Rambling: Anyone Seen My Hand?

So, with Pascal growing to a more typical adult-sized cat, I thought it might be a good idea to see if I could get a special cat harness on her. This is all part of my "clever" plan to be able to allow her to have some time to run around outside under my control and supervision (such as on my deck at the back of my apartment). However, putting a harness on a cat is not easy to do, especially with a cat that loves to attack anything and everything. I set the harness as small as I could, and then attempted to put it on the cat. After numerous bite marks and scratches, as well as some meows of protestation, I managed to get the harness on, only to discover that I had set it too small. :-(

So, with much effort, enduring more bite and scratch marks--and especially more protests--I foolishly tried to adjust the harness while it was on the cat. Not a good idea. Cats don't like having things on them, much less having people mess with stuff that's on them. (Note to self: wear gloves next time...) I was unable to get the harness adjusted correctly. Pascal's neck is just too thin to allow a harness or collar to sit comfortably on right now. So, after about 5 minutes that seemed like 30, I decided to get the harness off her again. I'll try putting it on again once Pascal is older and closer to being fully grown.
Meanwhile, I think all of my limbs are still intact, which in attempting such a foolish task as putting a harness on a cat is always a blessing. More fun is in store, though, as it is time for the application of the monthly flea control potion. The nightmares of doing that by oneself can only be partially understood by the uninitiated, but I've already covered that problem in a previous post.

Rambling: Still Another Movie Quotation

Continuing my irregular sequence of posting obscure quotations from movies, here's one for you to ponder.
"By sheer chance, I just happened to learn French, and got a job interpreting at the U.N."

The Muppets Take Manhattan.

Rambling: Random Thought

Sometimes, we complain about how a situation is unfair, meaning that we aren't getting what we think we deserve. Perhaps, though, what we mean is that the situation is more fair than we would like. Think about what we deserve. I, in my natural self, am a sinner. I deserve nothing but God's wrath and, ultimately, hell. That there is any good in my life is a testimony to God's mercy. I'm getting what I don't deserve, and if we consider fair as getting what we deserve, then His mercy is decidely unfair, at least in human terms.

Of course, we want that "unfairness" when I come to God for forgiveness. So, why, then, do we complain about how life is unfair in a given situation? Isn't it good that life is unfair? My problem with life sometimes is not that I'm not getting what I don't deserve, but that I'm getting exactly what I deserve. How wonderful God's mercy to us!

Rambling: A Developing Thought

My name is Paco de Goya, and I approved this blog post.
I was thinking about John 8:31-47, where Jesus is in a dispute with the Jews of His day about who their father really is. (Prompting my mind to think immediately of the phrase "Who's Your Daddy?" And then the line from "Remember the Titans" pops into my head between the head coach and the star defensive lineman. But I digress.) Jesus tells the Jews that they are acting just like their (spiritual) father is acting. The Jews, of course, are confused and respond that Abraham is their father.

That's when it gets interesting. Jesus points that they are not behaving as Abraham's children. Rather, they are behaving as children of the devil. Interesting. It makes me wonder (and I may explore this whenever it is that I speak at convocation...) if people look at me, at my life, at the words I say, even the thoughts I think, would it be obvious that God is my Father? As my pastor says sometimes, "That's too convicting."

Rambling: Another Random Quotation

Again, here is a random movie quotation. See if you can identify the movie that it comes from.
"Why am I doing this? It's because I'm a villain; it's pure and simple."

Movie: The Great Muppet Caper. This line is spoken, appropriately, by the villain in response to Kermit asking why he was attempting to steal a valuable diamond.

Commentary/Rant: Shame on the Capital-Journal

<rant>The Topeka Democrat (err...Capital-Journal) is at it again, attempting to help get Democrats elected by attempting to make Republicans look bad. In this case, they published two articles that revealed details of an internal campaign memo from Attorney General Phil Kline, a Republican. One story is the memo itself. The other story on this memo, however, is clearly spun in such a way as to make Kline seem like an insincere hypocrite, who is merely trying to exploit religion to get elected. I know from personal interaction that nothing could be further from the truth. It's only logical that the memo was stolen from Kline. This shows just how desparate the Democrat party is to gain control of political offices. That the Capital-Journal and the Democrat party would stoop to such a terrible level is quite sad. I can only pray that such tasteless tactics will backfire and that Kline will be re-elected. I know that he has my vote, and the illegal activities of his challenger's campaign should convince anyone who is undecided which candidate in this election will actually uphold the law.</rant>

Rambling: Random Movie Line

Here's a random line from a movie. See if you can figure out what movie it comes from before checking the answer in the full post.
"They don't look like Presbyterians to me!"

