Be known by God

What does it mean to be known by God?  Isn't he all knowing (omniscient), all seeing (omnipresent) and the one who knew all my deeds before the creation of the heavens and earth?  What more is there to be known about me?

Maybe the question isn't whether God knows me intimately, because he does know me better than I know myself.  Maybe the question is whether I have let him know me intimately.  Is there something I haven't confessed, something I feel he can't know about (and if God can't know about it nobody can know).

The truth is that anything I hold back on is an idol keeping me from God.  He stands as a loving father, arms open wide to comfort me, and I'm holding something in the way, keeping myself from being known, holding back, and missing the joy of my Father.

Where did the camping go???

If you're looking for my camping adventures in Arizona and elsewhere, look at my new blog 'A Troll In The Woods' at trollinthewoods.blogspot.com.

I'll keep this blog for other topics of discussion and what else might be going on in my life...

Are you loving or being a bully?

On Facebook I have enough friends with different enough political views that I see for and against posts for most issues.  Unfortunately, almost all of the 'against' views seem to fall into the realm of snarky put-downs of the other side.  I have seen this behavior on the issues of gun control, abortion and same-sex marriage.  People who are for a cause seem to either put up supporting words, or put up links to pictures, videos or other posts which cut down the other side. 

Friends - this is bullying, that somebody would put up a snarky post making one side of the issue look foolish or stupid.  This seems especially bad to me from people putting up posts calling supporters of traditional marriage backward, homophobic and close-minded, if not stupid.  How ironic that somebody supporting a highly bullied group should resort to bullying! 

A definition I heard yesterday for bullying behavior was that it was intended to mock, belittle and destroy the self-worth of the victim.  If what you post supports one side of an issue - awesome!  If what you post attempts to destroy one side - boooo! 

Let us try to be loving and supporting.  There's enough snark on Fox News for the world, we don't need more in Facebook.

Government efficiency???

For those that don't know, I was laid off from Motorola about 3 years ago.  Because a large number of people were being laid off, the WARN Act was triggered, requiring a 60 day notice - I had to be paid for the 60 days but Motorola didn't need to have be work (a good deal if you can get it - money for nothing).  It was pretty clearly stated by an IL unemployment office representative that we should apply for unemployment benefits as soon as we were not working - and that being paid in any way by Motorola wasn't relevant to this, just whether we had to report to work.  (Basically, the 60 days was debited from my severance payment, so it wasn't really a salary payment).  In fact, this seemed so strange and people kept asking to verify in different ways that she actually seemed to get annoyed.

The following year, a number of people on an ex-Motorola mail group reported that IDES was asking for verification of not-working during the interval.  Apparently someone at Motorola messed up some report which lead to the (mistaken) assumption that all of the 500+ people laid off were indeed working during the 60 days.  They also tried to contact me, however the audit division did not receive information about my address update that the unemployment office had received, so they sent the notice to my old address, with directions not to forward or return the mail...  No response must mean that I agree with their decision, so they start trying to take back the money I received.  I don't learn about this until the IRS helpfully sent them our tax refund for this year....

A few absolutely fantastic examples of government efficiency here. 

1. Two groups in the same agency can't share information about people, so that maybe letters get sent to the right address.  I really don't understand this - hopefully the nice lady on the phone didn't really know why the address might be wrong - and the same agency isn't wasting taxpayers money to maintain multiple datasets of the same information and then not keeping them synchronized...
2. For no good reason, the state of Illinois doesn't want to have official mail forwarded, or be notified that the mail was not actually received.  I didn't think that it cost money to have mail returned (either that or we just have a really nice mailman here).
3. No attempt is made to figure out why no response was received.
4. No attempt is made to find the right address.  This really can't be too hard - Columbia House Music group has managed to track me through 3 moves and I really don't want them to keep sending me junk mail - Columbia house managed to track my wife through a name change and 4 moves - hoping to get a couple hundred dollars.  Heck - even the people who bought our house in Grayslake found my address on Google to forward some mail...
5. Nobody at IDES noticed that hundreds of people seemed to have incorrect claim information, or that hundreds of people were appealing decisions...  At the very least, they could save some money by grouping all the January Motorola departees and clear the investigation at one shot, instead of having hundreds of state employees sit down and review things one-at-a-time...

