Proverbs 3:3

Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.

Judge Not

Judge not lest you be judged.

This verse is often used in shaming Christians into accepting a sin. Here is a good write up.

Be Still My Soul

1. Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly, Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

2. Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

3. Be still, my soul, though dearest friends depart
And all is darkened in the vale of tears;
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrows and thy fears.
Be still, my soul; thy Jesus can repay
From His own fulness all He takes away.

4. Be still, my soul; the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul; when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9zHn4QSH-8

The Cult of Marx

You Tube Vid

Colossians 3:15-17

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Graduation Night - Moon over Yusufiyah

The Stokely family sat in a football stadium on a warm Friday night just before Memorial Day 2001 to watch Mike Stokely graduate high school. He already had boot camp / basic training and a year in the National Guard under his belt and would be heading off for Advanced Individual Training at Ft. Gordon in a few weeks. His little sister, Abbey, almost nine, couldn't let go of him, even to have a photo taken with Mike and their brother, Wes. yus1.jpg She swung on his arm adoringly - her look of love says it all.

Read the rest.

Sweet

Few things in the world are more valuable than forgiving, and being forgiven.

Vinny

Just got off the phone with Vinny, my GodSon who lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It is always a thrill to talk with him. We are making plans for him to come out during his summer break from school (which for us is in the middle of winter).
Can't wait to see the guy.

Blessings

I don't think we ever fully appreciate how blessed we are with this gift of life. I had a moment last week where it hit me, that I am truly blessed.

My wife and I had been picking up after a party we had at our house. Once everything was cleaned, we went outside to the front porch. The rain was at a drizzle and we pulled the hanging baskets so that they can get some water too. The lawn had been freshly mowed, the house was clean, the chores were done, mud from the new truck was being washed off. It was nice being on the front porch with my wife even if it was only for a few moments. The smell in the air that you can only get after a fresh rainfall, it was nice. I am blessed, not with riches or fame, but only with the things I need and then some.

My ringtone

I love my ringtone, but my coworkers act like they hate it (although I secretly suspect they are jealous). When my phone rings, the theme song from Sanford & Son starts blaring. I always have it on loud so my coworkers can hear it. The reason they hate it they said is because everytime they hear it, it causes them to start humming the tune. So when my phone rings, a bunch of guys with white shirts and ties will be humming the tune, almost in unison. I can't hum it though for some reason. I can get started but before long, the Sanford & Son theme turns into Sesame Street.
Guess I'm just weird, but I have a great ringtone.

What you didn't know

Tom, thought that tingly feeling was love, but a day later he realized that it was a lovely cold sore.

Gungho Rocket Recovery

Bean dip

Launch report

Thunder Pickle... Nice straight flight on a G71R, too bad its on the neighbor's property... the neighbor with all them mean dogs.

Black 5 quarter scale... still being laughed at because the biggun went kablooie. But this one was impressive- a rolling flight with a slow liftoff- I like those. 5th flight down. Hopefully more to go.

Loaned Bruce some stuff to make his motor.... his rocket with my motor equipment now hanging in some tree.

Vinny Smoke... had 2 great flights.
Sparky... had a good flight but tangled chute and broken fin which will be easily fixable.

All in all... not bad.

Let it Burn

Depressing

Sir

Fried chicken gives me gas

A gift idea for the missus.

MMmmm

I'm posting this picture for no reason other than I really like that cookie.

But, if you notice that no matter where you move in the room, the Lunch Lady's eyes seem to follow? Uggg... that's really eerie.

History Repeats

Read Acts 4: 1-21

Now read this

Just a tip

To make an impression on your first date, be sure to clean your fingernails thoroughly.

It Itches

Good times.

Its been a weird week. After about 11 years, I come in contact with this girl I knew from the Army. We exchanged numbers and had a telephone conversation yesterday which was a blast. It was nice to bring up old memories and talk with someone that I shared good times with. Those good times... I can't exactly say here, (nothing bad, but just many many memories) but it was great to hear from her.

2 Years later

2 years later and I'm back. I initially stopped because of my friend Dan passing away. Was a real big shock to me as to he was pretty young, somewhere in the mid 50's. After that, just didn't feel like writing anymore... nothing to say.

