A Bob's Life

Ghana Elections

2008-11-30T09:51:00.002-06:00

One of my newest friends, Ryan Dowd, is in Ghana as an election observer. He arrived this weekend and provides the, um, details about his $8/night hotel room in Accra.

I met Ryan in Springfield a few weeks ago at the Housing Action Illinois (HAI) annual meeting. He is one of several outstanding people who joined the Board of Directors of HAI. When he mentioned that he would be making this trip I have to admit to a bit of jealousy. After reading about his first night, I am no longer jealous!

Return safely Ryan!

Making a Return?

2008-09-01T16:34:00.002-05:00

I got fed up with my web hosting service last year, and pretty much quit blogging with the plan of dropping them. I'm thinking about a return to blogging, but if I do so, I will likely resurrect this old blog. It may mean the loss of about a year of posts, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make at this point. I'm taking some time to figure out what my options are and what plan I should follow. Stay tuned!

Making a Move

2006-03-05T23:06:00.000-06:00

It appears that I'm making a move over to WordPress and my own dns. I'm working out some bugs, but from this point forward, you can follow my blog at http://abobslife.net/blog. You can subscribe to the RSS feed there at the url http://abobslife.net/blog/?feed=rss2.

I've managed to import this blog to that site, so you can still check out the archives there and even search them rather easily. I'm still setting up categories and I'll have to go back through the archives to assign categories appropriately, but, hey, that's part of the fun of having my own site.

If you are interested in blogging, I highly recommend Blogger, which is what I've been using these last 18 months or so. I just decided the time was right to move upward and onward. I'll have quite a bit of work to do before I'll consider it easy, and I'm sure I'll get hit with bugs in the meantime, but I'm looking forward to the change. I recently told folks that I don't blog for the readership (doesn't that show!). Now that I've got a few more folks reading my blog, I go and move it. I guess that's a sign that I really don't do it for the readership, eh?!?

Why Dads are Important

2006-03-05T15:27:00.000-06:00

Jeremy lists the top ten fatherhood facts. My kids are currently running through the house as though their pants were on fire (they're not, trust me!). In the midst of the chaos, I read Jeremy's post and can say that I'm glad I'm a father. Modern society seems to have confused the roles of Daddy and sperm donor (ever hear someone say, "Who's your daddy?"). I stood in a gas station near our old house one day and heard a guy walk into the store and see a lady he knew. He turned to the lady's child (about 3 years old) and asked the child if he knew who his daddy was. He started razzing this little toddler over something the child had no control over. The fact is, this little boy didn't have a daddy at all. "Daddy" is a title that a child gives their father because they love their father. Being Daddy is a job that can only be rivaled by "Mommy." If your child doesn't give you the title of Daddy, then you don't have it. Period. You can't give that name to yourself.

Worship Music on Sale at iTMS

2006-03-05T07:13:00.000-06:00

The iTunes Music Store has a bunch of worship music on sale through March 20th. If you have iTunes on your computer, go here to check it out. The music is from the Passion 06 Conference, as well as albums by bands that performed there. Every album is $2 off the regular price, so music by Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Charlie Hall, David Crowder Band, and the Passion Worship Band is all on sale.

Why the Reformation Movement Needs the Emerging Church

2006-03-04T10:59:00.000-06:00

The Internet Monk has posted an outstanding look at the bigger picture of evangelicalism in the US. He examines the critiques of DG Hart's book Deconstructing Evangelicalism and a presentation by Phil Johnson entitled "Is the Reformation Over?" Placing these side by side, he challenges the reformed movement to seriously consider encouraging the good points of the emerging church while continuing to confront the more questionable aspects. The move by DA Carson and others to toss the whole emerging church overboard will mean getting rid of a lot of good stuff. Like anything else, encourage the good, get rid of the bad. After all, we don't allow the reformation movement to literally burn people at the stake just because they disagree on a fine theological point, so even they have changed over the years!

He also discusses the role of Catholicism in a "post-evangelical" world. Consider this:

In all honesty, is the problem ECT, Timothy George and Chuck Colson? How many Peter Kreefts and Scott Hahns jumped ship over ecumenical evangelicalism? Hardly. It is traditional Catholicism that is making converts, and it is making them from largely conservative evangelicals who are looking for something in conservative, fundamentalist post-evangelicalism that isn’t there.
John Paul II and Benedict the XVI are seen as spiritual leaders of substance, in contrast to what evangelicalism these days calls a leader— anyone with two books and a church over 1500 members.

I know this is true of my generation! I have far more respect for John Paul II than the vast majority of evangelical "leaders." Most of the "leaders" that we've been raised on view politics, particularly Republican politics, as the real solution to the world's problems, but I'll get into that in a post later today or tomorrow.

The Bank Was Not Scammed

2006-03-03T15:54:00.000-06:00

Having the house number 1234 means that we get a lot of odd looks. Today we got our first rejection letter from a bank. It was supposed to go to someone at "1234 Your St." Apparently the Post Office thought it was close enough to our address that we should get it, though it had someone else's name and a different zip code. Sorry Mr. Johnson, you won't be getting a credit card anytime soon!

You Thought Emergent Was Scary?

2006-03-03T08:24:00.000-06:00

Jeremy links to an audio piece that has frightening implications for urban mainline congregations. When your denominations are dying out, the leadership has to find a way to raise cash. What better way to do it than sell off church buildings in urban neighborhoods for huge profits? I know our neighborhood has four Lutheran churches, all in the same Lutheran denomination. Any one of them could hold all the folks who attend all four of those churches. Why not sell off three of those buildings? Simple, the neighborhood isn't worth enough yet. Give it another 5-10 years and there will be fewer Lutheran churches in our neighborhood, based on this line of thinking. Calling it "job security" is a bit crass, but in reality, that's what it is. It goes back to that old human tendency to look out for self in spite of the consequences for others.

Autistic Teen Takes Over the Game

2006-03-03T08:20:00.000-06:00

HT to Jeremy

The 17-year-old senior, who is autistic and usually sits on the bench in a white shirt and black tie, proceeded to hit six 3-point shots, finished with 20 points and was carried off the court on his teammates' shoulders.

The New mini

2006-03-01T17:27:00.000-06:00

My favorite computer has been upgraded. There is seriously no computer cooler than the mini. Anywhere.

A Day in the Life of...

2006-03-01T17:13:00.000-06:00

Had a busy morning, full of meetings. I went to lunch with a board member and we got to talking about a possible state law that we'd like to see written. Got back to the office and fired off an email to an attorney-friend with a passion for that sort of thing. We'll see what happens. We also talked about going to law school over lunch. My attorney-friend encouraged me to do that the last time we were together. I'm not so sure. I've certainly got enough going on right now. She's a bit of a rabble-rouser, and I could definitely see a law degree getting me into trouble someday too! As she puts it, "It's a license to raise hell." She does that pretty well. There'd be some serious stuff coming down the pike if my attorney-friend, board member, and I all had law degrees. We already have the potential of creating mischief if we really want. Speaking of which...

We're looking at getting a group of folks together in Chicago to have a long conversation about affordable housing issues. Should be a great time. The only problem? It probably won't happen until May, when I'm in for a meeting. I'm hoping that the three of us mentioned above, as well as one other would be there. We're thinking a couple hours over lunch, but I could easily see it lasting longer if no one has other appointments to get to. There's too much to talk about. Governments to overthrow, that sort of thing. Yup, its the sort of conversation that could get out of hand and unrealistic, but at the same time, there's some serious potential for good to come out of it.

Speaking of good to come out of it, the local paper is working on a story regarding foreclosures. They're looking for someone who'd be willing to step up and talk about their own experience. Instead they're getting a lot of calls from people with questionable motives. Folks who look for pre-foreclosure sales or who track foreclosures nationwide so shady characters can prey on people who are in a desperate financial situation (I'm sure that's not why they track the foreclosures, but that's the result). The writer got our name from a legitimate source, and has seemed to be impressed with the knowledge that our office has about the situation. We ought to have it, we deal with it every day.

Tag! I'm It!

2006-02-27T20:53:00.000-06:00

Jeremy tagged me, but I've been too busy of late to even notice. Thanks for the comment, Jeremy, who knows when I would've caught it! Anyway, here's my answers:

Four jobs I’ve had
Siding houses, upper elementary public school teacher, McDonald's, grunt in the Criminal Records Division of the DuPage County States Attorney office

Four movies I can watch over and over
Princess Bride, Fiddler on the Roof, Lord of the Rings (any),

Four TV shows I love to watch
Monday Night Football, M*A*S*H, NASCAR on Fox, NFL on Fox

Four places I’ve been on vacation
Playa del Carmen, Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park, Outer Banks, Boundary Waters

Four favorite dishes
Salmon (Famous Dave's), Vegetarian B at Dos Reales, shrimp fried rice, lefsa (not really a "dish," but pretty darn tasty!)

Four Web sites I visit daily
My Folding@Home Stats Page, My other F@H stats page, Team Mac OS X Forum, and newegg.com

Four places I’d rather be
Chicago, Colorado, Playa del Carmen, an Apple Store

Four blogs I’d like to see do this quiz
I'm going to wimp out on this one. If you feel like doing this after seeing my answers, leave a comment to let us know!

