Free Thinker, Liberal, Hippie..yeah, I'm all that.

Treadmill: Day 18 - 7:30 PM 327 Calories Burned Speed: 4.0 mph Time 30:00 min Distance: 2...

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:12:40 -0500

Treadmill: Day 18 - 7:30 PM

327 Calories Burned

Speed: 4.0 mph

Time 30:00 min

Distance: 2 miles

Incline : 1.0

thanks to getting married

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:22:38 -0500

healthnutz:

making grilled avocado, tomato and provolone (with turkey for the husband) sammiches for lunch in the toaster oven. wouldn’t have been able to do it without the wedding gift of the toaster oven. quite possibly one of my favorite kitchen appliances.

YES!

ladidaladida: i’d rather have a bicycle over a car ANYDAY! too...

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:14:28 -0500

ladidaladida:

i’d rather have a bicycle over a car ANYDAY!

too cool.

I hate the gym.

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:01:48 -0500

lynnsay:

So I’m feeling like I put on a lot of the weight I lost before the wedding… I was almost down two pant sizes from what I was earlier this year… now I’m back to having only lost one. Bummer.

Marci and I have been some serious slackers at the gym lately. We went from running a mile, going on the elyptical for an hour, and then doing some lifting, to going on the elyptical for 30 minutes and then chatting in between our sets of lifting.. Not cool.

So, as of tomorrow, it’s back to hard-core gym days. I hate it and am bummed about it, but I need it! Also going to be cutting down on my bad eating habits. Not eliminating them all, but taking it down a notch!

I’m going to try to follow in ol’ Mike’s footprints and start posting my daily gym activities. Be jealous.

I have a feeling I’m going to be cranky for awhile… :)

i feel like when I keep track of it somewhere, especially where others can see it (whether they care or not) it motivates me to keep it up.

lynnsay: What do I get my husband for Christmas??? some cool motorcycling accessory. :)

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:56:20 -0500

lynnsay:

What do I get my husband for Christmas???

some cool motorcycling accessory. :)

Just Don't

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:19:02 -0500

healthnutz:

bridgettelizabeth:

What happened to the days when we only replaced things that were broken, beyond repair? Where does our desire to replace new with newer stem from? How are we so easily convinced that our lives are barely worth living with those extra inches of plasma, that additional megapixel, or another twenty gigabytes of space in which to store the remnants of our increasingly digital lives? To bastardise Victor Papanek, what is this vicious, unhealthy desire to consistently spend money we don’t have on things we don’t need in order to impress others that don’t care? How can we let multi million dollar corporations sell our individuality back to us through a mass produced, sweat shop constructed pieces of apparel? Have we found total freedom or absolute disconnect?

- lucanindustries.com

I love fixing things that are broken. If you have something that is broke, more than likely a trip to the hardware store and some creativity will have it back in business. Recently, I accidentally left my espresso pot empty on a live burner, and it melted the handle off. So i removed what was left of the handle and cut a new one out of 1/4” plexi glass. I drilled out the pin that held the old handle in and replaced it with a nut and bolt. voila, back in business.

electricpower: It looks as if the Brammo Enertia has officially...

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:02:36 -0500

electricpower:

It looks as if the Brammo Enertia has officially entered full scale production – that is, if these pictures released by company CEO Craig Bramscher are anything to go by. The images were sent out on Facebook and show a lineup of brand new electric motorcycles just waiting for final assembly before being shipped out to customers… or, possibly a Best Buy somewhere on the West Coast. The last step takes place when an order comes in and includes the buyer’s choice of color for the body panels.

In somewhat related news, we also snagged a picture that shows some cool accessory saddle bags for the Brammo Enertia. Considering that the electric machine is capable of fairly high speeds and a range of up to 50 miles per charge, a factory set of panniers ought to make the Enertia a bit more attractive as an everyday mount for a number of riders.

(via Autoblog Green)

Very cool. Hopefully the price on something like this will come down so it could be attainable for the average person.

randompics: Old motorcycle with skis I need one of these right...

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:53:11 -0500

randompics:

Old motorcycle with skis

I need one of these right now. :)

loudpop: 1987 Audi Sports Quattro S1via www.misshift.com That...

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:03:17 -0500

loudpop:

1987 Audi Sports Quattro S1
via www.misshift.com

That guy is saying, “Woooohooo!”

5 days until break!

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:58:29 -0500

(via victimofcircumstance)

Only 8 more days, yay. Actually, I’m ok with a shorter break, since I don’t get paid on the days we have off.

thegreatradsby: liezlwashere: check this out. gross. (by...

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:12:06 -0500

thegreatradsby:

liezlwashere:

check this out.

gross. (by gross i mean….Im jealous.)

no, that’s gross.

Mike and Alan

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:19:44 -0500

victimofcircumstance:

mikesova:

check2one2:

mikesova:

I really truly miss seeing you guys on a semi-daily basis.

