Becker's Blog

Kitchen Chronicles

2011-10-29T12:16:00.000-05:00

The Original Kitchen

It's been awhile since we have finished our kitchen but I though I would give a little chronicle of the process. Ever since I moved in our house about 7 years ago, I have wanted to tile the kitchen area. There is a hallway from the garage to the kitchen that is carpeted and just gets nasty with all the traffic. The kitchen is all infested with a pretty ugly type of lineoleum that has layers of caked in dirt. This stuff needed to go. You could say why did I not replace it years ago. It was not motivation, it was more about Rachael finding the right type of tile. Unfortunately or fortunately (in hindsight), she had bigger plans for the kitchen and wanted to update the whole kitchen including cabinets, countertops, and appliances (especially the microwave). Of course, after seeing the price tag of new cabinets, countertops, and appliances, Rachael and I had to compromise. We set a budget of $5000. So we found that we could not get new cabinets or no new appliances. We could however replace the backsplash, get new countertops, tile the floor, and at least paint the cabinets...and everything but the countertops had to be self installed. Let the process begin.

Tearing down the sheetrock

I don't know about y'all but when I have a project to do I just want to get it done. Rachael on the other hand has to be happy with the scheme. It took awhile (according to my timetable), to find the right countertop, backsplash, and tile that we agreed upone, that matched each other, and fit within our budget (I think Rachael's careful planning was well worth it). We were even able to get the countertop during a sale and we found a groupon at a tile store.

Rachael painting the cabinets

So we made an appointment for the installation of the countertop which required myself to remove the existing backsplash. I thought it just be a piece of cake in which I could just easily chisel them off the wall. Not the case. I ended up just tearing down the wall and putting up new sheetrock The one benefit was that we decided to put in a hidden outlet that is controlled by an existing light switch for cabinet lighting.

Countertops installed

During the sheetrock installation, Rachael got an idea to take off some of the cabinet doors to at least start painting the cabinets. I think Rachael had the idea just to do this in her leisure. Unfortunately, it gave her ultra-motivated, yet one-sighted husband the green light to paint the cabinets. Hell-week began and we hammered out those cabinets. We degreased, sanded, put on 1 coat primer and two coats white paint inside an out. We we able to finish just in time to have the countertops installed. Rachael's sister Becky visited at the time and graciously helped us out and put up with my stubbornness. I don't think we would have finished them without her...thanks Becky!

A Master Tiler

After painting the cabinets, we had to install the backsplash. I thought the backsplash was going to be one of the most difficult jobs, but we were able to put it up in a day (not grouted or sealed), and probably could have finished much sooner had we not been taking care of a very curious and energetic 1-year old. During the process, I discovered that Rachael is an excellent installer of tile. I just had to cut. We ended up finishing around 11:30 that night, after our new neighbor came by to complain about the excessive noise from the tile saw..oops. At least I was able to go finally meet him the next day and apologize. Rachael and I were able to finish the grout and sealer in the next few days which did not take long.

Backsplash

Amazing! The kitchen progress actually took less time than what my aggressive internal timetable was expecting. Other than the tile floor, we were finished most of the difficult work. Over the next few weeks we did the finishing touches of adding door hardware, cabinet lighting, caulking, and doing some touch-up painting. Now for the floor.

Everthing Finished but the Tile

Doing the floor would take some time...to pick the type of tile. We were, however able to find a groupon for a tile store and could get the tile as a substantial discount. The other issue was figuring out when to install the tile with a one-year old. Rachael had a idea to have her nieces down in TX and then return them to Nebraska a week later and stay in Nebraska for two weeks with Caleb. I did not have the vacation time and found that it would be the perfect time to tile the floor. I would have to tile kitchen, pantry, hallway, bathroom, and hall closet (around 450 sq ft). Not an easy job and definitely NOT a no brainer. I won't go into details, but I am happy with the way somethings turned out and not happy with other things. Most people who come see it are impressed, so maybe I am a perfectionist. I was not able to finish before Rachael made it home so it took about 3 weeks on nights and weekends which included installing shoe molding, caulking, painting and reinstalling the sink and toilet in the bathroom.

Installing the Tile

So you may ask, did we stay within budget? I think so. The countertops were $2600, the backsplash including grout, mortar, and tools were around $550, the paint, sandpaper, and degreaser were about $200, the tile floor (with groupon), grout, mortar, and shoe molding were around $1000. We also bought a new kitchen faucet and garbage disposal which cost about $325 and we bought some slideout shelving which cost around $300. This gives a grand total of $4975. I am sure there is some extra-miscellanous stuff that I forgot to take into account which probably took the total above the $5k mark, but hey not bad at all considering others end up spending way above $10k for the same updates.

All Done!!

In hindsight, there are things that we would do differently, but I think Rachael and I are well-pleased with the results and greatly enjoy the look of the new updates as well as the cabinet lighting, new faucet, deep-single sink, and the slide-out shelving.

You might ask what is the next project? Well after burning out Rachael and realizing that I had some issues with getting too focused on finishing a task and ignoring more important priorities like a son and a lovely wife, we have decided to take a break for awhile. Rachael and I signed a contract so that we will not do projects in 2012. Might be difficult, but I think we are up for the task.

The Quick Fix??

2011-10-01T23:46:00.003-05:00

This is a little rant based on my hesitation to use medications to provide relief for certain symptoms. I am talking about antibiotics for infections, cold medicines for the cold, sleeping pills for insomnia, the list can go on. My hesitation was increased when Caleb got an allergic reaction to an antibiotic (amoxicillin) for an ear infection last year. My question is that even if Caleb did not get a reaction would it have been better for his bodies natural defense mechanisms to fight off the infection and does the antibiotics actually suppress the bodies natural defenses and cause the body to be more susceptible to infections in the future? I am not sure.

This little rant has turned into a bigger question about our desire for a quick fix. This question can be directed our medical industry, economy, and even our police state. I will turn to the medical industry on the topic of drugs, but might write some other topics later on.

Furthering my discussion about antibiotics leads to the question about why medications are so popular. If a person goes to a doctor with some type of symptom or chronic problem, does it seem like medications seem to be the fix to the problem? I am only asking? Does the visit (other than the wait) seem to be rushed without a thorough analysis of the fundamental problem? For example, a person might have insomnia so a doctor might prescribe a sleeping pill without questioning whether the person drinks too much caffeine, does not exercise, etc. I see all these drug commercials with the promise to improve your life (provide that you don't suffer from the large number of side effects) but can these really deliver and are doctors just prescribing these just because a patient asks.

Do you see my point about a quick fix? So why is the quick fix for health so popular? Here are my thoughts (WARNING: CONSPIRACY THEORY)

A doctor is just trying to get the patient out the door and prescribing a drug is an easy answer. Why? Asking lifestyle questions takes too long (see footnote 1) and perhaps a patients is unwilling to change their unhealthy habits and will not budge until drugs are prescribed.
A patient just wants to relieve their problem without any lifestyle change. Exercising an eating right is not easy.
Money, Money, Money. Drug companies make a ton of money selling drugs. They market to the doctors (drug reps), patients (commercials), as well as the government (lobbyists) and they do a good job at it.
Sometimes the adverse effects of a drug are minimized (again see point 3- Money). These drug companies control advertisements (notice nice music over a peaceful backdrop while giving side affects) and sometimes has some keys ties to government officials (CDC) who will recommend certain drugs or require certain vaccines.

One issue with antibiotics, vaccines, and prescribed drugs is the possible side effects, suppression of the bodies natural defense mechanism, allergic reactions, reactions to other drug, and the long term effects of these drugs. No one knows the full effects of these drugs, because either it cannot fully be determined, or the drug has not been in the market long enough to see the effects. But is it less of a risk to take the drug, vaccine, or antibiotic rather than use natural methods??

Again, I am not an expert in this field but I believe this is a valid question. I admit that I am a little old fashioned and generally believe that toughing it out though a sickness is a better alternative, so I would love to hear your viewpoints on whether drugs are quick fix alternatives or a better alternative.

FOOTNOTES:
1. Our pediatrician for Caleb, although well recommended, tends to be a little busy. Rachael has visited many more times than myself, but in the three times that I have visited, our pediatrician has started the conversation with "Boy that last parent would not stop talking", insinuating that we should make this visit quick. That was just a sidenote. For our 2nd or 3rd visit (I can't remember) when we started seeing symptoms of eczema for Caleb, we asked the doctor about the symptoms and she just seemed to minimize the issue without looking at his skin or even asking about our history. It was not until the end of the very quick visit when Rachael, as an aside, commented about how my side of the family has had many cases of eczema. The doctors face lit up and she finally realized that we were serious. She almost had us out of the door, but realized that this was actually a case of eczema.

Leaving a Legacy

2011-01-13T16:59:00.001-06:00

Check out Rachael's new post!

Watch out!

2010-12-03T08:30:00.003-06:00

We think he'll be scooting by Christmas...

Caleb

2010-11-28T22:41:00.001-06:00

Mod Marquee Blue Baby Announcements

Find hundreds of elegant baby birth announcements at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Shelving

2010-09-23T10:42:00.001-05:00

Been a little busy the past few months, of course, with Rachael's and my beautiful son Caleb. He has been a lot of work but also a great joy. Rachael took a year off of work and brought all of her teaching material home and we needed storage. So, in the midst of trying to keep my job, while catching up on some sleep I was able to build some closet shelving and a built in bookshelf. Building the shelving and the built in bookshelf was pretty straight forward and I use MDF boards for the material. The time consuming part was caulking, puttying and painting the shelves. Rachael would have like a little more of my time during that process. Overall, this turned out fairly well, and I even was able to add crown moulding to all of the bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs. Also, I have to give a thanks to a coworker Jose who built the doors for me. Below are some pics of my process of making the built-in bookshelves.


Dead space - good candidate for a bookshelf

Bookshelf built - done with the easy part

Put up the rest of the crown molding. After caulking put on the primer

Done painting

Put on the doors

Painted the doors

Done!!

Toastmasters Speech #10 "Inspire Your Audience"

2010-09-07T17:58:00.000-05:00

Let your Yes be Yes and your No be No

Yesterday, I sat at the computer racking my brain on how to inspire the audience. I am not sure about you, but for me, it has always been difficult to choose a topic to speak about, and even more try to make it fit within the constraints of the Toastmaster speech. So, as I was sitting and thinking about how to inspire you guys....and the doorbell rang...another solicitor. This guy was trying to sell some coupons for something that I did not need from some store that I never heard of. This guy would just continue to talk and I could not get a word in. All that I could think about how to get rid of this guys and what excuse that I could make to have this guy leave. Finally, when I did say no, he asked why and I said I don’t want it. He continued to give his spiel about how I needed it...I said no...then he gave a spiel about how he was trying to make a living. Oh no, the trying to make a living guild trip...I say no...and he would not budge...finally I gave a forceful no and blatantly said that I don’t want the product. He finally left and I was thinking. What a pain? Why is it difficult for me to say no to others? Why is that others cannot respect my answer of a no? What a great idea for a speech. Today, fellow Toastmasters, I would like to inspire you to “Let your “Yes” be “Yes” and your “No” be “No”.

Let your Yes be Yes and your No be No. It is easy to say Yes to someone, but why is it so difficult to say no. There are some that won’t take no for an answer. They may use the guilt method by saying “to step up” or “what else do you have to do?”, and “Nobody else can do it”. If you are like me then you tend to assume responsibility for the situation just because the person asked even if the request is unreasonable. My advice is to set boundaries for yourself and learn to clearly communicate your boundaries.     How many of you have that friend who only calls when they need help, and they have that knack to get you to do something for them even if you don’t want to do it. I have that one friend, who only seems to call me when he needs a favor to which I have difficulty saying no. I have moved him 4 times in the last 5 years and he has tried to recruit me into his many pyramid schemes. I finally caught on. I wanted to help him out but sometimes he ropes me in to do more than I should, so Just recently he asked if I could help him move his shed to which I said yes with the stipulation that I only had 2 hours. I got to his place and I found that he was moving again. We moved the shed and he asked if I could move the rest of his stuff, to which I replied “No”, I only had 2 hours. That felt good and my friend clearly knew the boundaries that I had set.

