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HOME MAINTENANCE

FEBRUARY 28, 2021



Home Maintenance

Well, the milder weather has finally begun to arrive and I promised myself I would start some painting projects when warmer temperatures started to move in. I guess it's time to follow through and get the jobs done!

First order of business will be to use my pressure stick and some bleach to get the dirt, grime, mold, and mildew washed off of the house. Next order of business will be to get some scraping done in just a couple of locations.

I purchased some white semi-gloss primer and paint and will probably start with all of the rail work on the steps, around the deck, and on some of the trim located around the low hanging roof in the back. I'll also probably hit some of the white around the back doors as well.

Next big project will be to get out the long handle paint roller and paint the stilts under the house in order to cover up the caulking I did and to get them protected and looking good again. I haven't made up my mind yet, but will probably start a trip around the house to put a new coat of gray on the cypress shingles.

Somewhere in the middle of all of this, I've got some guys coming by to replace a few pieces of wood that need to be replaced. They've already done the repair work on one or two of the deck rails, so all I need is for them to replace a few things closer to the house and to paint two areas at each end of the house and up high where I'm just not able to go.

Should prove to be a busy spring.


WEBSITE ARCHIVES

FEBRUARY 27, 2021



Website Archives

As a new month approaches, I know it's about time to get in gear and prepare a new archive for all of the posts in the most recent month. It's definitely not worth trying to automate the process as is the case with most modern blogsites. And, to be honest, the required effort to archive the previous month's posts in a more manual fashion does not involve much more effort than is required just to publish a new post.

The archival process is something I look forward to because it demonstrates continued progress as more and more monthly archives are generated. And, I've been true to my (until now) unspoken goal of creating a post each and every day, which makes the archival process even more worth while.

I also like the button I generated for the archives feature over in the left-hand menu and the way it ties into this monthly effort. The button presents a nice alternative versus other options when it comes to saving website real estate over in the menu area.

If I should add more categories, I'm thinking about adding the same functionality there as I have in he archives section. However, I'm quite a distance from taking any definitive steps in that direction. I'll need to generate enough posts on a single topic in order to justify such a new category. Presently, spiritual, running, and website tend to earn most of my attention when it comes to website posts.


HISTORY

FEBRUARY 26, 2021



The Great Debaters

My wife is an incredible history buff. She loves it and knows it top to bottom. As for me, I've always said that I'm not even sure when the war of 1812 was fought.

History was incredibly difficult for me in school. Memorizing dates and events just wasn't my thing and definitely didn't come easy for me. And, honestly, I just didn't find it very interesting at the time.

Years later, things have changed. There are actually two periods that have captured my attention over the years and I do find these historical events to be incredibly interesting. One is the Holocaust and the other is the Civil Rights Movement.

Both events tend to bring out the justice seeker in me and I'm constantly looking for, and finding, new stories of interest about each of those periods. While other historical events have become more and more interesting over the years, each of these two events still remains a favorite.

I really enjoy movies about true stories and I've been constantly on the lookout for good movies about either historical event. I often watch a movie, become quite enthused with the story, and find myself in research mode trying to understand what really happened, long after the movie credits have rolled and the screen has gone dark.

The interesting thing about history is that I can pursue these two periods that really interest me and discover all sorts of stories that spin off of the main events. Even the little-known events get written up in a book somewhere and from there are often destined to find their way to the silver screen. For some reason, these relatively unknown side-stories often tend to become a favorite with me.

One shining example is Denzel Washington's The Great Debaters. It's definitely got the overtones of a Civil Rights piece, but it's also an amazing account of a very moving story that took place during that period. I truly enjoyed watching the making of segment and being introduced to the real people behind the characters in the story. What a humbling and touching experience to hear so much of the story directly from those who lived it!


THIS IS WHAT WE DO

FEBRUARY 25, 2021



This is What We Do

I was recently watching a faith based movie when a particular line of dialog captured my attention and got me to thinking. In fact, as I considered that line, it had such an impact on me that I began to imagine how fitting it might have been in serving as the title of the movie.

The whole thing kind of reminded me of the Parable of the Rich Young Ruler. A guy is serving time by doing community service at a local church and approaches everything with the aim of serving his own selfish interests. When the folks at the church need him most, a better offer comes along and he bails out on them with no concern for the trouble he has caused by his untimely departure.

Then, when God reveals to him the wrong he has done and changes his heart, he comes back humbly and broken and seeks forgiveness. Instead of the typical cautious reception that would have certainly been justified, the church members almost immediately welcome him back in with open arms and no questions asked.

Not having been a Christian, he understand neither how nor why they were so quick and able to forgive him. I can't help but think that the Rich Young Ruler must have had a very similar experience when his father approached him. So, I'm back in? he asks. The response was, This is what we do.

I've experienced that kind of love and forgiveness and it's absolutely amazing when it happens. It will catch you by surprise and even take your breath away.

