superman up into the sky. Today, it is sunny and cool and I have the windows open to let the cool breezes in. The high of 69 degrees is perfect for biking this morning, and I plan to ride for an hour or more at a park in this area. There were a few hot and humid days this week, with the high temp in the 90's. It has not rained that much this spring, just a few showers and the rainfall defecit is getting larger. However, this is good weather for outdoor activities and I like that. I have been using my back machine this week everyday. It helps to relieve muscle soreness and align vertebrea in my lower back by using a special motion. I have noticed less back pain and the ability to move better during sports and exercising. For example, when I played tennis two days this week, once in a meetup group and once with a competitive player, I did not feel any lower back pain. Sunday was Mother's Day and I called Mom and she said that there house sold and they plan to move soon. I sent her a greeting card and photo both printed from my computer. During my devotional time this week I read various posts on a Christian prophecy website. One post that I remember very well was a timeline of the tribulation and second coming of Christ. The author explains key dates and historical events that support this end times perspective. Another web writer that I have followed for years thought that yesterday, May 9 would be the rapture. Well, that was not right, because today is May 10, and the church is still on the earth. I will still visit this website occassionally to see what the author thinks will happen next. Days to watch closely this week are Wednesday May 12-Saturday May 15. There is a new moon during these days, the start of another month in the Jewish calendar and May 14 is the day Israel became a Nation in 1948. There was an article recently that said a group was trying to divide the Old City of Jerusalem between the Israelis, Palestinians, and US, with an Adminstrator to rule over them. This news is straight from Bible prophecy, and could lead to the 7-year peace agreement that starts the tribulation. Whoever the new Adminstrator is will probably be the future anti-christ. It looks to me like the stage is set for the King of Kings to look down from heaven and watch the final drama play out before He returns at the Jubilee year to set up His kingdom at the New Jerusalem. My prayers go out to strengthen and encourage those Christians and new believers who may be left behind during the tribulation years. That is enough to write about in this post, so I am ending it here. Peace and blessings to you.

Last week in April

Well, this is the last week in April, ending on Friday. There is a full moon on Wednesday and some say that this is the second Passover, and a possible rapture day according to the lunar calendar. It could also be the day that the trial of Jesus began and then the journey to the cross. I just read a post titled, "Clues" that has some interesting info about the time that we are in on God's clock and what could happen in the word soon:
http://wakeupbabylon.blogspot.com/2010/04/clues.html Here is another excellent article about what could transpire this week: http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/apr2010/ellioth426.htm I have been reading about the volcano in Iceland that erupted and caused ash and smoke in the air over Europe. I was thinking that this could be the start of a chain of additional eruptions that may be the answer to Joel 2:31 "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come". This is the time of year when the most tornados are occurring. Yesterday I was riding my bike when it started to rain. I raced home and when I turned on the TV there was a tornado warning for an area just a few miles east of here. A tornado reminds me of Elijah, who was carried away into the air in a whirlwind and chariot of fire. I had the opportunity to discuss Christian doctrines this week at a small group meeting. The subject was the first part of  Mark chapter 10. After the discussion we had some snacks and someone showed pictures of a cruise ship vacation. On Friday night I went to a singles event at a game room at Hope. I played a card game and talked to others for a few minutes, then played some foosball. Next, I went to the NOTT event at a local coffee shop and played some checkers and UNO. It seemed that my friends were expecting that the end times could be starting to begin, and seemed to look to me for the answers. I told them to continue to have faith and continue to pray for the many people who are going through difficult times these days. The most important thing is faith in God, and even at church on Sunday the pastor made this point. He said that the rules set by certain church denominations like not dancing, drinking, or infant baptism, are not in the Bible but were developed over years by the followers. These rules are not the main thing, they are not required, but they can be helpful for His disciples. What is the main thing, it is following Christ and avoiding sin in everyday life. If this is my last post then I pray that you will learn to follow the Way and will have Hope in the dark world to come.

Security Software

I read this article about how I.E. blocks malware and ads better than the other browsers: http://www.pcworld.com/article/194060/internet_explorer_8s_malwareblocking_madness.html? I sometimes use Firefox, and Safari for internet surfing, but prefer I.E. most of the time. So all of those Windows updates do add to better security. Well they say that this site has lots of malicious ads: http://www.zedo.com/home.htm, but I didn't get any spyware pop-ups when opening the page. I have tried to learn some of the tools from the sysinternals website, like autoruns and process explorer. These tools enable you to see all of those third party programs that are running and stop the bad ones. Today I played a round of disc golf with a software engineer. He was talking about the type of work that he does each day and asked me about my job in on-site computer repair. Knowing how to install, configure, and scan with security software is important in an office and at a home. The security software that I installed this week on machines includes Norton I.S. 2010, AVG anti-virus, and MB. I am running Avast, AVG, and MSE on my home machines. At church the network uses symantec client security. I talked with the receptionist today at church, and once had to remove lots of malware from her infected desktop. Today there was an error when trying to install an application called OCD. I wonder if it is because of all those infected files that were removed a few weeks ago. Although I worked with hardware today, that is removing/replacing PCI cards in a desktop, more than with sofware. Even with good security software installed, don't click on links or pop-up web buttons that you are not sure are safe.

