Admirable Thoughts: Writings of Code Monkey

BROKEN HEARTS MAKING HISTORY

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Faith

— admirable @ 7:16 PM

WORLD VISION
Saturday, the some of the people in our community group got a chance to volunteer at the World Vision warehouse here in the Mile High City. They take donated clothes, toys, medical supplies, etc. from companies and then send them to people in need around the world. They depend on volunteers to make sure all the donations are pack so they can ship them out and that is what we went down there to do.

Since one of the members in our group, Heather K, serves there a lot, our group got to help out by sorting through medical donations and loading them in the right piles. It is a little more detailed then loading clothes, but not that bad. I hope we got things loaded in the right groups!

It was only three hours of time on a Saturday to help out a lot of people and really it was not that much work. It was fun day and our group is looking forward to going back sometime very soon to help out again. It is nice to be in a group like that who we can study with, have fun with, and serve with.

REALITY
Some news items that caught my attention and some my thoughts when I heard about them:

If you have a problem, if no one else can help-and if you can find them-maybe you can hire this team.
Is the only good cat, a stir-fired cat or is it a cat that eats all the stir-fired foods? Right, I know there is no good cat.
This can’t be, a Republican is president.
I am glad people were outraged and helped the Christian brother out in Afghan!!! Where is the outrage and concern for other Christians around the world who are facing death and persecuting? Learn More here and here.

CHANGES
In cased you missed the small detail, I have changed the footer section of the the website/blog again.

One, I added a logo for A.B.’s The Third Story ministry. I have told you about her awesome blog, Concrete Cross, and I do have a link to her ministry and blog on the side bar. However, I just wanted make her ministry is noticed. Maybe, someone out there reading this can volunteer to help out a few hours a week (especially if you are a guy) or donate to this great ministry.

Two, I added the logo for Flatiron Community Church. As of right now we are not going there. I like what they are doing a lot. We have a few friends going there and it seems like a church reach people and feeding those who attend.

Last, I also added a link to push Mandee’s new job with Arbonne International.

Oh, while I am pushing things (through I did not add a link at the bottom), I want to push Todd resurgence of his company, Creative Printing Ad Specialties. He prints logo, company names, etc. on items like coffee cups, pens, walnuts, and so forth. I have used him in the pass with my company’s advertising.

Thus ends this the plugs for some of my friend’s companies.

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March 21, 2006

SO ITS ME AGAINST THE WORLD TODAY

Filed under:

Sports

— admirable @ 1:00 PM

Since 1993 all Rockies fans have lived in fear of what lives behind the gate. Yep, nothing like heart pumping fear when you knew the lead was in trouble because the bullpen gate would open and a new Rockies pitcher would come the mound.

I have often wonder how much better the Rockies would have been if we ever had a great closer. I am hopeful that Brian Fuentes can be the one. Yet, in the past we have never had someone you wanted to really come in and get the save. It seem like there was just as much of a chance of a blown save as a real save.

The man I have often wondered about for our role was Trevor Hoffman of the Padres. He started his big league career the same year that Rockies became a MLB and that got me thinking about comparing his stats to the whole Colorado Rockies Organization. One man vs. a lot of pitchers. One man who really was not a closer in 1993 and missed all of 2003 to an injury. Still I figured his numbers had to be close to the Rockies Organization numbers or even better.

I had trouble finding the total number of blown saves the Rockies have had from 1993 to 1996. My friend Todd and I tried to find the info but we could not. I was starting to think they did not keep those numbers because no one could count that high. Then one of the best baseball writers, Tracy Ringolsby, started a blog where you can ask him questions. So I did, and he answered it for me. Thus my comparison theory could happen.

Below are the numbers. They speak for them self. One person can make a difference especially if you do have so many blown saves.

YEAR	ROX SAVES	ROX BLOWN SAVES	TH SAVES	TH BLOWN SAVES
1993	25	30	5	3
1994	28	21	20	3
1995	43	19	31	7
1996	34	30	42	7
1997	35	15	37	7
1998	36	19	53	1
1999	33	18	40	3
2000	33	25	43	7
2001	26	24	43	3
2002	43	29	38	3
2003	34	20	0	0
2004	36	34	41	4
2005	37	26	43	3
TOTALS	453	300	436	51
AVG/YR	34.85	23.08	36.33	4.25

Hoffman’s average per year does not include 2003 since he missed with an injury.

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March 10, 2006

I GOTTA GET ANOTHER TASTE

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— admirable @ 2:34 PM

Cinnamin Rolls, they are my favorite food group. I have always loved them. In fact for birthdays, I had cinnamin rolls instead of cake. There are good rolls and then there are great rolls. As a kid, I have memory of three great rolls.
My dad’s homemaded rolls, Gray’s Cafe (no longer in the town I grew up in), and Johnson’s Corner.

