It seems that we are falling fast. My uncle once said that people want to sin and have cheap food prices. Well, I don’t think the Lord can bless a country that is falling off the deep end. Take a look at this article and see what you think. But here’s a quote from the page:

ABC ranked highest among the broadcast networks in hours where gay and lesbian characters were portrayed, with FX topping the 10 cable networks monitored, GLAAD said.

ABC is owned by the Walt Disney Corp. and FX by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

“We know that programming to lesbian and gay viewers is good business and these are two networks that realize the social and economic benefits of including images of our community in their programming,” said Damon Romine, GLAAD’s director of entertainment media.

The media does play a huge role in our problems as a country, and need to hear that this type of programming will not be financially profitable, tolerated, or watched. Here’s the article.

Well, you all might not think this story is worth the bits it's written with, but today I got to cut down a tree. Where I am house-sitting, there are 2 aspen trees that are, well, for the most part, dead. Yeah, there's one or 2 branches that are still green, but the rest is history. We aren't talking large trees here, about 6" in diameter.

I got the first one down no problem. (I even had a rope on it just to be sure it didn't hit the neighbor's car.) After it was down, this lady pulled up, got out and started walking towards me with a concerned look on her face. "Do you have permission to cut this tree down?" I had some strange thought that she knew the answer. "No," I said. "Is this your house?" "No," again I replied. (Sometimes it's more interesting to not venture further information...) I did mention that I was house-sitting, and it didn't seem she wasn't too concerned about all this, because I had the garage open w/ all the tools and whatnot there -- it was obvious that I had access to the house. "Are you related to these people?" Again, "No..." I mentioned the owners were in Switzerland and had been since November, expected to be back in September sometime.

After some conversation, I found out that she was on the Homeowners Association board, and there are people that hound them because of the infractions found throughout the complex. She did soften up, and explained that I needed permission to cut down a tree, because of the Homeowner Association's CC&Rs. "Even a dead tree?" I quired. "Yes" was the dreaded reply. She went on to say that I needed to have at least two 2" trees in the front yard, so I better not cut the other tree down until I had another somewhere in the front yard. Well, I didn't have the gumption to do that today, so I left the other tree as it was - tall and straight and almost completely naked.

The good news is that in the end, I did get permission to cut the tree down (that I already cut), and had enough sense to not take out the other.

The moral of the story - don't assume you don't need permission to cut down a dead tree.

I thought I better give an update on the projects I’ve been working on - as it’s been a while since I’ve done so.

Recently, as you may be aware, GoodSeed launched a new website - www.goodseed.com - of which I had a little to do to get it started. My involvement before launch was to work with the SEO - Search Engine Optimization - finding, analyzing and applying commonly searched terms to individual pages.

Once we had the site up and running, it has been my job—more or less—to update and modify the site. This has proved to be labor intensive in a few areas. In our product pages, we have made PDF documents available for free download, where people can read full books online. On the old site, these were available before, but they were hard to find. Now, each product page (where available) will have a tab for a free eBook, and in some instances, the audio as well. So most of these pages needed modification, mainly all the translations—like the Spanish eBook—replacing the English Table of Contents with the correct language. And when languages come available, it’s my job to modify the PDF documents and create a page to get them up (like the new Pa-O book - Lamb version - a language in Myanmar - North Eastern part, of the Shan State.) We should have Wa and Burmese up sometime as well. I’m just waiting for the files.

Then there’s adding new products to the site, each of which is a time consuming process. I’ll spare you the details, but it takes several hours to do each one (and that does get faster as the process becomes more familiar.)

Another plus, is that my condo is relatively complete now. Yes, there are a few large projects to do yet, (master bath, HVAC system, remodel other bathroom, kitchen counters, kitchen floors) but until I save up for those, they can be as they are just fine. The rest of the house is done, and is quite nice. I say all that to say that at the ‘end’ of the day, I don’t have to run home and work on the shack, which frees me up more to stay at the office longer.

Yesterday Barney and I put up the stone above the fireplace. It's not real stone, but you'd be hard-pressed to determine that. They call it cultured stone, which I think is a crazy name for it, but it does sound better than fake stone. The benefits for this is that it's lighter (easier to install) and it costs less!

To get a good feel for what happened, you'll have to compare these photos to the earlier ones found here.

I realize the color is off in a lot of these photos - but with 4-5 different color lights, it made life difficult in the color correcting department.

All the curtains were made by my Mom when my folks were here a few weeks ago. Thanks, Mom! They look great.

After church I headed up to see Dave. It’s been a while, so I thought it would be a good thing to do. I was rather tired once I got there, so made me wonder if spending it on the couch would have been a better idea.

