Javacodemonkey's Blog

Jesus, time travel, and you

javacodemonkey — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:51:31 +0000

I have been reading through The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams again, and as it began to talk about time travel, I was hit with a thought. How do I effect time? Is time travel even possible? All these thoughts came flooding to me. At first, I thought of a simple time line. A straight line where I am just a dot in it. I felt that just couldn’t be right, because then everyone would have the same point of view. Time is more 3D, its not just looking ahead and behind, its looking up and down, left and right, as well as forward and backwards. Depending on where you are heading, your view will change. And as you change your direction, who you effect will also change.

This is a simple cat 5 cable used for computer networking. You can see the different strands that wrap around each other. That’s how I started to think about time. We are only active in a small segment of time, that interacts with the other wires around us. Everything that I do, affects the wires that are around me. But I never intersect with them. Sure, I will touch those around me, and in some cases what I do, how I move, will affect those around me, but I will never truly intersect with them.

There is someone who does. Jesus. He can move around, behind, ahead of, next to, and inside of us, affecting us like no one else can. He can change your path, and make it straight.

I have been thinking this over the last hour or so, and just felt I needed to write. I know I often wonder, “God, why am I here, right now?” And most times, there is no clear answer. Don’t get me wrong, I love where I am. Good job, great church, great friends. And I am always busy, with church, work, and friends. But there are just some moments when I wonder, what is next. Certainly, it can’t stay this way forever. Its far to comfortable. So, what is next? I don’t know, do you? I know there is someone who does, who is constantly guiding and caring for each of my footsteps. Its nice to know.

Not especially profound, how I have written it, is it? Remember though, Jesus isn’t doing this for some small segment of time, like we are, but he is doing it for all time, for everyone.

Summer’s almost done

javacodemonkey — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:38:24 +0000

Been a crazy summer, and I haven’t been writing. Layoffs, job hunting and concern of the future is what ruled my summer. I have had a good one though. Softball was fun this year, even though we didn’t win a lot of games. Played a lot of Halo 3, and found a new favorite game in COD4. Hung out with friends and did a fair amount of grilling and not enough bbqing (yes, there is a difference). Went to the pool a lot, and still managed not to get a tan. Made a trip to Valley Fair, but not a whole lot of trips otherwise (thats what I get for getting a diesel vehicle).

Thought for sure I would be moved by August, but I am still in Aberdeen. I really didn’t want to move, but it seemed thats the way God wanted things to be. But he provided me with the option to stay, and has blessed me further. The conversion/layoff event didn’t go with out some losses though. I lost one of my best friends at work, as he and his family moved back to Canada. He will be missed, even though I can still IM with him, on an almost daily basis. We lost too many other good people as well. Even with that, I think we can survive this financial crisis.

Pretty excited, I am heading to San Diego at the end of Sept, to my cousin’s wedding. That will be my big trip for the year, I think. Found really cheap tickets out of Omaha (less that $200!). Bit of a drive, but if you live close, I would recommend looking at flying out of there. Never been to San Diego, or CA for that matter, so I am looking forward to some exposure to the left coast. Well, think thats all I got for now.

Decisions, Decisions

javacodemonkey — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:11:09 +0000

As some of you may know, my company, as many other financial institutions are having some issues. As a result, I have began to contimplate looking for a different job. I am not sure where this will be taking me, away from Aberdeen or not, but I hope that you that read this can pray for me as I begin to seek God for what He would have me do.

FYI, I haven’t even submitted a resume, so this doesn’t seem likely that anything will be happening soon.

Busy Busy Busy

javacodemonkey — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:47:34 +0000

This is my busy time of year. I had forgotten how crazy and stressed out I had been at this time last year, and I honestly didn’t think it could get worse. Let me give you a rundown of my schedule this weekend, and the next couple weeks:

Today: Leave Aberdeen at 3:30 pm for Sioux Falls, for JBQ. Have to be at a meeting at 6:45 pm.

Saturday: JBQ starts at 9 am, should conclude by 2 pm. After that, drive back to Aberdeen.

Sunday: Worship practice at 8:30 am, Sunday school at 9:30. Sing in worship service at 10:30, then have children’s church about 10 minutes after worship is over. That night, I have to run the powerpoint for the church service.

Monday: Somewhat normal, for now.

Tuesday: nothing

Wednesday: No JBQ! (I love JBQ, but was more than ready to be done.) Youth service, not sure if PDave will be back.

Thursday: Nothing

Friday: Men’s night for church

Saturday: Lifelight concert

Sunday: Nothing, I hope.

April 18-19: Fine arts in Sioux Falls.

So, a little bit going on. And that doesn’t mention work all that much. I love my church, and all I can and get to do, but this time of year seems a bit overwhelming. I don’t think that there is one thing that I could give up though. I love to do it all.

Work is starting to get crazy again. We have this tentative May 1 deadline for a project, that we don’t have full requirements for. Always a fun experiment. It will be pretty cool though, as there is a lot of new technology that we can expose.

