Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, January 31, 2023

  • The kids were let out of school early yesterday because of the wintry weather. Later, it was announced school would be closed the next day, but they sent home school work. Since there’s no school, I let the kids stay up later than usual. I went to bed early, but woke up after around 10:30 pm, and went to the kitchen to get something to drink. To my surprise, BoyGeeding, the fifth-grader, was at the kitchen table working on all his assignments for the next day. He said he wasn’t tired and just wanted to get it out of the way. I told him how proud I was of him, that he’s a self-starter and takes initiative, and many people don’t have that quality. It was a real tender moment for me as a father, one I wish I could share with his mother, to celebrate out child together. But, she prefers no communication regarding that stuff.
  • The wintry/icy weather is a trigger for my PTSD. Remember, she left me and took the kids unexpectedly the day the big winter storm hit us two years ago.
  • ‘Muslims love Jesus’ billboards pop up around Texas – Islamic education center GainPeace put up the billboard to encourage inter-faith dialogue on Islam and Christianity.
    • The organization has put up billboards with other messages across the country explaining the similarities between Islam and Christianity, which include both being monotheistic religions containing many of the same historical figures, like Adam, Abraham, Noah and Moses, and both religions’ central texts, the Bible and the Quran, including verses about Jesus and Mary.One billboard depicts Mary wearing a hijab with the slogan, “Blessed Mary wore the hijab. Will you respect it?” Another shows a picture of the Kaaba, a building in Saudi Arabia Muslims consider the holiest site in Islam, with the message, “Built by Abraham, dedicated to worship one God, annual pilgrimage by millions of Muslims.”
  • On a local church’s marquee, “Tweet others as you would like tweeted.”
  • I’m sure many of you have seen these commercials already – A $100 million campaign, “He Gets Us,” that promotes Jesus Christ and his teachings is set to showcase its ads during the Super Bowl. It’s funded by anonymous donors (conservatives) acting through a nonprofit linked to staunchly conservative causes, as CNN’s Tom Foreman reports.
  • https://twitter.com/DrewOden/status/1618973020588236801

 

 

 

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Bag of Randomness for Monday, January 31, 2023

  • A woman at my church small group approached me two sessions in a row to tell me about a deal at Schlotzsky’s. Each time I told her thanks. The third time, I asked why does she keep telling me about Schlotzsky’s. It was because on a few occasions, I brought in a Whataburger cup, and she thought I must eat out a lot.
  • As carefully as possible, I told my ex that I don’t want to reconcile, but I’d like to make amends so we can be the best divorced-parents we can for our children; but for that to happen, a conversation would have to take place. She said she’d get back to me on that, which means it won’t happen, which means I’m expecting nothing but an ice-cold relationship even after we have grandchildren.
  • Escapes rooms became popular, then it was axe throwing. Now it’s pickle ball. I predict the next big thing to do with others will be fowling – that’s when you throw a football at bowling pins. I suppose the pin-setter is making a return. That link takes you to a place you can play it in Plano.
  • I had a tough but honest conversation with my pastor about how I felt about the role, or lack of role, he played during my divorce. He didn’t cause the divorce, and I didn’t expect him to fix it, but I thought he should have done more than what he did. I also told him how he didn’t feel like a friend as I went through this arduous ordeal. To his credit, he was open to the criticism and apologized where he felt necessary. The more I think about it, the more I no longer consider him my friend and he may not be my pastor for much longer.
  • I’ve been afraid of the advancements in deepfakes and how it might get the best of us. But, CBS Sunday Morning had a good segment on how companies are combatting it and that over 900 of them are on board. It will be the new normal for us.
  • The U.S. was close to adopting the metric system, but the ship carrying the standardized meter and kilogram was hijacked by pirates in 1793 and the measurements never made it.
  • I always have subtitles on when I watch television and movies. It turns out a lot more people are too, and this video tells you all the reasons.
  • I never thought I’d see the day Southwest Airlines would be mocked on SNL, and they annihilated the airline.
  • Not everyone will get this, but it’s funny for those in the know.

  • I’m sure all practicing Christians are familiar with putting on the armor of God. I spoke to an old college friend recently, and he told me his version of this is to read the following verses as soon as he wakes up every morning.Joshua 1:9
    Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”Romans 8:28
    And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.2 Timothy 1:7
    For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.Acts 4:32
    All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.

    Joel 2:25-27
    “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
    the great locust and the young locust,
    the other locusts and the locust swarm—
    my great army that I sent among you.
    You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
    and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has worked wonders for you;
    never again will my people be shamed.
    Then you will know that I am in Israel,
    that I am the Lord your God,
    and that there is no other;
    never again will my people be shamed.

