Zane: “Maybe God doesn’t want me to have a house. Do some people not have houses?”
Me: “Yes, like you’ve said before, maybe He wants you to travel around the world, telling people about Jesus.” [He made the statement before, "God told me He wants me to travel around the world telling people about Jesus."]
Zane: “Then where would I eat?”
Me: “Well, maybe you will eat with other people.”
Zane: “Or maybe He’ll have birds bring me food.”
Me: “Yes He can do that.”
A note to clarify:
Zane has elaborate house plans; think like Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes. Zane has an imagination much like Calvin. Really … with rocketships and everything. We have our own Spaceman Spiff! One of Zane’s house designs includes a retractable roof, for launching a secret space rocket from within. When I quizzed him on how the house will not burn up from the burning rocket fuel, he described in detail huge metal shields that would fold out.
He has also stated he wants to build us a house where we can all live together, when he is older. A couple years ago he picked out a site along the freeway near Cottage Grove, it is a nice site if it weren’t so close to the freeway.
He plans on adopting kids, but doesn’t want a wife. When questioned on this, he says, Luke will take care of his kids when he goes to work … he has actually said he wants to marry Luke.
May 16, 2007
USPS & the next Prez
I took the USPS Battery Exam 460 this morning. It went well, I think I did good. Results will not be available for 3 weeks. However, during the instructions the test proctor made it clear the positions that this test are for are for filling in for other rural carriers on their days off. So at the most one day a week and no benefits. At that he announced that if anyone thought it a waste of their time they could leave and skip the test they could, one lady did. We'll see ... if I get called I will talk with them.
I heard that Fred Thompson is thinking of running for The President of the United States. Now that could be a good thing. I remember listening to a radio show he did years ago. If I remember right, he was in line with my thinking on most things. He is a good communicator, conservative, and has entertainment connections (he plays the district attorney on Law&Order).
www.fred08.com
New Pickup & the next Prez
I have been looking to buy a small pickup to drive. For practical reasons ... fuel mileage, less money tied up in a vehicle, and to haul stuff (my tools and dirt/bark for my yard). I love my Bronco but it is not practical for this time in my life. It only gets about 11-13 miles to the gallon and I can't haul much with it. I am hoping to get about $7500 for it so that money will also be used somewhere else more effectively.
With my new job (home construction) starting this week I have been looking hard for the last week and have found that even used trucks (with many miles) cost a lot. Ideally I would like a 4x4 with four doors to carry my family but they cost too much and most get very bad mileage.
So I went very practical ... 1990 Toyota. Its old with lots of miles, but the lady, who bought it new, has taken very good care of it. She started out asking $4000 (CRAIGSLIST) which was way too much, when I looked at it the first time she was asking $3500 but Kelley Blue Book valued it much lower, which I let her know. Today I went back after looking all weekend at other trucks and offered her $2100, she took it and I have a pickup. I spent the evening detailing it and it looks pretty good. I had a 1986 much like it back in the day. This one is nicer than the one I had before.
On a totally different note ... who will be our next President? It seems the national media is focusing on the Democratic Nominees (Obama and Clinton) but I really could care less about them liberals. A friend of mine is promoting Ron Paul on his MySpace so I took a look at www.myspace.com/ronpaul2008. I will have to do some more research, but he has some good things to say in the May06 video clips. Fewer taxes, less war, less government, etc.
Maybe RON PAUL 2008????
With my new job (home construction) starting this week I have been looking hard for the last week and have found that even used trucks (with many miles) cost a lot. Ideally I would like a 4x4 with four doors to carry my family but they cost too much and most get very bad mileage.
So I went very practical ... 1990 Toyota. Its old with lots of miles, but the lady, who bought it new, has taken very good care of it. She started out asking $4000 (CRAIGSLIST) which was way too much, when I looked at it the first time she was asking $3500 but Kelley Blue Book valued it much lower, which I let her know. Today I went back after looking all weekend at other trucks and offered her $2100, she took it and I have a pickup. I spent the evening detailing it and it looks pretty good. I had a 1986 much like it back in the day. This one is nicer than the one I had before.
