It has been an interesting and busy day. Of course, my dinosaur computer tends to make small jobs big, (don't think sexy dinosaur like veloceraptor, mine is more like the big-boned brontosaurus - who has a really great personality and likes long walks on the beach...) but it was just a packed day anyway.
I have been doing some contract software testing for a company for the past month and a half. I figured the job would last a week and a half. Oh well, so much for that. I guess the good (and bad) thing is that I have found some fairly major bugs. It is good from the perspective that they know that I am doing what they hired me to do, bad from the perspective that it is causing the contract to drag out FAR longer than I and planned on.
I used to be scared of computers. They never did what I wanted them to do. Later, I discovered that it wasn't my fault. I just have an innate ability to uncover latent "product features" as the developers like to call them!
One of the best pieces of advice I got on my first QA (Quality Assurance) job. An old, seasoned tester told me to not be afraid to break something. That if I could break it, it needed breaking. Good advice. There is a lot of software out there that needs breaking. Microsoft's is the worst. I am pretty sure that they don't have a single QA person on staff. If they do, they should be fired. Microsoft puts out the buggiest software on the planet I think.
I never buy any of their new release software because I know that it will be crap. They release it with as many bugs as a low-rent mobile home, and then put in this clever little program that allows you to report failures when it crashes and burns - kind of like a black box for software. They get their customers to do for free what they are too cheap to pay for. And people put up with this junk! But I digress...
I have always been accused of not knowing my own strength. Growing up, I often broke things by using force against resistance. I eventually became conditioned to not do this because it usually ended up in something getting broken. (That whole tie up a baby elephant thing...) This is why there are times when I will ask for help with something and end up looking like an idiot when someone half my size and strength comes up and easily accomplishes my task by applying a little more force. I guess this explains why I was afraid to mess with computers.
Isn't it funny how much fear influences our lives? I have really been pondering this lately. In fact we had a pretty strong prayer meeting tonight with some guys from the church, and fear was our number one target. I think that we had a really good breakthrough. I guess the proof will be in the pudding. When we have an opportunity to fear, will we give in to it, or will we respond in faith? Jim Laffoon wrote a really good devotion about that the other day at Our Daily Blog. You should check it out. Here is a quote from one of his recent posts:
Even as faith is your greatest friend, so fear is your greatest foe. In fact, fear is the enemy’s version of faith; even as faith will bring you into the reality of God’s promises, so fear will bring you into the reality of the enemy’s tormenting threats.- Jim Laffoon
I have a post cooking, actually a couple, that are about fear. I will probably post different ones on the different blogs that I am working on (as if keeping up ONE blog wasn't challenging enough.) If you are interested in more Christian-themed posts about fear you can check out Conspiracy Of Kindness. It is a blog that I set up for my church to use, but so far I am the only one who posts there. I try not to be so political over there and I really try to resist the urge to get in a good rant. Should be safe for a 'G' rating. I might just copy the post that I do on fear over there to this blog too. I can do that. I have the power.
Still, it will be interesting to see how I handle another bad news day and whether it is sufficient to bring me down or if I will be able to respond in faith. Sigh... The bad thing about that is that it means there will have to be another bad news day. I am definitely getting better at handling them, though. By temperament I tend towards melancholy, but Jesus is helping me to deal with that a lot better. Things that would have bummed me out for a month now only seem to be able to affect me for a few hours. That is an improvement!
Another indicator that I am getting better is in the way I handled my recent reading of the book of Job. Job has always been my least favorite book in the Bible. In the past, I have found myself railing at God for not answering Job's legitimate question. This time it was different. I think that I am finally starting to understand Job.
Bottom line? God is good. Period. Even when it looks like He isn't good, He is good. If you can get that, you'll be fine.
Some good news today:
Judge: Ten Commandments Display Can Stay
It's about time we win one of these.
The other day seemed heavy laden with bad news. There is an old treaty that Ronald Reagan refused to ratify (because of the damage that it would do to US sovereignty) that inexplicably is in the Senate at President Bush's request for full ratification. This is a horribly bad idea. I love President Bush and all, but this was not one of the finer moments. You can read about it at the link below. Please call and fax your Senators and tell them that you strongly oppose the ratification of this treaty. Unfortunately, letters and emails have almost no impact on Congressional opinion. Since the anthrax scare, letters take months to get there if ever, and emails are given very little weight.
UNITED NATION JURISDICTION OF THE SEAS - THE LAW OF THE SEAS TREATY
Let folks know about this one. It is bad news. It is always a bad thing for us if the UN is in control of anything. I'm personally ready for the US to kick them out of NYC and tell them that if they want to act like our enemy they can do it in someone else's country. I have heard that there is a lovely mountain ridge in the middle of the Atlantic...
I also read a good article the other day on the Town Hall website. It was called:
Exposing How Liberals Misread the Bible
By Frank Pastore
Sunday, September 16, 2007
It demonstrated a very serious weakness in any biblical argument of anyone who doesn't accept biblical inerrancy. Kind of hard to legitimately use the Bible to support your point if you don't accept that the Bible is what it claims to be - the literal Word of God.
I've also been helping a friend who is trying to sell a couple homes in Rowan County, NC. You can see them here. Sorry about the website. It is new and I haven't finished doctoring it up yet. One property is a farm ($255,000) and the other is a really well renovated single story house ($149,900). I know that is a "ranch" but I thought it might be a little confusing after I was talking about the first being a farm. If you know anyone looking to move to Rowan County let them know about it.
My friend, David P has returned from Japan. Keep an eye on his blog. He has found out some interesting information, and I think that his posts in the coming days, weeks and months will prove to continue to be interesting and enlightening.
It seems that there was something else that I wanted to ramble on about, but I can't seem to remember what it was. Perhaps that is because I should have gone to bed hours ago. Thus, that is enough rambling for this post. I'll try to get those fear posts done soon. They have been tumbling around in my mind for a couple of weeks. I think they'll be pretty good. Should be ready before Halloween anyway!
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