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We had nothing scheduled for this evening, so we decided to do some things in the yard. First was to plant some mums that we had bought recently. We didn’t really plant them – we left the mums in their pots but set the pots down in the dirt a little. That was somewhat for better curb appeal but more to keep the wind from knocking over the pots.

Next was to water the vegetable garden and the potted flowers. That’s an easy job – the kids are eager to volunteer. “Who wants the hose?” I ask, and they come running. The hard part is making sure they take turns and don’t drown some plants while ignoring others.

Then, since the hose was out and running, the kids asked if we could get out the sprinkler. I thought that would be a fine way to keep them outside, so I got the sprinkler. It’s the type that spins, but they don’t like it to spin. Once it was setup, they started pulling plastic toys out of the shed. They also pulled out the lawn chair. I think it was meant to hold their towels, but I commandeered it so I could sit and read the issue of the Inspire that came today.

It was quite peaceful – the kids had found the T-ball set and placed it right next to the sprinkler and were playing waterball.  There were no bugs, particularly mosquitoes.  I don’t know whether that was because of the slight breeze or because I had sprayed for them last week.  I was thinking “This is what summer is supposed to be.”

Then I noticed some dark pick-up truck stop on the side of the road, just after our driveway.  A couple of people came around the side of the truck and started moving things in the bed.  I figured they just had to adjust their freight.  Then some more people appeared.  I saw the freight, and it was a cooler.  The local high school cross-country team was on a training run, and they decided to place their water break right in front of our house.

That’s when I realized that summer was officially closing.  Cross-country camp, football starting across the nation, planting mums – they all add to equal the start of fall.  All good things, but summer needs to last a little longer.

“You have established all the boundaries of the earth; You have made summer and winter.”
– Psalm 74:17

Buy The Five Love Languages and also buy Love and Respect.

Those are two books that will help you understand your spouse.  People are different from each other, with different personalities, and the Five Love Languages addresses that.  Men and women are also different from each other in general, and Love and Respect addresses that.

I knew these as just books, but it turns out that there are study guides and DVDs and conferences. There are plenty of resources out there to help people with their marriages. Be sure to start your marriage on the right foot; read these books before your wedding ceremony.

“Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.”
– Ephesians 5:33

“This is the song that my tree friend sang to me.”

I was driving home this evening and noticed that there was a tape in the tape deck of my car stereo. My Buick has both CD and tape (and AM/FM), and I knew which CD was in the CD part of the radio. But I did not know what tape was in there. I could not remember putting a tape in there. I ejected it and tried to read the song titles, but the print was small and I couldn’t read the titles very well. Nothing was familiar, and I figured the opposing traffic would appreciate it if I paid attention to the road and not the tape.

I caught the artist’s name and put the tape back in. It was an Evie tape. Now I had to listen to it. I started playing it and it was in the middle of a song. My son dislikes when songs start anywhere other than their beginning, so we had to rewind it. Before tonight, if you had asked me to name an Evie song, I would have been able to name only “Come on Ring Those Bells”. I believe that is true for most people who know who Evie is. For those who care, her last name was Tornquist during her early recording years, then she married and is now a Karlsson.

Now, after listening to the first few songs on that tape, I know other Evie songs. I knew the songs before, but I did not know they were Evie. For example, “Step Into The Sunshine” and the Tree Song referenced at the beginning of this post. They bring back good memories. How can anyone not like Evie? In case you’re wondering, my wife had the tape and put it in there on one of the rare times that she drove my car.

“Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy”
– Psalm 96:12

I know a couple different people who are officers in the military. My relationships with them are unrelated to the military – they are just regular people I know who happen to have jobs working for the government. Last weekend, I was with one of them and needed help moving something. When you ask a military officer for help, be careful of the terms you use. Officers do not like being enlisted for anything. Use any word other than “enlist”.

“For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
– Luke 7:8

Most people have probably forgotten about the Oscars by now, so it is time for me to post something about it. The Academy Awards (AKA the Oscars) are becoming increasingly irrelevant for the general population. The Academy voters, along with critics in general, are selecting movies using their own odd criteria. And those criteria are more along the lines of esoteric “art” or the right social issue – not necessarily what makes a movie a good movie.

