Reading List

Trinity Schools has released a new reading list for 7th through 12th graders. Now, I don't know anything about Trinity but the depth and breadth of material that they cover is truly awe-inspiring. Their students will read and study these titles, not just recommend them to parents.

Reading List Linky

Ninth Grade
Documents in American history
The Federalist Papers (selections)
Selections from the writings of Thomas Jefferson
Selections from the Lincoln-Douglas debates
Crane, The Red Badge of Courage
Thoreau, Walden; Civil Disobedience
Twain, Huckleberry Finn
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave
Cather, My Antonia
Sinclair, The Jungle
Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Short stories of Crane, Cather, O'Connor
Wilder, Our Town
American poetry

Of the whole list, I've read seven. I own two others on the list but haven't finished the.

If The Shoe Fits pt2

HELMETS


Let’s start with the helmet. This one is easily the most likely to wind up tangled in debate. We won’t get into laws or which standard is better in this go-‘round. So, what makes a good helmet? It has been said, “If you have a $10 head, wear a $10 helmet.” I agree, to a point. You don’t need a very expensive helmet to get decent protection for your head. DOT is the minimum standard. Snell is a higher standard in the States. CE or ECE, I would say, is the European counterpart to Snell: a higher standard in an effort to produce the best protection. Oh yeah, in case you hadn’t picked up on it, I’m talking full-face helmets with a visor. Half and three-quarter helmets look cool but severely compromise protection and are for idiots and performers.


Flashy graphics are flashy and have no part on what will protect your head in a crash, so we’ll pretend we want something plain, a solid color. Graphics can add a substantial amount to the cost of a helmet. But image being everything that it is means that some will pick a helmet that isn’t right for them because it looks cool. Get over it! The first important thing to consider is comfort/fit. These go together because comfort won’t help if the fit is wrong. A comfortable helmet that does not fit properly will not provide ideal crash protection.


If it is too loose, the helmet may come off entirely in a crash. On a daily basis it will move around a lot in the wind and create distractions and even headaches from vibrations or the visual strain of a moving object in your face. If too tight, wearing on a daily basis may not happen because it hurts to wear it. If you can’t stand to wear the helmet, you are far less likely to wear one in the first place.


Trying on a helmet before purchasing it should take a long time. A 30-second assessment in a shop will not tell you if pressure points are there which will make your head hurt the first time you are on the bike for more than fifteen minutes. Try the prospective helmet on and wander around the shop. Take your time. Look at other stuff. Take some more time. It may be helpful to find a shop which will allow you to return a helmet. Cycle Gear is one such place. They have a 30-day return policy (check with your shop for their specific policies and details) and will allow you to swap for a better size if all is still well with the helmet.


One of my earlier helmets was Shoei RF-800. It fit like it was made using my head as the form. I loved it. But eventually the need arose to replace it and the 800 was no longer available. I went to the new-and-improved RF model and was very excited about it. It was lighter and had better ventilation than my old helmet. The price had risen a bit with time, but I managed to make the deal happen. At the time, I had a three hour one-way commute that was done two to three times a week. Six to nine hours per week, just in commute time. I had some trouble pretty quickly, but chalked it up to needing to get used to the new lid. I went almost three months before I hurt so bad after the commute, that I had to factor in recuperation time with my trips. My wife convinced me to go ahead and search for a new helmet.


I tried every model and brand in all the bike shops I could find. I kept coming back to one particular model I had never considered before because it was about three times as much as I considered to be reasonable for a helmet. I wound up getting the Shoei X-11, a high-end model that cost what I considered to be a ridiculous amount of money. It worked better than I could have dreamed because it was not only well fit to my head, eliminating any pressure points, but ventilates better than any helmet I have ever tried. I wanted a $10 helmet, but couldn't find one that fit. The X-11 and I are still together, and will stay so attached, so long as Shoei doesn't go and mess with the head-form design.



Do I think about my head as I ride? Nope. It's well fit and cared for.

National Day of Prayer

I think that Election Day is the *official* National Day of Prayer.

A Prayer for Good Government

Eternal Lord, Ruler of all, graciously regard those who have been set in positions of authority among us that they may be guided by your Spiri, be high in purpose, wise in counsel, firm in good resolution, and unwavering in duty, that under them we may be governed quietly and peaceably; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

For Responsible Citizenship

Lord, keep this nation under your care. Bless the leaders of our land that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to the other nations of the earth. Help us provide trustworthy leaders, contribute to wise decisions for the general welfare, and thus serve you faithfully in our generation to the honor of your holy name; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

AMEN!!

Done the Deed

My sister and I packed the baby into the stroller and walked over to the school to vote. We are official!

I do love the Texas electronic voting machines. Instead of a touch screen, you use a small wheel to move the cursor from candidate to candidate. Each time you move the wheel, a small click and pause helps you place the cursor. There are separate buttons for "enter" and "cast ballot". Kudos to the people who put together this well thought out, yet simple machine.