But that was then and this is now. Everynow and then I have a thought that is worthy of being put into digital form and posted on a website in my corner of the webiverse.

Here it is and so be it.

Dan

Just found out this morning that a good buddy of mine, Dan… passed away of an apparent heart attack last night.
I don't know what to say.
He called me at 5:25pm and we talked for only a few seconds.  He was just verifying that I would be at his house at 6 am this morning to pick him up to take him to the train station.  Right after I got off the phone with him I passed him up on the road.  Didn't realize that it would be the last time I would see him. 

At 5:55pm, he was gone and I miss him now.

Yuck

So there I am painting the bathroom and I thought the color of the paint was kind of odd. Hmmph I thought, maybe I just have to let it dry. After I finished painting the bathroom, which didn't take long at all, I looked at the can of paint. It seems that the color that Home Depot mixed up for me was wrong. They did a darker color than what I had picked out, but I didn't catch it.
So what does it look like? I did the sponging technique, and the color... lets just pretend that I had a full diaper that I swung at a high revolution ... and then just let go. Yuck. I'm not laughing now, but I will be later.

Psalm 119:7

I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.”- Psalm 119:7

Shiloh

Snagged a picture from a video of Shiloh going up on an experimental propellant that burns blue flames. The video was pretty bad, so this is the best pic that I could get.

Sugar

I'm wondering if I can upload videos, so this video of my attempt at a sugar motor this past weekend is my test. Enjoy!

Vinny

This is my rocket launching buddy, Vinny. He is now living in Brazil. Hopefully I'll get to see him in October.

Amraam

Can't remember what I launched it on, but it was a perfect flight.

Thunder Pickle

Launched with 38mm G-61 White Smoke reload. I love those 38-120 motors.

Verse of the day

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.”- Colossians 2:9-10

Froggy

Here is a shot of Froggy going up on an H-97 at the Fourth of July demonstration.

NERRF

I should post a PIC from my trip to New York a few weeks ago to attend NERRF.

This one is Endeavor going up on a homemade J motor with a blue flame formula. The motor burned nicely with a great roar, unfortunately the electronics failed me and it came down pretty hard. The main chute opened at 500 feet, but the rocket was traveling soo fast that it has pretty much severely damaged it. I can fix it but it will take a while, I have other things on my plate.

Once again

Once again I forgot my logon credentials and it has taken me until now to figure it out. Actually I also have been putting off posting on this blog. Why??? Just life... been pretty busy.

I did a launch this past weekend... someone kindly caught a picture of my Grappler going up on an E-18. Unfortunately, the fins were not very strong as I expected they wouldn't be and they broke off.

How embarrasing. I actually forgot my login credentials for Blogger. In other words, I couldn't post.
Anyway, it doesn't really matter. I'm the only one who reads this which is cool because I don't write or jot these random thoughts for anyone but myself.

Well, its the first post of the new year. Happy New Year to Me.

Military Advice
"Combat for Dummies" - (advice and instructions from actual military sources)
"Aim towards the enemy." --Instruction printed on U.S. Rocket Launcher
"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend." --U.S. Marine Corps
"Cluster bombing from B-52s is very, very accurate. The bombs are guaranteed to always hit the ground." --USAF Ammo Troop
"If the enemy is in range, so are you." --Infantry Journal
"A slipping gear could let your m203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit." --Army's magazine of prevention maintenance
"It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed." --U.S. Air Force manual
"Try to look unimportant; the enemy may be low on ammo." --Infantry Journal
"Tracers work both ways." --U.S. Army Ordnance
"Five-second fuses only last three seconds." --Infantry Journal
"Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid." --David Hackworth
"If your attack is going too well, you're walking into an ambush." --Infantry Journal
"No combat-ready unit has ever passed inspection." --Joe Gay
"Any ship can be a minesweeper....once." --Anonymous
"Never tell the platoon sergeant you have nothing to do." --Unknown Marine Recruit
"Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you." --Infantry Journal
"If you see a bomb technician running, try to keep up with him." --USAF Ammo Troop

I enjoyed this post....

i've thought up and written about 5 different blog entries over the past 2 weeks. the only problem is that i wrote them in my head rather than typing them. do you ever do that? write a letter or have a conversation in your head and then find that you never really get around to doing it in the world that exists outside of your head... i'm embarrassed to admit that i do it way too often. .....

