Please note that I've moved to damkes.blogspot.com. That's where I'll make new posts.
Why? Because it's shorter and easier for someone to remember when they ask me for the blog address.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
Super Mouse!
It seems we have a mouse.
A friend has been staying at our house and he gave us the unfortunate news that he saw what could have been a mouse run under the dryer. He also thought he heard it in the dropped ceiling in the basement.
Further investigation indicated evidence of mouse activity (i.e., turds).
So I bought a fancy mouse trap that was to instantly electrocute the mouse - a humane kill. I set it, and baited it with peanut butter (apparently they love peanut butter). Checked it in a couple days - the peanut butter was gone, and there was no mouse. Either the machine didn't work, or the mouse walked on the sides of the trap.
I then bought a live trap, one that had a door that would shut when the mouse entered. As a matter of fact, I bought two. Set both, baited with peanut butter. If I caught the mouse, I'd have to 'dispose' of it myself. Checked them the next day - both we're in the closed position, the peanut butter gone, and you guessed it, no mouse.
So I went and bought some glue traps. They smell like peanut butter. And I also re-set the live traps. This morning I checked all the traps. No mouse, and one of the live traps had moved about two feet. Oh, and the room is closed, so that cat did not play with the mouse trap.
And the peanut butter was gone.
When we questioned her, the cat said she had retired.
I think tonight I'll go buy some of the old fashioned mouse traps that snap and kill the mouse. Let's see if it can evade that! Besides, based on the skill set of this mouse (or team of mice), I don't want to be left with the task of 'disposing' of a live mouse. It may evade me.
A friend has been staying at our house and he gave us the unfortunate news that he saw what could have been a mouse run under the dryer. He also thought he heard it in the dropped ceiling in the basement.
Further investigation indicated evidence of mouse activity (i.e., turds).
So I bought a fancy mouse trap that was to instantly electrocute the mouse - a humane kill. I set it, and baited it with peanut butter (apparently they love peanut butter). Checked it in a couple days - the peanut butter was gone, and there was no mouse. Either the machine didn't work, or the mouse walked on the sides of the trap.
I then bought a live trap, one that had a door that would shut when the mouse entered. As a matter of fact, I bought two. Set both, baited with peanut butter. If I caught the mouse, I'd have to 'dispose' of it myself. Checked them the next day - both we're in the closed position, the peanut butter gone, and you guessed it, no mouse.
So I went and bought some glue traps. They smell like peanut butter. And I also re-set the live traps. This morning I checked all the traps. No mouse, and one of the live traps had moved about two feet. Oh, and the room is closed, so that cat did not play with the mouse trap.
And the peanut butter was gone.
When we questioned her, the cat said she had retired.
I think tonight I'll go buy some of the old fashioned mouse traps that snap and kill the mouse. Let's see if it can evade that! Besides, based on the skill set of this mouse (or team of mice), I don't want to be left with the task of 'disposing' of a live mouse. It may evade me.
Friday, August 08, 2008
Cause the Pause
Yesterday we attended Day One of the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. I've been attending now for five or six years and wouldn't miss it. It helps me correct my compass, so to speak, to set my path straight again an help me focus on what really matters.
I started reading Fierce Conversations this week. The author suggests a definition for success which, in my mind, works. I say that because the notion of success is one that has evaded me somewhat. I know it's not about money, status, possessions or fame. I know it has something to do with what God and I can accomplish together. She says "I succeed when who I am and what I do are in alignment".
That's powerful. When who I am, my core values, the thing that drives me, and my day to day goings-on are lined up - that's when I am successful. It has nothing to do with money or stuff.
The Summit helps me to realign what I do with who I am.
Who am I? I'm a follower of Christ - I take direction from what I learn in the Bible. There are things that are very important to me. When my day to day activities are driven by that, then I'm getting it right.
I've been testing that notion of success and reflecting on the past few months and those times I've felt exhilarated, like I could fly, and the other times when it seemed like gravity was pulling extra hard on me. The times when I walked on air were those in which I was aligned, I was enmeshed in activities that were all about what is important to me.
The Summit helps correct that track. Vacations also help. And I think I know why -- I force myself to stop, listen, and learn. My perfect vacation includes a lot of reading. The Summit includes a lot of practical teaching. My compass is corrected because I pause, reflect, learn and realign. That's a good thing, and I suppose it would be better if I could cause the pause to happen more frequently - perhaps shorter pauses more often, and still continue the longer pauses of vacation and the annual Summit.
I'm going to try.
Bill George was one of the speakers yesterday. He talked about balance. (He also used the compass analogy). He suggests that the whole work / life balance thing may never be met by anyone (and I agree). Instead, he says we should seek an integrated life, which is living such that who we are is consistent wherever we are, whether it's work or home or wherever else.
So I think I've landed on the notion of success - it's about what I do staying in step with who I am, wherever I am. Now I just need to pay attention to my compass.
I started reading Fierce Conversations this week. The author suggests a definition for success which, in my mind, works. I say that because the notion of success is one that has evaded me somewhat. I know it's not about money, status, possessions or fame. I know it has something to do with what God and I can accomplish together. She says "I succeed when who I am and what I do are in alignment".
That's powerful. When who I am, my core values, the thing that drives me, and my day to day goings-on are lined up - that's when I am successful. It has nothing to do with money or stuff.
The Summit helps me to realign what I do with who I am.
Who am I? I'm a follower of Christ - I take direction from what I learn in the Bible. There are things that are very important to me. When my day to day activities are driven by that, then I'm getting it right.
I've been testing that notion of success and reflecting on the past few months and those times I've felt exhilarated, like I could fly, and the other times when it seemed like gravity was pulling extra hard on me. The times when I walked on air were those in which I was aligned, I was enmeshed in activities that were all about what is important to me.
The Summit helps correct that track. Vacations also help. And I think I know why -- I force myself to stop, listen, and learn. My perfect vacation includes a lot of reading. The Summit includes a lot of practical teaching. My compass is corrected because I pause, reflect, learn and realign. That's a good thing, and I suppose it would be better if I could cause the pause to happen more frequently - perhaps shorter pauses more often, and still continue the longer pauses of vacation and the annual Summit.
I'm going to try.
Bill George was one of the speakers yesterday. He talked about balance. (He also used the compass analogy). He suggests that the whole work / life balance thing may never be met by anyone (and I agree). Instead, he says we should seek an integrated life, which is living such that who we are is consistent wherever we are, whether it's work or home or wherever else.
So I think I've landed on the notion of success - it's about what I do staying in step with who I am, wherever I am. Now I just need to pay attention to my compass.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Newfoundland so far
We're on our third day in Newfoundland. Our flight was late leaving Toronto on Sunday, so our transfer in Halifax was as long as it took to get one from plane to the next, and no more. We arrived in Campbellton at 3:00 am (Monday morning).
Today it's raining with thunder, though it has been hot and sunny up until today. We've eaten a lot, and both Karen and I have managed to get some reading done as well. I read "How to be Evangelical and not be Conservative" by Roger Olsen - it was given to me, so I read it based on that strong recommendation. I guess I'm fairly 'post-conservative' already (a word coined, I think, by the author) because I did not find the book at all controversial. Interesting nonetheless.
I also finished Juice, a book about intelligent energy and communication. I quite enjoyed it, both because of the content and the fact that it is a Canadian author.
Right now I'm reading Crucial Conversations, a book recommended by a Leadership Development coach.
I have to slow down my pace a little otherwise I'll have nothing to read on the ferry crossing from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia on Friday.
Tomorrow night there's a graduation celebration for Dustin. He finished grade 12 this year and since he was home schooled, he has yet to have a ceremony.
All in all, a relaxing trip. Tonight we eat fish and brewis.
Today it's raining with thunder, though it has been hot and sunny up until today. We've eaten a lot, and both Karen and I have managed to get some reading done as well. I read "How to be Evangelical and not be Conservative" by Roger Olsen - it was given to me, so I read it based on that strong recommendation. I guess I'm fairly 'post-conservative' already (a word coined, I think, by the author) because I did not find the book at all controversial. Interesting nonetheless.
I also finished Juice, a book about intelligent energy and communication. I quite enjoyed it, both because of the content and the fact that it is a Canadian author.
Right now I'm reading Crucial Conversations, a book recommended by a Leadership Development coach.
I have to slow down my pace a little otherwise I'll have nothing to read on the ferry crossing from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia on Friday.
Tomorrow night there's a graduation celebration for Dustin. He finished grade 12 this year and since he was home schooled, he has yet to have a ceremony.
All in all, a relaxing trip. Tonight we eat fish and brewis.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
It's raining........
A couple weeks ago I had our dining room curtains dry-cleaned due to a stain. I figured someone had spilled something on it, somehow. Didn't make sense, but it was the only reasonable explanation.
This morning I noticed the stain again, in the same spot, but bigger. A closer examination showed water dripping from our window trim ....... an even closer look showed dampness on the ceiling.
Aw, crap.
We just had a flood in the dining room due to a roof leak last year. Now the same roof seems to be leaking in a different area. It's an old tar and gravel roof ........ it must have been annoyed with all the foot traffic it has faced since that incident.
I've been all afternoon looking for quotes. And there's no way to tell how much damage there is in the ceiling without opening the ceiling, which means drywall dust, then drywall repair (I have to cut!).
Home ownership rocks!
This morning I noticed the stain again, in the same spot, but bigger. A closer examination showed water dripping from our window trim ....... an even closer look showed dampness on the ceiling.
Aw, crap.
We just had a flood in the dining room due to a roof leak last year. Now the same roof seems to be leaking in a different area. It's an old tar and gravel roof ........ it must have been annoyed with all the foot traffic it has faced since that incident.
I've been all afternoon looking for quotes. And there's no way to tell how much damage there is in the ceiling without opening the ceiling, which means drywall dust, then drywall repair (I have to cut!).
Home ownership rocks!
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