?Which would you choose to have taken from you, your words or your actions?? asked Good.
Home Front - BLOG of Chris Gonzalez courtesy ramblingadventures
Oh definitely words.
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Oh definitely words.
Field of Screams
Sammy Sosa to the O's ... uhh, how do you say ... NO!!!!!?!? Hitting the ball out of the park wasn't the problem we had last year, it was keeping the ball in the park when we were throwin it at the other team! You've got to be kidding me! I thought we learned from last year that scoring is not our problem, pitching is! Are we over-compensating for the fact that when we had Moose the guy never got 20 wins despite having a sub 4.00 career ERA over 10 years in Baltimore (and to be clear that includes 6 seasons sub 3.50)? Scoring all of those runs now isn't gonna make up for that, you do realize this don't you, Mr. Beattie and Mr. Flanagan?
By the way, I'm an Orioles fan.
By the way, I'm an Orioles fan.
Don't Drink and Drive
Today I was supposed to meet Travis for lunch at 11:45, but instead, I was faced with the opportunity to help get an intoxicated motorist off the road. I first noticed the driver's erratic driving while following behind him for a couple of miles, but I didn't realize the severity of his problem until, while approaching a stop light, he almost forced me and a fellow driver off the road, where there also sat a homeless man in the path of destruction.
All of us in disbelief, I'm grateful for my fellow driver (we'll call him ToddJared,John) who declared to me (in a non-threatening way), "I'm going after this guy". Realizing that it might be helpful for Todd to have some sort of backup for any one of numerous reasons, I overcame my initial hesitation and decided to help Todd in tracking the drunk driver. Eventually, the intoxicated driver pulled into a gas station and we approached him, resolving not to let him get back on the road. I called the police while Todd spoke with the man to see if he was okay. It was obvious he was not. It was obvious he had been drinking.
The cops arrived and began questioning the man. It was clear to them that he had been drinking, but because they had not witnessed him driving there were two options: 1) they could arrest him for suspicion of DUI based on our testimony or 2) they could allow him to go free if someone came and picked him up. If he didn't have anyone to pick him up, they would default to option 1. The officers suggested option 2, and ultimately Todd and I agreed. We were both willing to testify about what we witnessed, but each officer's prognosis regarding the outcome was the same: the process would be long and drawn out, possibly require several consecutive days spent in a courtroom waiting, and a guilty verdict based on two citizens' testimonies was hardly guaranteed.
I can honestly say that I'm not at all disappointed with the outcome. My primary purpose in maintaining my involvement in the situation was to find out what was going on with this guy, and if necessary, to keep him off the road. At that point, no one had been injured and the man was at least out of the vehicle and no longer a danger to other motorists. I do hope, however, that this is a wake up call to him and to his family members. I hope that there is someone in his life that can hold him accountable for his actions and prevent him from getting on the road in that condition ever again. I'm also very grateful that there are people like Todd out there, who genuinely care and are able to help diffuse a situation like this without resorting to violence or force.
It's not always obvious, when I'm driving, how many of my fellow motorists are operating their vehicles under the legal level of intoxication. Today, however, I was suspicious of a particular driver and my suspicions turned out to be well founded. For the safety of yourself and the others around you, please don't drink and drive. And if you think you might have the urge to drive while intoxicated, take steps to prevent yourself from getting in the car before you get too drunk to make that decision.
All of us in disbelief, I'm grateful for my fellow driver (we'll call him Todd
The cops arrived and began questioning the man. It was clear to them that he had been drinking, but because they had not witnessed him driving there were two options: 1) they could arrest him for suspicion of DUI based on our testimony or 2) they could allow him to go free if someone came and picked him up. If he didn't have anyone to pick him up, they would default to option 1. The officers suggested option 2, and ultimately Todd and I agreed. We were both willing to testify about what we witnessed, but each officer's prognosis regarding the outcome was the same: the process would be long and drawn out, possibly require several consecutive days spent in a courtroom waiting, and a guilty verdict based on two citizens' testimonies was hardly guaranteed.
I can honestly say that I'm not at all disappointed with the outcome. My primary purpose in maintaining my involvement in the situation was to find out what was going on with this guy, and if necessary, to keep him off the road. At that point, no one had been injured and the man was at least out of the vehicle and no longer a danger to other motorists. I do hope, however, that this is a wake up call to him and to his family members. I hope that there is someone in his life that can hold him accountable for his actions and prevent him from getting on the road in that condition ever again. I'm also very grateful that there are people like Todd out there, who genuinely care and are able to help diffuse a situation like this without resorting to violence or force.