God's Politics

2006-02-26T14:03:00.000-06:00

I've picked up Jim Wallis' book God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It. It's been a while since I had started it, so I restarted (as I'm prone to do). There's so much good stuff in this book, for example, I am always amazed at the debate about poverty, with one side citing the need for changes in personal behaviors and the other for better social programs, as if the two were mutually exclusive. Obviously, both personal and social responsibility are necessary for overcoming poverty. When this absurd bifurcation is offered by ideological partisans on either side, I am quickly convinced that both sides must never have lived or worked anywhere near poverty or poor people.

This book quickly moves to the point of explaining where I come from in my political views. It gets very old listening to conservatives ignore the Bible in their attempt to present an argument for voting for Republicans while liberals ignore the Bible because they are scared to death of religion and God. A very good summary can be found in Wallis' interview with the liberal mag Mother Jones. The interview reminded me of my own take on the election. I desperately wanted the Democrats to put forth a presidential candidate that I could vote for, and they did, but then they relegated him to vice-presidential candidate, and they lost my vote.

Therein lies a huge problem with two party politics. The left nominates a person who's too far left and the right nominates a person who's too far right. Kerry may not have been the worst candidate the Dems could have picked, but he was completely incapable of pulling in moderates and therefore incapable of winning the election. John Edwards was so far ahead of the rest of the Democratic field that he was "put on the shelf" (as Wallis puts it in the interview). Edwards got it. The rest of the party didn't.

It's understandable that Republicans would be uncomfortable with Wallis' book and interviews. He basically gives the Democrats the keys to the White House, if they will take them. Of course, the Republicans could do exactly the same thing, and keep the keys. The problem is that they don't want to. The old formula worked, so why change it? I'll tell you why they should change it. The Democrats probably will change their formula, and then the old Republican formula won't work anymore.

Science and Darwinism

2006-02-26T09:09:00.000-06:00

Sven has an interesting piece on the impact that modern scientific research has on Darwinism. The list of signers is pretty impressive. I expected a lot of faith-based schools to be represented, but they actually made up a pretty small number. I wasn't quite sure of the benefit, though, of seeing computer scientists on the list. Again, they didn't seem to be a significant number, but a bit odd. It will be interesting to see how this list grows over time, however. I think someday we'll look back on Darwinism much like we tend to look back on medicine from the middle ages.

New Top Cop

2006-02-25T07:23:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, the Police and Fire Commission announced a new police chief. I, for one, am grateful to see an outsider coming in. I was disappointed when the last opening in 2003 was not advertised outside of the department. The advantage of searching nationwide is that you can bring in someone with innovative ideas and experience in implementing that. As much as people speak well of our police department, there is a much higher level of distrust in lower income and minority neighborhoods. The sense of frustration grew out of years of being ignored.

The Closet

2006-02-24T08:15:00.000-06:00

Some teachers are really good...and they get away with it.

Anyone Else See a Tax Increase In Our Future?

2006-02-24T04:08:00.000-06:00

This Resolution on the Family sounds very expensive. My view of local politics tells me that the people who support it also oppose Home Rule. Even if it were to pass, its supporters would want it to be an unfunded mandate. For some reason, people seem to forget that vision doesn't amount to anything if no one puts forth the energy, time and resources to make it reality.

Boone County Growth

2006-02-24T03:53:00.000-06:00

I attended a meeting in Chicago a couple weeks ago, after which I was asked, by one of the other participants, about downpayment assistance programs in Boone County. Boone County sits just east of Rockford and just west of McHenry County, the suburban Chicago county to the farthest northwest. The person asking me about Boone County was from McHenry County and she was being asked about downpayment assistance programs from people who lived in McHenry and wanted to move to Boone. Another article that I found discusses the massive growth that Boone County has experienced in recent years. I've heard that home values have risen 140% of late. Even with that rise in valuation, McHenry residents see Boone as being an incredible value.

The flip side to that, of course, is that gas prices reduce the value of living so far outside of Chicago. Those who can afford to move from McHenry to Boone are those who actually work in McHenry. Working in Chicago itself makes for a very expensive commute these days. I would guess that the most economical way to commute to Chicago would be to drive to McHenry to catch the Metra into Chicago. Not cheap, but it sure beats our current gas prices.

Illinois Commerce Commission

2006-02-24T03:22:00.000-06:00

I came across this article about former Rockford Mayor Charles Box being up for nomination as chair of the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). Box is a pretty straight shooter, you get what you see and you see what you get. Very sharp. That doesn't mean I agreed with everything he did as mayor, but I respect him. Here's what I find interesting:

1. Sen. Rickey Hendon either doesn't know when Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was, or he doesn't care. Apparently he was in his office, at his desk, that day. How else would he know that Box missed a meeting with him.

2. Sen. Emil Jones, who has been in the State Senate for over 20 years, didn't even recognize Box's name, even though Box served as the first African-American mayor of the state's second largest city for most of the years that Jones has been in the State Senate. Apparently Jones also fails to read the Chicago Sun-Times, one of the two large newspapers in his own home town, nor does he follow the Illinois Government News Network. It leaves one wondering just what it is that he does with his time. But don't worry, after taking nearly a quarter of a million dollars in campaign contributions from utilities "he has said such financial support does not steer his decisions."

3. Is the ICC at all concerned with the people who live in Illinois?!? It certainly appears not! The Senate rejected a citizens' advocate out of a concern that he might be too hard on utilities. This after the Senate leadership accepted $400,000 in contributions from the utilities. Given that the previous ICC chair resigned over criticism that he was too cozy with the utilities, I say its time for Senate leadership to follow suit and resign as well.

4. It sounds like Box is exactly the person that the Senate wants in the position...willing to go with the utilities. Why is the Senate leadership delaying a vote on someone who appears, at least from this article, to be exactly what they are looking for? Box doesn't exactly come across as being too hard on the utilities, so what's the delay? Oh yeah, he's not from Chicago. I keep forgetting that Illinois is actually made up of two states, and I'm not in the same state as Hendon or Jones.

Gas Prices

2006-02-22T19:19:00.000-06:00

Gas Prices
Originally uploaded by A Bob's Life in Pictures.

I was once again cruising the Plain Dealer when I found this link to low gas prices. Its been a long time since I saw gas under $2!

US Ports and the UAE

2006-02-22T07:37:00.000-06:00

I caught a quick piece on Good Morning America about a proposal by the Bush administration to allow a company from the United Arab Emerates to run six US ports. Everyone is ticked at the President. Here's my initial take (based on 3 minutes of tv coverate). The Republicans would oppose anyone of Arab descent running anything in the US. If we went to war with Japan all over again, they'd probably re-incarcerate all the Japanese on US soil too. The Republicans haven't done enough to separate their image with that of a racist political party. They are more than willing to condemn an entire nation because of the acts of two of its citizens (um...anyone seen the murder rate in DC lately?).

The Democrats see this as a chance to make life in the Middle East so miserable for Bush that he has to pull out of Iraq. Never mind that we shouldn't have gone there in the first place (look up the Just War Doctrine to see what I mean), but now that we're there, most people think we should fix the situation...except the Democrats. They'd rather have peace now that peace for years to come. By embarassing Bush throughout the Middle East (and giving the Muslim fundamentalists yet another reason to protest and riot against the US), they see this as an opportunity to make Bush's goals in Iraq so impossible that he might as well pull out now and save US lives (though not US pride).

All in all, its about politics and race. That's two of the three forbidden topics (religion is the third, and I mentioned it ever so briefly as well). Of course, as time goes on there might actually be something/someone worth listening to in this debate. Right now its about getting your own way and posing for the cameras.

Where Are the Young Leaders of Not-For-Profit Organizations

2006-02-20T21:12:00.000-06:00

Having family that hails from Cleveland, OH, I occasionally peruse the Cleveland Plain Dealer online. Today I came across an interesting article on the leadership of not-for-profit organizations. Since that's where I'm at, it peeked my interest. I was very fortunate to spend five years at ZION Development Corporation here in Rockford. My time there was probably the best investment in my future that I've made. I certainly wouldn't have been prepared for my current position without that time at ZION.

The realities of not for profit leadership (I've stopped saying "non-proft," these organizations can and should make money, that just isn't the reason for their existence) are that it is exceedingly difficult for "younger" people to break into top leadership positions. I often feel a bit out of place given the combination of my position and my age (regardless of the fact that the Coalition is tiny). Getting to the position of executive director of a larger organization is very difficult, and there are currently very few significant not for profit organizations that have the top position filled by people under the age of 50, much less 40. Even in the Plain Dealer article, the young leaders either started new organizations or their ages aren't given.

So, what does it take for younger people (under 45) to reach the leadership positions of not for profit organizations?