I am a bit astounded at the laziness of this agency - they don't have the same motivation that a record club has to find my current address.  A business running the unemployment benefits under contract (for profit) would have kept this from happening, and probably would have found my new address (so they might recover funds more quickly)...

By the time this is over, they will likely have expended several times the decision amount in peoples time to investigate, correct and return my money to me...  Sorry in advance to the people of Illinois...

Our role in society

I haven't posted in a while, somewhat lacking time and things to share (family activities appear on Facebook...).  I came across this quote this morning, which struck me as applicable today - the solution to the problems of the world is found only in God's work, and God's work through us.

    We cannot pass our responsibility on to politicians, diplomats, economists, technicians, scientists, and secular ideologists. We ourselves are obliged to think about the problems of the form of responsible society and of our own contribution to its creation. Let us avoid the impression that this responsible society will be identical with Christian society. There has been, is, and will be no Christian society, just as there is no Christian state, Christian economy, or Christian civilization. The new earth and the new heaven which we expect in faith will not be the work of human hands, but a creation of God's mercy and justice. And these are essentially eschatological concepts. Christian civilization is an illusion, and every attempt to fight in its name against so-called un- Christian efforts--social and political ideas--is a self- deception and a grave danger to the church itself.

    ... J. L. Hromadka (1889-1969), The Church and Theology in

          Today's Troubled Times, Prague: Ecumenical Council of

          Churches in Czechoslovakia, 1956, p. 80-81

    See the book at http://cqod.com/b/r3134

It bothers me that so many people seek to provide solutions that minimize God and minimize personal involvement.  Instead we need more people to seek and find God, and let God work through them.

Happy New(ish) Year!

I'm still alive, and still here - just a little late in posting something for the new year.  Its been busy...

Things are going pretty well - John had his first TaeKwonDo competition last week, I may be able to get some video up one of these days (requires time to import into the computer, and edit and such...).  Otherwise we're enjoying the weather - Phoenix is a great place in the winter, and pretty much makes up for the summer.  The heat of summer still isn't as bad as shoveling snow, as far as I'm concerned.

Not much else right now.  Hope things are well with y'all.

Christmas confusion

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

I remember a point as a child where I heard 'Silent Night', and wondered in the third line - Why are they singing about a fat lady?  A woman so large that we have to look around her (and here child) to see the Holy Infant...  Even today, the phrasing in English doesn't really make a lot of sense (though it fits musically...), but at least I now can piece together that all is calm around the mother and child...

 Do you have funny memories of mis-understood Christmas lyrics? 

Hi there - I'm still alive...

So, its been a while since I posted something.  I actually have a few thoughts that I'd like to post at some point, but feel that I put enough 'heavy' stuff up lately that I'd like to put up something light-hearted and funny.  The only problem is that I've been waiting for the kids to do something 'million-dollar funny' that I could write up (and then somebody will come and buy the story and make a movie and I'll get millions for it...), but obviously that hasn't happened...  Oh well, guess I'll just have to keep working a little longer, before the kids will be able to support me.

I did go camping with Kyle over this weekend - Friday night.  This was an orientation program that the local Boy Scout council puts on to help introduce aspects of cub-scouting to the boys.  While Kyle started last year, we couldn't make it to the overnight because of scheduling conflicts so we went this year.  (Kyle really wanted to go - this is one of the few opportunities to get the Archery and BB-gun belt-loop requirements satisfied, since these have to be performed by trained instructors...)  We did have a lot of fun, and got really tired.  We were able to setup before a dust storm moved through the area - I'm glad that I wasn't trying to setup the tent in the 30 mph+ wind gusts.  I had brought the 'good' tent stakes, and the tent didn't go anywhere - it didn't even really show any evidence of the wind blowing, unlike some other tents around us where the tent was basically being blown flat (the poles couldn't stand up to the wind).  I'm glad that we only had wind - there was a good layer of dust on everything in the tent, but we didn't have to deal with mud.

We were warned about active rattle-snakes in the area, and to stay off the rocks - after Kyle and some other boys had already been climbing on the rocks.  We didn't see or hear any snakes while we were there, so no real problems.  Happily the temperature is down into the 90's now, so it is comfortable enough to camp near Phoenix.

The best part, for Kyle, was the Archery - the boys learned to shoot a bow-and-arrow, how to hold the bow, nock an arrow, draw and release.  This is what he was asking about (when do we do Archery?) and what he wants to do more of.  Maybe after Baseball is done we'll look into archery until spring baseball starts up (in February....).

