Lawn Work

So, yesterday, I went out to mow my front lawn with my little push mower. My neighbors were out working on their lawns, and one of them offers to let me borrow his gasoline-powered mower to trim my Bermuda-grass front lawn in order to help it warm up. I took him up on the offer, and I'll tell you what: my lawn looks really good right now, just by how it's clipped. I'm thinking I might have to invest in a gasoline or electric lawn mower just to make caring for my minuscule front lawn a lot easier. The old push mower that I have just isn't cutting it (pun intended). But, there are bigger fish to fry around the house: the garage needs to be re-roofed and the whole exterior (including the garage) needs to get re-painted. We'll just have to see whether the funds will be there or not.

Digital Television Experiment

For months, I've been hoping to use an antenna and a digital converter to get television over the air instead of paying money to cable for basically nothing. Monday, the coupon that I've been waiting for from the government finally arrived, and today I hooked up the new digital converter box to my old, analog television. So far, the results have been good, even though I'm using only a small, indoor antenna. Every station seems to coming in relatively well, although I do have to re-orient my antenna to get the best signal. Still, the results have been quite satisfactory, even with thunderstorms in the area. I'm going to give this experiment a two or three week run before I finally pull the plug on cable, just to make sure that everything will work satisfactorily. Then, if all goes as expected, I will happily stop paying money to Cox.

Spring: This Time It's for Real

After a couple of false starts, Spring has finally settled into the Central Plains. These past two days have been beautiful, with sunny, warm weather. It looks like the abnormally-cold start to Spring is finally over with. While I've shivered a lot at soccer games so far this season, there have been two tremendous benefit to this cold start to Spring: minimal yard work necessary and no mosquitos. Normally, everything would have already bloomed two weeks ago. Instead, everything is blooming now, and it is beautiful. What more can I say but thanks be to God!

Taking Things a Little Too Seriously

If you want to read about a situation in which someone had his priorities a little out of whack, read this story from the AP about a construction worker who tried to curse the NY Yankees' new baseball stadium by burying a Red Sox jersey in the concrete. I mean, I understand his desire to see the Yankees lose. I'm no fan of NY and the destructive effects its overspending has had on Major League Baseball as a whole. Still, an action such as this one, which could likely result in criminal charges, is a bit over the top. Baseball, after all, is just a game. In eternity, we're not going to care whether the Yankees (or Royals) won the World Series in a given year. All that's going to matter is what we have done for Jesus Christ. And I know that I fall far short of serving Him as I ought. So, I'm going to take this as an object lesson for myself to continue to work on getting my priorities straight, putting the eternal first and the temporal second.

I Spoke Too Soon

With a forecast high of only 49 for Friday, it appears that my declaration of Spring's arrival was premature. The average high for this time of year is about 60-61 degrees. For most of this month, we've been stuck in the 50s or lower. It has been a cold, gray, rainy start to "Spring." The nice part about this cool, rainy weather is that it helps keep the bugs under control. It's been too cold for mosquitos and flies to become active, meaning that as long as one dresses properly, it is enjoyable to be outside. In fact, I think I'll do that right now. I feel the need for a nice, easy jog.

Finally, Spring!

The nice weather that I've been waiting for has finally arrived! Today feels like Spring. The temperatures are in the 60s, thunderstorms are in the forecast for the coming days, and I've got the windows open, enjoying it all. I can hear the roar of lawn mowers and smell the freshly cut grass from one of my nearby neighbors mowing his lawn. I can hear the birds singing with gusto. My cat is going nuts, running between the windows while trying to keep an eye on all the birds and squirrels. Ah, yes, Spring is here!

The Royals Start 2008 Well

Just have to publish this because I'm a bit surprised to be writing it and because I want to savor it while it lasts: the Kansas City Royals have a winning record! After 2 games, the Royals are 2-0. Today's game was a 4-0 blanking of the Detroit Tigers, a team that is expected to compete for the AL Central. The Royals, if all goes well, will avoid the cellar, but it is unrealistic to expect much better than that. Still, it's exciting now to have a couple of good wins to kick off the season.