• Know your strengths and weaknesses. It seems as though a lot of leaders are willing to let folks know what they are doing right. The reality is that human beings have weaknesses. While I'm not advocating for the public disclosure of your weaknesses, it is wise to know what they are so that you can surround yourself with people who are strong in those areas. I'm a firm believer in hiring and working with people who are smarter than I am. If my goal is to be the brightest and the best then I will be focusing on my ego rather than meeting the needs of the community. Fill in the knowledge/skill gaps so that everyone knows that the needs are being met. That is the job of a leader. If you are focusing on leading and not on meeting needs, then you aren't doing either one well.
• Be willing to start small. My first leadership role in a not for profit was a tiny organization in the mid-90's. I was going to school to become a teacher, but the organization needed an interim executive director. When I left teaching to join ZION, I was working for a well-known, but still small not for profit. I placed myself in a position to learn from what I still consider to be the leader in the field locally. My move to the Coalition was back to a tiny organization that did work related to my experience at ZION, but different enough that I (and others around me) would avoid making comparisons between the two.
• Make friends. This may sound a bit trite, but getting along with people is very important! No one can go it alone. If you spend your time getting angry at people for not sharing your vision, you will quickly find yourself alone. While that may allow you to pursue your vision, it may also come crashing down on you when hard times hit. If, on the other hand, even your adversaries respect you, hard times will be fewer and further between. You don't have to give up your vision, you have to understand that there are a lot of other people who have a stake in the outcome, and their vision may not be the same as yours. If you can at least get along with them, you may end up with happier stakeholders when the job is complete. That may be better than having your vision realized when all is said and done.
• Take the time to learn. Some of the people who are farther along in their careers encourage the younger set to be patient. That is much easier said than done. Still, it sure beats rushing into something and finding out that you don't know nearly enough to do the job effectively. It should be obvious that I greatly appreciate the time I spent at ZION simply because it was a great training ground. The reality is that its much easier to learn from other people's mistakes than it is to commit them needlessly. It is also good to spend time learning because you may find yourself realizing that certain dreams and visions that you have may not really be in anyone's best interests. Why rush out to start an organization if you will find yourself questioning that organizations existence five years down the road. Learn first so you don't have to relearn later.
• Admit mistakes and fix them. Everyone makes mistakes. It is much better to admit it and fix them than to brush them under the rug and hope they disappear. They don't disappear. And the mistakes don't have to be yours. If your staff person makes a mistake, it is likely going to be an organizational mistake. As the senior staff person, you represent the organization, so you are responsible for admitting it and fixing it. The mistakes may have been made by your predecessor. You still have to admit them and fix them. That is what happens when you lead an organization. At the same time, I'm a firm believer in Guy Kawasaki's phrase "Judge others by their intentions, judge yourself by your results" (note: some people may find portions of this link offensive or disgusting as it covers far more than this quote. I'm a believer in giving links, read at your own discretion). A staff person might make an honest mistake. That happens. You fix it and move on. The staffer will know a mistake was made. You don't have to beat them up over minor stuff.
• Act with integrity. I was asked recently about a hiring decision that a friend had to make. My friend wasn't sure if the person was being honest with them, but the person was really talented, smart and fit what they were looking for. What should they do? The fact that I was being asked was a clear sign to stay clear of the potential hire. In a best case scenario, the employer would be constantly looking over the new staffer's shoulder, regardless of whether or not the person is honest. In a worst case scenario, the staffer would give the organization a black eye or worse due to their dishonesty (note: that is different than making honest mistakes!). Value integrity. Expect integrity. I demand it of myself, even when I know that no one would ever know. If I cave in the little areas, I'll eventually cave in the big ones. Since I don't want to go there in the long run, I refuse to start now.

This list is far from exhaustive, but I view it as a good start. I'd be interested in hearing other thoughts. I know I'm not the only under-45 executive director out there. What have some others learned?

Those Crazy Train Guys

2006-02-20T15:53:00.000-06:00

Those Crazy Train Guys
Originally uploaded by A Bob's Life in Pictures.

I took the boys down to Rochelle, IL for a little train watching. Not too many folks out there today, it was a bit chilly. We did meet a fellow from Milwaukee who had heard about Railroad Park many times, but had never been there before. He was on his way home from a business trip to Witchita and decided to stop for a few minutes. He'll definitely be returning. His short time there saw a couple of full trains and this light engine move.

These three engines were moving through the crossing (aka diamonds) at about 40 mph. As they passed, we suddenly realized there was a worker straddling the last two engines. You can see him if you look at the picture up close. We were shocked!

After hanging out at Railroad Park for a while, the boys and I went to a local McDonalds, ate, and played at the indoor play area. We then headed back for another hour of train watching. The after lunch train watching was a bit better than the morning (though the morning was pretty good too). Its always fun for the boys as the engineers almost always wave to them. One even gave an extra long blast of the whistle and opened his window so the boys would see him wave to them. Pretty nice thing to do on a cold day like today.

The fellow we met from Milwaukee reminded me to treasure these days. His kids haven't been willing to go out with him since they hit their teenage years. I don't know if mine will, but I definitely treasure these days while I have them!!

Creating a User Group

2006-02-20T14:51:00.000-06:00

Another Kawasaki post deals with creating user groups for your product. Of course, you start with a good product, but the idea is that you get your customers to sell and, often, service it for you. Kawasaki knows what he's talking about. He was instrumental in getting the Mac User Groups going &/or supported. Antone know where the local Dell User Group meets? Didn't think so. I know there's a local Mac Users Group, and I've never been there. Dell even went so far as to dump their users forum board. God forbid that people who use your product actually communicate with other people who use your product!! If there's one thing I love about being a Mac user, its the community that you automatically join just by buying one.

How to Write a Blog Entry

2006-02-20T08:50:00.000-06:00

Guy Kawaski gives his tips on writing blog entries. Hey, I might give this a try. You might start seeing quality posts here! I actually do a lot of linking, rather than serious writing. Occasionally I do a bit more writing in a post, but I see enough stuff that gets me thinking. I do a lot of passing along that stuff.

Hacking Danish Sites

2006-02-19T09:05:00.000-06:00

Muslims are pretty upset over the cartoons. As a result, a lot of Danish blogs are getting hacked. One such blog belongs to an intern at Pasadena's Harambe Center. The hacked site was in the Dane's native tongue, thus it became a target.

Quoting Satan

2006-02-19T09:00:00.000-06:00

I'd read about this on several blogs. I finally found someone who posted the original banner. You can find it at Amy Loves Books. Just because something is in the Bible doesn't mean you should quote it! Of course, I'm a bit surprised that it comes from a UCC church. I expected something like this quote to appear on a health/wealth gospel type church.

OOOHHH!! It's COLD!!!

2006-02-18T08:04:00.000-06:00

Just went to start my truck. First time all winter it didn't want to start. Came back in and pulled up Dashboard. The current temp is eleven below zero. No wonder the truck took a couple rotations before firing up this morning!

UPDATE: It is now 2 in the afternoon. The temp is up to nothing, I mean zero!

An Exercise in the Web

2006-02-18T07:43:00.000-06:00

I'm suddenly finding myself going crazy with forum boards. Not posting, I don't seem to have the time to do that, but setting up and moderating them. One I've been involved with for a well over a year. The other we're just getting off the ground in a new sort of way. Jill asked me recently, as we were working on the development of her new website for work (thanks Sven!!) how I learned so much about websites. "Did you just learn all this stuff poking around?" "Yup," I replied. At least she finally sees the value of my poking around on the computer!

Blogging Archives & Home Rule

2006-02-17T07:43:00.000-06:00

One thing about a blog is that someone will come along and peruse my archives (and I'm sure this happens to other bloggers) and make comments on posts that are long gone from view. This happened again recently, and I think the subject of Home Rule is important enough that I'm linking to the discussion. Obviously, I'm not one to delete comments just because someone disagrees with me. I will, however delete comments with obscenities (none have been deleted from the linked thread).

Worst Weather Possible

2006-02-16T21:47:00.000-06:00

I'd rather have the 16" of snow that was had in the northeast last weekend. Nothing is worse than rain in February. The temperature doesn't get above 40, so its a cold rain, then the temp drops and everything freezes. The high for Saturday is supposed to be 14, that after a whole lotta rain today=bad news. At least with a bunch of snow you get to stay home.

The Guy Is Good

2006-02-15T22:09:00.000-06:00

Andrew Jones is one of my favorite emerging church bloggers. Here's another example of why that is.

Olympic Commercials

2006-02-15T21:35:00.000-06:00

Does anyone else think the commercials during the Olympics are far better than the Super Bowl commercials? I'm actually laughing at these...and they don't encourage underage drinking in the process!

A Different Type of Call

2006-02-15T20:17:00.000-06:00

In the midst of the craziness of the last couple weeks I got word that one of our volunteers passed away suddenly late last week. The news came to the office on Monday when I was in Chicago. Our friend was in her early 50's and worked for one of the local banks. Her passing was a complete shock and totally unexpected. A quiet lady whose opinion always mattered to the other folks around the table, she will be missed.

The Call

2006-02-15T20:12:00.000-06:00

In my previous post I mentioned The Call. We got one today. We were asked to get our profile done, some photos assembled, and get them all emailed by the middle of the afternoon. I came home from work for an hour or so at noon when I got the call. Jill was home by then and we set to work for a while. I took a few things back to the office to fax in and Jill got the profile emailed. We have a previously scheduled appointment with our case worker on Friday. Don't know if there will be any news or not. And here I was thinking that my last couple weeks had been a bit crazy...