It's called GRACE.

It's amazing when God provides it, but there's also something really special that happens when Christians extend that grace to someone else, whether or not that person might be a follower of Christ. As Christians, we can afford to offer our love and forgiveness, even to those who have hurt us, because when we were not worthy of it, Christ first loved and forgave each of us.

Serving others? Turning the other cheek? Forgiving the unforgiveable? Extending kindness to the unkind? Extending patience to the impatient? Placing ourselves at risk of being taken advantage of? Trusting God and waiting on Him? Doing what seems silly and mindless to the world?

This is what we do.


WORTH SHARING!

FEBRUARY 24, 2021



Santa 1

This is a long story, but it's a worthy story!

Back in the mid-1980's I lived with Patty and the kids in Savannah, GA and had the privilege, honor, and especially the joy of an incredible friendship with an amazing brother in Christ, Rick Monroe.

Rick and I met doing lay witness mission trips together with our dear brother in Christ, Joe Strickland. We also spent Saturday mornings together over coffee sharing our hearts in pursuit of a deeper walk with Christ our Lord.

In fact, Allie joined Patty and I on a few mission trips and worked with Rick's youth team. And when it came time for Allie and Josh to marry, I suggested that Rick might be the guy to officiate at the ceremony. Rick had to get approved and certified in order to perform that task and, just like Rick, he did so just for this special occasion.

Do a fast rewind back to Christmas morning at the DeLoach house in Savannah in the mid-1980's and Santa (Rick) notifies me that he and his elves will soon be dropping by with the sleigh to visit our kids. His elves (two young ladies from Rick's young life organization) gave up their Christmas morning to travel with Rick and fulfill the Christmas dreams of young children all over Savannah!

Santa 1

When Santa and his elves arrived, we captured the event on video (which is long gone) and in pictures (two of which survived.) Those pictures were recently electronically scanned and saved for posterity by our daughter, who now has two children of her own, but had twinkles in her eyes back then when Santa arrived with his elves.

Rick and I still write and talk from time to time, and I felt sure he would want to see those old photographs, so I sent them his way in the following email.


Hey Rick,

Allie has been scanning literally hundreds and hundreds of old pictures and I thought you might enjoy these. We sure have!

Thanks again for the great experience and wonderful memories! And if you still keep up with these ladies please send our love and feel free to share the pictures!

Much Love,

Hutch


I wasn't prepared for the heart-breaking news in Rick's response.


Hutch:

Thanks for the pictures! Sunday was the first anniversary of the day the Lord called Elizabeth home after a valiant 4 year bout with cancer. (She is the blonde in the photo) The attached Word Doc will explain it. (A Facebook post on a Young Life Alumni page)

Judy and I had the honor of spending time with Mike this past Sunday. He came here because Elizabeth is buried here. He left today to return home.

He lives in San Diego with Elizabeth’s two kids and his…..a Brady Bunch….all within 2 years of age. (High school)

I have sent the photos to him. He has no photographical record of Elizabeth as an “Elf”. Now he does.

Thank you for providing good medicine for a hurting heart. But…that’s just you.

Great to hear from you. I look forward to heaven when miles and years no longer separate.

Rick


Here's the Facebook post that Rick mentioned.


When you get older you tend to take inventory on what you have done in your life…..and what you have not done.

I never won a championship….at anything. In high school I had no idea that there was a National Honors Society. I was never a best man in a wedding. Marrying late, I have never contributed to the gene pool….I will never walk a daughter down the aisle….and I never had the awesome privilege of witnessing the miracle of childbirth.

But…. I would not trade anything for God’s gift of witnessing the miracle of someone being born again. I had that privilege numerous times during my time as a YL leader.

One of those someones was Elizabeth Emmons.

Today, those who loved her most said goodbye at her funeral. Her earthly life ended when she was promoted to Heaven. God answered our prayers for healing in His way rather than ours.

It was a sad day…but there was joy. Sadness and joy coexisting sounds like an oxymoron. But it’s possible, because the Promise Maker is the promise keeper.

I had the privilege of introducing Elizabeth to her Savior when she was in high school. From there I had the honor of being able to watch her grow in her faith from a high school kid who was a new Christian into a vibrant, contagious powerful woman of God.

Elizabeth’s relationship with Jesus morphed from Savior to Lord….from believing in Jesus to believing Jesus. Her hope became assurance, elevating her “hope so” to “know so”.

On Friday, Feb. 21 the internal became eternal….the heart into which Elizabeth invited Jesus to make His home was brought to a new home He had prepared for her.

During her funeral today my mind wandered and wondered…..if one day Elizabeth will return the favor and introduce me to our Savior she now sees…not just by faith, but by sight.