Let your Yes be Yes and your No be No. Take time to consider the what you are asked. This keeps you from saying Yes under pressure. I have been trying to get in the habit and asking the person if I could think about their request before I give my answer. This allows me to seriously consider whether I want to say yes to the request, whether I have the capacity to say fulfill the request, and whether the request is valid. As a side note if they don’t allow for you to have the time then just say no and say that you were not give ample time to think about it. I was asked by a member from my church to fill a leadership role, to which I said I will need to think and pray about it and talk with my wife. Unfortunately, he said he needed my response now, so I said “NO”....He was taken aback and then conceded by saying that he would give me some time. I later thought about it and found that I would be able to do it.

Let your Yes be Yes and your No be No. How many of you are people pleasers like myself? It is difficult to say No because you feel like you are letting the other person down. How many feel that saying No could ruin your friendship or jeopardize your standing at work. Saying No could hurt someones feelings which might be true.   But sometimes we tend to let go of what is important to us in favor of what another person wants. This can cause us to take on more than we can handle and spread ourselves thin. We get burned out. Plus with saying yes to everything does not allow us to assess the value of the things we are asked. We are just being pressured into saying yes. I have a coworker that I work closely with on a project in years past. Since then, I have moved on to other projects and he is still supporting the old project and he comes to ask favors to support this old project, to which I have said yes. Of course, just recently I have been incredibly busy finishing a project and my coworker came needing another favor. I said I did not have the time to which he pressured me by saying that his project needed to be finished soon. I said let’s talk to our boss and he stopped asking me. Of course, at first he was not happy about it and did not talk to me for a few days, but since then he has got over it.

Let your Yes be Yes and your No be No. A good way to be good at saying “No” is to find what you want to say Yes to in life. Setting priorities is a good way to find those things that will fit into your life, and those that cannot. For instance, if you want to have more time with you family then say no to those things that keep you away from home. If you need to exercise, make it a point to say no to things that keep you from exercising. My Achilles heel is pushy solicitors. They have a product they are selling or they are asking for donations for a non-profit organization, or a panhandler asks for money, and it is difficult for me to say no. So, I had to have a list, which is very short, of things I would say yes to when approached. For instance, I will decline giving money to a panhandler but will definitely buy them a bite to eat. I will say yes to girl scout cookies, but will decline every other product or non-profit organization. The point is to accept those things that you would want to give a resounding “Yes”.

Let your Yes be Yes and your No be No. Now that I have explained a little about why it is difficult to say no. I just wanted to discuss a little bit about taking serious consideration about saying yes and making commitments. As I said before, it is easy to say Yes, the hard part is actually fulfilling your promise.   It could be said flippantly. The point that I am trying to make is to seriously consider what you are saying “yes” to. If you say “yes” are you able to fulfill that commitment? Sometimes the commitment might have been more difficult than you thought. Do your best to to fulfill you commitments to the best of your ability. Just this weekend, as I was banging my head trying to write a speech, the thought of not doing the speech did come up, but, I thought, I signed up for it so I better make sure that I do it. So let your yes be yes.

In conclusion, we all lead hectic lives. We juggle between family, friends, our jobs, our hobbies, and our never ending to-do lists. Even in Toastmasters with filling of roles, officer training, speech contests, district conferences there are more activities and events that we can handle. . We can’t do everything so we have to learn to say no. We have to set clear boundaries, we have to give ourselves time to think about making commitments, we can’t please everyone, we have to prioritize and find that yes, and we have to fulfill the commitments that we said yes to. This allows us to let our yes be yes and our no be no.

Mistakes

2010-07-16T10:54:00.000-05:00

New post on Rachael's blog. Check it out here.

Tube Socks and Juice Boxes

2010-07-14T17:02:00.001-05:00

New post on Rachael's blog. View it here.

One Month

2010-07-12T16:01:00.000-05:00

New post on Rachael's blog. Check it out here.

Welcome Caleb Matthew Becker

2010-06-10T20:54:00.000-05:00

It happened on a dark a stormy morning in Austin. The thunder and lightning woke both Rachael and I, although Rachael might have been woken up by more pressing issues...regular contractions. It was June 9th at 3am and Rachael was starting to go into labor. So we headed to the hospital to have a little baby, and that is what occurred. At 4:40 pm, we welcomed Caleb Matthew Becker to the world. He weighed in at 6 lbs 9 oz with a length of 19 and 3/4 inches. The nurses thought he was such a handsome little guy. I must agree. Rachael did such a wonderful job and pushed with all her might in great anticipation to see the guy who has been kicking her from inside. We were able to see the amazing miracle of birth and the precious child that the Lord God "fearfully and wonderfully made"....Now comes the hard part....

Why I Believe in God

2010-06-08T10:43:00.001-05:00

Rachael made a new post on her blog. Check it out here.

Rachael is blogging again!

2010-06-01T13:40:00.001-05:00

Rachael put up a new post on her blog. Check it out here.

Toastmasters Speech #9 "Persuade with Power"

2010-05-18T21:25:00.002-05:00

I Am Entitled

About 3 years ago my wife and I went to East Austin to help with a group called Mission Possible who ministers and empowers the poor and homeless. We helped clean up some buildings, aided in projects for low income families, and we gave food to the homeless. It was an eye opening experience and changed my perspective about the poor. I can remember many things, but the thing I most remember is talking to the Mission Possible director and asking him what was one of the most difficult challenges that he sees when trying to help the poor. He said it was government entitlements like welfare and medicaid. He said he tries to help the poor become productive, but most do not want a job or job training because they would rather collect government entitlements. It opened my eyes to some of the shortfalls of entitlements. So this brings up the popular question. Do entitlements help those in need or do they create a life-long dependency? Everyone agrees that there are needy people that cannot sustain themselves with the burden of children, disabilities, and unfortunate circumstances but are government entitlement programs the answer?   Today, I would like to discuss this debate and attempt to convince you about why entitlements in the U.S. are problematic.

My first reason that entitlements in the U.S. are problematic is that it causes a visious cycle of dependance on welfare. As the director of mission possible explained, those who are recieving government entitlements don't want to work. He also explained that those who depend on entitlements teach their children to depend on entitlements instead on teaching personal responsibility. Why would a person work if they were given entitlements for free? This dependency on welfare fails to teach able bodied cititizens how to improve their own condition.

My second reason that entitlements in the U.S. are problematic is because of the abuses of the entitlement systems. How many have ever seen a person paying with food stamps who is wearing expensive clothes driving away in an expensive SUV? Now, it is difficult to tell how frequently this occurs, but does it seem like that person needs government entitlements? There are some entitlements that are going to people who find loopholes in the system. How many of you have heard stories of single mothers living with their partners who have many children just to get welfare checks. Or how about the many abuses of the medicaid and medicare systems by the health providers and patients. The FBI conservatively estimates that over 10% of medicaid is lost to fraud. Some examples of medicaid abuse reported by the General Accountabilty Office are
•    doctors billing for over 24 hours of work
•    phony companies invoicing for phantom services
•    pharmacists filling prescriptions for dead patients
•    prescriptions written by dead physicians
•    home health-care companies demanding payment for treating clients who are actually in the hospital
This oversight with entitlements is rampant and it is difficult for large government entities to keep track of where the money goes.

Thirdly, government entitlements cause a social divide between those who work and pay taxes and those who depend on entitlements. Remember the person paying with food stamps driving away in an SUV? It can be frustrating if you are paying into a system that is supposed to help the poor yet you see this abuse. It can also be frustrating when those who are able to work choose not to because they would rather recieve entitlements. Because of this abuse of the system, my natural inclination is to look at an entitlement recepient with disdain. You can see how this can foster resentment between the working class and the poor.

Fourthly, to me the main problem with entitlements is that it is unsustainable. This table shows the US federal, state and local government expenditures on entitlements which includes welfare, social security, and medicare/medicaid. Not to overwhelm you with too many numbers, but we can see from this table that since 1970 the percentage of total governement spending on entitlements has increased from 37% to over 77% of total government spending. This trend cannot be sustained. Governor Schwarzenegger is learning this firsthand with a $19 billion budget shortfall in CA in which he had to make some difficult decisions and proposed to reduce entitlement spending. To me, this is just the beginning of budget shortfalls due to the burden of funding entitlements.

Finally, with all my arguments against entitlements, a person may ask what about those who are helpless like the disabled, injured, the single mothers? What would happen if we ended entitlements?   They may say, isn't it our moral obligation to help those in need? To that answer I say yes, but is it the governments responsibility to force taxpayers into that system, or would it be better to have a system where people actually have the choice to give to a reputable charity? Before entitlements, churches and charities were able to give local hand's on care for poor people and could more easily distinguish those who had a real need. To those who say it is a moral obligation then give time and money to charities who help the poor. Simple as that.

In conclusion, I have given you my reason for why the entitlement system in the US is problematic. I have explained the problems of dependency on the system, the abuse of the system, the resentment that can occur between taxpayers and those who are unwilling to work. I have also explained how the funding US entitlements is becoming more and more unsustainable. We can all agree that we should care for the poor and the destitute, but the methods to help them have been and will continue to be debated. In my opinion, help for the poor should not be mandated by a large government system but rather a local charity or church who can personally care for the needy.

Overblown Politics

2010-05-05T21:36:00.002-05:00

You gotta love to so-called pundits Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and now President Obama. They have condemned this Arizona Law (SB 1070) that allows enforcement officers to ask for immigration documents if there is "reasonable suspicion". They call it "misguided", "prejudice", and "irresponsible". There have been huge rallies across the US condemning the AZ law and many are organizing boycotts of travel to Arizona.

The thing that baffles me is that the requirement for an immigrant to carry papers is already a federal law. Follow this link and turn to page 8. In addition, look at US Code - Section 1304 : Forms for registration and fingerprinting. Subsection (e) says:

(e) Personal possession of registration or receipt card; penalties. Every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. Any alien who fails to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction for each offense be fined not to exceed $100 or be imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.

It is a federal requirement for a legal alien to carry their papers. If an enforcement officer ask for your papers that you are required to carry then everything is fine. Of course, if you never had papers then you are here illegally. You broke the law. What is the problem with this AZ law?

I am tired of the overblown politics that occur. It is just another political ploy. Don't get me wrong, I care for these people, but a law must be enforced. A United States without borders is not sustainable and must be controlled.

I would love to hear your opinion.

Blogger Templates

2010-03-27T13:08:00.002-05:00

I found that blogspot has a new utility to update the look and feel of your blog at

Blogger Template Designer

For the next few weeks you might be seeing some updates to the style and look of the page. Let me know if there are any that you like.

Toastmasters Speech #8 "Get Comfortable with Visual Aids"

2010-03-24T20:55:00.013-05:00

Microprocessors

How many have heard of microprocessors? What do you think about when you hear the term? Do you think about computers like a Dell or Apple? Of course. How about an iPhone or a cell phone or an Xbox? Ok, I can see that. What about an engine controller or a washing machine or a coffee maker? Wait a second. Microprocessors are widespread. Most electronics contains some form of a microprocessor, which is the central brain or processing unit of the device. So, why are microprocessors so widespread and used in such a wide variety of applications? How does a microprocessor work and how does it process the data? Today, I would like to answer some of these questions as I explain the history of the microprocessor, the architecture of the microprocessor, and a simple example of how microprocessors work.

Before the microprocessor was invented, most fabricated digital circuits were custom made for only one purpose. It could only perform a specific function and could not be used for anything else, you could not reprogram it and it was difficult to make updates to the hardware. This resulted in a long development cycle. That is when in 1969 an Intel employee named Ted Hoff, invented a general purpose device called a microprocessor that could be easily programmable. This allowed companies to have a much quicker development cycle in which they only had to develop software for an already available microprocessor and easily make edits to the program or software for quick enhancements or fixes.

So we know why we need microprocessors, but know we want to know what is inside a microprocessor? This right (pic 1) here is an simplified diagram of a microprocessor. It consists of an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) which performs addition and subtraction, an instruction fetcher and instruction decoder, registers to locally store data, and a memory interface to store data and the instructions. When a computer first strarts up, a program is stored in memory and the instruction fetcher will grab the first instruction from memory. This instruction is passed on to the instruction decode to determine the operation. Basically, the instruction decode can perform 3 operations; add or subtract using the ALU (Arithmetic/Logic Unit), move data from one memory location to another, or make a decision and jump to a new set of instructions. This is the basic architecture of a microprocessor.

