Random selections of other blogs. Note: I am not responsible for content on other blogs.
It's true ... I'm the first official affiliate partner with Blue Haven Pools & Spas Supplies Direct. We're rolling a test affiliate program and since my blog gets swamped by pool enthusiasts from across the globe, I decided to sign up!
Don't worry -- you can sign up, too. Just click here to be on your way.
After picking the aforementioned apples, we set off for the town of Julian, intent on spending an afternoon strolling the streets. For those who aren't San Diego locals, Julian is a historic mining town set in the hills above San Diego. It dates back to the 1800s and is a local treasure.
We were greeted on the road into town by passing fire engines and helicopters flying over head. Yes, we arrived at the same time a fire broke out just over the hill from Julian. From our parking lot we snapped the following pictures:
I can remember going with my parents to an orchard just outside of Peoria. I believe it was called Tanner's Orchard, though I'm not one hundred percent certain. We could pick our own apples and drink apple cider made right at the orchard.
So we decided to take the family up to Julian to a local orchard. We found one through the Julian Chamber of Commerce website and had a blast filling up a bag with apples. The girls went from tree to tree and got to pick their own apples, including a few "baby" apples. Here are a few pictures from the grand event ...
Like many companies, our’s has a company shirt that it gives out to employees. It’s a simple blue polo shirt with the Blue Haven logo embroidered on the left side. I was flattered when they handed me a medium-sized shirt during my new employee welcoming party. Flattery quickly gave way to reality and I swapped it out for a large.
Since one of my determining factors for picking clothes to wear involves choosing the least-wrinkled option, I chose to wear my new shirt to work last week. And so did three of my co-workers and the president of our parent company. We joked about posing for a group picture -- and at least one of the ladies considered leaving early.
As a man, I was thinking ... "If I’m careful and hang this up when I get home, I might get another day of wear out of it."
Companies give out shirts to build camaraderie and team spirit. It’s fairly inexpensive and it helps foster a good feeling among employees.
As Christ-followers, we’ve been issued a set of clothing as well. In fact, it was more like an exchange -- we gave up our old wardrobe in exchange for a new one filled with God’s idea of fashion. Obviously, I’m not talking threads but values and principles and priorities.
The Bible describes the redemptive process in this way: "You are all sons and daughters through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (Galatians 3:26-27).
It should be no surprise that when Christians gather for worship or meet over coffee, that they show up wearing the same "clothes." If you’ll pardon my pun in advance, the one common thread we all share is Jesus. As the old hymns says, "Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love."
So the next time you bump into a fellow Christ-follower, greet her by saying, "I just love what you’re wearing." You and I will know what you mean :-)
I'm very interested in all these toy recalls, especially the ones involving Mattel. Back in August when the issue first started heating up and before Mattel was forced to recall not one but multiple items, this quote appeared in the August 3, 2007, copy of the Wall Street Journal:
Mattel won't publicly name the manufacturer until the El Segundo, Calif.,
company completes an investigation of how the toys were tainted. But Jim Walter,
the company's senior vice president of world-wide quality assurance, said, "It's
my understanding that they are producing toys for other companies." He said if
products from the factory were sold to other companies, it would be the
responsibility of the factory owner, not Mattel, to alert them.
"We have no right to go in there to ask, 'Who else are you
producing for, and what else are you making?' " Mr. Walter
said. He added that he had personally received no calls from toy companies
seeking the name of the factory. The Toy Industry Association, which has close
ties to Mattel, said it hadn't asked for information on the toys' source.
That Mr. Walter is the senior vice president of "world-wide quality assurance" is not reassuring to me as a parent. His quote strikes me as "we have no moral or ethical responsibility to our consumers if it doesn't wear a Mattel label."
First of all, a company as large as Mattel surely knows who else is using their vendors and manufacturers. Do they have an a moral or ethical responsibility to their consumers? I think so. Where is the "greater good" concept that people used to believe in?
Personally, I believe most of the toy industry is in the same bed as Mattel and knowingly so. It's hard to believe that these many products could come from the same country and the senior vice president of world-wide quality assurance didn't know they had lead in them.
Second of all, how did this guy get to be a senior vice president of world-wide quality assurance and still allow himself to be quoted like this in the WSJ?
It's obviously a much wider issue than just toys and Mattel. The larger issue is our dependence on cheap stuff and, therefore, our addiction to Chinese resources.
Now, of course, the company is taking a totally different posture and the CEO is putting out warm fuzzy videos that seek to "empathize" with parents and consumers. Maybe it's conscience; it's probably a simple matter of economics spelled C-L-A-S-S- A-C-T-I-O-N- L-A-W-S-U-I-T-S.