I don’t really know what to think about work anymore. I love Aberdeen, but I don’t always love my job anymore. We seem to be spinning in circles, fighting whatever problem is closest to us. We never seem to have the ultimate strategy in what we are trying to accomplish. Many times I have heard that the entire industry changed on Oct 1, 2007, and I believe that, but we don’t seem to be changing. We seem to be trying to be all things to all people.

I used to believe that we could do it. March 2006 – June 2006, I (along with a lot of others) worked insane hours, to save the company money (and maybe the company itself), and what we did was important, and it did help save the company. Then we had to do the same thing last year, and now it feels as if we are trying to do the same thing again.

I don’t think I believe we can do it this time . . .

At home?

javacodemonkey — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 02:25:25 +0000

I am at home. Or am I? I am in Hill City, at my parents. It sometimes seems like home, but I always realize it isn’t. Crosby is where I grew up, where most of my relatives are. Even though I have a good time, at my parents, I always end up wishing that they still lived in Crosby. Maybe my priorities have changed. Anymore, its not where I am at, its who I am with. Sounds contradictory, doesn’t it? I guess I just want to be with not just my parents, but with other friends and family. I think that sometimes I would be just as happy in Aberdeen, with my friends there. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t get to see my parents enough as it is, so any opportunity I get with them, I enjoy. But more and more, my life is way too busy. So any opportunity I get to relax, and hang out with friends and family, I want to make the most of. And sometimes, with my parents, it doesn’t seem like that I am maximizing my time. I think I need to start taking more to relax, so that I can enjoy these times more.

Minneapolis Software Symposium

javacodemonkey — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:55:45 +0000

I just returned from NFJS in Minneapolis. It was an extremely intense weekend. I attended around 15 hours of sessions, not counting keynotes or expert panels. And I loved every moment of it. I love being with other geeks, discussing things that not alot of people around me at home understand. I love the inside jokes, the fact that everybody hates IBM and Microsoft. It is just plan fun.

Also got to hang out with some friends in MPLS. Friday, I went up to Albertville to see my friends Dave and Linda. I love seeing them. They are like my second parents. Both of them were at one time or another a sunday school teacher, babysitter, surrogate parent, and friend. Truthfully, they were always my parents friends, and for a long time that is how I thought of them. But now, I realize that they are my friends too. I have been emailing with Linda in the last couple of days. I am liking talking to her.

Also, saw my friend Laura, on Saturday. Went out to supper, stayed up too late talking. Had a good time.

Wore myself out this weekend though. Slept til noon on Monday. Excited for this weekend, as I will be heading to Black Hills to see the parents.

Happy Easter everybody!

Anime anyone?

javacodemonkey — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:29:05 +0000

Been watching a not Naruto on the Cartoon Network lately. Liking it quite a bit. Not sure why, cause I am not usually into anime. It has a good story, interesting characters, and decent translation from Japanese. I may have to check out some more anime in my future.

SLFCdotCOM v2.0

javacodemonkey — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 03:48:14 +0000

Well, maybe version 1.5 .

My crazy couple of weeks at work is complete. New front end for slfc.com. We have flash and everything now. Check it out, and feel free to criticize.

http://www.slfc.com

BTW, if anybody knows anything about SEO, let me know. I can use all the help I can get.

The words you can’t take back

javacodemonkey — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 03:44:59 +0000

There are a few words, sayings, or phrases, that once said, can’t be taken back. I love you, I hate you, and are you stupid, are just a few of the ones I am thinking of right now. Whether you say these words exactly, or somehow show people that that is what you mean, once they are out there, they can’t be taken back.

Earlier today, I expressed my venom at a coworker, and while I never said that I thought she was stupid, I certainly expressed through other words and actions. I am not sure what is worse, that fact that I did this, or the fact that it took me half of the day to realize that I had. I now have in some way damaged a relationship with one of the few coworkers that I honestly always enjoyed working with. While I absolutely meant what I said, I expressed it in a extremely horrible way. I took out the venom that had built up within me and attacked her, even though the situation that had caused me to be angry, was in no way in her control.

The path before me is clear. I must apologize. It will be uncomfortable, but maybe, just maybe, I can repair the mistake that I have made.

Hopefully I can learn from my mistakes. Think before I speak. Count to ten. Do whatever it takes to never let this happen again.

Downtime

javacodemonkey — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:12:50 +0000

I think I have finally come to an understanding about myself: I don’t like to work, after work. What I mean is, when I leave my everyday job, whether that is at 5pm or 10pm during the day, I don’t want to go a start another job.

As a web developer, I have a lot of opportunities to make decent money on the side and under the table, but whenever I start one of these projects, I end up hating working on it. I would rather spend my free time playing video games, cooking, hanging out with friends, working on stuff at church, or just vegging out. I need that downtime. Its my time to relax and release any stress, energy, or creativity.

Not sure about anyone else, but when I leave work, I need to leave work. When I see my computer, sometimes I don’t even want to look at it in a work type mode. I know I could get called for my main job at anytime, so I have to be ready to respond, but I also need to get away from my work situations and work related thought.

Just a tip for everyone out there, take some time for something other than work.

Later