In January, my wife was handed a dog by a stranger (African American) outside her work- who ran off. The dog was dirty, poopy, messy- and so she stuffed it in our car and set about trying to keep it calm while she headed home to handle it. Meanwhile, a truck with serious problems was plumping along the road and nearly stopped infront of her- she stopped, but bumped its fender. Our insurance sent someone out to verify that, indeed, there were no signs on our front fender that she had hit the vehicle enough to do more than tap it. There were two African American men in the truck, one of which talked to her- the other kept quiet in the car, not letting her see him.

That night, the driver called us and offered to 'handle things' between us so as not to get the insurance involved and 'make my Wife have to handle raised insurance costs', etc. I quickly made clear that we were more than willing to handle this through proper channels. He also, oddly enough, asked about how the dog was- since, of course, 'she was so upset about it'.

USAA, our insurance, told us back then after they sent someone out that they were going to deny the claim- the situation was fishy and they saw no merit in it.

Having heard nothing for some time, we received a letter from USAA today- we are being demanded by the 'claiment' to pay $95,000 due to 'bodily injury' caused in the accident. USAA does not cover an amount that high in our coverage, and so if we loose- we pay up.

Which means if we loose, we'll be spending years of our life basically working on behalf of these two men that my Wife fender-bended.

Dear Lord, help us.

-Patrick

Not only can you get free public domain books (http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page), but there is also a project utilising people donating their time to read to create audio books of these public domain books. You can both partake of the completed books, read those in progress, AND donate your time (and voice, if you are comfortable reading clearly) to help make a project possible! Go to http://librivox.org/ to find out more.

Definition of a Favourite Food

Barbecue has numerous regional variations in many parts of the world. Notably, in the South and Midwest of the United States, practitioners consider barbecue to include only relatively indirect methods of cooking, with the more direct high-heat methods to be called grilling. (See Grilling
for differences in British and US English usage of the word) In other
countries, notably Australia and many parts of Europe, barbecue is
either fried or grilled, and generally barbecue appliances do not have
a lid.

In British English usage, barbecueing refers to a fast cooking process directly over high heat, whilst grilling refers to cooking under a source of direct, high heat -known in the US and Canada as broiling. In US English usage, however, grilling refers to a fast process over high heat whilst barbecueing
refers to a slow process using indirect heat and/or hot smoke. For
example, in a typical US home 'grill', food is cooked on a grate
directly over hot charcoal; while in a US 'barbecue', the coals are
dispersed to the sides or at significant distance from the grate. (See Grilling for differences in British and US English usage of the word)

Choices, Choices

South Carolina is the only state to have four types of barbecue sauces:
mustard, vinegar, heavy tomato, and light tomato. The meat used in
South Carolina is consistent throughout the state, slow-cooked pulled
pork. In the Pee Dee and Lowcountry coastal region, a vinegar and pepper sauce is prevalent, though the region is home to Sticky Fingers, a rib house who uses all four sauces. In the Midlands area around Columbia, a mustard-based sauce sometimes referred to as "Carolina Gold" is the predominant style. Such establishments as Melvin's (2 locations in Charleston, SC), Maurice Bessinger's "Piggy Park", Shealy's
and Jackie Hites* (both located in Batesburg-Leesville) and Dukes BBQ
(3 locations in Orangeburg, SC) use gold sauce made from mustard, apple
juice, pear juice, and other ingredients. In upcountry around Rock Hill, one finds the light tomato and the rest of the upcountry stretching down past Aiken is home to the heavy tomato sauce. In addition to pork, other popular BBQ dishes include hash and ribs.

Breakfast at McDonald's

Daddy,
how was I  born?
               
  
    A little boy
goes to his father and asks "Daddy, how was I born?"  
     The father
answers: "Well son, I guess one  day you will need to find out anyway!  Your Mom
and I first got  together in a chat room on Yahoo.  Then I set up a date via
e-mail  with your Mom and we met at a cyber-cafe.  We sneaked into a  secluded
room, where your mother agreed to a download from my hard  drive.  As soon as I
was ready to upload, we discovered that  neither one of us had used a firewall,
and since it was too late to hit  the delete button, nine months later a little
Pop-Up appeared that  said:

 
     
'You got Male!'"

I recently discovered this, the prayer of George Washington.

George Washington's Prayer for the United States of America

Almighty GOD; we make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the
United States in Thy holy protection, that thou wilt incline the hearts
of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to
government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one
another and for their fellow citizens of the United States of America
at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to
dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy and to demean ourselves
with that charity, humility and pacific temper of mind which were the
characteristics of The Divine Author of our blessed religion, and
without whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy
nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech thee, through Jesus Christ
Our Lord. Amen

---George Washington, April 30th, 1789

I received a very interesting history lesson from a forward, and as I like to do with forwards I tend to go online and use a search engine to piece together the various versions of it. I was able to dissect the forward into several original parts (people tend to like to edit them and add their own opinions to them- the one I got had some enthusiastic and somewhat turn-off'ish phrases added in, like "The most powerful nation in the world"... ahem, that's opinion, but the rest is fact, and if you add one opinion it makes the rest seem like opinion). Please take a moment to read this history below. It is all a collection of true facts about the capital of the United States with some light commentary. It includes the prayer above, at the end.

