John & Kate + 8 Divorce

The show has been sad from the start, with the wife showing a clear lack of respect for the husband. He clearly needs to grow a spine, or figure out how to get his opinion heard.

Two of the Bible's teachings for a stable, Christ-like marriage are respect and love. Women are told to Respect their husbands. Men are told to Love their wives.

These aren't passive acts or emotions. Men have to work hard to realize that they're not showing love, because it's not in their nature to do so. Women have to work hard to cut out the sarcastic/caustic comments which demonstrate a lack of respect for their husbands, and show respect for their mates.

Here's a good synopsis. http://www.cbmw.org/Resources/Articles/Love-and-Respect-in-Marriage

It's very clear that these guys needed some serious Christian-based marriage counseling several years ago.

The Wonderful Wife and I have been married for 126 months, and still have to work on this. I suspect we'll be doing so for the rest of our, hopefully married, lives.

British Perception of Obama's Election & the US Media Coverage

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1084111/PETER-HITCHENS-The-night-waved-goodbye-America--best-hope-Earth.html

Wow. Read it an enjoy.

Post Election Blues

I love my country, but am concerned about the direction we'll be going in an Obama presidency. Fortunately we're in a recession (as demented as that sounds), so Barak will be limited in which of his programs he can implement.

Even though I don't like the results of the election, I'm very glad to see that our country is still capable of a peaceful transfer of power. I'm not one for leading people, but I definitely feel like I need to get involved in local and state politics. I may not be the face of the party, but I can definitely help them get organized and get the word out.

Y'all pray and pray hard. Remember, God has his hands on our leaders, whether the leaders like it or not.

Early Voting

I'm pretty excited by the 2008 elections. I'm also a little concerned by the possibility of such an untested, untried, and inexperienced candidate taking on the job of President of the United States.

I voted for McCain/Palin. I don't fully support all of McCain's positions, but I support Obama's positions even less. For a break down of the candidate's stands on issues which are important to me, please see the iVoteValues Party Platform document below.

http://ivotevalues.com/party_platforms/

I'm going to keep praying for this country, and the election. I know each side claims to want God's will. I also know that God has everything in His hands. Even when we don't agree with our leaders, God has a plan, and has His hand on the leaders.

I am a little annoyed at Jim Marshall, though. His advertisements claiming a 23% sales tax are obvious lies and distortions. Any supporter of the FairTax should be able to read right through these attacks.

The FairTax does implement a 23% sales tax. But it first eliminates all income, corporate, capital gains, and a myriad of other taxes. It also disbands the IRS, and repeals the 16th amendment , and implements a 'pre-bate' which goes to every household to cover the sales tax they'd be expected to pay on necessities. Also, the sales tax is embedded, so a $100 item shows up as a $100 item, with $23 in taxes. Finally, every penny of taxes collected are printed on out on the sales receipts, so the consumer would be able to see the exact amount of tax money they're giving to the government.

Time to pray and seek God's guidance. It's also a good time to eliminate debt from our lives and live on cash only.

Jury Duty & Thoughts

I worked mucho overtime during the month of September to prepare for a lab move at work. When moving $1million+ worth of computer equipment, you can't be too prepared.

The lab move went off without a hitch. I receive kudos from several executives, the move company coordinator, and my managers. They even selected me as "Employee of the Month".

Due to the overtime, management recommended that I take the week of 10/20 - 10/24 off as comp time. Lo and behold, shortly thereafter, I received a letter from Henry County State Court kindly requesting my presence in the jury pool...for the week of 10/20 - 10/24.

Of course, I did my civic duty. I showed up and did what I could. I met several good people, and was able to help several people with computer problems. I even managed to read a semi-decent Stephen King novel Duma Key.

Due to a comedy of errors, my group managed to be held through Thursday. We were supposed to be called on Friday, too, but were released late Thursday afternoon.

Next Week: Time to get back to work.

Wedding Congratulations!

Michael and Amy tied the knot today. The wedding was pretty nice. The Wonderful Wife loved the decorations, and noticed the color green everywhere. I believe green is one of Mike's favorite colors, and it looked good as an accent today.

It was nice to see friends from high school, and Mike and Amy's families. Amy's clan was a trip, encouraging everyone to get out and dance.

Good job Mike and Amy! Congratulations on a great wedding, and may God bless your marriage. With God's grace, and lots of hard work, you can keep the commitment to stay together until the celestial dirt nap.

Wow! What a Day!

God provided me with a great job, with a great company. The hours are generally family-friendly, but occasionally, something comes up which some personal sacrifice. This was one such weekend. We move our lab from one data center to another. Fortunately, we had a great move team working for us, and the move was a resounding success.

I arrived to work on Friday, October 3rd at 8:30 AM, and am just now leaving for the house. Wow! At least there were no major problems (another blessing) and I get to home before the sun comes up!

If I drive the speed limit, I'll get home just in time to surprise the Wonderful Wife with breakfast in bed. Yeah, that's worth a little sacrifice once a year.