You're not alone.

This is good news...
Burl Finkelstein, a hobby rocketry enthusiast from Shenandoah, Georgia has been working with representatives of the ATF in Washinton, DC in an attempt to define and identify alternative working arrangements for rocketry clubs to allow non-licensed members to fly high power rockets.
Finkelstein developed an outline of how a club could posture itself to take the burden off the member. That became a working document between himself and the ATF representatives in Washington, forming the foundation for clubs nationally to benefit from the information, if they chose to do so. This document has been reviewed by ATF in Washington, and they did not find any errors in the final version. This information is hoped to eventually result in an official notice from ATF that would be sent to all of their enforcement agents nationally.
..read the rest.

On Monday, the Missus snookered me into going to Sears to look at dish washers. Ours has been slowly going out. The one that she wanted was about $200 more expensive than she thought but I got it anyway. I got it home and installed it and when the Missus got home from work...she didn't like the color. So I'm going back to Sears today... unless I get crushed underneath a bisque colored dishwasher.

Well, my brother and his gang are gone. Dropped Mom off at the airport about an hour ago. sigh... I'm already missing them and it may take me a while to get used to a big house with just me and the missus.
It was great having them here and thank God for holidays. Otherwise we might not get together as much, little as it is now.
God be with them.

Meanwhile, time to get going on my projects, like replacing the dishwasher. Put a new one in yesterday. The missus didn't like the color so, I have to go back today.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”- Colossians 3:16

Mom just called and said that she had just boarded the plane. Only a few more hours.

Well, another Thanksgiving come and gone. I had my brother over, his girlfriend, his daughter and his girlfriend's daughter. I also had over 2 gentlemen from church. Instead of the tradional turkey, we opted for Thanksgiving steak with maple salmon. It was very delicious. For desert we had apple pie with whipped cream and marble cake.

It was nice to host Thanksgiving in our home.

Last night we played rummy for a couple of hours and watched Dodgeball.

Mom should be flying in and will be at home when I get at home. Yes I'm working today. It will be great to see her. Haven't seen Mom since the family reunion this past June.

I'm going to miss them all when they leave.

This is funny. Do it yourself disasters.

“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.”- Psalm 95:1-2

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.”- Psalm 1:1-2

By now you've probably heard of that shooting in Finland. Very sad. I was only 5 miles from that small town in September while I was there visiting my wife's family in a small town called Porninien.

Pray for the victims, and yes the shooter too.

Well, the rocket launch at VAST was canceled for this weekend. Couple that with the cancellation from Battle Field Park and I'm a pretty depressed rocket dude. The cancelations, due to a fire ban will give me a chance to continue working on repairing my rockets without breaking more.

Here is the current status of my repairs.

Miss Sweden, suffered a nose dive into the ground because stupid me forgot the ejection charge. The rocket is painted, but I may have to resand it in certain parts because I didn't like how it turned out. I will have to run to Hobby Town to pick up some more mylar tape for the striping. I still need to add a shock cord. I think I will finish this by next week's launch.



Norad Pro Max. Suffered a separation at apogee and a cracked fin. She's been painted and the shock card has been reattached. I want to add a little more epoxy to the shock cord and she will then be flight ready.

Black Flag. A new rocket that was supposed to be ready for the last launch, but she was all set to fly when I noticed structural issues that would have been fatal for the rocket. A new electronics bay is being fitted into the payload section. I will then will have to attach the start switch onto the bay, drill and fit removable rivets. She has been painted but because of all the rework, there will have to be a lot of touching up. This rocket is priority and I will have her ready to go by the next launch.

Jalapeno. A nose weight came loose during the last flight. I have reattached the nose weight using liquid foam and it appears to be real solid. She is now flight ready.

“[Instructions on Worship] I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”- 1 Timothy 2:1-2