Archive for the ‘personal’ Category

What a party

Posted: June 21, 2009 by datechguy in personal
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One bit of advice for a cool party:

Dunk Tank.

The Dunk tank was in constant use and other than one broken window from a ricochet it was an incredible success.

How much of one? When your totally sober wife gets in the dunk tank fully clothed at 9:45 p.m. with the tank lighted by car headlights you know everyone has had a lot of fun.

I was in on two separate occasions if you can afford it you will find it’s a world of fun, but try to lean forward since you don’t want your back to hit anything.

As for the rain the forecast suddenly changed, instead of it starting at 2 it didn’t start till after 8, plenty of time for a bunch of fun.

Who says you have to drink a lot for a good time?

Prayer and Probability

Posted: June 20, 2009 by datechguy in catholic, opinion/news, personal
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People often laugh at the idea of prayer imagine a grown adult asking an invisible power to adjust something for them. Prayer is also attacked as an assault on free will. For example the reporter who attacked pro-life people for praying that president Obama have a change of heart.

I have a theory on prayer, this is not to my knowledge based in specific theology, so someone who knows the church better than me can tell me if I’m committing heresy but consider the following:

How many things in life are actually certain? Very few. Spock’s example of letting go of a hammer and not having to see it to know has fallen not withstanding everything is subject to a certain amount of probability.

The medical field is a great example, you are always dealing with a level of probability on recovery from operations, risks from behaviors and so on. An excellent example is that we all know people who have avoided cancer and non smokers who have gotten it. This is a function of probability. Haven’t we all had close calls of one type or another? Or bad luck that has come hitting that one stone that was loose to trip and break a leg etc?

In my opinion this is where prayer comes in, I believe prayer can alter the probabilities on situation and actions. Since the actions are indeterminate (we don’t know for sure how they will go) it seems simply a function of luck. I believe that the power of prayer is basically channeling the intrinsic link between God and man and the community of saints to nudge probability. The stronger the link of the individual to God or the number of people involved prayer the better the chance of the odds moving.

That doesn’t effect the idea that God is a part of it, for example because a wind comes to help a becalmed ship and the wind is a natural phenomena that doesn’t mean that God allowed it to come.

This is in contarast to direct action by God that would be classified as a miracle. In that case you can have either objectively impossible action (Joshua and the sun) or an action so improbable that it seems to be no odds take place. (Curing of the blind man). Those are solid miracles.

Anyways that’s my theory. What do you think?

Update: Corrected awful spelling and grammar in post as it was rushed due to the party today.

Harvey vs Morning Joe

Posted: June 18, 2009 by datechguy in personal, Uncategorized
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You know when I woke up today I put on Morning Joe and started to catch the news concerning flyswatting, the president’s polls etc and I happened to check the menu on the set and noticed that the 1950 movie Harvey staring Jimmy Stewart was on HBO.

I thought about it for a bit and decided that it’s very important to forget the silly troubles of the world for a few hours and not live for them, so Harvey is on the TV as I type. At the moment we are at the scene in Dr. Chumley’s office where Jimmy Stewart and the good doctor are discussing Harvey:

Fly specks, fly specks! I’ve been spending my life among fly specks while miracles have been leaning on lampposts at 18th and Fairfax!

It is important not to ignore the world but just for a time, it is very important to notice the little pleasantries of the world. Not Obama this or Iraq that or Letterman this or Gitmo that.

As I’ve been watching the movie it hits me that this is the entire theme of it.

The world is what it is; but usually your life is made up of moments not in Washington, London, Tehran. It is made up of moments in your house or apartment or at the corner butcher shop or the little diner/ice cream shop there. If you spend too much time worrying about the rest of the world all your life you will forget to live it.

And even on the worst of days when everything is pressing against you, if you find a bench in the park there is the sun or the rain and the beauty of life around you, the still small voice of God reminding you that although your problems may loom large life is good and it’s a gift.

That doesn’t generate a lot of hits but when they close the coffin they won’t says about you, boy he had a lot of hits.

One short isn’t it always the way?

Posted: June 17, 2009 by datechguy in oddities, personal
Tags: ,

Putting in drop ceilings today and wouldn’t you know I’m one piece shy to finish the ceiling?

Of course they only sell them by the box and the wife had to special order them so the odds of finding just one somewhere before Saturday’s party are very slim.

Life is funny that way.

Oh and BTW I want to give a shout out to Ron Wihtelin. He is putting in a new back door at my house and it is looking awesome. Always get guys in their 70’s for work like this. They take real pride in their work. If you ever need carpentry done in the Fitchburg/Leominster area he’s your guy.

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