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If Yoda was a Pirate

 

Arrrrrr, sword ye drop! 

Neomax Jones....eh, doesn't work for a superhero name.

Hey, not bad to be a 3-way tie between Maximus, Neo and Indiana, eh? Yeah, sounds like just the kind of Superhero I am.

Indiana Jones 63% Maximus 63% Neo, the "One" 63% Lara Croft 58% William Wallace 58% James Bond, Agent 007 58% The Terminator 54% The Amazing Spider-Man 50% Batman, the Dark Knight 50% El Zorro 42% Captain Jack Sparrow 38% Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0 created with QuizFarm.com

My Grandpa Ankle

No, not my grandpa's ankle....my grandpa ankle.  That's right, I'm 25yrs old and have the ankle of a 93yr old man.  Well, at least thats what I'm guessing.  For those of you who have not found out yet... I fell and sprained my ankle badly during a basketball game a week ago or so.  I went to the doctor and they took X-rays and now it is apparent that all my old injuries from high school (repeated twists and sprains) inspired my ankle to do "fun" things.  I have a new bone growing out the top of my foot which bangs against my leg (not like *out* of my foot... just growing out of the bone towards the top of my foot) when I try to move my toes up toward my body badly restricting my movement.  This is a concern to the orthopedist who thinks my ankle might eventually collapse in on itself if this is left unchecked.  It must be removed via surgery.  That's not the best of it though!  I told you I had a grandpa ankle.  Well...yeah I do.  He also thinks one of the bones in my ankle, the talus, is dying or dead!  Yow!  I've never even heard of that happening...much less to someone my age.  I had no clue this stuff was going on.  A little over a week ago, I was running and jumping and playing basketball without even a brace on my foot.  Now I'm restricted to only walking until we know more from an MRI I'm scheduled to have tomorrow morning at 7am.

 

Wow.  I thought I'd let you all know about my grandpa ankle.  Hopefully the MRI goes well and gives the doctor all the information he needs to decide the extent of the surgery necessary for my ankle.  I'll let you all know as things progress.

 

Thanks for your prayers.  :)

 

 

 

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Slow Your Holiday Driving

I'm as guilty at this as anyone else... but this is a good read and a good reminder.


Jack took a long look at his speedometer before slowing down: 73 in a 55 zone. Fourth time in as many months. How could a guy get caught so often?

When his car had slowed to 10 miles an hour, Jack pulled over, but only partially. Let the cop worry about the potential traffic hazard. Maybe some other car will tweak his backside with a mirror.

The cop was stepping out of his car, the big pad in hand.

Bob? Bob from Church? Jack sunk farther into his trench coat. This was worse than the coming ticket. A cop catching a guy from his own church. A guy who happened to be a little eager to get home after a long day at the office. A guy he was about to play golf with tomorrow.

Jumping out of the car, he approached a man he saw every Sunday, a man he'd never seen in uniform.


"Hi, Bob. Fancy meeting you like this."

"Hello, Jack." No smile.

"Guess you caught me red-handed in a rush to see my wife and kids."

"Yeah, I guess." Bob seemed uncertain. Good.

"I've seen some long days at the office lately. I'm afraid I bent the rules a bit -just this once."


Jack toed at a pebble on the pavement. "Diane said something about roast beef and potatoes tonight. Know what I mean?"


"I know what you mean. I also know that you have a reputation in our precinct."

Ouch.

This was not going in the right direction. Time to change tactics.

"What'd you clock me at?"

"Seventy. Would you sit back in your car please?"

"Now wait a minute here, Bob. I checked as soon as saw you. I was barely nudging 65." The lie seemed to come easier with every ticket.

"Please, Jack, in the car"

Flustered, Jack hunched himself through the still-open door. Slamming it shut, he stared at the dashboard. He was in no rush to open the window.

The minutes ticked by. Bob scribbled away on the pad.

Why hadn't he asked for a driver's license?

Whatever the reason, it would be a month of Sundays before Jack ever sat near this cop again.

A tap on the door jerked his head to the left.

There was Bob, a folded paper in hand.

Jack rolled down the window a mere two inches, just enough room for Bob to pass him the slip.

"Thanks." Jack could not quite keep the sneer out of his voice.


Bob returned to his police car without a word.
Jack watched his retreat in the mirror.
Jack unfolded the sheet of paper.
How much was this one going to cost?


Wait a minute. What was this? Some kind of joke?

Certainly not a ticket. Jack began to read:


"Dear Jack, Once upon a time I had a daughter. She was six when killed by a car. You guessed it- a speeding driver. A fine and three months in jail, and the man was free. Free to hug his daughters, all three of them. I only had one, and I'm going to have to wait until Heaven before I can ever hug her again.

A thousand times I've tried to forgive that man. A thousand times I thought I had. Maybe I did, but I need to do it again. Even now.

Pray for me.

