Out with the OLD and in with the NEW

The year 2003 is almost GONE. POOF! Where in the world did it go? All I know is that I will be GLAD to see it be GONE. The year 2003 was not one of my favorites along with 2000,01 and 02. Maybe 2004 WILL be much better for me and my family.

I must say that things are starting to look better for us with regards to finances. Katy is doing substitute teaching and I am doing private security. We are not bringing in as much income as we are used to BUT we are bringing in SOMETHING which compared to NOTHING is a very good start on the new year.

The other day Katy managed to injure herself on a bed frame. You might be asking yourself "how in the world can you injure yourself on a bed frame?" You can do that by take the frame off the bed and sitting it in the hallway outside of Justn's room with the sharp ends pointing towards the door and then running into it with your bare foot at full speed. Can you say OUCH ??? Poor dear is hobbling along but healing nicely.

Remember the Lady in the Shoe who moved out of the shoe into a brand new triple wide trailer next to us? I am happy to annouce that the Lady in the Shoe is now being promoted to Nurse Shannon. :) Nurse Shannon has been faithfully tending to the minor medical emergencies in her own personal slum community here at the bottom of the hill. We lovingly call Nurse Shannon and her Paul Bunyon (the REAL man of the neighborhood) as Slum Lords. :)

On November 27 of 2003 I started up a Yahoo Group called Happy Days and Special Times for all of the family members who are associated with this awesome group here in Charleston SC. In just 30 days we have 16 members and over 200 messages. I am looking forward to seeing more and more folks signing up and becoming a part of our cyber extension of this wonderful community of families who support one another. You can view the website for Happy Days at Founder Debbie Stephenson

Battle Plan ministries Bill Berry (founder and newly ordained minister of Central Church) has decided to encourage the men to enter into 2004 by starting it out with the 40 Days of Purpose by Rick Warren who is the pastor of Saddleback Church in California. You can find the specifics of this devotional series by visiting their website at the following link. Rick Warren Founder of Saddleback Church As a ministry leader at Battle Plan Ministries I am being encouraged by our Elderberry (now called RevBerry) to engage in this 40 days of purpose devotional. I am going to be in prayer about doing just that. Katy and I started this devotional in 2003 but thanks to our circumstances we found ourselves not being able to complete it. Perhaps this would be a great time to engage this study.

Thanks to the folks at Happy Days and Food Lion our children were sponsored for Christmas and received many new and exciting toys under the Christmas tree. Thank YOU Food Lion and Happy Days for your support once again during Christmas. I am going to pursue a job at Charleston County as an Emergency Services Dispatcher and have a friend of mine that works in the same building to deliver my application and resume to the director of this department. Pray that I might have favor in this situation and that they will consider hiring me to be a dispatcher.

We wish you a Happy New Year filled with PEACE, LOVE, GOOD HEALTH and JOY for 2004. God bless

Berkeley County South Carolina Web Page

Berkeley County South Carolina Web Page

I worked 2pm until 10 pm today at Bayer Industrial park. Yes, the same company that makes Bayer Aspirin. At this plant they do not manufacture that product though. I got home at 10 pm and headed down Redbank Road, turned right on Old Back River rd. I stopped at the 3 way stop that the county just installed and then turned left on Mapleridge Dr. I almost ALWAYS use my turn signals. I was slowing down at the end of Mapleridge Drive to let the neighborhood scrooge pull his new white Ford Mustang into his driveway when I see blue and white overheads coming on behind me. Say do what I thought? At first I thought that they must be responding to a call down by one of the trailers where we live. Nevertheless I stopped the car and the first officer in the first of three units came up to my car with his flashlight on me. The deputy told me that I did not use my turn signal when entering Mapleridge drive and that is why they (all three units) stopped me. When the deputy saw my security uniform he told me that they were doing drug enforcement in our neighborhood and that he was going to let me go. I told him thank you and went on my merry way and heard one of the other units on my hand held scanner talk to the officer that stopped me. The deputy stated that I was wearing an American Security Jacket and that is why he probably did not jack me up.

Now that I am thinking about it they must have been sitting off of a side street in my neighborhood because they were not sitting anywhere on Old Backriver between Redbank and where I turned. That means there was no way that they could have seen whether I used my turn signal or not.
I think that they were looking to jack up a druggie on our street which unfortunately is KNOWN to have some shady characters. Oh well, they threw me back into the pond and maybe they will get lucky on the next one they reel in.

Search for Missing West Ashley Child - WCBD-TV, Charleston, South Carolina

Search for Missing West Ashley Child - WCBD-TV, Charleston, South Carolina

A Christmas miracle that happened right here in the lowcountry of South Carolina. Thank you Jesus for keeping this child safe in freezing weather out in the woods of West Ashley....

Jesus Connect Ministries BBS

jesus-connect.net :: Index

Have you ever heard of Jesus Connect Ministries? If not, now you have. :) Jesus Connect Ministries is a para church ministry that has a clear set vision and ministry focus. Our vision and ministry focus includes supporting the local church. In other words, we know and encourage believers in Christ to faithfully worship and serve in their local church.

With that said, visit with us and read our vision and mission statement. We have been online for 10 years now and in the last two years we have had to change servers and start from scratch. That means we lost over 500 members. Some of those members were active and some were not. So, we have a nice clean start and we can start adding folks as of now. If you register for an account I will validate you.

I am hoping to see some activity on this BBS soon.

No Cooties for Christmas by Matt Hartley

I tried to post this using my w.bloggar program but it was spewing forth a weird error tonight for some reason. This article, which is excellent was delivered to me through my RSS reader that I use to keep up with different types of news content on the Internet. Have you started to explore RSS yet? If not, ya need to soon. :)

This is an excellent article and it hits close to home for me since I have spent the last 13+ years doing computer and network support. I can not tell you how many times I have asked someone when the last time they did a backup or updated their antivirus software and got a blank stare. What did you just say? No, it is not that people are stupid but rather they are just uniformed and uneducated about some very critical information that they need to learn quickly. People feel that if they shuck out X amount of bucks for the latest and greatest computer at Best Buy or wherever that when they take it home their journey should begin with little to no learning curve. The truth of the matter is that the learning curve just began. There is no end to the learning curve with regards to computer maintenance and learning how to use software and software subscriptions that come with that new computer.

Anyway, enjoy this excellent article.


GNOMEREPORT: No Cooties For Christmas

Am I nuts here? Do you think that anti-virus companies are doing as much as they should to protect you? What about the media? Many of you out there most likely think that they are. I, on the other hand, would tend to disagree. Sure, they do the best they can to protect our computers in a literal sense. But what about ensuring that newer computer users understand how to use the darn things?

For those of you that do not deal with "Mom and Pop" computer users everyday, there is a huge lack of understanding that is going on all over the U.S. and perhaps all over the world. I have worked with many college-educated professionals that honestly believe that you install the software to protect your computer and voila, you are protected. This would be a dream come true - unfortunately, this is just not reality. I'm so tired of trying to calm angry, confused, and frustrated clients who are positive that "I" must be trying to con them when I alert them to the fact that there is a multitude of viruses on their computer.

So who is to blame here? Is it my fault? Well, I can only show them how to protect themselves after I have actually had the opportunity to meet them for the first time. It is most certainly not the clients' fault. How can we expect them to take responsibility for something that most people have never even heard of, much less know how to deal with? There is a desperate need for some healing here, folks. I'll tell ya, I am plum ticked. Who at, you ask? First and foremost the mainstream media for their lack of decent coverage. For instance, my local paper (that shall remain nameless) really blew it as far as I am concerned when the Blaster worm hit. "Just go to the Windows Update Web site and install all of the available patches. Also be sure to update your anti-virus software as well," states my local newspaper. My phone rang off of the hook that day with people asking me what in the sam hill was the newspaper talking about? A huge number of readers had no clue what a "patch" was, much less where to get it from the updates Web site or how to use an anti-virus program.

So being that I am a loudmouth, I called the editor to "share my love" for the article. Guess what the man told me? He stated that the Blaster worm was not a problem any more and there was no reason to add anything to the article in future issues of the paper. I asked him about other viruses and was promptly told that according to his HIGH SCHOOL son, viruses were "not a big deal" and this will almost for sure never be an issue in the future. (Meaning Blaster type worms) Now, I am going to stop on that note because I am not going to go down that sadly misdirected path again. I simply refuse to.

All right, then, what are some positive ways that this could have been avoided?

The newspaper ought to have toyed with the concept of speaking to a professional about the virus problem and what could then be done to prevent future outbreaks.
The article could have given basic instructions on how to update McAfee and Norton anti-virus. It would have taken less than a small paragraph for both sets of instructions.
The newspaper could have advised people who are new to computers to seek help. There are a few outreach programs here in my local area that can help those in need, free of charge. (Myself included.) The newspaper could have offered phone numbers to these resources.
The anti-virus companies, too, must share responsibility for this problem. They need to put a bright stickers on the front of their product boxes making it clear that it is imperative to read any included instructions. This ensures that newer computer users jumping into the new software are educated in what they need to know.

