Still no internet access at home because of water in the phone lines. You can talk on them if you want to yell through the static, but the computer can’t get a connection through it. But hopefully it will dry up since there’s not really been any rain since yesterday afternoon a little.

But yesterday (Wednesday) was another doozy. I went to the Middle School to be a test proctor. State requirement for there to be 2 adults in the classroom when the state standardized tests are administered. So I hand out some test booklets, maybe some pencils, then I read an ESPN Magazine for the next two hours as I sit in a chair against the dry erase board. I notice it begins to sprinkle outside about halfway through the test. But an article on Derrick Nix and his kidney troubles was more interesting.

Just a little bit after we’re finished, the principal come on the PA and said there was a tornado nearby and for everyone to get in the hall. So we’ve got kids with big literature and history books over their heads huddled in the hall. A few were actually a little worried about it, but most were thinking it was a big game. Me? I was just glad that I didn’t have to get down in the floor and hug my knees and but my forehead on the floor. But after 5 minutes everyone was just sitting up wondering when they could go back to class so they can drink their “after test Coke”. Turned out it was about 40 minutes later. It never got really bad around us. But about 15 or 20 minutes down the road they got hit pretty hard. Luckily [sorta] it was a rural area were there weren’t a lot of people.

But I think the storms are over now.

More big rain came through tonight. Not as bad as last night though. Last night there was a huge lake where my back yard used to be. My phones got staticy at one point in the evening, then quit working all together. We went to bed, but then the phone rang at 11:30 (hey, it worked again!) and it was my step-dad telling me to get to a safe place in the house that there was a tornado nearby. So I get up to look at the news on tv. They say there’s one a few miles away moving pretty close.

I’m thinking of getting the baby and wife up…then the power goes out. So I stumble around in the dark looking the one flashlight in the entire house that has batteries…can’t find it. So I dig through dark doors in the pitch black for matches…but can’t find them. But it’s lightning enough to see my house in strobe effect.

My wife stumbles into where I am asking what I’m doing. I tell her I’m on a fruitless search for a light source. But we begin to hear a little hail hitting the roof now. So we get the kid out of bed and the dog who is hyper sensitive to weather and all cram in the bathroom…in the pitch black dark. Now I’m not one to really get worried about the weather much. But I did say some prayers. It was hailing pretty good and I know that they’re sometimes precursors of tornados. There has been a handful of tornados in our part of the state already that night. And we’d seen on tv the dozens of deaths from tornados in the previous 48 hours.

But after about 10-15 minutes it all passed, power back on, and back to bed. The baby never woke up; just slept in my arms. But the phone lines are still filled with static. Hopefully Bellsouth will fix that in the next day or so. But it’s preventing me from getting online from home right now.

The past few days were a little busy, but here we are now.

A few news stories that have caught my eye:

Hiker Cuts Off Arm
This guy’s hiking through the Rocky Mountains on Saturday. He has a big stinking bolder fall on his arm, pinning him down. So he lies there. And he lies there. And he lies there some more. He runs out of water on Tuesday (after laying there with a big honking rock on his arm). On Thursday he realizes he needs to do something or he’s going to die. So he pulls out his pocket knife and amputates his arm below the elbow. Hear me again, a pocket knife!

So he lay there free from the bolder til help came, right? No, he fixed some anchors in a cliff wall, and then rappelled 60 down the face of the cliff with one arm!

Some rescuers found him later and he said he wanted some water. Read the story. It’s amazing. The guy is a stud.

Are Coaches Really This Dumb?

Are Larry Eustachy and Mike Price really this stupid? I mean really? Will the players respect curfew or substance abuse issues now?

Here’s a funny picture that makes me laugh about these two.

I got this story from Rick’s blog about Derek Webb‘s new disc, She Can and Must Go Free. But it appears that a major chain of Christian Book stores have pulled the cd off of their shelves because the theology presented in the lyrics are too mature for teens and kids. To be honest, Derek does use some pointed words (such as referring to the Church as a whore), but when taken in context of the rest of the lyrics they are accurate. Again, visit the story, give it a read, and tell me what you think.

Derek Webb was a founding member of Caedmon’s Call and a great song writer. I was able to chat with him a little in Philadelphia at the National Youth Workers’ Convention a few years ago. Also, check out his wife, Sandra McCracken’s site as well. She’s gotten some great reviews at Grass Roots Music.

Haircuts are usually a good thing.

Mine is fairly easy to do. I can even do it myself with the proper tools, but it always looks like I did it then. I just got one. Paid $14 bucks for it. But there was a $2 tip in there. I used to pay $12 and think I was tipping two dollars then too. But the price went up to $12 and I never even knew it. What is a good tip to give your barber? Does it depend on how often you go in for a cut? Does it depend on how much you actually get cut off? Does it depend on if you like the guy or not?

How much (if any) do you tip?

Rachel admitted on her blog that she’s looking forward to the Auzzie Version of Big Brother. I’ve not really watched Big Brother all the way through even once, but I must say that I’ve been a fan of Survivor. A good friend told me about it before it ever came on and I was intrigued by it. When I finally started watching it, the tribes had already merged. But I stuck with it.

Survivor was moved to Thursday the next go round and took on Prime Time Champ Friends…and won a few nights too. I must admit that sometimes the stuff on Survivor gets a little racey, but it’s good entertainment. It puts a handful of people in an environment where they make friends but want the One Million Big Ones too, so they are lots of times torn between friendships and playing the game to win.

Punk’d, on the other hand, doesn’t have much socially redeeming value, but I gotta tell you it makes me laugh. Thank goodness for the bleeps! But it is interesting seeing “stars” who are touted sometimes as solid Christians dropping the F-Bomb a few times.

During the day I’ll think countless times “I’ll write something about this on StateDOG.com,” but then I forget about it by the time I’m infront of a computer. So that’s why no real update yesterday. I guess I’m still trying to find my “blogging voice”, if you know what I mean. There are different types, you know. I know some that just put out links to other stories that the author finds interesting. Not much commentary, just “Hey, check this out” and a link. Others seem to focus on a particular theme or topic of the author’s life (politics, partying, preaching, pets, parenthood, pessimism, pretty girls, physical fitness, personal journals.) And there are some that are just a daily diary of what someone did that day (“I went to Wal-Mart and saw my cousin there. She’s gained weight. Then I went home and watched the Little House on the Prarie marathon for 6 hours…”)

So what will mine be? Who knows? I bet that it will grow and mature at a rate all its own and eventually find a voice that’s a combination of all of the above (minus the Little House on the Prarie.) But now the question is how personal can I get on here. Not deep dark secrets. But if I have a frustration with someone and write about it, what if they happen to read it? If if I have a gripe with my work place, what if a coworker or boss reads about it? What if a family member has really been getting on my nerves and they read about it? You see? Anyway, I’m still green at this…I’ll figure it out.

1. What was the last TV show you watched?
I watched ER. It’s a good show that almost feels like a mini-movie to me lots of times.
2. What was the last thing you complained about?
Me? Complain?
3. Who was the last person you complimented and what did you say?
I told my daughter she was very, very cool!
4. What was the last thing you threw away?
The wrapper on a piece of Kraft Singles cheese. I had a turkey and cheese sandwich for lunch.
5. What was the last website (besides this one) that you visited?
This one. It’s about to quit it’s beta next week and go live. But there’s some controversy now about being delisted and all this junk because someone was harrassed and people are now blaming BlogShares for it. yadda yadda yadda.

Putting my daughter to bed at night really isn’t that hard of a thing. She is usually really agreeable about it and looks forward to it sometimes even. After a cup of milk, reading a few books, a once over with the toothbrush she’s ready to go. A few weeks ago my wife and I started praying with her each night before we left the room. But some nights I’d be interested in the tv and think, “The two of them can pray together just fine.” But it seems that our daughters wants both Mommy and Daddy to pray by her bed before the door is shut for the night. Sometimes is initially seems like a chore, but I’m always glad I made the time for it.

I’d wondered if she was really catching on to what we’ve been doing. I still do, I guess. But tonight she was asking to go Night-Night and saying, “Pray, Daddy!” She was sitting in my lap. She ended up covering her eyes and started making some gibberish. I didn’t think anything of it until I noticed it had a rhythm to it. I started paying attention to it…then heard her say, “Amen!” Ded gum, she was praying! I figured out she’d been saying, “Thank you, Jesus” over and over and over. Cool stuff! She’s not yet two and learning to pray.

She and I watched Survivor tonight too. I must admit that I make it a point to watch that each week. I don’t watch a lot of tv, but I do have a few shows I pay attention too. It’s raining like crazy outside too. That means I don’t need the local weather nerd to come interrupt my quality time with my daughter to tell me about a flash flood warning a few counties over. Unless it’s down the street from me…tell me about it during the commercials. He must have heard me because that’s what he started doing…that and just having a contstant ticker across the bottom. [That was very shallow of me…sorry.]

After a few recommendations I sent my $$ in yesterday to subscribe to Relevant Magazine. Looks like it could be a very fine read. Here is what they say they are about:

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM is a daily updated website covering God, life and progressive culture. It is the online companion to the groundbreaking RELEVANT MAGAZINE (the print version). Both discuss faith, career, relationships, music — basically everything we’re into — from an intelligent, fresh perspective. They get beneath the surface and ask the questions no one else is asking. In style, substance and focus, there’s nothing like RELEVANT.

And this is who they are:
We’re twentysomething Christians. We want to break stereotypes, challenge status quo and enact change through the media. We’re seeking God, living life and striving to impact the world around us. It’s pretty simple, really.

If you get the chance, be sure to spend a little time on their website and let me know what you think…there’s some challenging stuff on there, and some things that make you think as well. When I get my issue in the mail, I’ll get back with you as well.