God gave Elizabeth a gift in her husband, Mike. When we witnessed them at the marriage altar and he vowed “…in sickness and in health….” he had no idea what he was promising. But….Mike lived his vows faithfully. He was God’s provision for her….an answer to prayer that was every bit God’s “very present help” in time of need. Elizabeth’s vibrant faith throughout her illness, combined with Mikes bold walk of faith alongside her has preached sermons without words that have changed trajectories and eternities that we’ll never be able to count this side of Heaven.

It’s an amazing love story: early one Friday morning Elizabeth left the arms that loved her unconditionally and landed in the arms that love her infinitely.

I heard someone say “We’ve lost Elizabeth.” I understand that…but in reality Elizabeth has not been lost since that day she asked Him to come into her heart.

And today, I know exactly where she is….

….because the Promise Maker is the promise keeper.


NEW SHOES

FEBRUARY 23, 2021



New Shoes

When it comes to leisure sneakers, I'm a big fan of the K-Swiss brand and have been for a long time. After wearing out my old shoes, I recently picked up a pair of the men's ST329 CMF sneakers and really like them! K-Swiss considers that shoe a 'cult classic' so I guess that means I'm part of their cult.

Now, when it comes to running shoes, I'm an Asics guy all the way. I placed an order with Amazon for my new shoes and was supposed to receive them two days ago (Sunday.) Instead, I received them early (Friday), the same day I received my second Covid-19 vaccine injection. Well, yesterday (Monday) I finally got to try them out and it was a great experience as usual.

It's amazing to me how easy it is to get used to bad (old!) running shoes and accept the wear and tear on my feet, no to mention the rest of my body. When I've been running with those old shoes for far too long, the first few days in those new running shoes becomes such a dramatically different experience that I feel like I'm out running on thick, comfortable, carpet.

I also like New Balance and even Nike, but over many thousands of miles the Asics Gel's have consistently proven to be the best running shoe for me. The stability, toe construction, and over-all feel for my feet makes the Asics Gel's my go-to running shoe and a real winner for all of the distance races I've run over the years and all of the training I'm doing these days. The way I'm going on, you'd think Asics was paying me LOL!

I was so much looking forward to getting out with them that I failed to do my daily weather radar check or I probably wouldn't have taken a chance on getting out at the point I did. Fortunately, I got home before any rain arrived.

After a quick look at the radar, since Patty was still out walking, I was persuaded to hop in the car with an umbrella in case Patty needed it. She was less than a mile from the house when I met up with her and she took the umbrella. As it turns out, she opened it up on the last tenth of a mile - which is where the pavement from the end of the highway meets the dirt road that leads to our house. Fortunately, it was just a light drizzle.

Oh, one other thing! As usual with the new shoes, I forgot that those thick and round shaped lacess don't tend to stay tied very well (especially when they're new) and I forgot to double knot them. I had to pause not once but twice in the last tenth of a mile to re-tie each shoe. I would say lesson learned, but it will probably happened again since I tend to go a long time between new shoes.


GOD STUFF

FEBRUARY 22, 2021



God Stuff

facet: one side of something many-sided, especially of a cut gem.

If my studies of Christ have taught me anything, it's that He is a savior with countless facets. I'm sure it's been said before, but the study of Christ and His many facets could easily take a lifetime with a result of only barely scratching the surface of all there is to know, not to mention all that we will never know.

In my walk with Christ, I've come to understand two things: I need to know what I believe and, equally or more importantly, I need to know why I believe. The 'what' without the 'why' is like saying, I believe because somebody told me.

Most Christians with whom I'm familiar, and myself included, have had a real God experience via the Holy Spirit. I'm not talking about the types of day-to-day experiences we have with God such as an answered prayer, rather I'm talking about the powerful kind of God moment that brings us to that level of faith that is required of us to see what we cannot see, hear what we cannot hear, and do what we otherwise would not be able to do.


ROUND 2 DAY 3

FEBRUARY 21, 2021



Corona6

Well, we received our injections Friday about 11:30 AM and it's now Sunday about 10:00 AM. I'm amazed at how much my appetite stayed with me throughout the course of events. And our splurge with the take-out pizzas on Friday night didn't help much with the weight maintenance, but they sure went down good as we prepared for whatever was going to come our way.

I had a low grade fever Friday night which hit 99.1 and once again on Saturday evening where it hit 99.6. I suppose the Tylenol all day Saturday was the main thing holding back a fever and a more serious case of the blah's. Fortunately, no muscle soreness and no sore arm this time at the injection sight.

The low grade fever broke last night after I went to bed and I'm feeling pretty much back to normal today. I took several days off from running just to keep up a healthy immune system and in order to prevent further complications from the injections. Today will be day four without a run, but I plan to start back tomorrow.

