How white and nerdy are you?

How White and Nerdy Are You?

Forgiveness

Amongst all the news concerning the Amish children, I found this gem over at the Christian Science Monitor (here).

While Roberts is now gone, the Amish example of forgiveness is a reminder that real safety lies less in acting out of fear to prevent violence and more on qualities such as forgiveness that better connect people. Such compassion reduces fears and reaches those prone to violence.

Bob in Dallas

Bob has been in Dallas for about a week now (minus the weekend) and so far things are going well. We were really fortunate that between the two of us we had the majority of the books that he needed for his classes. I'm still amazed that he's using the same Materials Science book that I used at A&M, and super glad I kept it!

Of course the being away from each other isn't fun, but we both know how much better off financially we'll be if I keep my job here in Austin. In fact, we're getting so close to be debt free that I can almost taste it! I see the light at the end of the tunnel and having been through the stress of a life in debt I feel as though I never want to reenter that awful, hellish world. Of course, part of the hellishness of the debt world is my own doing (in addition to it being my debt, plus Bob's) in that vacation money is diverted to paying stuff off, but I hope that in the end it will have been worth the pain of not visiting Disney World in 5 years.

The kitties and bird all miss Bob and it took a bug being in the back room for them to decide they should come hang out with me rather than sitting at the front door waiting for Bob to come home, well that and me coming to get them for cuddle sessions.

In other news, work is going good. I’ve been filling out a lot of grant applications. Thus far we’ve been really successful, with 12 of the original 16 making it through the first phase. We’re also supposed to be doing some construction projects later this year, so hopefully I’ll be down on the coast for the construction. I’m really looking forward to our project constructing bird habitat in West Galveston Bay. My other work related news is that I have eight more months to study for the Professional Engineer's exam. I'm not looking forward to it, but then again, who would look forward to an 8 hour exam? In the meantime, I'll be busy cataloging the last 5 years of my professional life for the licensing board to scrutinize, completing the endless amount of paperwork and trying to study. Study, must study.

Ashita ga aru sa

There's always tomorrow.

Thanks to the Jelly Pinched Wolf and Kashi, Bob and I were recently introduced to this song. After hearing the song, we looked around online for a translation and came across the following music video on YouTube.

There's an English translation at the bottom of the screen - the video just made us love the song even more!

I get mad, I get mad, I GET MAD!

For years I've been listening to Bob do this Sesame Street skit about a goat that "gets mad!" I've always loved his rendition, and finally found the skit online at YouTube.

Enjoy: Sesame Street - I get mad!