Surly's Soap Box

I...hate to admit it...***sniff***...but I've...I've gotten caught up into a wicked, terrible obsession. ***snork***

It started out innocently enough: I was sitting at the dinning room table a few weeks ago, minding my own business, while in the living room, my wife was inviting evil into our home. That's right, Sweeter Half brought this upon me and my household. Oh Lord! Have mercy on us!

It started out as a sirens song, a voice that stood out above clanging cymbals: Melinda Doolittle.

That's right, Melinda Doolittle of American Idol. That's right: American Idol.

I've gotten hooked. I'm so ashamed. I've resisted for 5 years, mocking and belittling those who participated and those who watched, and now, I actually schedule my evening around watching it.

But Melinda is beyond any of the contestants I've ever heard. She has an incredible voice and a humility that is rare in someone so talented. If she was the first up every night, I'd watch her and turn it off.

Oh the shame!

At least I haven't voted. Yet.

1: They aren't accepting any new customers
2: They haven't done any updating to any of the features.
3: They haven't answered any of my email in the last few months. I don't know about before that.

If they aren't taking any new customers, developing new features, and answering questions, it doesn't do much for building confidence.

With Easter upon us, it's time to remember that God Hates Figs.




* JESUS REBUKED THE FIG AS AN EVIL ABOMINATION.
"Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he was hungry.
"And when he saw a fig tree by the road, he came to it, and found nothing on it, but leaves only, and said to it, Let no fruit grow on you henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
"And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How soon has the fig tree withered away!"
--Matthew 21:18-20

* JESUS COMMANDED US NOT TO EAT OF THE CURSED FIG.
"The next day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry:
"And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if perhaps he might find any thing on it: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
"And Jesus answered and said to it, No man eat fruit of you hereafter forever. And his disciples heard it.
--Mark 11:12-14

* EAT A FIG, GO TO HELL.
"He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore-figs with sleet."
--Psalm 78:47

* GOD PROMISES TERRIBLE VENGEANCE FOR FIG-EATERS.
"Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty says: "I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like poor figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten."
--Jeremiah 29:17




tongue and and cheek from "godhatesfigs.com"

You are not a "trooper" for running for president while your wife is dying from cancer, Mr. Edwards. Incurable means that it will not go away, and the odds of your wife living to see you inaugurated are low. What will your kids remember? That dad was out campaigning for president while mom was home dying. You are a selfish bastard. Perhaps all those years chasing ambulances has hardened your heart to the point were you have no conscience, no sense of honor, no sense of family.

Show people that you have a soul, and go home and be with your family, the people that really need you.

I'm kind of concerned that there is a white washing of Mormonism for the sake of making Romney more palatable to the evangelical voters. Now, I think Romney would be a good president based on his business experience and his family values. Yeah, yeah, yeah: Flip-flop this and flip-flop that. Look, I believe differently about thing than I did twenty years ago, and wouldn't want to be held to those believes today. But I get concerned when I hear people like Hugh Hewitt and Sean Hannity blowing off Mormonism as just another Christian denomination with some different views. There are some fundamental heresies at the root of Mormonism, the 'worse' being the denial of Jesus Christ being the Son of God. They believe that he is merely an 'ascended human', being an example to Mormons who wish to ascend themselves. That stands in the face of traditional Christianity, which believes Jesus is the Son of God, and salvation is based in trusting in Him, not just having knowledge of Him.

Ironically, a lot of Mormons don't know what their faith teaches, so they just place their trust Jesus. That is why I think there are saved Mormons: They don't know what they are supposed to believe.

So anyway, I think it's okay to support Romney for prez, just as I don't mind having a Hindu of Muslim Doctor, but I not going to water down their faiths to make it easier to swallow.

The mega corp she works for essential drew a line, looked at money, and let the axe fly. To which I say: Hallelujah!

I watched her pour her self into that company, even with in the last week working at home until 10:00pm. 3 nights she did it in the last seven, and this is the way they honor those who dedicate themselves.

There were others as well. Heartless they are. Heartless.

But in an odd way, this is an answer to prayer. The job has been so consuming that it has been effecting our family life. I've been praying for change, and here it is. It's going to be fun seeing what God has up his sleeve!

I love adventures!

...all the negative side effects with out the relief.

The same place I was standing last week shoveling out from over a foot of snow is now filled in with a couple inches of water. The drifts on my roof turned to icicles, then melted away in the warming rays of the sun. The neighborhood has recovered. Life goes on, though my back is still a little sore.

After hour of shoveling and blowing, I return home tired, soaked, and soar. Yet, I feel strangely satisfied.



Just a note: Don't drive over the hump. You know the hump: That mound of snow that the plow leaves when it passes by. If you drive over it, you pack it down, making it nearly impossible to remove. Nothing but sun and chiseling will take care of it.