Vinyl Siding Project

I'm grateful... my Dad is driving 500 miles and taking a week of vacation time to help me add a layer of vinyl siding to my house. I'm not crazy enough to do this without his help, nor would I pay somebody $6-10K to do it for me. Looking forward to the trip and the opportunity to hang out with Dad and learn something new. The project should commence on Saturday morning, weather permitting. Check out journaled photos here.

Seattle

I write from Bellevue. Not the Bellevue in cornhusker-land that I've grown rather accustomed to during the last 6 years; instead, I find myself supplanted in Washington state, a personal first. This 2 day retreat to metropolitan Seattle is to attend a network security conference at Microsoft's state-of-the-art corporate facility in Redmond, WA. The Microsoft campus, as it's called, is headquarters North America for the company, a virtual city with Bill Gates as mayor. The campus is impressive... an unexpected mixture of sleek corporation and a garden of Eden: meticulously landscaped parks, trails, and flowerbeds nestled among giant redwoods and gleaming glass office buildings. Tomorrow as I head back home to "The Good Life," I take with me a newfound respect for the company and the impressive corporate image casted by the "campus." Check out the photos from Seattle here.

James O'Rourke Triathlon 2006

On April 30th, 2006, I participated in the 5th Annual James O'Rourke Memorial Triathlon in North Platte, NE. Check out the photos here.

Losing Momentum

I'm losing momentum; my last breath, last achievement
doesn't propel me, it's losing its glimmer
and I am losing the race against time; think quickly,
what will satisfy my hunger
and advance me forward, upward once again?
I'm wasting time, my competitor's have gained.
advantage slipping away like grains of sand;
I must be watchful, one step ahead.

I wrote this several years ago... sometimes I feel like "I am what I achieve," that my self worth is directly tied to what I accomplish, and that I can make myself stand out by achieving things that few others have.

I believe the Bible teaches otherwise... Mt 10:29-31 and Gen 1:26-27
...but I struggle often with this idea.