My Take on DaVinci

Well it would appear that my friend Raul and I disagree on the Da Vinci Code, so here's my two cents. First off, I don't know what Dan Brown's take on religion is, but here is a quote he gave in an interview when asked about religion: '"We now turn to God for only a handful of questions that science has not yet been able to understand. We still have religion based on ‘proof from incredulity’ (it must be so because there is no other explanation). We still believe in a God of the gaps." That is a scary thought... that man has become so arrogant to believe that he can take care of things and that God is just filler when we can't figure something out. That arrogance is what lead to the fall of Sodom and Gomorrha.

His work also shows where his faith (or lack thereof) stands... using proper names and times and places for a "fiction" work that sure seems to enjoy poking at something Christians hold sacred, that Christ was God, came to earth as a mortal man, FREE FROM SIN, died, and rose on the third day. You may ask how he implies this? First off, the assumption that Christ was married and had a child with Mary Magdalene. Christians believe Christ was born of a virgin, basically that sex was not required to conceive him. Why is this important? Because he was formed differently than humans were. So Christ would have a son through the old fashioned way? Why? Secondly, Brown hints at the fact that Christ was a mere mortal, thus going against what Christians believe. If Christ was "just a man" then Christians around the world believe a lie and thus have no faith to hold to.

In my opinion, Brown uses the word fiction as a cop-out because he doesn't have the guts to say this is what he believes. Of course, the story has activities that have not happened, thus making it fiction, but his ideas are in his mind true. This way when people attack the work he can say "hey, it's just a harmless work of fiction". Just fun. Well, if that's the case, then why are so many people being mislead into looking at his lies? What it does, in a subtle or not so subtle way, depending on how you handle it, undermines everything the Christian faith is based on. Satan is a sharp character. He's not going to come up with ways to just come out and say "Christ was false, it's all lies, don't believe it". Instead, he is going to package something as harmless so that questions of the faith will slowly leak into people's minds. It's not the people who are Christians that he is going after in this work, moreso the ones who are questioning it, or who are on the fence. That is what is scary. Quite possibly Brown's work to point out humanities failures as a reason to avoid the church and Christianity will deter certain people from ever finding the faith. Every soul counts, and I have no doubt this is happening.

Let's use an example... let's say someone wrote a story about you. And the story was that you were a good person at work, but when you went home you were secretly an alcoholic who liked to drink till you passed out every night. The story was sold to millions of people, but when you called the person out on it, they just said "hey, it's fiction". If that happened that person would e sued for slander. This is the same thing, but God is not going to call slander. He'll take care of it sooner or later.

I don't think it is wrong for people who bought the book or watched the movie, but I certainly won't give a penny to such a blasphemous work. I won't boycott Tom Hanks or Ron Howard or anyone involved, but I find the whole idea very disturbing. I don't mind when people theorize on the history of works of the Bible, etc., but when people use every way possible to discredit or chip away at my faith, it really bothers me.

So in closing, I hope that Christians can use this work to their advantage. Turn what can be a tool of Satan and use it against him. When it opens the door to a discussion with someone, Christians need to speak the truth about Christ... that He came to earth to die and rise again, defeating the grave and saving us from our sins. I urge Christians to be careful with this work. Again, the failures of man throughout the ages (the Crusades, etc.) does not deem what Christ did as untrue or worthless. Man screws up all the time, but God is perfect and just.