Our Nation's Dedication

In Washington D.C. one is not
allowed to build a building of greater height than the Washington Monument.

Of the aluminum cap, atop the Washington Monument in Washington, DC, are
displayed two words: Laus Deo. No one can see these words. In fact, most
visitors to the monument are totally unaware they are even there and for
that matter, probably couldn't care less.

But these words have been there for many years; they are 555
feet, 5.125 inches high, perched top the monument, facing skyward to the
Father of our nation, overlooking the 69 square miles which comprise the
District of Columbia, capital of the United States of America. The highest
point in the capital city of our country, one of the great world powers and
surely a world leader.

So, what do those two words, in Latin, composed of just four syllables and
only seven letters, possibly mean? Very simply, they say "Praise be to
God!"

Though construction of this giant obelisk began in 1848, when James Polk was
President of the United States, it was not until 1888 that the monument was
inaugurated and opened to the public. It took twenty five years to
finally cap the memorial with a tribute to the Father of our nation, Laus
Deo .Praise be to God!"

From atop this magnificent granite and marble structure, visitors may take
in the beautiful panoramic view of the city with its division into four
major segments. From that vantage point, one can also easily see the
original plan of the designer, Pierre Charles l'Enfant...a perfect cross
imposed upon the landscape, with the White House to the north. The
Jefferson Memorial is to the south, the Capitol to the east and the Lincoln
Memorial to the west.

A cross you ask? Why a cross? What about separation of church and state?
Yes, a cross; separation of church and state was not, is not, in the
Constitution. So, read on. How interesting and, no doubt, intended to
carry a profound meaning for those who bother to notice.

Within the monument
itself are 898 steps and 50 landings. As one climbs the steps and pauses at the
landings the memorial stones share a message. 
On the 12th Landing is a prayer offered by the City of Baltimore; on the
20th is a memorial presented by some Chinese Christians; on the 24th a
presentation made by Sunday School children from New York and Philadelphia
quoting Proverbs 10:7, Luke 18:16 and Proverbs 22:6.  Praise be to God!

When the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was laid on July 4th, 1848
deposited within it were many items including the Holy Bible presented by
the Bible Society. Praise be to God! Such was the discipline, the moral
direction, and the spiritual mood given by the founder and first President
of our unique democracy .."One Nation, Under God."

This is the historically documented
recording of George Washington’s prayer for America, adapted from his circular
letter to the Governors of the United States.

Almighty GOD; we make our earnest prayer that
Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection, that thou wilt incline
the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience
to government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and
for their fellow citizens of the United States of America at large. And finally
that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to
love mercy and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility and pacific
temper of mind which were the characteristics of The Divine Author of our
blessed religion, and without whose example in these things we can never hope
to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech thee, through Jesus
Christ Our Lord. Amen

---George Washington, April 30th, 1789

When one stops to observe the inscriptions found in public places all over
our nation's capitol, he or she will easily find the signature of God, as it
is unmistakably inscribed everywhere you look. You may forget the width and
height of "Laus Deo", its location, or the architects but no one who
reads
this will be able to forget its meaning, or these words: "Unless the Lord
builds the house its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over
the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain." (Psalm 127: 1)

Our nation has risen to be a leading world power- some would say the world power, though that is opinion... it is not opinion that the United States has influence in every country of the world in some form or fashion. We have risen far and survived much- all the time with Laus Deo standing atop our capital city.

I took this entry excerpt from my sister's blog:

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/a-fungus-brings-dinosaurs-fate-to-frogs/

For
years now we've been hearing about how amphibian populations are on the
decline due to environmental changes... and it's been fairly easy to
ignore what's been going on when a few species of frogs in some remote
amazon forest disappear, right?

Imagine stepping outside on a
warm summers night in the country to the deafening silence of a world
with no chorus of frogs chirping and bellowing away from the trees or
lily pads. This isn't just an alarmist 'hippy' threat.... this is the
very real, very sad future our children and theirs may have to face
thanks to the chytrid fungus that is systematically wiping out
amphibian populations across the globe. I hope I'm not alone in finding
this devestating.

Warning- Cook's terrain ahead

I was driven to try some Golem Juice this morning, and it was a bit of a task to make- I shall admit. Rather enjoyable in a way, since I have not cooked in a while. Not really all that difficult, either. The only tedious part was waiting at the end for it to boil properly- that, and almost running out of honey. As a result of my work, I recommend trying it with the lowest amount of ginger recommended in last entries' recipe, as well as a full cup of honey (unless you are going for more of a 'mild tea' taste- my goal is a warm, soothing beverage, not necessarily a tea) and as for the water... I'd recommend 7 cups, but the good thing about water is you can easily add more later on to your cup, or when you are heating it up later to drink.

