Doonesbloggy

Just in case any of us might make the mistake of taking our blogs too seriously. And a little nod to my earlier blog about using someone else's ideas for fodder.

Gotta go. I'm on deadline for my real life.

Jack Worship

Check out Keith Drury's latest -- Jack Worship, the new worship trend sweeping the church. Look for it at a church near you.

Could it happen?
Should it happen?
Will it happen?

So you want that in blew? or why I hate buying cars

So, I spent two hours of my life last night becoming increasingly frustrated attempting to get a shady car dealer to tell me how much a car really costs. We're trying to buy a new car and I can't stand the process--too much listening to dealers talk, too much shading the truth on just how likely it is that I will drive this car off the lot tonight, too much "sign your name here, but it doesn't really mean anything." Then why am I signing my name?

Anyway, there was some (sad) comedy to the whole affair. This salesperson did several things that just blew my mind and make me wonder how long he'll hang around in the car-selling biz.

• He told me very early on that he used to work for a Toyota (although he pronounced it tie-yoda) dealer down the street and then proceeded to say "Toyota" or mention Toyota models twice as much as he said the word Honda (the new dealership he works at)
• He told me throughout the 2 hour ordeal that he used to be a middle school teacher, that he is a karate instructor, that he went to Bible college and claims he spelled my name in Hebrew and that he is an amateur magician.
• We were looking at a specific car and when he asked me what color the car was, I told him "steel blue" as that's what Honda calls light blue. He wrote on the sheet: blew.
• I didn't want the blue one. Our color preference is black. Our second choice is "fern." When I told him this, he said, "Fern, that's a color? How do you spell that?"
• At one point he made the statement: "I don't know that much about cars."
• When he described the Consumer Reports article in which the Honda Pilot beat all other SUVs, he said, "Yeah, when I looked at that, I was surprised at all the red marks it got. Red circles, red half-circles. I mean this is a really good car."

I think I told him more about the vehicle I wanted to buy than he told me and in the end, we all ended up frustrated. Heading to yet another Honda dealer (our 4th one) this weekend. Hopefully, they'll have a blew one at the right price.

Prayer for the Day

Saw this on a coworkers desk and thought it was a prayer I need to be praying.

Dear God, please keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth. Amen.

and Amen

Here's something for your blog

Have you ever been with someone who reads your blog and something catches their attention and they say, "Here's something for your blog?" Well it happened the other day to me. And while the actual stimulus for the comment is very funny and probably something I would comment on in this space, I'm trying to figure out the dynamics of someone else choosing material for my blog. I mean, shouldn't it be my keen powers of observation that lead me to comment in a witty fashion on the fact that Dunkin Donuts advertises their new Turbo Ice as "delicious iced coffee with a KICK of real espresso," but then says in small print at the bottom, "also available in decaf?" How silly is that, an extra kick of decaf espresso? Doesn't that defeat the purpose (as my witty observant friend commented)?

I don't know if I'm a poseur for using material put forward by someone else as "a good one for my blog." By rights, this friend of mine should be posting his own witty aphorisms on the silliness of decaf turbo ice coffee. So what am I left to do? Not post about the topic and let him think his idea was in fact, NOT, "a good one for my blog?" Maybe I should encourage him to start his own blog and have his first post be the decaf espresso shtick.

Alright, enough already. I have to go get myself a turbo ice...
decaf of course.

Little Women

Maybe it's because we just had Sydney's first birthday party, maybe it's because we're still in the process of rearranging a lot in our lives toward a more healthy family life, maybe it's because it's our most important ministry, maybe it's because the thought wakes us up with loud cries or the pitter patter of little feet early every morning, but I've been thinking a lot lately about raising girls in this world. With all that's wrong in our fallen world, it can be a really scary thing to think about bringing up girls to be healthy, happy and whole. It seems like even great parents that I know have had horrible things happen to their daughters. I look at Riley and Sydney now and just wish sometimes that their lives could continue to carry on in the fashion described by this Non Sequitir comic strip. That a swingset could cure all.
I'd like to know that I can protect them from most and heal them from all of the hurts they might encounter in their lives. It can cause a dad to want to freeze time and keep them young, but I realize it's impossible to stop the march of life. I guess we have to settle for sufficiently shrewd, but innocent as doves. Fortunately, Riley and Sydney show strong leanings toward shrewdness. Jen and I just have to work to maintain their innocence.
Is it too early to start praying for Godly husbands? Ok, I'll stop.

Velcro Vanity

Was I driving behind the inventor of Velcro? Who knows? But it raises a couple of questions. Wouldn't the inventor of Velcro be driving something better than a Crown Vic?

If it's not the inventor of the fantastic sticky fabric, then who would bother to purchase a vanity plate with Velcro on it? The region's top velcro salesperson? A collector?

Then there's the other question, what's your favorite vanity plate you've ever seen on the road?

Yes, I did almost drive off the road trying to take this photo. Thank God for camera phones. What did we ever do before we had them?