Free: OpenOffice (plus Google?)

Have I never mentioned Sun Microsystem's OpenOffice before? OpenOffice (aka OOo) is a free (of charge) suite of office software, very much like Microsoft Office. You can download and use use OpenOffice free of charge at www.OpenOffice.org. I use OOo 1.9 for Cathy's laptop.

Google has been making strides to become... something... more, and has been pushing Microsoft's buttons. Anyway, Google and Sun are partnering on OpenOffice. The download will likely be slow with the news, so give it a couple of days.

A Gift For My SciFi Wife

I had exchanged messages with that Shelley Norman person and she reminded me that Stargate SG-1 Season 8 was to be released on DVD today. Cathy mistakenly thought the release date was to be November 7th...

5:38 P.M.

I had checked Costco, but they are backordered in Los Angeles and Orange County. I checked Best Buy and called a store and had one reserved.

6:12 P.M.

Boy, was Cathy surprised! I was quite pleased with the results.

What Would YOU Preach?

Can you imagine having been a pastor in the Gulf Coast these last five weeks? What would you preach? How do you communicate God's love and compassion in the midst of destruction?

Compared to the initial (over?) projection of 10,000 dead in Louisiana alone, the low death toll is welcome news.

Matrix Pong

You have to be fond of The Matrix movie (or at least the first one) to appreciate this ping pong video clip. View from Google Video or Japan's Nippon TV... Cathy and I laughed ourselves silly!

Vocational Turbulence

Caveat Lector: really long post.

Eeek. So… I just got out of a meeting with our HR VP and my new manager. The short version is that I have withdrawn from a voluntary departmental transfer. Lord willing, my employment here will remain fruitful and the decision will prove to be a good choice, apparent to everyone.

A little history… We’re trying to fill an internal staffing problem by transferring me from our equivalent of an IT department to the Service Management department. The goal is to get a new trainer and support staff person for our plumbing, heating and A/C market. Recruitment of qualified individuals has been difficult.

Previously, I had approached our VP with some questions on Accounting. I figured that I could better support our clients if I learned some Accounting, and he agreed. When we started having difficulty filling the position, our VP thought of me. After our VP discussed the opportunity with me, I agreed to try it out. After three months, we would make a final determination. In the mean time, I would answer to both my current boss and another manager. My manager-to-be had only one reservation: would I be happy doing the job? Only time would tell.

In several important situations, I have ignored a “gut feeling” about what I should say, or something I should do, and each time I have regretted it. It was almost three weeks between the initial discussion and the official announcement. Between then, I grew increasingly uneasy with the prospect, but I suppressed the feeling by dismissing it as a baseless fear of failure.

Days before the official announcement, someone I would be working closely with asked me why I was scheduled for training with him. In other words, he had no idea. He indicated that the manager said I would be learning the product to help them take up the slack. I agreed that this was true. This was my primary motivation for agreeing to participate; what’s good for the company overall is ultimately good for me, too. Several co-workers heard (through the grapevine, not from me) of the upcoming changes. Everybody suggested that I was capable of performing the job function; a few suggested it was a bad idea.

On the day before the company meeting two events transpired that made me give more attention to my nagging doubts. First, while driving home from dinner with my wife and mother-in-law, I ignored a strong intuition to make a u-turn and detour around a certain intersection, which led to my family being stuck with me in lousy traffic for some time. This incident caused me to introspect, and I confessed to Cathy that I had misgivings on the upcoming transfer. Secondly, my wife then confessed that she was being submissive in her support for the transfer, but in fact the change was a concern to her.

Note to the ladies:
your husband wants to hear your opinion,
even when and often especially if you disagree with him.

The announcement came the next day, stating that I was switching departments. I then went onsite to a client for training, and went home more convinced that this is not a good fit.

That next day I approached my new manager. I told him that, even in this early stage, I was becoming convinced this was not a good fit. Further delays would only hurt our recruitment efforts, so I thought it best to tell him sooner rather than later. He met with the VP, and it was decided that we should wait until early October to revisit the issue.

Virtually nothing happened in the intervening time in terms of my training.

Well, it is October now, and we revisited the issue. My feelings have not changed. I think our VP was truly rather disappointed; not only was this a convenient was of filling a staff need, it would also do so without increasing costs, and I as an employee would become more valuable to the company.

