Another reason I like Google.

Today, Google announced the "RE<C" initiative. This is a new strategic initiative to develop electricity from renewable energy sources that will be cheaper than electricity produced from coal. It will focus initially on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies, enhanced geothermal systems and other potential breakthrough technologies. In 2008, Google expects to spend tens of millions on research and development and related investments in renewable energy. As part of its capital planning process, the company also anticipates investing hundreds of millions of dollars in breakthrough renewable energy projects which generate positive returns.

Read the rest of the story here.


Go get em boys!

What are your strengths?

In Sunday School this past week, I spoke about finding your strengths, finding a hole, and filling it. Do you know what you're good at? A few years ago, I took a test after reading this book, and found out what my strengths are, according to them. They were:

W O O - People strong in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person. This pretty much covers my personality, huh?

F U T U R I S T I C - People strong in the Futuristic theme are inspired by the future and what could be. They inspire others with their visions of the future. The past does interest me but I'm all about the future!

A R R A N G E R - People strong in the Arranger theme can organize, but they also have a flexibility that complements this ability. They like to figure out how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity. I do like to "solve" puzzles but not much into organizing!

A C H I E V E R - People strong in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive. I love success. By success I mean, the end result being achieved. I don't like being told something cannot be done.

S T R A T E G I C - People strong in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues. Definitely me. I'm always thinking about the next step. It's like playing chess.


Anyway... just thought I'd share what Strengths Finders considers to be my strengths.

Why do I watch this show?

Ok... every week I get frustrated with my desire to watch this show. I get frustrated because I get a little teary eyed at the end of it every week. Ok, Chris, should you feel the need to take away my man card, then so be it!

I mean check this out. Where else do you see a group of volunteers picking up a family

It makes me realize things like:

1. My family is healthy. I can't imagine dealing with the stuff these 100 families (and many others) endure!
2. My wife is my friend, my lover, my life long companion. I can't imagine life without her.
3. God gives me the strength each and every day to provide for my family. We don't know struggle! If you don't believe me, watch the show.
4. I want to be a part of things like this.
5. Life is not fair. We all get dealt some crazy stuff. If you think your problem is bad, look at this show. It'll show you unfair!
6. Life is Precious. My friend has been preaching this for some time!

Take a minute RIGHT NOW and tell your family what they mean to you. If you're at work, call your spouse or significant other now. Don't take life for granted!

BTW, truly I only get frustrated at this show because I want to be a part of something like this!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! We have been on the road 5 hours today to see my family and now home with my wife's family. We just finished a great FRIED Turkey. We had a baked one at lunch... no offense..fried is better.... Sorry Robbie!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Personally, I am most thankful for my wife. Without her, I do not know how I would get through this life.

Of course, my kids, family, friends, church, co-workers and scores of other people would make the list if I actually tried to list everyone...

What things are you thankful for this Holiday Season?

Heroes Season Finale?

Heroes creator Tim Kring has revealed that the show will cap volume two on December 3 with an "out of the blue cliffhanger".

Confirming that volume two will end on December 3, Kring said that fans can expect a complete turnaround in the pace of the show over the next month. "[The episodes] are among the absolute best we have ever done."

Cast member Milo Ventimiglia added that "we'd gotten away a little from what the show is" and that "we're getting back on track".

Kring, who is refusing to cross WGA picket lines to work on the show, said that the series' segmented approach permitted an early end to volume two. "In an oddly kismet kind of way, we have a real finale that could act as the end of season two," he explained.

SQL Server Error

WARNING: Technical Information ahead... Sorry Non-Technical Friends.

I haven't been using SQL on my local machine very much so I've had it disabled for a while. Today, I needed to restart it....

It refused to start.. see the image?

This means that the file is compressed on the local drive. But when I attempted to start the SQL Service I would get an error.

Solution:

On the WinXP machine that I still used I completed these tasks,

1. Right-click on the .mdf file

2. In the Context Menu that appears, select Properties

3. In the Properties Dialog that appears, click on the Advanced button

4. In the Advanced Attributes Dialog that appears, uncheck the Compress Contents To Save Disk Space checkbox. Then click OK. See image

5. Repeat the same thing for the .ldf file (or for all files in the folder that are SQL MDF and LDF.

Enjoy. I now return to my regularly scheduled blog...