The Conversation

2006-02-15T20:02:00.000-06:00

I got word today that an interview I did a couple weeks ago will appear in the paper tomorrow. A pull out section of the Register Star, called The Weekly, is carrying a series entitled Conversations with Pat. The articles are a series of interviews with various people who either live in the Rockford area or have ties to the area. I think mine will be the third conversation to appear. The focus of the conversation was blogging. Pat Cunningham, the Page One Editor, is doing the interviews (thus the name) and has been reading A Bob's Life for a short while. But he also went pretty deep into the archives. Since most of what I write is spur of the moment, so to speak, his recollection was better than mine! We talked about why I have a blog, how I choose to write certain things, my job, my faith, adoption (hey, we got a call today, stay keep coming back for more info, time will tell if it pans out!), and so on. Anyway, since I blog I'm sure he'll keep it honest (hey, I'd tell you if he didn't!). If you have access to the Rockford Register Star, it'll be in the Thursday, February 16 paper. If not, check out the link above and go almost all the way to the bottom of the page. On the right hand side will be a section entitled The Weekly. You should be able to find it there.

Of course, Pat promises that my hit count will increase, but I'm not too worried about it. If that's what I did it for, I'd be a bit more regular about posting!

Here's where you can find the conversation.

A Few Observations from Chicago Day

2006-02-14T06:45:00.000-06:00

A few things I noticed yesterday regarding my trip into and out of Chicago.

1) Rockford needs Metra. There were enough people waiting for the 6:10 bus to make two buses useful. I ended up riding into O'Hare in the Chevy Tahoe that belonged to the operations manager. The 15 passenger van used for overflow passengers didn't have enough seats. There were three people standing up when the bus pulled up. Combine that with the 15+ people waiting with me for the bus, and there was trouble. Next time I'm going to take up the Bank on the hotel offer. It will make my day a bit more sane.

2) On the ride home there was a couple who appeared to be in their 50's sitting behind me and across the aisle. Instead of putting their bags in the overhead compartment, they threw them in the seats behind me (and across from them). As the bus got more and more full, they didn't pick up their bags and put them overhead, they left them there. The elderly couple who got on near the end had to go almost all the way to the back to find seats, and I'm not sure they got to sit together. The older ladies who were good friends, and traveling together, didn't get to sit together either. One sat in the front, the other sat in the back. But don't worry, this couple was not inconvenienced with having their luggage in the luggage rack! That was outright rude of them. People are always more important than luggage. If you don't think so, please don't leave your house.

3) Walking in dress shoes around downtown Chicago hurts my feet. I really thought I had a comfortable pair of dress shoes. My feet were burning after my second walk. I couldn't wait to get home and take off my shoes.

4) I'm going to enjoy being involved with the Federal Home Loan Bank. My only disappointment was that everyone grabbed their box lunches and left. I was looking forward to talking with folks for a while and getting to know people better. There are a lot of smart folks sitting in that room, both staff, Board members, and the members of the Advisory Council. I like to meet people who are smarter than I am, so I would have enjoyed having them stick around for lunch. Maybe next time? or the time after that? I'll be lobbying for folks to stick around.

5) The El is a great mode of transportation. A bit loud due to the hollow, open construction, but its fast, relatively smooth, and definitely cheaper than the gas it would have cost me to travel the same distance (O'Hare to downtown). Those are good things, in my book.

Picking Up Where I Left Off

2006-02-12T17:40:00.000-06:00

Friday was the last day of the work week, and it was as crazy as the rest of it had been. My early morning start turned out well. I somehow managed to pass the AARP's certification exam for Reverse Mortgage counseling...barely. My understanding is that an 80% was necessary to pass. I got an 81%. Of course, I was told that the last time the test was offered in traditional paper and pencil style, only 50 out of 350 passed it, so I won't complain at all. I was happy to pass it on my first attempt. Apparently that's better than most!

Tomorrow kicks off a new work week. I'll be catching an early bus into Chicago. I have my first meeting as a member of the Community Investment Advisory Committee for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago. I've spent much of this weekend reading the notebook that I received on Friday. Lots of stuff. I'll have a couple more meetings after that one, so I probably won't see the boys at all tomorrow.

Tuesday won't be much of a let up. A regular work day with the regular Tuesday night Homebuyer Education class to teach. I love doing it, but I'll be exhausted by the time the class rolls around. Of course, Jill and I will be having dinner out later in the week. Fortunately the rest of the week should turn out to be somewhat normal. Finally!

Christianity and Homosexuality

2006-02-12T11:03:00.000-06:00

Leadership Magazine blog has a couple of posts on the issue of homosexuality and the Church. Read the comments and think a bit. The first article and the second article, and their comments, reflect how tough the issue is. Notice, of course, how many people assume they know exactly what the first writer said to the couple, without the writer actually telling us. Having visited his church, I find it a bit hard to assume that I know. Others, of course, are confident in their assessment, after all, they've likely never met him.

Evangelical Environmentalists

2006-02-08T19:49:00.000-06:00

We were just watching an ABC evening news piece on Evangelical environmentalism. It was interesting to see Rick Warren taking a stand that Christianity should take a stand for the environment. It was sad to see the president of the Southern Baptists say it wasn't important because his "constituency" didn't think it was. For some reason, it seems a bit odd that a religious "leader" would allow the constituency to determine what was right rather than the Sacred Text. If you really believe that God has revealed His will through the Bible, then refer to that as your source of Truth, not your "constituency." Rick Warren, on the other hand, seems to be taking the Bible more seriously than ever, of late, taking stands on social issues that are often not talked about in Evangelical circles. Issues such as poverty in Africa and now the environment. Its good to see that type of leadership. Remember the WWJD (What Would Jesus Drive?) campaign led, in part, by Evangelicals for Social Action (disclaimer, I have been a member of ESA for several years now) with their sister organization Evangelical Environmental Network? Good to see someone a bit more mainstream talking about these issues too!!

Banquet Last Night!

2006-02-08T07:17:00.000-06:00

After a few nearly sleepless nights, last night the Coalition had its Annual Banquet. In the past it has always been a luncheon, but it was decided to move it to a dinner this year. Our turnout was similar to what we had a year ago, which was a very good sign. We again had it at Giovanni's, and they once again gave us first class treatment. John Hotchkiss of Fannie Mae was our guest speaker. He was quick to point out that he does not work for a candy company. Fannie Mae basically buys mortgages from banks so that banks can have liquid cash to turn around and make more loans. John talked about the changes that have taken place in the mortgage market and some new changes that Fannie has made to some of their own mortgage products. There were some very happy lenders and realtors in the room, as the changes will make it easier for low and moderate income families to purchase a home.

He really drove home the need for education by giving some statistics about how people perceive their homebuying potential. What really came out of his stats was the need for education in the Hispanic community. It is no surprise at all that the Hispanic community is losing money because of terrible loan products sold by loan sharks. The need for education regarding the homebuying process was made crystal clear, especially in the HIspanic community.

Mayor Larry Morrissey was with us for most of the evening. He is always pleasant and has a wealth of knowledge about the housing industry. He was also excited about some of the products that John Hotchkiss was discussing because they can be used by upper income families who want to invest in poor communities. This is important as it allows for the development of mixed income communities to become a viable option again in the future. Jill was very impressed with the Mayor. She said he seemed a bit more personable than during the election campaigns. I agree, but I've also known the Mayor for a few years now, and he's always struck me as personable simply because I've known him since before he ran for office. He is also intense, don't get me wrong, but that's a good thing given the office he's in.

Our guest testimonials were great. People were excited about hearing the stories of people who are succeeding. Jill was very touched by Kordrey's story of moving from the housing projects into his own home. Since he came through our program, I know he's made a lot of sacrifices to get where he's at. Some of his decisions didn't go over well with his children, but now that they're in a home of their own, they are grateful for those decisions!! Anna also was outstanding. I know she was nervous, but it really didn't show at all. She is completely pumped to be working at the Coalition, and she brings a lot of knowledge from the School of Hard Knocks into the work she does for us.

All in all, we had a great night, and I'm already looking forward to next year's banquet being double the size!

Building a Train

2006-02-07T08:26:00.000-06:00

In the midst of one of my busiest weeks in a LONG time, I'm spending a few minutes sitting in the living room with the boys while they play with their Thomas trains. Yesterday was a twelve hour day, today will be at least that much. Friday will end the week with a certification exam. I have to be in Sycamore, IL by 7:30 AM on Friday. Throw in some time to study before the exam, and this week is nearly non-stop. Of course, Monday will start off next week with a full day of meetings in Chicago. I'll finally get to my first meeting of the Advisory Council at the Federal Home Loan Bank. I'm looking forward to meeting some great people involved in affordable housing in many forms.

Until today really gets moving, its great to spend some time hanging out with the boys, especially since they hadn't seen me since I dropped them off at Mom's Day Out. Of course, it is a bit odd, now that I'm typing this, to have been a dad dropping off kids at Mom's Day Out, but that's an issue for someone who's insecure. ;-)

Interesting Stories

2006-02-07T08:20:00.000-06:00

It seems that anyplace you go, you can meet someone with a fascinating personal story to tell. I was talking to someone yesterday who was nearly kidnapped as a toddler. Her uncle saw a lady walking away with her and chased after them. When the lady insisted that this person was her child the uncle grabbed the child's arm and said, "I'll let go when the police get here and determine whose child she really is!" The lady immediately let go and left the scene. Of course, now she's an adult and uses that story to keep her kids in her sight. It can be a scary world!