Ode to Lucky

Well, today was one of the hardest days of our lives. I had to take our cat, Lucky, to the vet to peacefully put him to sleep forever. It was very tough. Basically, we have been living with baby gates and keeping him away from the dog due to the fact the cat could be very aggressive, and sometimes would like to pee outside of the litter box. He has been known to pee on our bed, just wherever he felt like going if he was mad about something. The vet sat with me and we discussed his behavior, and she felt as well that it was in the best interest of everyone including the cat to put him to sleep. I struggled with the whole thing because I kept trying to find other solutions. We asked friends, family, neighbors and coworkers if they knew anyone who would be willing to take Lucky in. It seemed many directions we turned, people were just rude and tried to judge us. Nevermind the fact we had to keep doors to other rooms closed so he couldn't go back in there and pee too. We discussed Prozac but were told that the side effects could be really bad. Basically there was no where left to go but with this decision. The doctor and staff were great about it, and made me a lot more at peace. I had this feeling of guilt that I was being mean, but in reality it's ridiculous to let an animal control your household. We took care of this cat, who was in all senses a stray, for 10 years, and it has just been too long living like this. Some other life changes have forced us to go this route. He went peacefully and I was petting him as he breated his last. He had no idea what happened as he was already sleeping when they made the injection. I'm glad I stayed with him, and relieved it is over. It is weird though. The house seems so quiet, even though he never made any noise in the house. I'm very sad that he is gone, but happy that he no longer has to hobble on 3 legs, and that he is in a better place. Fare thee well, Mr. Kitty. You are loved and missed.

Boycott Mexicans!

That's it! I'm so tired of all these people complaining that they don't have enough in this country. What a deal. Come here free, work under the table, don't pay taxes, get food stamps for your kids, and send all your money back to your po' butt country so that your government can get 80% of it. Then whine that you want equal rights, even though you are not legally here. I love the comments that people make "these people do the jobs that american's won't do. Or, "they are just hard-working people". Well, heck-fire, so is the child molester who lives down the street from each of us. "He's such a hard worker, so what if he is hopped up on crack and meth, and likes little boys". Really people. A crime is a crime. I made sure to read the local papers here to see which places would be closing today in support. Basically every Mexican restaurant in town closed down, except for Taco Hell. I'll never have another refried bean unless it's cooked in my house. Granted, the can I bought those beans in was likely once one of these immies restrooms, but at least I can remain ignorant about that. I hope all these fools get fired and end up having to go home to get a place to live. They try to say it's immies of all countries, but I bet money that 95% of them are Mexicans. They have never had a problem jumping the fence and swimming the river to get here. Uggh.

Other than that, everything is fine. Just hanging and working in Daytona for the week. It's 70 miles one way, but there is no traffic and the office is much better than my normal one. Nice change of pace. Well, off to watch 24. Fight the power, and no more Mexican food. Gringos, unite!

Worky worky

So, I got a repreive from going to Hispanorlandola. I made a little comment to the powers that be about being married and that traveling is why I left NASCAR. So they got me an assignment in Daytona so I can commute each day. Much better. Although I got a couple smartass comments about it. Nevermind that they are married, they just have moved up enough that no one can tell them what to do when it comes to their personal time. Bunch of bums. I'll take it though. I hate living out of a hotel, especially in Orlando.

Not much else at this time. I usually have a good story but can't think of any at the moment. I guess I could expose everyone to a new vocab word. It is "poop squirt". Used in a sentence "My dog poop squirted on the couch". Spelled p-o-o-p s-q-u-i-r-t-. Basically, my dog will sometimes break wind, but there is a little "rain" in the wind if you will. He'll poot, turn and sniff, then run away, leaving a foul jet trail behind him. He is not allowed to sit in our lap anymore, or on the couch, unless he has a towel or blanket underneath his rear. He's a cool dog, but that is pretty gross.

You know, if I hear Dale Earnhardt's one more time I'm going to puke. You would think it was Easter and he rose on the 3rd day. Maybe that's why his number was 3! It's a sign! Oh my gosh. Seriously folks... NASCAR fans are a bit too involved. It's sad the guy is dead, but people die every day. He's no more important than the homeless person who just passed away. Good grief. Well, off I go.

The prodigal son has returned

I guess I haven't written in a long time, since Moates' link for my site is entitled something along the lines of lost blogger. Well, I have returned. Things have been crazy here. I was about ready to quit my job once I found something else, but it appears they might have something for me there after all. It seems they are working on some branches that might still be in a decent distance from the house.

Our high school reunion is coming up in June. 10 years is unreal to think about. Sometimes I can't believe how much has happened in that period of time. I certainly would not have imagined things going like this 10 years ago, in a good way. I feel so blessed to have what I do, and it seems it gets better as it goes. I wanted to go to the reunion, but we decided to go to a family deal out in San Diego instead. It will be my grandfather's 80th birthday, so it will be a good time.

