Author: Jake

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Thank You Bob

I suddenly find myself setting in my Ohio hotel room having just got in from working and unable to attend Mr. Tweel’s visitation struck with a loss for words.  So many moving messages have been written about him in the past few weeks that I think "what possibly could I have to add?"  Then I find myself thinking only two words over and over.

"Thank You"

Thank You Mr. Tweel for being a mentor to me and so many hundreds of students over your teaching career.

Thank You for being the "fun" teacher but also for jerking a knot in my tail when needed.

Thank You for providing an atmosphere of comradery and trust that fostered so many friendships that still exist today.

Thank You for your patriotism and love of this country that poured out of you and rubbed off on your students.

Thank You for being refreshingly honest no matter who was around to hear it.

Thank You for taking us on bands trips during your "week off" every spring.

Thank You for the support and kindness you showed my family when we lost my father.

Thank You for not pressing charges or otherwise harming me & an unnamed accomplice when you found out about that whole joy riding in your Blazer thing.  (Although you were more than slightly irritated I would have to say.)

Thank You for pushing me to do better no matter what I was attempting.

Thank You for being there all those years ago.

Even though it has been 17 years since I left your Band Room and many days I feel like I have lived another life since then.  Those years will hold some of the fondest, warmest, and meaningful memories that I will always cherish

Bob when I think of you I cannot picture you any other way than with that mischievous smile that often graced your face and I am sure that’s the way you will look when I see you again someday.

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A little Martha Stewart “Nerd Style”

As some of you may know I have a affection for footlockers.  They are good not only for storage but they also make great coffee tables in non-formal areas. When I rearranged the office with the purchase of my new desk I repurposed my current family room coffee table (I mean foot locker).

What started out as a simple idea became a great way to hide wires and other devices.

(I do miss seeing my blinking lights however)

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As you can see the foot locker easily holds a router, DSL modem, VOIP adapter, external hard drive, and USB hub.

Then when you close it all up it becomes a handy printer stand for your home office.

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This is all made possible by the fact that before carpet was laid I drilled 3 very large holes in the floor for routing wires.  All I have to do is pop up the drop ceiling downstairs and I have a fairly free reign to run wiring where I would like.  I will not go completely wireless until the “N” products come down in price a little.  Plus there are several things that will always have to be wired because of work laptop and VPN.

This concludes my handy somewhat feminine tip for the day now off to the appletini’s.  (I mean beer yeah that’s right beer, oh and watch a sports something too.)

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Quotes

“Never Give In”

“This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty-never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

Sir Winston Churchill – Harrow School, 29 October 1941.

Why? Just because I needed some good Churchill today . . .

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How many times do we miss the Hand of God?

I wrote this the day of Jess’s surgery and saved it as a draft when she started having problems that night.  While working on the website today I found it.  Some of the information is old and now inaccurate but the meaning and context is clear.  Enjoy

Jess’s surgery today went pretty well.  Her only complication was that some of the Gallstones escaped into the Bile Duct to elude capture.  We believe that they will pass without incident but I will be keeping a close eye out for problems.  Overall she is doing very well, but the soreness has just begun to set in.  Most importantly she is now resting comfortably for the night.

I would like to take this time to thank you all for your Prayers and thoughts during this time and throughout this year.  My girl has had a rough 11 months, but every time she keeps getting knocked over she gets back up again.  I won’t lie and say that this year has been a cake walk.  To be honest it has probably been our roughest since we have been married.  Jess’s injuries, my heavy travel year, loss of a second income with no prior planning, etc etc have made this year challenging at best.  We feel like we have been piled on all year then came the Gall Bladder.  Yet when we take stock we see that we are so very blessed. 

Do you what the best parts of the last year were?  It was when we got to our whit’s end and  laid things in the Hand of God.  Jess and I are about as OCD as you can be without a diagnosis.  We want to do things our way because we know they are always right.  It is very difficult for a couple like us individually or together to give things up to the Lord; it is a constant struggle.   

However something struck me today about her surgery.  It was a far different from our experience 5 1/2 years ago.  Jess described herself as eerily calm and not worried and she wasn’t, I was equally calm as well.  (Sure a Cholecystectomy is a pretty common surgery but you are still coming back with less parts then you went in the room with.)  Was it because she was in so much pain she was ready for it to be over, was it because we are both a little older?  I would have to say that it was neither. 

It was the fact that we placed her in the Hand of God without really knowing it.  Sure we prayed together this morning.  Pastor Greg even came down and visited with us early this morning and said a prayer for us.  But to be honest do you know when we both realized why we were at peace?  If was when one of the Nurses came into the room to check on Jess.  The nurse just happened to be one of our choir directors at church and when we were telling how Jess felt and how the surgery went she just simply replied

“That is the Hand of God over you”.

The Hand of God is always over you, you just have to surrender so that you can recognize it. 

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Let’s Be Worthy of Their Sacrifice (Repost from WSJ)

If you follow my friendfeed you can tell I spent a lot of this morning catching up on about 200 Wall Street Journal op-ed pieces and entering my own comments and commentary.  Towards the end of my stack I came across an op-ed piece by Carl Rove.  Now before you take a look at the name and refuse to read it I ask you to please take a look at this non-partisan piece.  It is all about giving thanks and be thankful for our troops, something that I hope we can all do regardless of our political views.  The quote below from Rove says it all

When I did, I felt awe that such men and women exist, and gratitude that they put themselves in harm’s way for our nation. I hope America continues to be worthy of such staggering service and sacrifice.

May the New Year bring safety to all who wear our country’s uniform, success in the missions they so passionately believe in, peace and comfort to their families, and reunion with all whom they love.

Please take time to read the full piece the courage and self sacrifice of the men and women of the armed forces should be on our minds everyday as we exercise the freedom that they guarantee.

Link to the full article.

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Come On Really?

This was just too good not to post.  On the way to the funeral yesterday the somber mood in the car was broken by me starting to chuckle about the car in front of us.

I completely understand why you may want to purchase an electric hybrid Toyota Prius to prove your tree hugger street cred.  But isn’t taking a tree for a ride a bit much? 

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