This week, I was able to take a “field trip” for a few hours from work to go to the state capital to watch Johnson’s Corner be honored by the Colorado House and the Senate. My friend works as an aid there and was cordinating with Johnson’s Corner to help them be at the captial building. The owners of Johnson’s Corner brough a lot of their World Famous Johnsonâ€™s Corner Cinnamon Roll. My friend was able to secure on for me. I was hoping to meet the owner, but I was not able to do that. However, I did see them honered by the House and then later by the Senate.

Yummmmy field trip.

Congratulations:
To Stephen and Katherine on the birth of their second son.
To Kurt and Molly on the birth of their second daughter.

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EVERYWHERE I GO, I KNOW YOUR NOT FAR WAY

Filed under:

Family

— admirable @ 10:28 AM

Thank you for all the prayers, emails, cards, flowers, or donations to the church or to the American Cancer Society during the loss of my wife’s father. The love, kindness, and help has been awesome. Due to the passing, we made a long drive to Michigan to be with family. I thought I would give a brief recap of our trip.

DAY 1:
We drove from Denver, CO to Des Moines, IA. It was about a 12 hour drive for us. In Des Moines we were planning to stay with Sadee and Jordan . However, I could not stay with them as they have a cat. I am so deadly allergic to those things (my throat closes) that I did not even last 10 minutes there. So Mindy and Lynzee stayed there and I went and got a hotel room nearby.

Food choices for the day:
Breakfast: Lucy’s in Sedgwick, CO
Lunch: Iron Skillet in York, NE
Dinner: Machine Shed in Des Moines, IA (Jordan and I ate there while the rest of the crew ate pizza at Jordan and Sadee’s).

DAY 2:
While Des Moines we picked up Mandee, Emory, and Lydia as they were going to Michigan with us. It is funny how little ones take up so much space. The little ones were so good on 12 hours drive. I was so impressed. I must say that a DVD player in the vehicle with a two year old is a wonderful thing.

When we got Hudsonville, MI, we hooked up with my brother-in-law, Scott, grabbed dinner, and drove the rest of the way to Bay City. In Bay City, we stayed at the other brother-in-law, Shawn, and his family. They had just gotten one of those death things (a cat) but they moved it to other place for a few days, cleaned and bleached the house so I could stay there. I so appreciated them doing that so I could be there.

Food choices for the day:
Lunch: Cracker Barrel in Joliet, IL
Dinner: Bob Evans in Grand Rapids, MI

DAY 3:
This was the day of the funeral. It was held at Kawkawlin Community Church in Kawkawlin, MI. (BTW: Kawkawlin, best I can tell comes from the Chippewa word, “meicigama” meaning “great water.”). The pastor of the church, Rev. David Dunn, lead the service and did a really fine job. The church was great to our family. They really show a deep love and sympathy for the family. It was so great to see.

After the funeral we had lunch at the church with the family and friends. It was a good time of people laughing, crying, sharing stories, and say goodbye. The lunch was very good and it was prepared by a ministry in the church. Like I said they were great.

The rest of the day we mostly hung out at Shawn’s just talking about my father-in-law and life and just have good family time.

DAY 4:
On Sunday morning we went to contemporary church service at Kawkawlin Community Church. Ok, it was not very contemporary by our standards, but for what they got resources wise and culture wise, it is a start. They are growing and reaching out to people. It is a good thing to see. I thought the pastor and his wife were great and very friendly to everyone there.

Afterwards, we return to Shawn’s again and just hung out with more family time. It was nice actually getting to know my wife’s brothers, mother, and sister better along with their families. I really do not know them too well as they are a long way from us in Colorado.

Sunday night Mindy, Lynzee, and I drove to Midland, MI to see an old high school friend of mine who I do not think I have seen in 16 years or so, but we have talked a few times a year via email. He is a pastor in Midland. It was good to talk with him and meet his family. Funny how some friendships just seem to be able pick right back up evern if it has been a long since you saw them.

DAY 5:
We loaded up the van with Mandee, Emory, Lydia, Mindy, Lynzee and myself and headed out of Bay City, MI back towards Des Moines, IA. While in Michigan we noticed all the flags were a half-staff and wondered why. So we called a friend and after some research he found that Michigan has their flag at half-staff whenever one of Michigan’s own is killed in the line of duty. [Proclamation]

The weather was snowy till we got to the Chicago area. Other than that the drive was pretty much the same as the drive there. The kids did great and we made it to Des Moines, IA safely.

Food choices for the day:
Lunch: Culvers in Chicago, IL (much better than In-N-Out, I think)
Dinner: Chillies in Des Moines, IA

DAY 6:
The final leg of the drive. We said goodbye to everyone and the three of us headed west back to Colorado. The bad part of day was Lynzee was sick and Mindy was starting to feel not so good. We called Mandee and she and Emory were not doing well, either. The next few days Mindy and Lynzee were home sick and I believe so were Mandee and Emory. So far Lydia and I have avoided the junk.

Food choices for the day:
Breakfast: Hotel in Des Moines, IA
Lunch: Apple-bee’s in North Platte, NE

Things That Would Have Made The Trip Nicer: