Sunday, February 23, 2003
My cousin forwarded me this e-mail. After I picked myself up of the floor, I decided I needed to make sure everyone is aware of their patriotic duty.

Subject: Patriotic Duty!!!

As we all know, the Taliban considers it a sin for a man to see a naked woman who is not his wife.

So, this Saturday at 2:00 PM Eastern time all North American women are asked to walk out of their house completely naked to help weed out any
neighborhood terrorists.

Circling your block for one hour is recommended for this national anti-terrorist effort.

All men are requested to position themselves in lawn chairs in front of their house to prove they are not Taliban and they think it's okay to see other women nude and to show support for their fellow sisters.

And since the Taliban also does not approve of alcohol, a cold six-pack at your side is further proof of your anti-Taliban sentiment.

The United States of America appreciates your efforts to root out terrorists and applauds your participation.

God Bless America!

10:34 PM Posted by Big Dave | 0 Thoughts

Saturday, February 22, 2003
To say I've had a rough week is a bit of an understatement. There has been a ton of work to do and on top of that, I've been having to deal with other crap at the office. Fortunately we have a new guy starting on Monday. The unfortunate thing is I have homework to do that was assigned about 6:00 last night. Sigh... Well I would like to take a couple of days to completely veg out, but that doesn't look like it will be a possibility today.

On a completely seperate note it has been raining non stop for the last three days. This morning the sun finally decided to pop out from behind the clouds. It's a pretty day, but it's very humid. Not the type of weather you want to run about in. Hopefully my allergies will quit going bonkers now.

9:53 AM Posted by Big Dave | 0 Thoughts

Monday, February 17, 2003
The only good thing I can say about today is that it's over and I survived.

7:37 PM Posted by Big Dave | 0 Thoughts

I had a really good time this weekend. Friday night was the improv. We saw Jeremy Hotz and Jim Short.

Saturday night was an 80's party at Leia and Julie's. Very entertaining. Dezi and I both won prizes for costumes. Blackmail material photographs to follow.

Sunday night the youth counselors dressed in 70's attire. Well... most of them did. I just dressed outrageously. I think the kids had a good laugh. They kept asking why everyone was dressed up. My standard response, "What do you mean I'm dressed up?" I got several funny looks from that.

This morning came way to early. I have two alarm clocks because I have a tendency to sleep very deeply. One by my head and another in the bathroom to make me get up to turn it off. Last night I crawled into bed and turned on the alarm next to my head, but didn't want to get up to turn the other one on. I told myself I would remember that I had to get up when the first one went off. Well... apparently my body had other plans. I don't remember ever touching the snooze button, but I woke up and looked around and decided that it was extremely bright outside. I checked my clock and it said 9:44. I got up, took a shower, and was on my way to work when Eric called to find out what was going on. He wanted to make sure I didn't think we had the day off since it is President's day. Sigh... Well at the very least it's a good thing I work in a very flexible environment. They didn't say anything outside of making sure I was coming. Now... I have had a VERY large cup of coffee and it's time to be productive.

1:42 PM Posted by Big Dave | 0 Thoughts

Friday, February 14, 2003
It is once again time for THAT day. It is a holiday typically adored by woman but dreaded by men. I'm convinced that it's a test by the powers that be. Or if it wasn't when it started it certainly is now. I traditionally spend the evening watching horror movies with my other single friends. However, this year is an exception. Desiree and I are going to an Improv comedy club tonight were I expect to laugh until I cry and forget the cares of this week. Across the hall from the comedy club is a dueling piano bar. It's extremely raunchy, but I think she'll enjoy that too. We went with my buddy Jeff's bachelor party. It was a lot of fun. We actually entered an eating contest and came home with a television.

All this to say this. I hope you all have a very enjoyable V-day. No matter what you are doing.

9:40 AM Posted by Big Dave | 0 Thoughts

Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Still no nap. More Caffeine. More Sugar.

I did go pick up my new pair of glasses during lunch though. It's been far too long since I had new glasses. I think I like them. I guess that's a good thing.

12:43 PM Posted by Big Dave | 0 Thoughts

When I come down from the caffeine and sugar fed adrenaline high that I have been on since 6:00 last night, I am going to crash like no one's business.

Imagine a situation where everything that can and will go wrong did. All at the same time. Everything from database issues to bad media on the backup system. The patient is stable at the moment, but it was real ugly there for a while.

9:21 AM Posted by Big Dave | 0 Thoughts

Monday, February 10, 2003
I had an interesting weekend. The Coffee House that the youth put on was marvelous. There were a lot of people there. I think Saturday night it was close to 500 people. At $5 a head, it did a lot of good to raise funds for the mission trips.

I don't know what I think about the goings on at the church. I do know that I have a lot of pent up anger that I need to deal with. Most people who know me may not suspect it, but I have a terrible temper. It's a very slow burning fuse, but when I finally errupt it's not a pretty sight.

I was trying to think of something uplifting to say. Nothing really comes to my mind. I'm going to put in a praise and worship CD and try to get back into the right frame of mind.

9:04 AM Posted by Big Dave | 0 Thoughts

Friday, February 07, 2003
My mind has occupied this week with the loss of our youth directors. Last night I went to a meeting of the minds were we talked for over 2 hours. Many people were extremely defensive and were looking for a fight. I left with the same level of disillusionment, but perhaps an elevated frustration level. Afterwards several of us went to blow off steam at a local establishment. I know the Youth will move on, but I'm worried about the church as a whole.

If you don't have anything to do Friday or Saturday night, you should go to the Youth Coffee House. It starts at 7:00. I think we have close to 30 acts. Several bands, singing, dancing, and even a magician. First United Methodist Church of Coppell

I really don't want to have a bitter attitude about this whole thing, but at the moment I do. Chalk it up to growing pains or whatever you like, but it's evident that the Church must change to survive.

7:53 AM Posted by Big Dave | 0 Thoughts

Monday, February 03, 2003
This weekend has definitely been filled with highs and lows. I found out tonight that the youth Ministers at my church are going to be leaving after next Sunday. They have taken a struggling youth group and transformed it into a passionate Christian group. These kids blow me away. I love working with them. Much of their passion is a direct reflection of what they see in Zeke and Andrea. I'm upset on many levels. First and foremost I'm going to miss them as friends. Their love and encouragement has been a real blessing over the last few years. I'm saddened for the youth group and the struggles they are fixing to face. And I'm sad for our church. I can only hope that this serves as a wake up call to the leadership team of our church. That passionate talented individuals can be driven away is a true crime.

12:44 AM Posted by Big Dave | 0 Thoughts

Sunday, February 02, 2003
On a lighter note. I found out by calling tech support that my cable modem works better if I hit power and turn it on. I'm so ashamed.

2:42 PM Posted by Big Dave | 0 Thoughts

Desiree humored my camping craze. She and I went camping this weekend. We got out there about 9:30 and found a nice spot to camp. Then we setup up camp and proceeded to try (key word try) to get the fire going. The wood didn't appear to have been cured completely and despite my coaxing, it wouldn't catch. Since it was cold and we'd had a long day we climbed into the tent and proceeded to enjoy a couple of beverages. We had blown up a leaky air mattress for Desiree and I had my Therm-A-Rest pad for me. She was bundled up in my thicker sleeping bag with 3 shirts on (two of which were sweatshirts) and a blanket. I had her sleeping bag and slept fitfully, but well for most of the night. About 3:00 in the morning my cell phone starts going off. We can't find it in the tent. I'm looking around and she finally pulls it out of her coat pocket. It was my boss Yaser.

Now you have to get the picture here. We have been making a lot of changes at work. We were supposed to implement them Thursday night, but we had customers still in the system. Instead they decide to bring it down at 5:00 on Friday. It was supposed to take about and hour and I didn't think it would be that big of a deal. I had already made plans to go get Desiree at 5:00 and we were to head to the park. At 6:30 I called Dezi and told her that we hadn't started the update. To say I was a little frustrated at this point is putting it mildly. Especially since there is very little that I could actually do. The gates of the park closed at 10:00 and if we weren't there, there was nothing we could do about it. I left about 8:00 with the update only just beginning. Yaser called at 3:00 because he wanted some of the data that he had asked me to get to the sales team. I had put it on the shared drive, but my battery was failing and I couldn't call him back. In fact I couldn't check the voice mail he had left. They were still at the office at 4:00 Saturday morning. Crazy people. I imagine he may have been upset at me for not answering my phone, but I didn't want to crawl out of my sleeping bag to see what he wanted.

I charged my phone the next morning and called Yaser's phone. I still had the phone in my pocket when my brother Jeff called me to tell me about the shuttle Columbia. I realized what had happened, but it didn't sink in until we got back to Dezi's and watched the CNN coverage. It was all I could take to stand there and watch the shuttle break apart time and time again. This country has been through an incredible amount over the last couple of years. And with war looming I would just ask for everyone to pray for the nation, for the astronauts and their families and friends. Dezi said something that I thought was quite appropriate. At least they were doing something they loved. Somehow it makes it all easier to cope with. On the radio yesterday they were playing this song. I know it was written as a reflection of the 9/11 attacks, but it's strangely appropriate here as well.

2:38 PM Posted by Big Dave | 0 Thoughts