Even if my fellow citizens choose a President that doesn't lead my nation down the straight and narrow road, I'll still lead my life as a Christian, praying for those in need and showing love to my neighbor. "They'll know you're a Christian by your love," as the song goes, not by state of affairs that surround us.

Just Tell Us The Truth

You have a choice to make this election. Do you know where the candidates stand on abortion? Do their written statements match the words coming out their mouth? This video makes it perfectly clear for the undecided Christian voter.



I think I've watched this video a dozen times! I love it! Great production, editing, symbolism, and the music is awesome. I had been studying that chapter from Deuteronomy they quote at the end for my Sunday School class and it made it even more personal to me.

The video is produced by Americas Choice Now. Go add your comments to their site if you liked it. We should definitely encourage each other.

The hat tip goes to Gateway Pundit. He's a video blogger that I now visit almost everyday. He has a comprehensive collection of all the wonderful pro-life videos and ads that have been produced this political season. This one is my favorite. I bet you could find a favorite of your own if you went there. To search his site for just pro-life related videos click here.

Last thought: You might also notice that I've added Lutherans for Life under my favorite links. Their news and commentary section is updated regularly and offers a comprehensive cross-section of life issues from around the world. The site also publishes a quarterly magazine you can get for free. Their leader, James Lamb, is an excellent writer and his essays are always pleasant, informative, and fulfilling. They offer an excellent opportunity to stay informed, fight, and pray!

If The Shoe Fits

Recently I was reading Lee Parks Total Control (lSBN 0-7603-1403-9,) particularly the chapter on riding gear. In it he cites the Taoist sage Chuang Tze, who 2500 years ago established the standard for proper gear fitment. He said, “When the shoe fits, the foot is forgotten.” This really describes the ideal relationship for a rider and his gear. As good as your gear may be, as much as you have spent on it, as flashy as it appears, it should be quite forgettable once it is in place.

I have tried many different versions of the various gear available out there in mesh, leather, other synthetics for boots, gloves, jackets, pants and cold weather and rain protection. So, how does one go about quickly identifying the best in riding gear out there? It has taken me more than a dozen years to learn as much as I know, yet I haven’t the aptitude, patience or wit to enable you to quickly pick out what is best for YOU in riding gear. These evaluations are very subjective. I'll try to keep it to some tips and examples.

First, let’s itemize what we seek. 1) A helmet to protect the ol’ noggin’. 2)Gloves, cause it’s so hard to do buttons up without using your fingers. Walking would be pretty tough without feet, so 3) boots are in there too. And 4) protection for the rest of you, including varying climates.

All will be covered in due time.

Christians getting it Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

The article itself is written by a bunch of people who are insulting Christianity and taking great pleasure at their mistake. Even so, I laughed heartily when I saw the picture. Hindsight is 20/20.

Where's Charlton Heston when you need him?
Posted on: October 29, 2008 9:59 PM, by PZ Myers

Picture Caption: We are going to intercede at the site of the statue of the bull
on Wall Street to ask God to begin a shift from the bull and bear markets to
what we feel will be the 'Lion's Market,' or God's control over the economic
systems. While we do not have the full revelation of all this will entail, we do
know that without intercession, economies will crumble.

Trust me, this is one of those things in the Judeo-Christian heritage that never ends well. There's this jealous god who does smitings.

My son is undecided still in this election

I never thought politics would seep down so low, even to the elementary school level. My son came home last week talking about the election. One of his classmates told him that he was voting for Obama because "McCain was going to start a war with Russia and then all the world would be at war and there would be nuclear bombs everywhere." With saving the world from destruction on his mind, the boy announced that he was definitely voting for Obama.

Where's a parent to begin when faced with a statement like that from an impressionable ten year old? Well, I assured him that if Russia wanted to start a war that they probably didn't care who was President and that nobody was going to be dropping nuclear weapons on anybody else. Then I tried to explain taxes on small businesses, how it would effect his dad, and why I was voting for McCain.

Today my boy got to play McCain on the school announcements! He read a little statement and wore a face mask. Tomorrow the students get to hold an election and vote for their favorite candidate. I didn't see the speech that he gave before this afternoon. It wasn't BAD but it was elementary-ish. I would have re-written it slightly if I had seen it beforehand.

Hi everyone. My name is John McCain and I am the 2008 Republican Presidential nominee. I am 72 years old. My running mate is Sarah Palin who is the Governor of Alaska. I was born in Panama, and attended the United States Naval Academy. I am a senator from Arizona. I was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War and was captured by the North Vietnamese. I have a wonderful wife named Cindy and 4 beautiful children named Meghan, John, James, and Bridget. In High School I was a Varsity wrestler which I think helped me through the 5 and a half years that I was a prisoner of war. I have great ideas to change our society and make it a better place for everyone. I'd like to be your next President.
Please vote for me!