I miss you… I called you today. Please say schools out?

Aww man, my phone is/was dead. Sorry broham, school isn’t out until the 23rd. :( We can do something totally kickass after that, though, hopefully we can hook up with John Michael for an evening.

Dude…your school isn’t out until the 23rd? We are done after this week. When do you go back?

We’re off for 11 days. I know, it’s lame.

Treadmill Day 17

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:16:04 -0500

Treadmill: Day 17 - 10:00 PM

163 Calories Burned

Speed: 4.0 mph

Time 15:00 min

Distance: 1 miles

Incline : 1.0

(A quickie)

Mike and Alan

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 19:42:57 -0500

check2one2:

mikesova:

I really truly miss seeing you guys on a semi-daily basis.

I miss you… I called you today. Please say schools out?

Aww man, my phone is/was dead. Sorry broham, school isn’t out until the 23rd. :( We can do something totally kickass after that, though, hopefully we can hook up with John Michael for an evening.

Mike and Alan

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:12:26 -0500

I really truly miss seeing you guys on a semi-daily basis.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:09:44 -0500

atheistchurchgoer:

Well, here I am week 2 of this, wow, it seems like it’s been a long week. Last Sunday there was no snow on the ground and now there is. Anywho, let’s get down to business. We arrived at church a few minutes early this time. So I got to do the walk around and shake hand with people thing they refer to as “sharing of the peace”, which on one hand is a nice way to greet each other, but on the other hand it feels a little forced. The Reverend mentioned at the beginning that he would concluding his series of sermons on the topic of 2012. I got a little excited as it could be juicy.

Next up came the opening hymn “O Bride of Christ, Rejoice”, which kind of raised my eyebrows, wait a minute, I thought Jesus was celibate…but a little google search reveals that the term bride is referring to the church and it’s patrons. They use the symbolism of marriage and being married to christ…yeah, it’s weird, I know. So, it’s kind of like all the men in the church have a symbolic gay marriage to Jesus.

Next up came the always zombie like repetition of the invocation. The reverend says something, then everybody reads what the response is from the pamphlet in a dry monotone voice. The invocation kept including the phrase “You (God/Jesus) are our Immanuel which reminded me of the prophecies in the old testament that claimed that the savior would come and be named Immanuel, but when Jesus came along, that was close enough.

The first reading came from Micah 5:2-5a

² “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans ^[a] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins ^[b] are from of old,
from ancient times. ^[c] “

³ Therefore Israel will be abandoned
until the time when she who is in labor gives birth
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.

⁴ He will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of the LORD,
in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
will reach to the ends of the earth.

⁵ And he will be their peace.

A quick lookup on SAB reveals:

The gospel of Matthew (2:5-6) claims that Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem fulfils this prophecy. But this is unlikely since

“Bethlehem Ephratah” in Micah 5:2 refers not to a town, but to a clan: the clan of Bethlehem, who was the son of Caleb’s second wife, Ephrathah (1 Chr.2:18, 2:50-52, 4:4).

The prophecy (if that is what it is) does not refer to the Messiah, but rather to a military leader, as can be seen from verse 5:6. This leader is supposed to defeat the Assyrians, which, of course, Jesus never did.

It should also be noted that Matthew altered the text of Micah 5:2 by saying: “And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda” rather than “Bethlehem Ephratah” as is said in Micah 5:2. He did this, intentionally no doubt, to make the verse appear to refer to the town of Bethlehem rather than the family clan.

Aha, I wondered looking at 5:6 which clearly goes along with the passage, why it wouldn’t have been included, apparently because it helps disprove the idea that the prophecy was fulfilled and it included violence which isn’t nice in a church service.

The next reading was taken from Hebrews 10:5-10

⁵Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
⁶with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
⁷Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, O God.’ “^[a]⁸First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). ⁹Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. ¹⁰And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Upon consulting SAB, all they could do for me is tell me that in 5-6 there is a misquote of psalm 40, boring. It’s awful weird how God was all about the burnt offerings pre-Jesus, but now it takes the blood of himself (Jesus/God) to be sacrificed. This stuff is so strange.

The holy gospel came from Luke 1:46-56

⁴⁶And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
⁴⁹for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
⁵⁰His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
⁵¹He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
⁵²He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
⁵³He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
⁵⁴He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
⁵⁵to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers.”

⁵⁶Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

The SAB does point out verse 1:50

“And his mercy is on them that fear him.”
Should we fear God?

I like their contradiction charts, it shows where the bible says you should fear god and where it says you shouldn’t.

The Children’s Message came next. This was when a couple little girls, no older than 5 came u and sat with the reverend. He asked them, “If Jesus came 2,000 years ago, why do we still get ready for him to come again?” I’ve often wondered that too. The girls didn’t really have a response for that, so he continued talking, ” God promised that he would send Jesus, and he promises to send him again.” Then something about, “Aren’t you excited to go be with Jesus and everyone in heaven…that believes in him.” Yeah, totally.

