It appears that I have been successful in ripping out the Blogspeak code and inserting the new Haloscan code and republished my Blog Site. I have not had the time to look at the functionality of Haloscan so hopefully it is as user friendly as what Blogspeak provided for us. I also hope that Haloscan does not charge for this service. If they do the functionality will be coming back out.

What a beautiful day in the neighborhood. I almost wish I was on the 5k run with the rest of the ATHLETES this morning. Just the thought of running down the street makes my heart skip a beat. actually, if I did try to run down the street my heart would probably just explode and they would have to call 911 for the beached whale lying in the middle of Meeting street. I guess I will just stick to walking the parking garage for exercise and maybe next year I can think about something more strenuous. LOL....

Good morning world!! It is a nice crisp 32 degrees in Downtown Charleston this morning and I am coming to you live from the Charleston County Office building where I work Saturday from 7 am to 3pm. Apparently there is a 5k run that kicked off this morning on Meeting street so that means that I am not the only one that is awake this morning.

I got an e-mail from a service called Halonscan which apparently has taken over the hosting for Blogspeak Blog comments. Harry wrote his blogspeak customers and told us that his hosting ended sooner than he expected and Haloscan has taken over those responsibilities. I will probably need to add some code to the Blogger template before the comments section will come back on my blog. The blog entries that were on blogspeak were imported into Haloscan so once I add this functionality to my blog your comments will show up again.

I am on day 17 of the 40 days of purpose devotional which is from The Purpose Driven Life series by Rick Warren. I will post some more of those entries soon. Have you gone through this devotional series yet? If not I would highly recommend your doing so.

Katy and normally would be in Myrtle Beach SC on a Renissance Weekend get away hosted by Happy Days and Special Times in Charleston but I have to work weekends now. So, priorities and responsibility sucks. Instead of being in Myrtle Beach I am working which in and of itself is a good thing considering I spent most of 2003 unemployed. I am still pretty much broke but atleast I can pay a bill here or there and child support is being paid and I am staying out of jail for now. THAT is a HUGE benefit along with the health benefits of walking around in a 9 story parking garage once an hour. Who said life was not fun. LOL....

Ok, speaking of work perhaps I need to quit flying this keyboard and start my next round.

Have a good weekend.

RSS Links

RSS Links

This appears to be a very NICE RSS resource page. Check it out!

Jeremy Moffitt informal Senior Picture

Jeremy Moffitt with his Tuba in his senior jacket in 2004!

Who let the dogs out ??

How many DOGS are there should be the question ? Lets see, we have Angel and Sammy. They LOVE to bark and carry on because I guess that is something that just comes naturally. They bark at anything that moves and if they can make something move that normally does not move they will do that and bark anyway. Once they get bored at creating their own amusement they then bark at Fergus across the street who is Nurse Shannon's dog who has been abandoned in Chuck's yard for the last several years. Fergus and Sammy and Angel all love to holler back and forth and back and forth all day long if given the opportunity. I have found that if I schedule a SFE (scheduled flyswatter event) on Sammy's short little body that it tends to cause him to stifle the noise. Tracking him down and actually hitting him with the flyswatter can be an aerobic event. The fact that I know I am going to have to chase him around and around the tree sometimes causes me to be lazy and just threaten him from the porch. Sometimes that works and sometimes it does not. I am glad that he can not get on the Internet and read my blog. That would just ruin it for me altogether. Oh yes, lets not forget the mutts up the street. They like to bark all hours of the day and night and all that needs to happen to set them off is for the wind to move one single leaf on ANY tree located within 20 square miles of their back yard. Is it still unlawful to kill someone else's dogs? Most days I don't want to kill the neighbors dogs (or birds for that matter (snicker) but I would like to find the mute button. Can I find some pills that will instantly mute the dogs in the neighborhood? You know, they open mouth to bark and NO SOUND comes out.
I need to research that immediately. I thought about buying a dart gun and some tranquilizer darts but that would mean that the event UDE (unscheduled dart extraction) might be seen by a neighbor and then the local police department would have to have an UV event (unscheduled visitation) which we certainly dont need.

Now that I am sharing my lovely story about the CND (canine noise dilemma) I am reminded that atleast one of the children (not mentioning names) (yet) (snicker) from our little commune (SLC) (slumlord commune) down at the bottom of our hill (gully?) has taken barking lessons from the dogs. Instead of barking though the child stood in the middle of the street the other day (OMG) (@v@) and screamed at such a regular and high pitched interval it caused a UCC (unscheduled child chasing) by yours truly. Luckily for the child I was having visions of all the calories that I was going to have to burn to get off my rear end , put on my shoes and launch myself out the door, across the porch, down the stairs and over the ditch. Gosh, that would have been worth video taping huh ? Luckily for me I counted the cost and just inserted my ear plugs (STILL heard the child anyway) and tried to tune them out.

I have to share another event with you. Are you surprised? Angel is experiencing a OMGIAIH event (Oh my gosh I am in heat) which in turn has caused a OMGIAHE (Oh my gosh I am horny event) for Sammy. Things have been interesting around here lately. Can you imagine Sammy running all around the house chasing Angel for all he is worth with tongue hanging out? (not going any further with that mental picture @@). I think that the hormones have gotten to poor Angel though because we saw her turn the tables by starting to chase Sammy around the house and taking on some male tendencies that I probably wont bother with describing. (@@) Lets just say that we have had to make sure that we have all had to resort to wearing tennis shoes, knee high socks and knee pads just in case Sammy comes running around the corner of the house and mistakenly identifies one of us as a 60 pound Lab.......

Meanwhile back at the ranch we can see a cloud of dust in the distance as the herd of saber toothed space chickens are headed in our direction. I can see that Paul Bunyon is going to have to run fetch the gun so we can defend ourselves..... Maybe Nurse Shannon and the REAL man in her life can learn how to kill and pluck SPACE CHICKENS......... I wonder if they are edible??

My dogs are barking

No, I am not talking about Sammy or Angel even though they do tend to bark on a regular basis. The dogs I am talking about are my feet who are not very happy with me at the moment. I spent the last three days working a 3 to 11pm shift at the County Office Building which included making rounds in a 9 story parking garage. I can not begin to tell you how much fun that was. NOT..... I know, I am reminding myself of the fact that it IS a JOB. I was scheduled to work today from 3pm to 11pm BUT I will be bowling tonight instead. I advised my company that I go to church Sunday morning and bowl on Monday evening and that I can work OTHER hours during those days. Nevertheless they scheduled me anyway. I called the on call supervisor at 6:30 am on Saturday as I was headed to a 7 am to 3pm shift and woke him up to advise him of my NEED to be off today so I can bowl. He was not too happy that I called him at 6:30 am. Oh well.... The joys of supervision at a security company. heheheheheheh

Lets see, now for the fun stuff. We experienced the following events this morning before we got up to start our day.

UAD = Unexpected Appliance Death
UTW = Unexpected Trip to Wallyworld
UBA = Unexpected Bill Arrival
SHS = Scheduled Hammering Session


Katy was awakened by our Terrier Sammy at 6 am wanting to experience a UPB (Unscheduled Potty Break) so she got up and let him outside to do his business. Then Katy attempted to initiate a SCP (Scheduled Coffee Percolation) which failed miserably in a UAD (see above). That in turn caused Katy to experience a URTPIB (unscheduled Return To Prone Position in Bed) where she lamented the fact that the light was on with the coffee maker but no one was home. At this point I am awake faced with having an NDC event (NO DARN COFFEE) which in turn meant that I would soon experience a UTW (see above please). Once we meandered back from WallyWorld I went to the mailbox (huge mistake) and experienced the UBA (see above) and then wandered back down the hill to be advised by Katy that she needed to experience a SHS (see above) so that she could hang some pictures.

I dont know if I can handle any more scheduled or unscheduled events at this point. Hopefully the coffee will be ready and I can get on with the rest of my day. LOL....

The Purpose Driven Life days 1,2 & 3

The following thoughts are conveyed in the first three chapters of this book.

A. It is not about me but God
B. I am not an accident
C. What drives my life ?

At Battle Plan Ministries website at the link listed below we have 160 members and thus far only 6 men have engaged in making a committment to do this devotional for 40 days. I wrote a message yesterday to encourage the men to take the step and just do it. I can see where some folks just might be intimidated by the thought of journaling their thoughts, meditations to these devotional chapters in an online log. Nevertheless, as a leader there I felt compelled to lead by example and to share my thoughts. My fear is that someone will see me for who I really am as I share my heart. My HOPE is that everyone will see the real me and my personal pursuit to be who God wants me to be despite my sinful nature. So, with that in mind I choose to be transparent. I choose to be that way not to bring attention to who I am but rather to reveal who God is to me and through me. So, now that I have said that I will begin to share my meditations with you. I also hope that as you read what I write that you too will receive this as a challenge to buy the book "The Purpose Driven Life" and join me in your own personal journey.

The Purpose Driven Life Website

Battle Plan Ministries


40 Days of Purpose


Chapter 1: It all starts with God


Coll 1:16 for everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him

Point to ponder: It's not about me

Question to consider: In spite of all the advertising around me, how can I remind myself that life is really about living for God, not I?

I live in a materialistic world that tells me that I deserve a break today. If it feels good do it. Everything about our society is centered on what I can accomplish for myself. Before Christ I was my own God sitting upon the throne room of my heart. My meaning and satisfaction and purpose started and ended with my flesh and emotions. At the point of salvation the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to God the Father and showed me how my sinful nature made me an enemy with my creator and separated me from Him. Through Gods grace I was able to enter into a personal relationship with God and found a new purpose for living. Instead of satisfying flesh and emotional needs I now desired to fulfill Gods purpose for my life. My spirit was awakened and given the ability to see Gods love, mercy and character. The road to sanctification is a daily struggle to remove self off the throne of my heart and to put Christ first. Christ died so I might live eternally with Him. God created me for His good pleasure and purpose. My struggle is to realize that life is not about whom I am or how I feel or how much junk I can accumulate. The only way that I can connect myself to Gods true purpose for my life is to continually pursue Him through prayer, reading of His word and being obedient to His bidding.


Chapter 2: I am not an accident

Verse- Isaiah 44:2 - I am your creator. You were in my care even before you were born.

Question to consider- Knowing that God uniquely created me what areas of my personality, background and physical appearance am I struggling to accept.

I sometimes struggle with the fact that I want to pursue people in deep personal relationships and very few folks make an effort to get beyond the superficial aspects of daily living. I want to talk about matters of the heart and it tends to scare people off. I tend to be strongly opinionated and I call things for what they are. I know the importance of tact and being politically correct but my Christ view usually conflicts with the normal worldview of most people. That typically puts me in a position of being separate from others and lonely. I sometimes wish I was not a people person.



Chapter 3: Living on purpose is the path to peace.

Isaiah 26:2- You Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.

Question to consider- what would my family and friends say is the driving force of my life. What do I want it to be?


I think that my family and friends would say that my family and being religious are the two driving forces in my life. I have a handful of family members who view my church activities and Christ view of my world as being super religious. They do not understand that my religious activities and Christ view has been born out of years of sanctification and trials by fire. I can look back at my life and see several instances where my life was driven by fear, resentment and anger and need for approval. Every since I was 17 years old and God entered into my heart I have wanted to serve Him in any way that I can. I used to perceive serving God as something that could only be done in the context of full time ministry in a traditional church setting. As I lived through the consequences of divorce in the Southern Baptist Convention I had a rude awakening about ministry. I was told that I was not good enough for ministry because of my divorce. I was shown by God that I could serve him on a personal level in my life and that my faith and obedience in the non traditional moments of ministry were able to touch the lives of people in the community all around me. God showed me that He could use me for the purpose of glorifying His Kingdom without being licensed or ordained. God showed me the importance of ministry to my family first and then the church and community. I am learning that when I look outside of myself for Gods purpose and desire in the community and lives of people around me that as I engage in these activities God reveals His purpose for me personally. I am also learning that when I seek Gods purpose that when I find it the experiences is not always emotionally charged. I must pursue God daily on a personal level without requiring God to make me feel good or do something in my life to make me happy. I have also learned that it is easier to be in survival mode living life reacting to circumstances instead of living life proactively with a planned out purpose.

Forty Days of Porpoise

Check out Forty Days of Purpose

Katy and I are going to be doing this as a GREAT way to start out 2004. One chapter per day for fourty days. Check out the URL above and see if this is something you would like to do to enhance your heart attitude for 2004. It does not matter where you are at in your spiritual journey. All that matters is that you realize that you have not arrived and that you too can learn something. Sometimes it is not a matter of learning something new but rather it is the ability to apply what you have learned in such a way that it makes your life better. Sometimes small changes can make a world of difference. When we change our heart attitude and our mental attitudes about the things in our lives not only will we be better for it but our lives will be more peaceful and full of joy. When that happens those around us see a difference and they like being around us more. When we can see change in us then we can eventually affect change in the people around us in our community. All it takes is the willingness to understand that we have not arrived at all knowledge and that God can show us something new about himself and about our world that HE created for us. Maybe the commitment will take some sacrifice. I am figuring it will take a minimum of 15 minutes per day and maybe even 30. It is highly recommended by Rick Warren that you take the time to read the devotional, scriptures listed and then meditate , pray and then journal what is being shown to you in your spirit.
I will be posting here in my blog some of those insights as I feel led to post them. No matter whether you decide to do the Fourty Days of Purpose devotional or not, I encourage you to do something. Do something that will increase your pursuit of God in your life. You will be a winner if you do. God bless




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

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!