One of the guys I work with is realy funny. He was working with a customer today who was about 45, and talks about all the women he is seeing. Then each woman he mentions apparently either has DUI or likes smoking on the old crack pipe. So my coworked says "do you have a point system, where DUI counts as 1 point, and aggravated assault counts as 2, and whoever gets the most points is your favorite woman?" It was hysterical. This guy is cool so my coworker could get away with making comments like that.

I wish I could come up with good stories like Moates does. Although, I do like keeping altercations to a minimum. Moates, you need to stay off the 'roids son! Not to say I don't have a temper. I have lit a few folks on fire by my words, but I try to save up for just the right person.

Well, I am going to go hang with my wife. I might actually get back to blogging a bit. I have to go to Orlando all next week to work so I'll have more time to kill just sitting in the hotel. Later!

Almost completely lucky...

Well, my wife and I went to the Georgia/Florida game today. We got there about 1230 and just walked around with a sign that showed we were looking for tickets. I talked to about 8-10 people who were trying to make about 5-6 times what the tickets were actually sold for originally. I smarted off to a couple, including an old Georgia Alum who I told he wasn't a real fan for doing that. Finally about 30 minutes before kickoff a guy came up and made sure we weren't going to resell. I convinced him of such, and he sold us the tickets for face value! Without looking at the tix we just walked in, then realized that we were 2nd row from the field, just inside the endzone on the side. Unfortunately, the Dawgs played like crap for most of the game, but we did get to see Joe TIII catch a TD right in front of us. That was so sweet, I blew out a few vocal cords and jumped up and down in circles for a few. The damn Gators pulled yet another one out of their butt, and we had to leave sad again. Although, it was worth it to end up that close to the field. UGA and the cheer team were right in front of us, and we were one section away from the band and student sections. Definitely the coolest seats I have ever had at a game. I must say, sitting that close is overrated though. We had no idea what happened on most of the plays. Then as we left with about 1 minute to go, some idiot Dawg pretend fan started yelling at all of the Dawg fans saying we were pathetic for leaving early. I popped back and said "no, pathetic is letting your QB only pass one in every 7 plays, that's pathetic." Retarded when your own fans are bigger idiots than the team that you hate so much. It was a lot of fun, but I have no voice and am now beat. Of course, once a quarter one of my Gator buddies kept text messaging me about the game. He is on friend probation for a week, meaning if he ticks me off once more this week that I will banish him from the land of Jefe forever. Stupid Gators.

Not much else going on. We are going to the airshow next weekend at the beach. It's usually a good show, with the Blue Angels finishing off the show. Work sucks, but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to. At least I only work 3 days this coming week. My wife is the coolest, since she was willing to walk around for 3 hours looking for tickets, and sit through that game just b/c she knew I wanted to go. I'm so lucky.

Well, crap

As my bud moatesgarage stated, my last post was a bit too soon. Those stupid Vols came back and beat LSU the other night. At least the LSU students were able to hit the bus with some beer bottles on their way out. That's okay. Maybe they'll be cocky going into their game with the Dawgs in just over a week.

The week is nearly over. Thank goodness. I hate month ends at work. Trying to collect all these people who don't pay their bills on time, and make sure we get their money in before the cash drawer closes.

For a funny Scooby story... Scooby is our 8-month old pug. He's quite a goofball. Recently we trained him not to go into our bedroom as that is where the great Satan, better known as our cat Lucky, sleeps. So at night we baby-gate Scooby inside the kitchen for his protection. Apparently I forgot to secure one of the gates. Moments after we laid down we saw our cat looking intently out the bedroom door. After a couple of moments he pounced off the bed and incessant hissing ensued, with the cat chasing the dog around the living room. My wife said just before the evil one jumped off the bed that she saw Scooby sitting right outside our bedroom door looking in. What a zoo.

Well, best get going to start the day. Have a good weekend!