Not long after I arrived at work this morning, a few of the co-workers were sharing an interesting bit of customer mail. It seems that someone who had received one of our catalogs decided it was a bit too risque for his/her taste and sent the offending page back in ... along with a Holy Joe tract attached to it. The tract was called "A Dirty Mind."
Many of my co-workers are aware of the fact that I am a pastor. I wanted to say to them, "I'm not THAT kind of pastor." I wanted to explain to them that the Christianity I preach and try to practice is not a cartoon but ones that mixes and meshes with real life. It doesn't feel the need to take a page from a pool supply catalog, strap a devilish tract to it, and mail it to some unknown receiver with a warning about eternal damnation scribbled on the side.
Once the envelope was licked and dropped in the mail, this person probably turned on their television and was bombarded with far more salacious material than what arrived in our catalog. Even worse, they may have propped up their feet with the feeling that they've done their part to make the world a better place.
How risky is it to drop an anonymous note in the mail, along with a 25-cent tract? I'll tell you what's risky -- to live an authentic life that doesn't capitulate to immorality while at the same time being willing to invest yourself in lives that are right smack in the mud.
I winced as the letter and tract were being passed around. What was left unsaid was ... "Are you that kind of Christian?" "Do you carry Holy Joe tracts around in your wallet?"
I have to admit -- I was a bit ashamed. Not of Jesus or his values or his message. But of how we sometimes create unnecessary obstacles for people who haven't plugged into Jesus just yet.
This mistake gets filed under the category of "OOPS." It seems that someone with the Otay Water District (just south of San Diego) hooked up with the wrong pipes a few years ago. Instead of sending regular old drinking water into the business center, it was treated sewage water. "Recycled water" as the district likes to call it. That makes it sounds less like pee and more like taking your cans and bottles out to the curb.
Normally, I would just chuckle at this kind of story and be thankful for living in San Diego. But when the paper comes out with the story, who's in the picture? LifePoint's former bass player and current lead pastor at Wave Christian Church -- Jim Osbourne. Jim's wife, Carla, runs a party supply store in the affected business park! And there is Jim sporting the ever-fashionable Late Show t-shirt.
Here's the Union-Tribune story and picture:
Merchants told water is tainted
Chula Vista center connected to pipes carrying treated sewage
By Anne Krueger
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 22, 2007
Shop owners in a Chula Vista business park knew something was wrong with their water. It tasted bad, smelled funny and had a yellowish tint.
“You would flush the toilet, and it looked like it wasn't flushed,” said Amy Wise, co-owner of the Candy Bouquet, which sends out candy arrangements.
The Otay Water District assured the merchants that the water was fine, but the merchants weren't convinced. The park's property manager sent a water sample to a private lab and got some shocking news Friday.
For two years, occupants of the 17 businesses in Eastlake's Fenton Business Center have been drinking and washing their hands in treated sewage water.
Somehow, the park was hooked up to a pipe carrying recycled water – treated wastewater intended solely for irrigation – instead of drinking water. Now the Otay district is dealing with distraught merchants and the question of how this could have happened.
Signs are now posted on all the businesses warning people not to drink the water. Two food-related businesses – the Candy Bouquet and Dream Dinners, a store that provides ingredients for make-and-freeze meals – were closed by the county Department of Environmental Health.
Yesterday, water district representatives met with the business owners in a hot, empty office at the business park. About 20 people crammed into the tiny room and peppered officials with questions.
“We just want peace of mind,” said Joe Padilla, owner of a computer store.
General Manager Mark Watton didn't have a lot of answers, but he did make some promises. The water district would pay for medical tests for workers, and would compensate the businesses for their losses. “We want to do whatever we need to do to make things right,” Watton said.
Watton said the water system has been repaired, but the state Department of Public Health requires more clean samples before the water is deemed safe and the two food-related businesses can reopen. Watton said he expects that to happen tomorrow afternoon.
Ken August, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Health, said officials are investigating. “We have learned about the situation and we are evaluating it,” August said.
Recycled water is not tested as rigorously as drinking water because it is not meant to be consumed. Several shop owners expressed concerns that they or their employees could be sickened by the lingering taint of bad water.
Watton said this is the first time he has heard of recycled water being accidentally sent to a drinking tap in the county.
Reports tell of cases elsewhere, including San Antonio in 2002 and Calabasas in 1997. The San Antonio Water System recently paid $19,500 to settle a 2003 lawsuit filed by 13 people who alleged they were sickened by the treated wastewater.