How many of you have ever heard of binary code? It is just basically 1's and 0's. Now how many of you can read this (pic2)? I can't either. Thank goodness a microprocessor can. What this represents is a set of instructions that simple microprocessor can read. Of course no one else can, but using the following tables we can decode exactly what the microprocessor is instructed to do. Now if you feel a little overwhelmed by this table, that is OK, this is only here for reference. From this table (pic3) we can see, for example, the instruction ADD gets mapped to the binary value 10. You can also see from the next table (pic4) that a register and a memory location is also mapped to a binary value. Using these tables we can encode an instruction to add of register A and register B (pic5). Building on that example, (pic6) we are able to decipher the binary code that I showed you before. This shows that the microprocessor is instructed to load the contents of memory 1 to register A, and load the contents of memory2 to register B, Add register A and register B and put the result in register A. Then finally store the value of register A into memory3. Congratulations, you just finished your first software program.

In conclusion, I have given you an overview of the history and operation of the microprocessor. We have seen why microprocessors are necessary for quick development and can support of a variety of applications, and we have seen a simple example of how a microprocessor works. When Ted Hoff invented the microprocessor, little did he know the impact that microprocessor would have on the world the next 40 years, and now it would be difficult to imagine a life without microprocessors.

Do Not Try This at Home

2010-02-08T18:22:00.005-06:00

Disclaimer: This is Rachael's first actual post on this blog, and if it forshadows events to come, let's hope we're all out of the way...

So here I was, perusing the fridge after a long day of work. Matt wouldn't be home for awhile, and I was hungry. Not wanting to really spend that much time on dinner, I decided to make myself a salad-delicious and healthy. Of course, I thought, I should have some protein. Too bad I forgot to buy any meat at the store on Saturday. It sure would be nice if I had some eggs boiled.

Well, why not? I decided that since I didn't want to spend 30 minutes cooking a whole pot of eggs, I could make my tummy happy and just do one in the microwave in 5 minutes. I mean, I've boiled water in there before. I got a small glass measuring cup, put the egg in the bottom, and covered it with water. Then, I set the container in the microwave to boil.

Just about the time I was arranging the leaves in my bowl, an explosion erupted from the microwave, and it automatically shut off. Realizing my egg has just been blasted to smithereens, I opened the door, hoping that at least the glass didn't shatter. Bits of water and egg guts dripped from the microwave ceiling and oozed their way out the front and onto the stove. Gross.

Needless to say, boiling an egg in the microwave apparently does not work. Who knew??? It was, however, curious to find actual chunks of cooked egg floating on the tray. I thought about eating these, but quickly came to my senses and threw them out. 20 minutes and a whole roll of paper towels later, my microwave actually looks clean, and it still works. Darn.

I sit here now, munching on my tasty, eggless salad (though I did find some nuts in the pantry for protein). Next time I think I will opt for Ramen instead.

Toastmasters Speech #7 "Research Your Topic"

2010-01-26T21:23:00.002-06:00

Haiti

As many of you know, on Jan. 12, 2010 the nation of Haiti suffered through an earthquake with a magnitude 7.0 on the Richter scale. This earthquake basically destroyed the city of Port au Prince leaving an estimated 150,000 people dead. My wife and I were particularly interested because we sponsor a 13 year old Haitian girl name Lossile Joseph, with whom we have been corresponding for the last 5 years. Even though, we sponsor Lossile, I have to admit that I know little about the culture and history of Haiti, so I thought what better opportunity to learn about Haiti than by giving a Toastmasters speech. As I was doing research about Haiti, I kept asking the question “Why is Haiti so poor?” So today, I would like to answer that question as I take you through the history of Haiti, during the first recorded settlement, the slave revolution, and finally the condition of Haiti after the slave revolution.

The First recorded history of Haiti, started in 1492 when the Spaniard Columbus “sailed the ocean blue” and landed on the island of Hispanola. The Spanish colonized on Hispanola migrating to the Eastern side of the island which is present day Dominican Republic. Around 1697, the French also had interests and settled on the western side naming the colony, Saint-Dominique, which is present day Haiti. Because the land was so fertile, the French eventually started plantations which grew sugar, coffee, tobacco, and cocoa and needed laborers to work. Therefore, hundreds of thousands of slaves were imported from Africa and literally worked to death. At the height of production near the end of the 18th century, Haiti produced 40% to 60% of Europe’s sugar and coffee. This was a highly profitable business for the French, but it was at the expense of many African slaves lives.

This brings us to the slave revolution. In 1791, during the time of the French revolution, word of the French revolution got to the slaves in Haiti, and over 480,000 slaves rebelled against the French colonists. History Professor Natasha Lightfoot of Columbia University estimated that the slaves outnumbered the colonists 10 to 1. This revolt was lead by General Toussaint Louverture that eventually turned into a 13 year war ending with a last unsuccessful effort by France’s Napoleon to stop the revolt. The war ended on January 1, 1804 when General Jean-Jacques Dessalines declared the nation to be no longer Saint-Dominique but Haiti. It was the first and only successful slave revolution. An interesting side note was pointed out by CBS correspondent Anthony Mason about the new Haitian flag, “Its new flag was derived from the French tricolor, which was turned on its side - and the white stripe symbolically stripped off.”

Unfortunately, the years that followed after the independence of Haiti did not see the same prosperity as before. The French felt their land was stolen and demanded reparations before they would trade with Haiti. Other European countries and the US joined France’s boycott to Haiti mainly due to the downright prejudice. Another possible reason the US did not trade with Haiti was stated by Professor Page of Miami University, “After they became independent, they ended up in a situation where – number one – they were considered a threat by the entire rest of the region because the rest of the region, especially the United States, owned slaves. A slave rebellion is not a good thing to have so close to a nation that owned several million slaves of their own.” Haiti was not even able to begin trade with the rest of the world until 1838, and this was at a high price. This restriction of trade devastated Haiti. Haiti was also plagued by an unstable government and numerous despotic heads of states, which ruthlessly ravaged the people and the resources of the country. Haiti could never recover and may never recover because according to Professor Page 80%-90% of Haiti is illiterate and is unable to neither innovate nor attract industries. This is why Haiti is so poor.

In conclusion, I have given you a brief history of the nation of Haiti and because of the harsh treatment of the Haitian people before and after the slave revolt, what we have left is a predominately poor nation. Lately, there have been many futile attempts to get Haiti prosperous, but all attempts have failed, probably due to ulterior motives or probably due to an underestimate of the true scope of the problem. The earthquake in Haiti was a tragedy, but out of this tragedy can be optimism. More Americans and the rest of the world are being educated about the economic climate in Haiti and we can only hope that action can come because of this interest.

Yo Adrian!

2010-01-18T19:59:00.011-06:00

Today we were able to witness "Rocky Balboa" Becker's first boxing practice as he was punching his fists back and forth. He weighs in at a healthy 10 oz. and will be competing in the lightweight division. "Rocky's" record is 0-0 and his first fight is scheduled on June 11, 2010.

If you haven't guessed, Rachael and I had the official ultrasound and will be having a BOY! The lady doing the ultrasound said he was very active and was moving his arms back and forth like a boxer. So, I believe his name should be "Rocky Balboa" Becker. Rachael has not fully agreed to the name but I hope that she will warm up to the idea.

Thanks for your prayers!

NYC

2009-12-29T10:23:00.027-06:00

So Rachael and I went to New York City and stayed in Manhattan this Christmas. It was a chance for us to get away and go someplace where we have never gone before. We planned for the trip to be from Dec. 20th to Dec. 25th, but a blizzard in the Northeast caused our flights to be shifted from Dec. 22nd to Dec. 28th. It was too bad because we had Dave Letterman tickets for the Dec 21st show. Thank goodness the Doubletree hotel shifted our reservation and even gave us a free night!

So we made it into the Newark airport late Tuesday night on Dec. 22nd and we were a little worried about the train system during the late night so we took a cab to Manhattan. The quote for the cab ride was around $60 to get us to the hotel in Manhattan, but little did I know that I would also have to pay for the toll (both ways) which added up to $85. Welcome to New York. Suddenly, a train ride at night seems a little more appealing.

For our first day we headed to Time Square to buy some Broadway tickets. We found a TKTS booth and found some Orchestra tickets (16 rows back) for Mary Poppins for $60 a piece. Not bad. It was a great show. The set was amazing and of course the songs and performances was superb. If you make it to Manhattan, you have to watch a Broadway show. After the show, we went around the Midtown area and visited Rockefeller center, the Empire State building, and Macy's.

The second day we headed uptown to see the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) . We quickly figured out that you are required to make a donation to gain admission, so you can donate from $1 to the recommended $20 and beyond. We donated $10. The MET is an huge art museum with an impressive collection of art. We visited the Egyptian art, American art, and the art of the impressionists that had many Monet's, Van Gogh's, Manet's, and Degas. We then walked across Central Park and headed for the Museum of Natural History, which is the place were they filmed Night at the Mu seum. This museum is a great place to take kids, but I got a little bored. I did enjoy the planetarium though. I noticed that the theory of evolution was strictly taught in this museum. There was even a short video that defended the validity of evolution and how everything makes sense because of it. Their defense of it didn't make sense to me. After the museums we headed back to the hotel with quick stop at 5th Avenue to see all of the shops that we can't afford (Tiffany's, FAO Schwartz, Apple, Saks).

The third day was Christmas and we woke up early to see if we could get on the Today show at Rockefeller plaza only to see that they were not filming that day. We almost did a double take when we got back to our room to watch the Today show with all the regulars and they said it was Christmas. What a crock! After that, we headed down south to the Statue of Liberty only to find that the ferry was closed, so we walked a few blocks to Wall Street to find where all of the stimulus and bailout money ended up. Wall Street was an interesting area. All of the buildings were built very close together at a time when building codes in that area were a little more relaxed. Next to Wall Street is the famous Trinity Church which is well known if you happened to see the movie National Treasure. Rachael and I stopped by Ground Zero and then headed back to midtown to walk around for awhile.

The fourth day we headed down to the SoHo to visit an Artisan Market, only to find that it was fairly lame. So, we headed to Little Italy to a famous pizza place, Lombardi's, for some good pizza. We walked around the Little Italy, Chinatown area just to get a feel for the area. The Little Italy district was amusing as every restaurateur was a little pushy and would try to lead us into their door when we walked by. After that, we headed back to the Statue of Liberty and took the ferry to the island. I found that I bought the wrong tickets and we could not enter the base of the statue. Oh well. The weather was rainy and cold and I think that Rachael and I were ready to get back to the hotel.

The last day we met up with some friends from Boston who happened to be visiting Manhattan. They were a little more experienced with Manhattan and took us around town. It was a fun day. We started the day by visiting Redeemer Presbyterian at Hunter College to get an a very clear discourse on James 2 about "Faith without deeds is dead". We then walked to the Guggenheim Museum to see the special exhibit of Wassily Kandinsky who is said to be the father of abstract art. From there we walked around Central Park and then headed down to Chelsea to wait in line for some free tickets to the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater to an late Sunday night improv show in a dirty old basement. The interesting thing about it is that some known comedians were performing including Horatio Sanz, a SNL alumni, Bobby Moynihan, a current SNL cast member, and Lennon Parha m, who is a cast member on the CBS sitcom Accidentally on Purpose. It was a fun to at least go to the spots that tourists (like me) barely frequent.

The next day (Monday Dec. 28th) we headed home (taking the cheaper train to the airport) and said goodbye to NYC.

Overall, this was a fun trip . The landmarks and buildings are spectacular and it is one of the main epicenters of art, business and culture. It was great to see all of the well known sites and get a taste of Manhattan. On the other hand, Manhattan stresses me out. It is too crowded, very impersonal, and too expensive. I think if I ever visit again, I would steer away from the well known and overcrowded Midtown and the Wall street districts and visit either the Uptown areas or the Chelsea and Greenwich districts.

Observations of Manhattan:

Manhattan is expensive. It seemed that the food was twice the price no matter where you went. Or perhaps it was because we were in Midtown. There are places where you can get a good meal for a decent price, you just got to look for it.

