Friday, January 30, 2009

I used to live there.

Springfield, IL... currently the scandalous center of the world used to be my home. Yep.
I even brushed shoulders with

THIS MAN
once.











Just before I left the deeply corrupted state of Illinois I was working for the Auditor General's office part-time. About every other day we delivered thousands of pages worth of reports to representatives, officers and then Governor Rob Blagojevich's office (and yes I can pronounce his name correctly). We were just inside the security doors in the basement of the Capitol picking up items from the print shop when "Blago" stepped in. He smiled, winked, waved and even shook a few guys hands (not mine) as he passed by us on his way in for the day. That was my one encounter with the newly ousted fellow. I did hear him speak at the dedication of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum as well but that day he was greatly overshadowed by then President George W. Bush and a Freshman Senator from Illinois with great ambition by the name of Barack Obama.

So there ya go. I've encountered the guy who's been impeached by an ALL to NONE vote in the Illinois Senate. This
Chicago Tribune write up calls it a historic impeachment vote. With all the history of late, I'd hardly like to credit Mr. Blagojevich with making history at all. I do hope, however, in all of this he is humbled and sees the pain he's caused his family and the emberassment he's brought to his state. But at current I believe he still holds that he did nothing wrong.

May we all continue to learn the dangers we will encounter if we live our lives in secret, planning and scheming for our own promotion. I would love to see our government become more transparent like our new President promises. Even more so, I'd like to see it happen among neighbors, friends and families.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

snow in NC

I had to get up and drive Rachel into work this morning because there was snow on the ground. My company closed and since I didn't have to rush home I drove around and got some pics of Durham under a blanket of snow.































Friday, January 16, 2009

me back on the waggon... for now

So I've had every good intention of getting back on the blog-waggon for the last several months but repeatedly failed to post for weeks at a time. I think my problem is I don't feel like it's really a post unless I say something significant or write a really, really long post. So in this post I will attempt to avoid both pitfalls and make this incredibly self-centered and insignificant while also keeping it short.

So here's a list of what's going on/gone on with me:
1) I had a cool chance to go to MN on business and happened to have time to see family
2) My dog doesn't have cancer (that's not a random statement, he had a "growth")
3) My hands are really dry
4) I hurt myself while scoring a goal in my hockey game last night
5) I'm working with some amazing people at launching the Durham campus of Vintage21 Church (starts Sun 1/18 @ 11am - more info here & here)
6) We are keeping our house extra warm right now with real wood fires
7) Shower in our master bath is still the way it was 2 months ago... busted
8) Refrigerator light is still the way it was 2 months ago... short circuited
9) The book of James is kicking my butt
10) I am totally in love with my wife and we have committed 100% to Friday night dates for the year of 2009 (& hopefully beyond)

There ya go, all about me, and kinda short.