On a totally different note ... who will be our next President? It seems the national media is focusing on the Democratic Nominees (Obama and Clinton) but I really could care less about them liberals. A friend of mine is promoting Ron Paul on his MySpace so I took a look at www.myspace.com/ronpaul2008. I will have to do some more research, but he has some good things to say in the May06 video clips. Fewer taxes, less war, less government, etc.
Maybe RON PAUL 2008????
May 4, 2007
The Journey – Part five
During the past month and a half I have continued to seek new positions and careers all the while continuing to study the stock market and doing a little trading of stocks and stock options.
Not that I am making much money in these trades, it is mostly the gaining of experience by trading small amounts. Overall I am up a few percentage points but not enough yet to risk more of our money. As my system of trading improves I will be able to invest more and potentially make more.
Some professions I have sought out more information and eliminated as possibilities are … Farmers Insurance Agent and Edward Jones Financial Planner/Stockbroker. Both of these professions are very much sales positions and require hours and hours on the phone selling, selling, selling. Edward Jones has been named on of the top companies in America to work for. However, making 25 contacts a day and 125 a week seems like too much pressure to me. The Edward Jones rep on River Road has a goal of bringing in $1 million dollars of new investments every month, that seems like a crazy amount of work to me. Unless he is fortunate enough to have several very rich clients.
Some opportunities I am still pursuing …
1. I have started classes to become a Real Estate Appraiser. Classes are on Fridays and Saturdays in Portland. I will be done with the basic classes to be qualified to be an Assistant Appraiser June 16th. To become an Appraiser I must be an Assistant for 2000 hours (a little more than a year of work). It might be a challenge to find someone to take me on as an Assistant, but that is what I am working toward.
2. This past week I heard from the Roseburg Post Office. They sent me a letter inviting me to take the postal exam down there on May 16th. To leave that “door” open I will take the opportunity. The positions that are open are only part-time positions as relief drivers. Driving routes on other people’s day off and such.
3. I plan on starting work in home construction with some friends Tuesday. They have a real estate development business in the Eugene/Springfield area.
Not that I am making much money in these trades, it is mostly the gaining of experience by trading small amounts. Overall I am up a few percentage points but not enough yet to risk more of our money. As my system of trading improves I will be able to invest more and potentially make more.
Some professions I have sought out more information and eliminated as possibilities are … Farmers Insurance Agent and Edward Jones Financial Planner/Stockbroker. Both of these professions are very much sales positions and require hours and hours on the phone selling, selling, selling. Edward Jones has been named on of the top companies in America to work for. However, making 25 contacts a day and 125 a week seems like too much pressure to me. The Edward Jones rep on River Road has a goal of bringing in $1 million dollars of new investments every month, that seems like a crazy amount of work to me. Unless he is fortunate enough to have several very rich clients.
Some opportunities I am still pursuing …
1. I have started classes to become a Real Estate Appraiser. Classes are on Fridays and Saturdays in Portland. I will be done with the basic classes to be qualified to be an Assistant Appraiser June 16th. To become an Appraiser I must be an Assistant for 2000 hours (a little more than a year of work). It might be a challenge to find someone to take me on as an Assistant, but that is what I am working toward.
2. This past week I heard from the Roseburg Post Office. They sent me a letter inviting me to take the postal exam down there on May 16th. To leave that “door” open I will take the opportunity. The positions that are open are only part-time positions as relief drivers. Driving routes on other people’s day off and such.
3. I plan on starting work in home construction with some friends Tuesday. They have a real estate development business in the Eugene/Springfield area.
Church Hopping
Churches …
We have been visiting churches since mid-January. I enjoy seeing my friends in the various churches around our area. We have also been to our parent’s churches more than once (Drain Church of Christ & Stone Creek Christian in Oregon City).
Our “church hopping” has been limited to Christian Churches/Churches of Christ because we are committed to the ideals of the Restoration Movement. The churches of this movement are not a denomination as there is no leadership tying the churches together with rules of belief. Even though I believe in the ideals of the movement I must admit none of the churches are perfect, but the simple ideals of teaching, preaching, and building our structure around the model of the New Testament churches is one I believe to be true. It is called the Restoration Movement because from the beginning these churches have had as a goal to restore the NT church structure and the spirit of the New Testament Apostles and Prophets.
Garden Way – we joined them the Sunday Santa Clara Church announced our dismissal. We figured it would have been awkward to be there to answer questions that we did not have answers to. Garden Way is a nice enough church, I like the guys on staff and I have a few friends there, it is much like SC, and it has great potential for the future. However, we don’t feel like it is the church for us right now.
Lorane – We felt this small church in the beautiful Lorane Valley was one of the most-friendly churches we have ever visited. The preacher’s wife grew up with Lori in Drain. We like them and enjoyed the less formal atmosphere of a country church; however, it is about a 40 minute drive for us. At about 30 minutes into the drive Lori said, “I’m done. I can’t go any further than this every week to church.” When the weather is nice this is one of my favorite places to go for a drive (or a bike ride!) but it’s not just about me.
This also pertains to our “church hopping” experiences … I really enjoy seeing my friends in the various churches and seeing what each church meeting is like; however, it is hard for the boys. They miss their Sunday School classes at SC (they had great teachers) and sitting through church is hard for 1 ½, 3, and 5 year old boys. They are getting better at this, so it has been good even though it has been hard for them. We often get comments from people at churches or restaurants about our boys being the best-behaved trio of boys they have seen. That is always good to hear because both Lori and I are sensitive to what others think of us and our boys.
Marcola – A friend from Bible college is an Elder there and he is married to another girl that Lori grew up with in Drain (she is sister to the minister’s wife in Lorane). This is another nice country church that I could see us being a part of if we lived it that area.
Norkenzie – surprisingly, I had never visited this church before. We enjoyed this church and still might go back. I did not realize Joe Powell is a part of this church. It was nice to see him; he made us feel welcome.
Sonrise – formerly known as Irving Christian Church. Probably the most interesting church we visited … not necessarily in a bad way. Talk about an old church, the average age of this church is probably 65 and their music style is from the 1940-50s. But they were friendly! They would obviously love our boys. If we choose this church our boys would instantly have a ½ dozen new grandparents. This church sits on some prime real estate, which in my opinion means they have tons of potential if they would think outside the box. Here is what I think … they have a cool old traditional church building (c.1900) that sits unused most of the time and they meet in a plain box room with pews in a newer building. The style of church meeting they have would lend itself to the meeting in the old building and converting the newer building to a community center with round tables instead of pews. They have a few acres of grass and a few trees right on the corner of NW Expressway and Irvington Dr. that would be a great place for soccer fields and maybe softball fields. The church is a small group that desires to grow and have young families join them, so in my opinion they should open up their building and land for community use. Give to the community and build relationships through serving them. This area is growing-houses and families all around; there is tons of potential if the church leaders will think outside the box (and simply changing a name is not thinking outside the box!).
Dayspring – I had not been interested in visiting this church and I am not sure why. But this Sunday we visited this church and I was surprised to find many people I knew and who have known me since I was a toddler. The Shields’, Hubbards’, Sales’, and another older couple all are a part of this church and they were all part of the Westside church when I was growing up. My brother and I grew up with the Shields’ and Hubbards’ girls. The church meeting was acceptable and we found the church building to be kept-up very nice. The actual auditorium lends itself to overly formal atmosphere but the meeting did not feel too formal.
Stone Creek, Drain, and Crossroads in Portland have also been visited but we can’t logically join those churches so I will refrain from any observations or judgments.
We have been visiting churches since mid-January. I enjoy seeing my friends in the various churches around our area. We have also been to our parent’s churches more than once (Drain Church of Christ & Stone Creek Christian in Oregon City).
