Last night, I was restless at around 8 O Clock at night and so I drove down Mission street in Salem. I came upon a City Transit Bus that had people on it, but no driver, so I decided that I would take charge and figure out how to drive this bus.
Well, I continue on the route that the bus was on and figured it out. At one stop, someone got off, but still had other people on it. I found it interesting that the accelerator was on one side where I use my right foot (as normal cars), but then the brake was on the other side of this huge barrier and I had to use my Left foot which was a bit different.
After driving the bus a while, I wanted to take the bus to Costco to get some food and let the people on the bus have a break. Well, we get to Costco and I park the bus and we all go inside to get some food, but Costco was already closed and there was a huge line outside the building all wanting food.
The line was for a vending machine and we we all got in line to buy something to eat through the vending machine. After a while, we head back to the bus, to find out that it would not start back up. I was panicked, because I had the responsibility to get all these people where they needed to go.
Then, I woke up and realized
that it was all
just a WEIRD dream.
Don't ask me why I dreamed this or even remembered it (because most of the time I do not remember my dreams) but I did and thought it was humorous and wanted to share on my Random Thoughts Blog... What could be more Random of Thoughts.
June 27, 2010
June 22, 2010
Summer Classes, Toddler Teaching, and Mess Ups!
Well, the first day of class yesterday was IN-TER-EST-ING.
For starters, I was expecting the Summer term to be a smaller flow of students because its not the traditional academic year. Most students take the summer off and start again in the Fall, but I did not take into account the amount of students that are teachers who only have summers to do their coursework. WOU has quite a large population of teachers and those wanting to be teachers, and so that has a factor.
So, I drove up to the school expecting to get a prime parking spot only to find none. I had to park where I usually park, way over by the city park. That is a problem because those are only 2 hour limit and my classes were from 8:30-3:30.
I got into my class and found it alright. It was a beautiful site to see all those large iMacs to use. But, what I was not too happy about was the fact that my teacher for this first class was a regular Elementary teacher and treated us as her 5th graders. It was very degrading. She counted down from 5 for our attention and she had us get up and make a continum of where we were in the technological sense from 1-6, 1 being lowest, and 6 being highest. It was actually kinda funny because we ALL put ourselves in the 6 category and so there was not much moving around. She must not have realized that we all felt confident in all things technology.
I had the chance to meet my parents for lunch because they were on their way to the Oregon Coast for a few days in celebration of their 31st Anniversary. What an accomplishment. I do not know many couples who are happily married after 31 years. Congrats to my parents as of TOMORROW (unless it was yesterday, I always get mixed up if its the 21st of 23) After having lunch and showing the parents around the campus, I had to get to my next class- Digital Music.
We were all there, waiting for the instructor to find out that he was way-late. The staff of WOU was scrambling to find a solution and eventually brought in Bill Hamlin to teach. He did a good job after gaining his composure from switching tasks. It was kind of a crazy time to have that sort of mess up.
Let's hope today goes a bit better.
For starters, I was expecting the Summer term to be a smaller flow of students because its not the traditional academic year. Most students take the summer off and start again in the Fall, but I did not take into account the amount of students that are teachers who only have summers to do their coursework. WOU has quite a large population of teachers and those wanting to be teachers, and so that has a factor.
So, I drove up to the school expecting to get a prime parking spot only to find none. I had to park where I usually park, way over by the city park. That is a problem because those are only 2 hour limit and my classes were from 8:30-3:30.
I got into my class and found it alright. It was a beautiful site to see all those large iMacs to use. But, what I was not too happy about was the fact that my teacher for this first class was a regular Elementary teacher and treated us as her 5th graders. It was very degrading. She counted down from 5 for our attention and she had us get up and make a continum of where we were in the technological sense from 1-6, 1 being lowest, and 6 being highest. It was actually kinda funny because we ALL put ourselves in the 6 category and so there was not much moving around. She must not have realized that we all felt confident in all things technology.
I had the chance to meet my parents for lunch because they were on their way to the Oregon Coast for a few days in celebration of their 31st Anniversary. What an accomplishment. I do not know many couples who are happily married after 31 years. Congrats to my parents as of TOMORROW (unless it was yesterday, I always get mixed up if its the 21st of 23) After having lunch and showing the parents around the campus, I had to get to my next class- Digital Music.
We were all there, waiting for the instructor to find out that he was way-late. The staff of WOU was scrambling to find a solution and eventually brought in Bill Hamlin to teach. He did a good job after gaining his composure from switching tasks. It was kind of a crazy time to have that sort of mess up.
Let's hope today goes a bit better.
June 18, 2010
The State of Bashing and Comparing- How Sad!
Its really sad to think of the way the church is acting in some aspects.
One major thing I found in Chapter one of Philippians is Paul's yearning to see the Philippians and his prayer:
"(9) And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ."
What came to my mind is the competition that churches nowadays have. Churches now compare numbers and staff and everything. Denominations bash each other. The Charismatics call the Presbyterians and Baptists rigid and uptight and old, and the Baptists call the Charismatics crazy vision seeing weirdos and all seem to be in a race to get the largest numbers to prove that their denomination is better.
But, it doesn't just stop at denominations, it goes even deeper.
Like-believing churches also have competition.
I can remember a church I was a part of and a similar situation. I was a part of a Mexico mission trip where two churches joined together for the trip (of the same denomination, in fact one even was birthed from the other as a church plant) and a comment was said by a student and one of the leaders made the comment that if you go to their youth group, you can learn about the bible- implying that the other church was not doing a good job of teaching during youth group. I was just so upset by that comment.
Churches are always comparing. I have even been known to do it. When I was in charge of the podcasting at a previous church, I was happy when we had more podcasts of sermons than another church. I would actually look at this churches podcast site to see if we were still #1 in the podcast number. That is the stupidest thing ever if you ask me.
We should be happy to see growth in other churches, even if its not in our denomination. As long as these other churches believe in the big picture of the fact that Jesus Christ was Fully God and Fully Man and Died for sins for all, it shouldn't matter if a different church is growing faster than mine.
We need to be praying for other churches just as we pray for ours that their love would abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that they may be able to discern what is bet and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.
One major thing I found in Chapter one of Philippians is Paul's yearning to see the Philippians and his prayer:
"(9) And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ."
What came to my mind is the competition that churches nowadays have. Churches now compare numbers and staff and everything. Denominations bash each other. The Charismatics call the Presbyterians and Baptists rigid and uptight and old, and the Baptists call the Charismatics crazy vision seeing weirdos and all seem to be in a race to get the largest numbers to prove that their denomination is better.
But, it doesn't just stop at denominations, it goes even deeper.
Like-believing churches also have competition.
I can remember a church I was a part of and a similar situation. I was a part of a Mexico mission trip where two churches joined together for the trip (of the same denomination, in fact one even was birthed from the other as a church plant) and a comment was said by a student and one of the leaders made the comment that if you go to their youth group, you can learn about the bible- implying that the other church was not doing a good job of teaching during youth group. I was just so upset by that comment.
Churches are always comparing. I have even been known to do it. When I was in charge of the podcasting at a previous church, I was happy when we had more podcasts of sermons than another church. I would actually look at this churches podcast site to see if we were still #1 in the podcast number. That is the stupidest thing ever if you ask me.
We should be happy to see growth in other churches, even if its not in our denomination. As long as these other churches believe in the big picture of the fact that Jesus Christ was Fully God and Fully Man and Died for sins for all, it shouldn't matter if a different church is growing faster than mine.
We need to be praying for other churches just as we pray for ours that their love would abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that they may be able to discern what is bet and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.
June 12, 2010
What a Day!
What a day it's been! I have had quite a bit of car trouble today. I decided to head over to Silverton to watch a matinee movie for $4. Pretty good price, so I figured, it'd be fun to watch The Karate Kid.
I start making my way over to Silverton and right at a huge intersection, my car starts to stall out on me. I am freaking out because I am in the middle of this intersection and my car is not cooperating. I flip my hazards on quickly and try turning over the engine. it is not helping.
I keep working on it and after about a minute of turning over the car, it starts up again for me. I find the closest place to stop the car and turn it off. I try it again, and the car is working fine. It took a bit to start, but that is normal. I turn the car off and check the oil, put in a quart and check it. It seems to work fine. So, I keep making my way to Silverton. Once I make it all the way to Silverton, I come to a stop sign, and there it goes again. It cuts out and won't turn back over. I keep trying until it works again, I pull over again and decide since I am there, I will worry about it when I get out of the movie.
At this point, I am very frustrated with my 195,000 mile car. I try the car when I get out of the movie, and it turns over just fine. I leave it running and call dad (what I always do when I have a car problem) and he gives me some suggestions for the problem. I baby the car as I drive back home and I had no problems.
One thing that I thought was curious was that I had not used my Air Conditioning before today and the car stalled out just a few minutes after turning the AC on. THEN, I let the car run a while before turning on the AC again and it stalled again, with the AC on. On the way home, I did not use the AC in fear of a correlation.
On a happier note, I did have a good time with The Karate Kid. Jadon Smith did an awesome job, and of course so did Jackie Chan. I did not find that many similarities from the Original to the new version, but I think I liked that about it.
I start making my way over to Silverton and right at a huge intersection, my car starts to stall out on me. I am freaking out because I am in the middle of this intersection and my car is not cooperating. I flip my hazards on quickly and try turning over the engine. it is not helping.
I keep working on it and after about a minute of turning over the car, it starts up again for me. I find the closest place to stop the car and turn it off. I try it again, and the car is working fine. It took a bit to start, but that is normal. I turn the car off and check the oil, put in a quart and check it. It seems to work fine. So, I keep making my way to Silverton. Once I make it all the way to Silverton, I come to a stop sign, and there it goes again. It cuts out and won't turn back over. I keep trying until it works again, I pull over again and decide since I am there, I will worry about it when I get out of the movie.
At this point, I am very frustrated with my 195,000 mile car. I try the car when I get out of the movie, and it turns over just fine. I leave it running and call dad (what I always do when I have a car problem) and he gives me some suggestions for the problem. I baby the car as I drive back home and I had no problems.
One thing that I thought was curious was that I had not used my Air Conditioning before today and the car stalled out just a few minutes after turning the AC on. THEN, I let the car run a while before turning on the AC again and it stalled again, with the AC on. On the way home, I did not use the AC in fear of a correlation.
On a happier note, I did have a good time with The Karate Kid. Jadon Smith did an awesome job, and of course so did Jackie Chan. I did not find that many similarities from the Original to the new version, but I think I liked that about it.
June 11, 2010
My Graduate Status at WOU!
It is SO, SO good to be done with my Spring Term Classes. I am hoping to be looking at A's and a B, or two for my term. I am not expecting any C's. I am pretty proud of the work I have done all this year at Western.
There were a few classes this term that I kind of dreaded. Quite a few were fun and I had a great time with, but two that I just felt lost the whole time, but even in spite of that, I am happy to say that I still expect A's or B's in these classes.
You may be wondering how many classes I took this term because I talk about quite a few being good but two being not so fun. Well, FYI, I took 4 classes- equaling to 12 Credits. Now, that does not seem like such a large amount of credits to take for me because I was known to take 18 and even 21 Credits in my Undergrad(per term), but in Masters programs that is not permitted. And if you take a look at the per credit price for Graduate studies programs, you would cringe. WOW, how can Graduate studies credits be worth that much more than undergrad credit?
Oh well, I just have 2-1Cr. classes for three days this summer of June 21-23rd and then I just have to finish my Final Exit project and I will have successfully graduated from a Graduate Program at Western Oregon University. That's a nice feeling.
But, after that, I am not encouraged to continue my education to get a PhD/Doctorate because my father jokingly says, that would make us (his children) smarter than him and that's not acceptable.
There were a few classes this term that I kind of dreaded. Quite a few were fun and I had a great time with, but two that I just felt lost the whole time, but even in spite of that, I am happy to say that I still expect A's or B's in these classes.
You may be wondering how many classes I took this term because I talk about quite a few being good but two being not so fun. Well, FYI, I took 4 classes- equaling to 12 Credits. Now, that does not seem like such a large amount of credits to take for me because I was known to take 18 and even 21 Credits in my Undergrad(per term), but in Masters programs that is not permitted. And if you take a look at the per credit price for Graduate studies programs, you would cringe. WOW, how can Graduate studies credits be worth that much more than undergrad credit?
Oh well, I just have 2-1Cr. classes for three days this summer of June 21-23rd and then I just have to finish my Final Exit project and I will have successfully graduated from a Graduate Program at Western Oregon University. That's a nice feeling.
But, after that, I am not encouraged to continue my education to get a PhD/Doctorate because my father jokingly says, that would make us (his children) smarter than him and that's not acceptable.
June 8, 2010
Shrek Forever After
I went to see Shrek Forever After, the Final Chapter tonight at Regal. That was a great flick. If you were all about the previous Shreks, you will def. enjoy this one. The graphics just keep getting better and better and the storyline was perfect. Some of these lines and actors did such an amazing job.
A few parts I thought were funny:
Shrek is asked by a chubby little boy with his dad to give them an Ogre roar. Just the way the boy asks for the roar is hilarious because hes got this muted low hick-type of voice. And he keeps on asking Shrek to roar.
Another great part that I just couldn't stop from laughing at was when Shrek and the crew meet the Gingerbread man and he tells them of this diabolical plan (Don't worry, I won't ruin it for ya) and Donkey looks at the Gingerbread man and says "What are you talking about Cracker" Yes, a bit racist, but so incredibly funny.
There were many other parts to this movie that got me laughing, but it would take all night to type them out.
I will just say, you MUST go see it if you liked even just ONE of the Shreks. I would put the quality of the Shreks in order from:
Shrek Forever After,
Shrek 2
Shrek
Shrek 3
Yes, it was THAT good. When a friend said that it was the best yet, I had my doubts, but found them to go away after I watched this movie.
A few parts I thought were funny:
Shrek is asked by a chubby little boy with his dad to give them an Ogre roar. Just the way the boy asks for the roar is hilarious because hes got this muted low hick-type of voice. And he keeps on asking Shrek to roar.
Another great part that I just couldn't stop from laughing at was when Shrek and the crew meet the Gingerbread man and he tells them of this diabolical plan (Don't worry, I won't ruin it for ya) and Donkey looks at the Gingerbread man and says "What are you talking about Cracker" Yes, a bit racist, but so incredibly funny.
There were many other parts to this movie that got me laughing, but it would take all night to type them out.
I will just say, you MUST go see it if you liked even just ONE of the Shreks. I would put the quality of the Shreks in order from:
Shrek Forever After,
Shrek 2
Shrek
Shrek 3
Yes, it was THAT good. When a friend said that it was the best yet, I had my doubts, but found them to go away after I watched this movie.
June 5, 2010
Revolution of the Heart
I have been hearing alot about a book by Dan Merchant. My Veritas leader has talked about it numerous times and it sounded funny to start, but very interesting. I saw it in a bookstore today and picked it up. It's called
"Lord, Save Us From Your Followers" It's a book that looks at the culture today and how Christians are viewed.
The first chapter talks about how Dan, the author, went to Downtown NYC in Times Square and wore a jumpsuit with many different christian bumper stickers and asked people five questions. Some of their answers were very interesting. I think this was a great way to engage the culture around and draw people in. Anyone can go downtown and ask questions of people, but it takes something a little bit special to wear a jumpsuit of bumper stickers that are very controvercial and ask those questions.
One passage that I found very compelling is as follows:
"When Jesus waked the earth, He lived in an extremely political time; the Romans occupied the land, the local Jewish politicians and religious leaders aggressively jockeyed the position and favor, and Jesus stayed out of it. Many of those sandal-wearing folks who followed Jesus around wondered why He wasn't leading a revolution, as the expected the Messiah to do. They trick was that Jesus did start a revolution, but not in the way many expected. He led a revolution of the heart- a revolution that called for self-sacrifice, kindness, patience, forgiveness, and grace."
I am very interested to see where this book goes. Check it out.
http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Save-Us-Your-Followers/dp/0849919932/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275782726&sr=8-2
The first chapter talks about how Dan, the author, went to Downtown NYC in Times Square and wore a jumpsuit with many different christian bumper stickers and asked people five questions. Some of their answers were very interesting. I think this was a great way to engage the culture around and draw people in. Anyone can go downtown and ask questions of people, but it takes something a little bit special to wear a jumpsuit of bumper stickers that are very controvercial and ask those questions.
One passage that I found very compelling is as follows:
"When Jesus waked the earth, He lived in an extremely political time; the Romans occupied the land, the local Jewish politicians and religious leaders aggressively jockeyed the position and favor, and Jesus stayed out of it. Many of those sandal-wearing folks who followed Jesus around wondered why He wasn't leading a revolution, as the expected the Messiah to do. They trick was that Jesus did start a revolution, but not in the way many expected. He led a revolution of the heart- a revolution that called for self-sacrifice, kindness, patience, forgiveness, and grace."
I am very interested to see where this book goes. Check it out.
http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Save-Us-Your-Followers/dp/0849919932/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275782726&sr=8-2
June 4, 2010
Memories and UnCondon
Well, as it turns out, I was not chosen as the candidate for Condon Grade School. Its kinda funny cuz I must have put my home phone number (as in Redmond) on my application process somewhere (Who knows, maybe its a default in EdZapp and I haven't changed it) and so they keep calling my father. Dad took the message this morning that I did not get it and then sent me an email. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a tiny bit disappointed, but God has given me a Peace about this job opportunity, even before I went there and interviewed.
I knew that it would be quite a change for me to be living in a small community like that, and was wondering how it would go. I was starting to like the idea of living in a small place though, but I knew that I would miss some huge things, such as my home church, and family, and Best Buy, Fred Meyer, Walmart, Target, Fast food, choices, friends, the big-city life, and many other things that I would not get in Condon. (not in that order BTW)
Now, unless I find a different job, I am Central Oregon bound and if nothing else, I will be substituting in Central Oregon again next year.
Now, I just have to convince the parents to let me live in the house if they move so I can find some roommates and keep the family dwelling in the family. I love that house. We had it built for our family and it has such great sentimental value for me. I still think about the images in my mind of when we were building the house.
I remember as a kid, going to the property with dad and Kelli and Kris and getting to drive the "vette" (Chevette) all over the property. That was a great time. And just seeing the changes in the house from month to month and year to year. Dad has put so much work into that house and it would be sad to see it go. I would also miss the Hot Tub.
I knew that it would be quite a change for me to be living in a small community like that, and was wondering how it would go. I was starting to like the idea of living in a small place though, but I knew that I would miss some huge things, such as my home church, and family, and Best Buy, Fred Meyer, Walmart, Target, Fast food, choices, friends, the big-city life, and many other things that I would not get in Condon. (not in that order BTW)
Now, unless I find a different job, I am Central Oregon bound and if nothing else, I will be substituting in Central Oregon again next year.
Now, I just have to convince the parents to let me live in the house if they move so I can find some roommates and keep the family dwelling in the family. I love that house. We had it built for our family and it has such great sentimental value for me. I still think about the images in my mind of when we were building the house.
I remember as a kid, going to the property with dad and Kelli and Kris and getting to drive the "vette" (Chevette) all over the property. That was a great time. And just seeing the changes in the house from month to month and year to year. Dad has put so much work into that house and it would be sad to see it go. I would also miss the Hot Tub.
June 1, 2010
Condon Peace
Well, my interview went fairly well. As many know, I have a job opportunity in Condon, Oregon. At first, I did not know what to think of this. I was interested only because they called me. I had not been to Condon (that I remember) and when looking up data from the city, it was a very small town with very few choices (goods).
After thinking about it, and praying about it, God gave me a peace about the whole situation. I went into this interview saying if its God's Will, then I am happy to be in it. I liked the prospect of teaching full-time in a small school atmosphere. I have really enjoyed the interactions from Perrydale SD and wouldn't mind being in a small school such as that.
Well, the drive was uneventful, but CURVY. I knew the road had some curves to it, but did not know it was this much. It took quite a while to get there. Luckily, I did not get behind anyone really slow for very long. Once I got there, I took a quick look at the school and where it was, then I drove to one end of the town and parked my car. Then, I proceeded to walk to the other side of town. This took all of about 5 minutes. I couldn't do that in Salem, or even Redmond for that matter. There were a few people out. I took a tour through the one and only market. I was pleasantly surprised that the prices weren't all that different from the big city. Then, I took a look at the Pool that dad was saying he remembered. It was not full yet, of course, but looked like a nice one. I walked through most of the stores that were open. Most of these stores have general items of all sorts. One store- the Country Flowers store, had gifts, flowers, bridal registries, books (from Powells?- it had a sign and looked similar), a deli, a coffee shop, candles, kids toys, games,... all sorts of stuff. There was another like it, but was not as scattered, it had a pharmacy and other items as well.
I was happy have people say hi to me and smile. Nice people over there.
After bumming around town, I headed over to the school.
I was there half an hour early- as usual, and so after waiting for a while, I was finally in the interview. It was the Superintendant and the 1/2 teacher, and another lady that teaches spanish at HS and was an aide of some sort as well. Dr. Robinson- superintendant, was the one asking all the interview questions. I felt fairly well about the way the interveiw went. There were a few questions that I did not know answers to. One was what are the HS graduation standards for Oregon and how does that affect a 2/3 teacher (what I am applying for)? Well, I had no clue. I tried my best to answer the affecting 2/3 question, but told him outright that I did not know and would have to look that up to be certain.
After the interview, the two teachers took me around the school and showed me the facilities. Its an older school but seems to be kept up well.
I was told at the end of my interview that there were 64 applicants to this one job, and that I am one of 8 who were called for an interview. I should know by next week (im assuming, later on in the week) whether or not if I got the job.
I am so thankful for the opportunity and for the ability to want the job, but in the same way, be okay if I do not get it, because I will be back in my hometown (or somewhere else if I get another interview opportunity)
Thank You to all who were praying for me and my possibilities.
After thinking about it, and praying about it, God gave me a peace about the whole situation. I went into this interview saying if its God's Will, then I am happy to be in it. I liked the prospect of teaching full-time in a small school atmosphere. I have really enjoyed the interactions from Perrydale SD and wouldn't mind being in a small school such as that.
Well, the drive was uneventful, but CURVY. I knew the road had some curves to it, but did not know it was this much. It took quite a while to get there. Luckily, I did not get behind anyone really slow for very long. Once I got there, I took a quick look at the school and where it was, then I drove to one end of the town and parked my car. Then, I proceeded to walk to the other side of town. This took all of about 5 minutes. I couldn't do that in Salem, or even Redmond for that matter. There were a few people out. I took a tour through the one and only market. I was pleasantly surprised that the prices weren't all that different from the big city. Then, I took a look at the Pool that dad was saying he remembered. It was not full yet, of course, but looked like a nice one. I walked through most of the stores that were open. Most of these stores have general items of all sorts. One store- the Country Flowers store, had gifts, flowers, bridal registries, books (from Powells?- it had a sign and looked similar), a deli, a coffee shop, candles, kids toys, games,... all sorts of stuff. There was another like it, but was not as scattered, it had a pharmacy and other items as well.
I was happy have people say hi to me and smile. Nice people over there.
After bumming around town, I headed over to the school.
I was there half an hour early- as usual, and so after waiting for a while, I was finally in the interview. It was the Superintendant and the 1/2 teacher, and another lady that teaches spanish at HS and was an aide of some sort as well. Dr. Robinson- superintendant, was the one asking all the interview questions. I felt fairly well about the way the interveiw went. There were a few questions that I did not know answers to. One was what are the HS graduation standards for Oregon and how does that affect a 2/3 teacher (what I am applying for)? Well, I had no clue. I tried my best to answer the affecting 2/3 question, but told him outright that I did not know and would have to look that up to be certain.
After the interview, the two teachers took me around the school and showed me the facilities. Its an older school but seems to be kept up well.
I was told at the end of my interview that there were 64 applicants to this one job, and that I am one of 8 who were called for an interview. I should know by next week (im assuming, later on in the week) whether or not if I got the job.
I am so thankful for the opportunity and for the ability to want the job, but in the same way, be okay if I do not get it, because I will be back in my hometown (or somewhere else if I get another interview opportunity)
Thank You to all who were praying for me and my possibilities.
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