Posts Tagged ‘friends’

road trip

Wednesday, May 17th, 2006

I took a road trip, of sorts, this weekend. The sort I’m talking about involved my entire family and one van. The van holds 7 people. Starting from front to back, and from left to right, we were Dad, Papa, Claire, my great aunt Faye, myself, Aunt Jan, and Mom.

When I drive from Pensacola to Henderson myself, it takes 6 – 6.5 hours, depending on whether I stop to use the bathroom or get gas. This weekend it was about 9 hours each way. It is difficult to achieve 9 hours without a major vehicle breakdown, but it can be done. The main strategy is to stop within the first hour to use the bathroom. Then, while making said stop, you take your time selecting a snack and a decent-sized beverage, thus securing the need for another stop within the hour. Lather, rinse, and repeat.

We did eventually make it to Henderson. I got to see Leslie, which was great. I miss having him around. I am thankful that God put us in a family where we can have such a close relationship. It is a great thing to be brothers by our own blood and brothers by Christ’s blood. Anyway, Leslie preached on Sunday, and did a great job. His girlfriend, Sarah (-h) made me a pancake Sunday morning, so she gets my seal of approval. I’m sure she was holding her breath. I also got to meet her sister, Christiana Christianna, who seemed pretty cool. Leslie is living with two guys, Mike and Eric, who have been his same roommates, or at least lived down the hall since he got to Freed. I have come to know them from sleeping on their couches/floors, so it is always good to see them, too.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a few goals for the week. I did get some of them done. I set aside specific time to pray a couple of days, but not all of them. I still need to work on that. I bought the camcorder i was looking for. It should arrive tomorrow, so as soon as I figure out how to use it and post video, i will do that. I didn’t get anything mailed… shame on me. I also read up on my CSS, and have decided to do some revamping of the Free Travel page. It definitely needs it.

What I’m finding with CSS is that it is great, but does have it’s limitations. Eventually CSS and browser programming are going to have to make things a little more intuitive, especially when it comes to curved shapes and liquid layouts. Right now, as far as the underlying code goes, we’re still stuck with boxes. I do believe standards are the right path to take if we want to escape that model. Programming around browser quirks is just too much unnecessary effort, and it can’t make developing html and CSS behaviors any easier.

It is 2:24am. Goodnight.

some glad morning

Wednesday, May 10th, 2006

The first time I talked to John Ready, he told me he used to develop pornographic pictures for a living. He said he started going to “Christ Church” and that he studied with the preacher, and that the preacher said he shouldn’t do that anymore. Having determined it to be wrong, he stopped. He stopped even though it was his most significant source of income. That was our first discussion, and that was when I first respected him. Usually, it takes awhile to earn someone’s respect (if we ever earn it). Usually, people take a lot longer to cut through the crap (if we ever cut through it). Not John Ready.

If someone had ever kept attendance, John Ready would have the best record, hands down. He is there when the doors are open, (except when his family took him out to dinner for his birthday one Sunday night). He walks to Church from his trailer, and only asks for a ride when it’s raining. He usually gets a ride back home to stop and get a paper at the machine, and then to make it home for his meals-on-wheels. Every time I have been to Church for the past year, John has reminded me, “You still have until November to register to vote; you can vote for senators in 2006.” He has never forgotten to tell me that. Not once. I will be registering this year, Lord willing. Usually people are discouraged from repeating things if you look at them funny for doing so. Usually people value what you think of them over what they know they should say. Not John Ready.

At least half the times I’ve given John a ride home, he’s told me he already had a plot picked out at the cemetery where he will be buried. Normally, I would think it strange for someone to tell me that. John’s comments, however, go into a different category. Usually people are afraid to talk about their own deaths. Usually people pretend that they will never die. Not John Ready.

John said he wanted to be buried with his cat, Skeeter. The cat, and the state of Florida, have their own opinions about that plan. John did tell me before that he studied in Egypt. As far as I know, Skeeter has not studied there, so that probably explains their disagreement. Usually, Americans do not want to be buried with their pets. Usually, people are forgotten after they leave this world. Not John Ready.