Otay officials say they are still trying to figure out how the mistake occurred. Watton said when the three buildings of the business park were constructed in 2002, they apparently were connected to a purple pipe, the color that usually designates a recycled-water line, instead of a pipe with drinking water.
The business park opened in July 2005, and the water that flowed in was made up of about four parts drinking water to one part recycled water, Watton said.
In May, the Otay Water District entered into a deal with the city of San Diego to buy 6 million gallons of recycled water a day from San Diego's two reclamation plants. Otay began pumping 100 percent recycled water instead of the blend of recycled and drinking water.
That's when the merchants noticed the funky smell, look and taste. Josh Bristol, the owner of a home-decorating store, complained to Otay officials in an e-mail July 27. Watton said workers flushed the system clean and thought the problem was resolved.
Wise, who co-owns the Candy Bouquet with Angela Mason, said she contacted the business park owners a couple of weeks ago when she noticed the water's yellowish tint.
The private lab's testing showed the presence of total coliform bacteria. The bacteria is not necessarily harmful, but its presence indicates contamination. The lab warned that the sample appeared to be recycled water, and said occupants should be warned not to drink it.
Recycling water for irrigation is not the same as the long-discussed plan in San Diego to send highly treated wastewater back to taps, a program detractors have dubbed “toilet to tap.”
Although most businesses in the Eastlake park are open, the owners of the Candy Bouquet and Dream Dinners wait and worry about the damage to their reputations.
They said their customers are not at risk. Wise said her business uses only prepackaged candy. Jennifer Kober, owner of Dream Dinners, said customers are required to wear gloves when preparing food and no one drinks the tap water or uses it in food preparation. Only filtered water was used with the ingredients and in the coffee brewed there.
Wise said she fears she'll lose customers when they see the county's “closed” notice. “People don't want to know the excuses,” she said. “They just see the sign on the door.”
Staff librarian Jenna Rohrssen contributed to this report.
Has anyone else seen the recent campaign for Hyundai? It's called the Hyundai Big Duh Sales Event and it features a car floating down from space ... or being discarded from an interterrestial garbage ferry. I'm not really sure which one it is.
Maybe it's just me, but the Big Duh Sales Event slogan does nothing to motivate me to buy a Hyundai. In the spirit of Homer (Simpson, not the guy who wrote that long book a long time ago), perhaps it should be called the Hyundai Big Do Sales Event. Like ... "Did you know you just bought a Hyundai? Do!'
Every know and then I believe it's good to drop a random "thank you" on someone. Maybe it's for something you've already said thanks for. Maybe it's for something you've thought about saying thanks for but never did. At any rate, go ahead and do it!
For example, Tonya and I have been talking recently about how much we appreciated Hannah's Navajo softball coaches. So ... I just dropped a quick email this morning to say thanks. Again. We thanked them throughout the season and at the end of the season but it just felt right to say it again.
Over and over I'm surprised by how a random thank you finds its way to the recipient at a very appropriate moment. That's part of the interconnectedness we have as spiritual beings. I believe many times the Holy Spirit is prompting us to say or do something because he knows what we don't know -- what's happening in the other person's life.
So, go ahead and say "thank you" again. You just might find one floating right back to you.
Tonya and I hosted a pool party for LifePoint yesterday. We fired up the grill and had a great time. Even a few adults got in the water. Someone asked me if I was going to be the lifeguard. My response was, "You don't want me to be the lifeguard." Fortunately, I was confined to the grill and to other dry spots.
I'm about to begin week three working at shopbluehaven.com. For the most part, I've spent the first two weeks learning various aspects of the business and the ins and outs of the ecommerce software. I've not been very steeped in pool knowledge, so it's been interesting learning more about that stuff. All in all, it's a fun to place to work, even more so when the AC is below 75 :-)
Working downtown is certainly an interesting experience. All the sights, sounds, and smells of San Diego's dowtown are at my doorstep. Let's just say that some smells are better than others.
Here's a nice little article about how to prepare your swimming pool for winter. It talks about winter covers, pool chemicals, and more. All from your friends at Blue Haven Pools and Spas Supplies Direct (www.shopbluehaven.com).
read more | digg story
I'm packing my lunch for my first day at shopbluehaven.com ... any suggestions?
The family and I are taking a road trip tomorrow to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. We're going with another family and spending the night. I had the opportunity a few months ago to go with a friend and it was a great experience. The view alone is worth the price of admission.