Judging anything is subjective, and movies are no exception. So there is bound to be some level of disagreement with the selections. But most of the movies chosen are not popular movies, meaning that most people would rather see other movies. Doesn’t that mean that there are better movies than those which won Oscars?

I agree with Molière, in his Critique of the School for Wives, when he says that if we followed the same philosophy as movies in other areas of life, such as food, then we wouldn’t know whether to enjoy the meals we ate until we consulted a food critic. “That’s like a man who might find a sauce delicious, and who would then try to find out if it was good by looking it up in Le Cuisinier français.” He argues that the opinions of the general public is more important that those of critics. Why do the movie studios produce movies – for the critics? No, they produce movies to make money, which means selling tickets, which means that the public should be more important than the critics. Molière produce his play in 1663, so this disconnect between critics and audiences has been around for at least a few hundred years.

I find that I am more likely to trust people I know than a critic whom I don’t know. The critic may provide some useful information in his description of a movie, but I don’t trust a simple rating, such as 3 stars or 2 and a half roses or 4 tomatoes. What I do want to know in a movie review, but most don’t provide, is what level of what objectionable content there is. To a critic, it seems there is no objectionable content. I like the reviews in World Magazine, which uses Kids in Mind.

I think many people fall into the same category as I – they know that the Academy selects movies that they’ll never watch. The Academy awards movies in order to promote them. It is just a big advertisement and marketing campaign. “We know you don’t care much about this movie and no one you know has seen it, but look at all the accolades it has received. With all this publicity, it must be a good movie!”

“For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.”
– 2 Peter 2:18-19

A while back I had an interesting traffic situation. I was attempting to leave a shopping area. There was one car in front of me, sitting at the stop sign.  Just when traffic was about to clear, allowing us to enter the road, the driver put his car in park and got out. He then crossed to the far side of the driveway, went partway down the drainage ditch, and picked up an empty can.

It took him about 15 seconds to get the can and return. And 15 seconds of idling would waste about 1/1200 of a gallon (at a rate of 1/10 of a gallon per 30 minutes).

At $3.00 a gallon, 15 seconds of idling burns about a quarter of a penny.  The shopping center was in the state of Michigan, which gives you 10 cents for eligible can returns. So the guy did not waste that much money by idling his car – in fact he came out 9.75 cents ahead.

And 9.75 cents per 15 seconds of work translates to 39 cents a minute or 23.4 dollars an hour, not a bad rate. But there is no way he would be able to collect cans at a sustained rate of 1 can every 15 seconds, at least not by driving along the road and stopping for recyclables.

These calculations do not take into account the extra idling required because he then missed the traffic window provided by the nearby stoplight. So he and I – and the person behind me – had to wait even longer for traffic to clear. And I did not get any money out of it, so it was not worth my time.

It is one thing to stop and pick up cans. It is another to block traffic to do so. If you’re going to stop your car, please make sure you are not in anyone’s way.  And if you are stuck behind someone, do give them the benefit of the doubt

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
– Romans 12:18

I hope, for America’s sake, that the new TV show “The Moment of Truth” does not do well. It is setup to embarrass people or damage their relationships.

The TV show “The Biggest Loser” seemed at first to be not a nice show. Just watching the previews, I thought that the show was making fun of fat people.

The TV show “Average Joe” seemed at first to be a nice show. Just watching the previews, I was thought that the show was helping average guys.

After watching both shows, I switched my opinions of each. It seems that a bunch of people have the same opinion, as Biggest Loser has continued success but Average Joe is gone. Some of that may be due to the element-of-surprise nature of Average Joe.

I believe that America likes Biggest Loser because it is a show with a good intent – helping people. Average Joe had the guise of helping people but turned out to be a mean show – humiliating people.

I believe that “Moment of Truth” is a mean show – the goal is to humiliate people. And I do not want to watch it. The show is meant to capitalize on the bad parts of human nature. The contestants are, in effect, selling their souls. They are trying to win money and are apparently ready to sacrifice other parts of their lives (friendships, marriage, dignity) for that money.

Both the contestant and the network share blame for any fallout. The contestants have a choice in the matter and are responsible for their actions and words. But who is writing the questions? Who is placing the contestant is such a predicament? Just as the participants are placing money above all else, so the producers are placing ratings (and therefore money) above all else.

“But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.”
– I Timothy 6:9