Category: Signs Of Life

General thoughts, mostly blog updates

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The World Needs Solutions, Not Answers

One of the things I’ve spent a lot of time dealing with in my life is where we derive our self-worth as human beings. On what basis do we judge ourselves as “successful?” Where do we look for validation, and how do we achieve it? Is it even worth trying?

The World® has all kinds of answers. Vapid and pointless answers, but they do have answers. Plenty of people who are looking for the answers to life really believe these answers, too. This is the tragedy of our modern church. We have failed to provide answers for a populace that is desperately seeking them. And in typical human fashion, they found their answers elsewhere, even if they’re wrong.

When I tell people “God loves you” I’m assuming they know certain things that I know. I assume they know that Jesus Christ was God in human form. I assume they know about Sin and Atonement. I assume they know they need a savior.

But what if they want an answer, when they don’t even know the question?

[Insert joke about the number “42” here]

In reality, people don’t know what they want answers for. They’re looking for solutions, not answers. Someone might ask me “Why won’t my car run?” I can tell them “Your car won’t run because it broke the timing belt,” but if they don’t know what a timing belt is, it won’t help. It’s the correct answer to their question, and it’s helpful to someone like myself who knows what to do with that information. But if they have no clue, it doesn’t help… the problem is still unsolved in their minds. I haven’t offered any solution. Continue reading “The World Needs Solutions, Not Answers”

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Culture War Pacifist

I’ll be honest, I follow quite a few outspoken bloggers and writers in my day-to-day reading. I’m always interested in their takes on culture, current events, and whatnot. And yes, most of them lean towards my thoughts in several areas. I enjoy the challenge of thinking about difficult problems of life and faith.

But so far I’ve resisted the urge to post my own thoughts on “left” and “right” and right and wrong in the never-ending Culture War. Is this because I don’t know what I believe? Is it because I don’t want to offend anybody?

No. It’s because I don’t feel I need to proactively defend what I think, or try to convince others what I think is right or wrong. I know from personal experience that it’s very difficult to change someone’s mind unless they are willing to consider alternatives. And frankly, in today’s internet environment, it’s just easier to find a group of people that thinks like you instead of actually trying to defend your beliefs.

Should I be actively throwing my beliefs on social issues out there? Should I be overwhelmingly vocal about things that other people feel passionately about? I guess that depends on my reason for having a blog in the first place. Some things I am vocal about; some I’m not. Some things I just am not interested in discussing, and some things I need to learn more about before I would even consider it. Ultimately, I get to decide what I want to discuss because I feel it’s relevant. Is that selfish of me? Continue reading “Culture War Pacifist”

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Sleep Deprivation And You

I have always struggled with getting enough rest, for as long as I can remember. Through my college years, I would stay awake for days (usually playing ping-pong and video games) and then binge sleep on the weekends (and some Mondays). I never really thought anything of it.

A few years back, I took a job working at a hospital in New Orleans. I had the joy of working the weekend night shift, which meant I worked 7pm to 7am, Saturday and Sunday night, every week. I would get off of work Monday morning when the day crew would come in at 7am. I was alone the whole time. Sometimes late at night I would walk up to the ICU ward and listen to the breathing machines and monitors, just to stay awake. Sometimes I would go up to the NeoNatal unit to watch preemies in incubators. Sometimes I was so tired, I would hallucinate, and fall asleep sitting at my desk, perched on a tall chair. Sometimes between 4am and 5am I would pass out on the floor, with my backpack as a pillow, and sleep for 30 minutes because I couldn’t hold my eyes open.

To make things worse, I had to come in for two 8-hour day shifts on Wednesdays and Thursdays, every week. After six months, my body still hadn’t adjusted. I was either working, sleeping, or staring into space like a zombie. For six straight months.

Somewhere during that time, I realized that I couldn’t function without sleep. That’s also when I started drinking coffee to be able to function (and it’s been ten years, I still haven’t broken that addiction! LOL). Eventually, I quit that job because I couldn’t function. Things went back to normal- for a while.

Fast forward a few years. Now I’m working a job I love. I’m eating right, exercising, doing everything right. And yet, I don’t get enough sleep. How much is considered enough? How much does a normal person need to function properly? Would you even know what functioning properly would feel like?? Continue reading “Sleep Deprivation And You”

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Approaching Ground Zero

In a few days, my “day job” (here’s a hint: it isn’t blogging) will ramp up for a month or so of crazy production. It will involve copious amounts of overtime, probably some extra days, and lots of overtime pay.

Yes I get paid overtime, because I’m an hourly worker, and I refuse to work another salary job. I’ve been there, I’ve done that, I will never do it again. I generally have issues with large mega-corporations (even though the one I work for is one of the better ones) and I also don’t like corporate politics, stupidity, wastefulness, attitude, and greed. Pretty much all things I’m sworn to destroy.

Ah, but for the lack of a paycheck…

Anyway, if I don’t post a lot over the next month or so, that’s why. Hopefully I’ll get time to breathe.

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Tasker And Flowcharts

In my quest to simplify, I’ve ventured into the territory of Information Automation. Since I discovered the app  Tasker, I’ve challenged myself to find new ways to exploit it to automate tasks that I really shouldn’t be wasting time on.

Tasker basically is an automation programming language for your Android device. It allows you to take any number of trigger inputs (GPS position, battery state, apps, network status, emails, RSS feeds, etc.) and then perform any series of tasks you program it to. It has the capability to be a full-fledged programming language, with conditional logic, variables, and so on, which lets you make some incredibly complex “tasks” for it to run.