Easter Message

Tonight is the most important time and the most sacred event in the Christian calendar. I attended church this morning at Hope. In the middle of the stage there was a pile of rocks with a wall about three or four feet tall on each side. In this tomb display there was a cross and a white cloth that symbolized the left behind shroud that wrapped around Jesus. He wasn't there anymore, and that is the fact that no other religion on earth can duplicate. A risen Lord that rules not one that is still in the grave. Like the pastor said today, Jesus's teachings, the doctrine of faith, and hope are not the key to the Christian life. It is the fact that Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead that is the most important part in being a Christ follower. The songs and music this morning helped to turn my attention and thoughts to God. The Ten Commandments movie was on TV and I watched as Moses parted the red sea, and cheered for God to win. The Pharoh was really against God and is a model of the anti-christ and beast of Revelations. I hope that some lost people came to the service and were saved when a prayer was offered at the end of the message. Sometimes I feel like Evan in the movie called, Evan Almighty. He is instructed to build an ARK from God but no one understands until the waters of a lake dam collapse and a flood arrives. Someday soon I think that the rapture will occur and then the tribulation will begin. The three letters of the word ARK represent Random Acts of Kindness that Evan does by building the ark and saving the people in that neighborhood. The rapture is when God takes His people to a safe ARK in heaven during that flood called the 7-year tribulation. This is not a popular message to share, and many who do look as ridiculous and un-popular as Evan does in that comedy: looking like Noah and with all those animals following him. However, every time I do more research it becomes more clear that the earth lease is about to expire and these are the last few years that earth is like it is now. The new heaven and the rule of Jesus will start sometime before the end of 2017 and a new order of life will begin without the devil and his forces of evil. Another piece of the puzzle the I read about today is that the pyramids in Egypt are built to a height that equals the year 2016. I attended a small group meeting this week and it was about a chapter of Mark. I know that many in this group have lots of questions and prayer requests. So I am turning on the google instant- prayer software to answer them, ha. Well that is going to be the end of this post for my faith journey this week, stay tuned for the next one which will be during the count down to Ascension Day and then Pentacost in May.

Enjoying the Journey

I read a blog a few minutes ago titled, Enjoying the journey and I thought it a good title for this post. This is a great state of mind to reach, where life is a fun journey to travel on. I think about the teams that are playing basketball to reach the final four. They are on a yellow brick road which involves winning and to stay on that road takes determination, good coaching, and athletic ability. I played basketball in high school and remember when the coach would say to just enjoy playing the game. When you think about making a certain move with the ball and scoring points by hitting a three point shot, it is definately fun. I hope that I will be able to stay awake because it is late on a Sunday night and I had to work today. However, I have not wrote an entry and posted it to my blog for a week. The other blogs that I read this evening were from people that also like to exercise, like ride bike races, or run in triathlons or road races. There webpages had lots of cool pictures of the outdoors and a listing of events and training journals. This week I played tennis two days, when the high temps were in the 70's and the weather was great. I also hiked around Harris Lake park in southern Wake county on Saturday afternoon. I was thankful not to run into any snakes on the trails as spring time arrived at 1:32pm that afternoon. Several times I almost stepped on a black and a brown snake at that park while hiking and my bike wheel once caught one snake by the tail while mountain biking.
I have been reading a new Christian book this week that my parent sent in the mail. I am on chapter 4 now, reading about how to have direction and purpose in my decisions. This week has been challenging because I did my federal taxes. Because of my part time tech job I will have to pay over $230 back to uncle sam in taxes. This is when my bank account has got really low and now I am living paycheck to paycheck. I did get a free breakfast, when I attended a Men's breakfast at church on Saturday morning. Also, I used several clipper coupons that saved a few dollars on the lunch money this week. I attended a church service on Saturday evening and heard a message about the trials of Christ before Pilate, Herod, and the religious leaders on His journey to the cross. They were showing scenes from The Passion movie on the overhead projection screens during the service. Today I read discussion forum posts and articles from several end times prophecy websites. There were quiet a few posts about the Middle East peace process and speculations on what could happen in the near future. I didn't copy and save any of those webpages like I did last week. Well, it is 11:00pm tonight, and I am about to wrap it up for another day. Just got to wait until a batch of clothes finishes in the dryer and then fold them up to put away in my dresser. Oh, yeah, I had to take a product back to the grocery store tonight because it didn't have the product in the box. It was an empty box, but was completely sealed up. Don't be a lemon or bad product, have direction and purpose in you to make a difference in your world today.