And be careful, Jack, my son is all I have left."


"Bob"



Jack turned around in time to see Bob's car pull away and head down the road. He watched until it disappeared.

A full 15 minutes later, he too, pulled away and drove slowly home, praying for forgiveness and hugging a surprised wife and kids when he arrived.



Life is precious. Handle with care. This is an important message; please pass it along to your friends. Drive safely and carefully. Remember, cars are not the only things recalled by their maker.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey Everyone,

Just a quick post to tell you all Happy Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for family and for all the Lord has blessed me with this year. He takes care of his own as said in Romans 8:28... "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." I praise the Lord for his provision in my life.

Dustin

Rise Up, Oh You Fans of Old

In an ealier post I wrote about my preseason predictions for the Blazers. The season is still very young but for you naysayers out there I would like to note that the Blazers are actually 1st place in the Nortwest Division right now. Also, they have the best record for this early in the season that they've had in the past 4 or 5 seasons. Things are looking up. This is a team of young and bright players who play gritty for their coach. These guys don't have a lot of "give up" in them. They stay with it and fight games out till the horn blows. As a fan I have to say, this is very refreshing and fun to watch. Blazer basketball is back. It's time for the people of Oregon and old fans from all over to come back to the team. A team of hustle and class is back... the organization has heard the cry of its fans and have given you what you want. So, for goodness sake, come back fans.... come back. Your team is waiting for you.

And I thought it was just a fluke....

Thanks to Josh for this one...

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

New Blogging Tool

Well, I'm trying out a new little proggie called Qumana.  Its a small client that helps in posting to blogs and integrates well with most popular blog services.  This is my first post using it and I guess I'm just testing out its capabilities a bit.  Hope you're all doing well and enjoying the fact that I've actually made three posts in the last two days.  Don't worry, it won't continue. ;)

 

 

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Work Dedication

Man, it's a good thing I never slack off and mess around on the web when I'm at work. I'd hate to end up in this gal's shoes... (If you are having problems viewing the image, click on it to go to the Dilbert site and see it in its full glory.)

oh.... Scat

It's been like over a month since I last blogged. Try as I might at this... I'm such a failure. I will continue to do by best to blog when there is nothing worth blogging about. Today is a day. I hope you have a day too.

Blazing

I wanted to take this opportunity to really stick my neck out on the line today. Today's subject is probably of little interest to some of you but at least you get to hear about something I really enjoy! The Blazers are gonna be fun to watch this year. They have one of the youngest teams in the league (and in franchise history) and really have a chance to surprise some teams! The key is their new coach Nate McMillan who finally demands the respect of the players on the team. He has the chance to extract the talent out of players like Darius miles who have always been known simply for their potential. You heard it here first. The Blazers will win 35-40 games and compete for a spot in the playoffs. Dustin

Update:  Apparently I might have been wrong and they might be a really young and inexperienced team that hardly wins any games... Until the regular season starts though and a few games go by, I'm standing by my predictions.

Fall Update

Summer seems to be coming to an end and a new season of falling leaves, football and hot chocolate is on its way. I had a good and busy summer and am feeling ready to come back to blogging (hopefully at a much more increased rate). I could name a number of reasons for not blogging during summer... My wrist was broken for about 3.5 months and it made it less enjoyable to type, my home computer burned up and I was without one for a month or so until I rebuilt my new one, but really I was just being lazy. Speaking about my new computer.. It is a real slick piece of machinery. I could bore you with all the stats, but if you're like my wife you'd just look the other way and go back to thinking about something more important. That being said, it runs the games I play (Anarchy Online and Battlefield 2 currently) exceptionally well.

It's funny, it has been a few years since I was in school but this fall will be a return to studying for me. I should be getting my Becker Convisor CPA study material/software any day now. I'm looking forward to the challenge of learning the material and passing the CPA exam but certainly not all the man hours it is going to take.

In other news... It's raining a lot now. Hope you're enjoying it as much as I am.

Dustin

The Everlasting Way

Life is good. Let me tell you why. Though I just broke my wrist and will probably have a cast for 3 months and work is really picking up (and stress levels there) I've been experiencing a lot of joy. How is that? Well, I've been trying to refocus myself on the important things in my life or my priorities you might say. Now, I'm still learning how to do that with my time but I'm getting better at determining what I deem critical in my mind's eye. So, basically I'm deciding what things should matter most to me. To borrow something C.S. Lewis once said, "Everything that is not eternal is eternally useless." Good point C.S. Well, this means that when I am not setting time aside each day to spend with the Lord then I am clearly missing the point and have become totally ineffective in my faith because I no longer serve one master. Doing such a thing means I have allowed myself to be distracted by the flashy lights in the world and am most likely walking without a purpose. These are the thoughts I've been having lately. I'm not sure what has awakened me from my slumber as a Christian but I am thankful for it regardless. I named this post the everlasting way because thats the name I have given the path of thinking I want to seek. I want to focus as much of my thoughts as possible on things that are everlasting... things that will not perish. My wife has been a great silent witness to me in that she has been consistent in having her own quiet times lately and though she hasn't nagged me about me not spending time with the Lord like I need to, I see that she is and it convicts me of it. I must confess that she is also a big reason for the great portion of the joy I have. It is such a blessing to have a loving wife to share life.

