Nonsensical Ramblings of Mark

I can't say that I like coming to the office in the morning. Actually, most days I am not sure why I am here at all given the fact that I can do 98.3% of what I do every day at home. If I was a ragin' greenie weenie I would look at saving the atmosphere the carbon monoxide that I generate on my morning commute and work from home. I care about the environment, but I don't ccccaaaarrrreeee about the environment if you get my drift. All that to say that there is at least one thing that I do like about the office. There is a stall in the bathroom we have up here that I really like. I only like it I don't lllllliiiiiiikkkkkkeeee it mind you. It for individuals who are physically handicapped and, since there is no one on this floor that fits this description, I have no qualms about taking it when it's open. The toilet is nice and high and when I am sitting on it I cannot touch the opposite wall with my arm fully extended. Nice and big and I don't have to eat my knees ...

I remember reading an article a while back about a woman's exit from atheism and the fact that "beauty", as she put it, "interrupted her atheism." It interrupts mine as well and I find that what I find beautiful, the people and things that bring joy to my life and a smile to my face, are so much more meaningful because of my faith in the God of the Bible. I can't shake the fact that this beauty is a love song of sorts from God to me. He gives me glimpses and foretastes of the new heavens and new earth every time I close my eyes and let the 3rd movement of the New World Symphony wash over me, or when my wife lays her comfort down for her children and friends. What would ring in my heart if I were to experience these things apart from Him? Having always been at least spiritual in my life (if not outright godly) I guess entering into the mind of those that are not oriented in this way is not attractive to me. Yet, I find myself shaken from my sleep at times whe...

I subscribe to a classifieds email service and receive notices for all manner of interesting things. I have found that if I am interested in an item I like to see a picture of it. Well, there is a heavy user of the wantads that had a ring to sell. Here was the text of the ad: FS: Opal Ring Sz 9 Yellow Gold Asking $80 Will go Down to $70 if picked up before noon And here was the accompanying picture: I am not a genius, but I have a feeling that it is not going to get picked up before noon today. The funny thing is, I can see myself doing something like this too. Maybe we are long lost siblings...who knows?

Hey restless Can you sleep tonight? Something's going wrong got to make it right. Wake up now before you sleep the night away. - Restless, David and the Giants If this hasn't characterized my life recently I don't know what has. Last night I was so restless - I was feeling like I was speeding towards a brick wall at 100 miles an hour with no ability to steer or brake. It has only been recently (maybe in the last hour or so) that my soul seems to be more settled. I get these feelings every once and a while and they move me nearly to tears. Almost like a feeling of desperation where my feet aren't touching the ground. It is almost like I can't catch my breath, like I am drowning on dry land. I hate the feeling and am in prayer more during those times than any other. Am I sleeping the night away? Is that why these feelings flood my soul? Is God prompting me to lift to Him the stresses that build and build and threaten to wreck me on the rocky coasts? Are those times w...

So there we were, the four of us, in the pet store (locally-owned, of course) to get the fish for my son's aquarium. He and his brother were laughing their fool heads off at the ferrets that were playing with each other while I scouted out the fish that would do well in our aquarium. They eventually made their way back and after showing the youngest son his choices (white cloud minnows, glowlight tetras, or cherry barbs) his choice was the tetras. We got five of them and I also got some java moss and got the moss tied to a rock (I think I need to re-tie it) and got the fish into the tank. They seem to be happy and are eating what we're feeding so that is good. I wish I had seen the panda corydoras catfish before I got the tetras as they are tougher to find and we would have scored them first. Oh well - they still may be there in the next two weeks or so when I am confident that the tetras are all right and the water parameters check out. Just a classic family moment that was th...

I was awful at soccer - I was much better at basketball and stuck to that. My boys started soccer camp last weekend and did a great job. The oldest was in it last year and I saw some really nice improvement in him from last year. He is really good on defense and, when he plays the man like he should, he can stop the best of them. The youngest is in his first year and is getting his soccer legs so to speak. My wife and I split time between the two fields the boys are on (they have the same schedule) so we get to take in the games that both of them are playing. I am one of the more vocal parents on the sideline it seems and I hope that I am an encouragement to my sons. I am proud of both of them and their efforts on the field. They are both a great blessing to us and I am looking forward to the next time I can give them a thumbs up in response to their efforts on the field.

As a moderately accomplished fish keeper I was aware of the necessity of cycling an aquarium before placing fish in it, but only heard of a couple of different ways to do it: either with fish (not a great way) or fishless. The fishless way I knew about had me putting fish food in the tank until it rotted. This would produce ammonia that would end up kicking off the populating of the tank with the beneficial bacteria that that need to be developed in the artificial tank environment. These bacteria would produce nitrites that would then be consumed by other bacteria that would then produce nitrates. The nitrates would then either be eliminated by water changes or consumed by live plants. I had a decent time cycling the ten-gallon tank that my son received for his birthday as it took from July 13 until August 14 to accomplish. Instead of adding fish food to rot I added pure ammonia from a bottle to start the cycle. The only hiccup I had in the process was adding a tablespoon of ammonia t...