Spring is almost here.

At the end of this week, March 20 is the official beginning of spring time. I think it is called the spring equinox, and there is more info about how the earth and sun are positioned on websites such as http://www.spaceweather.com/. I also read an article today about the true calendar that God gave to the Jews. It was based on Gen. 1:14, and the position of the sun and moon in relation to the stars that determined the start of the new year. Without explaining the details, the author did say that this April 14 will be the real start of the Hebrew new year based on the new moon. The trees, grass, and plants start to turn green very soon. It is like new life or resurrection is coming to the earth. This is an example of how it will be when I am in heaven and have a new body someday. Another example of resurrection happened on Easter Sunday over 2,000 years ago, three days after passover. This is when we celebrate Jesus rising from the dead, and coming out of the tomb. I am singing some songs from the church service this morning in my head as I type out this post. The glory of the risen king is a line from a song, that is the hope of Easter Sunday. There is important news in prophecy this week: they plan to dedicate a new temple in the Old City of Jerusalem on Tuesday. It seems that the Old Testament Jewish customs are becoming more an everyday part of life for those religious Jews in Israel. I read that they may even start to build the Third Temple soon, and that means the rapture could happen any day. On Thursday I attended a small group meeting for the first time in months. It was held at a small townhouse near Hope and about 8 to 10 people were there. I got an e-mail of prayer requests later in the week. Friday night was the monthly singles event and I attended that as well. I brought some popcorn and also enjoyed the other food on the table. This morning I attended the early church service and brought a monthly tithe to give. I got to talk with some of the pastors and others walking around the office between services. This evening I read a few chapters in the Christian book, The Principle of the Path. The author says that your direction or decisions that you make in life will determine your destination. My parents purchased this book and mailed it to me to read. Well, I need to make up an hour of sleep from the time change of last night, so goodnight now.

Beginning of the End Times shown in a movie?

Last night I rented the movie 2012 and watched it on my desktop PC while eating dinner. This movie starts with the sun becoming more active and sending more solar radiation to earth, which heats up the core, resulting in a destabilizing of the crust layer. I checked the Spaceweather.com website and the sun has indeed entered a new solar cycle that will have more flares and activity which will peak in 2012. Earthquakes have increased since 2009, and there were recent massive quakes in Indonesia, Haiti, and Chili that killed thousands. You can keep up with the latest tremors at the USGS website. I have also read about how a polar shift event could definately change the location of landmasses and could result in tidal waves that cover many cities and go inland very far like in this movie. I think that there is a strong chance that by the year 2012, these type of disasters depicted in this movie could really happen to the earth. Maybe I am kind of like that character in this movie that sits in an RV at Yellowstone park and warns people on a talk radio program. My hair is not that long, I just got a haircut on Saturday afternoon, and I don't wear those kinds of clothes. But the end times are indeed right around the corner and it is good to be in the ark and safe. Jesus said that like it was in Noah's days, it will be at the end. Noah built the ark for his righteous family and boarded 2 kinds of each animal. I read an interesting article that compares how the galactic alignment in the year 2012 maybe the same type that happened during the days of the Flood, and caused the huge tidal waves and springs of the deep, and the rainfall to flood the earth thousands of years ago. The science and technology involved with the Flood is fascinating and I like to learn more about it from the safety of an ark. I know that all true believers in the Lord Jesus will escape to the ark of heaven and miss the flood waters of the final seven years of tribulation that is coming to the secular world. On Saturday, I played cards with some Christian friends, one of them that is a strong supporter of Creationism. At church this Sunday the sermon was about the journey to the cross, which is a series that ends on Easter Sunday. After the service I said hi to some familiar faces, got a drink, and then helped out in the NOC room with the IT Support tech team. I replaced a failed video card, configured a user account security setting, and then setup a powerpoint desktop for slides during the services. I over heard a prayer for someone that is having a brain surgery this week while in the office at Hope. I pray that the Lord would be with him and provide healing to that problem. I also pray for my neighbors and friends that have various needs and requests. I pray that the government leaders will make decisions not in secret but based on the Word of God and in the interests of keeping everyone safe from natural disasters.  