It's not always obvious, when I'm driving, how many of my fellow motorists are operating their vehicles under the legal level of intoxication. Today, however, I was suspicious of a particular driver and my suspicions turned out to be well founded. For the safety of yourself and the others around you, please don't drink and drive. And if you think you might have the urge to drive while intoxicated, take steps to prevent yourself from getting in the car before you get too drunk to make that decision.
Cleanse and Let Cleanse
For a month I let it sit on the counter in my bathroom. Even after I finally broke its seal I would only twist the cap and pour my serving "when the mood struck". Every other morning and night I would brush my teeth and then resolutely turn around and walk away from that beckoning bottle of Listerine. Occasionally I stared at the bottle and thought to myself how odd it was that it always seemed to be full.
One night, when I finished brushing my teeth, something didn't seem right. I had brushed so thoroughly, I thought I might be crossing into OCD. My teeth were clean, but they didn't feel pure. They didn't feel like they did just before my last bottle of Listerine had run out. That night, out of concern for losing even a single consituent of my pearly whites, I decided to commit myself to the recommended 30 seconds of swishing at every brushing. Since then, I have been faithful in my committment and my teeth have never felt better. I've even noticed the level in the bottle drop!
One night, as I was swishing away, I realized that my spiritual life over the past few years has been a lot like that bottle of Listerine. By dying on the cross for me, Jesus bought my Salvation and when I accepted that gift, I put it on the shelf, ready to use it for my cleansing. But then I just let it sit there, staring at it every day, twice a day, sometimes even more. Often times I wondered to myself, "why is God not increasing in my life?". Ultimately I determined it was because I was not decreasing. I was letting my Salvation sit on the shelf, staring at it everyday waiting for something to happen but never opening my heart to that "thing". I had received the gift, but never truly accepted it. I wasn't using it daily to purify and cleanse me. So, just like that bottle of Listerine, I had to commit myself to faith; to coming before God daily and allowing Him to cleanse and purify me. And wouldn't you know, since then I've noticed the level of self-reliance and self-righteousness drop. I have been decreasing while God has been increasing.
And so the point of all this gibberish is to encourage you - that if you have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, don't stop there, don't let your Salvation sit on a shelf. Allow God to come into your life and cleanse you because you can't do it alone. You can brush as hard and as much as you want to, and you can buy the fanciest toothbrush that money can buy and it still won't find those places that Listerine can. The same thing is true for your spiritual life. You have to allow God in and start decreasing so that He may increase. In Psalm 139, David writes:
This is my prayer for all of us today.
One night, when I finished brushing my teeth, something didn't seem right. I had brushed so thoroughly, I thought I might be crossing into OCD. My teeth were clean, but they didn't feel pure. They didn't feel like they did just before my last bottle of Listerine had run out. That night, out of concern for losing even a single consituent of my pearly whites, I decided to commit myself to the recommended 30 seconds of swishing at every brushing. Since then, I have been faithful in my committment and my teeth have never felt better. I've even noticed the level in the bottle drop!
One night, as I was swishing away, I realized that my spiritual life over the past few years has been a lot like that bottle of Listerine. By dying on the cross for me, Jesus bought my Salvation and when I accepted that gift, I put it on the shelf, ready to use it for my cleansing. But then I just let it sit there, staring at it every day, twice a day, sometimes even more. Often times I wondered to myself, "why is God not increasing in my life?". Ultimately I determined it was because I was not decreasing. I was letting my Salvation sit on the shelf, staring at it everyday waiting for something to happen but never opening my heart to that "thing". I had received the gift, but never truly accepted it. I wasn't using it daily to purify and cleanse me. So, just like that bottle of Listerine, I had to commit myself to faith; to coming before God daily and allowing Him to cleanse and purify me. And wouldn't you know, since then I've noticed the level of self-reliance and self-righteousness drop. I have been decreasing while God has been increasing.
And so the point of all this gibberish is to encourage you - that if you have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, don't stop there, don't let your Salvation sit on a shelf. Allow God to come into your life and cleanse you because you can't do it alone. You can brush as hard and as much as you want to, and you can buy the fanciest toothbrush that money can buy and it still won't find those places that Listerine can. The same thing is true for your spiritual life. You have to allow God in and start decreasing so that He may increase. In Psalm 139, David writes:
23 Search me, O God and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
Psalm 139:23-24
This is my prayer for all of us today.
The Day the Snows Came
If you were somehow able to get an aerial shot of Wake County today, besides a ton of cars practically parked on highways, thoroughfares and side streets, you'd see hundreds of thousands of people collectively scratching their heads. If you look closely, you may even be able to pick out a few befuddled meteorologists who, with probably hundreds of years of experience between them, still cannot figure out how we got 1-2" inches of snow. Yes, you read that right. I said 1-2" of snow befuddled and crippled our city.