That's about it for now, its still just barely warm enough to think about getting in the pool (89 degrees right now, water is 86), so we might go do that.

Remembering Al

The oldest living Overtoom (that I know of and certainly that I'm related to) pass away last Saturday, at the age of 99.  I had been planning to travel up to Wisconsin for a big birthday party, but will now be traveling to be with family for a different reason.  I have to confess that I didn't get to spend as much time with Grandpa Overtoom as much as I would have liked (and not as much as I should have) in my adult years, but have some vivid memories of him from my childhood.  A few things in particular that come to mind:

- Grandpa didn't seem to be able to actually stay still - he was always doing something, whether getting drinks for people, fixing things or working around the house.  The closest might have been at some of the big family gatherings, he could be found at the bar making drinks, or grilling - talking to everybody around him.  This is a trait that I share - I don't like sitting around doing nothing, I prefer to be active.

- I remember many gatherings at their house in Berwyn, IL.  The house was a two story bungalow with a basement, next to the elementary school.  We could go play in the school yard (throw balls or fly model airplanes).  The best part was the basement - there was a full bar down there, and Grandpa made a great Kiddie Cocktail (they moved from that house before I was old enough to drink anything more serious).  There were colored lights that could be switched on and off - the cousins would sit on the stairs and change from red to blue to green like it was a disco dance (this was in the '70s after all). 

- I remember fishing and boat rides at the lake cabin in central Wisconsin.  He was a great fisherman, probably the only time that I can remember him sitting fairly still.  I especially remember riding around Lake Camelot in the boat, whether to get to a fishing spot or just to go fast.

- Both houses had a lot of hunting and fishing trophies - deer heads and antlers, pheasants, and big scary looking fish with lots of teeth.

- Watching movies in the basement was a highlight of any visit for the kids.  Both to see the family movies, but also to watch Abbot & Costello and some silent cartoons.  Grandpa was an avid documentor of the family, with his trusty movie camera out to get all the action (or at least the action when he wasn't managing the bar...)

I do admire his work ethic, he worked hard to provide, but also cared for his family and kept the two separate.  He always took responsibility for what happened, didn't try to weasel out of things.  He gave much in his community.  He was a great man, in my eyes.  I hear that he died laughing - good natured to the end.

I am that blog writer

It popped into my mind today that I seem to be often writing the kinds of blog entries that I don't like to read.  Most of my entries get into some basic theology, describing what I've been learning about God as I study His Word.  When I hit those kinds of entries in other peoples blogs, I tend to skim or skip over them - they are a little dry and uninteresting to me.

I find it interesting that for whatever reason I am doing the thing that I don't like.   What I am doing isn't bad - probably my skimming over these sorts of entries is bad - but I don't like other people doing it.  Does that make me a hypocrite?

If God is sovereign...

I'm starting to work through a study on the sovereignty of God, and the what is true because He is sovereign.  I thought I'd share things as I discover them, maybe a kind of irregular series on my irregular blog...

One thing that pops up when thinking for very long about God being truly sovereign is that there are tensions that pop up with things that happen in the world.  If God is really in control why did xxx happen (fill in your favorite recent earthquake, tsunami, senseless death, disaster)?  (I don't hear (or think much) about why doesn't YYY happen...)  I'm going to start from the assumption that God is Sovereign - ruler of the universe, creator, almighty, all knowing, eternal.  Just read the last chapters of Job for examples of the power that God has over this world - start at Job 38, and see if you can do any of those things...

Lets start off easy - with something that seems like it points to God needing people in order to accomplish His goals...  If God is really in charge, able to do all, control all - then what does He need Us for?  (another interesting topic for another day.)

In my short time walking with Jesus, I've heard several stories of people who were awakened at night, or tickled by God in other ways, to pray for specific people.  Usually these stories come in two parts, from two people:

Jane - I was awakened by the holy spirit about 3:15 in the morning, and felt a leading from the holy spirit - an Urge even - to pray for John, who was traveling in another city.  I just felt that his life was in danger, and that I needed to pray for God to intercede...  I prayed for 30 minutes, and went back to sleep.

John - About 3:15 in the morning my car broke down in the middle of a gang-infested part of BigTownImTravelingThrough - I could see graffiti and mean looking guys with knives all around - when the car stopped they all started heading over towards me - I could see they were sizing up how much money they could get from me and the car.  I was really scared - I started to pray and suddenly a police car pulled up.  The thugs scattered and the police were able to get a tow truck to me.

In these kinds of stories it seems that God is not able to save 'John' without some request or prayer assistance from 'Jane'.  Sometimes there are other people who also get the urge to pray for John at the same time, in different parts of the country (or the world).  Why is God asking people to pray to protect and save John when He is all powerful and in control of everything?  Even evil (the gangsters) can't touch God's people without His say so (Job 1:12).  Why this apparent contradiction between the testimony of the people and God's word (the Bible)?

When we're presented with a situation like this, where my understanding of the situation doesn't mesh with what we can see and understand we have two choices - either our understanding is wrong or the Bible is wrong.  We can ask God to reveal where our limited understanding needs to be adjusted, or we can push God aside and seek the wisdom of man.

Here, I can see people doing God's work - something that we are called to do, to worship the Lord and serve Him.  The core question is whether God needs to have anybody else involved in this work.  Being human, we tend to put our own motives onto other peoples actions.  I ask for help when I can't do something on my own.  I see somebody (Jane) awakened to pray, and assume that that person has some special ability or need which is being called on to do the work - I that situation through my own limitations, imparting my need for help onto Gods request.  I like it when people ask me to help them do something they have trouble with - it boosts my pride.  I see God boosting the pride of Jane in this situation - she would be proud to have been called to help.  We have trouble seeing the situation and the motives of God through our own human motives - and create a tension between a sovereign God and a God who seems to need our intercessory help.

This situation exists so that God can be glorified.  How can Jane and John both clearly see that God is sovereign, cares about and loves them, and can orchestrate things?  By putting them into a situation where, dependent on Him they both are part of the situation - without being aware of what is happening.  John is not aware that Jane is praying for him, he is only aware of His own prayers being answered.  Jane is not aware of what she is praying for - but after talking to John in the morning and learning what went on Jane can be awed to have seen God at work.  Whether Jane feels any pride from 'helping' in this situation, she gets to see that (a) God loves John, (b) God loves Jane and knows how important John is to her, (c) God lets her see that He is in control.  John gets reinforcement that God was there and He cares - not only was he delivered from the danger, but after talking with Jane he is aware that God shared the situation with another, in a way that only God could do.

Jane was awakened to pray not because God needed help, but so that she would be aware of God at work.  If Jane slept through the night, then heard from John that his car broke down and was saved only because of the timely arrival of the police car, she might see this as God responding to Johns prayer, but it might just be a coincidence -God could be excluded from consideration.  The hand of God isn't as real for Jane just hearing about Johns answer to prayer.  By awakening her at the time that John was in trouble, Jane can see the hand of God at work - He reached to her because of John's situation.  God gets the glory in this - neither John nor Jane, after comparing notes, can reasonably claim this as a coincidence.  God gets the glory.  As John and Jane tell the story, God gets the glory - others can see the work of God in the situation, in a way that is unmistakably God.  God wants the glory.

Romans 8:28 - And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Something to think about - when something happens that doesn't seem to have God involved in it, how can that event, or the outcome of that event, bring glory to God? Maybe you can't see His Glory in the event, or immediately afterwards.  Sometimes it takes time and the work of the Holy Spirit for you to see how He gets glory.  The good we receive may not come until we are with Him.

Modern Parables

What might be some parables that Jesus would use today? How can
spiritual truths be explained in the 21st century?

On wanting to be first into the kingdom
Consider the underwear - the clothing worn first and closest to the
skin (unless you are Madonna). Is being first to be put on desirable?
Is not the underwear the grottiest clothing at the end of the day,
reserved for cleansing in scalding hot water and harsh chemicals?
Instead seek to be a cardigan sweater, able to be worn several times
before receiving a gentle cleansing (unless worn by a messy eater).
Though it is the last to be put on, it truly has the higher place of
honor.

Well, maybe that isn't a parable that Jesus would use...

The dreaded invasion from another dimension

A quick, light thought.

Reading about the horrible things that are supposed to happen when the Large Hadron Collider is fully switched on, one of the scenarios is that we open a hole to another dimension, and invading aliens proceed to come in and conquer all the Earth, sending humanity into slavery.

Thinking back over the various Sci-Fi movies I've seen, and books that I've read, I find it interesting that anytime a hole is opened into another dimension we always seem to promptly have an invasion force streaming through it which humanity has to fight off.  Its almost like the other dimensions all either direct these tears in the space-time fabric to always-ready invasion forces, or they have invasion forces ready all over the place - just in case there is a dimension hole opened.

Is this really likely?  Isn't it more likely that the dimension hole will open into some totally random place - maybe a living room where the beings are casually watching their equivalent to 'The Love Boat', when this tear opens and ruins the ending of the show?  I'd expect that we're more likely to have beer cans thrown at us than a prompt invasion from highly trained armed forces.  Maybe we'd have the bad luck to open a dimension hole into their garbage dump...

Why not think of some great outcomes - we open a hole to an alternate dimension where Carbon Dioxide is the breath of life, and they are having trouble with global warming caused by Oxygen?  We could start up a great trade in gas swaps - send them the excess CO2 that we have, pick up the O2 that we need.  Maybe their garbage is pure energy which we can easily harness to provide electricity within this dimension - solving our looming energy crisis.

I say, let the collisions happen - we're much more likely to find the salvation of mankind in the other dimenstions that the LHC opens to us than our own doom.  (And, just in case we do happen to open into the middle of a highly trained and prepared group of alien commandos - I was all for opening the dimension gateway, I appreciate your mercy...)

Judging the sheep and the goats

One of the passages in the Gospel that has bothered me a little bit has always been Matthew 25:31-46.  All people are separated into those who served Christ and those who did not - with eternal rest for those who served and torment for those who did not.  The part that is a little troubling has been that for those who served, it is one small act which receives praise and rest - 'Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me', while for the others it is one small act not performed - 'Whatever you did not do for the least of these...'.  The troubling thing is that as a Christian, if I fail to provide for somebody hungry and homeless on the street - if I pass him by, is my salvation lost or tarnished?  (Even though there are many passages that teach that salvation cannot be lost - the thought is whether I have deceived myself into thinking that I know Jesus and am saved.)  I sometimes don't feel that I'm in the group of sheep on the right which will enter into rest.

I've thought of these two groups as the people who are doing things, whether they know of the act or not, out of the work of the Holy Spirit in their hears - they are following Christ and doing His work as they are led (the sheep).  The other group (the goats) are the people who are trying to do works to earn the favor of the judge (God), working out of their own motives to gain salvation.  The difference is whether I do good acts to the Body of Christ because I am saved, or whether I do good acts to become saved.  Most of the New Testament teaches that the former is correct - I cannot earn salvation.  This passage can be interpreted that the goats are condemned because they were not absolutely perfect - if they try to earn salvation than a single failure causes them to lose it.  (Paul spends much of the first 4 chapters of Romans teaching the same thing - that it isn't possible to earn salvation, it is a gift given by God through Jesus).  The sheep are praised for having faith in Jesus' work, and showing the fruit of that through a single good act.  One good act done in faith shows salvation, one good act not done in our own will earns condemnation.

In thinking about this in this season of thanksgiving, a new thought was revealed to me - many of the acts that we do are not known to us - how wonderful it will be to meet the people whose lives were changed through some seemingly insignificant act of Gods love done through us.  How many people are going to be thankful for your allowing God to work through you when you are gathered at the throne?  Are you letting Him use you, or are you doing good acts to earn your place?  I think it will be awesome to see fully all the ways that God has worked - I can see some of the work that He did to bring me to Him, how other people and chance encounters worked to place me on the narrow path.  I look forward to meeting those who I have help direct to Jesus even if I don't know it.

TANSTAAFL

That is - "There Aint No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Something that, if I remember my college physics properly, is demanded by the Law of Conservation of Energy and the 3rd law of thermodynamics. Also something that most people might think of as 'The law of unintended consequences'.

I've been thinking about the whole climate change thing. I'm not going to disagree with the empirical evidence which points that the average planetary temperature is rising. I'm not sure that anybody has proven what the cause of the warming is. Sorry Al Gore, I don't agree that Carbon Dioxide alone is contributing, especially when I've seen studies that show that the CO2 increase in the atmosphere can't explain the whole temperature increase to date.

Are carbon reductions the right way to go? There seems to be a HUGE push to 'Green Energy' - finding non-hydrocarbon means of producing energy which don't produce carbon. Why? Because a group has clamped onto the CO2 as the cause, so we must reduce the CO2 emissions. However, while I see a lot of calls to reduce use of carbon-burning energy generation, I haven't seen much call yet to actually reduce the amount of energy which is consumed... What if part of the warming is being caused by the excess heat that we are producing? We lay blacktop all over in cities, and see warming because we are now putting down a surface which converts light to heat. We have to be comfortable, so we have air-conditioning (and heat from furnaces) which push heat out to the environment. Cars are pretty bad in harnessing the energy from burning gasoline - there is a lot of excess heat to be gotten rid of (through the radiator). Computers are producing great amounts of excess heat. Most of the means we use to produce electricity produce excess heat that has to be released to the environment (wind and hydro-power I think are the only exceptions).

We harness a tiny portion of the solar energy which falls on the earth every day - so one of the ways to reduce carbon production has been to look to wind and solar power. What might be some of the unintended consequences? Is it possible that by putting out arrays of mirrors and solar panels to collect energy that we reduce local heating effects - leading to general cooling? Remember that the average temperature on the planet is produced based on solar heating. If we were to efficiently capture more solar energy, the law of conservation of energy says that the energy isn't being used for something else (heating the air), so we might cool off more than expected. I'm neglecting that unless we stop producing so much waste heat it might just balance out. I'm also neglecting that other than putting solar farms in deserts, we probably lose some good vegetated land in this process...

There have been studies of the unintended consequences of wind power - some local changes in weather have been observed downwind of large wind farms, because energy has been sucked from the moving air, and thus winds are a bit lighter. I've also read one study that the reduction in air pressure behind a wind turbine can kill bats and birds.

What I'm trying to say is that we can't put up big wind farms and solar arrays to generate electricity without there being some other impact. We are taking in solar energy which reduces the energy available to other natural processes which have been going on for a long time (generally involved in heating things). The impact may be small, it may be offset by human heat generation, or it may be beneficial (cooling deserts enough to be habitable?) - but there will be an effort. We can't get energy without having some impact on our environment.

Part of what this thinking has lead to for me is some sensitivity to how much energy can be conserved. I do try to bike to work instead of driving. We try to turn off lights as much as possible. There is probably a ton more that I can do. I don't know that we can maintain the way of life that we currently enjoy - something has to change to reduce the overall footprint - not just our carbon footprint.

Climate control guilt

So - I'll apologize to anybody that gets upset by the comparisons I have in this post about relative comfort and temperatures in different areas. To be completely honest, a year ago I would have said you were completely bonkers if you said I'd be living in Arizona, and would be on the side of thinking that people are completely insane to live here in the summer.

At this point, I'll say that you don't have to be completely insane, just willing to put up with a higher electricity bill than I'd ever seen before. You want to limit the time between the car and getting inside a building, since it is so #*&^ hot outside in the summer. Of course, I'd say the same about the 3 months of winter in Chicago - you want to limit the time between the car and getting inside a building. Basically, I've just flipped the inconvenient seasons. Please keep that in mind - while you (while most people that I think read this) are in a place just entering the inconvenient uncomfortable season, I just went through it and am finally able to do things outside.

I was thinking earlier today, that we generally tried to not turn on the heat in the house until October. My frugal soul just really had trouble justifying heating up the inside when it was still generally nice outside. We tried to not turn it on after May 1 - same reason. Now, I'm feeling a similar twinge of climate control guilt at turning on the A/C in October. I'm not trying to gloat - we had temperatures over 100 degrees last weekend which is a bit uncomfortable to be going outside. But, turning on the A/C in October feels like turning on the heat in September - it doesn't seem right. We just had a nice week where we didn't have the A/C on at all, and enjoyed the breeze blowing through the house, having to close everything up again seems like betrayal.

It does cool off fast in the evening now, so I need a jacket in the morning for walking or biking. No - I haven't acclimated that fast, I would wear a jacket biking in 55 degree weather in Chicago too. The only difference is that it is 55 in the morning and 90 in the afternoon... I won't say that I miss raking up the leaves (which we'd be doing now in Grayslake), and I won't complain about not having to shovel snow 2 months from now. I will miss having fall colors nearby - leaves just up and fall off trees without a color change here. I'm sure I'll miss seeing everything green up in spring. I already miss the break from mowing the lawn (we just planted winter grass, so that we keep the yard green and soft, instead of brown and crunchy once the Bermuda grass goes to sleep).

Everything is a trade off...

Whassup?

I thought I'd put together a short catchup post to let people know how things are going here - rather than share any real thoughts.

We've been in Arizona about 4 months now (almost 5), and pretty much settled in. We've been attending East Valley Bible Church in Gilbert, and starting to get involved in things there. I'm helping in one of the first grade Sunday school classes - something pretty new as I've been avoiding childrens ministry for a while - but its been fun so far. We've also gotten plugged into a home group in the area, and I've been attending a mens study group on Thursday mornings before work. Its been nice the last few weeks to be able to find people we know at church - as big as the church is it is surprising how easy it is to find people you know (once you've met a few people...)

It's starting to cool off here, I've been able to bike to work most days, and we're seeing highs in the 90s again - I know its a lot warmer than what MN and IL have been seeing all summer, but it is nice - going out in the evening when its 92 is pretty nice - about like taking a nice walk when its around 78 in Chicago. I don't know if I'm getting used to the hot temperatures (and will be shivering when it gets colder) or that the lack of humidity really makes a difference.

Work is going well - there is plenty to do, mostly I've been involved in cleaning up some documentation issues that have existed for a while - we're still restarting development work on the project, and its nice to have some time to clean up issues. Things are starting to pick up in terms of development and planning for the next phases though, so I'm sure that there will be more interesting problems to tackle soon. In the meanwhile its been nice to be able to hold to 40 hours a week. I've been getting in around 7:30, and can leave at 4PM, which is nice since there is some time to play with the kids before dinner, and I can help with dinner most nights. Things are starting to get busy in the evenings now too, with kids activities and things, so we are hopping through most of the week.

That's about all we have right now. Nothing really major or problematic - just settling into a routine again after the fall activities have started up.

Is the proposed Heath Care Reform the right thing?

Something quick about my views on the health care debate. I don't want to be mistaken for somebody who is against the plan just because it is pushed by the Democrats, or that I think poor people don't deserve good care. I'm not sure that the solution which is being proposed is the right one.

Part of what I do for a living is to analyze problems in software. In particular, when we see a problem, we don't just jump into fixing what we can see - first we determine if what is observed is actually the problem, or just a symptom of the problem. Most of the issues that people see with Microsoft Windows are actually symptoms. When your web browser crashes it rarely is because of a defect in the web browser - its because of a defect in another piece of software that destabilizes the browser, causing it to crash. Finding the actual root cause of the problem can be very difficult. I've spent weeks tracking down traces of issues to get back to what really happened to cause what was observed.

My biggest fear is that we (as a nation, and the political leaders in Washington D.C. in particular) haven't taken the time to look at the root cause of the problem. What are the symptoms that we can observe:

1. Health care is too expensive - people generally cannot afford care unless they have insurance. Both doctor visits and medicine can be extremely expensive
2. Health insurance is too expensive - unless you have a good job and an employer that pays most of the premiums
3. Some people go bankrupt trying to pay medical bills, or don't get the treatment they need and die because they don't have the money
4. Hospitals are closing in some areas (going bankrupt or losing money and closing for business reasons)
   

If you've spent much time looking at this, these are all related. Because of (1), (3) happens (people can't pay for coverage, or go broke paying). (1) leads to (2) - the money collected in insurance premiums has to cover the expenses, or the insurance company goes bankrupt. If medical costs increase, insurance costs increase. (4) is a side effect of (3) - enough people that don't pay and the hospital has to do something, maybe leading to (1). As insurance companies try to fix (2), they pressure doctors and hospitals to lower their rates which also may contribute to (4).

A lot of reasons have been given for why health care is so expensive:

• Greed - the doctors need those big homes and private club fees...
• Uninsured - people without insurance can't afford care, so don't pay, and the charges for everybody are raised to compensate - when I pay the hospital I'm paying my bill and part of somebody elses
• Legitimate office expenses - the people working in the doctors office need to be paid, and they (like everybody) expect to get more money every year
• Illegitimate office expenses - things that are maybe also symptoms of the problem. Doctors now need to have staff dedicated to billing and handling insurance claims. Malpractice insurance keeps going up. Paper work and bureaucracy (HIPAA anyone?) lead to more paper-pushers needed everywhere.
• Illegal aliens are using medical resources and not paying
• Space aliens are making everybody sick...

OK, maybe the last one isn't a real reason. I do know that the doctors office we were going to in Illinois went bankrupt and was bought out by a larger health care organization. I do know that Illinois has extremely high malpractice rates, high enough that doctors move their practice to Wisconsin. I also see that my insurance company knocks off 30-70% of what the doctor bills - money which he won't get paid and can't charge me for. Either the doctor was really padding his bills, or he's losing money on insured patients.