  • https://twitter.com/joechap32/status/1619482110477357056

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Bag of Randomness for Friday, January 27, 2023

  • Along with visiting every presidential museum, I feel one day I must make a pilgrimage to Graceland.
  • I watched the Elvis biopic last night and was blown away with Austin Butler’s performance. He dazzlingly transformed into Elvis. When I first saw him in promotional material, I thought his performance was going to suck. I’m glad I couldn’t be more wrong.
  • Who was bigger, Elvis or The Beatles? I’ll tell you this, at least The Beatles had each other, Elvis basically did it alone.
  • I got confused about a friend who was hospitalized with a hernia because the person telling the story pronounced hernia as her-knee-uh.
  • The Carolina Panthers are hiring Frank Reich as their new head coach. He was the organization’s first QB, and now he becomes their coach.
  • Southlake has been named the richest city in Texas for 2023 in a recent study.
    • With a median income of $239,833, and a unemployment rate of just 2.2 percent, it’s no surprise to see Southlake flashing cash around. HomeSnacks shows the median home price for Southlake at $697,000, but as of this writing, Realtor.com lists the city’s median home price listing at $1.3 million.
  • Utah news – Permanent Halloween date wins unanimous approval from Senate committee
    • On Wednesday, a Senate committee unanimously approved a resolution that will make it so that Halloween is held on the last Friday in October, and not on its usual date on the last night of the month. Oct. 31 would still mark the “official holiday,” but it would now be celebrated on a permanent date.
  • A Connecticut business owner named her new breakfast spot ‘Woke’ as a pun. – But then some conservative residents mistook the name and complained.
  • I’m allergic to alcohol and don’t drink it often, but I love this stuff. And, I never noticed the difference and feel misled – Lawsuit alleges that Fireball Cinnamon mini bottles are “misleading” because they don’t contain whiskey
    • In fact, the drink is a malt beverage flavored to taste like whiskey, much to the dismay of Anna Marquez — the Illinois woman who is suing Sazerac Company, the maker of Fireball, for “misleading” packaging. The class-action lawsuit, which was filed by Marquez earlier this month, alleges that the labeling on the small 99-cent bottles of Fireball Cinnamon look misleadingly similar to the labeling on bottles of its other product, Fireball Cinnamon Whisky.
  • BuzzFeed CEO Says AI-Powered Content Creation Will Become ‘Part of Our Core Business’ in 2023
    • “CNET, the digital tech outlet… disclosed that starting in November 2022 it had used an… AI engine to generate 77 stories… CNET is now halting the use of the AI tech after finding more than half of those stories contained factual errors or plagiarized sections.”
  • Dallas-Fort Worth leads the country in new hotels with 176 projects in the development pipeline at the end of 2022, according to the latest estimates from industry analyst Lodging Econometrics. New D-FW hotels in the works will add 20,790 rooms.
  • What tracking one Walmart store’s prices for years taught us about the economy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Bag of Randomness for Thursday, January 26, 2023

 

  • I used to love drawing on those things. They had a certain smell, but I love the sound they made when it was time to clear or erase the board. I had a math teacher who bought them for the class to work out problems, and math was never more fun.
  • The girl I’m getting to know better threw a “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan reference at me. I’m surprised any girl my age would know who he was.
  • I’m neither for nor against term limits in Congress, but I like to talk about the strengths and weaknesses.
  • An endomorph friend of mine brought up Larry’s Shoes in a conversation. I haven’t thought of that place in forever. For you local folks, I remember one being next door to the Furr’s Cafeteria in Fort Worth. For the Geeding family, that was big time eating out.
  • I’m really enjoying Bono’s autobiography. The more I read, the more I want to be a better person and improve my relationship with The Almighty.
  • I give up, but I’m sure it’s just peanuts compared to everyone else – Classified records pose conundrum stretching back to Carter
    • But the article didn’t mention when this happened, I have a feeling it was over 30 years ago – Former President Jimmy Carter found classified materials at his home in Plains, Georgia, on at least one occasion and returned them to the National Archives, according to the same person who spoke of regular occurrences of mishandled documents. The person did not provide details on the timing of the discovery.
  • Texas Monthly – The Great Texification Of Dairy Queen – How a stubborn and savvy group of franchisees turned Midwest-based Dairy Queen into a Lone Star institution.
  • While reading this article, I learned the following – Soccer cleats are one of the only products made from kangaroo leather that are routinely sold in Oregon.

 

 

 

 

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