I suspect that our new normal won't look much different from our current routine. I would imagine any eat-outs will probably lean more toward take-outs and I'm guessing that masks will still be in the picture when we feel it's necessary

Most of all, and as the picture above indicates, I'm quite grateful for all that has been made available to us in order to fight this pandemic. The medical staff that managed both injections here in Crawfordville, Florida were very kind, professional, and amazingly well organized. Our thanks also go out to the companies that brought us the vaccines. And most importantly, I'm grateful to God for His hand in protecting us from the Covid-19 pandemic and in minimizing our reactions to the injections.

What a strange season of life we've had with this pandemic. I could have never imagined it.


ROUND TWO RESULTS

FEBRUARY 20, 2021



Corona 15

Well, we received our second injection yesterday around 11:30 AM and after 23 hours I'm encouraged with the results. Of course that takes into account three rounds of Tylenol so far but I'm okay with that considering everything else.

We had no side effects until last night around 8:30 PM, about nine hours after we received our injections. Our body temperatures dropped and so we decided to take two extra strength Tylenol each, get under the covers, get warm, and call it an early night. It wasn't a real case of chills or anything like that, it was just an overall sense of being cold.

We got up in the middle of the night for another round of extra strength Tylenol due to return of unstable body temperatures, and then had a third round of Tylenol about 8:00 AM this morning when we decided to get up. And, after a long night of being locked up, the cat was certainly glad to see us.

I was pleased that we were both well enough to have an appetite and opted for bagels and hot tea. I even made a trip out into the cold to check the mail. If this turns out to be the as bad as it gets, I would be delighted.

As I've said before, we'll see...


COVID-19 VACCINE

FEBRUARY 19, 2021



Covid-19

On January 23rd, Patty and I were injected with our first round of the Covid-19 vaccine. Today, at 11:30 AM, we're scheduled for our second round.

We got a call this week that our appointment had been moved from 8:45 AM to 11:30 AM and the location had been changed from the health department to the community center.

On the first round, we both had a sore arm for just a couple of days and no other reaction. We're told that there's a real possibility that today's injection will potentially bring additional and more serious side effects.

I was on one of my ham radio club nets this week and, from others who have already had both rounds, there was mention of flu like symptoms including fever, chills, nausea, and achy muscles. Different people described different symptoms and some folks had no reaction at all.

Like others we've heard about, Patty and I have the Tylenol and chicken noodle soup out with a few other grab and go things to eat should either or both of us wind up in the bed for a day or two.

I'm also told that the typical symptoms last about 36 hours but I'm not totally clear on when that will all begin. I think there was mention that most people started having symptoms on the day after the injection and about mid-day on the second day after they were already getting back to normal.

I guess we'll see.


HAM RADIO

FEBRUARY 18, 2021



FT4

Amateur (Ham) Radio is such a cool hobby and it's changing at the speed of light. I was slow to get into the world of Ham Radio's digital modes but in 2018 I started dabbling with them and on January 18, 2019 I said goodbye to Single Side-Band and hello to FT8.

Since that time, and as of yesterday, I've made 3,331 FT8 contacts. I also upgraded yesterday from WSJT-X 2.0 to 2.4 and jumped in with both feet to FT4 with 33 contacts made yesterday just before the 20 meter band said good night to this part of the country.

I'm not sure what it is, about allowing a computer to make an electronic contact via my ham radio that is so fun and interesting, but that's basically what I'm doing and it is indeed fun and interesting.

The world of digital modes has opened up doors of opportunity that I could have never imagined including having worked all 50 states and presently 125 countries on all of the major continents, not to mention additional awards from qrz.com for contacts made to most all of the countries in Europe and South and Central America.

Not bad for 100 watts and a wire.


THE TRUMP I SAW

FEBRUARY 17, 2021



Author Unknown

I still love my democrat friends and family, but you see it your way and I see it mine. You saw Trump’s arrogance, I saw Trump’s confidence. You saw Trump’s nationalism, I saw Trump’s patriotism.

You heard Trump’s unsophisticated words, I heard Trump’s honesty. You saw Trump’s racism, I saw Trump’s words being misconstrued and twisted by the media daily to fit their narrative.

You saw Trump as a Republican, I saw Trump as a Patriot. You saw Trump as a dictator, I saw Trump as a leader. You saw Trump as an Authoritarian, I saw Trump as the only one willing to fight for our freedoms.

You saw Trump as childish, I saw Trump as a fighter, unwilling to cave to lies. You saw Trump as an unpolished politician, I saw Trump as a breath of fresh air.

You believe Trump hates immigrants, I know Trump married an immigrant. You saw Trump putting an end to immigration in America, I saw Trump welcoming immigrants to America LEGALLY. You saw Trump’s cages at the border, I saw Obama’s cages at the border.

You saw Trump with a struggling economy, I saw Trump with an amazing economy until Democrats shut it down. You saw violence in the streets and called it “Trump’s America”, I saw violence in the streets of Democrat-run cities who refused Trump’s help and who called the violence “Liberal America.”

You wanted someone more "Presidential", I’m happy we had someone who finally didn’t just talk the talk but actually walked the walk.