Today Barney and I poured a small 4’ x 4’ cement pad for my heat pump. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get Russ to help move it into place. That doesn’t mean I have AC yet - I still have the ductwork, AC coil and line set to buy / install. But at least it’ll get out of my garage!
Also, I put shelves in my closet - to turn it sort-of into a pantry. That and did some painting in my master bedroom closet - finish up tomorrow hopefully.
Then, to cap it all off, I went over to Russ / Karyn’s for supper - dogs and burgers. However, I didn’t got down to the fireworks this time.

I spent most of today working on my condo - installing three 4" pot lights in the valence over the counter in my kitchen. Last week I took these 3 cupboards down, and needed something in it's place so it looked right (like it was meant to be.) It is normally a challenge to run wiring in an already existing structure, and today was no different. But with the Lord's help I managed with good success (unless you are counting the time it took.) However, I didn't get the electric done for the furnace / fireplace / heat pump, as I was hoping.

Also today, I had the opportunity to fix some drywall in one of my neighbor's apartment. She (and elderly widow) slipped and pulled on the curtain, which in turn pulled the curtain rod out of the wall. So it's a privilege to have the tools and ability to fix it for her, which will take about 5 min out of my next 3 days. And this is good, as I'm sure the word will get around that I can fix things. And am willing to do so, as it gives good in-roads with the neighbors.

After many long hours, we finally launched our new website at goodseed.com. Jim did most of the work, but I was able to help out a little. It’s a place for bible study, articles (like biblical meaning of numbers), and even the 11 hour DVD series that you can watch as an on line evangelism course.
So, head on over and check it out!

Well, I got up early to catch the start of the coeur d alene ironman race today - the first time in the 3 years I’ve been here. Sure was interesting. I was amazed at how loudly they play their music, however.
At 6:20 AM the ‘pros’ start, and they get 40 min in the water before the rest of the athletes join in. Basically on their second lap the rest join in behind them. If you don’t know the stats, 2060 people line up to swim 2.4 miles, ride 112, and run 26.2. Before when people asked me if I competed, I said the course wasn’t long enough. But now, however, I think a better answer might be “I don’t swim.” You would be amazed at how many times people ask me that, I guess because of my bike-riding. I’ve never done more than 80 miles. Let alone the swim and run.
Once they started on their bikes, I thought that was a good idea, so I want for a ride in Cataldo again. Only did 33 miles, however. Came home, took a nap, and watched the rest on TV to finish out the my exercise program for the day.

Just a quick / brief update. Today I finished updating the new website by creating all the SEO links in the site. While it’s not hard work, it is necessary, and a little tedious. We hope to launch next week, but one can never foresee all the problems that could arise. That’s just our goal at this point.

Well, Friday was Car d’Lane Cruise, which I didn’t go. Instead I stayed home and got my books up to date, which was a good thing as I needed to catch up. Saturday, instead of the Show and Shine, I started working at my condo (finishing sanding the master bedroom) but left that to hook up Tom’s outdoor lighting. Basically just ran another circuit out to an outdoor plug. And Sunday was so nice, I had to get out and go for a ride this afternoon. So I went down to Higgins Point again, this time, in 56:57. Sure has been nice last couple of days - which I’m very thankful!

Been working on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for GoodSeed - see attached worksheet. While this doesn’t look like too much, it does represent a lot of time and research!

Also, after work, I took my first ride around Hayden lake. 1hr, 50min, 36seconds from stop sign to stop sign. 35 miles overall (2:20). Great ride, but tough.

Here are the 10 plagues noted in the Bible, as taken from Exodus:

1. the Nile was turned to blood
2. Frogs
3. Gnats
4. Flies
5. Death of the Cattle
6. Festering Boils
7. Hail - damaging all the crops
8. Locusts
9. Darkness, so thick it could be felt
10. Death of the Firstborn son.

For more information, and explanations of the reason for this, check out a place to read full books online - a Bible overview called The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus. Download and read the PDF free of charge!

I took my folks to see the Grand Coulee Dam in Grand Coulee, Washington. I’ve been to this before, but never had the chance to take the dam tour. So I have some dam pictures from there to share with you all. Also, are photos of the world’s largest waterfall - but it’s now dry. In it’s prime, it was 3.5 miles wide, and 400 feet high. (Niagra is only a mile wide, and 165 feet high, if I have my figures correct.)
The dam tour was great, 40 minutes long, on the hour. I just don’t know if they are open all week long. But definitely worth the trip if you are in the area.

The first day of driving back from Colorado, stopping in Dinosaur National Park.