People are not very friendly in Manhattan. The cashiers were usually impatient, they were not very helpful, and it seemed as if they were just trying to rip me off. We hit most of the tourist spots so it was fairly crowded and perhaps they just had to keep the line moving. I guess I am used to southern hospitality in Austin.

Probably more that half of the people around us were speaking a different language. Again we were in the tourist section, but after awhile I was surprised when I heard someone speaking English.

The subway system is great! We were able to get just about anywhere in Manhattan using the subway. It might be easier to take a cab but it is a lot cheaper to take the subway.

Manhattan is dirty. The subways are great but the stairs and waiting areas are caked with filth and muck. I am not a germaphobe, but still, I would not recommend touching anything. If you look closely in the sewers and lower tracks you can see rats and mice.

Central Park is beautiful and very well done. I had a chance to take a morning run around the park to the well known spots. Only until the last day did I find the well known bridges, fountains, etc. in the southern end of the park.

I don't think I would last in NYC. I am a little timid and tend to be a too nice. It seems that you have to be a little pushy and rude just to survive. You have think on your toes and you have to call a scam for what it is. Just be prepared.

Watch Out!

2009-12-14T12:24:00.004-06:00

Another Becker will soon be gracing those around us coming around June 11th, 2010. If you have not guessed it, Rachael is pregnant. We will find out if it is a boy or girl this January. As of December 14th, Rachael is in her 14th week and will be excited once the morning sickness subsides. Why do they call it morning sickness? I think it should be morning, afternoon, evening, night, weekends, weekday, holiday, worktime sickness.

Rachael and I are very excited and a little nervous. We feel blessed to be able to bring a life (that God gave us) into this world, but are a little apprehensive about whether the baby will be healthy, whether we will be good parents, and whether we will have jobs in this fickle economy.

If you have any advice that has been helpful, please let us know. Merry Christmas!

The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin

2009-11-25T12:23:00.007-06:00

With today's economic turmoil and near collapse of the banking system you have to ask yourself a) Why does the government continue to bailout the banks and their high risk schemes and b) how is it that a bank or investment firms can receive a bailout and less than a year later give out $20 billion in bonuses? After reading "The Creature from Jekyll Island - A Second Look at the Federal Reserve" by G. Edward Griffin, I can easily see why. This book is probably as lengthy and informative as a college textbook, but not as boring. It reads like an adventure through history and uncovers little known scandals that have occurred in the U.S. and the world during man's pursuit or gluttony for money and power.

This book gives a thorough explanation of the history of banking and finance, it give clear definitions and examples the terms of fractional-reserve banking, fiat money, inflation, assets, liabilities, etc. After understanding this, G. Edward Griffin follows the trail that led to the establishment of the Federal Reserve. He doesn't stop there. G. Edward Griffin clearly explains the thought behind the Federal Reserve and how it steals from the pockets of honest American workers and feeds the big banking industry...the same industry who pulled the right strings to put the Federal Reserve in place.

This book explains how putting the monetary policy in just a few hands caused the boom-bust cycles, wars, depressions, etc. It explains how big banks can easily survive and profit from the loss of others and will continue to do so. It explains how the U.S. is being destroyed by the hidden tax of inflation.

I warn you that this book will make you angry. You will never trust a banker or a politician again.

Health Care Bill Reading

2009-11-19T22:15:00.002-06:00

This is an interesting article about how some Republicans have asked for the entire health care bill to be read...all 2074 pages. Apparently this is according to strict Senate rules.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/19/health-bill-could-get-34-hour-reading-senate/

Can you imagine if they chose someone like Ben Stein to read this?

Penalties!!?#@?

2009-11-07T19:58:00.003-06:00

I am watching the Nebraska vs. OU game while I am writing this. This is my outlet as I am extremely frustrated with the number of penalties by the Nebraska offense and special teams. I think I saw 4 penalties in 7 plays. I am just fuming. This has been a reoccuring theme...see NU vs. Va Tech. Why can't the Nebraska coaches and players learn from their mistakes??

On a similar note...I went to the Nebraska vs. Baylor game last week and was completely amused by the personal foul given to Ndamukong Suh for tackling the Baylor quarterback. The call was charged to #95 (Pierre Allen) of Nebraska for roughing the passer after the play was dead, even though Suh was the one who tackled the quarterback before the whistle was blown. Good call ref. I think they have never seen a quarterback thrown down like that and had to make up something.

I feel better now.

Toastmasters Speech #6 "Vocal Variety"

2009-10-28T15:03:00.003-05:00

The Monster From Jekyll Island

It began one dark and scary night in the year 1913 on Jekyll Island. Seven very powerful bankers had a secret meeting and set out to devise a scheme to create a monster. Now, you ask yourself, why would these bankers create this monster? Do these men want to hurt others? Well no, in a sense, but these bankers are willing to sacrifice others if they can gain more power and money. The bankers created a monster that is so deceptive that it deceived the US government to accept it. This monster is so cunning that it can burden, and effectively tax the US workers without their knowledge. This monster is alive today and affects all of us. Now, you may ask, what is this monster? I will tell you, but first I must say that this monster is so powerful that it can control many of the banking systems in the US. It is the Federal Reserve. Today, I will explain why the Federal Reserve is such a monster.

First, the Federal Reserve is such a monster because it leeches off hard earned money of the US taxpayers without their knowledge with the hidden tax of inflation. It does this with its magic powers that can make money out of nothing. The Federal Reserve is able to create money, which increases the money supply and causes all of the money as a whole to become devalued, which causes inflation. You might ask yourself, is the Federal Reserve counterfeiting? Yes, but it is perfectly legal. The US government backs the money created by the Federal Reserve as legal tender and it is illegal for anyone to reject the currency created by the Federal Reserve.

Second, the Federal Reserve is a monster because it effectively supports the banking industries risky behavior. The men at Jekyll Island created this central Federal Reserve in order that they could loan out this created money with minimal risk. Before the Federal Reserve, the banks could only loan out as much as they had in deposits. With the Federal Reserve, the loans are not made with deposits but money created out of thin air. Banks can loan the money, collect the interest, and minimal deposits are required, thus taking away most of the risk. Even more scary, is the fact that if many of the loans went default, the government would just bail out the bank if it was deemed “Too big to Fail”…leaving smaller banks on their own. This only encourages bigger banks to give out more loans, yes even risky, high interest loans, with the knowledge that the Federal Reserve will bail them out when they fail.

The final and most frightening part of the Federal Reserve is that it is almost impossible to kill. It affects all of us. Most of the money used today is based on credit supplied by the Federal Reserve. We have credit card loans, car loans, and house loans. Even the US politicians feed off it. The US government controls the Federal Reserve and anytime it needs money, then the Federal Reserve prints it. It gives politicians the power to deceptively tax US citizens without their knowledge. This allows US politicians to fund their special projects, social programs, and stimulus projects to keep their constituents happy, so they can continue to get reelected. The politicians would never remove the monster of the Federal Reserve that helps their career.

Now, I would like to tell you that this is just another scary story. Oh no, no, this perhaps might be the scariest story… because the monster still exists. The Federal Reserve feeds off unsuspecting US citizens with the hidden tax of inflation. It encourages big banks to continue in risky behavior knowing that the Federal Reserve will bail them out. Last of all, the monster of the Federal Reserve cannot be stopped, because the very government that can end it loves to feed off of it.

Go for a repeat!

2009-10-09T07:33:00.009-05:00

President Barack Obama has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Committee explained that he won the award because of his "international efforts to strengthen diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".

Is anybody as surprised as I am about this? It would great if my first response was congratulations, but when I heard this, I could not think of any concrete things that President Obama actually did, except "open dialogue". Does having talks about nuclear disarmament or having talks with the Middle East constitute a good reason for President Obama to win this (formerly) prestigious award?

I am getting tired of this "love affair" that the media has with President Obama. He is just a man. President Obama has high aspirations for a better world, just as any 3rd grade student does, and I commend him for it, but having these aspirations versus actually achieving them are two different things. Giving the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama seems a little premature and (in my opinion) somewhat taints or devalues the award. I feel that out of the list of more than 200 candidates, there has to be someone more deserverving, who has sacrificed time and money for peaceful causes.

Perhaps the Nobel committee should save time in the coming years and just give President Obama the award for the next 3 years for what he aspires to do. Oh, and did you hear, President Obama has just been added to the list of candidates for the Heisman Trophy.

Fuel Pump Went Out

2009-09-26T15:50:00.010-05:00

Rachael called me on Tuesday night from the Hill Country Galleria, which happens to be 10-15 miles away. She said the car was not working. This was the same car, a 97 Eagle Vision, that we tried to trade in as a clunker. Being a little frustrated or worried about what to do with the car, I was a little short with Rachael when I went to the Galleria (Sorry Rachael). Not knowing exactly what was wrong with the car, I had the car towed to a Dodge dealership.

The next day the service department called and said the fuel pump went out. The total cost to fix it was $800 ($400 for the part, $400 for labor) What!!! Why so much? I declined. I would fix it myself. After about 10 minutes of research, I found that the part at the part store was less than $200 and the total time to replace the fuel pump was 20 minutes to an hour. Of course, it took me a bit longer.

Regardless of how long it took me, I asked the question; why must mechanics charge so much for parts and labor? I was quoted $400 for labor for a job that takes less than an hour? A part is charged to the customer for 2x the market price when they probably get the part at discount. Some may say there are overhead charges, etc, and I don't mind paying a little extra, but $600 extra? I definitely would have considered having them do the job if it was $400 and even perhaps $500, but $800?

Nowadays, with the Internet, the customer has the advantage to research pricing and to determine if a job could be easily done without having to pay exhorbant prices at the mechanic. I have taken advantage of the Dodge Forum, where I have received free advice from many experts and it has saved me more than $1000. It has allowed me to have some knowledge about the true cost of the job to determine if I am getting ripped off.

So I ask you...Do you have the same distrust of mechanics? Are the price markups by mechanics warranted or do they sometimes take advantage of customers with little knowledge or customers that have no choice? Do you guys shop around to determine the exact cost for labor and parts? I would love to hear your thoughts.

ADDENDUM (10/5/2009): Eagle Vision appeared to break down again for Rachael on Saturday. This time it was only two miles from our house. I thought it was the fuel pump again, so I took out the fuel pump that I recently installed, sliced my finger bad (not part of the instructions), and took the fuel pump back to O'Reilly's to exchange for a new one. While installing the new pump I looked inside the gas tank and noticed that the tank was bone dry. Rachael ran out of gas. The fuel pump has a float on it which is an indicator of how much gas there is. I had the fuel pump turned the wrong way and the gas gauge was always indicating that it had a half a tank. Funny!

Door to Door Salesman

2009-09-24T12:45:00.006-05:00

Just this week there was a young man who came to our door who claimed that he lived in the neighborhood and explained that he was doing a college assignment to work on his presentation skills. After about a 5 minute spiel about how he was trying to collect presentation points from neighbors to go on a trip to Europe, he pulled out the magazine list. Ugh! I assumed that after that long winded dissertation that he would pull out a list of magazines and there it was. The dreaded list of obscure and unwanted magazines that cost 4x the price. The first thing I did was halfheartedly glaze over the unending list of food and baby magazines as I was trying to figure out what to say to get rid of this guy. I finally said "No" and the guy said "Come on" and I gave him $13 cash to get him to leave.

These guys usually come at a time that is inconvenient. They are selling something that you don't want. I am not sure if he is who he says he is? Is it a scam? It is hard to say NO to them.

What the heck am I supposed to do?

Should I ask right at the beginning if he or she is selling magazines?
Should I require the person to hear my 10 minute life story before I purchase a magazine?
Should I not even answer the door and tell the person to leave?

I don't want to be mean but I also do not want to purchase a magazine out of guilt. I am also not sure if it is a scam. I am trying to figure out a game plan for the next time they show up at my door. I would love to hear what everyone else does. Let me know...

Hear The Bill

2009-09-09T20:09:00.010-05:00

I just found the solution to many of our problems. (Just follow the link, www.hearthebill.org, and play the audio.) This recording is a great tool to use for sleep deprivation. This audio is the highly secretive and very controversial enhanced torture technique used in Gitmo. If used in the prison systems, it has been known to deter prisoners from future crimes. It has even been used as an abrasive cleaner.

Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor

2009-09-03T19:35:00.017-05:00

"Men are God's method. The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men..." (E. M. Bounds). Hudson Taylor was just that man. He was the first Westerner to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to inland China. The book, Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret written by his son and daughter-in-law, gives a biographical account of the life of Hudson Taylor and how he leaned on the supernatural power of God and His promises in the midst of trials, suffering, and tremendous barriers.

This book begins in the year 1849 with 17-year old Hudson's Taylor's beginning of faith in Jesus after reading his father's book "The Finished work of Christ". Not long after, he was burdened to go to the vast land of China, full of people who have never had the opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus. This book ends with a flourishing mission (China Inland Mission) with over 1000 missionaries that was guided by the principle to never solicit funds or workers and trust that God would provide the workers and the finances to do His work. Hudson Taylor rested in God's promises and patiently waited for God to act even when the bank account was empty and no workers were to be found.

I was deeply influenced by this book. To read about this man, who laid it all down for God and had faith that God would provide, was eye opening. I realized that I just don't get it. I am too influenced by the world and have faith in a bank account, in health, and in a career that could be gone in an instant. These are not guaranteed. But Hudson Taylor knew there was one guarantee; The Creator and Orchestrator of all.

Overall, this is a great read. Although this book was sometimes difficult to follow, it was amazing to hear about Hudson Taylor's intimacy with God and his never-ending love for the Chinese people.

And Who Is My Neighbor?

2009-08-23T10:02:00.006-05:00

How many are familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan? In the passage, An expert of the Jewish law (lawyer) asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life. Jesus responded by asking the lawyer what the law says, and the lawyer responded with "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all you soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and, Love you neighbor as yourself". Jesus agreed. Then the lawyer tried to justify himself by asking "And who is my neighbor?", to which Jesus gave the story of the Good Samaritan.

Why did the lawyer try to justify himself? Did he try to qualify who his neighbor was? I was convicted by this because I would call those people that are easy to be around as my neighbors. But then would I would NOT call neighbors as those that require alot of my effort, or money, or time, or energy. I would justify myself by saying "That person lives too far away", " That person has nothing in common with me", "That person might sue me or hurt me", or "That person gives nothing back in this relationship".

Jesus gives an example of how to be neighbor by telling the story of the Good Samaritan (the Jewish people hated the Samaritans and had nothing to do with them). The Samaritan risked his life, used his hard earned money (two denarii = two days wages), and gave a whole day to serve the victim. Jesus showed this example of being a neighbor by showing that no matter what the cost and no matter who the other person is, we a called to be a neighbor.

A Moral Imperitive

2009-08-21T18:32:00.015-05:00

President Obama said at a town meeting:

"We must also provide Americans who can't afford health insurance with more affordable options. This is both a moral imperative and an economic imperative, because we know that when someone without health insurance is forced to get treatment at the ER, all of us end up paying for it."

Why is it that whenever a bill must be passed quickly, that the term moral imperative or moral obligation is tagged to the bill? When does having health insurance become a moral right?

I have come up with some messages of my own:

"It is a moral imperative to work for you own living, instead of having the govenment pay your bill"

"It is a moral imperative that the US pay back government loans and not burden our future generations with a massive debt."

"It is a moral imperative that I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a nice cool Pepsi."

Just recently President Obama spoke to a gathering Jewish Rabbis and said,

"we are God's partners in matters of life and death."

I can't judge, but it is difficult for me to believe that God is partnering up with President Obama. It makes me think of Joshua 5:13-14 when Joshua was confronted by a man and Joshua says "Are you for us or for our enemies?". The man (who is believed to be Jesus) said "Neither, but as commander of the army of the LORD I have come."

If President Obama is really partnering with God, then awesome, but it is difficult for me to believe President Obama is a man set after God's heart when we hear nothing from him about God until a bill needs to be passed.

I am just tired of all the rhetoric that is used with terms like "moral imperative" and "God's partners" to guilt us into agreeing with a bill that (I believe) will not work.

Cash for Clunkers

2009-08-18T20:59:00.011-05:00

Rachael and I have a 1997 Eagle Vision and thought that this car would qualify as a clunker. This would gives us a $4500 incentive to buy a new car. I checked cars.gov and found that there was only one version of the 1997 Eagle Vision that qualifies. This has the VMODE option. What the heck is VMODE? I checked every website to find that most think that VMODE has to do with the autostick option, which our Eagle Vision has.

So, we thought we would go to some dealerships and see if there is anything we like. We checked out a few dealerships and found that most of the dealers did not want to hassle with the cars for clunkers customers. It felt as if the 5-star service went down to 2-stars if there was any mention of a clunker. Most dealers would not offer any incentives if a customer was turning in a clunker, with the explanation that the $4500 was a good-enough incentive, even though the incentive was from the government.

Anways, we narrowed our search down to a Honda Civic LX-S and used the USAA car program (well recommended) to pre-negotiate rates. There were two nearby Honda dealers that were informed of my interest. A Honda dealer in Round Rock, TX emailed us a offer that was almost $2000 below MSRP. Rachael then called two other Honda dealers to see if they could beat that offer, but they first asked if we were doing the clunkers program and that they would not lower the price for customers with clunkers. Ridiculous! So, Rachael called the Round Rock, TX dealer and said we would take the offer and also added that we had a clunker. The dealer was a little irritated because they tried to make it a policy to hold back incentives for clunker customers, but the deal was already offered and he would honor the price.

So, we were ready to buy that Wednesday night, but before we could, we found we did not have the receipt for Eagle's registration to qualify as a clunker. So, we waited a day and Rachael picked up a duplicate at the county clerk on Thursday. The next day, Friday, we were ready to buy and were in the process of buying the car, but found that the dealer would not take the Eagle Vision as a clunker because they were not sure it qualified. They did not know what VMODE meant. So, we had to drop the offer and we are still stuck with the Eagle Vision. An even more interesting thing occurred the following Monday when the Round Rock dealer called me and told me the salesman that we were working with passed away that weekend. Poor guy.

Through all of this, it just proves to me more and more that government programs are just a hassle and sometimes can be lethal.

Free Health Care For All?!? (Part 2)

2009-08-13T16:03:00.010-05:00

There is an interesting article from a generally leftist writer that is a bit critical of the Democratic party's handling of health care reform. It is worth the read...

http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2009/08/12/town_halls/

Also, my dad decided to get involved in the political process and wrote to U.S. Senator Ben Nelson from Nebraska. Here is his letter:

Senator Nelson: August 8, 2009

I have never written or called a congressman or senator in my life (I'm 63 years old), but this health care legislation is a huge concern. My concerns are the resulting care (speed and the care decision process), and of course the cost.

I base my concern on (1) the expected deficit for Medicare that has been discussed in Washington over the past years...with no proposed solution; (2)my 20 years experience with the Air Force's health care (it was good) but I cannot begin to tell you the long, long hours we waited in the emergency room for health care (we had 4 children so we had plenty of experience) and (3) our travel to Europe on short-term Christian mission trip. They wait months and sometimes years for an important surgery.

Why are we doing this to ourselves? I do not want our (yours and mine) grandchildren to have poor health care when they become adults. One recent comment was that the USA is 37th in health care. My response, they can pick and receive health care from any of the top 36 nations, I will pick USA for my care (and I would guess that they would choose to have their surgery here as well).

If we want to do something, let’s:

(1) Limit litigation dollar amounts, (2) require everyone to posses catastrophic private health insurance (like our required liability car insurance), and (3) take very small steps that have been tested and proven at the state level. The path we are headed down will NOT WORK.

I worked in the military bureaucracy (headquarters) for 10 of my 20 years and having this type of a system for health care scares me.

One final comment: If we estimated the cash for clunkers program ($1 B vs. $3B) which is a quantified program that requires only a few upfront assumptions; how far off will we be on a $1.3T program? I know the government does not guess on the high side!

Thanks for your listening ear.

Bob Becker

Finally Done!

2009-08-10T19:56:00.021-05:00

Last summer 2008, Rachael and I wanted to get a patio table, but Rachael wanted to make a mosaic patio table. Sounds cool! Rachael talks about it in her blog:

http://rachaelbecker.wordpress.com/mosaics/.

I did not realize the amount of effort that is required. So we found a wrought iron patio table base on Craigslist (which is a whole other story) and I made 4 ft diameter table top out of 3/4 plywood and sealed it with oil based paint.

Rachael had some great ideas for the table. She used a piece of pottery she saw in Seattle as inspiration. We use standard brown and eggshell white glossy tiles from Home Depot and mixed in some white tiles with a matte finish.

Then the fun began. Having an idea and executing it to the end are two very different animals. Rachael and I started off well but found the job to be a little demanding. Fall came and went, then Winter, Spring, and now Summer. While Rachael was in Italy, I finished laying down the brown leafy parts. With that done, the rest of the process was easier, though slow-going. Imagine putting a puzzle together when you have pieces from many different puzzles, and you'll have a good idea of the challenge. We had one small hic-up when we ran out of our matted white tiles, so Rachael went searching. Luckily, she was directed to a tile company in Austin called Travis Tile, where they had great salespeople who were very helpful and generous. We got the rest of the tile and worked on it intermittently for the next four weeks. Rachael was never more relieved to lay that last piece of tile!

We still hadn't exactly figured out how to treat the edge, but since Rachael really wanted a metal border, we looked around at a few home hardware stores. We found and painted black two aluminum strips to use as the side border, which turned out great. Lastly, we grouted and sealed. Tonight, we enjoyed our first meal on our new table!

Overall, this project took much longer than I expected, but I am pleased with the results. I am not sure if Rachael and I will attempt another project of that scale, but who knows. I have posted some pictures of the work in progress and the finished results. What do you think?

Big Brother

2009-08-06T21:38:00.013-05:00

Just ran across this website

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/

that asks the faithful Americans to submit a email to flag@whitehouse.gov if there is any disinformation or anything "fishy" being spread about the immaculate health care plan. Sounds like any opposing argument to the irreproachable health care plan must end. Apparently, freedom of speech has been qualified. You are free to argue against anything except the stimulus plan, the federal deficit, the federal bailouts, man-made global warming, and health care reform. Is this clear?

As a good American citizen, I felt inclined to turn myself in. I wrote a blog a two weeks ago that argued against health care reform. It seemed "fishy". So I emailed flag@whitehouse.gov with the following:

To Whom it My Concern,

I am not sure if I am spreading disinformation, but I would like to submit my own blog as a candidate because it opposes health care reform.

http://mattandrachaelbecker.blogspot.com/2009/07/free-health-care-for-all.html

Please respond with any feedback as to whether this is disinformation or "fishy".

Matthew Becker

I have not received a response yet, but I will give an update as soon as I receive one. Who knows what will come of this? I might be "red flagged" as an "enemy of the state" or I may just happen to disappear for no apparent reason.

The Coming Economic Earthquake by Larry Burkett

2009-07-25T11:40:00.015-05:00

President Grover Cleveland once stated "It is the responsibility of the citizens to support their government. It is not the responsibility of the government to support its citizens." He stated this when he made a stand against funding an orphanage during a severe economic crisis. President Cleveland said "I will not be a party to stealing money from one group of citizens to give to another group of citizens; no matter what the need or apparent justification. Once the coffers of the federal government are open to the public, there will be not shutting them again."

Now, it seems that the coffers are wide open and everyone seems to be in need of government assistance. But can the U.S. afford it? The book The Coming Economic Earthquake by Larry Burkett gives a good explanation about how the deficit spending in the U.S. is on the road to calamity, with all the government programs, entitlements, and special interest projects. Larry starts with the New Deal and explains how the seeds of overspending started with entitlement programs and the federally regulated bank system. He also gives some real examples with post WWI Germany and Argentina during the late 80's. He goes on to describe the current problems that continue to increase the U.S. debt and what Americans can do.

It is amazing, given this book was written in 1991, how much that Larry Burkett wrote still rings true today. Unfortunately, we have politicians who are either oblivious to the deficit or too concerned about keeping their constituents happy by passing legislation with only their districts special interests in mind.

This book seems like a doom and gloom book, but Larry assures the reader that he hopes that an economic meltdown will not occur. He also assures Christians that God will take care of us, even during hard times. Overall, this book was thought-provoking and eye-opening and makes me wonder why our U.S. government leaders are so oblivious to this major problem.