Now it comes back to us. What can we do to deal with this ever-growing problem? Simple, we educate. Those of you that are self-employed IT folks should take one day every two weeks and help low-income families and seniors that cannot afford to pay our regular rates. What goes around comes around. Sure, you may not get paid, but you could be making a real difference to someone that really needs it.

Now everybody sing: "C'mon people now, smile on your brother. Everybody get together, try and virus scan one another right now..." Okay, that was pretty bad, I admit. Seriously though, if we all went out on occasion and did this, many of these people might show their friends and family members how to protect themselves, as well. Then, maybe, just maybe... viruses would not spread as quickly and viciously as they do now. Think about it! /end rant

Let's get digital,
Matt Hartley




James Moffitt
http://www.jesus-connect.net/jcmoffitt
moffittj@bellsouth.net

A Special Invitation To A Christmas Party!

You are cordially invited to

A BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!!!

Guest of Honor: Jesus Christ

Date: Every day. Traditionally, December 25
but He's always around, so the date is flexible....

Time: Whenever you're ready.
(Please don't be late, though, or you'll miss out on all the fun!)

Place: In your heart.... He'll meet you there.
(You'll hear Him knock.)


Attire: Come as you are... grubbies are okay.
He'll be washing our clothes anyway. He said something about
new white robes and crowns for everyone who stays till the last.

Tickets: Admission is free. He's
already paid for everyone...
(He says you wouldn't have been
able to afford it anyway...
it cost Him everything He had. But
you do need to accept the ticket!!

Refreshments: New wine, bread, and a
far-out drink He calls "Living Water,"
followed by a supper that promises to be out of this world!

Gift Suggestions: ; Your life. He's one of those
people who already has everything else.
(He's very generous in return though.
Just wait until you see what He has for you!)

Entertainment: Joy, Peace, Truth,
Light, Life, Love, Real Happiness,
Communion with God, Forgiveness, Miracles, Healing, Power,
Eternity in Paradise, Contentment, and much more!
(All "G" rated, so bring your family and friends.)

R.S.V.P. Very Important!
He must know ahead so He can
reserve a spot for you at the table.
Also, He's keeping a list of His friends for future
reference. He calls it the "Lamb's Book of Life."

Party being given by His Kids (that's us!!)!
Hope to see you there! For those of you whom I will
see at the party, share this with someone today!

Grape Nuts anyone?

This morning I caught Katy eating Grape Nuts..... I thought to myself, since when? I told her that only OLDER people eat Grape Nuts and that most OLDER folks eat that for roughage..... I also told her that Grape Nuts was a good cereal to pick for OLDER people because you can eat it with or without your dentures.....

Katy and I had a real GOOD laugh over that one. Poor Katy, what is she gonna do with me anyway?

I have the beginnings of a nasty cold. For the last week I have been fighting first a chest cold and then a head cold. Last night I made things worse by working security out in the COLD for 5.5 hours directing traffic at Charleston Southern University. I was so cold my bone marrow hurt. It was only 41 degrees outside so it is not like it was freezing or anything. After standing around for 5.5 hours you could not have told me it was not freezing because I was so cold I wanted to set myself on fire. I went home at 10:44pm last night and my head cold was having a good time with me. I was running like a faucet. Thanks to a hot meal and a dose of Theraflu I was able to settle in for a long winters nap. We did not crawl out of the house until around noon today.

It appears that Katy's 83 station wagon has taken ill as well. It seems that the battery and/or alternator has expired. Who knows, maybe both. When it rains it pours. The jalopy will have to sit in COLD storage until we can gather the funds to fix it and use my car for transportation. Katy works during the day and it looks like I will work at night time so we can make this happen.

It is 13 days to Christmas. I know this because Justin Matthew Moffitt advised us of this today. Do you remember being 8 years old and having Christmas two weeks away? It seemed as if 14 days was an eternity. Now, in my older age, 13 days passes by and I don't even realize what happened. They say that the older you get the faster time flies. Whoever said that knew what they were talking about.

Hey, guess what? NO ONE is leaving comments on my blog any longer. What gives folks? Are you still reading this blather or have you just gone to peeking at the pictures only? Tell me that you, my fan club, are visiting and reading my blog so that I will be encouraged to continue my daily drivel.

Happy Holidays

SLED Qualifications today

Today was spent in class listening to a level I,II &III SLED instructor talk to us (7 men) about carrying a firearm in the state of South Carolina. After the class room instruction that lasted about 2 hours we made a trip to the ATP indoor range in Goose Creek. We were to qualify with a firearm and make a score of 170 out of 250 to qualify. My score was 236 out of 250 which means that I qualify to carry a firearm as a Security Officer in South Carolina. Now I wait for SLED to finish my criminal background check and commission me to carry the firearm as a South Carolina Security Officer.

Here is the kicker folks. The ironic part of all of this. At the beginning of the class the SLED instructor tells us that if we KNOW that we KNOW that we can not take another human life in the line of duty that no one would think anything bad if they needed to leave the room and not take the course. He reminded us of the somber responsiblity of being in a position to make a split second decision as to whether someone would live or die in the line of duty.
Some of you might be thinking that only peace officers (police officers) have to make those decisions. If you are thinking on this line of thought I can tell you from having been on both sides of the fence that Peace Officers probably have more opportunity to do this just because their jobs are to enforce the law. Security Officers are private sector security personell who protect the lives of the customer , their customers and property. That means that there is a possibility that the Security Officer may be presented with serious bodily injury or death because of the actions of some perpetrator and therefore the need to carry a firearm.

The ironic part of this is what you are paid for this type of responsibility every time you put on the uniform and place yourself in possible danger. Would you believe 8.50 per hour? Here is something even scarier than that. No one can pay you enough to take the risk of getting shot at. How much is enough? Do Police Officers get paid enough to take a risk that they might be shot by someone in the line of duty? What about our soldiers? The answer is no, no one gets paid enough to get shot at. The sad thing is that we live in such a fallen world and there are folks out there that take pleasure in preying on the general population at large. Security and Police and our armed forces are a necessary evil that we have had to put in place to help protect those law abiding families out there that are about the business of living.

You might think that I am trying to play on your sympathies or make you admire the job that these different folks do. What I am trying to do is to make you aware of the dangers that they face and that they do a job that other folks are not able to do. Not everyone is cut out to take those types of risks or make those types of decisions. Maybe you are a nurse and you do not feint at the sight of blood. Maybe you are a steel worker who walks steel beams five stories off the ground with nothing but a leather belt to hold you in case you fall. What about window washers that clean windows on skyscrapers? We all do our jobs for one reason or the other. One reason is because we have a driving need to pay bills and one reason is because we are uniquely gifted to do what we do.

Here are some pictures of my target today!


The white tape were four practice rounds

The soldiers Bush didn't visit on Thanksgiving

Boston.com / News / Boston Globe / Editorial / Opinion / Op-ed / The soldiers Bush didn't visit on Thanksgiving

This is a reality check for those of us that are safe and secure and warm in our homes this morning here in America. Thanks to the technology of today we are bombarded with images of war every day both on TV as well as magazines and Internet access to sites such as CNN. It seems as if there is nothing that escapes our perview. The only way we can escape the harsh realities of life and the human sufferings of others is to deny ourselves any type of media consumption. How often do we do that?

I believe that because we have such instant access to the violence all around us that we have become desensitized to the pain and anguish of others all around us. That goes for the drive by shooting in North Charleston to the wounded soldier in Baghdad. We hear reports of random violence every single day and we are far removed from becoming emotionally involved. We tell ourselves that yes the world is a violent place to live in BUT it is happening to THOSE people and not me or my family. Some of us kid ourselves into thinking that we dont have to worry about it happening to us. We rationalize that because we are who we are or because of where we live we surround ourselves with a false sense of security and hope in that those things will not happen to us.

I come from a family of men who have served their country. They served their country and went wherever they were sent and did whatever they had to do to stay alive and come back home to their families. It is so easy for us to sit back and be arm chair politicians and analyze the validity of where our men and women are sent. Intellectually we say we count the cost and we realize that some of those men and women will give their lives so that we can have the privelege and right to be arm chair politicians and critics of our government and their policies. This article is not designed to take a political view point or to decide for us IF we should be where our men and women are fighting in Iraq. What this article does is it snaps us back into reality and helps us to count the cost of freedom. Men and women are being killed, maimed and tortured in the name of freedom. If it was your son or daughter that was over there dodging bullets or wondering if they were going to live another day because of worry about landmines, suicide bombers or car bombs then your perspective on the war would probably be much different.

Take time out this morning or whenever it is that you read this and say a heart felt prayer for both the men and women that are fighting for our right to be FREE in America and for those families that have loved ones that are SERVING us with their very life blood on foreign soil. The LEAST that we can do is PRAY to God and ask HIM for HIS devine guidance and protection for our men and women. The next thing we can do is to be sensitive to the needs of those family members that are here and are missing their spouses or sons and daughters wherever it is they have been deployed to.
If those people knew that we are proud of their family members for serving our country and were willing to atleast give them some of our precious time to just listen to them or help out in some small way I know that it would help them tremendously.

Lets pray that somehow this campaign of terror that America is involved in fighting will somehow be resolved so that our men and women can come home once and for all. I know that might be an unrealistic hope or dream but atleast we can HOPE.

Goose Creek Christmas Celebration December 6, 2003

Katy took these pictures when she took the children up to the Goose Creek Recreation Center this last Saturday. They had face painting , games and such.



Tanda lives across the street and is the same age as Kristina. They go to the same school together and are practically inseperable.



Tanda and Kristina with their faces painted together!



My daughter Kristina with cool face art on her cheek



Kristina writing email to her friend



Sammy and LuLu playing on kitchen floor. This is their favorite past time....



Can I scratch without you having to take a picture??

Woman gets 10 years in mayo spat

Woman gets 10 years in mayo spat

Years ago there was a country and western artist who wrote a song about how frustrating it can be when you experience the drive up window of any fast food establishment. I forget the artist or the name of the song but it was pretty popular for a short period of time. You know the drill. You drive up and are greeted by someone on the other end of the speaker who has a difficult time speaking clearly. If that is not bad enough the speaker is a radio shack reject that should have been tossed out in the garbage. Somehow they always wind up staring you in the face just as you want to have an intelligent conversation with the order taker. The song goes on about a typcial order and because the communications is so screwed up the driver looses composure and winds up driving the car through the plate glass window of the restaurant in frustration.

I wonder if this lady in Houston Texas had this song running around her tiny brain BEFORE she lost all self control and decided to run over the manager. I can relate to being frustrated over my order being screwed up. How long does it take to order a Big Mac with cheese, GREASY fries and a cold drink? How long does it take the mental process of keying it into the computer so that someone else can read it? Nano seconds folks.... Its not that hard or atleast you would not think so. We like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt therefore that is why we do not just drive to the window and hand the person a dry marker board with the order WRITTEN out in LARGE block letters. We figure they understand plain english and that they comprehend that we want CHEESE and MAYONAISE on our freaking burger.

I LOVE the fact that the lady tossed her meal back through the drive through window. How much damage did that cause? Heck, we can all laugh about that. Who knows, on an extremely bad day we might even park our cars, walk into the restaurant in question, identify the manager , take aim and fire the food at the idiot who got it wrong. If you do that remember to take the bun off the burger so that when contact is made it will not bounce but stick to the subjects face when it lands. If you miss, just walk over to someone elses food and grab their burger and yell FOOD fight real loud........ OK, maybe I am taking this a little too far. You see the humor or maybe you are a manager of a drive in burger joint and you probably have already closed your browser window.

Attempted murder with a motor vehicle certainly goes above and beyond the call of duty. Its one thing to catch your husband cheating on you and then decide to kill him with your car. Its another thing to try and kill the manager because they forgot the mayo. I wonder if the lady had the song "Grandma got run over by a reindeer song" just before she threw it in reverse and mashed the gas.....

Jeremy's Senior Picture

Here is Jeremy's Senior Picture. I am so proud of him and all of his accomplishments!

Men

Men

Metrosexual? Gosh, I thought I had heard it all until I read this little story about men who are learning how to pamper themselves. LOL. OK then, I was certainly enlightened by this story. Just when I thought that I was limited to using DIAL soap or DOVE I now learn it is ok to pamper myself with skin moisturizers and no one will think that I am weird or overtly feminine. Honey, you are off the hook for Christmas. I did want a Jaguar for Christmas but now I realize that I have been missing the boat. I want to pamper myself now. OK, yes, we need an extra bathroom now because once you buy me all those cool pampering items you will never get me out of the powder room. LOL.... hahahahahahaha

Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season

Hello folks! Christmas 2003 is upon us already. Are you ready? How wrapped up and consumed are we with regards to those events that take place during this time of the year? Someone reminded me AGAIN of the need to remember the REASON we celebrate this Christmas season. Its not Xmas as the world would have us to think but rather CHRISTmas. Christ IS the central theme for this holiday whether we embrace it or not. A friend of mine posted a message on a board that I help to moderate and asked what our gift to God was going to be? What birthday present will WE bring Jesus this year? This was my answer.
_____________________________________________________________

I can not believe it is already Christmas.....Where in the world has time flown to? They say (who is they anyway?) that when you get older time flies faster and faster. Gosh, whoever they is, they are wise. Maybe THEY are older than I am? I turned 42 years on Thanksgiving (gulp) and I can attest to the fact that the years are picking up speed.

I think that the best gift that I can give Jesus for his birthday is as much of ME as possible. :)
I was talking to someone at the bowling alley on Monday night about my walking through the trials and tribulations that my family has experienced in the last couple of years. Here are some of those thoughts as I related them.

We all go through some sort of trial or tribulation in our lives. No one is exempt from pain, suffering or trials. No one is sinless and everyone needs grace, forgiveness, mercy and healing in some area of their lives. Maybe some more than others nonetheless we are all in the same humanity row boat. :)

One of the things that I have struggled with is the ongoing battle. I keep asking when is it going to end? Perhaps the answer to that is that it will never end until Jesus takes me out of this world and graduates me to where my Jessica is. Part of my battle has been to accept the battle which is full of struggles, pain and strife. My perception has had to change to accept my circumstances and realize that the battle does not belong to James. I have had to learn (still learning) how to accept the position of weakness and to throw off the never ending struggle for control over those things I have no control over. In my weakness HE is strong. Not in my ability to control my circumstances God provides. :)

So, with that in mind, my gift to the Lord is to learn how to give up the controls in those areas that I feel I am weak in so that HE can do what HE is going to do anyway. I also need to ACCEPT my position within the battle. I so do NOT want to be in the midst of all of this. I so much would rather have a job, be able to pay all my bills on time and NOT depend on anyone for anything. That is so far from reality at this point. Reality states that I am here and I need to have a clearer understanding of the battle and atleast do my part to be thankful and appreciative that things are not any worse than they are. Sometimes being thankful in the midst of adversity is a gift all by itself. So, that is another gift that I will try to bring the Lord. Being thankful in the midst of the adversity.

The other gift that I am going to try to bring to the Lord is the gift of service when I am able to serve. I have precious few dollars to donate but I do have lots of talent and time that I can bring to the table. So, with that in mind, instead of stressing out and being depressed about being stressed out and depressed I will try to channel that energy into areas of service in my local church. I have always served in church and played a role of service to my fellow brothers and sisters. Sometimes that service has given my the ability to forget the battle that rages on within and gives me some much needed respite.

I also want to bring another gift to the Lord for his birthday. That gift is to be a better and less selfish husband to my wife. My wife is a gift to me and even though I try to show her love and appreciation through my lips and sometimes my actions I know that I need to show her more action and less lip service. I need to be more proactive in doing those things that will bring her joy and happiness in our relationship. I need to serve my family more and myself less.

Help me Jesus to see where I have failed and give me the strength and perserverance and faith to embrace your power and love so that I can bring these gifts to your table.

AIDA32 - Worldwide Sysinfo Tool

AIDA32 - Worldwide Sysinfo Tool

I have not had much time this weekend to read the 14 blogs I am subscribed to. During some down time this afternoon I managed to catch up on my Blog reading and ran into a VERY cool System Information Tool called Aida. Whether you are an I.T. professional such as myself or a curious end user you will find this FREE utility something to be amazed about. I just downloaded and installed the PERSONAL EDITION on my XP Professional computer here at home and it is absolutely astounding. I have looked at more software packages than most humans and I can tell you that this is a Winner in my book. So, with that in mind, click on the link above and enjoy.

Black Friday brings rain to Lowcountry SC

Have you recovered from gorging yourself full of Turkey and all the trimmings yet? Maybe you are still slumbering and have not awakened yet after collapsing into your recliner or favorite couch yesterday afternoon.

Our family went to the Meritage Restaurant in downtown Charleston SC yesterday and were blessed by the owner and his staff who volunteered their time, talents, food and facility so that our group from Happy Days and Special Times could enjoy a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner and fellowship. There were approximately 45 people who attended and the family that traveled the farthest was from Pensacola Florida.

We came home after filling ourselves with some wonderful food and settled down in front of the television to watch the Miami Dolphins feed the Dallas Cowgirls to the sharks. Can you say OH MY GOSH. What about those Cowgirls? The Dallas defense who is ranked number one (not any more) in the NFC East acted as if they could not stop the run or the pass. The score (cough) was 40 to 21 in the Dolphins favor. Now the Cowboys are 8 wins and 4 losses which I believe takes them out of first place in the NFC East (2nd place perhaps) and Miami is now 8 wins and 3 losses which puts them in a good standing for a wildcard position in the AFC.

This weekend will find us at the Happy Days and Special Times reunion that is held the weekend after Thanksgiving every year in Charleston. This year, since we moved back we wont need to stay in the hotel so we can show up for the festivities and then come home and sleep in our own beds which will be nice.

If you were like most Americans you were out shopping at Wallyworld or one of the malls in your location at the wonderful hour of 5 or 6 am as you went toe to toe with all of the other shoppers trying to cash in on the early bird deals. As for me and my house we were fast asleep with the visions of James finding a job some day soon. Our Christmas will be so wonderful if we can just manage to pay the bills and not have anything cut off or canceled due to non payment. As a matter of fact I just got off the phone with a recruiter who is searching for a Network Administrator in the SC area. They want a 4 year degree and certifications but perhaps if I pass their online screening and telephone interviews they might waive the educational prerequisite and trade out for years of experience and knowledge. We shall see how I do on the online screen test first.

In lieu of fighting with holiday shoppers for this or that we stayed home and managed to get our Christmas tree up along with most of the other holiday trappings. I have SEVERAL pictures to show you but for the complete list of pictures you can go to Thanksgiving Pictures for your enjoyment and there you will see the entire list of 30 + pictures that I took in the last day or two. If you click on each picture from that web page you will view the picture in your web browser of choice.



Christmas Tree View 1


Christmas Tree with Lights


Justin & Kristina putting together the tree


Moonbright stood still enough for me to get this picture. Stray cat that has adopted us!


Sammy on right (light brown) Angel on left (black) romping in living room


Sammy trying to sleep on living room floor!


Sammy is wondering if I am close enough to his nose for this picture!


The annual Christmas village goes up along with the tree!


Close Up of Christmas Village


Another shot of the Christmas Village

Score: Brick Stairs 1, James ZERO

I fought the law and the law won.... No, that does not match. I ran out to my car and lost my footing and tumbled down three brick stairs at church. The bricks did not even give for a second. I now can honestly say that I have invested, blood , sweat, tears and money into our local church. I could have skipped the blood portion of this experience but atleast I can say I have a well rounded experience. :)

The Dallas Cowboys are still number ONE in the NFC East division with a record of 8 wins and 3 losses. They lost to the Patriots last week and won against the Carolina Panthers this week. Wahooooo ! Go Cowboys!

My part time assignment through RHI in Charleston lasted all of 14 hours this last week. They needed for me to set up a new computer system in their office and get the data transferred from the old computer to the new one. Once all of that was done they had someone who could step in and do the photography and auctions online.

Katy is now registered to work as a substitute teacher in both Charleston and Berkeley Counties. Katy has worked now for almost two weeks substituting for Charleston County. Atleast that means one of us will start bringing in some sort of income in the very near future. Katy also has an interview in the morning at a local school in Goose Creek for a teachers assistant position which would be full time employment with benefits. That would be very nice if she gets it.

Out of desperation I went to a security company and filled out their paperwork to see if I can get a security commission in SC to do security work. That is the LAST thing I want to do at the moment but since I can not seem to find any type of employment I suppose that I might be able to fall back on my 10 years of experience in Security. Now I get to wait on the criminal background check from SLED to see if they will authorize me. I already got clearance to be registered as an alarm installer so I dont see why I cant get authorized to get my Security Officer commission as well. We shall see.

That means working nights and weekends and probably holidays. I figure I can work nights , come home and sleep six hours in the morning and then hopefully find some part time computer gigs to do in the afternoon hours while looking for employment. Hopefully it wont last for too long since I have not worked night shift in almost 15 years.

The lady in the boot. Do you remember her? She is married to Mr. Bunyon. The REAL man who lives next door with his family. The family in the new boot. :) They had their house warming party this weekend and 60+ people showed up. My son Justin was running around looking for a flashlight so he could help park cars. It was funny to watch him all excited about doing that. I think he thought he was going to get dad's nice flashlight to do this with. NOT....

My son Jeremy just had his senior picture taken but thanks to our FTP site being down I can not show it to you here. As soon as it is up again I will upload it and show it to you. I am so proud of him and I can not believe he is almost 18 years old. April of 2004 he will be a young adult ready to wander out into this world to make his mark.

Robert Half International

Robert Half International

On Tuesday I registered with the "Office Team" division of Robert Half International. I left the house at 8 am and arrived downtown Charleston at approximately 10:15pm. My appointment was for 9 am. I tried going down N. Rhett to 526 but ran into a parking lot. At 8:45 am I finally turned around and took the Rivers Avenue route to I-26 towards Charleston and ran into another parking lot. Gosh, it was almost as if I should have just stayed in bed. I perservered and made it to Meeting Street downtown. I took several exams. Data Processing, Word, Excel and last but not least typing. I did 85k keystrokes for Data Entry, scored basic skills for Word and Excel and 70 wpm with 97% accuracy for typing. That all means that I qualify for a clerical position through Office Team. Oh yeah, I am so excited about that. LOL....

I received a call from RHI on Thursday stating that a company is looking for part time help two days a week to handle a company's Ebay business. I can do that in my sleep so it looks like I atleat have a part time position on Monday's and Tuesday's. The position is supposed to go permanent within 2 months so we shall see.

Robert Half Technology which is RHI's Technology division is located in Greenville SC in the Upstate. Jennifer called me from the Greenville branch and told me that the client that has the asset inventory position wants to see what my qualifications are before they make a decision to let me take the 1 or 2 week contract. I told Jennifer that I was probably WAY OVER qualified for an inventory job.

This is an employers market. Too many people out of work and not enough jobs to go around. That means employers can pick and choose the cream of the crop and they dont have to pay people what they are worth not to mention UNDER what the market could bear.

News

News

Just when I thought I had a bad day. I read this article about a golfer getting bitten on his head after trying to retrieve his golf ball. OUCH and double OUCH... Luckily for the golfer he lived through the experience. Whew!!!

A new day and a new direction

This is a new day and I have a new focus and direction. The commission only sales position at ADT lasted 7 weeks. I believe that this would have been a possibility after building the business for 6 months to a year. The only problem with my remaining active in this role is that my finances just wont allow me to do it. I need income now and not six months from now. Economics forced my hand and now I am back to the drawing board looking for a job with a paycheck attached to it.

Wish me luck!

What are you doing right now? I am in front of the television watching the South Carolina Panther and Texas Texans NFL football game. Thus far this looks like a pretty close game. The score now is 7 to zero with Carolina leading the game. I am not what you would call a football fanatic but I do like to follow the Dallas Cowboys when they manage to to win a few games. This year Dallas is 5 wins with 2 losses so that means that they are doing much better than their performance over the last four or five years. Today Dallas and the Redskins will go head to head. Dallas usually wins the match when they are playing at home so we shall see if they can come off their loss to the Bucaneers last week and play some football.

The weather outside is 80 degrees with no clouds in the sky. Katy announced it is Happy Nappy time (2pm) after feeding her brood a yummy lunch. The weather is nice, the doors and windows are open and the children are outside enjoying the wonderful weather.

Did I tell you that we live close to the Charleston International airport? The airport shares runways with the Air Force Base and the LARGE transport planes (C17's?)that fly out of there sometimes fly so low they rattle my eye teeth. I have heard of eye teeth before but is there such a thing?

Ok, it is half time and I think that it IS Happy Nappy time. I need to recharge my batteries in time for the Cowboys Redskins game.

Displaced Make Do in Calif. Shelters (washingtonpost.com)

Displaced Make Do in Calif. Shelters (washingtonpost.com)

Just when I thought that I endured a week this side of hell I read an article like this one. Thanks to information over load most people find themselves deluged with more news stories than we have time to read them. More often than not a lot of folks are probably paying attention to what is going on in Iraq instead of paying attention to what is going on right here in our own Nation.

When I read this article it reminded me of how blessed I truly am. By some standards where I live and what we live in probably does not measure up to what some may be comfortable with. Nevertheless my family and I have a safe place to live which provides us with the necessities of life and then some. I was reminded of this again as I read of the displacement and loss of thousands of Califronia residents who have lost everything due to the raging fires. I would encourage you to take the time to read this article and then to pray for those folks. Most of us reading this probably do not have the time or means to make a trip to California to help those that are less fortunate than ourselves. However we can pray and we can make small donations to the American Red Cross via their website so that we can do "our" part to help. When everyone does a small part all of a sudden there is a LOT of help being given to those that need it.

Life is God's gift to us, what we do with it is our gift back to God and those around us. Pay it forward!

God bless

Pictures and more pictures....

The other day I told ya about Justin and his silly hat. I just downloaded some pictures off my digital camera so here are some pictures to share with you. If you run your mouse pointer over the picture itself you will see the caption for each one. Enjoy!

Solar Storm Warning

Solar Storm Warning

Have you ever had anything unusual happen to you ? Have you ever done anything out of character and found the need to say "the devil made me do it?" If that happened to you yesterday you have a valid excuse. You can now say, " I am sorry, that is really out of character for me but I probably did thus and so because of how I was affected by the solor storm that hit us". I am positive that your response to any inquiries about unusual behaviour patterns or bad decisions will be met with much empathy once you give this reason.

If you are in sales or are tethered down by any electronic leashes such as pagers or cell phones then you can always tell your boss that " the incoming solar storm probably kept the signal from reaching me". LOL....