It is quite a spicy drink when done with fresh ginger- I got the full effect of it because I happened to have a larger section of the root I made my slices from. So even though I used the least number of slices- well, it was perky, and I definitely needed to add water. That lemon juice was strong too, but the good thing about the fact you are cooking it slowly is that it makes the lemon flavour more mild.

The slow boil part is important!! By a slow boil, they mean heating it at a medium heat to gradually allow the ginger to flavour the beverage without over-cooking any of the ingredients. I turned up the heat two seperate times at the end to let it finish off the job, but didn't turn it to 'high' until the last step where it was partially boiling but not at a rolling boil yet. And, well, with any tea-like drink you want to top it off with a good rolling boil. I'd say it took maybe 20 minutes at least, total, to cook. To speed it up a little, what I might recommend doing is heating the water up from cold while you prepare the other items- don't turn the heat up past medium, and if it starts to get hot then go ahead and toss the ginger in first while you finish prepping the other stuff. Once the honey is in, make sure to keep stirring occasionally. This'll slow it down some, be warned.

Much Better

So, if anyone does want to try Golem Juice and needs a clearer guide than the recipe I put up or above, just let me know. It's fun to try, but be prepared to adjust it a bit- and to adjust your own tastes a bit, since it is a very NEW flavour. The goal is to adjust it to the point where it is comfortable, not overwhelming- but your mouth still has to get used to the ginger. At first, I was thinking "Hmmm, no real quick relief... it doesn't seem to be particularly working." But I kept sipping it while watching a show. I got used to the flavour after a bit, and I noticed halfway through that my throat WAS hurting less than before! In fact, near the end of the large mug my throat felt better than it had in days. The relief really lasted, too. It was a gentle kind of relief, not the clear, vivid kind you tend to expect from most cold medicines we take these days. Americans tend to expect to take a medicine and within ten minutes feel a sudden, dramatic BOOM- wow, I can tell I'm feeling better!

This was more gentle, but it was quite a pleasant relief.

Oh, and I recommend waiting for it to be cool enough to comfortable drink. I for one despise sipping hot drinks- my mouth is too tender.

So now, as I drink more golem juice this afternoon in preparation for singing tonight, I only hope it is enough to make it bearable.

-Patrick

I feel awful. My throat is sore and that pretty much sums it up. It is
cruddy, especially since in a way I brought it on myself. It all
started by getting a piece of apple (a large chunk) caught in my
throat. It must have irritate or nicked something, because it was
slightly tender the next day- but after that, it got sore and really
bad from there on. It's all swollen and bad now, and I have a stuffy
head- you know, basically a horrid head cold and a throat so sore and
crackled that I cannot talk. Add to it that I missed (due to a family
visit) my second musical rehearsal last Sunday and the third one is
this Sunday night (TOMORROW). I cannot talk in my low bass range
without cracking, much less sing... much less sing in the higher ranges
my part will require. ARGH.

One of the worst issues is soothing
my sore throat. Even Robotussin (whatever the spelling is) CF, which
works the best, does not totally soothe my sore throat. I found myself
thinking that I wanted the mother of all remedies. What is it? Golem
juice. When I mimic Golem I KNOW it makes my throat hurt just doing it
a little- so that actor must have really had a bad throat. And for him,
what he nicknamed "Golem juice" really worked- something someone on set
made for him. I found the recipe online and whilest I have not tried it
yet, some of you might want to give it a go. It's a home-made recipe so
obviously, it isn't set (ie- if it is too sweet, try a little less
honey next time, etc). It sounds like it might be good!

Golem Juice

Ginger
root tea for the cold/flu season- soothes a sore throat. Named by the
actor of Golem from the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.

8-10 thin slices of fresh ginger (you can also use ground ginger if you don't have fresh)
6-8 cups water
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2-1 cup of honey

Mix
all together and bring to boil slowly. Strain and serve. All of this is
to taste. Some may want it sweeter or with more ginger. I make mine a
bit more on the lemony side. It really helps soothe a sore throat and I
know that the ginger/lemon are great for the body as well.

How BIG are your problems today?

Let's put it all in perspective, shall we?

Still feel those problems are big? Do you think God is big enough to handle them for you- are you not dazzled by just how incredible a God must have made all of this, and how big he is? We are told that God is more vast than any of our planets- he goes beyond and outside our whole universe. Not impressed yet?

How about now?

Or maybe now?

Don't feel small yet? How about this hubble telescope infrared view of entire galaxies billions of light years away?

Now, let's look at a close up of one of the darkest regions of the photo above (ie- the least amount of stars/galaxies).

Note- I took the pictures, and the description of the hubble telescope images, from a forward I received by email. I do not know who they are originally from so I cannot give any credit. I did, however, write the rest of the text myself.