I will end with this quote from a well-known philosopher who said that socialism will replace capitalism, "A democracy is not a form of government to survive. For it will only succeed until its citizens discover they can vote themselves money from the treasury, then they will bankrupt it." This philosopher is Karl Marx.

Free Health Care For All?!?

2009-07-21T14:41:00.015-05:00

The Health Care Reform Act has been proposed and is the current hot topic in the House and Senate. This has been deemed to make health care more affordable with better quality care; a tall order. This sounds like a great program, but should the government get involved with this and who will pay for this? I am not in the health care field but I am familiar with government politics and special interest groups. Will this be the same? I want to just give a few reasons why the government should NOT pass this bill.

Government Waste - Have we ever had a government program that has run efficiently? Most of the time it is caught up in bureaucracy and red tape. These are government run programs that had good intentions at first but tend to get caught up with abuses in the system and extreme inefficiency.

Government Mismanagement - Does President Obama or Congress know how to run the healthcare system?

Government Stealing - Who said this healthcare would be free? President Obama and Congress are trying to find ways to tax the rich. If this is like any other program, the costs of this healthcare reform will be grossly underestimated. I am sure that just taxing the rich will not cover the bill.

Government Force - President Obama said "...if you’ve got health insurance, you like your doctors, you like your plan, you can keep your doctor, you can keep your plan. Nobody is talking about taking that away from you..." Not sure if he knew in the Bill (Section 102) that if you make any changes to your policy you must use the Government health care. Another concern is that most employers may drop their company plans and push their employees to use the lower quality government plan to save cost.

Government Use - Another question is that if this Government health care is so good, will President Obama and his family be using it? Will those in Congress be using it? A quick answer may be found by asking them if their children attend public schools.

I would like to say that having free and/or affordable health care would be great, but can we afford to have a wasteful and inefficient government that manipulates and controls a health care system in which the politicians know little about? Please let me know what you think.

...he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful

2009-07-19T15:21:00.015-05:00

I started pruning my trees with little experience or knowledge. The main reason was that I was tired of ducking below the branches when I was walking in my yard. As I was pruning, I got into a conversation with my neighbor about his trees. I notice that his trees were noticeably larger. I was curious to hear what his secret was. He said the key was pruning. He prunes the correct branches to allow growth. So I asked what were the correct branches. He said keep the area around the trunk clean and the "V's" or area where a branch splits to two clean. He said to also thin out the crowd areas on the tree and cut off those branchs that have less growth and leave those branches that are more healthy. That was it. Through all of this, I was reminded of John 15 with the Father in the vineyard who "prunes" so that the branches "will be even more fruitful".

I thought what an interesting parallel about the growth of a Christian versus a tree (or plant). Pruning is a necessaring step in order to maximize growth. So I decided to learn a bit more about how to prune tree and focus on its parallel to the Father in Heaven pruning us or things in our life.

Here are a few notes on pruning a tree:

1. Remove dead branches. The Father prunes those things that have no life in it. Perhaps, sin areas in our life that suck essential nutrients away from those things that have life.

2. Remove crowded or rubbing limbs. Sometimes there are things in our life that are good and that help us grow, but these things take away from those areas that will bring more life. The Father helps prune these areas and allow for us to focus on the more essential things.

3. Eliminate hazards. The Father sometimes prunes areas in our life that tend to hurt or hinder the growth of others.

4. Remove branches to increase light and air penetration to the inside of the tree’s crown or to the landscape below. The Father prunes branches that may be good but do not allow enough penetration to our heart. Our lives tend to be too busy and we forget that we need light for our essential being.

I sometimes see that best practices in life tend to parallel with the spiritual. Jesus taught many parables in the Bible that related to the best agricultural practices in order for us to understand a glimpse of the spiritual.

Toastmasters Speech #5 "Your Body Speaks"

2009-07-19T15:14:00.005-05:00

Why Toastmasters?

Before being nominated for President, I seriously considered stepping down from any role in Toastmasters to take it easy for a year. I thought perhaps I could get some extra TV watching or extra time relaxing if I did not have to prepare for Toastmasters. It would be very nice to have a few more nights without having to worry about creating a speech, or preparing to be the Toastmaster, or racking my brain about what I should do for Table Topics questions. I thought hard about this and questioned why I joined Toastmasters in the first place. I knew that I had good reasons for joining Toastmasters. I knew that it would not always be comfortable, but I knew that through Toastmasters I could challenge myself to do things I would not otherwise do, in order to be more confident and successful. Today, I would like to share some of the reasons why I participate in Toastmasters.

One of the reasons I participate in Toastmasters is to practice communicating my ideas with clarity and confidence. When I first came to Toastmasters, I was petrified. I started breathing fast, I start trembling [bite nails, wring hands, look down, pace back and forth], I started sweating profusely and I did not even have to get up and speak. It was just the thought of someday having to speak in front of everyone. I have fears of forgetting what to say, I have fears of not having anything interesting to say. Toastmasters is a safe place where we can overcome our fears of speaking, were we are allowed to make mistakes, where we can practice speaking of front of others, and where everyone has to listen to you.

A second reason why I participate in Toastmasters is to develop leadership skills. The great Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry said “Leadership is getting someone to do what they don't want to do, to achieve what they want to achieve.” Most of us would rather have more time for leisure, but in the back of our mind we want to grow and work on becoming a better communicator. Being a leader requires not only pushing yourself to work toward that goal, but it also means challenging others toward their own goals. As a leader in Toastmasters, we challenge others to give speeches, to fill Toastmaster meeting roles, and to overcome that next hurdle to help them become a successful communicator.

Another reason that I participate in Toastmasters is that this is a great environment to be creative. Toastmasters give us the freedom to experiment with new ideas. We can give a speech about anything. We can come up with a fun Toastmaster meeting theme or a challenging Table Topics. I have seen a Table Topics that are based on the fortune in a fortune cookie, or I have seen a presentation on Toastmasters given as a game show. Toastmasters allows us to think from a new perspective and actually try out these ideas. With Toastmasters, creativity is part of the club and is greatly encouraged; as long as you stay within the allotted time [say it as a parent does].

The final reason why I participate in Toastmasters is to develop evaluation skills. How many just jump up and down [jump up and down] with excitement at the thought of being evaluated. It is like going to the mechanic. You know you will hear things you don’t want to hear. You need to fix the brakes, the timing belt needs to be replaced, and your tires are worn, But just as your car needs a tune-up, our speaking and leadership skills also need a tune-up. But many times it feels like evaluations are always associated with negative criticism. However, the purpose of evaluations is to give helpful suggestions for improvement. Toastmasters is a great atmosphere for us to learn how to give constructive criticism that motivate and help the speaker. Toastmasters also helps us [start moving elbow back and forth] with the capability to take feedback and understand what are our strengths, and also help us see possible annoying habits and areas that we need to improve.

After being a little reluctant to be the Toastmasters President, I would like to say that it is my honor to help serve this club. Toastmasters is a place for us to get over our fears of public speaking, it allows us many avenues to practice leadership, toastmasters helps us get creative, and toastmasters helps develop the invaluable tool of effectively giving and receiving evaluations. These are but just a few of the many reasons why I participate in Toastmasters and it has been a joy to challenge and be challenged by my fellow Toastmasters.

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell

2009-07-19T14:39:00.010-05:00

Finished reading "Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10" by Marcus Lutrell (with Patrick Robinson). This book gives a detailed account of Marcus Lutrell, a Navy Seal, and his survival through a firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Out of 20 special forces soldiers that were involved only he survived. A group of four Navy Seals were sent to hunt down the second in command to Osama Bin Laden. They were right on his trail, when some Afghan sheperds stumbled in on their hideout. Faced with the decision to kill these sheperds or let them free knowing the sheperds will blow their cover, Marcus and the other three Navy Seals let the sheperds go. This turned into an incredible firefight with up to 200 Taliban Soldiers. After taking out around 80 of the Taliban Soldiers, Marcus was the only left alive. The battle and Marcus' way of survival is amazing.

I thought this book was fascinating. I was amazed about the events that took place and the skill and courage under fire of the 4 Navy Seals as they fought the Taliban force. There was also some unexpected twists and turns that occurred during Marcus' journey for survival that included a run in with a nearby Afghanistan tribe. You will gain more respect for these tribes and their sense of honor even though they are somewhat sympathetic to the Taliban.

This books also details the Navy Seal training and the physical and mental rigors that must be endured. The account of the Navy Seal "Hell Week" gives you a glimpse into the training that these men must go through to be called a Navy Seal.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the military. I think I read this in the course of about 5 days.

An Inconvienient Truth?

2009-06-29T20:24:00.016-05:00

The US House of Representatives just passed the Cap-and-Trade Energy Bill (H.R. 2454) designed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by 17% by the year 2020. This would help offset the theoretical man-made global warming problem. The most controversial part of the bill is that greenhouse gases are bought and sold by companies based on the amount of pollution emitted. Some say that this bill would put an extra burden on US industries resulting in continued export of jobs to other countries. Other parts of this bill are not known as it just passed today and the final copy of the 1200-page bill was just released last night.

Now I am in favor of less pollution but with the US economy as it is and with many industries struggling to stay afloat, is this a good time to add an extra cost? It seems that the current US administration should spend more time on the giant elephant in the room (how to balance this budget).

So what is global warming? It is the increase of the earth's air and ocean temperature in the last 50 years. How come it is occurring? Some scientists say man-made greenhouse gas emissions and some say it is a natural occurrence similar to the ice age and the exit from the ice age. The most well-known proponent for man-made global warming is Ex-Vice President Al Gore. His movie, An Inconvenient Truth, presents the data that shows the effects of global warming and how it is a great moral issue for the world.

I have not see all the facts for global warming and I lean on the side that the most notable cause of global warming is from natural effects. I know I may be a little biased, but I still have a few points that just irritate me about Al Gore's agenda, regardless about the causes of global warming.

1. He calls this a moral issue yet he owns a mansion outside of Nashville, TN that uses 20 times as much energy as the average American household. Sounds like he is serious about this issue? In the movie, he even criticizes the Bush administration for their lack of global warming initiatives. The inconvenient truth is that George W. Bush's Crawford Ranch is amazingly efficient.

2. Al Gore defends his extravagant energy usage by explaining that he buys "carbon offsets" to remain carbon neutral. Does this sound like a monetary penance in which the rich can continue to sin? The interesting note is that Al Gore buys "carbon offsets" through a company, Generation Investment Management, in which he serves as the chairman. Very Convenient.

3. Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his movie based on man-made global warming; a topic that is still only a theory. What is most shocking is who was second place. An polish Catholic social worker, Irene Sendler, who risked death and saved 2500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII. Are you kidding? Who is risking death? Who is directly saving lives? Who is gaining monetarily?

Now I admit that I am a little frustrated and a little biased and I think the green initiative is a good thing and should be pursued, but how can you trust someone who does not practice what he preaches and appears to gain monetarily because of this?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Microwave Oven

2008-11-23T15:09:00.001-06:00

My sister Mary and her family came to visit Rachael and me last Fall of 2007. Mary tends to be a little meddlesome and noticed that our microwave had some buttons that were broken (or at least difficult to press) and some of the digits on the time display were missing. The Microwave also had an interesting feature where the keypad (which worked properly) was only visible when the door was open. Mary made the decision for Rachael and me that we needed to purchase a new microwave. Rachael also agreed with Mary. Mary even made it a point to email all of her girlfriends about how our microwave sucked and I needed to buy a new one. I objected. I thought why buy a new one for $300 when I could fix it myself or at least have it fixed for $60? I replied to Mary's email with the notion that I will fix it myself. Of course, there were many replies from ladies telling me to buy a new one and what a lousy husband I was. Some were saying that their husband would say the same thing and nothing would get fixed (Now they have the lousy husband). Anyways, I was able to get the microwave fixed and it has worked fine so far.

The reason that I have this post is to start a discussion on when to scrap a device and when to get it fixed. I feel that if anything is broken on a device we (as Americans) just throw it away and buy a new one. Why not at least attempt to fix it and get a few more years out of it instead of adding more junk to the landfill? I feel that you can save money and you can save the astronomical amount of junk added to our waste. Am I being stubborn or am I just being economical? What do you think?

(A note: I love my sister, Mary, but we disagree on a few points. She is not a bad person and I am not trying to make her look like one. I was just trying to illustrate the grief that I can get for at least trying to salvage something that has a few quirks but works fine.)

Do it yourself Home Landscaping

2008-11-14T20:22:00.000-06:00

This is a continuation of Rachael's post, Growing, about the lanscaping project that we have been working on. The brunt of the work is done, but we art still adding plants here and there, we will be planting bulbs soon, and we are always maintaining the area. I would like to share a bit of the technicals details and history of the project.

I moved into the house in December of 2004 and the backyard was almost bare if it was not for two ash trees (which I hated and took down) and a nice texas redbud (which I love). For two years I attempted to water the lawn with your standard hose a sprinkler which proved to be annoying. Let alone I would sometimes forget to turn off the water before I went to bed and found the backyard almost flooded. Therefore Rachael and I decided to get a sprinkler system. We got estimates and found the cheapest to be $2500. I have helped put in sprinkler systems in Nebraska and it did not seem to be too difficult. So, I thought I can do this and I started researching on sprinkler placement, and how far below the ground to dig, and how to connect to the main, etc. After about a month of research, I came up with a plan. I also thought, since I will be digging up these trenches, why not lay wire for low voltage landscape lighting. Rachael and I also wanted to have flower beds, so I planned to have separate stations for these beds.

Commence digging...I found that in Austin the ground is a bit more rocky than the ground in Nebraska and realized this project will take some back breaking effort. I also invested in a pick axe for trenching. The project took about 2 months to finish with about 2 days on full labor. I was basically solo on this project with a little help from my friend Mike Elsasser. I am not sure if I would ever do this again, but who knows...I like a little pain. Some afterthoughts, or things that I would do differently....

I used the thickest 1" PVC pipe for the water main, which I recommend, but I think I went overboard with 1" PVC pipe for each station. I think 3/4" PVC should suffice. Water pressure for me is great though.
I would buy the 12" guage landscape lighting wiring and sprinkler control wiring in the lighting and sprinkler sections, but I found you could buy it in bulk at a cheaper price in the electrical wiring section.

After putting in the sprinkler system, Rachael and I put down 6 cubic yards of garden soil in the flower beds. We added three trees (Live Oak, Red Maple, and Bradford pear) and started planting a bunch of plants. We halfway planned what to plant (which I would not recommend) and found some plants worked and some did not. Some that worked great were mexican grasses, chinese witches, cannas, and a sumac. We also planted a Loquat tree which we planted from a little seedling that has grown to be about 6 feet high. One plant that seems to grow well (actually too well) is the potato vine. It has a pretty color, requires no maintanance, and can be grafted easily, but it can just grow out of control. It is a great plant for an outdoor pot.

I also put in low voltage lighting which spotlights all of the trees in the front yard and backyard and also spotlights some features of the house. One of the pictures in this post shows the front of the house with the landscape lighting at nighttime, although I could not get a very good picture. Oh well.

Due to the incredible amounts on yard waste that I disposed of, I decided I could make better use of the yard waste and I bought an Envirocycle Composter. I bought it in July and am still on my first batch. I am still learning about what to put in and what not to put it, so the first batch is taking awhile. We are also able to put kitchen waste (excluding meats). I can't say that I bought this because I am an environmentalist...I just thought what a good way to reuse the yard and kithchen waste.

Toastmasters Speech #4 "How to Say It"

2008-11-14T20:15:00.000-06:00

I Got Rid of It

Introduction:

I finally got rid of it. It took me prisoner and I could not release myself from its bind. I was ensnared by its hypnotic power. Now, it no longer controls my life. I cut it off and no longer have to suffer the effects of it. I am free. I am talking about my TV. My wife and I sold it about two months ago. Why did I get rid of it? I didn’t sell it so that we could stop watching TV. I sold our TV with the plan to buy a new high definition TV. But plans changed and we will be living without a TV for awhile. Our time without a TV has been rewarding and we have found better things to do. For this speech I would like to give you three reasons why you should get rid of your TV.

Body:

The first reason that you should get rid of your TV is that you will have more free time. TV robs us of our precious time. How many of you have come home after a long hard day and then sat to watch a little TV. Then 4 hours later turned off the TV and went to bed? How many here have ever declined an invite from a friend because you had to watch a TV show? Same here. It is an easy outlet that allows us just to numb our minds and escape our everyday world. But TV just robs us of our time. According to the Nielson report, the average American watches TV 4 hours a day. Think of the amount of things that could be done with that much more time in a day. My wife and I have found that without the TV we are communicating more, we are reading, we are gardening, and we have even started a big task of creating a mosaic table. Getting rid of the TV adds so much time in a day to be used in more constructive and purposeful ways.

The second reason that you should get rid of your TV is that TV warps the mind. How many of you would let your kid watch Desperate Housewives, the Sopranos, or Sex in the City? Why not? I know the reason why. These shows promote violence, sex, infidelity, and many other negative behaviors. There have been studies published in the American College of Preventive Medicine that show a direct correlation between teen pregnancy and violent behaviors due to the images shown on TV. Now my question to you is that if you would not let a kid watch these programs, do you think you should be watching them? Even our adult minds are influenced by the things we watch on TV. To say that TV does not influence us is telling the billion dollar advertising industry that ads don't work. We know that TV ads affect us and so does everything else on TV. Getting rid of the TV removes those negative images that only seem to be more prevalent as time goes on.

The third reason that you should get rid of your TV is that TV can directly cause bad habits. How many of you have grabbed a whole bag of Doritos, sat down to watch a little TV, and then 2 hours later found the bag of Doritos empty? Me, too. TV causes us to have a sedentary lifestyle which replaces a physically active lifestyle. We tend to snack while watching TV and half the TV commercials advertise junk food or fast food, causing us to snack more. Watching TV also causes us just to be lazy. We would rather sit, eat junk food, and watch TV than pursue those activities which require more effort. Getting rid of the TV forces us to find something else to do. After selling our TV, I have sometimes sat down in my living room try to figure out what to do. After a little thinking, I have been able to find many things that are more fulfilling than watching TV.

Conclusion:

So I have given you three reasons to get rid of your TV. The three reasons are because TV watching robs precious time, it warps the mind, and it causes bad habits. Now how many of agree with my points? How many think I am too extreme to recommend you to get rid of your TV? Now I know I might be a little too extreme, but at the very least think about removing the TV from the bedroom or limiting your TV watching. It will be a change and a little awkward trying to find alternative things to do, but I promise that you will find your friends and spouse to be more interesting, you will have more energy, your food will taste better, the sun will shine brighter, and your life will be more fulfilling.

John Adams by David McCollough

2008-10-01T11:13:00.000-05:00

I recently finished reading a biography, John Adams, written by David McCullough. A great read! David McCullough relied heavily on John Adam's letter correspondances between his noble wife Abigail, Congress, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Rush, and many other notable figures in American history. The book follows John Adams birth, to his work as a lawyer, to his work with the First and Second Congress to gain independence from Brittain, to his work as an ambassador to France, the Netherlands, and Brittain, and then his Vice-Presidency, and Presidency, to his death. It is a completely candid book illustrating the strengths and weakness of the U.S. founding fathers; Thomas Jefferson’s shopping problems, Ben Franklin’s laziness and fondness for the comforts of life, and John Adams independent and honest, yet stubborn, spirit. I found this book to be an eye opener and learned so much, good and bad, about the timeline and history of the independence of our country. David McCullough gives a detail timeline of John Adams and his vast role in American history that flowed well and covered all emotions. I highly recommend this book.

Washington Trip June 2008

2008-09-21T19:00:00.002-05:00

Disclaimer: This blog might be a bit boring and long. If it is, then do what I do and look at the pics. The Summary at the bottom summarizes the trip and gives some tips to those who would like to visit the Seattle/Olympic National Park/Victoria area.

Now get on with it...

Well Rachael and I made it to the Pacific Northwest this June. After seeing many photos of beautiful rainforests, untouched beaches, glacier tipped mountains...all in one park...Rachael and I decided to travel to the Pacific Northwest for our two week trek in Washington State. We wanted to explore the Olympic National Park and since we were nearby we would also visit Seattle and Victoria BC.

Saturday, June 7th

We took off from Austin in the morning. Since it was 95+ degrees in Austin I had my shorts and t-shirt on. We landed in Seattle around noon and it was around 55 degrees and eternally misty. I was not fully prepared. We took the bus to downtown Seattle to pick up the rental car and I quickly bought a well worth it, waterproof, windproof jacket from the REI flagship store. I call it the 4W (Well Worth it, Waterproof, Windproof) jacket. After getting camping supplies and food we headed for the Olympic National Park peninsula. We were not completely sure where to stay the first night but we had some options and we chose the Sequim Bay State Park. It was a nice campsite right on the bay off the Puget Sound. We were tired around 9:30 and decided to get to bed. I noticed that there was still daylight when we went to bed. This would be a reoccurring theme. It was daylight when I awoke and when I went asleep. Welcome to summers in the North.

Sunday, June 8th

Rachael and I woke up to the sound of rain. Another reoccurring theme. We were hoping that this would not always be the case. Nope. Thank goodness that the morning rain was only small droplets. We packed up and headed to our next destination, Sol Duc. This place is known for its hot springs as well as a some substantial waterfalls. Rachael and I decided to hike a 6 mile loop which includes the Sol Duc Falls. About a mile into the hike we found the waterfall. Very beautiful. It was a good hike at the beginning. We met a nice couple from France and helped some girls (who seemed to be a little inexperienced with hiking) find their way. After the hike we went to the Sol Duc Hot Springs (mainly to get clean). The springs area used to be a 5-star hotel during the 1910s but the place burned down after 4 years of business. Since then things have been rebuilt. They had different outdoor baths at different temperatures. I sat in the bath that was 106 degress and Rachael decided it was too hot and stayed in a cooler bath. It was nice to sit in a warm bath with cool 60 degrees weather. After the bath we headed to the campsite to get a nice rest. We planned to wake up the next day to go backpacking in the Hoh Rainforest.

Monday, June 9th

We woke up to more rain, except the rain was a bit heavier. Rachael and I were not sure what to do, the tent canopy was soaked and it was just going to get wetter. We bit the bullet and packed everything quick. We left our campsite and headed to the town called Forks. Nice small logger town. This is a good place to get any items that you forgot and a place to grab a cheap hot meal. So, we grabbed some camping supplies that we realized were essential and then ate at a local diner. Not bad. It was a nice change after eating camping food and being cold. Unfortunately, it continued to rain. We were still determined to go backpacking but we thought we would wait awhile till the rain settled. At the spur of the moment we decided to head up to the most northwest point of the greater 48 states to Cape Flattery. This was a 30 mile drive in a downpour to a trailhead. The trail was 3/4 mile long in a thick (and muddy) rainforest. It was a little nasty but the end of the trail was breathtaking. I can't describe it fully but it is amazing the things that God has hidden for us to discover. Rachael and I ended up driving around that area for a bit and stopping along some of the beaches. It was fun...but it kept on raining we headed back to Forks on our way to the Hoh Rainforest and the rain never let up (around 4pm). We decided to give in and get a hotel room. Rachael was relieved. I thought we were quitters. Either way it was nice to just relax in a room with heat and no wetness, not to mention a real shower. The guy running the hotel was an old local who told me about all the places that I needed to see and some old folklore. He told one story of a man who carried an iron stove about 60 miles in the mountains on his back.

Tuesday, June 10th

A great nights sleep and we were headed to the Hoh Rainforest. What a beautiful place. The trees (sitka spruce, red cedar, pine) were huge. They were 200-300 ft high. It was an interesting place. Many of the trees had fallen over and smaller trees were growing over them. Apparently, trees falling over was a natural occurrence because there is so much moisture (14 feet rain/year) that the tree roots do not have to dig that deep. It was a biological exhibit. I never had learned more about compost in my life. The rainforest in Olympic has more biomass than anywhere (even the Amazon). Rachael and I thought we would just camp for the night in the Hoh Rainforest drive-in campgrounds, but we met a couple from Florida who were in the same situation and talked us into backpacking in the rainforest. We would only be there for one night. What the heck. We hiked 5 miles into the rainforest. It was beautiful.