The goverment's solution? To create a new bureaucracy and make sure that everybody gets Health insurance. This is at best a band-aid on the symptom - we make sure that everybody gets to contribute to make sure that everybody has insurance to pay the outrageous medical bills. And, we need to pay more taxes to staff the new bureaucracy which will govern the insurance plans. No real mention of how health costs will be brought under control - as new government regulations come in costs are likely to go up as more staff is needed to manage the insurance twists. We aren't addressing why medical care is expensive, only making sure that everybody is insured and able to pay for it - while possibly also driving the medical profession out of business through lower negotiated rates.

This band-aid is only asking for the problem to ooze out of a different area - if health costs are not controlled, then health insurance costs will continue to grow - and with the government backing insurance for all that will hit you and me in the pocket. We just push off the problem to a later time.

Maybe some part of the debate should be about how to reign in the costs of providing health care - how can the cost of doing business be reduced for doctors? Can malpractice insurance rates be reduced through meaningful tort reform? I don't want to prevent people from getting redress for negligence on the part of a doctor - but I don't want them suing over something that the doctor had no control over either. Is health insurance the right approach to take in the first place - whether public or private? I don't have the answers - but it sure looks to me like the Congress has chosen a solution, whether it is the right one or not, and are going to enact it whether I like it or not. It isn't clear that the solution addresses what the real problem is, instead of providing a temporary band-aid.

Things I never thought I'd say

So, if you had told me a year ago that right now I'd have relocated to Phoenix, Arizona I would have told you that you're crazy. I had no plans to leave my previous employer, I didn't forsee selling our beloved house in Grayslake, and if I were to move for some reason it more likely would be further north. But.... this is now, and the aforementioned move has happened. So, I find myself saying a few things that I might not have otherwise ever said in my life -

"Its 9PM and its still 100 degrees outside!"

"Its pretty cool today - only supposed to be 104 - I can bike to work."

"Look - a dust storm warning."

"Remember to pick up rocks carefully..."

A few other new observations:

I downed an entire 16 ounce bottle of water in 7 miles of biking on my way home last week (in the previously mentioned 104 degrees).

I am getting up at 5:15 AM to get out and do a 10 mile bike ride before it gets too hot (its only been 90 that early).

Did you know you can bake on the grill?

The car doors have black handles on the outside. This can be painful if the sun has been shining on the door you want to open...

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We are doing pretty well - things have settled down, we have adjusted to the new house and routines. We are looking forward to still being able to do a lot outside in the winter, and to seeing visitors then (since no sane person comes to Arizona in the summer...)

How's it going?

A few very quick notes on the move, and the new job. Things are going pretty well here so far. I have started work at General Dynamics, and while I have a lot of learning to do (being a completely new and different problem domain for me) there are a lot of things that actually are similar to solutions that I used before - different problem but a similar way to solve it - so I am getting to know what's going on. Working for a defense contractor, security is definitely handled differently than what I had at my previous position. The requirement that employees also be US citizens also changes the demographics of the workplace quite a lot - there are not a lot of immigrants to be seen.

We're working through a stomach bug right now (or its working through us?). I spent about half of the weekend in bed, and am still not completely over it - food isn't as appealing right now, but I can at least eat. Not the best start to things - work for a week and then get sick!

On the home front, we're in a 3-bedroom apartment right now (furnished) and we are scheduled to close on our house May 20 - 2 weeks away. There doesn't seem to be anything holding up the closing right now, I just need to provide a pay stub to the mortgage company (but I don't get my first paycheck until May 14). We can take multiple trips to move the stuff we have here over to the new house, unlike the move down here, so that can be a bit more relaxed. We had a pretty uneventful drive down here, all the pets survived and all the kids (though sometimes the kids were in danger as we ate in restaurants). We took it easy, stopping along the way to see some of the sights. We did stop at an actual 'Route 66' era diner in New Mexico for lunch one day, which was kinda cool, even if they weren't trying to stay in the '50s character. I think that knowing that we were at a diner which has just kept doing the same thing was more satisfying than a touristy 'Route 66' experience would be.

That's all for now. My main reason for not posting sooner really was that I've been going to bed early the last few nights as I'm working to recover - not even playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook...