“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,” (Ephesians 4:11-15, NASB95)
News,Thursday, January 25, 2007
The Bush administration argues that global warming legislation will hurt the economy. However, a new report shows just the opposite. Lack of legislation will eventually cost the US $50 billion a year to adapt to the climate changes caused by global warming. Worldwide, the cost to industrialized could be $150 billion or 20 percent of the world’s GDP.
Currently in California, Arnold Scharzeneger is proposing billions to be spent on damns because global warming is causing the ice packs in the mountains to melt sooner and faster. This melting water is normally absorbed into underwater basins and reservoirs. However, the faster, sooner melting is causing too much water to go out to sea. Already, California is considering spending billions on new damns. Imagine if billions are needed in California for just damns, it is not far fetch to imagine 50 billion annually countrywide and hundreds of billions annually worldwide. And of course, the U.S. will also be helping the poor countries that cannot adapt on their own. We need to act now to prevent the larger costs in dollars and lives in the future.
To check out the full report, Click Here
Personal,Thursday, January 25, 2007
Our day flying out to Alabama was a long one. We rose at 3:30 am in San Jose in order to be on time for our 6:20 am flight. When we arrived the checkin counter line for Frontier and all other airlines was very long. It was not long after being in line that we heard an announcement that the flight was delayed.
The new time was 7:45. We were somewhat grateful that it was delayed since the line was so long. But after a little time in line, we realized that the line is taking longer than usual because the delay is requiring the counter to reroute people. If the delay didn’t happen, the line would likely travel faster and we would make our originally scheduled flight.
We also needed to be rescheduled in Denver because the delay would cause us to miss our transfer in Denver. When we arrived at the counter an hour later (6:30) we learned that our rescheduled flight would be leaving Denver at 2pm and we would arrive in Nashville at 6pm. Our original schedule was for us to arrive in Nashville at 2pm! A 4 hour delay.
We passed time by walking over to the indoor playground and letting Matthew run around at the playground. Boy was that a surreal experience. I was not in a playful mood, but here I was running around on a playground with my son. After a short while, I actually started to enjoy playing. Security was quick as there were not many people in line. This was a small section of the airport that I learned was nicknamed “Happy Hollow” by the security agents because of the low traffic and easy time they have working the area.
We settled in at the gate and waited for an announcement to board the plane. They new schedule was 7:45 and boarding time was approaching. There was a Togos selling muffins, bagels and juices, so we bought a couple things to eat. Matthew was having a real hard time, crying and fussing. The boarding time passed, so I asked the counter when we were boarding. They said they were waiting for the crew to arrive and didn’t know when that would be. Sounded crazy to me. They don’t know where their crew is and how long before they arrive?
At around 7:30 parents with children started heading for the gate for preboarding. We were all standing around waiting for the announcement to board. Surely it would be any minute since they were planning to leave at 7:45. They soon announced that the plane would be delayed another 30 minutes! So many of the parents in line just sat down on the floor. Matthew was now asleep, so we just sat where we were and placed him on a jacket on the floor.
30 minutes later they delay again, until finally they announce boarding at 9am! A cheer was heard throughout the gate.
At take off, we learned that the delay was due to ice on the wings. They could not take off with ice on the wings and they didn’t have any de-icing equipment to get the ice off. Frontier didn’t expect ice in San Jose, so they didn’t have any equipment at the airport to handle it. The other airlines also refused to help Frontier be loaning equipment. So basically, the aircraft sat in the sun until it melted off.
We flew through Denver, which was uneventful and we made it to Nashville with all our luggage. Later, we learned this was a real blessing because a couple days later the Denver airport was shut down due to snow and over 1500 people were stranded in the airport for more than a day. Denver airport is actually a very risky airport to fly in and out of during the winter. American Airlines through Dallas would probably be better in the future.
Health,Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Since I suffer with asthma and allergies, this information was very relevant for me. Probably some of you might want to know this information too. The worst cities for asthma suffers are in Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
Atlanta ranked the worst along with some other cities in that area ranking close to the same. Some of the best cities are in Florida. Seattle and San Francisco were some west coast cities that ranked well. Although Los Angeles and San Diego are along the coast, their pollution is very bad. Inland California cities also ranked poorly. We live in San Jose, near San Francisco. We have some “Spare the Air” days when the pollution is bad. But most of the time the ocean breeze pushes out the pollution. To see the entire article, Click Here
Organics,Friday, January 12, 2007
A latest study find that meat production is now producing more greenhouse gases than our cars. No doubt that the industrialization and feedlot style of raising livestock to make cheap and abundant meat is contributing to this problem. One solution is simply to eat less meat, but you can also get your meat from rancher who employ more environmentally friendly means of raising grass fed only cattle. The cattle our family eats never sees a feedlot. Sure, it’s more expensive, but it’s a double positive for the atmosphere. We eat less meat and the cattle operation produces less greenhouse gases. For the full article, click Here
Family,Sunday, December 17, 2006
One of the best falafal places in San Jose is actually one of the lesser attractive and least accomodating places.
At lunch time the place is usually packed with people and seating is limited. It’s not uncommon to have strangers join you at your table. Nevertheless, it’s a treat to visit. The falafals and hummus are excellent. Matthew doesn’t care so much for the falafel’s but he loves the hummus and banana shakes.
Usually we eat in our car, especially today since it was so cold outside and most of the seating is outside.
The hummus comes with pita bread. Usually when we give him the bread, he’ll just suck the hummus off. He actually prefers to eat spoonfuls of the stuff.
There are more photos in the galleries. Click Here
