Testing, testing, testing, one, two, three . . . can anyone hear me?

I needed a blog entry to test if my blog feed/facebook setup is working. So, I'll tell you about my broken house. Don't feel too bad for us. I broke it on purpose. Now we are in the middle of trying to put it back together. The remodeling process sucks. We've gutted the master bath to move some walls so we can have a bigger and better shower. You know, the couple that baths together, stays together. Hopefully, we will have the master bath completed by the end of this week. I hope, I hope, I hope . . .

New Kitty

Well, we've done it again. Taken in a stray kitten. My boss, Tom, found the little guy wondering around our office. We did a search to see if we could find the litter and return him to his family, but we were unsuccessful. The owner's wife, Ellen, got a bottle and kitty milk and took care of the guy at the office. But, since the wife and I have experience, and we had fun taking care of the other little kitties, we decided to give it a try with this little guy. Here's his picture.

Scary looking, no?

Why aren't Christian books and Bibles FREE?

I've always wondered why Christian authors publish for profit books. Here's the copy right for a book about sustainable energy that I recently purchased.

This is a free book

I didn’t write this book to make money. I wrote it because sustainable energy is important. If you would like to have the book for free for your own use, please help yourself: it’s on the internet at www.withouthotair.com.

This is a free book in a second sense: you are free to use all the material in this book, except for the cartoons and the photos with a named photographer, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share-Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales Licence. (The cartoons and photos are excepted because the authors have generally given me permission only to include their work, not to share it under a Creative Commons license.) You are especially welcome to use my materials for educational purposes. My website includes separate high-quality files for each of the figures in the book.

Here is a man that is passionate about his "cause" and is anxious to get his message out, so much so that he will give you the fruit of his hard work and encourages you to use it in your own materials. I guess sustainable energy is so much more important than a person's relationship to God.

The first couple of sentences tell the tale. David JC MacKay is more like Jesus than most of our popular Christian authors. BTW, I purchased David's book and I would continue to purchase Free Christian books. It's just that they should also be free. Free to read, print, use, etc.

Save Paste

I've always enjoyed Paste magazine. The really cool thing is the CD sampler that comes with each issue. I've discovered some really great new groups. My automobile's CD changer is filled with Paste CDs. I think you will also enjoy this mag. So, follow the link to SAVE PASTE, and if you don't have a subscription, get one, and if you can, please donate some money to help keep Paste alive.



Blessings,
Byron

What a ride

So, I've done the MS150 again. My sixth ride is history, but I think it was the hardest one I've done. That's what happens when you don't train properly. I will never, never, never, ever do another MS150 without proper training. Just too unpleasant.

Since the first day was canceled, (see above) I figured no problem, I'll do the challenge ride and go through Buescher State Park. I've always gone through the park. I would feel as though I'd wimped out if I didn't go through the park. It about broke me. Thankfully, the rest of the ride, even into a stiff wind, was much easier and I was able to finish.


Maybe, because of how exhausted I was, or because I actually tried to get others to contribute, I found this to be one of the most meaningful MS150 rides that I've done. I was very touched by the many suffers of MS that came out to cheer us on. One sign brought me to tears. It was a young lady holding up a sign that said "Thank you 4 saving my life one pedal at a time." I thought, it isn't my pedal strokes, it's the people that give money. It's my friends at work and my family, not me.

In Luke chapter 16, Jesus tells a strange parable. It's called the "Parable of the Shrewd Manager". I think it should be called the "Parable of the Crooked Manager". Jesus tells how this guy was wasting and even stealing money from his employer. When the crooked manager learns that he's about to be fired, he goes to his employer's debtors and cut's their debts. And how does Jesus sum up this parable? He doesn't say, "steal from the rich and give to the poor", which is kind of what the crooked manager did, no, in verse nine, he sums up the lesson with: "Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends." NLT. Use your money to benefit others. With that in mind, I'd like to say thank you to the many, many benefactors that gave their money to help others.

Total miles: 73.86 (total training miles were only 70.16)
Total Riding Time: 6:13:06 (don't my butt know it)
Avg Speed: 11.7 (slow and steady wins the race)
Max Speed: 41.2 (I LOVE going fast on the downhills)

MS150 (update)

I've been going on long bike rides these past two weekends to get ready for the MS150 next week end. Last week I went out to Bellville and rode 30 miles. Today I went to Bellville and road 40 miles. I go to Bellville, because it's hilly and hilly is the best training. My legs are beat. I'm not ready, but I'll do it anyway, unless it's raining. Nothing like pain for a good cause.

Mom called, she wanted to give to the MS150, but I didn't explain how to give, so she couldn't. See my previous post. So, if you want to give to the MS Society (tax deduction!) Please click on the link below.

CLICK HERE, or HERE and you will be taken to the MS Society's web site where you can make a secure credit card contribution. Or you can click on their logo below.

Killed some Fish this weekend

My good friends Tom, Jim, and I went fish killing this weekend. We went up to the woods of east Texas and fished on the Sabine river. We were guided by Simon, part of River Ridge, and he did a great job. We didn't get as many as we wanted (75), but we got enough (27). It was fun to have someone else do the baiting, netting, and cleaning of the fish. And many thanks to my boss, Kurt, for funding this good time.