Tomorrow is the day the students vote. J-Boy was telling me how he was still confused frustrated about who to vote for! He thinks what I said about McCain was very good but apparently he still finds his friend's statement about the Russian war very persuasive too!

Well, as an loving parent, I tried to reveal unto the small lad the second great mystery of the world- politics. I began by explaining the purpose of government, to provide a safe and stable infrastructure so businesses and people can thrive, but I had to backtrack and define infrastructure for him. I told him that making a decision on an election meant research, reading, and educating yourself, none of which him or any of his friends had ever done. I didn't expect him to know who to vote for! His friends were just listening to their parents and, though that's definitely a good thing, when he gets old enough to vote, I expect him to do his own research and not just vote because of what I was voting. This was suddenly a very deep discussion.

I hope that I've given him some ammo with which to make playground politics discussions non-stressful. He also said that the teachers really, really want everybody to participate in the vote tomorrow. I hope my assurances that he doesn't have to "make a choice" and I surely wasn't going to find fault in his indecision help him not to worry. His problems will probably end tomorrow. Us adults get to stress for another week.

Scariest Halloween Costume?

Sure, there are a lot of scary Halloween costumes out there. There are Batmans, Jokers, and lots of Hannah Montana look-a-likes running around flashing their underwear. I've seen pictures of dogs dressed like Sarah Palin. What's worse is that I thought the dog was absolutely adorable in the picture.



This one made me spill my chocolate milk. The FLDS Mother Costume.







I hope they remember to have six other friends wear this costume with one man hanging around them.

Voter Registration Problem? All Fixed

My sister and her family moved up to Aggieland from Houston this past December. She registered to vote a month or so ago but hadn't received her card yet in the mail. I watched the baby while she ran down to the Voter's Registration Office. It seems hers was one of the "bad" cards that couldn't be matched. The clerk didn't notice the "i" at the end of her name and it left off completely. Even though the DL# was input correctly, their system could not match the name or figure out the problem. A quick visual of her license would have shown the clerk what the problem was.

Voter Registration offices are just another underfunded government office. Stupid problems like this are going to occur if you don't have a good cross-referencing search engine on your system. If this had been Ohio instead of Texas, my sister's card would have been considered one of the 200,000 problematic cards. For years after I moved from Houston, my mother was getting Jury Notice Summons for me. When the news stations said how many people didn't vote in election, they were probably counting me too even though I was properly registered and voted 300 miles away.

This problem was solved though. My sister WANTS to vote and therefore took an interest in her missing Voter's Card. Simple.

Nuclear Bombs

The debate leader asked the VP nominees under what conditions would they use nuclear power aka "nukes" during the presidency. I say this was definitely the stupidest question ever. I, the wonderful housewife, always at my best at 2am, will give you the proper answer.

If Al-Qaeda used nukes against us... Uhm, that's why were working so hard in Iraq and Afghanistan! We want to prevent this! Hello!

If Pakistan used nukes against us.... Well, if you're ACTUALLY worried about that situation, just elect McCain/Palin. He thinks she's too beautiful to be blown away by a nuke.

If Iraq used nukes against Israel.... Why is this a US Presidental matter? I'm sure that Israel would blow them away before they even called the President.

Our Pre-Hurricane Ike Drama

With a lot of family and friends in Houston, we've had plenty of Ike news and coverage. We're in Aggieland and our city was an oasis of electricity in the aftermath. The kids didn't even seem to notice the storm outside.

The Wednesday before the storm hit, Hubby and I went down with a chainsaw to cut the tree branches that had grown onto my parents' roof. We thought three limbs, one hour, and poof, we'd be done and on the road again. Hubby was sick and his last patient of the day had shown up a half-hour late so it was a bad start to the trip. I had added the cost of the chainsaw rental, gas to travel, and food for the road and came to conclusion that these three lousy limbs were gonna cost me $35 each to get cut. *grumble grumble*

Instead we were met with a jungle covering half their roof! My dad also kept pointing out spots we shouldn't step so we didn't fall through the roof. After three hours of heavy labor, we still weren't done but had to go home. Instead of one tree and three limbs, there were three trees that needed to be cut back plus two more that it wouldn't hurt to include. We cut and hauled in the dark until a pile 6ft high and as long as the drive was piled onto the street.

To ad insult to injury, heavy garbage wouldn't pick up the limbs the next morning as planned because they weren't cut into perfect three foot section and bundled. That morning, as Houston woke up and realized a big, nasty hurricane was bearing down on them, the tree cutters were suddenly swamped with calls. To get those branches removed, I had to call a dumpster hauling company and pay them $200. Well, it was my little brother who pulled the cash out of his summer savings account to pay the workers. I did promise to pay him back though.

