One small step for "Hardinkind"

Trivial as it may be just over two weeks ago I stood in the waters of the Pacific Ocean in LaJolla, Callifornia:
And today my family and I returned from a weekend at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina:The Pacific and the Atlantic in two weeks. Not a real big deal for many, but I think it's kind of cool. :-)

What grieves God?

The opening point of last Sunday's sermon was this question. What I really liked about what my pastor said about this, was that he believes that a large portion of the western church has errantly condensed this to two things: The sanctity of human life (abortion) and the sanctity of marriage (between one man and on woman). I think this would cause many in the Christian Church to fall over backwards in their pews if they heard this! He did not say that these two things do NOT grieve God, but he did say that this is not ALL of it. Scriptures will back this up countless times. He spoke largely about injustice in the world. He mentioned Darfur, Rwanda, Ethiopia among others. He also spoke of the complacency of the (white) Christian Church during the Civil Rights Movement. These are things we cannot deny. He made many other points, but sometimes one good point is a challenge to me.

He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?
-Micah 6:8

Car Transactions

Saying goodbye to what some called my "mid-life crisis car"....


The Mini was fun, high performance and looked awesome. It also caused me worry and stress due to BMW-priced repairs, natural wear and tear, and limited practicality and the smallest little blemish. These distractions this caused canceled out the joy of driving it for me. It was sold to a mechanic who works for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. He was very happy and the things that cause me stress will probably not do the same for him. Although I will miss it, it was a good departure.

Saying hello to my "back to practicality car"....


The Vibe is sporty, and virtually the same as a Matrix. We will be able to travel in this car instead of the minivan and it will get better mileage/dollar than the Mini. It's got so much more room. Financial savings alone made this a logical transaction, and it's pretty sharp smart looking in my opinion.

Car Make Loyalty

Over the course of my years behind the wheel, I (and my wife) have owned the following cars:

• '70 Chevrolet Nova (coincidentally my wife had a '76 version of same car)
• '76 Oldsmobile Omega (v8. That thing could fly but the speedometer only went to 85. Lucky for me. I would have tested its maximum if it went higher it could have very well been my last car)
• '78 Mercury Monarch
• '86 Honda Civic
• '89 Plymouth reliant
• '95 Dodge Neon
• '99 Ford Windstar (Current)
• '96 Toyota Rav4
• '02 Mini Cooper S (Current, but could be sold within the week. Update: Sold 4/22/08)

And now we're looking at a Pontiac Vibe. It occurs to me I have little to no Car Make Loyalty.

Gender biases go both ways

So yesterday I dropped my wife off to get her car at a local Muffler/Brakes/Oil Change specialist franchise. We had just given said franchise lots of money only to find that the brakes on her van squeaked badly so we were returning it for them to switch out the pads. Instead they resurfaced the rotors and explained to my lovely bride that she was "riding her brakes" which is why the return visit was necessary. I watched from the car as this man showed with his foot how this can commonly occur. My wife's driving skills are good if not great. She is much more gentle and caring with a car than I will probably ever be. She understands that driving with two feet is bad, and her feet are too small to inadvertently press the brake while accelerating. Moreover, I have never once seen her try to "burn out" in our Minivan. (Although the thought of seeing her do this is the picture of irony and quite amusing at that!) So needless to say, she was annoyed at being patronized by this franchise manager. (I was too! And as a side note, the brakes are still squeaking so we are returning it again and this time they will switch out the pads like they said they would the last time). This was obviously a gender bias. I doubt very much they would have had the same conversation with me. It was quite frustrating.

So this morning I got up early with the intent of going to the local supermarket to buy my wife a red rose in appreciation for taking care of things while I was gone. She takes care of me and the boys so well, and frankly, the house looked better when I came back than it did when I left. (Perhaps that should tell me something). When I got to the store, it was about 6:20. As you might expect there was not a flood of activity in the florist section so I passed by some guy in the produce section to go to the service center and ask if someone could help me in floral. Half hoping the nice young lady would walk over and help me, she instead got on the speaker and asked for a representative to help me. As I went back to the section, the same guy in produce dropped his melon or whatever he was stocking and came over and helped me! A big burly guy at that! I didn't want him. What on earth does he know about flowers? I don't know which one to pick out. I always expect the nice ladies working there to help me find the right one and dress it nicely and smile at me thinking I'm the most romantic guy in the world while doing so. I expect this because I assume they are surely the receivers of flowers and can choose a good one from a bad one which will in turn provide the biggest smile to my wife's face when I hand her the rose later that morning. Instead, I get some big young guy, who may not even have a girlfriend, yanking out the first rose he sees and wrapping it up like it's 3 pounds of ground sirloin. But hey, I'm not biased.