If you are reading this and you're a Christian also, I'd like to petition you for a quick prayer. I want to be ever increasing in my hunger for the Word and for fellowship with the Almighty. If you could say just a quick prayer for me, I'd appreciate it. Please drop me a line if you are in need of prayer yourself.

Peace. I encourage you to live in the everlasting way.

Oh where o where should I live?

I always knew I wanted to see the mile high city ( and just Colorado in general). It has been confirmed.

American Cities That Best Fit You:

70% Denver

70% Portland

65% Austin

65% Honolulu

65% Seattle

Which American Cities Best Fit You?

The Truth about Politics

Q: What does the American Civil Liberties Union stand for?

A: None of the above.

The Way of the Wi-Fi

I have recently figured out how to use my pocket pc to "use" my neighbors bandwidth on their wireless network. I figure, since my neighbor hasn't password protected his network he must be trying to invite me to use it! Anyway, it has been nice to be able to check my email and do a few other things while at home.

I have a new neighbor who is purchasing DSL, however, and we went in on a Belkin Pre-N Router (and I bought the Pre-N desktop card) so I'll really be able to use the internet from my house. I should have ample coverage, signal strength and throughput on my desktop and pocket pc once we get this all setup. One quick note, we'll be sure to lock down our network. :)

D3

UPDATE 6/5/05: We've had the network up and running since April and we just increased the speed to 5mbit down. What are we gonna do with all that speed? I don't know, but it sounds impressive doesn't it? It's working great most of time, but wifi is a little fickle. :) Anyway, it makes for cheap internet and great speeds and convienence.

Tax Season Baby!

Yeah... just me here.... working it. I tell you what, tax season wears a man down. I need a jolt this afternoon in a bad way. If any of ya got a Starbucks in your area and are wondering what to give me as a "present out of the blue", now you know. Looks like I'm gonna hit 60 hrs this week and thats just working through tomorrow.

I'm going northward for the weekend to Tacoma with the little wifie. We are visiting a couple good friends. It should be a good break and hopefully I'll come back a new man. Also, I'll get to play some Settlers of Catan while I'm there. Yessssssssssssssssssssss.


D

Fight Back Against Spam!

Anti-Spam - Fight Back Against Spammers junk unsolicited unwanted bulk huge commercial email spams e-mail! FREE

We all hate spam and this is a great way to fight it!

On a side note... sorry for delaying so long in another post! Man, tax season really slows the rest of my life down! Thanks for tuning it. See you next time.

Comments

Be sure to check the comments on my blog. There have been a few funny ones already added. Anyone can add there own also. Just click on the botton of the blog where it says comments. Have fun and be tasteful. Thanks!

Dustin

Noon-day Lulls

Well I just got done having leftover lasagne for lunch.... yummy. I'm convinced this stuff just gets better every time you reheat it. I hope you all had a great holiday and got some cool gifts. I was spoiled rotten. My favorite gift was a very practical Genie garage door opener. You can check it out at http://www.geniecompany.com/Products/excelerator.htm. I highly recommend it if you are in the market for a garage door opener.

I'm going to the beach this weekend to enjoy some R&R. Maybe I'll take some pics to post to Flickr and eventually to the blog. So yeah, think I'll get back to work now.

D

Happy New Year

Hey Everyone,

This one is a few days early but I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed 2004 and are looking forward to seeing what God has predestined 2005 to be. Yeah, thats right, you don't have a choice. Well, kinda, sorta. :)

Anyway, God bless and stay safe this holiday weekend!

Dustin

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Leaving on a Jet Plane
Originally uploaded by d3cotton.

My wife and I got married on September 25, 2004. Here is a picture of us leaving the church and starting our adventure of a new life together. Marriage is bliss.

Google Desktop Search

Google Desktop Search

In case you haven't heard about it... Google Desktop Search is a nifty little addon that is available straight from google.com. It indexes your files, history, chats and other things so that they can be searched using the same engine that is used on google.com. Important to note that your info does not get stored on the web, this addon is downloaded and installed and ran locally on your machine. Kind of a neat program. Give it a shot and never lose a document or email again.

D3

The Kingdom of Loathing

The Kingdom of Loathing

I've decided this is a great way to waste time. It is a hilarious online game. Graphics are all stick figures and no sound included... but rich with comic content. Try it today and get addicted.

My New BLOG!

Well, here it is. My chance to educate the world. I'll see if I actually get around to it. :)

Thanks for looking.

Dustin