Today is kinda stinky...

It's cold outside and my little boy is having trouble breathing with strep and a cold... despite being in the hospital he has a remarkably great little attitude.

From Taking It From The Five*

It was warmer then...

Here are a few pics from this last summer where the only thing that was close to 16 degrees was the internal temperature of a dippin' dot...

From Taking It From The Five*

From Taking It From The Five*

That's big...real big

    

I've always been a fan of engines. I like jet engines, turbines (Teslas are neat), diesels, stirlings, steam, superchargerd and turbocharged; you name it, I like it.  Cylinder and crankshaft configurations I have pondered and doodled, and I have even downloaded the sounds of engines because I find the sound of racing motors to be rather exhilarating. (believe it or not but there are extensive collections of such things) You may or may not share my exhuberance for such things mechancical but I hope you find this a little interesting.  It is a whopper of a motor, the Wartsila- Sulzer RTA96C.  It was designed to move cargo ships. Here are a few specs:

power

up to 6030 kW per cylinder, 36,180 to 84,420 kW (49,200 to 114,800 bhp) altogether

engine displacement

1820 litres per cylinder (111,063 cubic inches)

engine speed

92–102 revolutions per minute

torque

7,603,850 newton metres (5,608,310 ft·lbf) @ 102 revolutions per minute

Here is a picture of the turbocharger that goes on it...  I'm super curious as to what kind of racket this thing makes.

Three Things... OK, Four; Five at the most.

• I still like my Jeep coming up on 4 yrs.  It's starting to show some age, but the kids still fight over who gets to ride with Dad.  It always feels like I'm driving a Tonka truck... :)
• A guy at work spotted me a can of Heritage Dr. Pepper last week.  Hmmm, not sure during the first few sips, but by the time the can was gone I was starting to like it alot.  Had a regular high fructose fountain one at lunch today and it tasted too syrupy and sweet by comparison.  Admittedly, fountain versions are inconsistent in quality.
• I am eagerly awaiting baseball season... not sure when I really became a fan.
• I still prefer Star Trek to Star Wars.  
•  A good healthy Church is too positive of a thing to not enjoy.  If you're not enjoying it (all other things being equal), you may be doing it incorrectly.  So, to paraphrase instructions given in times of fiery danger, Stop, Drop, and Pray...
• "Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
  Let this blest assurance control,
  That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
  And hath shed His own blood for my soul." -for Madison.

String what...?

I've been reading a book on physics recently.  Particularly a book on quantum physics and string theory.  Keep reading, don't worry.  I have no intention of trying to explain something I can't comprehend myself.  Let's just call most of it a "strechting" exercise for my brain.  Well anyway part of this book is a refresher (as if it was all something I was super familiar with before) on physics in general from Isaac Newton up to current thought.   What I have found truly awe inspiring is how the book keeps describing the laws of physics but also keeps confirming my understanding about God and his attributes as they are found in the the Bible.  Even at the quantum level His creation shouts of His glory...

Special Music

  Practicing with the worship team on sooooo many songs recently with out Christmas Eve set, the New Years lock-in set and this last Sunday has been very satisfying and we've been hammering out a lot of good stuff but,  even with all that I've been enjoying playing some on the acoustic at home the most.  The other night my 4 year old was singing Joy To The World along with my guitar. That was just great fun to hear his little voice pick out the melody.  Both my boys are great fans of the song How Many Kings by Down Here and they provided some percussion backing for me late last week on that song. Corban was on the bongos and Josiah was doing a good imitation of Animal from the Muppets band with his little drum and sticks. Corban was really trying to keep the beat with my guitar and was hanging on pretty well. He's got a good sense of rhythm and you can catch him singing to himself quite often.  There's something very special about playing music with my kids...

Worthy of Mention...

• I scored a raging +3 on a certain blog's (Stuff Christians Like) worship leader rating sysetm...  I won't go into it deeply other than to say the only reason I rated at all is that I drink coffee and wear jeans on stage and rock a goatee (yes, I said rock). I  lost half of my points due to the brand of jeans that I wear.  I'm still not sure I qualify as a worship leader... still wrestling with that one.  (David Crowder scored a +7 but had to add his own questions to get his score up.)
• When I started playing electric guitar I was certain that I would not have a massive number of effects, but I'm up to 4 pedals now and thinking about more.  Most recent addition is an MXR Dyna-Comp, a very subtle effect and I'm using it more often than not.
• We are hip deep in Christmas musice... trying not to burn out.
• Here's a good David Crowder Interview
• Ever notice how God does have a plan and answers prayer.  His timing is perfect, I don't understand it, but it's perfect.