Our work was enough that the side of the house roof didn't suffer any ripped off shingles. Darn! Considering how bad of condition the roof was in, I wish I had just let the hurricane finish it off and get it replaced under insurance!

Badges of Squiddom

(all names are approximations)

We’ll cover specific tires I like later. This is just a rant.

I notice in many forums the general question of which tire to use is rather a frequent one. I get the impression that many of those asking this particular question are newer riders or riders on a new (to them) bike. As the discussion begins, the usual names of what is popular at the time get thrown out. The list usually centers around the latest DOT race tires and those very closely related. The fact that someone recommends top-shelf or popular equipment somehow endows them with some form of automatic credibility. Those recommending such tires bear some badge of honor. Those who ask are really asking questions that most ad copy would answer, while those who answer respond with it. A lot of would-be experts on the matter buy tires that are able to perform way beyond their own riding capabilities and proclaim, ““Such-‘n’-such” from “So-‘n’-so” the best tires on the market, and anything else is just going to limit you or be dangerous. How could you even think of putting something else on a wheel?”

Isn’t internet anonymity grand?

"Expensive Sticky Race Tire Expert"

This one wouldn't be so bad if the forums were for new club racers and the like, or if the intent of the question was specifically track oriented. But the discussion involves harrowing and remarkable tales relating to how the race tire managed to save his life and rescue a cat from a tree at the same time. And so, the new STREET rider is left with the impression that only the stickiest of track tires is good enough to commute with or go to the grocery store on.

"Expensive Sticky Race Tire Rider on the Street"

Then there is a pecking order that soon to be debated in the way of mileage. Riders proclaim how quickly they swap their tires out in a contest of waste. Many also report needing more “contact patch area” to get through the turns safely and advise putting around half to three-quarters what the manufacturer recommends. A rider who gets 5-10k miles out of his tires is considered a wuss by comparison to one who has to swap his tires out every 1,500-2,000 miles. I'd be willing to bet they have chicken strips. That is, if they would put any air in the tires. Heck, I could do a long burnout and claim that I only got a quarter mile out of my last set of Super Tires! (I must be a motorcycling deity!) They claim to be spinning or sliding the tire, thus needing stickier rubber.

"Expensive Sticky Race Tire, at-the-Limit, Rider, Hero on the Street"

Trouble is, they’re spinning when it’s not even leaned over. But you won’t hear anyone recommending the DOT approved Micky Thompson drag tires. That wouldn’t be cool. They might lose the illusion that they are the next Gary McCoy. They don’t use any of the stick available on the sides of the tires and wind up swapping out tires that have a flat spot instead of being actually worn out. They want to have the appearance of being fast all around riders when they only know how to whack the throttle.

There are certainly many more badges in and beyond those of the tire sages. I myself wear badges of sorts, but I try not to wear it on my sleeve. I have experimented over the years with many tire brands and models. For the past two years or so, I have relied on and would recommend two to four tire models. Sure, I have tried others, but I keep going back to the same tires I finally found which complement my riding style. I ride year-round and in all weather since my bike is my primary transportation. I corner hard and gas it, but really don’t play much at the limit. I have fun when I ride.

Rain!

What's a weatherman to do when he gets caught in the rain?

From Rodney Harris of KBTX.com:

Well, we've been asking for rain and Mother Nature saw to it that we knew she was coming to town! A solid, spring-like thunderstorm moved across Bryan/College Station early Friday evening. The storm brought a brief period of very heavy rain, but more noticeably a lot of lightning. The lightning and accompanying thunder gave most of us plenty of warning prior to the actual rain falling... well most of us. I was awaken from a nice, afternoon nap -- with no say in the matter -- a little too late. By the time I built up enough courage to take on the storm, other Nature presented whatever amount of rain we got -- in my car! My windows were half-way down. At least we got rain right! I wonder which weatherman I should call and complain to? (hmmm) I'll think on it. Have a great, tax-free weekend.

It's really great to see rain in the area even though it's isolated.

Children have the amazing ability to memorize by sight an impressive amount of information, an ability that, as adults, we have "misplaced". However, this special ability is what also gave rise and credibility to the "whole word" method of teaching. Instead of using phonics and slowly building a reading vocabulary, the teacher could instantly impress a complete, basic vocabulary on the children, and they would remember it. Just as these parents are thrilled at their daughter's success, you can understand the joy and happiness of the parents to have a child reading so fast! It's a temporary joy- until the child ran into a brick wall, just like so many other kids who tried to memorize by sight our 60,000+ word language.

Not to be all dark and dreary, (even though I am in that kind of mood right now), this is what gives parents such hope and joy. "If she can do this, imagine what she can do when she's older!" Seeing this carefree girl memorize such impossibilities keeps parents pushing their children to their potential as adults through those tough-love years. :)