You and I? We see things very differently.

Author unknown.


AMAZING FRIENDS

FEBRUARY 16, 2021



Amazing Friends

In 2011 the company I was working for (Netezza) was acquired by IBM and in 2012 IBM sent me to Bangalore, India to teach a Netezza class to a large group made up of IBM customers, IBM partners, and IBM'ers. It was an amazing experience and one that I will never forget.

What an honor it was to work with such kind and hard-working people. I don't think I've ever had a more incredible classroom experience or felt more touched by a group of students than I was by this wonderful and amazing group!

We had a limited number of workstations in the class and had to put three people to each workstation. In any other situation that might have been a problem, but these people worked so well together that it was just never an issue - even when seated with people they didn't know.

Bangalore is a city of approximately 8.5 million people and the ride to and from class each day was an amazing and educational experience in its own right. Still, it was the warm and caring people behind all of these smiling faces that ultimately won me over.

I will always be grateful for the many friends I made on that trip! After five days together in the classroom, I fear I learned much more from them than they did from me.


COVID-19 VARIANTS

FEBRUARY 15, 2021



Covid-19 Variants

It's Monday morning the 15th as I'm typing. This coming Friday the 19th, Patty and I are scheduled to head over to the Crawfordville Health Center first thing in the morning to receive our second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

We've heard the stories that the second dose is more likely to bring with it some undesirable side-effects. As such, we are fully prepared with extra strength Tylenol, some easy to grab food, and an empty calendar to allow for sleeping it off if necessary.

We're told that we need to allow for another two weeks after the second dose before we reach the full 95% level of defense against Corona. That's not going to be a problem either since we've been pretty much staying to ourselves throughout the pandemic.

I remember last spring and into the summer that there was mention of a more risky season as fall rolled in and it does seem that was the case. However, I didn't hear any mention of Covid-19 strains or variants as is now the case. Apparently, we're now dealing with three variants.

I'm reading that there are actually many tiny changes in the genetic sequence of the virus, but the three main strains or variants are circulating more quickly and bring greater cause for concern. Apparently, we're now facing the Brazilian variant, the UK variant, and the South African variant.

And, if I remember correctly what I heard or read last night, the current vaccine has generally proven to be effective against the new strains of the virus. That would be good news if it does indeed play out in the coming weeks and months. My history with respiratory battles has not been very good so I hope to avoid this entire mess.


HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

FEBRUARY 14, 2021



Happy Valentine's Day

The happiest day in my life was the day I found my soulmate (and every day since!)

Happy Valentine's Day My Love!


RUNNING DATA

FEBRUARY 13, 2021



Running Data

I finally got serious about doing some mental tabulations during one of my runs and decided to take on the challenge during today's run. The goal was to finally, once and for all, make a determination about the difference in my running pace and my walking pace.

I know, it doesn't sound that difficult.

The challenge is trying to not only remember the various data points, a feat at which I'm not that good to start with, but then to do the math on those data points for both the running and walking segments - all while I'm out running. Add to that the idea that I wanted to determine the difference at different paces and needed to be able to remember the results of my calculations and it becomes a very difficult challenge.

But, one of the primary things it accomplishes for me is the ability to take that difference and subtract it out for each walking segment to see what my overall running pace looked like. That probably sounds absurd to a neuro-typical individual, but for me it makes running more interesting. And, anything I can do with my running to keep it from falling into the trap of becoming mundane is a good thing!

What I determined was that the difference between covering a .05 mile distance running and walking is 20 seconds with a comfortable running pace and 25 seconds with a running pace that requires a bit more effort. So, on a 3 mile run with a typical 5 segments walked, that means I'm adding about 2 minutes to my overall time, plus or minus and depending upon my running pace.

Put another way, every walking segment that I opt out of is another 20 to 25 seconds off my total time for the three miles. Of course, that raises questions about my ability to maintain the running pace when I opt out of a walking segment.

But race-day variables are the thing that's missing. In other words, what would I achieve if the race day variables were present, pushing me to max out my pace and opt out of any walking? I guess I'll know the answer to that one if and when I decide to take on another 5K.


I'M ONTO SOMETHING

FEBRUARY 12, 2021



I'm Onto Something

I think I'm onto something with this running and walking thing! Today, I pushed myself on the running segments more than I usually would and took full advantage of the .05 mile walking segments at the end of each half mile - except for the last half mile.

So, basically I'm running .45 miles and walking .05 miles and doing that a total of 5 times. Then I run the last .50 miles since I would be finished with the run at the end of that last half mile anyway.

Here's the result and an interesting comparison.

On January 27th and February 3rd I ran three milers with no walking segments. My total time for each run was a relatively consistent 25:47 and 25:56 respectively. Then, today I ran a three miler with the five walking segments at the end of each half mile, as previously described, and my total time was 25:42 - a bit faster than either of the prior three milers - even with the additional 5 walking segments!