PBC Crisis!

I am currently at a convention in Anaheim, California and during a break they had cookies. It then occurred to me that the Peanut Butter Cookie is in grave danger. See, my son has a sever Peanut allergy and therefore as time goes on, obtaining a Peanut Butter Cookie will become harder and harder to come by. It is indeed a crisis for many of us and yet I don't think there is anything we can do about it since peanut allergies are on the rise. The only thing you can do is hoard. When I saw them on the tray I was surprised but I ate um...well...never mind how many I ate, but time is running out.

Gotta Love the Gideons!

OK, for non-Christians, love might be a strong word, but...


For as long as I remember, these gentlemen have been handing out the same type of New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs to anyone willing to take it. As a Christian I appreciate that. I even remember them doing it in Public School, back when that wouldn't have half population and all of the media flipping out about it. They have been green for almost as long as I remember them too, but I do recall my brother getting a red one when he was younger.

But anyhow, these older gentlemen come to our campus dressed in suits and smiling. They offer you a Bible and whether you take one or not they say "Have a nice day" and continue on their mission of distributing God's word. I've never heard about a confrontation with one of these men and they genuinely seem kind as they do this. While others are throwing the seed that is the Word of God in peoples' faces (not to mention other things that are NOT from God), these kind men ask and gently hand you the most important book you could ever read. I suppose for them it's not about class, but I have to say they have it. I love the Gideons!

More Interview "Don'ts"

As a follow-up to a previous post on interviews (and applications).


1. Use the following formula in a statement: I'm not saying __________, but __________.

• Example Statement: I'm not saying John Doe is an imbecile but it was really unwise for him to do that.
• What is actually heard by the interviewer: John Doe is an imbecile. It was really unwise for him to do that.

2. Tell a story about you snooping into a someone else's personal information.

3. Mention that not following through on tasks is one of your weaknesses.

4. Tell the hiring manager that the first thing you would do with a problem is not only inform your boss of the issue but ask them to get involved.

5. Use the following words during the interview: @^#*, *#^!, ^$%#, or ?#&%!

Distractions

I believe I have deleted some old posts on this blog regarding this, but last April, I posted about my car search since my old car, '96 Rav4, was becoming less and less practical since the passenger door wouldn't open and the AC was on it's deathbed. I was excited at the possibilities. My gracious wife, knowing I had experienced the tolling of the bell that was my fortieth birthday, also wished for me to have "something more" as far as a car was concerned. I had always bought functional cars at most. We were thrilled by power windows and locks. That was a perk. So anyhow, last year we bought "something more"....for me. It was nice. I enjoyed it. I LOVED it! I still love it. But for me, at this time in my life and perhaps until my time on earth is over, it has become a distraction from Something More.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
-Jesus, Matthew 6:19

Interviewing Tips

One of the advantages about my current job is that I get to learn quite a bit about interviewing and job search techniques. I have jokingly said that I should write a book of things to do and not do in an interview. It would be comical in nature because in hindsight, you can look at what somebody said or wrote and laugh at the fact that they even wrote it. One of the more amusing written appeals for being considered for a position was given to me last year. In that story, this graduate student (looking for student work) was also very offensive/passive aggressive in the email. He was telling me how he always applied and never got a job. This was just after he had received a thanks but no thanks email.

Last week I sat through five phone interviews for one job. Today I have three interviews and lunch with a candidate for a different job on campus. I have just agreed to serve on my second search committee (and third of the fiscal year) and will begin reviewing applications and I have a position that I am suppose to fill as well. It's going to be a busy month, but perhaps this is the first in a series of entries logging some tips I may have seen.

• In your cover letter, never write the words "I can excel. All I need is a chance."
• When asked to submit your application electronically, be sure to include all items being requested. It's amazing to me how many people may choose to not send in the resume along with the application when the post requests you submit both.
  
• If interviewing for a job for a person who works within a division that also includes disability services, do not walk into the interview 10 minutes late, and apologize because you couldn't find a parking spot and ended up parking in a handicapped spot.
  
• If asked a question about the first thing you would do in the job, be sure not to insult another person's work at the table and suggest you would come in and fix that.
  
• If questions run out before time does, then one of two things are possible
• Either those interviewing are not prepared or don't care to be thorough, or
• They've made their assessment and it's very likely that it's not a positive one.
• And here's an obvious but sometimes elusive one: Be sure you answer the question. If you're going on and on, most people will listen and go on with you, but be sure in the end, you've covered the initial inquiry.