If you look in the mirror
At the end of a hard day
And you know in your heart you have not lied
If you gave love freely
If you earned an honest wage
And if you’ve got Jesus by your side

You can thank the Father
For the things he has done
Thank Him for the things He’s yet to do
And if you find a love that’s tender
If you find someone who’s true
Thank the Lord
He’s been doubly good to you

Written by Rich Mullins (who else can write such beautiful lyrics with a “nature” focus), sung by Amy Grant

As you answer the questions (11 of them), a graph at the bottom shows how each candidate is scoring so far.

The war, immigration, global warming and health care are all covered. The only thing I didn’t like is that I would like to have chosen more than one answer for some of the questions.

In the end, the candidates most like The Surfin’ Dad are:

• 1st Place - Mike Huckabee
• 2nd Place - Mitt Romney
• 3rd Place - Tom Tancredo

When the results are displayed, you can mouse hover over the colored blocks on the left and see how each candidate faired in relation to that question.

Previously, I had noticed myself picking the candidates based on their beliefs on one issue then trying to adapt either their stance or my opinion to fit their stance on the other issues. For instance, I liked Tom Tancredo because he was aggressive towards immigration and thought I could live with his opinion on the war.

This quiz forced me to pick what I thought was the best solution for each issue and then presented the candidate that was the closest to my beliefs.

And, more importantly, you now have some good solid reasons to love me (or hate me) even more!

First, don’t forget to get your entires in for “The Santa Dilemma” contest. The deadline for all entries is midnight on 10/31/07. The prizes aren’t large enough to allow you to retire, but hey: free is free, right? Yeah, it’s a little early for Christmas promotions but given that I absolutely despise Halloween it’s my way of mentally skipping over it.

Second, as the result of some suggestions and blog critiques, I’ll be changing the layout of this blog during the next few days. The main difference is that I am moving to a 3 column format versus the current 2 column. The percentage of people that are running screen resolutions so low that a 3 column won’t fit are so small that it’s not worth wasting the extra space for.

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No, seriously. I do see dead people, as a matter of fact I see them quite frequently.

Probably the number one response I get when I tell people about my “other” job concerns death and injury. They say, in some form or another, that they could not deal with accidents or dead bodies. It would gross them out, freak them out, or cause some other negative reaction.

To be honest, it does actually bother me, but not until later. When I’m at the scene, I don’t allow myself to think of the deceased as a person. I just think of them as a “body” and that allows me to deal with the situation at hand quite nicely.

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Initially, this page started as a single source to download the software I recommend and use. The convenience of going to a single page when working on friend’s PC’s, or referring them to a single page, proves to be invaluable.

Over time, this page has grown into a one stop shop for putting together a top notch PC for less than $400, complete with anti-virus, online backup, and office software.

All of the below products (except Zonbu) I either currently use or have used in the past:

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As I mentioned in a previous post, I primarily cite people to correct behavior. Some behaviors are more serious and either affect, or have the potential to affect, more people or at a greater scale.

A lot of people don’t know this, but law enforcement officers (at least in my state) have the ability to arrest someone for any traffic offense. Obviously we don’t arrest for every traffic offense, but in general we arrest for criminal infractions or if there are extenuating circumstances.

At the risk of hijacking my own thread, let me first list the offenses that will most assuredly result in your arrest:

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A lot of people have told me I’m funny. None of them have told me I’m hot, so I tend to believe they’re credible. I’m the funniest person they know, I have quick comebacks, I’m hilarious, etc. Most of the time it ends in the statement “You ought to be a stand up comedian” to which I immediately reply “that would never work.”

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Now, thanks to some internet love and outstanding readers such as yourself , I have surpassed all of my 60 day goals on the 10th day anniversary of this blog. I am completely amazed at the fast growth of this blog and deeply appreciate those of you that read my blog.

Here are the goals I set for the 60 day mark:

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Ever since we’ve had children we have wrestled with “The Santa Dilemma” on an annual basis.

For those of you not familiar with the dilemma, here are the two warring factions:

• Santa is a harmless, fun, endearing icon that represents everything good about Christmas
• You will betray your children’s trust if you’ve been outright lying to them for years

While one of the statements seems a little extreme, I can see the logic behind that thought process. (more…)

Microsoft is offering Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate to anyone with a valid student email address for just $60.

Folks, this is a tremendous deal if you are an Office user. Here is what is included:

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