Here's a chart to show the differences:

DATEMile 1Mile 2Mile 3TimePaceAHR*MHR*
02/12/202109:02.0508:35.8908:04.3325:42.2008:33130156
02/03/202109:14.0908:33.5908:08.4525:56.1008:38134151
01/27/202109:06.7208:35.1608:04.7125:46.6008:35132153

* AHR = Average Heart Rate and MHR = Maximum Heart Rate.

My takeaway is that the walking segments, which would logically increase my total time and average pace, in fact reduce both due to the rest and the resulting strength that is achieved for the following running segment.

Now, the big question is how I would perform in race conditions and also whether or not I am able to push myself as hard, or even harder, in those instances when I run the full distance with no walking segments.

One thing is for sure! To keep the runs enjoyable in my training environment, I intend to stay with the walking segments unless and until I decide to train for a 5K.


FOGGY RUN

FEBRUARY 11, 2021



Foggy Run

I've run in fog before, but yesterday's fog wins the grand prize. I'm sure it was a bit dangerous to be running in fog that thick on a two lane blacktop, even if it was out here in the county where we don't get much traffic to start with.

Still, with the thick fog I was much more attentive during the run. I usually am able to get in a groove, but yesterday the groove was all about watching for cars popping out of the fog. I did have one or two show up, pretty much out of nowhere, but it wasn't difficult at all to be proactive and steer clear of any trouble.

Using the GPS on my smart watch, I was able to determine that visibility was about 1/20th of a mile or .05 miles. But that honestly sounds farther than it seemed when I was running in that stuff. I was wearing sun glasses just to keep the fog's mist out of my eyes and had to wipe them down more than a few times.

The temp was 62°F when I left and up to 63°F when I arrived bac home. No breeze at all but the mist from the rolling fog made up for it and kept me cool. We seem to be in a season full of gray days, but I'm looking forward to getting back to running in the warm Florida sunshine once again.


CHOOSING TO SEE

FEBRUARY 10, 2021



Choosing to See

Have you ever taken the time to consider the difference between the ideas of being child-like and being childish? Matthew 18:3 calls us to the former while 1 Corinthians 13:11 calls us away from the latter.

I fear, over the process of many years, that I have allowed myself to be trained by the world to see being child-like as a flaw in the life of a mature individual. While accepting this idea may feel like it protects me from the evils of the world, all it really does is make a statement that I don't trust God.

I fear more importantly that there are real consequences to rejecting that passage in Matthew 18. I fear that it shields me from the ability to see, hear, believe, and receive all of the wonderful lessons and blessings that Jesus Christ has for me in this incredible life with which I have been gifted.

I want to continue to be child-like in my faith. I'm choosing God's view over the world's view. I'm choosing to see, hear, believe and receive all that God has for me. I'm choosing to be in the world without becoming of it. I'm choosing to be wise as a serpent while remaining innocent as a dove. I'm choosing to remain child-like as I'm putting away childish things.

I like the way Arthur Mendelson said it in the movie Patch Adams.

See what no one else sees.
See what everyone chooses not to see...
out of fear, conformity or laziness.
See the whole world anew each day!

I'm choosing to see!


GOD IS WORKING

FEBRUARY 09, 2021



A God Moment

Among Christians, Romans 8:28 tends to provide a foundation for our lives like few other passages. It says:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Some of us like to call them, God Moments. They are those special moments where we see God working out a plan and in a way that we could have never imagined. For many of us, God moments can be found not only in Life's most significant events, but also in those simple and quiet moments that barely show up on our radar - until we see God working.

In either case, my experience with God moments is that they very often turn out to be ah-ha! moments. That's because I'm unable to find an answer to my question until God draws open the curtain and presents me with that which He has already done for me.

Such was the case yesterday.

In recent posts I've described my quandary over the shift from weight-loss to weight-maintenance. It doesn't seem logical, but the former actually seemed easier than the latter, probably because I've never really been at a point in my life where I reached the latter.

Anyway, I'm a record keeper. And, in the same way that I've kept a running log to measure my success, I've also kept a log to track my weight-loss progress. But, watching the results in that log, when I made the shift to weight-maintenance, was a bit depressing. I felt trapped in an up one day, down the next cycle and I really had no idea how to deal with it. I had even shared my frustration with Patty at that time.

Cue the God moment.

On the same morning that God brought an answer, I discovered that Patty had been praying for me. I didn't know that she was praying and she didn't know that her prayer was being answered as she offered it.

It came to my attention that I could make changes to my log to show a favorable result as long as I kept my weight in a predefined range. Up one day and down the next no longer mattered, as long as the ups and downs kept me in that range.

Thank you, God - for those You Moments!


WEBSITE VISITORS

FEBRUARY 08, 2021



Website Visitors

My writing posts here on the blog, designing the website, building new features, getting creative, and dabbling with the technology all have one thing in common:

I don't do any of them with the aim of engaging an audience.

