What don’t you want to find in your mowing shoe? May 26, 2008
Posted by Damon in : Humor, Life, that creep me out , 2 commentsAt least I tapped it out first…
Maybe the Fed isn’t so dumb… April 21, 2008
Posted by Damon in : Economy , add a commentI don’t believe much in the way of financials/stocks/bonds/commodities is accidental anymore, so when I saw a second story this morning about how the Euro-zone (those locations in the world where the Euro is the prevailing currency) is in danger of losing lots of dollar-based work due to the extreme weakness in the dollar, I had to perk up. The primary reason this causes interest is because it seems to support the fact that the Fed (and anyone else who has a hand in the relative strength of the dollar) are letting the Euros get a snootfull, especially after a lot of propping up was done at the inception of the Euro. So, have at it Clive, and I hope your economy doesn’t go under.
This hits a little close to home…
Posted by Damon in : Humor , add a commentbut, what the hey…
Yeah, yeah… February 19, 2008
Posted by Damon in : Economy, I've got gas over gas, that chap my hide , 2 commentsI haven’t blogged in a while, mainly because I didn’t have a lot to say, and really…why jabber if it’s not worthy of repeating?
That said, get ready to start riding the bus. The oil industry is driving the insanity on every turn, as evidenced today by the closing of the crude market up $4.45 a barrel, to just eke out under an even $100 a barrel. I won’t go into all the ruminations I believe are at the root of it, but honestly…what has changed since just before Katrina? Other than the oil industry realized it could raise prices at will and nobody can do anything about it. Every little rumor that is put out there about production, maintenance, “global tensions”… come on. Nothing has changed, yet the price of oil has risen over $30 a barrel since that time.
We are being taken folks, if you don’t believe it, look at Exxon and Shell’s most recent profit reports. They are records. And we are being driven to the poorhouse.
Happy Birthday to you!! December 13, 2007
Posted by Damon in : Family, Life, that tickle my fancy , 2 commentsHappy birthday my love…31 for 6 years and holding! 
I love you…
The end, or beginning of an era… November 20, 2007
Posted by Damon in : Family, Life , add a commentThis Thursday, my oldest child will turn 12. I took her to dinner last night and just enjoyed the time I got to spend with her, but was almost nervous trying to think of what to talk with her about. She’s so much more mature than I give her credit for a lot of times, and she has poise that is beyond her years. But she wants the simple things…doesn’t really want to get older, just to live her life as it is, learning, playing with her siblings, practicing the fiddle. Driving isn’t appealing to her, and I think that the “getting older” thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be in her eyes.
Stay young lovey…it goes by all too fast. And Happy Birthday my beautiful young daughter.
Happy Birthday Cricket! August 7, 2007
Posted by Damon in : Family, Life, that tickle my fancy , 4 commentsMy not-so-baby is 6 today…hooray! 
Report Four May 22, 2007
Posted by Damon in : Life, Religion, Travel, that tickle my fancy , 1 comment so farWednesday was a beautiful day, and we had already planned to go into Jerusalem for the day with Arlo, one of the volunteers at the HOH. He had been there for several months and had been to Jerulsalem several times and knew his way around for the most part. Our directions for getting there were pretty easy (via Stewart - too bad the English/Yorkshire brogue doesn’t translate in writing… ) “Take the number 23, straight on in…” which, as it turned out, was pretty much all we needed to know.
May 9, 2007
Posted by Damon in : Asides , add a commentMy brain is recovering for a oouple of days. I’ll get back onto Report Four tonight.
Report Three May 7, 2007
Posted by Damon in : Life, Religion, Travel, that tickle my fancy , add a commentWhen last I left you, we were getting ready to go out to the Tent of Nations. A bit of background, and I’ll try to be brief: Daher’s family bought the farmland that the TON is situated on in 1924 (corrected from my original report), and from what he told us, the “title” or deed to the land is intact on paper all the way back to the Ottoman Empire (which began in roughly 1300AD). In 1991, the Israeli government declared the entire area, including the mountaintop property belonging to Daher & his family, to be state property. This prompted he and his family to pursue the matter through the courts, since it was evident that they lived there and did a significant amount of work to the property in farming and raising animals. Though the original case has still not been resolved (the Israeli high court continues to put their decision off) the Israeli government tried in both 1991 and 1992 to put a road in on either side of the property, which necessitated more court actions to stay this activity.
Report Two May 5, 2007
Posted by Damon in : Life, Religion, Travel, that tickle my fancy , 3 commentsSunday morning we got up, showered, ate breakfast, and got ready to go to church. Jason & Sarah, along with quite a few people from the House of Hope (hereafter HOH) go to a Presbyterian church down the street. The minister is a young Arab Christian who preaches in Arabic, and they provide radio headsets for non-Arabic speaking guests with a translator sending the English version out. It was fair, but there was a lot of static, so it was hard to concentrate. Quite a few of the HOH kids were in there, along with some other disabled folks from a different home in the area.
Another good one… May 3, 2007
Posted by Damon in : Quotes , add a comment“The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; business without morality; science without humanity; and worship without sacrifice.” –Mahatma Gandhi
HT to Eric Blauer’s blog
Good quote
Posted by Damon in : Quotes , add a comment“An imbecile habit has arisen in modern controversy of saying that such and such a creed can be held in one age but cannot be held in another. Some dogma, we are told, was credible in the 12th century, but is not credible in the 20th. You might as well say that a certain philosophy can be believed on Mondays, but cannot be believed on Tuesdays. You might as well say of a view of the cosmos that it was suitable to half-past three, but not suitable to half-past four. What a man can believe depends on his philosophy, not upon the clock or the century. If a man believes in unalterable natural law, he cannot believe in any miracle in any age. If a man believes in a will behind law, he can believe in any miracle in any age.”- G.K. Chesterton
Report One May 2, 2007
Posted by Damon in : Life, Religion, Travel, that tickle my fancy , add a commentI think what I’ll do on here is just try to go through the trip a couple of days at a time for each post, just to get it down in words. Might take a bit, but that’s OK…you don’t have anything better to do, right?
We left Little Rock on Thursday afternoon, two weeks ago tomorrow. I met Eric & Hector at the airport, and we stood around a while waiting on my FIL to get there. We circled up, he prayed for us, and we were off…with Abigail crying cause her daddy was leaving. Got through the security there in LR (which I have come to find out is cake, comparitively) and on the little Connect-link jet to Atlanta. Pretty comfortable flight from there to Atlanta, just read and chatted amongst ourselves for the hour and small change it took to get there.
This cracked me up… May 1, 2007
Posted by Damon in : Humor, Movies, that tickle my fancy , add a commentMainly because I’m a big LOTR fan. 
For my first observation… April 30, 2007
Posted by Damon in : Life, Travel , add a comment…let me just start by saying that I’m gaining new appreciation for the saying “Don’t believe everything that people tell you…” because it’s a heck of a lot more accurate than I ever originally thought it was. And instead of trying to articulate it with a lengthy diatribe, I’ll just say that once again I’m realizing that perception is everything, and that the media control our perception.
Home! April 29, 2007
Posted by Damon in : Family, Life, Religion, Travel, Worship , 1 comment so farWell, we are home, but tired…had to be at the airport to come home by 8:30pm, and it took an hour to get through security. Then another 2 hour wait for the plane to board and take off, followed by a 12 1/2 hour flight to Atlanta. I counted up and figured out that we didn’t see the sun for a full 18 hours due to running from the dawn going west. But, I got the privilege of flying over England, Ireland, nearly clipped Greenland, then down through Newfoundland, Quebec and Ontario before rolling down over Ohio and the Ohio River Valley. Never been to any of those countries before, but hey, airspace counts, right?
This was an incredible experience, but it’s going to take me a few days to distill my thoughts and experiences to something that will give you a good taste of what we did and saw. Again, I appreciate all of you and thank you for all of your prayers and support. This was a view of the world that not many people get to see.
Going well! April 22, 2007
Posted by Damon in : Life, Religion, Travel, that tickle my fancy , add a commentThree days in, and things are going well. We have painted a bunch, eaten a bunch, and had a good time with a bunch of great kids. This is a wonderful facility, and I am so glad I’ve gotten the opportunity to come over here and lend a hand. Supposed to go do some tourism in the morning before hitting the painting again tomorrow afternoon. Please continue your prayers for us! We do appreciate it…
Wheels up! April 19, 2007
Posted by Damon in : Life, Religion, Travel, that tickle my fancy , add a commentAs one of my AF buddies likes to say, we are about to be “Wheels up!” this afternoon.
Please continue to lift the three of us (Me, Eric & Hector) up in prayer for the next 10 days solid. I am excited to see what God will do through us.
Updates when I return! Woo!!
Bill Dance is my son… April 16, 2007
Posted by Damon in : Family, Life, Sports, that tickle my fancy , 1 comment so farI never cease to be amazed…
