Chris's Musings

By the way, I'm over the presidential election last week.   Historical , monumental , decisive .  America wants change, and to tell you the truth with the discourse, non-transparency, and rampant wasteful spending we have seen in the government for the past (God knows how many) years, we need (and deserve) change. What we didn't vote for, I believe, is the far left agenda that is now being talked about, sometimes secretly and sometimes not-so-secretly, as a result.  Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the House) and Harry Reid (Senate Majority Leader) have some ambitious plans for our country... and with Bush's veto pen in hand and parity in the Senate these were largely kept at bay.  Some may be good for our country, but some (like government health care and potential confiscation of 401K plans) are not so much.  Now, with gains in both houses of Congress and a liberal president in the White House, some of these could move from rumor to highly discussed realities.   Which is why it...

A continuation of the last post... More things I really love: 1. That Trader Joe's pumpkin bread (with the pumpkin butter) warmed up with a good cup of coffee 2. Omelets... and I make a mean one :) 3. Late brunches out... haven't done this lately but love it when I do. 4. Repeat 3, but at Thumbs Up Diner in Edgewood :-) YUM! 5  Repeat 3, but at The Flying Biscuit. 6. Saturday workouts  7. The feeling you have after a spin class and a little rehydration 8. Sitting at a couch at Starbucks with my laptop, coffee, and people watching 9. Party-style 5K and 10K's... the Jingle Jog's coming up!  :-) 10. That Switchfoot "Awakening" video. 11. Girls who know in their heart that they are princesses and choose to humble themselves and serve others. 12. Andy Stanley's knack for making scripture applicable and personal 13. Louie Giglio's passion and challenges 14. Gregg Matte's knack for finding application whenever her teaches, no matter where he is in a book ...

I'm stealing shamelessly from a friend's blog... I liked it so much that I had to use the idea: 50 things that I really love (not in any order and not an exhaustive list): 1.  Healthy food that makes you feel good 2.  Discovering a new, unique, and interesting place to go out 3.  Attending a baseball game a classic ballpark 4.  Repeat 3:  But with a team steeped in tradition (like the Cubs or Red Sox :) ) 5.  Chicago-style pizza, in Chicago 6.  Freebirds burritos 7.  Tex-Mex, in Texas 8.  REAL country dancing (two-stepping) 9.  The first ski run on a clear day after 5" of snow drops on the mountain 10. Repeat 9, but do it after Fresh Tracks breakfast on top of Whistler 11.  A girl who is attractive and modest 12. Repeat 11, but add a quick wit (slightly sarcastic) to it.  13. Repeat 11 & 12, but add a passionate love for Jesus. 14. Hanging out with someone like 11,12, and 13 15. Watching Jack Bauer kick some tail 16. Great Italian food 17. Hiking on a crisp day in the ...

the next time I see a Seinfeld episode where George has to go into Steinbrenner's office...

Now, I want no spoilers... I haven't been the Buckhead Church worship service yet, but when I was down in the Resource Center talking to my friends after Upstreet I couldn't help but catch a few snippets... so the material that I'm blogging about is "enough to be dangerous" but I couldn't help myself :) It has been interesting to observe the divergent reactions of myself and other folks in my social circle this week as the results from the long, painful, tiring election have transpired.  One one hand, many of my liberal friends are in a state of euphoria, for the first time in a long time putting American flags up and talking about how great our country is.. on the other hand, many of my conservative friends are talking as if this is the end of the world (literally), evoking images of Orwell's 1984, the Great Tribulation, etc.  Seems a little strange...  To be fair, I am glad that not everyone in my circle is reacting in (either) way.  I mean, I'm a...

If you haven't seen John McCain's speech on Tuesday, it's worth taking a look at.  In defeat, this may have been one of his finer moments in this election.  This speech highlights why I voted FOR John McCain and not against Barak Obama this year - the man commands respect and is a man who has earned it in my mind, even though America did not choose him to go to the White House :-(.   Now, like the elder George Bush in 1992, John McCain moves into the role of being the elder Statesman.  President Bush 41 is a man worthy of great respect, both in his 4 years as President and even more in his life since the presidency.  He handled defeat graciously, and I saw a lot of that in John McCain this week.   To reiterate one thing he said, let's not as Republicans do to President Obama what our friends on the other side of the aisle have done to President Bush... or what many of us have sadly done to President Clinton in the 90's.  Let's not be haters... let's give re...

Okay, people... seriously?

Ah, another election, and another blog written from California (the 2006 was written during training in San Diego) with thoughts about the political change that has just swept our country. Of course, unless you've been living under a rock you probably know know that Barak Obama is now our President-Elect. Whether you are in love with that idea or praying that Jesus raptures us before January 20th, this is now a fact... and honestly even though I'm not excited about it I'm warming up to it... and I do not believe that America is destined for the apocalyptic collapse that some of my friends on the right are hinting at. I reposted my blog from 2006, because the momentum all started then with the Democratic sweep of Congress as a backlash to a lot of garbage that we've been putting up with from an out-of-touch and entrenched Republican government, and definitely not a lot of love for President Bush either. The war in Iraq being a complete mess didn't help out much at...

Another week. Another time zone. I have been out in California for a week training for my job... it's been nice out here, great weather, beautiful scenery, fresh air... kind of like Split except instead of saying "dobre dan" (good afternoon), the people here just say "dude" The Teradata training has been very good. I'm about 1/2 of the way from drinking the kool-aid now :) - but seriously, I am really happy to be working for this company and we have a really great product that I believe more businesses should be using. Besides, if you were someone making a data warehouse decision, wouldn't YOU want to come out to San Diego to see the benchmark for yourself. You'll be blown away both by S.D. and by our technology. I am heading up to L.A. tomorrow to hang out with my friend Derek from business school... stayed in town (S.D.) tonight because I really didn't want to deal with the LA-SD traffic. I think we're going to go out to the O.C. beaches, D...

This is a teaser for a future post... time is short right now.  I'm off to SF for Dreamforce conference.  Good times.   God has been putting mentorship on my mind for a while now, and especially over the last couple of months as I am starting to be blessed with mentors and potential mentors, as well as strong brothers in Christ walking with me in this stage of our spiritual lives, that have blessed me INCREDIBLY as a Christian and also just as a guy "doing life" in relationships, career, and the such.   So... before I dump all of my thoughts on the blogosphere (later), I want to ask you... (especially if you are like me, in your late 20's/early 30's and have been growing in your relationship with Christ for a while). 1. Which older guy(s) are pouring into your life regularly to strengthen you as a man of God?  Someone outside of your stage of life that has been there/done that...  I'm really wanting to seek these type of guys out for myself and am en...