Whoops, Trouble
So I have gotten in trouble with a few people the past few days. It seems as though that my lack of posting to the blog has caused some concerns that I have completely left the blog world. I need to offically announce that this is not the case. It’s really been a case of being in a funk for the blogging and the fact that time hasn’t simply gone by. I myself was a little surprised to see that I hadn’t posted since December 17th, 2007. Now, two months later, here I am again. Although not posting any kind of real content here, a post none the less.
Things have been going on in my life, just haven’t been around to post. I promise that I will post more content in the coming days and weeks. I’ll get back into.
Christmas Shopping
I called one of my brothers last night and realized that neither one of us has begun our Christmas shopping. Typical for most guys I hear. And honestly, I can’t believe it hasn’t crossed my mind yet. I don’t even know what to get my parents. My brothers and I decided that we would forgo getting each other anything this year so we don’t have to worry about that. The past few years it’s really been a gift card exchange. We never really know what to get each other so we just end up grabbing a gift card to a place or two where we know the other one shops. Who else has yet to start their shopping?
Looking for Sushi
I’m thinking of throwing a sushi party with a twist and I have no idea where to start. I’m looking to hire a sushi chef to come to my house during the ordeal and basically make the sushi in front of the guests while we are all there. You know, invite a few close friends over and have him or her make some good rolls, fresh and in person. But I have no idea how to even find someone that does it for a living. I started asking around at HEB and stuff and have a contact there that is going to ask around for me. Anyone else have any good ideas of where I might look? I just don’t want some chump or even myself to be making sushi for guests during the party. I think it would add a nice flair to the party!
Aqua Dots Recall
After a year chock-full of toy recalls for lead paint, small chokeable parts, and intestine-twisting magnets, parents may have thought the worst was behind them. Well, guess again. Last week brought the weirdest — and definitely the creepiest — recall with the highly publicized Aqua Dots situation. If swallowed by children, the popular toy beads can cause symptoms including coma, seizures, unconsciousness, drowsiness, and death. According to scientists, the chemical coating on the beads can convert into the drug GHB (gamma hydroxy butyrate, known as the “date rape” drug) when ingested.
Aqua Dots were expected to be a big hit this holiday season. Wal-Mart, in fact, had named the craft toy as one of its top 12 picks for the season. A toy association in Australia had named the toy (called Bindeez there) the top toy of the year. Children use Aqua Beads to make creations using small beads in a variety of designs that are then sprayed with water to set. The products are distributed in North America by Spin Master Ltd., based in Toronto. Many stores including Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us, and Amazon.com have already removed the product from their Web sites and shelves.
Australian company Moose Enterprises had outsourced the manufacturing of the dots to a mainland Chinese factory. In a still unexplained manufacturing snafu, the factory was supposed to use a safe non-toxic glue on the beads, but instead apparently substituted a harmful chemical that is less expensive. Why does this sound depressingly familiar? China has halted the export of the beads pending further investigation.
A dozen children in the US and Australia have become gravely ill after ingesting some of the dots. A doctor in Sydney made the connection between a child’s symptoms and the toy beads. The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall last Thursday for more than 4 million of the Aqua Dots distributed in North America. The beads, which look remarkably like small candies, may have been a likely hazard before the added chemical problem, according to Salon’s Machinist blog.
This Boston writer thinks that the whole recall may be a big hoax. If only that were the case. I’m afraid this one is looking all too real.
I’ll Drink to That!
Interesting Article I found at work today. When gas prices continue to rise, where do our thoughts about this really fall?
Forbes would have us believe that $100 a barrel oil is a good thing, because it will encourage the development of synthetic oil from coal via a process that was too expensive to commercially develop in a time when crude oil was both abundant and much cheaper. $100 a barrel oil makes synthetic oil produced from coal (such as by Sasol) a profitable alternative and a cleaner way to harness America’s vast and dirty carbon-rich resource. Cheers!
A rising oil price lifts all rigs. In the late 1990s when, partly due to an economic downturn in Asia, demand for oil was less than supply, oil traded for $12-$15 dollars a barrel. During this time you could drive across West Texas (for less than $1.50 a gallon) and see hundreds of idle oil rigs dotting the Permian Basin, seemingly dinosaurs of a bygone oil boom. But they were not the skeletons of a dead industry, merely dormant machines. The oil remained beneath the ground because the cost of operating the rigs for the small amount of oil produced by many of these drilling rigs was prohibitive. But with oil prices moving past $50 and $60 dollars a barrel in the past few months and now heading to $100 a barrel, many of those skeletons have shaken to life and are again producing oil at a profit. Hooray!