Favorite Blog

2006-02-03T06:54:00.000-06:00

It's easy to love a guy who worked on the Macintosh back in the 80's, but Guy Kawasaki has one of the best blogs out there. Almost every post I read is one I want to remember. If you don't know Mr. Kawasaki, he was one of the first corporate "evangelists." The product he evangelized for was the Macintosh. In fact, he was so sold on the product that he still lists it as one his passions today, 20+ years after its release. Here he posts on recruiting new employees, something I'm not doing now, but I'm sure I'll have to do sometime in the future. Great tips if you're currently recruiting! And here he discusses the art of schmoozing, something that I'm really not very good at. This one will come in handy almost every day. I took one of those tests that determine if you're an introvert or extrovert. It's been quite a while now, but I'm not sure I've changed a whole lot. I landed right on the fence between the two. I think it was scored 1 to 100 and I was at a 49. If anything I've moved a bit more to the introverted side of life in the passing years, but I doubt most people would realize that.

Being Bored=??

2006-02-02T21:54:00.000-06:00

Jill told me last night that she's starting to get a little bored with life. Uh-oh. Last time she told me that we got a call about Isaac out of the blue within a couple weeks. In fact, we told people at the time that that February had been the first boring month we'd had in a long time. We don't tend to have time to get bored. Guess its time to start planning on something major happening in our lives!!

We do go into the suburbs tomorrow for our first home study of our current adoption process. I doubt they'd spring any news on us there, so we'll have to be a little patient.

The Cuts Are Coming

2006-02-01T17:53:00.000-06:00

I was working late last night, so I missed the speech, though I probably wouldn't have watched it anyway. Political speeches just don't mean much to me. The reality is that our local city government is losing something like 10% of our CDBG budget from HUD. That is a huge amount of money that is supposed to help improve communities. At this point it doesn't look like my workplace will be affected, but that could change depending on how life in City Hall goes. There was also a cut in HOME dollars from HUD. Makes me wonder why the current administration is cutting taxes for people who can afford to pay them!

Folding@Home Progress

2006-02-01T17:40:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I've posted much of anything, especially when it comes to the Folding@Home Distributed Computing project. This last week I passed the 700,000 point mark. I had one of my best days ever yesterday. I expected today to be a real downer, as a result, but that hasn't happened! I should end up with over 2,600 points today, after pulling in nearly 4,000 points yesterday. Guess that makes up for the 1500 points I had on Sunday, right?

If you're not familiar with Folding@Home, its a project out of Stanford University that uses peoples' home computers to do research into how protein folding impacts various diseases such as cancer, alzheimers, Parkinsons, and AIDS. You can check out and join my team. I use and Fold under the name treadlightly. See you in the Fold!

Normality

2006-01-29T14:47:00.000-06:00

You Are 8% Abnormal

You are at medium risk for being a psychopath. It is somewhat likely that you have no soul.

You are at low risk for having a borderline personality. It is unlikely that you are a chaotic mess.

You are at low risk for having a narcissistic personality. It is unlikely that you are in love with your own reflection.

You are at low risk for having a social phobia. It is unlikely that you feel most comfortable in your mom's basement.

You are at low risk for obsessive compulsive disorder. It is unlikely that you are addicted to hand sanitizer.

How Abnormal Are You?

HT to Shelby.

On Going Back To The Way Things Were

2006-01-29T14:26:00.000-06:00

Interesting quote on the Church going back to the way things were.

If we insist on going back to something in the past, perhaps we should go back to the beginning, rather than getting off conveniently at some 18th-century plateau (or 16th or even 12th).

Larson, Osborne, The Emerging Church (1970), p83

Reminds me of John Perkins' regular comment about Christians who want to go back to "the way things were." He said, "I don't wanna go back to the way things were, I'd be a slave!" Sometimes we forget about the way things really were when we make comments like that.

Been a while

2006-01-28T22:06:00.000-06:00

Not only have I been slowing down in my posting to the blog, but I've been slow in reading the blogs I follow. This weekend isn't helping much either! We've been on the go all day, and tomorrow will be much of the same. My most recent computer build hasn't exactly been taking off. There seems to be something amiss. When I tried reinstalling the old motherboard, the power supply seems to have died. All in all, a bit frustrating. My first two builds were a piece of cake. Fortunately power supplies can be pretty inexpensive, and given my computer use (running Folding software), its not that important that I get a high end power supply. I basically need to power a motherboard and a hard drive. Everything else is optional. Anyway, finding a bit of time to troubleshoot hasn't been easy. I grab 15-20 minutes here and there.

Next week we travel in to the suburbs for the first part of our adoption home study. The idea in taking this semester off of school was to focus on adoption and testing stuff. I'm actually starting to move forward on one of those fronts. I still need to schedule a time for my GRE and a certification test for work. I'm not quite sure how much effort I should put into the GRE as I did quite well on it my first time around (10 years ago), and I'm feeling like I'm a bit smarter this time through after having gotten a second bachelors degree and started graduate level work. I'm also not too worried about it as I have straight A's in the grad classes so far (one class a semester is much easier than taking a load!), so even a moderately good showing should get me into the program without too much trouble.

Hope you're getting a bit more time to breathe than I've had lately! I'll try to do better this week on the posting front.

Fiddler on the Roof and Post Modernism

2006-01-24T07:33:00.000-06:00

We watched Fiddler on the Roof this last weekend. Fascinating movie. A lot of emphasis on generational change. We talk a lot about the move from modernism to post-modernism, but I can't help but think that we are a bit out of focus at times. There are important implications for such a change, but its nothing compared to changes that have occurred in previous generations. Seeing how the Jews were treated in the 20th century really brings that into focus. I'd guess that my 101 year old grandmother has seen changes far more dramatic than most of us can ever imagine. Combine that with our lack of a sense of history, and we tend to give ourselves a lot more credit than we deserve! Jill and I watched a PBS show on the Flu Epidemic of 1918. Over a half million people died in the US alone. Of course, with WWI going on, the flu spread all over Europe as well (the show discussed this, but not in much detail). It was mind-boggling to think of the President's decision to send thousands of troops to Europe knowing that many would catch the fatal flu bug on the boats going over. They would die without ever seeing battle. He knew it before he sent them! In Philedelphia, bodies were set out on the front porch so the undertakers could go around and pick them up. A different colored sheet signified the age of the deceased.

And we think we face major challenges. Our challenges are much less about life and death. That's the benefit of living in a wealthy society. We can pick and choose our issues, and blow them out of proportion. My respect for my grandparents grows everyday. They didn't get to pick their issues, they simply had to survive them. And they did. And they did it well.

Culture Wars

2006-01-22T10:12:00.000-06:00

The Internet Monk has one of the best posts I've read in a long time about the "Culture Wars." It's a great reminder of the primacy of Scripture and the Gospel. Too often, we have replaced rhetoric with legitimate Christian living. IM reminds us of the proper priorities.

God's Politics

2006-01-21T15:35:00.000-06:00

Back in November, Jill and I attended the CCDA national conference in Indy. Jim Wallis was one of the keynote speakers, as I mentioned on this site. I have finally started to pick up his book, God's Politics, and I've gotta say that it is one of the most important religious/political books out there. Wallis is definitely fitting the role of prophet by focusing on a return to all that God commands of His people. If you're thinking that there's partisan politics here, forget it. Wallis takes no prisoners, as his subtitle points out "Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It." There are some great life lessons to be found, including the rules that he grew up with. "First, if there isa child that nobody else will play with, you play with him or her... . Second, if there is a bully who is picking on other people, you stand up for them." How about those for lessons to pass on to our children?

Where Wallis really got me going was when he started to refer to Habakkuk. Here was a prophet who was lamenting the power structure of Israel at that time. He was complaining long and loud to God about the social conditions of the day, but then he received a vision from God of the future. "Then the Lord answered me and said, 'Write the vision; make it plain upon tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its time; it hastens to the end--it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.'" There is no clear, Biblical vision being pronounced today. What visions are being pronounced are political and partisan. They do not take into consideration the best for all of society. A great vision starts with the question, "What makes a great society?" This is not a question to be taken lightly or selfishly. It is a question to be answered with all seriousness, and with an understanding that the answer may mean that I have to make some sacrifices.

One more point from the book. The leaders of movements that changed society were not politicians. They were the people of faith who created a change in the wind. Politicians are always trying to figure out which way the wind is blowing. The creators of change are those who change the wind patterns. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of those. When he was told by the President that there was no way a Voting Rights Act would pass, MLK created a change in the wind pattern that moved the society to make the necessary change. Today we need a new change in the wind pattern. A change that causes both sides of the political spectrum to stand up and take notice. A change that creates a longing for justice and a determination to create a great society. There is currently no one creating that type of wind change, though many people are longing for it! Who will be the one to start that change in the wind pattern?

Personal Data Missing?

2006-01-18T07:58:00.000-06:00

People's Bank is reporting that a tape is missing containing the personal data of 90,000 account holders. I could launch into one of the many "shame on them" rants, but in reading the article, it sounds like People's Bank actually had a plan of action if something like this were to occur. The fact is, all of our personal data are handled by human-run machines, and transported by humans, so there is a strong likelihood that something like this can happen. I sure hope my bank has a plan!!

Apple's Value Greater Than Dell's

2006-01-15T05:13:00.000-06:00

Everyone seems to think that Apple's market share is the only important thing. The fact is, it's a company that is supposed to be making money. And it has. Apple is now worth more than Dell. Here's the proof for all of us who have been saying that Dell computers are cheap pieces of junk!

Die A Bit Closer To Your Funeral

2006-01-15T05:10:00.000-06:00

Darryl found this great quote.

"Some people die at seventeen and put their funeral off until they're seventy-seven. And I see a lot of dead young people, I see a lot of alive old people." (Bono)

Jeremy Made Me Do This

2006-01-15T04:54:00.000-06:00

*TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF - The Survey*
Name:	Bob
Birthday:	July
Birthplace:	Akron, OH
Current Location:	Rockford, IL
Eye Color:	Hazel
Hair Color:	Brown
Height:	6-4
Right Handed or Left Handed:	Right
Your Heritage:	Heinz 57
The Shoes You Wore Today:	Size 13
Your Weakness:	Too many to list
Your Fears:	Myself
Your Perfect Pizza:	mushroom and pineapple
Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year:	Lose weight
Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger:	:-)
Thoughts First Waking Up:	I'm waking up at 3 again?!?
Your Best Physical Feature:	My glasses
Your Bedtime:	about 10ish
Your Most Missed Memory:	I don't remember (isn't that why its missed?)
Pepsi or Coke:	Dew (only 2 choices?)
McDonalds or Burger King:	McD's
Single or Group Dates:	Yes
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea:	Huh?
Chocolate or Vanilla:	Chocolate
Cappuccino or Coffee:	Ick
Do you Smoke:	Ick
Do you Swear:	No
Do you Sing:	Badly
Do you Shower Daily:	Yes
Have you Been in Love:	Every Day
Do you want to go to College:	Again? Sure.
Do you want to get Married:	I stick with my first bride, thanks.
Do you belive in yourself:	More than I believe in the spelling ability of this survey.
Do you get Motion Sickness:	No
Do you think you are Attractive:	I got over that one a while ago.
Are you a Health Freak:	No
Do you get along with your Parents:	Yes, yes yes
Do you like Thunderstorms:	yes
Do you play an Instrument:	no
In the past month have you Drank Alcohol:	no
In the past month have you Smoked:	no
In the past month have you been on Drugs:	no
In the past month have you gone on a Date:	yes
In the past month have you gone to a Mall:	Only with the kids to the play area (free entertainment)
In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos:	I prefer donuts
In the past month have you eaten Sushi:	no
In the past month have you been on Stage:	no
In the past month have you been Dumped:	uh...I'm married...That'd be a "no"
In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping:	Its January in Northern Illinois!
In the past month have you Stolen Anything:	Someone else's idea(s)
Ever been Drunk:	no
Ever been called a Tease:	no
Ever been Beaten up:	no
Ever Shoplifted:	no
How do you want to Die:	in the Faith
What do you want to be when you Grow Up:	Me
What country would you most like to Visit:	Kenya
*In a Boy/Girl..*
Favourite Eye Color:
Favourite Hair Color:
Short or Long Hair:
Height:
Weight:
Best Clothing Style:
Number of Drugs I have taken:
Number of CDs I own:	Over 200 + iTMS albums
Number of Piercings:	0
Number of Tattoos:	0
Number of things in my Past I Regret:	Not so much regrets as lessons learned
CREATE YOUR OWN! - or - GET PAID TO TAKE SURVEYS!

Random Chuck Norris Facts

2006-01-14T11:52:00.000-06:00

I'm not a Chuck Norris fan, but I laughed all the way through Jordon's list.

Guilty as Accused

2006-01-14T11:50:00.000-06:00

Jeremy points out the hypocrisy of the politicians. Joe Biden called the hearings a game. Guess who one of the biggest players was? Yup, Joe Biden. If you're going to accuse the system of being broken, quit being part of the problem.

Fighting the Klan

2006-01-14T11:47:00.000-06:00

Black Police Sargeant Named Head of Local KKK

Home Rule in Rockford

2006-01-14T03:26:00.000-06:00

Rockford, my hometown, is a bit of a backwater, in spite of being a city of 150k people. Home Rule is an example of that. Home Rule is essentially a default status for cities over 25,000 people that allows those cities to fully govern themselves. If you get sick of graffitti, you pass a law that bans spray paint. You want to get tough on pollution, you pass stiff penalties against violators. It is possible for a city to have a population over 25k and not have Home Rule. Rockford is that city. In 1983 a group pushed a ballot initiative to give up the Home Rule status because it cost us too much in taxes. Here we are, 23 years later, with some of the lowest cost housing you can find in a city of any significant size, but with a huge tax burden. That tax burden came from years of the school district dealing with the consequences of being racist (yes, they plead guilty in court...finally). That tax burden does not come from City Hall. It can't. City Hall can't do much of anything.

Aldermen have wanted to ban spray paint in City limits. They can't. We don't have Home Rule. Since spray paint has not been banned state wide, we don't have the right to ban it here. I would guess that our speed limits are determined by the State, not by our local governing bodies. A lot of the things that govern our daily lives in Rockford are determined in Springfield. Finally a group has gotten sick and tired of having our lives governed by state legislators, most of whom live in Chicago or the Chicago suburbs, or south of I-80 (which runs east-west across the state about 45 minutes south of Rockford). We've got very little influence, but we've subjected ourselves to the State's decision-making process. Now, each year, we have to vote on whether or not we want to spend money on road repairs. At the ballot. All of the voting public. A City of 150,000 people can't fix roads without a ballot initiative?!? There is no word for that apart from "STUPID!!!"

The local group tried to get City Council to place a vote on Home Rule on the ballot for May. The City's Democrats (which is really quite shocking, when you think about it) voted against it. One Republican joined them. It lost. Now there will be a petition drive (which a bunch of Democratic aldermen said they'd help with...HUH?). Sign me up!!! It boggles my mind that a city of 150,000 has to be run like a village of 50. Does it mean higher taxes? Studies show that the higher taxes usually come in the form of sales taxes, not property taxes. That means that the people who use the services in Rockford actually have to pay for them, rather than laying the full cost on the shoulders of those who own property here alone. If someone comes to Rockford to shop for a car, do they manage to do that without driving on our streets? Highly unlikely, but they don't pay to maintain the streets that they're driving on. That burden is only on those of us who choose to live in City limits.

There are a number of people who are afraid of Home Rule (a link to the only other blog post I could find on the subject). They are afraid of it because one time in some other city, someone "abused" it (meaning a local government used eminent domain to take a property for the benefit of the region as a whole). If you think someone has abused it, vote them out. HELLO, we still live in America!!!

That's enough mid-night ranting, I'll add more at later.

First Post Since MacWorld

2006-01-13T19:53:00.000-06:00

And no, I wasn't there. Seems that Apple's ability to start selling Intel based Macs has a few corporate IT people fuming. Weird, I thought that the reason IT people liked Windows was because they could get their computers from different suppliers. Dell and HP are assumed to be the only players in that market. Anyway, Apple seems to have the control on the new Yonah processors that everyone is wanting, so the IT folks who have shunned Apple (let's face it, they'd be out of work if they didn't!) are left getting mad because they can't have things their way for once. Hey, you create a corporate policy that locks you out, its your own fault. Sit down and wait in line!

How Close Are You?

2006-01-09T22:19:00.000-06:00

I found a cool little site that lists cities based on proximity. I found Rockford, IL, my hometown. Turns out that the Bahamas and Cancun are closer to Rockford than California. Cool!

Good Communication Consists Of...

2006-01-09T22:04:00.000-06:00

I received a sample newsletter from a management consulting firm today. They included a sample of their newsletter, Communication Solutions, that focused on effective communication in business. The irony is that their newsletter was full of language that I would never use in private, much less in a business setting! I just don't understand why some people feel that "edgy" language is acceptable in business. I've only dealt with one business person who used language like that, and I am almost always on edge around that person simply because of their language. As an employer, and much of the newsletter focused on employer/employee communication, I would never use the language that they did in my office. Then, they want me to believe that their newsletter (a whopping 12 pages! :rolleyes: ) is worth...are you sitting down?...$179 for 12 issues!!! Ya, I'll be signing right up for that one...NOT!!!

One Issue Voters

2006-01-09T06:54:00.000-06:00

We've all heard the complaints that one group or another is a "one issue vote" bloc. Usually that charge is aimed at politically conservative evangelicals and the issue referred to is abortion. I've pretty much quit following politics as I've gotten tired of the noise. Today I was working out and upon returning home I heard that the nomination hearings for Judge Alito are supposed to begin today, though they don't expect any questions to be asked of the nominee due to a Democratic filibuster. I decided to make sure it wasn't just the news I heard on the radio talking about abortion, so I checked the New York Times to see what they had to say. Sure enough, the issue seems to be one of abortion. Nearly the entire first page focused on that issue alone.

