Summer? What summer?

I am amazed at how cool this summer has been. Usually by now, it's sunny for days on end, with temperatures in the upper 90s and heat indices topping 110. It's felt more like late Spring than late Summer in the past two weeks since I've returned from Romania. It's quite nice, actually. I've enjoyed being able to have the windows open in the middle of the day, to be able to paint at any time of day, and to be able to get exercise without having to worry about the heat. I know that the hot weather is probably coming eventually. It's still too early in the summer for another heat wave not to show up. Until it does, though, I'm going to be thankful to God for the great weather, and enjoy it as best I can.

Concerning Returning

The past week has been an intense week of getting caught up from being gone for two weeks. It hasn't always been easy. It's always a challenge to recover from jet lag, whether going east or west. It's also a challenge to return slowly back to "normal" after the "high" of a short-term mission trip. I've certainly ridden the emotional roller coaster a little for most of the week. It's only by God's grace that I was able to function in spite of the ups and downs. It was not the most fun week of my life, but I've had worse.
It was not a pleasant shock to return to the cynicism and pessimism that pervade American culture. The whole Harvard-professor-getting-arrested fiasco exploded into the headlines right when I got back. That story, coupled with the usual doom-and-gloom that seems to pass for news lately, worked mostly to make me wish I was back at camp and isolated from all of the negativity. I realize that such is the world, such is life. Upon Christ's return, all will be set right and all of these hardships will be but distant memories. Until then, I will just have to rely on His grace to live each day well.

Painting and More Painting

The house painting project continues, but the end is in sight. Accent work is going on right now. Once it's complete, all that's left is the front porch and back deck. Then, it will finally be finished. I'm looking forward to having it done!

Back from Romania

I'm back from Romania. Still process everything and trying to get caught up with life and graduate school from being gone for nearly two weeks. No time to post anything else right now.

Another Bad Idea Floating around Washington, DC

In the midst of concern that Congress was going to do something detrimental to our nation, like passing Cap & Trade or creating government-run health care, I hadn't noticed another provision slipped into the health care "reform" bill. It would require all businesses with 25 or more employees to carry health insurance for their employers. Such a requirement is an unbearable financial burden for many companies and not possible for others. For example, I work at a company that has more than 25 employees. The company does not provide health insurance because the majority of our employees are insured through their spouse's insurance. As a result, our pool of people who would be covered by a plan is so small that no insurance company wants to cover us. Even if they did, the cost of such a policy is about twice what I currently pay in the "self-enrolled" pool. Requiring our company to provide health insurance for all of its employees is not only unnecessary, but it is also costly, as any policy that its available will be more expensive, not less.
This bill working through Congress is just another in a long line of ideas that our legislators are putting forward that show how out-of-touch many of them are with what life is like in normal America. I wonder how much longer the U.S. can last with this sort of disconnect between reality and what its leaders perceive to reality? Fifty years? Thirty years? I don't know. It's not good, though, and I fear that in thirty years I'll be looking back at my life today and reminiscing about them being the "good old days."

The Royals' Season in a Microcosm

From today's game:
1 run, 12 hits, 9 left on base