I read through most of the article that this blogette is referring to and it was interesting reading. I was reminded of how LARGE and IMMENSE our universe really is. I was also reminded of how awesome and humbling it is to realize that we are only but a small part of the cosmos that we inhabit. I think that we get so tied up in the daily events of our lives that we fail to see anything higher than the roof of our cars or houses and we forget about those things that we are shielded from in outer space. Some of our friends and family might accuse us of being "lost in space" when we walk around in a daze or do something silly.

This concludes this Solar Storm summary for today. :)

Yeah! Friday is HERE!

They say that time flies when you are having fun. This week ZOOMED past me and I am still trying to figure out IF I really had fun. I had fun last Monday night when I bowled a 141, 156 and 167. That is way over my average for this league which is a 120. I am finally getting used to the synthetic lanes I guess.

On Tuesday of this week I went out to Cottagville and made a sale , BA and Cell backup which equals to two units. I have 8 more units to meet quota for the month and I have 3 more weeks to make that. I spent most of my day at the Convention Center in Charleston and working with a Dental Office on a proposal. At 8 am I was to meet the Dentist at his new location and wound up speaking to him on the phone. Get me a proposal, I am already an ADT customer and this needs to be done yesterday so I can get the sheet rock people to finish their part in this construction. So, with that information in hand I spend some time doing just that. At the end of the day the customer says, wow, I need to think about this and get back with you. I think that the monthly charge was giving him heart burn. I have an 11 am appointment this morning through Telmar which means that someone saw an ADT commercial or heard ABOUT ADT and called in to our call center requesting to speak to a sales rep.

I had to put my Thursday night small group attendance on hold. I am not too happy about that since I had made a committment to do it. I wrote an e-mail to the small group leader and I know he was/is disappointed that I can not make it. Sometimes priorities really stink. I am 9 months past due on all of my financial responsibilities which means that my number one priority for now is to get my business off the ground and profitable. That means some 12 and 16 hour days for a while until I get established. That means working 6 days per week.

I hope you have a great weekend folks!

Check out the Ryze Network

The Ryze Network

I got sucked into the Ryze Network today. I started out this weekend by searching for sales leads and business networking groups on Google. If you dont know what Google is then you need to know that it is one of the best search engines on the Internet. No, it is not the ONLY search engine but I choose to use it because of how simple it is to use and I seem to get the most hits off of it.

The link above will take YOU to MY Ryze home page. I am using this home page to advertise my Information Technology and Business Risk Assesment and Asset Protection services that I offer. They offer a GOLD subscription which is 9.95 per month but I think that I will check this out a bit longer before I make the plunge. I am very interested in all of the different NETWORKS that have been started already and I subscribed to quite a few of them today.

My primary purpose for joining Ryze is to network with other sales and I.T. Professionals here in the lowcountry of SC. My secondary purpose for joining is the network with other christians and folks who have the same interests as me. So, with that in mind, you probably received an e-mail from me today asking you to join. The cost to you is FREE and all it will take is a few moments of your time to fill out the form. I think it took me all of 5 minutes to join this morning before I headed off to church.

Justin and Kristina went to Awana's tonight and apparently they had a contest to see who had the goofiest hat. Gizmo got creative in the last minute and I will be sure to upload the pictures so you can see them soon.

God bless

Dallas Cowboys are BACK!!!

Miracles NEVER cease to happen folks! The Dallas Cowgirls have morphed back into the Dallas Cowboys in my mind. I have been watching this team play (or attempt to play) NFL football since the late 1960's. Yes, I was born in 1961 so that means I have been watching them for most of my life. I am not much of a sports enthusiast but thanks to my dads interest in the team he got me hooked at a tender age.

It appears that Bill Purcell is whipping this franchise into a formidable opponent to reckon with. We shall see how they do when they face Tampa Bay next week down in Tampa Bay Florida.

Go DALLAS !! 5 wins and 1 loss which means that they are NUMBER ONE in the NFC East for the first time in how many years?

RSS Reader Review

You have heard me talk about RSS and RSS readers in the past. So, with that in mind here is a review that I read today on one of the RSS feeds from Lockergnome Technology RSS feed. So, please understand that this is NOT my review but that of Marc Erickson.


"There are many different RSS readers out there, and the choices are growing every day. For this roundup we picked some of the top new choices and even found one for the Pocket PC. FeedDemon - Full featured RSS reader with lots of bells and whistles. The Cadillac of RSS readers right now. Aggreg8 - Mozilla add-on that provides a simple interface and basic RSS functionality. NewsGator - Unique RSS reader that functions as an add-on to Microsoft Outlook. Blends in nicely with the Outlook interface. Feedreader - Basic RSS reader that gets the job done without a lot of bells and whistles. PocketFeed - Basic reader for Pocket PCs. Still at an early stage of development but we found it usable and quite cool. SharpReader - SharpReader requires Microsoft's .NET framework. It provides basic reader functionality and features. Nothing to rave about but quite functional." (Marc Erickson)

Through the pain onward to battle and victory

Today is a new day and the anger of yesterday has abated somewhat. Because of that and other thought processes I will continue with my endeavours at ADT on Monday. I figure that I am working for myself. So, what I have started in the last several weeks is something that I can build on. I know that the business is out there and that all I need to do is find it and cultivate it. I have come to some conclusions that I am not necessarily happy about but then again we all face things in our lives both professionally and personally that we have no control over. If I have no control over something then it would be silly for me to allow that thing to anger me to the point of controlling me. People are going to be who they are and there is nothing that I can do to change them. All I can do is accept others despite their short comings and try to forgive them and get on with life.

Through the pain onward to battle and victory is a statement that I heard many years ago. I believe that the pastor of Abundant Life Church in Houston Texas used that as a sermon title one Sunday. That title is a powerful statement that I can identify with. As humans we all experience pain and discomfort whether it be physical, emotional, spiritual or mental. Sometimes we experience it in all of the areas or just a combination of one or two. Pain stinks. There is no other way to put it. No matter what we try to do to mask it or hide it the pain is there , it hurts and there is nothing we can do to run from it. How long do we hide from pain or mask it? Sure, there are times when we can deaden the pain by retreating to using alcohol , drugs or other things in life. The problem with doing this is the pain never goes away until we deal with it directly. Through the pain onward to battle and victory. Some of us deal with pain by lashing out at others and trying to transfer the pain onto them and make them responsible. Somehow we find solace in inflicting pain on others thinking that since we hurt others should hurt too. Sometimes we deal with pain by allowing it to drive us into deep despair and depression. Perhaps there at times that this is a normal response and then sometimes we may not be willing to get beyond that despair and depression because we find comfort there.

Katy and I are both working through the pain of loosing our daughter to cancer two years ago. I said that pain stinks. The pain caused by grief is in the same category. People love to tell you that time heals all wounds. I am not sure where those people got that statement because I am not sure that is a realistic assesment of recovery. Maybe it would be better stated to say that over time the pain is not as intense. Over time you learn how to live with the pain. I dont think that the pain will ever be totally healed and forgotten. For those of you that have never lost a child to cancer you can not even come close to understanding the depth of despair and anguish that a parent goes through. The best thing that you can do for those of us that have lived through this type of pain is not to talk to us but rather just listen. That may be harsh to swallow but somehow words and intentions sometimes do more damage than they do good.

How much pain can one withstand you ask? I asked that question after I moved my family to Simpsonville SC and then one month later the one year contract was prematurely ended. We were 3 hours away from Charleston and knew absolutely no one. No church home to attend, very little reserve capital to fall back on and 278.00 per week from unemployment benefits. Some of you might be saying OH just suck it up and deal with it and quit being a whiney baby about it. I understand that in the grand scheme of things that there are OTHER folks out there that are suffering MORE than we have. Somehow when you are dealing with the pain of YOUR issues it is hard to find solace in the fact that there are others suffering more than you. You have two choices to make ultimately. Face the pain and deal with it or allow it do drive you under and defeat you.

That takes us to the battle. Sometimes the battle affects others that are around you. As we are fighting our personal pain sometimes others become victims of our warfare. No, it is not fair but it happens. Gosh, could that be WHY I have very few friends? LOL.... Maybe I am so deep into the warfare of fighting the pain that I just dont have time to invest in being a friend to others. Could that be? Part of the battle comes in the shape of keeping the marriage and family in one piece. Luckily for me I have the most awesome wife in the world. Katy has always been there for me through thick and thin. The other aspect of battling with the pain is that it sometimes crosses over into our professional lives.

I will probably continue this thought process but not now. I sat down at the computer wondering what I was going to say and how and you see what happened. I have more to say than time allows at the moment. I need to go get Kristina and Justin from the Awana car wash in Goose Creek. I hope you have a good day and a restful weekend.

God bless

Pictures from St. Louis Missouri

Ok gang, here are some pictures from St. Louis Missouri.

Ya got to love it folks!

I spent all week in St. Louis Missouri learning how to be a BETTER sales person. I learned the 7 step sales process. I actually learned a lot from this course. I have stayed at better hotels and eaten better food but all in all the experience was positive.