What do we learn from this? Abortion is the only issue of importance, and Senate Democrats are one issue voters. Or, at least, that's what the media wants us to believe. Personally, I think there are a lot of important issues facing this country, some of which are of importance to a Supreme Court nominee. Maybe the issues discussed in the media should reflect that. I've always been of the belief that having fair-minded intelligent people is more important than having partisan hacks. I just wish the politicians on both sides of the aisle would agree with me.

And now, back to the noise.

Flickr Toys

2006-01-07T18:41:00.000-06:00

This looks like too much fun!

Racism

2006-01-07T18:39:00.000-06:00

Jason saw it and did something about it. Thanks!!

Tech Companies and Free Speech

2006-01-07T16:42:00.000-06:00

Tech companies do not believe in free speech.

MacWorld Is Coming, So Are The Rumors

2006-01-07T15:16:00.000-06:00

If you don't follow the Apple Computer community, then you have no idea how important the next week will be. of course, if you follow computers, then you at least know that something big is about to happen. Either way, this is the week of MacWorld San Francisco. In the month or two leading up to MWSF, rumors fly all over the internet. Now there's talk about Plasma screens. It's pretty amazing how these stories get going. Read it for the entertainment value, and remember that its only a rumor!

Mac Posters

2006-01-06T21:11:00.000-06:00

I was reading a forum this afternoon and noticed that someone was looking for some Macintosh merchandise. A few years ago I had picked up a few posters that were left in the teacher's lounge where I was teaching. I was a bit confused as to why they were there since the RPS is a Windows only environment. It didn't matter, though. I picked them up and have hung on to them ever since. Someone sent me a PM on the forum commenting that they are worth quite a bit of money, so I did some poking around. Those five posters are now worth over $300!! Kewl!

Space Software

2006-01-06T17:27:00.000-06:00

I found what appears to be a very cool piece of space software. It's available for Windows, Mac and Linux. Check it out here.

What Would You Do...

2006-01-06T10:17:00.000-06:00

if the panhandler asking for money was someone you knew?

Technology and the Amish

2006-01-06T10:12:00.000-06:00

I've seen links to this article in a few places. Wired.com has an interesting look into how the Amish decide what technologies can be allowed and how. We were surprised a number of years ago when we visited Lancaster County, PA, by how many of the Amish had some form of modernity in their businesses. One of the little shops we stopped in was attached to the house. There were electric lights and an electric cash register. There was a phone booth out by the street.

So, if we were to take the time to think through technology as the Amish have, what would we do differently? I have become very willing to let my answering machine take care of phone calls. Sitting at the dinner table should be about being focused on my family, not on the phone ringing. Its a fascinating, though long (by modern, internet standards) article, but well worth the read.

PUH-LEAZE Shut This Man Up!!

2006-01-06T09:35:00.000-06:00

Pat Robertson is at it again. What is this, the third time he's opened his mouth and gotten the blogosphere up in arms? The man is a loose cannon and should have his FCC license revoked!! Now Sharon's stroke was God's judgement for dividing Israel. Funny, I don't remember anything about hurricanes hitting Virginia Beach being God's judgement for Pat's proclamations that turn God into a mean ogre.

Two Days in Chicago

2006-01-06T08:58:00.000-06:00

I spent the last two days attending workshops in Chicago. My staff and I took the bus to O'Hare and then caught the El, which dropped us off about a block from our first workshop. A good friend from Housing Action illinois led the workshop. She had to cram two days worth of material into one day, but she did as good as was possible given that restriction.

After spending the day in the workshop, I walked the two ladies who were with me back to the El since they were not staying the second day. I then went back and had dinner with my friend who led the workshop. We went to Hilary's Urban Eatery (zkz HUE). Great food and great atmosphere. It's a BYOB bar/restaurant, something I had never heard of before. Basically, if you want alcohol, you bring it in with you. Pretty cool setup. My friend then was kind enough to give me a ride to the Henkel's house, on the far south side.

Marc and Sandy had left for Texas earlier that morning, so I wasn't able to catch up with them, but her dad was there as was a young man who lives with them. We had a good time watching the NCAA Championship game. I'm guessing Marc and Sandy had even more fun, though, since they were in Texas for the game. I finally had to crash out of sheer exhaustion, so I missed the exciting end. Oh well, its just a game.

Yesterday I got a ride to the El and rode the Red line from 95th to downtown. The El is definitely the way to get around Chicago. Its never boring, but it sure beats driving! A quick transfer downtown to the Blue line and I was a block from my next workshop. Turned out I was two blocks from Union Station (where I ate lunch) and about three blocks from Lou Mitchell's, the world's best breakfast spot and the starting point of Route 66. Had I known I'd be so close, I would have caught the El earlier so I could eat breakfast there! I finally got to check email at lunchtime by hopping into a Starbucks and opening a pay-as-you-go TMobile account (hasn't anyone heard of free wi-fi in Chicago?!?). I downloaded enough RSS feeds to give me plenty to read on the way home last night. The workshop ended a bit early, which was fine, I hopped on the El and took the Blue line back to O'Hare, missing a bus by five minutes (not bad given that I didn't know when the buses ran!). With 4 minutes to spare, I picked up a personal pizza and started reading the RSS feeds. It had been so long since I'd read any, there were nearly 600 posts to read!

Finally got back to town last night and got hit with a bug as soon as I stepped off the bus, so now I'm sitting at home sick for my Friday!

Sugar Bowl and CCDA

2006-01-02T22:02:00.000-06:00

I was just watching the halftime of the Nokia Sugar Bowl, and low and behold, they were giving $75,000 to a CCDA member. Congratulations to the Desire Street Ministry!! There's been a lot of folks praying for you and the other New Orleans CCDA members.

Mac OS X is the Best

2006-01-02T19:37:00.000-06:00

InfoWorld has announced their Tech of the Year awards, and the best operating system does not go to Windows (that's really not a surprise) or to Linux. At both the client and server levels, it goes to Apple's Mac OS X! Of course, IT departments around the world still won't touch Mac OS X because they've got a great relationship with the Dell representative, er, I mean they like the freedom to choose Dell, er, I mean they like the excuse of saying they prefer the sense of freedom that they get when they call Dell. Well, what they really say is that they like the freedom to choose their vendor, though that usually means Dell. Personally, I haven't figured that one out. Dell's always feel and act like they are the cheapest computers made, especially when compared to Macs. Oh well, I guess that's what happens when you like to use corporate money to buy new computers every few years. Say, what happens to all those Dells, anyway? Seems like they could be put to use Folding, eh?

Paul Thurrot Bought A Mac!

2006-01-01T20:28:00.000-06:00

Paul is best known for his tech columns on the virtues of Windows, so I was quite surprised to see that bought a Mac mini for his wife at Christmastime! Although he is very proficient in all things Windows, he got tired of having to be proficient for his wife's computers too. It was easier to buy her a computer that she wouldn't need an IT expert to maintain. The comments that follow show that there are plenty of zealots on all sides of the fence (Windows, Mac, and Linux). Personally, I use all three. I definitely prefer Macs. They are the easiest to use and require the least maintenance. Linux is the most difficult. I can't imagine using it everyday (though I know people do). My favorite comment on the article came from DougW:

"My wife is a technophobe. I bought her an iBook. She first used the browser, then email, now she sells on eBay. About a month ago my 19 month old daughter dropped it on the carpet when it wasn't plugged in & my wife said I had to have it repaired. I pressed the "on" button and it booted up. Apparently the jar had momentarily disconnected the battery. The point is, SHE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE POWER SWITCH. For a year now, she merely openned the lid and used it, or closed the lid and it was off (sleep). Apple rocks."

She had never used the power button!!! Too funny!

A Fan Club, Where?

2006-01-01T14:18:00.000-06:00

TallSkinnyKiwi has become the unwitting home of a Green Day fan club! I don't know that I'd ever heard of a fan club starting in the comments section of a single blog post before! Hey Sven, want to drum up hits?!? ;-)

Why Was Apple Switching?

2006-01-01T11:33:00.000-06:00

Last year Apple announced that they'd be switching from IBM and Freescale (formerly known as Motorola) processors to Intel. Apple has always had difficulty on the processor end of things. Now that they are moving to Intel, it becomes public knowledge that Intel's newer Pentium M chips are just fancy Pentium III's!

More Software

2005-12-31T21:32:00.000-06:00

The little bit of web site work that I do has made me appreciate Dreamweaver a whole lot. Of course, even with a student discount, it was a hefty price tag. Today I discovered NVU (New View), an open source web design software. I downloaded it to the iBook to give it a try. I'm not sure that its as easy as Dreamweaver, but with a price tag of a donation, I can live with that. It will at least give me some web software on my iBook, even if I don't use it much.

Backpack

2005-12-31T08:53:00.000-06:00

I'm playing with Backpack right now. It's a Web 2.0 application for organization. It is very impressive. I've got a free account for the time being, but I can easily see myself moving to a paid account at some point, should my life require it. It can be used by an individual or by a group for a collaborative project. I'm thinking about using it with a project for the Folding team as it would be a great way to collaborate and edit our work as we go. It's very impressive. I even have the capability to email items to the pages, so if I think of something to add to my To Do list, I can simply send an email to that page and it gets added! It's a pretty awesome setup!!