Hannah was reading about Reagan this morning and said, "Hey Dad, Ronald Reagan was born in Illinois, just like you were. And he moved to California, just like you did. But then he became President." My response -- give me about 30 more years and I'll be ready.
This may be our last road trip for a while. On Monday, I start my new position with Blue Haven Pools as the web designer for their ecommerce division (www.shopbluehaven.com). The parent company is a big $_ _ _ million company that has been around for decades; the ecommerce division is about a year and a half old. So it has the feel of a start-up with the backing of a secure, stable company.
It's also located downtown near the Gaslamp and comes with free parking! I'm excited to lend my creative skills to what seems to be a really good company.
LifePoint goes on and is doing well. I look forward every weekend to teaching such a great group of people. The reality is we are a new church in a high cost area -- but the blessing is that we have so many talented people who contribute to our community.
In some respects, we find ourselves more aligned with the experience of the first century church. The old-school term we once used was "tentmaking." That simply meant that Paul worked a day job and preached and pastored whenever and where ever he could. The source of his income didn't matter; what mattered was that people heard about Jesus.
LifePoint continues to support CityWalk Church with ten percent of our weekly offerings. Several of our members are also helping out with Wave Christian Church, a new church starting this fall in Chula Vista. Through thick and thin, we want to remember that we are a part of a larger Kingdom movement.
I normally don't pass along other websites too often but here is one I discovered this morning. The journey began while researching videos to use at church. But in the great spirit of the internet, I stumbled upon this:
http://www.thebuddygroup.com
You must choose the Flash version to really, really enjoy it.
Thursday morning I decided to try something a little different during my morning prayer. I decided to list one hundred things that I was thankful for that day – not tomorrow or the day before, but right then. It was interesting to begin thinking about what I am grateful for and to appreciate little things that often are taken for granted. What would be on your top 100 list ... right now?
Starting in August, we will be spending the remainder of the year at LifePoint exploring the life of Jesus. One of the messages I will be teaching in August is about Jesus' mission as expressed in Luke 4:18-19. So, in the spirit of the Internet, I went in search of funny -- but true -- mission statements. Along the way, I found this:
Dilbert's Automatic Mission Statement Generator
Give it try ... you might recognize one or two.
Our daughter, Hope, is enrolled this week at a Vacation Bible School at a church that will remain anonymous. All I can say is that it is here in San Diego, it's big, and it's Baptist. And it may not take a college degree to figure out which one.
Well, we decided to purchase a t-shirt that relates to VBS. My wife happened to notice a rather unfortunate typo -- one a spell checker wouldn't catch but maybe a theological checker might have.
Here is the shirt ...
Click any of the images to view a larger image.
There are some pastoral functions that college cannot quite prepare you for. Pastoral things like turning out the lights after everyone leaves and making sure the doors are locked. I do remember a guest lecturer one day talking about his weekly schedule -- when he mowed his grass, went shopping, etc. But I tuned him out after he mentioned yard work and probably missed the part about turning out lights.
On the more "spiritual" side of the scale, four years of college did not prepare me for conducting my first funeral. That was done by my seeking out the counsel of a retired pastor who patiently walked me through the process of where to stand and what to say.
Pastors are often called upon to do funerals of people they do not know very well. I treat every occasion as an opportunity to step into a sacred moment, one that is filled with both heaven and earth. The earth-side I understand all too well; it’s heaven that I’m learning more about.
Quite honestly, it wasn’t until I was preparing my thoughts for my mom’s funeral that I really began to feel heaven. Up until that time in 1995, I believed in heaven. I could have told you about the streets paved with gold and other fine details. But it was all in my head, alongside other interesting facts gained from a lifetime of Sunday School.
But during those few days in early December, 1995, those facts travelled the distance from my head to my heart and became alive!
My hope and prayer is that the reality of heaven will come alive for you, too. Sooner rather than later!
A few weeks ago I spoke on the topic of legacy. To be honest, I never thought much about legacy until I passed 35 on my way towards 40.
The type of legacy I spoke of was not fame or fortune but in leaving behind a positive influence. St. Paul told the early Christ-followers to take care how they built their lives. He reminded them that the quality of what we're building will eventually be tested.
Too often we live our lives recklessly. We blast down the highway surrounded by a ton of metal, weaving in and out of lanes. We treat significant relationships like ordinary socks.
I've spent more time lately thinking about what I'm leaving behind. Jobs aren't just about paychecks but about influence and impact. I want my children to know that I used my God-inspired abilities to manifest good things.
Perhaps it's as simple as beginning with the end in mind. Call it living on purpose or with intention.
Have you thought about your legacy?
