I Finished First!

Greetings and salutations this fine Thanksgiving Day. I'm about beat from a very long day here, but it was a lot of fun.

I started out the day with the Father Joe's Thanksgiving Day 5K, me and around 3,500 of my closest friends. The course itelf was very nice, going through Balboa Park, looping through a nearby neighborhood, and finishing up back in the park

And I am proud to say I finished first! First among 40-year-old men from Cincinnati, that is.

The rest of the day was spent sightseeing in Ocean Beach, Point Loma, and Cabrillo. Pics will be up soon. Here's a sample

Until tomorrow, peace

The First Church, La Jolla and Fish Tacos

First stop on the sightseeing was the Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala, the first church in California. It's very cool, there are exhibits and digs underway as they discover more about this place and Father Presidente Junípero Serra

We did some sightseeing up the coast a bit. I've heard a lot about La Jolla, so that seemed like a good place to start. The community itself is beautiful, and the homes are multi-million dollar cracker boxes wedged in so tight you can practically reach out and touch your neighbors. It's literally that packed. No thanks.

We did take a nice walk up the beach, the Pacific was choppy today so there were a lot of surfers out there. It seemed a little chilly for surfing, but the were all in wetsuits so I guess they're comfy.

And Rubios! I've heard legendary stories about Rubio's fish tacos, so we had to have one. Oh yeah, they were tasty.

More later. Peace.

Hotel California

Touchdown in San Diego! Here I am on the west coast, first time in SoCal. I've been to NorCal a few times, but everyone says it could be an entirely different state. We'll see. It's a balmy 65 degrees here, I like it.

The flight was unevenful, a few bumps along the way but nothing major. The inflight movie was Transformers, it was well worth a second viewing. ANd my iPod headphones worked in the jacks, so I didn't have to pay for a headset. After the movie Futurama came on, but I did some work on the old laptop instead. My music is all kinds of jacked up, so I took the last hour of the flight to fix it.

I have't seen Patty since she left for San Diego. She looks tired. I know she's been really stressed out here, it's a challenge picking up and leaving everything you've ever known behind and starting a new life in a completely different place. That's part of why I'm here - to bring a little happiness and help her find her joy again.

We're walking in a 5K tomorrow, Father Joe's Thanksgiving Day 5K. It benefits the homeless here in SD. I'm taking my camera along the walk with me, as the route looks to be very scenic. The route starts at the San Diego Museum of Man in Balboa Park, right near where Patty works at the Naval Medical Center

We're out to buy stuff for Turkey Day tomorrow. More updates as I can.

Weird Al Yankovic

Is a genius. And if you doubt me, watch this.



If you still doubt me, I'm gonna have to thump you.

Two things that caught my eye today

Ah Chiptole. Just one of the many reasons I love Chipotle.

And am I the only one that sees the irony in this?

Rounding Third And Heading For Home

Sad day here in the Queen City. Joe is baseball in Cincinnati. It's not summer until you get to hear him and Marty calling the games, and he loved the game.

Everyone who ever met him said he's one of the greatest human beings they ever met. I met him once, at Riverfront before the game; we got to ride up in the elevator with him. Very humble, very nice, and very friendly. Signed our tickets for us and said "I don't know why people want my autograph, I'm just Joe."

"This is the old left-hander, rounding third and heading for home. Goodnight everybody."

So long Joe, and Godspeed.

Logan, the sky angel cowboy

Thanks, Robin, for pointing me to this.

Don't Forget...

When you are making out your Christmas card list this year,

please include the following:

A Recovering American Soldier/Sailor/Airman
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington, D.C. 20307-5001

Please repost this.


Thank you!

Don't eat that Steve, you'll die!

Was Katie's reaction to my lunch today.



Octopus salad from Wild Oats. It's very tasty.

Tackle an elephant with me!

I've just decided to commit myself to the radically generous, outward-focused lifestyle Jesus has called his followers to. Christians in the modern Western World, including me, have failed in small and large ways to submit our economic ideals and values to Jesus and his Kingdom. This has been an often ignored elephant in the room for too long and I am going to do what I can to tackle this issue in my life.

I am hoping you might join me in this effort, by supporting me in my decision, and joining this Kingdom work as well.

Find out more by visiting Tackling the Elephant

Lunch with Katie

My co-worker Katie and I went to Subway for lunch today. Driving back to work from Subway, I went a different route since I had to swing by the post office. At one intersection, I saw that where once there was large stand of trees is now a muddy field.

I remarked on this to Katie, and she said "No wonder I can't catch my breath on this road."

I guess I had that puzzled dog look on my face because she said next "All the trees are gone. Trees give us oxygen and we breathe oxygen. That's why I can't catch my breath."

I couldn't make this stuff up, folks...

Ok...

Lame for a first post, I know. Deal with it. Or don't. I'll love you anyway.

This scripture came to mind this morning, and it applies to you specifically:

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14

You are wonderful, as the saying goes, "God don't make no junk".

More to come as I progress back into the world of blogging. I'll post some old blogs with new thoughts, or new blogs with old thoughts.

Peace.