Today I got my first commission check. When I looked at it I thought that there was something wrong with the amount. So, I pulled out my commission sheet to find out that in fact I should have gotten much more than the amount on my check. After investigating further and talking to my manager I was told that instead of my getting training pay that what I was really getting was a draw on my potential sales. That is NOT what I was told verbally by my manager. I was told that I would receive training pay and that as soon as I started to make sales that the training pay would stop and I would receive the commissions I earned. So, I am in a lose lose scenario with the manager. I guess that when I signed the paperwork at the beginning I should have double checked all the fine print with regards to the so called "garuntee" that he spoke about today. That also means that the next two months if I do not make enough sales that they will deduct my "garuntee" from those commission checks as well.

As you can imagine I was NOT a happy camper. My motiation to go out and sell went to ZERO..... As it stands right now I am looking for somewhere else to donate my time and talents. On a positive note it appears that Katy might be doing some substitute teaching in about a week for both Berkeley County and Charleston County.

Gosh, all of that training , for what??

Good morning folks! Rise and shine and give God the glory! Today is God's gift to us, what we do with it will depend on what gift we give back to Him.

My trip to St. Louis yesterday was rather uneventful. The weather was wonderful and very little turbulence. I especially enjoyed the slim design of the coach seats on both aircraft. I believe that when Boeing designed the seats they were assuming that only tiny people fly. Why is that anyway?

When I got to St. Louis I spent approximately 30 minutes running around like a chicken with his head cut off trying to find the "supposed limo" that would meet me there to pick me up and take me to Holiday Inn. The first thing that should have clued me in was the name HOLIDAY INN. After much investigation I finally figured out which (cough) Limo was supposed to pick me up. The Limo turned out to be a Chevy Van. The important thing is that I met up with my party and rode for about 40 minutes to the other side of St. Louis to the Holiday Inn that I am now trapped in.

For some weird reason I did not get ALL the information with regards to the itinerary here because when I got on the van some of the other sales folks told me that I would have a room mate. I said "No way!" and they said "Yeah WAY!". When I arrived at the hotel, sure enough I received a package at the front door with my room mate's name on it. My "roomie" did not arrive until around midnight when I was just getting ready to dose off. How special was that? I grunted something at him and went back to sleep. When I woke up this morning he had his head buried under his pillow which means that I must have removed the pain on the wall by his bed with my snoring. Poor poor roomie huh? Maybe I will get lucky and he will go get his own private room so he wont have to deal with my snoring.

Here in ST Louis it is 6:15 am, but to my biological clock it is 7:15 am. So, I am up and reading e-mail and scribbling in my blog. Wahoooooo. I love my Internet connection while away from home. It sort of makes me feel like I have not left yet. I can see it now. I am gone and my side of the bed at home has been taken over by the two mutts, Sammy and Angel. Well, atleast the dogs dont snore so maybe Gizmo will get caught up on her sleep huh? When I left yesterday the kids were happily doing their thing and did not seem to mind the fact that daddy was leaving for a week. Gizmo was also smiling when I told her good bye at the airport as well. I guess that 8 months of bonding will do that to ya...

Well, I have been up for over an hour already and have not had my first cup of coffee. So, I suppose that I will leave my cyber seat for now and go find java. Have a wonderful day!!

God bless

Band Competition and Jeremy Moffitt

I received some cool pictures of Jeremy dressed up in his band uniform performing with the rest of his squad. Here is one of them.



I was told that at the end of the session that Jeremy collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital via ambulance. Apparently he is fine and was just dehydrated. I am certainly glad that he is ok. I can remember how hot it gets in Houston Texas so I can only imagine how hard it would be to carry that Tuba around in the heat with those hot uniforms that they have to wear.

Good Job Jeremy !!

Announcing the new Jesus Connect BBS

Introducing Jesus Connect BBS. I invite you to check this out. You will need to register for a user id so that you can post messages. These message bases are Christ and family oriented so, if you choose to visit, play nicely in the sand box.

God bless

My first sale!!

Today was a day for celebration as I was able to complete my very first sale for ADT. Splash N Dash Car Wash on 109 Redbank Rd in Goose Creek. Wahoooo!!



I told you about Paul Bunyon and his family getting a new home but I failed to show you some pictures. Now that our Jesus Connect Domain server is feeling better I uploaded a couple of "select" shots for your viewing pleasure.








Did I tell you that I have a NEW found respect for sales people? LOL.... Now that I ARE ONE I can tell you that the chosen profession is certainly NOT a cake walk. I do have a new found respect for folks that have chosen to do sales for a living. As I have been told in the last 3 weeks, there are those folks that stumble through the day to day activities of being a sales person with no real game plan and then there are those professionals who have studied the ART of selling and have learned to put together a game plan that they can follow which in turn should bring them a measure of success.

I spent 1.5 weeks in the office learning what I needed to learn to get started in my training process. I spent last Thursday and Friday cold calling and wound up with 45 contacts to follow up on. I was rewarded with 4 proposals to submit and one of them has already turned into a sale. I may have another one tomorrow and I have a promise for a Burglar Alarm sale next week. The hardest part of the whole process is learning the paperwork and the work flow process. Getting into the office , doing what has to be done and getting the heck out of Dodge to do the FUN stuff which is finding those ever elusive customers.

Did I mention my Trainer/Mentor/friend who's name we will leave anonymous to protect him from any laughter that might spawn from my comments ABOUT him. Lets see, we have Paul Bunyon, the lady in the shoe and now we need to come up with an alias for my mentor/trainer/friend. For now lets just call my mentor and trainer "AWANA MAN". Some of you might be wondering what Awana stands for and WHY I am calling him this. Here is a link to educate you on WHAT the Awana program is for.

This link will tell you ABOUT the AWANA program

I know Awana Man because of my friendship to Paul Bunyon across the street. Paul Bunyon and his children and my children all attend the same Awana program and Paul Bunyon and Awana man attend the same church where this program is being held. Therefore I know and work with this mentor/trainer/friend. Lest I forget, let me also tell you that both of these men are Awana LEADERS in their church.

The first thing that I noticed about Awana Man is that he is about 6' 6" tall. That means that I have to look up at his slightly balding head and receding hair line. I also noticed that when I am around Awana man that I do not feel as if I am the largest man on the planet with regards to my girth. Awana man and I share this endearing quality. I had to laugh when I first saw Awana Man's work badge which was hung from his rear view mirror in the FORD truck that he loves dearly. Gosh, I proclaimed to my friend, you look like a CONVICT in that picture. It is no wonder he does not ever put the ID on when he is going to visit a new customer.

The most important thing about my relationship to Awana man other than our girth is that he shares my ability to be shy, mild mannered and meek. I really have to prod and poke and shove on Awana man to get him to share what is on his mind. It is a wonder he is successful at being in sales. (Pausing for the laughter....)

It is a GOOD thing that my new found friend/mentor/trainer at work does not go online and read my BLOG.... Excuse me for a second. I can see the Lady in the shoe pointing her mouse at the PRINT icon on her desktop. HEY stop that..... Dont ruin my fun, ok?? hahahahahaha

I hear my slightly worn but ever so comfortable recliner calling my name. I will have to shooo that animal farm away or out of the chair , heck, I might have to coax Gizmo out of it as well. Hummmmm the couch does look appealing too. Maybe I could curl up there for a long winters nap.....

Sweet dreams one and all! You can stick a fork in me, I am done!

Jesus Connect Domain is down

What that means to you is while the domain is down all of my blog pictures are missing. Our ministry server located at Jesus Connect.net had a crash this weekend and my friend in Houston Texas is in the process of reloading everything. I hope that he had a good backup and that in a matter of days everything will be back online as it was.

Domino Pizza delivers McDonalds Does not.....

I went over to a friends house over off of Amy road and Hollywood. No, not Hollywood California but rather Hollywood Street in Duck Ditch USA. I can assure you I live no where near Hollywood. I ate part of the new philly cheesesteak pizza that they are advertising. I ate it and then about 45 min later it drug me to the bathroom at my friends house. Need I say more about THAT picture? All I can say is that I almost needed to have oxygen pumped in to that part of the house.

So, I guess you could say that I got my moneys worth out of the FREE dominos pizza that I consumed. The meal that just kept on giving and giving and giving. What does that have to do with McDonalds? Go to McDonalds and order anything. Be sure to order a small drink. After your meal you will probably be thirsty and will find yourself wandering back to the counter in the hopes of finding an intelligent person to greet you. I dare you to ask them for a cup for a drink of water. Heck, skip asking for the cup, just ask for some water. They will tell you that they do not serve FREE water but rather have decided to sell you a 32 ounce bottle of water. Spring water that is, not just any sulfer water that you might find gurggling from one of the many wells here in Duck Ditch.

I will never forget how rediculous this was. I was so stunned by the idiocy of the whole concept that I found msyelf stumbling away from the counter mumbling under my breath.
Me, at loss for words, how can THAT be? Trust me, it happened.