I love "being there" for others....

I love "being there" for others....it's what I was created to do. It's what helps me in my job every single day. However, last night's call was not about my job. It was about "my" Sunday School class. I say "my", not because I'm the teacher but because I take each person in that class and their well-being very personally. I want to see everyone doing well in life (physically, spiritually, financially, relationally).

It seems odd to me that this Sunday's lesson was about standing in the gap for each other. You know, interceding for each other. Less than 17 hours later, little did I know but our class would be doing just that. Read about the call here.

When I arrived at the hospital at 4:20am, I was number 6 from the church. 5 others beat me there. Two more arrived after I did. We were all able to stand beside our brother laying there in the hallway and pray over him.
In that very moment, I knew:

every one of those guys prayed the minute we hung up the phone with each other. In particular, I prayed with my spouse.

every one of us knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if we were laying there, the outpouring of love would be just as great.

every one of us was concerned for his wife and child and the family knew it. Should that ever happen to me, I know "my" class will be there too!

every one of us cared deeper when we walked out of that hospital and left him in the hands of the doctors and nurses.

Just a few short weeks ago, I wasn't sure why Satan was working us over. It was all a test and we, including me, almost failed. I believe we win. I've seen a fire in the eyes of that class like I haven't seen in a while. If you're in the Young Sunday School Class, thank you for letting me be a part of "Your" class!!!


"Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving..." Colossians 4:2

An unwelcomed intruder in my garage....

For about an hour last night, I had to get rid of this guy! A Broom, 7 shots with a BB Gun, 30 minutes of adrenaline..... he finally left running..... Check out the other photos on Picasa. (Don't look at my nasty garage!)

Worship....

I know all my IT Roundtable buddies have seen this (if you're following some technical blogs). This goes out to my family and friends from around the country. Thank you Terry for being so kind as to share it.

When DST causes issues....

From the Raleigh area:

Everyone knows the pecking order in a family has everything to do with age. The oldest sibling usually rules the roost. But what if you get cheated out of the title because of Daylight Saving Time?

Peter Sullivan Cirioli was dubbed "Baby A" at WakeMed Cary when he arrived early Sunday morning.

“Yes, Peter was born first, it was at 1:32 a.m.,” mother Laura Cirioli said.

Thirty-four minutes later, Peter's twin sister, Allison Raye Cirioli, known as "Baby B," made her entrance into the world.

Because of Daylight Saving Time, Allison's time of birth was 1:06 a.m., which makes her 26 minutes older than her brother even though he was born first.

Check out the story here.

Want a new job?

Apparently being a clown and knowing how to tie knots pays pretty well.

check out this story!

umm.. double talk...

plus... I'm not a Hillary fan.. so there. Got any other double talk takes from candidates?

Early Mortgage Payoff?

Is this a scheme? a scam? or something with Promise?

I'm still trying to figure out the answer to that question. However, my thoughts are being consumed by this idea. I'm not really sure who should believe so therefore I have asked several of my friends who I consider to be normal to look at this program and tell me what they think. So far I've asked 4 friends, 2 accountants, one banker and a mortgage broker to take a look at this and dissect it to tell me whether or not this makes sense. the problem is all for other professionals have initial varying opinions and are at this moment dissecting the idea (none of them had ever heard of it!) My four friends (and my wife) at this point just think I'm smoking something.

Here's my thoughts:
I despise the idea of being scammed.
I personally believe there are very few ideas that are new when it comes to the banking and mortgage industry.
I love the idea of paying off my mortgage 11 years early.
I generally listen to Joe Sangl and Dave Ramsey when it comes to financial advice. Joe because he's a normal guy like me. Dave because a guy a million people following him. However, I don't have access to all of Dave's Forums so I can't see what he's saying about this. I've emailed Joe to see what he says.

so will you weigh in on this? I was educated about this idea from a company called United first financial. In researching this, I've found a lot of different opinions. Here are a few links if you want to go check this out.

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

or just use Google.

Let me be clear! I'm not selling, condoning, promoting, etc. I am interested in clear thoughts, not rants about Multi-Level Marketing. I'm not asking about United First's MLM Scheme. I'm asking about the idea of paying off my mortgage faster so I can get about God's business faster!