I know, it sounds a bit odd.

But, it's true.

Every now and then I will write a post like this one just in case the rare visitor drops by and doesn't happen to read my about page, where I have also explained a few of my reasons for doing what I do here on the website.

The logging feature that I built will indicate I have visitors from time to time. But again, that's not the goal. All I can really see in the log is that I had a visitor visit my website via a web service provider or I had a visit from one of the countless web crawlers that serve all of the major and lesser known technological organizations.

So, I don't know anything about the individual users or the folks working behind the scenes with the corporate crawlers. And, I haven't added any comments capabilities either because connecting is not why I do what I'm doing here.

The times on the log entries also provide a hint as to the origin of the hits. For example, a web crawler usually just hits a page and moves to the next one. So, from one hit to the next from that crawler, the time intervals between hits are usually quite small and insignificant.

On the other hand, a legitimate user working via a web service provider will take the time to read various pages. And, the time it takes to do that also shows up in the log and tends to suggest that it was indeed a user who visited. That's about as close as I come to engaging an audience and serves my purposes completely.

Believe it or not, I actually had a user who was able to add some malicious code to one of the fields in my log. The program that I wrote to display my log also executed the malicious code as the user must have intended and anticipated. For anyone who is curious, that's what is known as a SQL injection and was executed by the PHP program that I mentioned I had written to display the log.

Fortunately, the code that executed initiated a sequence of events that required a response from me to proceed. While the request for a response looked very legitimate at first glance, it still looked just suspicious enough to tip me off before I responded. And, by closing things down without responding, I was able to prevent any damage to my system.

Chasing that code down, to determine the origin of the problem, was quite an interesting exercise. It was my first exposure to malicious code presented via a SQL injection and my first ever exposure from the victim's side of an event.

That's just one more reason that I enjoy building and adding to this website. There's so much to learn about so many aspects of the technology, especially including security and the efforts from hackers made against the code I write.

Still, if you are reading this and want to reach out to me for any reason, feel free to use the CONTACT menu link in the left column or follow the right column to my Twitter account and ping me there.


Running Weather

FEBRUARY 07, 2021



Running Weather

It was supposed to get into the 60's today but never rose above 52 here on the island. Combine that with the relatively strong winds that were present all day long, and I decided to combat my OCD and (for the first time in a long time) skip my run. I just don't like running in cold conditions!

The wind chill that comes from moderately chilly temps and relatively strong and gusty winds makes for an extremely cold and unpleasant run! (Yes, I actually consider runs in good weather to be pleasant.)

Between wind and cold temps, I can run if even only one is favorable. But when both are working together against me on the cold side (I don't mind the heat!) it's time to pack it in and wait for another day. That's going to be the new anti-OCD rule instead of the one that says run even if there's an approaching lightning storm in the area.

To put things in perspective, I often have to put on my weather prognosticator hat and make timely decisions about windows of opportunity for getting in a run amidst all of the weather that seems to be headed our way. Years ago I mis-read conditions and wound up running in a lightning storm. And, you guessed it, lightning struck a power pole immediately after I passed it on the sidewalk.

And, even more recently, I accounted for approaching weather but failed to anticipate any pop-up rain clouds and wound up putting my wife and I in light rain on one of our chilly outings. Since then, she has very wisely carried an umbrella on those 'iffy' looking days.


Delete

FEBRUARY 06, 2021



Delete

It's still February 6, 2021 but it's getting late. I just deleted the blog post that I wrote and published this morning.

For some reason, the Lord kept what I wrote front and center on my mind today and the more I thought about what I had written, the more I struggled with it. And finally, I was left with no choice but to delete it.

It's late, so perhaps I'll try again tomorrow.


PROMISE LAND

FEBRUARY 05, 2021



Promise Land

When we moved Martha in with us, we rented a storage facility to store all of her belongings that she would not need in our home, both big and small. The facility is only about 6 miles away and the folks there have been very supportive.

When getting our house set back up after Martha's passing, we were able to squeeze everything into storage except her beloved recliner. We advertised it as a free give-away with a picture on our Next Door app and within only a few short hours it was picked up by some nice folks who live just a few short miles away.

We had planned to offer everything else in storage to the local Habitat for Humanity but they didn't provide a pick up service and we had no cost effective manner for getting everything to them. By the time I had discovered that the Habitat for Humanity in Tallahassee did have a pick-up service, my wife was reminding me of the local ministry called Promise Land who also just happens to take care of the common area landscaping for our humble HOA. They have a pick-up service so I called them last week for a pick-up appointment.

We were scheduled for today but rain was in the forecast so they called yesterday and asked if they could meet us to take care of the mattresses and any other items that would not do well in the rain. We met yesterday and handed off what we could and set up a 7:45 am appointment for this morning so they could get everything else - hopefully before the rain moved in.

Today's weather has been very cooperative and the good folks at Promise Land made the pickup as scheduled and as promised. JJ and his team were awesome and I hope to have an opportunity to work with them again real soon!


MARTHA

FEBRUARY 04, 2021



Martha
When we all lived in Pensacola, Patty and I took Martha over to Foley, Alabama to enjoy a home cooked meal at Lambert's Cafe.

We lost Martha a month ago, on January 2, 2021. Today would have been her 91st birthday and I thought it might be nice to take a moment to remember her here on the blog.

Like so many parents, Martha wanted to stay close to her only child and so we helped to get her moved up from Albany, Georgia, where we had all lived for so many years, to Douglasville, Georgia where Patty and I spent 25 years and raised our two kids.

When Patty and I decided to make our big move to Florida, we took Martha with us and once again helped her find a nice place to live and to call her own. Fast forward to October 2019 and with Martha's declining health, we decided to move her in with us.

Only the Lord could have designed such an awesome master plan to provide Patty and I with over a year of time together with Martha before He called her home. I will always be grateful to God for the way He worked things together for good in a plan that neither Patty nor I could have designed or even imagined.

Rest in peace, Martha.


RUNNING DECISIONS

FEBRUARY 03, 2021



Running Decisions

The only thing I like less than running in cold weather is running in cold and windy weather. That's the way it's been around here for the last day or two and it's no fun. Deciding what to wear out on a run like that is only half the battle. Actually enduring the elements on that cold and windy run is the other half!

I've got an indoor/outdoor thermometer, but no way to measure the winds so it's all a bit of a guessing game for me. Fortunately, with a house up on stilts and some 25' in the air, I've got a great view of the surrounding area and can usually tell what I'm going to be up against with any wind that might be present.

I've got a minimum temperature level and a maximum wind speed that I'm willing to tolerate, and outside of that range I'm off to the gym. Unfortunately, with the introduction of Covid-19, the gym ceased to be an option and it was all about how much I could tolerate when those miserable conditions rolled in.

We're 16 days from our second shot of the vaccine and another 14 days after that to let the second dose reach its 95% effective level. After that it's back to the gym for us on bad weather days and especially at that time in the hot summer months when the yellow flies and their painful bites are back and in full swing.


MORE WEB STUFF

FEBRUARY 02, 2021



WEBSITE UPDATE

I'm always impressed with all of the coding examples that are just waiting to be discovered out on the web. I'm especially amazed at how much there is to learn by plugging in the code and then making very small changes to try and achieve a specific result.

That was exactly the case last night as I went about trying to develop a dropdown box for the menu access to my archives. As I continue to add monthly archives, the entire feature has begun to occupy too much website real estate so I wanted to recapture space by converting the whole thing to a dropdown box.

I didn't like the simplistic examples that used web forms to accomplish the task. I'm not real excited about the idea of having to select an archive from a dropdown list and then hit a submit button to be taken to the appropriate archive. I wanted to produce what I've already seen on major blogging sites where an item in the dropdown box list is selected and automatically delivers me to a specific location in the blog.

I also wasn't really excited about debugging javascript to achieve the effect and found a CSS dropdown button example that looked very enticing. I plugged in the code and then started dabbling with the CSS in the primary style sheet until I got things just the way I wanted them.

It was a great learning exercise and a lot of fun to build it out and tailor it to meet my needs.


A RUN IN THE RAIN

FEBRUARY 01, 2021



A RUN IN THE RAIN

February has arrived with a bang! It's 8:20 am as I type and it's 47 degrees here on Live Oak Island. The internet has our winds at 15 to 25 mph with stronger wind gusts. Far from a good day for running.

From what I can hear (and feel) the gusts are indeed stronger! I just took the garbage out and put some mail in the mailbox and the wind gusts were definitely having their way with me.

Speaking of running, yesterday proved to be interesting. The forecast called for rain all day and well into the evening. However, around noon I saw a hole in the weather on the internet radar and mentioned to Patty that I thought we might have a window to get out as long as there weren't any pop-up storms.

Well, we got out and Patty made a smart move to carry an umbrella just in case. I made the turn for home at 1.5 miles and as I passed Patty at mile 2 it started sprinkling and she had her umbrella out. It sprinkled on me for the first half of my last mile and then it turned to a steady rain. When I got home from my run, I jumped in the car and dashed to pick up Patty from her fast walk.

As I met her she had already made the turn for home and was walking along, open umbrella in hand, and in a pretty steady rain. I felt really bad about the terrible forecast I had provided, but true to form she laughed it off and said she was pretending to take a walk over in London. Leave it to Patty to always make lemonade out of any lemons that life serves up to her.

When I got home a quick check of the radar indicated that, rather than pop-up storms, we were experiencing large patches of rain that were coming out of nowhere. So much for my ability to find open windows for walking or running in between the raindrops.

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