Wednesday, June 11th

Woke up to a misty rain and packed up to hike back to our car. We cleaned up and drove off to the Kalaloch (Clay-lock) beach. On the way, we took a detour to see the worlds largest cedar tree. It was dead. But in its prime it was something. We then made it to the beach and walked around on the beach for awhile. It was beautiful. The beach is untouched with alot of beachwood.

Thursday, June 12th

I woke up to make breakfast as Rachael was still getting up. I was making oatmeal. I left the oatmeal packets on the table and walked across the road to wash some dishes. I came back and the one of the packets was gone and the other was on the ground. I knew who the culprit was. A big 'ol blackbird. It was war. I saw the packet that he had and went after him. Unfortunately, he had opened the packet and everything fell on the ground. No more oatmeal for me :( We were done camping for awhile. This was nice. We made our way to Lake Quinalt lodge. This lodge is along a lake on the edge of a rainforest.

Friday, June 13th

We slept in, hiked around, went canoeing and just relaxed.

Saturday, June 14th

We had to start making our way back to Seattle and camped at a state park along the way. This camp was crowded and noisy. Some punks were playing their stereo at full blast around 10:00 at night. I was about to throw down. Thank goodness for them they turned it off.

Sunday, June 15th

Interesting day. We had to drive to Seattle, drop off the rental, then walk about 12 blocks with backpacks and luggage to the pier to take a cruise/ferry to Victoria, B.C. Along the way, we met an extremely talkative homeless man who sang a custom song with our name in it. Touching. We also had some time to visit a classic yacht show and we talked to a retired couple who usually sail in the Sound and Strait for about 3 months in the year. So we got on the cruise and made our way out of the Puget Sound along the Strait of Juan de Fuca into the Victoria harbor. Thanks goodness our hotel was only a block away. We showered our funky selves and then walked downtown by the Parliament building and the Empress Hotel. These look like buildings that you would see in London. The Empress even has afternoon tea which is apparently a popular thing to do. Unfortunately, since I am cheap and not very sophisticated I chose to skip the afternoon tea with "Randolph and Mortimer Duke". We did find a good local restaraunt called Ferris, and ate some terrific oysters.

Monday, June 16th

We took a tour bus up to the Butchart gardens which is about 50 acre stunning show of flowers, trees, and Japanese gardens. Some lady named Jennie Butchart decided to take an old limestone quarry and develop a huge garden. After doing some gardening in my backyard I was amazed by the work that was put into this place. After the gardens, Rachael and I walked the downtown streets and did some shopping and eating and walking and talking. We were tired in the evening and ordered a pizza and watched a movie.

Tuesday, June 17th

We headed back to Seattle on the cruise and go to our hotel on Sixth and Pike street. Great downtown location!

Wednesday, June 18th

We went to the Pikes Place Market to see the famous fish market where fishguys throw fish to each other. There was a mass of people watching the fishguys, but they were not throwing fish because nobody was ordering. Kind of sad. The Pikes Place Market is a huge market with many levels of shops. The main level is the farmers market with fresh fruit, vegetables, meats, flowers, etc. The lower levels seem to sell a bunch of old junk. Not my type of shopping, but Rachael seemed to have a good time. Across the street was the first Starbucks, so we got our Starbucks drink and souvenir cup. That night we went to a baseball game and watched the last place Mariners lose again. It was still fun to see some players that I have watched on TV; Ichiro, Belle, etc.

Thursday, June 19th

Went to the Pike Place Market again in the morning and ate some fresh fruit and pastries. If I lived downtown, I think that I would visit the market every morning to eat. Took a trek to the Seattle space needle area and visited the Experience Music Project and the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. The EMP building is an interesting architectural building. Not sure how to explain it. We did not go to the top of the space needle because, again, I am cheap.

Friday, June 20th

The Seattle Art Museum had an impressionist art exhibit. We were able to see a good collection of the impressionists...Monet, Manet, Degas, Pissaro. I was even able to figure out what the heck "impressionism" means...and I would like to share. Before that time, art was considered as art to be a complete likeness of whatever you were painting. When that first impressionist art first came out, the critics thought the painting was incomplete or only an impression of the subject. Apparently, most of the famous impressionists studied at the Louvre in France copying some of the great Renaissance art. OK, I am done lecturing. We also visited the Seattle Downtown Library. Also a famous architectural building. The inside looked like something from the future. One of the hallways reminded me of the movie 2001.

Saturday, June 21st

Checked out and visited the Pikes place market one more time. Rachael bought some flowers to bring home. Took the bus back to the airport and that was it. A great time but we were glad to be back home.

Summary and thoughts

-There is a lot more that I could talk about but my hands are getting tired. Rachael and I loved Olympic National Park. There are some great places to backpack or camp, but if you want to stay in a room, the town of Forks has a good affordable motels and it is in the middle of the park.

-Rachael and I wanted to visit a lodge in Olympic National Park and we wanted to visit Seattle, and we wanted to visited Victoria, but I was having problems planning everything with limited funds. That is when I found the Seattle Toursaver. I used Seattle Toursaver coupons for 2 for 1 stay in Lake Quinalt and Victoria, and 2 for 1 cruise to Victoria. Probably saved us about $500.

-Not sure if is is a infectious virus in Downtown Seattle, but we found that everywhere you looked, there was a Starbucks. I think there was a Starbucks on every block. If anyone goes to Downtown Seattle, it would probably be a cool project to take pictures of all Starbucks that you see and make a collage.

-There are many homeless beggars in downtown Seattle. It seemed that I was asked for money after every corner that I turned and after every shop that I came out of. I did a speech on my experience with homeless beggars in downtown Seattle.

-The people at Olympic National Park were very friendly. I am an introvert and tend to keep to myself, so I am not accustomed to just go talk to people. However, I could see that this was a friendly atmosphere and most people loved talking about places to see, the places that they have visited, etc. It was fun to meet people from all of the world who wanted to experience this beautiful park.

Toastmasters Speech #3 "Get to the Point"

2008-09-21T16:57:00.000-05:00

This is speech number 3 "Get to the Point"

How to Help the Homeless

Intro:

This last June, my wife and I went to the state of Washington where we spent 4 days in downtown Seattle. It was beautiful. We went to many shops, ate great food, went to interesting museums, and visited the fish market. Everything was amazing…but every block was filled with homeless beggars. Every time I came out of a shop a homeless person asked for money. I felt like a deer in headlights and did not know what to do. I did not want to give cash out of guilt and I was not sure what this person would do with the money, but I was also burdened with the thought that the person might need help. I am sure that many of you have experienced the same thing in Austin and have had the same thoughts. During those four days in Seattle, I educated myself and found good ways to help the homeless. In this speech, I would like inform you about three things that you can do to responsibly help a homeless person.

Body:

1. The first thing that you can do is never give cash. Too often the cash is used to feed an addiction. A lot of people are homeless because either they have a drug problem or they like the freedom of a homeless lifestyle. Giving cash usually just promotes self-destructive and irresponsible behaviors. If you are approached by a homeless beggar, ask them what they need, and if you feel inclined then help them out. If they need food, give them food. If they need transportation, give them transportation. If they need clothing, give them clothing. One morning, I went to the Whataburger and was approached by a homeless person asking for money. I asked what he needed to buy and he said food, so I said I would buy him food at Whataburger. He persisted and asked only for money. I said food or nothing. I bought him food and after he ate he told me he would have used the money for beer.

2. The second thing that you can do to help the homeless, is to direct the homeless person to charities or shelters that help the homeless. There are charities that help a homeless person’s short term and long term needs. If you are approached by a homeless person asking for cash, just give them the name and direction of a charity so that they can get help. In Austin, there are many charities completely willing to help the homeless by giving food, shelter, job training, and job placement. In a report by Corporation for National and Community Service, Austin is listed as the 5th most philanthropic [phil-in-throp-ic] city in the U.S. and there are more than enough resources to ensure meals and clothing for the homeless. One Austin charity is the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH) which provides shelter, job resources, and health centers for the homeless. I am now handing out an information sheet with charities that help the homeless in Austin.

3. The third thing that you can do to help the homeless is to treat those who are homeless with respect and dignity. Not everyone is looking for money to support their addiction. Some have no job skills, some have had problems with domestic abuse, some have lost their job, and some are trying to quit their addiction. When approached, you can at least listen to what they have to say. There are some people who completely ignore the homeless and even some who physically or verbally abuse the homeless. I met an old homeless lady who was on a wheelchair. She told me about how it is a daily occurrence that she would be spat upon, have things thrown at her, and be verbally abused. The least that we can do is to give a bit of our time to listen.

Conclusion:

I am sure that many of you have been approached by a homeless beggar and have had a feeling of guilt or have been overwhelmed with not knowing to help, so I have given you practical things that you can do to help the homeless. These are to refrain from giving cash, to direct the homeless to responsible charities, and just to talk to them in a respectful manner. Homelessness is a huge problem that requires citizens to be wise and responsible while trying to help the homeless.

Toastmasters Speech Number 2 "Organize Your Speech"

2008-09-20T17:20:00.000-05:00

This is speech number 2 "Organize Your Speech"

For Better of For Worse

This last Christmas my wife and I had the opportunity to watch a little bit of cable TV and we happened to watch an episode of “My Big Fat Fabulous Wedding”. This show is about engaged couples who are having extravagant and very expensive weddings. It is amazing how much is spent. $10k on the wedding dress. $20k for photographers. $200k for travel for all the guests, $30k on invitations, $15k on the wedding cake. These weddings end up costing more than a half a million. You would think with all the effort for one day, that the marriage would be a success.

Consider this, statistically half of these marriages shown will end in divorce.

So how can a marriage last? What can couples do to have a healthy and happy marriage? I would like to share with you three things that can be done in a marriage to cultivate a lasting and joy filled marriage.

Time Together

The first thing a couple can do is to spend time together. Couples get busy. There are careers, organizations, hobbies, housework, kids and by the time a couple is able to get together the time is most likely spent watching TV. Couples need time together without distraction to have fun, to communicate, and to be with each other. What are some practical things couples can do, so that they spend time?

- Take a Walk – A good way to get away from the house and distractions and talk.
- Datenight – reserve a night weekly for each other and budget money a date night. Movies, restaurant, bike ride, or play board games

Communicate

The second thing a couple can do to have a healthy marriage is to communicate. Communicating is probably one of the hardest things for any of us. That is why we are in Toastmasters. It is difficult to convey our wants and needs.. It is even more difficult to understand your spouses plans, feelings, or wants. Many are unwilling to take the time, effort, and energy to listen to their partner and try to understand their viewpoint. But it is essential. In order to communicate better some things to think about are

- Listening to the partner and give full attention. Ask questions to further understand.
- Couples also need to give constructive criticism to each other to help each other realize negative behaviors that bother the other.
- Of course when giving constructive criticism it is essential to also communicate the positives in the spouse.
• “Thank you for…”
• “I love it when you…”
• Leaving notes with affirming words. Sometime I leave a note on the steering wheel of my wifes car.

Commitment

The third thing a couple can do to have a successful marriage is to stay committed. How many of you can remember you wedding vows? Did it have something similar to “for better or worse” or “till death do us part” What does these mean? Does it mean, until a husband and wife decide to change plans and if they conflict with the spouse then they can divorce? Does it mean, until there is no attraction to each other?
No, it means no matter how wrinkly, poor, sickly, and unattractive each partner becomes, marriage is for life. It means no matter how much plans change and no matter how difficult it is to communicate, you will be committed. Commitment means continuing to love each other no matter how each other feels and no matter what the other partner does. Each partner must stay committed and keep the vow made on the wedding day. My wife and I cling to our commitment in hard times and have made it a point to not even let the word divorce enter the equation.

Conclusion

For some marriages, the wedding day tends to be the best day of the marriage, and the rest of the marriage tends to get worse as time goes on. So I have explained some things couples can do to help have a successful marriage that will not deteriorate. Couples must spend time with each other. They must communicate and understand each other, and couples must be fully committed to love each other no matter what the circumstance.

Have a healthy and vibrant marriage is not simple and does not always seem to be as easy as the story book fairy tails. In time, however, the fruits of the couples labor will generate a joyful marriage. In the words of the social critic John Ruskin – “When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.”

Toastmasters Speech Number 1 "The Icebreaker"

2008-09-20T17:14:00.000-05:00

This is speech number 1 "The Icebreaker"

My name should have been John