The Register Star is a Joke

2005-12-31T07:19:00.000-06:00

We were pretty heavily involved in helping a local hospital provide downpayment assistance to one of their employees. I learned my first lesson in dealing with the media...they really don't give a rip. When I sent an email to the paper because they had our organization's name wrong in the original online article, they didn't fix it. They deleted it. Now I know why I don't subscribe to the paper. They put a picture of our housing counselor on the front page of the Local section, and still didn't mention us at all in the print article. Pathetic. The news story should have been so much larger than it was.

The employer assistance from the State of Illinois is available to any employer in the state. Not only that, but the employer gets tax credits to help offset the cost. Even in the case in the article, the hospital will get $2,500 in tax credits. (Since the hospital is a non-profit, they can sell those credits for about 80 cents on the dollar...a for profit company can apply the credits to their state tax liability.) Not only that, but the employee receives homebuyer education, which has been shown to lower delinquency by nearly 40% when given by a non-profit like our organization.

The hospital did a great job, the State did a great job (IHDA), and Housing Action Illinois really pulled it all together. All in all, it was pretty painless to pull the state funding into the deal, and it helps offset the hospital's cost, improves the overall situation while adding a lot of additional downpayment assistance for the employee. It's a win-win-win-win situation!

First Snowman

2005-12-27T22:00:00.000-06:00

First Snowman
Originally uploaded by A Bob's Life in Pictures.

We haven't had really great packing snow in quite a while, and when we do, it doesn't seem to be much nor does it seem to stick around. This winter we've got it. A week ago the boys helped Jill build their first ever snowman! Jill could barely get the second layer up, but Nathan wanted to knock the whole thing down as soon as they finished!! Jill figured that for all the pain she felt, they had to leave it up a while. ;-)

Originally posted at The Dad's Group

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2005-12-25T10:03:00.000-06:00

to YOU!!

Is the Emerging Church for You?

2005-12-24T21:39:00.000-06:00

Read here or here to find out.

Bob Does Linux

2005-12-24T20:03:00.000-06:00

Yep, I've fired up two computers using Ubuntu. Ubuntu is supposed to be one of the easiest versions of Linux out there. While it is certainly workable, I am not convinced that it is easy to set up. My experience is that once a setup works, don't change anything!! Having said that, I can't say that I'm a big fan. I'll use it for computers that I set up for the sole purpose of Folding@Home. After all, it is free. If all I want to use a computer for is basic email and web surfing, it sure beats paying $100 for Windows. It's even better if I'm just going to use it for Folding for Team Mac OS X. All in all, I've now got two computers Folding with Linux down in my basement. It works faster than Windows 98, which isn't a big surprise, since Linux is reputed to be faster than Windows in general. In my case, I've got two computers with the same processor to compare, so I can say that Folding is faster in Linux than Win98.

If you don't know about Folding, it is a project from Stanford that uses your computer for scientific research into protein folding. Protein folding plays a role in some types of cancer, Alzheimers, Parkinson's, and more. Please check it out, and sign up for Team Mac OS X (Team # 1971).

Taking on Establishment

2005-12-24T19:58:00.000-06:00

Jeremy is addressing the whole notion of popularized American christianity (I've decided it doesn't deserve a capital letter!). There's some good reminders from the Bible about the impact of Christianity on our lives and on that of the world around us.

Morning Temperature.png

2005-12-19T08:31:00.000-06:00

Morning Temperature.png
Originally uploaded by A Bob's Life in Pictures.

Welcome to northern Illinois. Yes, the sun is shining, yes, it really is cold this morning. Although, it looks like we'll have to wait and see before we know if the snow on the ground will still be here for Christmas.

Who Joins The Marines?

2005-12-18T19:13:00.000-06:00

A journalist, that's who.

Capital Hill Protest by Evangelical Leaders

2005-12-18T19:01:00.000-06:00

Ron Tilley Arrest.jpg
Originally uploaded by A Bob's Life in Pictures.

When we were at the CCDA National Conference in November, Jim Wallis invited all of the attendees to take part in a protest at Capital Hill over the abuse being handed to the country's poor in the budget this year. Lots of evangelical leaders such as Wallis, John Perkins, and Mary Nelson took part. There were also a whole lot of other evangelical folks there as well. This picture is of fellow Evangelical Free Churcher Ron Tilley of Pennsylvania. He's among the EFCA folks we met in Indy. You can check out the protest here and here.

The Modern Exodus

2005-12-18T18:24:00.000-06:00

The Ooze discusses the modern American Exodus. Apparently a group of "Christians" think that if they all move to South Carolina then they can take over the state government and eventually the national government. Sounds kind of like the radical element of Islam, eh? Anyway, the gist of the article is that it really doesn't matter if "Christians" take over any government. We've been claiming that we were founded as a "Christian" country to begin with, so what happened the first time around? Do we really honestly believe we're that much smarter than that first group? We look at the current state of the country, where 80% of the people claim to be Christians, and we are spending all our time getting bent out of shape over issues that are barely relevant. Anyway, check out the article.

Create ZIP Files Easily...

2005-12-15T19:21:00.001-06:00

if you own a Mac, of course. It seems like this ought to be a common thing due to the quantity of email that gets sent around. The Mac does make it easy...its about time.

Create ZIP Files Easily...

2005-12-15T19:21:00.000-06:00

if you own a Mac, of course. It seems like this ought to be a common thing due to the quantity of email that gets sent around. The Mac does make it easy...its about time.

What is the Emerging Church...Again

2005-12-15T07:05:00.000-06:00

This topic will keep coming up, and now Jason Clark tackles the question.

Another Epiphany

2005-12-15T07:03:00.000-06:00

The iMonk makes a lot of things known publicly, and it usually stirs up a lot of debate. I don't know if this one will or not, but its about time someone with a large readership published something like this. I've only been saying it for years, long before I started blogging.

Will The Real CEO Please Stand Up?

2005-12-15T06:57:00.000-06:00

Bill Gates was recently named the world's most respected CEO, with only one problem...he's not a CEO. Michael Dell also made the list...he's also not a CEO. If you can't even figure out who's in charge, how on earth would you know if you've got a decent computer? Of course, Steve Jobs isn't just CEO of Apple Computer, he's all CEO of Pixar Films. Some guys can handle being at the top, some guys can't.

Calvin and Humor

2005-12-15T06:54:00.000-06:00

If you love discussions of Calvinism, and you have a sense of humor, this post is for you. 25 ways to know you're going hyper. If you love discussions of Calvinism, but you don't have a sense of humor, stay away, you might be offended. As for me? I just enjoy the humor part, and its all there!

Missions in the Twenty First Century

2005-12-15T06:38:00.000-06:00

Ryan Bolger, a missiologist at Fuller Theological Seminary, was interviewed about mission in the twenty first century. He posted the questions and answers for all to see. Its a very interesting interview. Exciting to think about the future. Of course, then you look at TallSkinnyKiwi's response to the question, "Who defines Orthodoxy?" and that adds a whole new dimension to the discussion. Could be an interesting century in Christianity.

A Bob's Life

Ghana Elections

Making a Return?

Making a Move

Why Dads are Important

Worship Music on Sale at iTMS

Why the Reformation Movement Needs the Emerging Church

The Bank Was Not Scammed

You Thought Emergent Was Scary?

Autistic Teen Takes Over the Game

The New mini

A Day in the Life of...

Tag! I'm It!

God's Politics

Science and Darwinism

New Top Cop

The Closet

Anyone Else See a Tax Increase In Our Future?

Boone County Growth

Illinois Commerce Commission

Gas Prices

US Ports and the UAE

Where Are the Young Leaders of Not-For-Profit Organizations

Those Crazy Train Guys

Creating a User Group

How to Write a Blog Entry

Hacking Danish Sites

Quoting Satan

OOOHHH!! It's COLD!!!

An Exercise in the Web

Blogging Archives & Home Rule

Worst Weather Possible

The Guy Is Good

Olympic Commercials

A Different Type of Call

The Call

The Conversation

A Few Observations from Chicago Day

Picking Up Where I Left Off

Christianity and Homosexuality

Evangelical Environmentalists

Banquet Last Night!

Building a Train

Interesting Stories

Favorite Blog

Being Bored=??

The Cuts Are Coming

Folding@Home Progress

Normality

On Going Back To The Way Things Were

Been a while

Fiddler on the Roof and Post Modernism

Culture Wars

God's Politics

Personal Data Missing?

Apple's Value Greater Than Dell's

Die A Bit Closer To Your Funeral

Jeremy Made Me Do This

Top 10 Humanitarian Stories You May Not Have Heard

Random Chuck Norris Facts

Guilty as Accused

Fighting the Klan

Home Rule in Rockford

First Post Since MacWorld

How Close Are You?

Good Communication Consists Of...

One Issue Voters

Flickr Toys

Racism

Tech Companies and Free Speech

MacWorld Is Coming, So Are The Rumors

Mac Posters

Space Software

What Would You Do...

Technology and the Amish

PUH-LEAZE Shut This Man Up!!

Two Days in Chicago

Sugar Bowl and CCDA

Mac OS X is the Best

Paul Thurrot Bought A Mac!