Grammar Rant

<rant>I think that we can emphatically say that the American education system is completely worthless. A billboard along a major highway here in Topeka has emblazoned on it in gigantic letters, "Topeka: The skies the limit!" If you don't see what's wrong with that statement, go back a re-read it. If you still don't see what's wrong, grab your nearest dictionary and whack yourself firmly in the head with it (just kidding). The problem is that whoever wrote the billboard's text confused "sky's" (the contraction for "sky is") with "skies" (the plural of sky). The statement, instead of meaning that the sky is the limit, mentions multiple skies (and last time I checked, there was only one sky here on Earth) and a limit, but has no verb connecting them. In a twist of bitter irony, this billboard that attempts to make Topekans feel good about their city is instead confirming about every stereotype about the city. </rant>

Oops

Looks like I forgot to post on Wednesday night. This week has flown by after Spring Break, mercifully, passed by quite slowly. By the time I realized that it was Thursday, it was Friday, so I completely spaced the need to post. Of course, I have very little to post right now, as you no doubt can tell by how pointless this post is. I'll try to having something substantial to post next time a post is due.

Global Warming (Again)

Here's an interesting op-ed piece out of Australia regarding the possibility that we might not be seeing global warming now. You can read it here. Remember that it is an op-ed piece in the British style, so there is some "the other papers are idiots" stuff at the end. The initial information, though, refers to other points besides the author's and should be consider as we evaluate the entire global warming situation and what we should (or should not) do about it.

NCAA Round 2

The second round of the NCAA Men's Tournament is here, and both K-State and KU are still going. K-State faces the tougher of the two games this afternoon, playing a Wisconsin team that is one of the best defensively in the country. K-State is going to have to shoot at least as well as they did against USC if they hope to be able to win the game. K-State is also going to have to rebound well, like they did against USC, a team that does not rebound well. Wisconsin, I have a feeling, will be a bit too much for K-State, and the Wildcats will probably lose. Then again, I thought the same thing about San Diego. And I hope I'm wrong about K-State's chances.
KU has a bit of an easier game against UNLV, but the Running Rebels are well-coached and used to tough games in the tournament. As long as KU plays solid defense and shoots average to above average, they will win. It will probably not be a blow out game, though. Both games should be entertaining.

K-State and KU, pt. II

The K-State game has just ended, and they played the kind of game that they needed to play in order to advance beyond the first round. They played great defense, wore USC out, and found ways to score with Beasley in foul trouble. KSU proved that they deserved better than an 11 seed with that performance. K-State's next game is probably going to be against Wisconsin, and that's going to be a much more difficult game. If they play the way they played tonight, though, they have a chance at winning. I was impressed with K-State's play.
KU, in its game, looked like a #1 seed. They will face an actual challenge from UNLV. Still, it should be a challenge that KU should have minimal trouble meeting.
Of course, there's a reason that we play the games: Belmont nearly knocked off Duke (and messed up 3/4 of the country's brackets). Ah, March Madness!

Thoughts on K-State and KU in NCAA Tournament

For K-State and KU, their NCAA basketball tournament runs start today. Just how far they get is anyone's guess. The media "experts" have K-State losing to USC in the first round and KU going various distances, usually quite far. I don't agree with the "experts." I can see the possibility of K-State winning their first round game if they play well as a team. Too often, K-State has been a one-man show, 4 of the 5 guys on the floor for K-State stand around waiting for Beasley to do something. That can't happen tonight. K-State is also going to have to shoot well from three point range. This team seems to like to take threes, and they also seem to like to miss them. A solid night shooting from behind the arc will open up the middle for Walker (and for Beasley). K-State might make it past the first round, but I don't expect them to go much farther unless the team manages to put together two consecutive games like the game they had against KU in Manhattan.
KU, on the other hand, has what should be an easy first-round game. That means, of course, that they could struggle for the first 15-20 minutes because they underestimated the determination of their opponent. Some people seem to think that KU can win it all this year. I would be surprised if they do. This KU team has had some off games this year, and if they play only as well as they did against A&M in the Big XII semi-final round, they will be gone by the Sweet Sixteen. I expect them to make it to the Elite Eight this year before their tendency to have an off game catches up to them. (Unless, of course, there is a team whose name begins with "B" playing them sooner, in which case, they're done.)
Of course, all of this is speculation. There's a reason that they play the games instead of just handing the trophy to the overall #1 seed. It should be an interesting tournament.

New Word

As most of my students know, I am the king of coining new "words" by mangling old ones. Tonight during small group, I added a new one to the repertoire: blestprate (instead of breastplate). A blestprate is a combination of two words: blessed (blest, in its older form) and prate (meaning to talk on and on without meaning). So, then, does that mean that a blestprate would be a preacher who talks on and on? I'll leave that for you to decide.