$100 a barrel oil encourages not only the small or mature fields with marginal amounts of oil and gas to start pumping again, it also spurs on the producers of unconventional and often difficult oil plays, such as the miners of the vast oil sand deposits of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (such as Syncrude and Suncor Energy), the oil firms that focus on shales and tight sands (such as Aurora Oil & Gas and Vermilion Energy Trust), and the coalbed methane players (such as Quest Resource and Windsor Energy Resources). Splendid!
What else can we toast?
- Higher gas prices might push
US automakers to make more efficient engines, to match the CAFE standards of Europe and China. Great! - $100 oil might have consumers banish gas guzzling SUVs to the luxury market and see the resurgence of smart cars, bicycles, and public transportation. Spiffy!
- $100 oil might push governments and private businesses to invest more heavily in alternative energy development such as wind, solar, and biomass. Happy Days!
The potential hangover?
Lest we get too carried away with our toasts, a sober assessment is needed.
- $100 oil might mean US car drivers paying more than $5 a gallon at the gas pump. Ouch!
- $100 oil could mean US home owners paying really, really expensive heating oil prices during the winter. Brrrr!
- $100 oil will mean that cruel and despotic regimes the world over that sit on vast oil and gas reserves (such Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, Iran, Russia, and Venezuela) have plenty of money flowing into their coffers, propping up their governments, and making their leaders wealthy. Bummer!
Conclusion:
I’m going to stick with the (drinking) upside. I live in warm Austin, and I walk in my neighborhood. (I’ll leave the tyrants to the State Department). Maybe, just maybe, a sustained period of $100 a barrel oil prices will push us all to be less oil dependent, and more creative and environmentally thoughtful energy consumers. Cheers!
LA Ink
I’m not an avid watcher of LA Ink, but a guy that I met in California at the Saddleback Worship Conference a few years ago was recently on LA ink. I thought I would post his segment here. He tells of his time while on staff at church and how he was losing his family and his wife over the church. It’s amazing how we can get caught up in our work and other things and lose focus on what is truly important to us. Here is his story:
Day One: Completed
I just finished day one of the new job. What a difference it was from my previous job. Things move at a much faster pace at Hoover’s than they do at FEFC. Although I haven’t learned this the hard way yet, it was pretty obvious today while I was getting my feet wet. More acronyms were used than I thought could be possible. I felt pretty overwhelmed today after a staff meeting where one after the other was thrown out. I just hope I am able to pick them all and know what and how to use them. I can’t complain though, it’s a nice change from what I have been doing the past the five years for sure. Although I do miss my old job at the church, I am excited about this new venture.
New Adventures
Many of you have heard by now, but I thought I would post and let my few readers that frequent here know that I have accepted a new position here in Austin. My last day with FEFC will be on October 5th, just two days from the day of this post. I am excited about moving on to other opportunities. I am going to work for Hoovers Online here in Austin. Hoovers collects intelligence on US and global industries and the people who run them. I am going to working as a visual designer. I’m pretty excited about it all but it’s also a bitter sweet transition.
I have truly enjoyed my time on staff with FEFC and still plan to be around. Just not a daily basis as I was before. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about my transition.
Arrested Development
This show never should have gone off the air. My buddy Seth recommended the short-lived sitcom on Fox to me about a year ago and I am just now getting caught up on the hilariousness of it all. It’s a show about a dysfunctional family who loses everything and the one son trying to hold it all together. It’s quick witted and funny - sometimes to the point that most people don’t even catch the first time. The humor isn’t caught by all, but the quick moving scenes, narration, and short 30 minutes episodes keep it moving. (sometimes too quick because I can’t believe they end.) One of the funniest things about the show is that at the end of each episode they show what’s coming up in the next episode but never and I mean never go the route they show or say they will. It’s just the writers way of throwing in the last bit of story line to the episode.
Tough Call
I just came back from vacation. I just finished this past week at work logging in a good 60 hours. And I feel like I am ready for another vacation.
The past few weeks have been pretty difficult for me at work. It’s been one thing after another with what feels like 50 bosses all telling me what to do, how to do it and when it needs to happen. I am lossing my mind. We recently had one of our graphic designers leave the church staff for another job. Our replacement for him was a full time video guy. (Love the guy and he’s come a long way since he started a month ago) But I am up to my ears with work. Since the last guy left, I am now working on all of the web and print material in the office and it’s a ton of work. I feel like my life is being put on hold because of how much I am expected to get done. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep on going like this.
I realize that as I read this it sounds like I am complaining. I’m not. I love what do and where I have the opportunity to work. But I am “venting” simply at the work load. And I guess some to the expectation level that is set upon me. Please pray that I can continue to find the strength and determination to keep moving forward at staying on top of things the best that I can…