Our “church hopping” has been limited to Christian Churches/Churches of Christ because we are committed to the ideals of the Restoration Movement. The churches of this movement are not a denomination as there is no leadership tying the churches together with rules of belief. Even though I believe in the ideals of the movement I must admit none of the churches are perfect, but the simple ideals of teaching, preaching, and building our structure around the model of the New Testament churches is one I believe to be true. It is called the Restoration Movement because from the beginning these churches have had as a goal to restore the NT church structure and the spirit of the New Testament Apostles and Prophets.
Garden Way – we joined them the Sunday Santa Clara Church announced our dismissal. We figured it would have been awkward to be there to answer questions that we did not have answers to. Garden Way is a nice enough church, I like the guys on staff and I have a few friends there, it is much like SC, and it has great potential for the future. However, we don’t feel like it is the church for us right now.
Lorane – We felt this small church in the beautiful Lorane Valley was one of the most-friendly churches we have ever visited. The preacher’s wife grew up with Lori in Drain. We like them and enjoyed the less formal atmosphere of a country church; however, it is about a 40 minute drive for us. At about 30 minutes into the drive Lori said, “I’m done. I can’t go any further than this every week to church.” When the weather is nice this is one of my favorite places to go for a drive (or a bike ride!) but it’s not just about me.
This also pertains to our “church hopping” experiences … I really enjoy seeing my friends in the various churches and seeing what each church meeting is like; however, it is hard for the boys. They miss their Sunday School classes at SC (they had great teachers) and sitting through church is hard for 1 ½, 3, and 5 year old boys. They are getting better at this, so it has been good even though it has been hard for them. We often get comments from people at churches or restaurants about our boys being the best-behaved trio of boys they have seen. That is always good to hear because both Lori and I are sensitive to what others think of us and our boys.
Marcola – A friend from Bible college is an Elder there and he is married to another girl that Lori grew up with in Drain (she is sister to the minister’s wife in Lorane). This is another nice country church that I could see us being a part of if we lived it that area.
Norkenzie – surprisingly, I had never visited this church before. We enjoyed this church and still might go back. I did not realize Joe Powell is a part of this church. It was nice to see him; he made us feel welcome.
Sonrise – formerly known as Irving Christian Church. Probably the most interesting church we visited … not necessarily in a bad way. Talk about an old church, the average age of this church is probably 65 and their music style is from the 1940-50s. But they were friendly! They would obviously love our boys. If we choose this church our boys would instantly have a ½ dozen new grandparents. This church sits on some prime real estate, which in my opinion means they have tons of potential if they would think outside the box. Here is what I think … they have a cool old traditional church building (c.1900) that sits unused most of the time and they meet in a plain box room with pews in a newer building. The style of church meeting they have would lend itself to the meeting in the old building and converting the newer building to a community center with round tables instead of pews. They have a few acres of grass and a few trees right on the corner of NW Expressway and Irvington Dr. that would be a great place for soccer fields and maybe softball fields. The church is a small group that desires to grow and have young families join them, so in my opinion they should open up their building and land for community use. Give to the community and build relationships through serving them. This area is growing-houses and families all around; there is tons of potential if the church leaders will think outside the box (and simply changing a name is not thinking outside the box!).
Dayspring – I had not been interested in visiting this church and I am not sure why. But this Sunday we visited this church and I was surprised to find many people I knew and who have known me since I was a toddler. The Shields’, Hubbards’, Sales’, and another older couple all are a part of this church and they were all part of the Westside church when I was growing up. My brother and I grew up with the Shields’ and Hubbards’ girls. The church meeting was acceptable and we found the church building to be kept-up very nice. The actual auditorium lends itself to overly formal atmosphere but the meeting did not feel too formal.
Stone Creek, Drain, and Crossroads in Portland have also been visited but we can’t logically join those churches so I will refrain from any observations or judgments.
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