This line is from "The Muppet Movie." Fozzie and Kermit walk into an abandoned church where Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem are playing. Fozzie then utters the line above.

Commentary: More Half Truths

[Sigh] Once again, Governor Sebelius is at it, claiming that she was responsible for the Legislature coming up with a plan that funded the public schools. Unfortunately, her role in the process was relatively limited. She forced the Legislature to stay in extra session. That's it. Not a bad thing to do, but she certainly was not as involved as she tries to make herself sound to be in her commercial. She did not work to help the Legislature craft a proposal, nor did she put forth a reasonable comprommise proposal. She just said, "Keep working," and then sat back while the liberals and moderates battled the conservatives.
It's sad that such unrealistic claims are being put forth by the Sebelius campaign. It's not surprising, however, since politicians are notorious for putting spin on everything. I only hope the voters of Kansas are smart enough not to believe such misrepresentations.
Unfortunately, I'm afraid that's not the case... :-(

Rambling: Hurricane (?) Season

I love it when God shows that He's smarter than us humans. For instance, this year's forecast for the hurricane season in the Atlantic said that we would have an above normal season. We arrogantly assumed we knew how the weather was supposed to work, and that this whole global warming thing was fueling more significant hurricanes. (At least, that's what the media was quick to tout. Funny how they haven't said much about the fact that this failed forecast proves the connection tenuous at best.) The forecast in April called for 17 named storms in the Atlantic (we've had 6 so far, and the peak of hurricane season is past already) and 9 hurricanes (we've had 1 so far, Hurricane Ernesto, and it wasn't a very impressive hurricane). What happened? Well, a lot of factors together probably have hindered hurricane formation. In my opinion, God is showing us who's really in charge of the weather here. It's not us. It's Him. We think that we can understand how things work, but in reality, we can just make educated guesses based off of how things typically work. In the end, God can intervene and make the weather behave however He wants. Read on for some details about the revisions made to the forecasts with time.

At the end of May, the forecasts were revised, but no changes were made. At the beginning of August, a new update was issued. This update predicted 13 named storms after August 1, 7 of which would be hurricanes. So far, this forecast has not been too impressive. There have been 3 named storms so far. That leaves the next 2 months to produce ten, or five storms a month. Unless tropical storm intensity picks up considerably, that forecast is also going to be wrong. Thus, the forecasters tried one more time. Now, they are calling for 8 more named storms after September 1 (instead of the 10 that they would have needed before). To be honest, I think this forecast will be a bust, too. There will be fewer than 8 storms. How many fewer? I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if we had only 5 more named storms this season. We simply do not understand enough about how God made the world, and we can never anticipate when He will intervene.
Above all, these failed forecasts should put to rest once and for all the myth that global warming is fueling stronger hurricanes. There just isn't enough evidence to support it.

Rambling: New Coach, Old Result

In case any KSU football fans had any questions about whether it was the coaching or the players who fell off during the past few years at K-State, today's game against Illinois State should leave no doubt. KSU barely eeked out a win, 24-23, and they needed an unusual play to do it -- recovering a kickoff muffed by Illinois State and returning it for a touchdown.

The offense was not good. The epitome of the offense's problems was the first play of the game: Meier overthrew his receiver, resulting in an interception. Throughout the game, the offense struggled, including having trouble running out the clock late in the fourth quarter.
As bad as the offense was, however, the defense was even worse. The poor pass coverage that has plagued K-State throughout its recent fall from the elite showed up again. K-State seemed unable to cover Illinois State receiver's consistently. K-State was outgained by about 100 yards.
The overall result of the game was the same as when Coach Snyder was in charge. Changing coaches has not done much. K-State needs better players if it ever hopes to become an elite football program again.

Rambling: What Do You Call...

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs sitting in your mailbox?

Bill
(Thank you...I'll be here all week. Try the veal.)