Can you come over?

Sorry – I’m busy today.

But I have a solution.  You could pick a domain name from DynDNS.com and install the updater so that it knows how to reach you even if your IP address changes.

Next, install TightVNC so I can take control of your screen.  You only have to install the server, not the client.  You are going to be serving up the screen so I can see what’s going on.

Make sure you install TightVNC with a good password.  Send me the password via email – a comment here makes it a little more public than either of us want.  And then only run TightVNC when you have arranged for me to look at your computer.  You don’t want to leave it running all the time.  Keeping it off lowers your attack surface.

So no, I’m not coming over to work on your computer.  After this process is completed, I don’t have to!  I’ll stop over for food instead.

Lachrymose

We got called over to the old house today.  The appraiser had been over there, and the potential purchasers had a list of eight things they needed to have addressed.  We met the realtor and his handyman.

Went pretty well.  It came down to three things that really needed to be fixed.  Chimney, electrical box, and the leaky shower.  The handyman will get us quotes by Monday, and then we’ll see where we stand.

Since we were there, we decided to have me clean out the gutters instead of stopping by after church on Sunday.  Good thinking.  Then Bettie wanted to clean out the flower beds, and have me trim some trees, and clean out a drain in the floor, and test three different drains, and haul boatloads of leaves to the back of the property, and mow the leaves that were left (after our tenant mowed – the leaves were thick).

I came close to having myself a pity party, and going to sulk in a corner somewhere.  I chose not to.  Yes, it was a serious derailment of the day (we ended up spending almost 5 hours over there).  Yes, I had to call back some people I was doing computer support for and tell them that I couldn’t make it today.  Yes, I’m achy and taking small steps when I walk.  And yes, I was not happy, and told Bettie about it.  But yes, I did the work.  Yes, it was a good thing to do.  Yes, Bettie and I are very much in love.

And yes, I’m going to sleep very well tonight.

Free men are not equal

. . . and equal men are not free.

Our local Christian radio station has started playing Christmas music – all the time.  They started before Halloween.  Good for them.  I will listen once the season and the songs match a bit better.

So instead I was listening to NPR yesterday, and caught the end of the Diane Rehm show.  The topic of discussion was China and energy.  In the final, “give us a take-away” segment, one guest mentioned that the US uses four times the energy, per capita, compared to China, and that’s why we need cap-and-trade.

Well, the guy was wrong.  According to this chart, for the year 2003, it was almost seven times greater.

The other thing he was wrong about is that we need cap-and-trade.  That’s a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.  “Cap” means there’s a limit to how much greenhouse gasses we can put out.  “Trade” means we have to buy carbon credits from other countries – call it a penalty for the US being rich.  And this is all necessary to stop global warming – which is actually influenced much more by sunspots and water vapor than by carbon dioxide in the air.

Before leaving this point, I want to show small thinking vs. big thinking.  Cap-and-trade is small thinking.  It forces us all to be equal and turn over our decisions – our lives – to the government.  Right now, the orange part of this graph shows what is for the benefit of the energy consumers (you and me).  Watch what happens under cap-and-trade:

What happened to the poor consumer?  Don’t worry, he is being managed carefully, so that everybody in the world is equal:

But should we all be equal?  Some people think so.  I was looking at the new TwitterPeek device, which is a dedicated Twitter phone (except it’s not a phone). It’s not for me, because (1) I dont use Twitter, and (2) I don’t want another dedicated device hanging off my belt.  One reviewer castigated this from an environmental standpoint.  A commenter wrote that this was perfect for him – he could avoid purchasing a new cell phone.  Somebody went off on him, calling him out:

You really really do have to worry about what this world is coming to when the hedgehogs and polar bears are dying just for junk like this.

Deep breath, now, boys.  One silly twitter device isn’t going to kill a hedgehog.  And a million of them won’t kill a polar bear.

Does the US use a lot of energy?  Yes, we do.  This chart measures how much electricity each of us uses vs. how much we produce (on average):

In a perfect world, we would be able to produce incredible amounts of stuff for zero energy (lines would go straight up).  Japan is closer to that than we are.  In a horrible world, we’d expend tons of energy and produce almost nothing (flat line).  That’s close to where Russia is.  I think it has to do with spending energy to keep warm in the cold climate, seriously.  China is down in the cluster in the lower left – doesn’t produce much, doesn’t spend much energy to do it.  You can see the general line of these data points, though: as GDP goes up, energy consumption goes up.

Another way to look at this is energy efficiency.  It’s the GDP (per capita) compared to the energy used to create those products (again, per capita).  This chart tends to look like a ski slope, with a few outliers.

The US is highly productive, and burns a lot of energy to get there.  Bangladesh is very efficient, but doesn’t produce much (again, I think part of the efficiency is not heating or cooling their homes and businesses).  Hong Kong has some good stuff going on – very productive, and pretty efficient.

And I like living in a country that has the ability, vision, and resources to build big stuff and do great things.  I’m not talking about the Mall of America, or a big bulldozer, or a big duck, or the world’s biggest loaf of bread.  I’m talking about going to space on a beam of light.  This week, people walked away with money for making a machine to harness energy from a laser and climb a rope to a helicopter.  It gets cooler once you don’t need a helicopter – you have created a space elevator.

It gets even cooler once you realize you don’t need a laser on the ground, and that the elevator is optional.  Look at how much energy is available from the sun:

All we have to do is launch some solar panels up there, build some collectors down here ground-side, and we have energy independence.  No need for oil (except as lubrication), no need for greenhouse gas concerns, no need for cap-and-trade.

Free men are not equal.  Equal men are not free.

Nannerban

Everybody’s in favor of progress.  Most people would love to have a new factory or a new Walmart close by.  But not too close – you know, traffic problems, noise and smoke, loitering, etc.  So build it close, but build it over there.

These people want it built, but Not In My Back Yard.  This is known as a NIMBY attitude.

I ran across a new one today: BANANA.  Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything.  I think the term for them is Luddite.

Poor Ned Ludd.  He’d probably jump out of his wooden shoes if one of these CAVE People approached him.

Multi-faceted

I now proudly live in a state where the constitution requires that a casino be built at 405 Reading Road in downtown Cincinnati.

Huh?  Why is this in the constitution??  I really don’t understand it, and I don’t understand why it passed.  At a party recently, somebody expressed that building the casinos would keep the money in the state instead of it going to the casinos in Indiana.  I didn’t say anything, but according to that logic, Ohio should start selling marijuana and heroin.  Just because there’s an opportunity to make money does not justify something.

In Ohio, I also am proudly served by a TV station that writes their news before-hand, and doesn’t check it afterwards.  From here:

Ohio is the same state that yesterday created a farm board that does not add much (doesn’t the Department of Agriculture take care of things like agriculture?), but now can do it without oversight and as part of the constitution.  I still don’t see the need for the constitution to declare this.  I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Hometown heroes, all.  Maybe somebody from a sensible state like Alaska could move in to Ohio and clean house.  But why limit it to just Ohio?

Insurance

I hope you don’t need this.  I hope that if you do need it, you have another computer where you can download it.  I hope you have it stuck on a thumb drive somewhere.

Or to be safe, download it now.

If your winsock stack gets corrupted, use this program winsockxpfix.exe.  You’ll be glad in that one time out of ten thousand that you really need it.

Oh, but it’s not safe, you say.  Oh, but it’s not supported, you say.

Oh, Microsoft MVPs recommend it, I say.

Seriously, if you do computer support, this is a magic wand and a silver bullet.  Get it before you need it, because once you need it, it’s too late.

Indiana Jones

I like the Indiana Jones movies – the cliffhanger attitude taken from the old serial flicks.  Indy gets himself into a place where it’s impossible to get out of – and then a miracle occurs, and everything works out.

It’s not only on film that this happens.  Miracles happen in real life.

After the house being with our old realtor for nine months and having only four showings, our new realtor had us an offer in two days.  After some counter-offers, we have agreed on a price that should pay off our old mortgage.  It’s much less than we had hoped for a year ago, but it’s nowhere near as bad as it could have been.

They’re hoping to close the day before Thanksgiving.  That will give them the $8,000 government bailout money, and give everybody more to be thankful for.

Was it the realtor that did it?  Nope, although he’s a great guy.  It was God, testing and teaching us.  And if this all falls through, that doesn’t diminish God’s power or goodness.  It just provides Bettie and I with a new opportunity to grow our faith.

Do not adjust your receiver

A dead pixel in Google Earth . . .

Totally awesome

A flashback from the 80s – in pumpkins

Prepeating myself

My minister is also my Sunday School teacher.  This week, though, he’s unavailable, and has asked me to teach.  He wants me to talk on prayer, and to pick out some verses on prayer.  As I work through them, you will be the beneficiary (as well as me, for getting a blog entry out of something I had to do anyway).

The first verse is Ps. 141:2

May my prayer be set before You like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice

Our prayers are incense offered to God.  Do we want to give Him the best incense we can provide, or will we make do with what’s on sale at the dollar store, a quick prayer tossed off before falling asleep?  (I’m preaching to myself here).

The second verse is Matt 21:22

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer

This is not a “name it and claim it” dealie.  This is about aligning your wishes, wants, desires – your life – with God and his will.  Once you are totally wrapped in God, inside and out, you will be asking for His will to be done.

Next up is Acts 6:4.  This reads better in the NASB:

But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word

Devoting ourselves to prayer.  Not to work, or pursuing your first million, or that sports car, or anything else.  This verse comes as they are setting up the group of seven men to make sure all the widows were fed, so there were also people who were not totally devoted to prayer.  I’m not trying to lay a guilt trip on anybody.  Some are called to the prayer ministry.

This verse, though, applies to everyone.  It comes right after the armor of God.  Eph 6:18 says:

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

• all occasions
• all kinds of prayers and requests
• always keep on praying for
• all the saints

Paul isn’t leaving us a lot of wiggle room here.  We are to lead a life of prayer.  Brother Lawrence, in his book The Practice of the Presence of God, shows how all things can be done to God’s glory.  Breathing in and out can be a prayer.  Scrubbing the kitchen floor can (and should) be done as to the Lord.

But what if we don’t get it right?  Phil 4:6 says

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

I like this verse.  It comes down to (1) don’t worry, and (2) do ask.  The “don’t worry” part doesn’t mean that we should have no concerns about anything, floating through life like a jellyfish.  God cares about us, and it’s valid for us to have wants and desires, and to ask God for them.

So here’s a summation:

1. Your prayers go to God
2. You’ll get what you ask for if you believe (in God, not in the prayer)
3. We can/should be devoted to prayer
4. Always pray about everything
5. Don’t worry about it, and do ask

Feel free to print the list out and carry it in your wallet.  It’s a reminder.  It does not replace Bible verses.  It does not replace a prayerful relationship with God.  It is not a “get into Heaven free” card.

It’s also not a bad road map for part of that journey.