I have two weeks to change my mind, and after that the offer is no longer available. Cathy had already expressed a fear of retaliation, but I doubt that would occur here. I really am a loyal employee, and I do work hard. I also pointed out that I still want the training, so my value as an employee should increase. But, the position will likely have to be filled by recruitment.

Ultimately, the company has the right to inform me I am being reassigned. And, frankly, I could not afford to be unemployed, so I would do the job. As a Christian, I would do the job to the best of my ability, but I doubt I would be happy. God has blessed me with a good job; to do other than my best would be just plain wrong. Still, a reassignment would significantly reduce the attraction this place has for me, and I would start looking for full-time ministry opportunity after my schooling was completed.

I am reminded of a scene from “Ever After”, where Danielle speaks for her step-mother, Rodmilla:

Danielle: I want you to know that I will forget you after this moment and never think of you again. But you, I am quite certain, will think about me ever single day for the rest of your life
Rodmilla: And how long might that be?

I am wondering how long it might be…

News: Movies Show No Negatives Sex or Drugs

This is news?

A team of Australian medical researchers published a new study today that said Hollywood movies fail to show the negative consequences of sex and drug use.

Photo: Vito is Growing Up!

Vito is certainly growing up! Over this last week, Cathy weaned him, so Vito is now off the bottle completely! He is also potty-trained now, so he's free to roam the aparmen for longer periods of time with less supervision. Vito has taken a liking to Rhonda, but she is trying real hard not to get attached. :-)

We've been trying to do better with each litter. This time, we're acclimating Vito to the dog. We didn't do that with Fanny, and she can't stand Oliver. We're also trying to get Vito used to being fed by different people, and different foods. Vito has gotten used to the dog already, and we've had as many friends handle him as possible.

In fact, Laura came over to visit yesterday. She stayed for quite a while and delighted Cathy with her company; she's actually the first friend to visit Cathy. Anyway, here's Vito relaxing in Laura's arms.

Zechariah, our tuxedo, is very mothering to Vito. She taught him to bathe. Our mom (Rhonda) has a 7-month-old kitten, and he's been playing with Vito. Malachi tries to play with Vito but isn't sure what to do with him just yet.

I have uploaded videos of Vito running, wrestling, and bathing. The links should go live in less than 24 hours.

What to Preach?

I have to prepare two sermons for my class. I think I will direct one only at my fellow students, but the other one I will try to reuse in church.

Usually, when someone preaches, they ask God for guidance and select a passage to preach on based on the needs of the church he is serving. In my case, I am supposed to preach to my fellow seminary students. There are only twelve of us in the class (that is the maximum due to the time required for all of us to preach), and they are my target audience.

On the one hand, it would be easier to select a verse for my church; the needs are familiar to me and broader in scope since we are looking for a pastor. On the other hand, my fellow seminary students should share similar struggles (bonus points for alliteration!).

The idea of regularly preaching the Word of God is both an awesome privilege and an awesome responsibility. I don't think I can preach "do not steal" if I am pirating software, or "do not commit adultery" if I am watching Internet porn. I certain do not want to be like those who opposed Jesus, of whom he declared they "do not practice what they preach."

With my fellow students in mind, I was thinking about the end of 2 Timothy 3 and the beginning of 4. But, I think I'll settle on 1 Timothy 4:15-16 (full chapter text).

15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

We all get to preach twice. The first time, each student gets 12 minutes to preach one verse (or two at most) from a New Testament letter. The second time we each receive 15 minutes to preach any section from the entire Bible. I think the second time I will look for a sermon that I can use at church as well as at school.

News: Free WiFi coming to San Francisco

One way or another, San Francisco is getting free WiFi Internet access for the entire city. There are multiple bids in, but I find Google's entry into the bid yesterday very interesting.

Template Obsession

I redid the template for our blog twice (last night and this morning). I decided that a blog's layout should be different from a web site. Anyway, hope you like the new look. Cathy made me put my profile back in the corner, though, since she loves that animation of Malachi! I'm planning on adding divergent content to the bottom the main page.

Ah... and a shout-out to my good friends, the Van Zwienens.