"Light-weight North Carolinians", you say, "can't hold their snow." And normally, I'd be very agreeable with you. I, too, am a "light-weight" North Carolinian, I don't like driving in the snow. But I'll be the first to admit that when they call for flurries in central North Carolina, Wonderbread and Borden executives everywhere start givin each other high fives and then plan how their gonna spend their bonus checks. In all fairness, though, the nightmare that so many of us endured today goes far beyond anything in comparison. So many independently "likely" scenarios conspired together to create one ginormous "unlikely", disastrous scenario: roads already frozen from our recent taste of cold weather, a blindsided attack of 1-2" of dusty, yet still frozen precipitation, overly confident drivers, schools closing early and unexpectedly ... did I miss anything ... all leading to commute times increasing tenfold!
As I'm writing this, just before heading off to bed, I have endured 3 hours of travelling a 40 minute trip myself. In addition to that, my mother journeyed 18 miles from work to home in just under 7 hours. Because I didn't ask him to call when he got home, I'm not positive that BJ has made it there yet. I received several calls requesting suggestions for alternate routes and all I could give them was "grin and bear it" avenue; not to be mean, or even annoyingly realistic, but because that was the only advice I could think of that would actually be useful. To top it all off, 3,000 kids are living their worst nightmare, being forced to spend the night at school!
Indeed, it wasn't one of the great disasters of the world, and certainly there are far worse things than being stuck in a heated car in traffic or even on the side of the road. But to say the least, today was unexpectedly inconvenient for many of us, and we'll be glad to have it behind us. That is, once it is behind us (shout out to those of you still on the road). Now we central North Carolinians have another story to tell, as I'm sure it will be difficult for any of us to forget the day the snows came.
"Light-weight North Carolinians", you say, "can't hold their snow." And normally, I'd be very agreeable with you. I, too, am a "light-weight" North Carolinian, I don't like driving in the snow. But I'll be the first to admit that when they call for flurries in central North Carolina, Wonderbread and Borden executives everywhere start givin each other high fives and then plan how their gonna spend their bonus checks. In all fairness, though, the nightmare that so many of us endured today goes far beyond anything in comparison. So many independently "likely" scenarios conspired together to create one ginormous "unlikely", disastrous scenario: roads already frozen from our recent taste of cold weather, a blindsided attack of 1-2" of dusty, yet still frozen precipitation, overly confident drivers, schools closing early and unexpectedly ... did I miss anything ... all leading to commute times increasing tenfold!
As I'm writing this, just before heading off to bed, I have endured 3 hours of travelling a 40 minute trip myself. In addition to that, my mother journeyed 18 miles from work to home in just under 7 hours. Because I didn't ask him to call when he got home, I'm not positive that BJ has made it there yet. I received several calls requesting suggestions for alternate routes and all I could give them was "grin and bear it" avenue; not to be mean, or even annoyingly realistic, but because that was the only advice I could think of that would actually be useful. To top it all off, 3,000 kids are living their worst nightmare, being forced to spend the night at school!
Indeed, it wasn't one of the great disasters of the world, and certainly there are far worse things than being stuck in a heated car in traffic or even on the side of the road. But to say the least, today was unexpectedly inconvenient for many of us, and we'll be glad to have it behind us. That is, once it is behind us (shout out to those of you still on the road). Now we central North Carolinians have another story to tell, as I'm sure it will be difficult for any of us to forget the day the snows came.
MLK 2005
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
Source: AmericanRhetoric.com (includes mp3 audio clip)
I thought, after first posting this, I should write something to go along with it. But then again, why ruin such eloquence with my own dry, uninspired rhetoric, especially when there are so many other wonderfully gifted writers out there who say exactly what I want to say and say it better.
We honor God when we stand up for righteousness above sentimentality, when we do the right thing because it's the right thing.
rambling adventures
Where They Fall
Citizen Jordan: A basketball legend's soulless retirement caps his soulless career. via kottke.org
I'll confess to only having read about 90% of the article, but I thought it was an interesting perspective. I was gonna say more about childhood idols and disillusionment and how we're all human, but you've heard it all before so I'll spare you.
I'll confess to only having read about 90% of the article, but I thought it was an interesting perspective. I was gonna say more about childhood idols and disillusionment and how we're all human, but you've heard it all before so I'll spare you.
Q&A
Well, I know you guys love to stay well informed on my life, so I figured it was a pretty good time to offer an update. I'm going to do this in the form of an interview because I just feel like convers[at]ing with myself. I'm a pretty good conversationalist when it comes to talking to myself, methinks.
What are you up to lately?
In a word, nothing. This probably doesn't come as a big surprise to many of you, but despite public perception, I did spend a lot of time doing various things the last few months and it's been nice to do nothing. But that was my answer "in a word" because I've actually been doing some stuff that I've been wanting to do for a long time. I'll spare you all the boring details. For now.