My Recent February Travels and Views

I arrived home from a short 4-day trip to Florida last night. I was a passenger on an airplane flight down there on Feb. 26 and then back on Mar. 1. Looking out the window of the plane, since I was seated right beside it on both flights, was great. As the airplane gained altitude at takeoff, the cars, buildings, and trees became smaller and smaller. At over 30,000 feet, cars became too small to see with the eye, but roads and some structures, like nuclear power plants and office building were still visible. Large lakes, rivers, and various land patterns displayed the wonder of God's creation. It was peaceful, watching how the wind across the water causes little ripples of waves, and different shapes to form and quickly fade away. The sun was setting under high white sirrus clouds and reflecting calmly off the deep waters of a large lake in South Carolina and off the Gulf of Mexico. Farmers and others that own several acres of land divide it up so that exact squares of different shades of green and brown ground were clearly visible from the air. While in Florida, I enjoyed hiking around Saddleback park near Lakeland on Sunday. That 2.3 mile trail was offroad, consisting of dirt and sand, had a good elevation change and some high overlook locations of a small lake. Such wildlife as egrets, hawks, turtles, and one alligator were visible through my binoculars. On Sunday morning I attended church at Christ Community Church in Winter Haven, FL. The message was about how the Israelites crossed over into the promised land. While riding in a car on Monday morning, I listened to a Christian radio talk show. One of the speakers was taking about watching for the Lord's return and how to be prepared for it at anytime. Because one day Christ's church will cross over to heaven and leave behind the earth. Similar to my airplane flight, I believe that the world will become smaller as the church rises up to the clouds to meet the Lord in the air someday. This world still has sin in it, which causes those wildlife animals that I observed to have to attack and kill to survive, the curse of the fall. On Monday morning, I got to ride a bike for about an hour at Desoto park near St. Pete, FL. I had a short time of prayer and meditation at a brown bench on a nature trail the ran right beside the water. I realized the importance of a daily quiet time to re-gather my thoughts and focus. Without the Lord's help via the Holy Spirit sin will lead your life down the wrong path, one that will result in war not peace. The new month of March is here which includes the start of Spring on the 20th and Palm Sunday, then Passover on the 29th. The Bible verse on my wall calendar is Numbers 24:9- "May those who bless you be blessed..." I know that God will bless and protect His people.

Be an Olympic Champion

I have been watching the Olympics on TV since the opening ceremonies last weekend. Tonight they had an ad for the NBC Olympics website (http://www.nbcolympics.com/) and I walked over to check it out on my laptop. I was impressed with the videos that I watched online. After a few seconds of buffering and video loading time the resolution was indeed HD quality. My home internet connection was about 6.8 mbps download, which I tested at http://www.speedtest.net/ last night. I enjoy watching videos of hockey hightlights, the skeleton race, ski jumping, and alpine skiing. I have a water bottle that I would like to share here: one side says: Olympic Living, The Way of Champions. On the other side is a Bible verse from the N.T., 1 Corinthians 9:25, "All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize (NLT version). I work, study, and exercise using the best of my abilities because the prize of heaven is in sight. There is a moon gadget on the right beside this paragraph, and it is getting closer to the full moon, at about 62% of full as I write this entry. Buzz Aldrin took communion on the moon, and most people never knew that fact. I will be watching the skies this weekend, for the beautiful full moon, during the feast of Purim, when God rescued Israel in the book of Esther from there enemies. I think that it is important to stand by our friends in Jerusalem and support them as Christians in the USA. An Olympic champion is one who is on God's team and Jesus is the captain.
 

Current moon phase

CURRENT MOON

about the moon

First week in February

Well, it is raining outside this evening as I write this post. It seems to rain very frequently since 2010 started. I remember going for a bike ride and the trail was very muddy and difficult to go fast. I had to spray my mountain bike off with water after the ride to clean it up. Above is a photo of a trail close to my apartment that I ride sometimes. Today I visited a bike shop and talked to the employees there while looking at the new bikes. The only riding I have done this week was at the apartment gym on there reclining exercise bike. That was after running a mile and lifting weights. I decided to purchase a new laptop this week after doing some web research and looking around. I got a gateway NV series laptop from RadioShack on sale. Today during the rain I played a few of the gateway games that came pre-loaded on the system. I played Bejeweled2 and some solitaire. The graphics were good but have not tried any games for Windows DVD releases yet. It is a budget laptop that has a 3.3 Windows Experience rating, but enough processor, core2 T4400 and 4 GB of RAM to handle most applications that I would run. I am in the process of learning my way around Windows 7 and it's many features. Here is a picture of the the gateway nv series: from the http://www.gateway.com website:

I took it to a local restaurant with free WiFi and it worked great, although there was a connection problem with the router at this place. I discovered that someone in this building has an unsecured WiFi network that I can surf the web from sitting at my desk. However, my cable internet service is much faster using an Ethernet connection. I still play some online games such as Trackmania, Crysis, and my Steam games. With four home computers I have a small network available to share files and programs. Paulsnetwork MS Workgroup contains a Windows 2000 Compaq Presario desktop, a Windows XP Home custom built desktop, a Vista 2007 custom built desktop, and my new gateway laptop. These machines are networked together using a TP-Link 4-port router with 4 Ethernet cables. What kind of home network do you have setup?