Interesting Notes

During the second half of this week, I've run across a couple of interesting items that I thought I'd share.
First, the founder of the Weather Channel is arguing that global warming is not occurring and that the scientific community is silencing those who would say otherwise. In an effort to get the argument into the public arena, he is suing Al Gore for fraud. The story can be found here.
Second, I've run across a couple of fascinating Star Trek items. Apparently, CBS has the rights to the original Star Trek now, and they are re-mastering all of them to bring the special effects into the 21st century. Re-mastered episodes are being shown weekly in your area. Check your local listings; it may not be on your CBS affiliate. In the Topeka area, the show runs on KTKA 49 at 11:30 pm on Sunday nights, followed by a repeat showing of last week's episode at 12:30 am. If that's too late, you can always set your VCR/Tivo to record it for later. For those who want to watch the show in all its original cheesy goodness, CBS.com now has every episode available for viewing online. You can watch the episodes here. Be sure to check one or both of these out if you're a fan of Star Trek.

Nice Day

Today temperatures feel like they belong about a month later. It's in the 70s here right now, or it was until a cold front started its slow assault on the region. Tomorrow sadly, won't be as nice, with temperatures struggling to hit 50. Enjoy this nice weather while you can. I have nothing else to say.

Daylight Saving Time 2008

Daylight Saving Time (DST) for 2008 has arrived, and with it comes the usual feeling of being jet lagged (or is it clock lagged?) due to speeding ourselves up by an hour in order to get more light in the evening. Personally, I enjoy the result of DST, but I do not like the initial side effects: drowsiness, irritability, insomnia, headache, cold, and backache. Oh, wait, those last three are for prescription medications--sorry. So, with DST here, that should mean that Spring is just around the corner, and the weather here has happily obliged. It's over 50 outside right now, which means that I am done blogging for now; I'm going out to enjoy this nice weather.

Happy Wedtuesmonthursaturfriday!

These past couple of days have been a bit confusing for me. For some reason, I keep thinking that the day of the week is different from the one it actually is. Yesterday, for example, I thought most of the day that it was Tuesday. I would have forgotten to show up at the Study Hall I was supposed to monitor if a student hadn't asked me if I was supposed to be monitoring it. Then, for some reason, most of the day today, I kept thinking it was Wednesday, even though I know better. Ugh. It's quite disconcerting when that happens. Oh, well. I know it's Thursday and that life is going to be busy these next couple of days before it slows down a little bit. So, have happy Tuethurwednesday!

Kansas Weather: As Moody as You Think

Today into tomorrow, a fascinating early-spring/late-winter will push through the Central Plains. Yesterday and today, we've enjoyed April-like temperatures, with highs at/near 70 degrees. However, a strong cold front is pushing through. The rain has already begun to fall here in Topeka as I write this, and the rain is eventually supposed to change over to snow during the overnight hours. Up to three inches of snow could fall, and this time, I'm not going to say that such a forecast is an overestimate, not after being so wrong on the last snowfall we had here.
Regardless, it's going to make for a somewhat abrupt change in the weather, something typical for Kansas in early March. The high tomorrow will only be around 32, with a wind chill in the 20s. Quite the contrast to the last two days of warmer weather. Still, warmer weather is starting to set in, and soon this long, cold winter will be a memory.

Inflation

Unfortunately, something that hasn't happened since the '70s is poised to happen again in the coming year: inflation during an economic slowdown. Obviously, inflation is generally bad if it occurs in a significant way. For example, during 2000 and 2001, Turkey experienced (at times) nearly 100% inflation on the Turkish Lira. Within a year, money that was worth $2 sank to being worth $1. That was great for us foreign visitors; it was lousy for the Turks, who over the course of a year, found their paychecks effectively cut in half.
While the inflation that is facing the US right now isn't expected to be nearly that bad, inflation still has the same effect on the wages of workers here in the US. Generally, the Federal Reserve acts to keep inflation under control by raising interest rates, as it did in the 1970s and 1980s. However, news reports today seem to suggest that the Fed won't be raising rates and instead lowering them in the hopes of staving off a recession. My question is why is the Fed so concerned about avoiding a recession. I guess that I'm not well-enough schooled in Economics to understand. It seems to me that recessions are an inevitable part of the economic cycle, while inflation can be avoided (or at least controlled) more easily. Shouldn't the Fed be more worried about controlling inflation than preventing a recession? If one of you out there understands this whole issue well, I welcome your comments.