Last night Katy and I watched the movie HOT CHICK.... The movie was probably not appropriate for an 8 year old son nor my 12 year old daughter. Kristina, the 12 year old daughter was not really bothered by anything in the movie. In retrospect I guess that means that she knows more about the birds and the bees that either of her parents realize at this point. How scary is that boys and girls?? I almost forgot. Our 8 year old son, Justin, just giggled through 90% of the movie and kept his head hidden in his favorite "blankie". I guess that means that he is not damaged just yet. PTL for that.

This evening while consuming the man eating pizza I watched 2Fast and 2Furious as well as Dream Catcher. Mark it on the calendar folks. I watched two movies that I have NEVER seen before. What is even scarier is that my friend allowed is baby boy to watch Dream Catcher. How is the baby you ask? Can you say 2 or 3 ?? There were scenes in this movie that would give most grown adults nightmares for a week. There was this child sitting in daddies lap firmly grasping his "nook nook" between his lips and taking it all in. I looked at Dad and asked him about the wisdom of letting his boy watch such things at a tender age and he told me " oh we let our children watch anything and everything....".

For those of you waiting for an update on my latest career endeavour here goes. I spent last Thursday and Friday wearing my tie and ADT "official" name tag and visited 45 different businesses. I did 35 on Thursday and 10 on Friday. Out of all those contacts I wound up with 3 proposals. One add on proposal for a camera system (add on not new sale) a BA proposal (Burglar Alarm) and another camera system ADD ON for Dollar General in Duck Ditch USA. I also ran across two residential sales leads that I passed on to my manager. Just yesterday I was at Splash N Dash INC which is a brand spanking new car wash in (you guessed it) Quack Quack USA and wound up giving a tri fold hand out to the business owner who was on site. It turns out that the owner is interested in one color camera to watch her spiffy new Laser "touchless" car wash bay via our camera and a high speed Internet connection. So, she wants a proposal for that tomorrow. She told me that if she gets the system and likes it she will duplicate that in her Summerville store.

I guess that you could say that my first two days on the job pounding the pavement was a smashing sucess. Half the battle is over, I have their interest, now to do the proposals and complete the actual sale which in turn will net me a nice little bonus prize at the end of the week.

The Exemplary Husband small group is moving right along. Last week I spent 4 hours studying chapter 4 and when I was done I thought to myself. Gosh, I am glad that I disciplined myself to get that out of the way all in one sitting. Then I picked up the check list to find out that Chapter 5 and 6 were the two chapters required for Thursdays group meeting. Those chapters cost me another 2.5 hours over the next two days. So, all in all I spent about 8 hours in three chapters and wrote about 5 pages worth of notes. We are going to cover chapter 7 this week and we have until chapter 15 of the book which is at the end. That means another 8 fun filled weeks of learning how to be a BETTER more Christ like husband. My hope is that I will be a better husband. On occasion I have engaged Katy in the process by reading to her definitions and principles to verify those areas that I am a big dope in as well as those areas where I do ok. Katy is reduced to fits of laughter at some of the things that I read her which ultimately means that I have hit a hot spot with those topics. GULP.....

Lest I forget, the lady in the shoe across the street has a new BOOT to move into next to us. I say "boot" because this place is 2 times bigger than what she is in now. I actually got a semi guided tour of the new home yesterday and this place is very NICE. I know that the family across the street (Paul Bunyon and his wife and 7 children) will absolutely LOVE the new digs.....

Well, I guess that is all for now. That should update ya until next time. Have a great week and enjoy Life to its fullest.

God bless

You probably noticed that I did NOT say anything about my bowling scores last night. Oh my gosh. I think that Justin , my 8 year old son would have done much better. It is a good thing I bowl for fun and not for the money because I would be a starving bowler about right now.

I was released out of my cage for the day to ride along with my mentor/trainer. I can not tell if this person is corrupting me or actually trying to train me. LOL... No , actually this person is good at what they do and they are doing their best to teach me something. Hopefully my business cards will come to me either tomorrow or Wed and they will set me free to try and go sell some security products and services in the greater Charleston area.   

The weather here in Duck Ditch is absolutely wonderful. It got up to 73 degrees today with clear skies. What a huge blessing that has been. The dog days of summer are over and FALL is in the air.

You have got to love training. Here I sit at the office wondering what to do next. I think that perhaps my mind works just a tad faster than they are used to here. I want to run out of the building, get into my car and drive down to Office Depot and get my own business cards and start making calls on small businesses. I understand that I am not completely ready to answer every single question that someone might want to ask but then again I wont be ready to do that for quite a few months from now. So, here I sit, waiting on the slow, tedious process of training to take place while I make a whopping 6.25 per hour. I know that I have to be patient and play the game. So, here I am sitting here in my monkey suit wondering if my boss will show back up at the office this afternoon to review my work. I finished that an hour ago. Yeah me!! Go team. Show me the money. LOL...

It is sort of weird being on the end user side of technology vs being the one responsible for making it work. I am listening to all of the old hands here whine about ADT going to using Outlook Web Access vs the users utilizing Outlook Express to get their email. I am sitting here just listening to them thinking about how wonderful it is that I dont have to try to console them or explain to them WHY the company chose to go this route or whatever. I can act like the dumb and ignorant and no one is the wiser. Yahooooo!

The lady in the shoe is getting her new shoe today. They are going to come back on Wed with the giant shoe laces to put her larger, more roomier shoe together. I asked my neighbor if she was packed yet and she laughed at that. I asked her if she was going to use the AIR FLOW method of moving where you get a LARGE fan and start throwing stuff in front of it and point it in the general direction of where you want it to land. Something was said about the dump and burn method of moving. I hope she does not do that with all of the critters that she has fenced in behind her current home. Poor ducks and chickens will NOT be happy about that.

When I get home later this evening I will let you know how good I did at bowling or how poorly I did. If I do not say anything and ignore the subject alltogether you know that I really had a bad night. However, if I break 100 every game and atleast get a 130 or above I will be pretty happy since I have a whopping 114 average right now. How sad is that boys and girls? I had a 157 average over at Golden Lanes in Greenville SC last year. Then again I bowled on 4 different leagues. They say practice makes perfect and whoever they are they are correct.

Okie dokie, the boss called me on the cell while I was beating this out on my keyboard telling me that he wont see me until the AM. That means that this mousie is outta here.

Have a great evening folks.

Fly Baby Reunions in Mt Pleasant South Carolina

The highlight of this week for Katy and I was on Saturday evening when we were able to make a Fly Baby and Blogger enthusiast connection. Patty met up with us over in Mt. Pleasant SC which is about 35 min from Duck Ditch USA.



Patty and Katy together



James , Patty & Katy

The Fly Baby group (Katy and Patty) and I had a good time eating at Outback Steak House and talking about our interests. This was the first time for Patty to have met someone that she knew online. This will be our fifth or sixth time over the last 10 years. Patty told me via IM yesterday and today that after meeting us that she has been encouraged to do some of those Fly Lady "tasks" that really needed to get done. Its nice to know that I have had some kind of positive influence but I dont think I can take credit for it.



Patty showed us her bright yellow VW Bug and when you look inside you find the following fuzzy creatures. They are SO CUTE!!




The LARGE yellow Sun Flower was special to Katy and I because our Jessica was fond of them.





This is a recent picture of Kristina (on left) and Tanda on the right. These two are very cloes and go to the same school together.


Well, I would like to say more BUT it seems as if all the online IM critters are surfacing and since I have not been online much they are hopping all over for my attention. So, with that in mind I will leave you with this pictorial update and wish you a blessed, safe and productive week.

God bless

What is in your hand?

In Exodus Chapter 4 verse 2 it says " Then the Lord said to him, what is that in your hand?" In this chapter we see that God is calling Moses to fulfill His purpose with regards to bringing the children of Israel out of captivity. Moses knew that he was supposed to approach the Pharaoh and represent God and demand that he let His people go. You know the story, we have all read it in Sunday School.

Our pastor is out of town at a Chaplains convention in Chicago IL. Our visiting speaker used the scripture reading out of Exodus Chapter 4 verses 1 through 5 for his sermon topic. The following points were made and I feel that they speak powerfully to our lives if we will only let them.

Sermon points by Doug Dickerson at Grace Fellowship Church September 21, 2003

Moses doubted his ability to do what God asked of him. He doubted because of "doubt and fear" and "low self esteem".


God will help you work out your fear but will NOT work with your fear.

God desires for us to rise above our circumstances and inadequacies so that He can use us to fulfill His purposes.

God is not interested in "what ifs" but rather what is in your hands.

God empowers us through our obedience

Who God IS, is more important than what our circumstances or problems

What is in your hand?

What can God use in your life to touch others?

The very thing that keeps us from using what is in our hand is in our hearts. Doubt, fear, low self esteem, low self confidence etc.....

What is in your hand is the very evidence of God

What is in your hand is an extension of God

God works through His people to accomplish His purposes

In obedience we bring our gifts to God, no matter how big or small, then God takes those gifts and he multiplies them so that he can use us to accomplish his purposes

We can be blessed with the gift God brings us or we can choose to bless others with that gift

What I do not have is not what matters, it is what I do have and what I do with it

What is in your hand is an expression of God. Love, mercy, compassion, forgiveness etc...

God takes our gift , multiplies it, then uses our hands to distribute the blessings to others that need them

If we dont use the talents God gave us we will loose them

God gives us gifts and talents so that they can be used not so that we can horde them and keep them to ourselves and become stagnant.

We need to invest in the lives of other people with these gifts

Examine what is in your hand and ask yourself how long you will keep hanging on to it

We should pray that God will show us how to let our hands be an extension of who He is to the community of people we are in.

Here are a few thoughts of my own as I reflect on what I got out of todays message and challenge.

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

When we read the word of God we need to count the cost and realize that God's word is not designed to make us feel comfortable but rather to reveal Gods glory, majesty, holiness, righteousness and purpose for our lives.


Jam 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Jam 1:23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror
Jam 1:24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
Jam 1:25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.


The Holy Spirit takes the scriptures and brings relevance to our lives by speaking to our spirit about where we are at and where we have come from. We are admonished to do what is right with regards to our relationship with God and we are encouraged to be all that we can be for the kingdom. We have a choice to either get with the program and become the men and women of God or we can choose to ignore what the Holy Spirit is teaching us about our character and purpose.

I am thankful that in the past I have been blessed to both receive a gift or talent and to use that gift or talent to bless others. Like Moses I too have had to wrestle with fear, doubt and low self esteem. My confidence level was not where I wanted it to be when God has chosen to use me in whatever endeavour that He chose for me at those times in my life. I can remember several occasions where the task at hand was very daunting and I doubted my ability to make the grade. Do you really want to use me Lord? Then after the doubt comes all of the "but what ifs?" What if they perceive me as inadequate Lord?
What if they think thus and so? What about my looks Lord, I am too fat, thin, tall, short etc.?? How many times do we compare ourselves to our neighbors and feel so inadequate next to them?

So, the question that I leave you with is the same one that I was asked today. What IS in your hand? What has God given you? What talent or gift has God given you and are you still holding on to the gift and have not let it go ? Is your talent or gift blessing the life of someone else today? Yes, it is good that I have been blessed in the past and that God has used me back then. Those days are in the history book so I must not revel in what happened in the past and look to the future to see HOW God is going to use me today. How will we invest in the lives of our fellow man and bless them? We have the power of life and death in our tongue. How will we motivate others into love and good deeds?

Heb 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Heb 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Playing the waiting game!

One week ago I interviewed with ADT for a sales position. Thus far the drug screen came back fine and the preliminary background check came back clear. Now we are waiting for the MAIN background check to come back clear. So, the waiting game is in full swing.
Katy received a phone call from MUSC today because they are looking for two full time employees to work there doing what she used to do there before we left. I have not seen Katy get that excited in a long time. We REALLY need the income BADLY. So, we shall see what happens after the interview on Friday. That would be a full time job with benefits. Wow, it is almost too hard to believe that she might get re hired there. I am hopeful that the fact she used to work there and left on good terms might help out on this occasion.

Paul Bunyan and clan are feverishly trying to clear out their lot in lieu of their new home arriving. They are working on a very tight time line but I am sure that he will manage to get it done in time. It looks weird on our front porch with the blue trailer missing. Did I tell you that the blue trailer was moved out last week? Well, if I did not tell you then you now understand what I am talking about. Out with the old blue trailer and in with a new double wide trailer for my friends across the street to move into. I am sure that they can not wait to be in their new home.

I started bowling on the Turbo League at the Marrington Lanes on the Naval Weapons Station two weeks ago. I still need to figure out which ball I am going to use because the way I am bowling I think that I need to find a cinder block to throw. I would probably be just as accurate throwing that down the lane at this point. It is just a matter of time and I will get used to the synthetic lanes. Do you like to bowl? If so, are you bowling on a league? Which one and where? Do they keep your scores online through League Secretary? If so let me know where to look. I hope that they don't keep our scores online with the way I am doing at the moment. My games last night were 107, 125 and 117... Something like that. Nothing to brag about for sure. I think I need to take up knitting or something less demanding on eye hand coordination.

I am on week two of a small group that just started up called The Exemplary Husband.
The course has to do with "husbands" learning how to be "more" Christ like with regards to their marriage covenant with their wives. I am only into week two and I told Katy that if this course tells me I have to give up burping (in the privacy of my own home) or hand over the television remote that I was in deep trouble. Gosh, I guess I should have added giving up computer time and SHARE it with my family as well. GASP.....

I told the group leader via e-mail that I could tell that I will need a large ace bandage by the time this course is over. Knowing scripture and assuming that everything is ok at home can be a recipe for disaster when it comes to marriage. Of course I am talking in the context of both husband and wife being believers in Christ. Katy and I have been married now for almost 14 years. I would like to say that our relationship is very special and that we are very compatible together. They say that the longer you stay with one person you start to look just like them. I hope and pray that does not happen to Katy. Katy deserves better than that. hahahahahahah

The small group will happen here locally and there is a book and study guide to go along with it. This material is not for the faint hearted. It will require prayer, study, more prayer, more study and a commitment on my part to make some changes. Changes that will hopefully benefit my dear wife. I can see some of you guys that might be reading this. You are probably rolling your eyes at the idea of me walking away from the traditional macho image of " my marriage is none of your business and even if it were it is doing just GREAT." Guess what guys. Your marriage is not perfect because you are not perfect. Every one of us guys have room to improve. If you don't think so, get off your duff and go ask your wife IF there are any areas in your marriage that could use some improvement. If you don't have the guts to go ask your wife for this input try this on for size. Sit down in your recliner and rewind your brain to all of the times that your wife has asked you to do something and for whatever reasons you refused to do it. "Good grief, that woman will just not stop whining about this and that." I can hear you guys. Do you think that maybe there is a REASON why your wife is NOT happy about your ENTIRE relationship and the way you treat her or act around the children?? Is your blood pressure elevated now?

I am not talking about the kind of marriage that the world paints for us on television sit coms where the man sits on the couch drinking beer while life happens all around him and make it look cool. I am talking about the type of marriage covenant that the bible speaks about and what the husbands role really is. Oooopsss, I just lost 90% of you. Who wants to hear about that IMPOSSIBLE standard anyway? It is much easier to be a lazy slob and only do what is necessary to keep the honey off your back side.

The bible says that we are to love our wives like Christ loves the church. We are to do much more than expect or demand that our wives be submissive to us. Who wants to be submissive to a lazy slob who drinks and eats non stop and wont give up the remote control or the computer? LOL..... Katy is probably rolling on the floor at this point to keep from crying. I know the Lady in the Shoe is probably looking for oxygen at this point.
No, I don't view myself as a lazy slob that eats non stop and refuses to hand over control to the TV and the computer. I do know however that I do have a problem with being the type of husband that the bible says I am supposed to be. The standard has been set and we (I) have a goal. My goal is to be better, stronger, faster, we can rebuild him.... Sorry, that was the introduction to the Bionic Man. As I was saying, my goal is to become a better, more Christ like husband for my wife. The process will probably involve me doing some kicking and screaming along the way but when the process is over I will at least have a much better understanding of WHO I am supposed to be as a husband and WHAT I need to do to improve my relationship with Katy.

One of the points that this book makes is that in order for us to be the Exemplary Husband that we are supposed to be we first must be disciples of Christ. Here is how it works.

A. you read the bible, listen to a pastor or evangelist preach the word of God
B. the Holy Spirit of God convicts you of your sin
C. the Holy Spirit presents you with the truth of the gospel which states that while you were yet sinners Christ died for you. The gift of Grace is FREE and you can not earn it.
D. the Holy Spirit calls upon your heart and mind for a decision to turn away from your sin and give your heart to Christ and accept the free gift of GRACE.
E. you make the decision to repent (turn away) from your sinful nature and release the controls of your life to Christ and make Him your Lord and Savior OR
F. you choose to rebel against God and the Holy Spirit when he calls you and you stay out of fellowship with God

If you are not a true believer of Jesus Christ in both word and deed then the book will leave you on the first two pages. You are either of this world or you are not. You either serve God or you serve the Devil. Everything in this book builds on a relationship with Jesus Christ. If you want to know more about what the Bible says about who Jesus Christ is and how you can receive forgiveness of your sins then feel free to write to me at moffittj@bellsouth.net and I can walk you through it. I would be honored to tell you about what Jesus has done for me in my life. As a matter of fact, while I am talking about this you can go to the following link and read my testimony of Who Jesus is to me online. Who Jesus is to me

The gospel of Christ is not a popular message. Christ crucified for the sins of the world past present and future. God become man to reach out to the sick and lost. God pursuing his creation to provide healing, health and eternal life. My message to you in the context of this message may not be popular and you might even be a little angry. I would rather take the chance of offending you now and providing you with the information you need about eternity than to attend your funeral knowing that I might never see you again. We think that life is something we can take for granted when in fact the bible tells us that life is but a vapor. One day we are here living life and the next moment it is gone. So, if you are reading this and you think that you are guaranteed tomorrow morning think again. None of us know when or how but we do know that our day will come. My hope, desire and prayer is that you make the right decision and that you do not wait until it is too late.