You got a job yet?
No. Despite my answer to the previous question, I am actively looking and everyday I submit at least 2-3 applications. The search got a little dry towards the end of December, but I'm actually starting to hear back from some that I applied for back in early December and I'm finding more and more promising opportunities everyday. Must be the new year hiring kick kickin in.
Are you worried about not having a job yet?
No, because I have complete faith in what God is doing in my life. The plans I'd been making for myself had me working as early as the end of November (yes before I was done with classes!). That just goes to show you how little I know. To be honest, having the last couple of weeks to catch up with myself has been such a blessing, and I know that God won't just leave me hanging.
Why can't people leave comments anymore? Edit: Problem solved.
Hmm. Well, I don't know if you know this, but the application that allows me to write this junk is homemade. Someone threw poison in the old batter ("site defaced"), so rather than try to get out all the poision, I decided to work on a new recipe (which was already in progress). I'm trying to make the new recipe very flexible for little tweaks here and there as I go along, so that's slowing down the development process a bit. But I promise I'll have comments up soon.
Do you know where I can have some decent Mexican food whilst listening to live Mexican music?
Actually, it's funny you should mention that because I do. El Dorado on Thursday nights from 6:30-9:00. I get the #10. In the interest of making sure I can still find a seat on Thursday nights, I won't give you the address. But if you do some research and some Googling, you could probably figure it out.
Umm, well I think that's all the questions I have for now, is there anything else you'd like to say?
Thanks for chattin with me. Don't be a stranger.
What are you up to lately?
In a word, nothing. This probably doesn't come as a big surprise to many of you, but despite public perception, I did spend a lot of time doing various things the last few months and it's been nice to do nothing. But that was my answer "in a word" because I've actually been doing some stuff that I've been wanting to do for a long time. I'll spare you all the boring details. For now.
You got a job yet?
No. Despite my answer to the previous question, I am actively looking and everyday I submit at least 2-3 applications. The search got a little dry towards the end of December, but I'm actually starting to hear back from some that I applied for back in early December and I'm finding more and more promising opportunities everyday. Must be the new year hiring kick kickin in.
Are you worried about not having a job yet?
No, because I have complete faith in what God is doing in my life. The plans I'd been making for myself had me working as early as the end of November (yes before I was done with classes!). That just goes to show you how little I know. To be honest, having the last couple of weeks to catch up with myself has been such a blessing, and I know that God won't just leave me hanging.
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29: 11-12
Hmm. Well, I don't know if you know this, but the application that allows me to write this junk is homemade. Someone threw poison in the old batter ("site defaced"), so rather than try to get out all the poision, I decided to work on a new recipe (which was already in progress). I'm trying to make the new recipe very flexible for little tweaks here and there as I go along, so that's slowing down the development process a bit. But I promise I'll have comments up soon.
Do you know where I can have some decent Mexican food whilst listening to live Mexican music?
Actually, it's funny you should mention that because I do. El Dorado on Thursday nights from 6:30-9:00. I get the #10. In the interest of making sure I can still find a seat on Thursday nights, I won't give you the address. But if you do some research and some Googling, you could probably figure it out.
Umm, well I think that's all the questions I have for now, is there anything else you'd like to say?
Thanks for chattin with me. Don't be a stranger.
Est. 2005
On Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., I began what would turn out to be a successful defense of my thesis. As of Thursday at 3:15 p.m. when the final draft was accepted by the graduate school, I officially completed the requirements for a Master's of Science in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University. The "paper" will come in May. Now I'm just waiting to find someone to "CTC" (that would be "cut-the-check" and means I'm still looking for a job). I know a lot of you have sorta been through this, finishing school and everything, but I can't even begin to describe what a burden this whole process had become for me. I can honestly say that it was by the grace of God alone that I got through it.
I've been trying to sort through my feelings about finishing school. Certainly there's nothing groundbreaking going on in my head and my heart. Actually, another matter in my life has been quite distracting so I haven't really reflected that much on my time in school. Because I need to focus my energies on finding a job and elsewhere, I think I'll just reserve the reflection for graduation day. Anyway, as soon as someone will take me, I'm a part of the working world now. Watch out Bill G, Sergey B, Larry P, and Warren B, I'm gunnin for ya!
I've been trying to sort through my feelings about finishing school. Certainly there's nothing groundbreaking going on in my head and my heart. Actually, another matter in my life has been quite distracting so I haven't really reflected that much on my time in school. Because I need to focus my energies on finding a job and elsewhere, I think I'll just reserve the reflection for graduation day. Anyway, as soon as someone will take me, I'm a part of the working world now. Watch out Bill G, Sergey B, Larry P, and Warren B, I'm gunnin for ya!