Like I said before, I was excited for the sermon. This weeks was entitled Being Lutheran in 2012: It’s still about Jesus. He opened with thoughts of 2012, Nostradamus, the Mayans, the dumb movie, but then it fizzled out. He said that they as Lutherans didn’t have anything to fear because they had already seen this played out in the life of Jesus. (I’m not sure what these guys think about the rapture, I’ve asked my wife about it and she had no idea what it was) He then talked about Christmas traditions that people have and asked what will be be doing December 16, 2012, while the newsmedia and everyone else is going nuts and preparing for the end?(I think that’s a stretch, I’d like to believe that most people will not be wigging out about 2012) He then said that we should go on with what we’ve always done in celebrating Christmas, celebrate how Jesus came once and will come again. So, really they are preparing for the end every year. (this kind of puts a damper on Christmas for me, to say that you’re preparing for the joyful apocolypse) The sermon continued basically restating this over and over, to keep doing what you’re doing and he ended it kind of comically that “Lutherans don’t like change.” LuckilyI already knew that from listening to Garrison Keillor.

At this point, I was looking at the pamphlet and it looked like it was almost over. I whispered to my wife, “are you not feasting on the flesh and blood of christ this week?” She replied back with an eye roll, “We usually call it communion, and no, it’s every other week.” I noticed a little bit of “I’m pissed at you for mocking my religion” in her tone. I don’t think that should be, though. If I remember anything from church, it’s that once that cracker and wine has been blessed by the reverend or priest, it transforms into the flesh and blood of christ, they even say it when they are talking about it. So if she doesn’t honestly believe that, maybe there is hope for her yet. ;)

Then came the prayers that they said for people in the church who were sick, needed help, etc. and then the blessing (basically the Reverend waves his hands around).

Then he walked offstage and we started walking out. As we walked out, my wife was compelled to stop and chat with the Reverend. He wanted to know how I was doing and where I worked. “Great, i work at the school, I’m a para-pro.” He didn’t know what that was, so I explained it to him. Then we were off, back home to drink some coffee, eat breakfast, and blog about the mornings events.

"God I am so fucking good at texting"

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 07:40:19 -0500

“God I am so fucking good at texting”

- Michael. 9 beers in (via sarajoy80)

Treadmill Day 16 Part 2

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:09:10 -0500

Treadmill: Day 16 (Part 2) - 4:00 PM (Chariots of Iron Podcast)

272 Calories Burned

Speed: 4.0 mph

Time 25:00 min

Distance: 1.667 miles

Incline : 1.0

Treadmill Day 16 Part 1

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:24:00 -0500

Treadmill: Day 16 (Part 1) - Noon (Listening to The Good Atheist Podcast)

348 Calories Burned

Speed Range: 3-4.0 mph

Time 35:00 min

Distance: 2.234 miles

Incline : 1.0

My winter project

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:38:07 -0500

check2one2:

thegreatradsby:

mikesova:

Since my recent re-fascination of all things on two wheels, I can’t get over bikes, mopeds, scooters, motorcycles, etc. I’ve decided that this winter I want to build up a commuter bicycle. I live in town and 9 months out of the year I can ride my bike to work. I have a 2002 Giant Yukon that I bought brand new. It’s been hanging in my parents garage for the last few years, not because I haven’t rode a bike since then, but I’ve just been riding another bike that I rescued from CMU’s campus a couple years ago. The Yukon is a really nice bike with a lightweight aluminum frame.

First off, I want some smooth wide tires, like this:

Kenda Kross Plus K847 Mountain Bike Tire 26” x 1.95”

This tire will have a low rolling resistance on pavement (95% of what I would be riding on, but has some knobbies on the side, in case you get into some dirt or sand.

I want this bike to be functional as a commuter. This means having some onboard storage. Carrying a backpack on a bike isn’t very fun from my experience, so I would like to have some panniers on the bike. This means I need some racks.

rear:

Bor Yueh Urban Rear Rack

Front:

Nashbar Front Rack

Now for some bags, in the rear, these seem like they would be great:

Nashbar Daytrekker Panniers

and in the front:

Nashbar Front Bag

To top it all off, I think I’m going to try a set of BMX handlebars (which I already have) to raise up the arms to a more comfortable level, since the point of this bike build is for comfortable commuting, not hardcore offroad. I also already have a set of toe clips to put on it as well.

Now to see if I can score any of this stuff from craigslist on the cheap. :) Even if I can’t, apparently I can pay for this stuff through the bicycle commuting tax credit which is good for 20$ per month.

You didnt rescue shit! you stole it! I remember I was your “get away driver”. I dont care how long it was on that bike rack. If you cut a chain and need a “get away driver” you stole it. =)

YEAH!! You were drunk too!!!!

whatever, you guys were still my accomplices…HELLO!! ;)