It also has the capability of using almost anything your device can do as an “action” or output, which means you can automate just about anything your phone/tablet can do. Take pictures, play audio, send texts, run programs, share to social media, control the device’s functions, or even speak and listen to voice commands.

So, sometimes I geek out on stuff like flowcharts and such, and programming is the perfect place for it. Flowcharts! Graphs! Logic! Here’s how it works. Continue reading “Tasker And Flowcharts”

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Reflections On Wisdom

I was recently shocked to discover that someone had been reading my blog, and actually used it as motivation to accomplish something great. I immediately panicked. Why? Because I don’t view myself as a particularly wise person. Intelligent? Yes, under certain circumstances I’d call myself “smart” but that doesn’t have anything to do with Wisdom. I know lots of devastatingly intelligent people who don’t have the wisdom to keep from wrecking their lives. One of my favorite writers, in fact, continually flaunts his MENSA qualifications and IQ score, and yet he’s lambasted as a bigot (and several other nasty monikers) because he’s hot-headed, stubborn, and generally unwise. His skill in writing is second to none (in my opinion) but as a person, I wouldn’t really like him.

So what’s the difference, really? You might think Wisdom is just the application of being Smart, but that’s not the case. But if Wisdom isn’t the same as intelligence, what is it?

Wisdom – the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience

I especially like the phrase “application of experience.” So, by definition, can you be wise without experience? No, you can’t. But so often we try to bypass the whole time requirement of wisdom, and substitute Brains instead. Because, if we’re smart, gosh darn it, we should be able to make the right decision every time, right? If I think about it enough, the answer will come to me.

Oh, how I wish that were the case.

Continue reading “Reflections On Wisdom”

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Ain’t What I Used To Be

So finally, after years of fighting it, I’ve finally come to the conclusion that… oh geez, I don’t even know if I can say it…

I can’t physically do the things I used to do. My body is breaking down. What used to be a simple job now takes me twice as long, and I have to recover for a few days afterwards. My back muscles are shot, my joints are failing, my neck crunches like Rice Krispies when I move it in any direction, my hair is falling out, and I could go on. I’ll be 40 in a couple of weeks. I’m starting to get old, and I can feel it.

However, I’m holding on to the one last thing I still can keep from failing: my overall health. I’m eating better now than I ever have before. I’m exercising again (after a terrible accident which kept me off the bike for almost 3 years). I’m sleeping more, I’m listening to my body, and you know what? It’s making a difference.

There are some things I know I just won’t be able to do any more. But I’m going to fight to keep what I have left. And when it’s all said and done, I’ll still be able to do more than if I’d had just let myself go.

I refuse to go down quietly and without a fight.

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Don’t Give Up

Don’t give up.

How many times have you heard those words? I can’t remember how many times I’ve heard or said them, but I know it’s plenty. Usually people won’t say when you’re just trying to tie your shoes “Hey, don’t give up!” unless you really struggle with tying your shoes. So most of the time when you hear it, it’s because you’re trying to do something you don’t think you can do. If it were easy, there’d be no need to say it.

In contrast, the times we say “Don’t give up” are when we see someone going through something we’re pretty sure they can do, it’s just they don’t see it. Or believe it. Sometimes they’re not even trying to succeed, they’re just going through the motions in hopes that some day they will be able to just stop.

It really hurts me when I see people struggling, and I know what they’re going through. It hurts even more if they’re struggling with something I’ve already been through and conquered. Why must they struggle when really, the path they need to go is plain and simple, and will get them where they need to go if they stick with it long enough. Sometimes all it takes is someone telling them “Don’t give up, you’ll get there, you’re heading in the right direction.”

If you’ve heard me say this recently, please don’t see it as patronizing. You couldn’t imagine the pain and hardships I’ve gone through, and yet I’m not dismissing what you’re going through. I know it’s hard. I know it’s not the end of the world, and I know there are much harder things we could be dealing with.

It’s hard, yes. But it is finite. There is an end to it, if only you’ll look up and place one foot in front of the other. Don’t look back; keep moving forward.

And above all, don’t give up.

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Cateye Commuter CC-COM10W Review

 

If you’re like me, and you like to ride your bike to places, then you probably have some sort of device on your bike that lets you track miles, speed, time, and so forth. A lot of these bike computers are focused on tracking data for training rides- heart rate, cadence, power, etc.- so when my old Cateye Velo 2 died after 20 years of service, I was very eager to replace it. Plus, Cateye is very much supportive of Bike Commuters… they even run the website www.worldcommute.com which tracks commuting miles.

Commuter

Continue reading “Cateye Commuter CC-COM10W Review”

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Just One Of Those Days

You ever have a day when you just wanted to get on a bike and ride until you were far enough away from your problems that it didn’t matter? Yeah… today was one of those days. I can’t wait until I can retire and get on my bike, and ride across the country as fast or as slow as I want.

So, go to http://www.adventurecycling.org/ and check it out. I’m thinking one day I’ll try to do the Southern Tier– that’s cross country, coast to coast, along the southern border. I live on that route! So if you’re passing through southern Louisiana, get in touch and we can get some bengiets and coffee!

Just because you don’t have enemies, doesn’t mean everyone is your friend. I’m glad I have real friends in my life. I hope you can say the same, too.