Your Bag of Nothing for Thursday, April 3, 2025

  • Night Vision Temptation: When Your Inner Child Takes the WheelThe other day, while browsing Woot, I stumbled upon a pair of night vision goggles priced at just over a hundred dollars. Let me be perfectly clear: I had absolutely no need for night vision goggles, nor was I remotely shopping for such a device. But man, were they cool.My inner 12-year-old immediately perked up, whispering persuasive arguments about tactical advantages and backyard adventures. For a solid twenty minutes, I found myself transfixed by the screen, mentally constructing elaborate justifications for why this impulse purchase wasn’t just reasonable but practically necessary. “Think of the wildlife you could observe at night!” my inner child insisted. “Imagine exploring the backyard in complete darkness!” “What if there’s a power outage?” “You can be the cool dad with all the great toys they can borrow.” “You’ve worked hard—you deserve this!”The adult part of my brain struggled valiantly against these arguments, but the temptation was fierce. Who among us hasn’t briefly considered becoming the neighborhood’s nocturnal scout?
  • A heartbreaking incident unfolded at what should have been a regular high school sporting event in Texas.Man says son was stabbed in the heart at Texas track meet, died in twin’s armsFRISCO, Texas – The Frisco police said one student was killed, and another student is in custody after two students got into a fight on Wednesday at the UIL District 11-5A Championship track meet.

  • My church has been holding a small dinner and Lent event. When I attended last week, one person who has known me for about a year told me, “There’s a lot of pain in your heart. I can see it in your eyes, and hear it in your voice.” I’ve been chewing on that observation for a while.

    Last night, we focused on brokenness. One person remarked, “It’s one of those words you’ll only hear in church, we don’t use it in everyday conversation.” That same person then turned to me and said I have every right to slap her after she finished talking, but she could tell I carry a lot of brokenness.

    All of this was a bit of an epiphany for me. We discussed how brokenness and suffering aren’t things that should be ranked or compared. And we should bring our wounds to the presence of God so they can become part of our healing.

    We were then handed flash paper, something I was unfamiliar with. Flash paper is thin paper treated with nitrocellulose, which makes it burn quickly and completely with a bright flame, leaving behind no smoke or ash. We were instructed to write anything we felt broken about on the paper, take it to the altar, light it to give it to God, and be free, letting go of our suffering. I recorded a brief 17-second video of the experience. The experience was pretty moving, especially since no residue or any ash was left of the paper. I’ve been reflecting on what she told me, “There’s nothing left to see. It’s gone. You don’t have that anymore. It’s not yours.

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Your Bag of Nothing for Thursday, April 3, 2025

Your Bag of Nothing for Wednesday, April 2, 2025

  • The last time I checked, “Keith” is a one-syllable name. But that wasn’t true according to the customer service representative who helped me on the phone yesterday.
  • My internet service provider bill reached as high as $85 a month. I called to see if they could give me any sort of discount for being a loyal customer who always pays before the due date, or if I should start looking at some competitors, because that seems high. They knocked it down to $21.99 for a year.
  • My trivia team was in first place going into the Wager of Death, which is like Final Jeopardy. From largest to smallest, put the following in order:
    • Number of performances of the longest-running Shakespeare play on Broadway. (296, Othello)
    • Total number of deaths in all of Shakespeare’s plays. (Across Shakespeare’s 38 plays, there are a total of 74 deaths, including staged and off-screen deaths)
    • Total number of Shakespeare’s sonnets (154)
    • And I can’t remember the fourth. But we bet zero, and still didn’t place.
  • I heard an HHS employee who was on probation talk about how she was let go by DOGE. She said she received an email stating her position was “Abolished.” Yes, that specific word was used. She said that opening that email triggered the deactivation of her badge.
  • I think Senator Chuck Schumer’s days of leadership are numbered. This year is not going anywhere near what he thought it would be. He had a book tour that got cancelled because of his crashing popularity and likability.  I’m getting the sense there’s some behind-the-scenes movement within the party to boot him. Granted, this is just a Teen Vogue article, but I’m getting a feeling that it’s becoming a movement, akin to how Biden was replaced after the debate, but to a lesser degree.
  • I may detest the guy, but I can appreciate the humor
  • Trump Proposed Eliminating Social Security Taxes. Here’s the Bill That Could Make It Happen – President Donald Trump has promised seniors they will no longer pay taxes on Social Security. Can he deliver?
  • McAllen, Texas – Inside ‘fattest city in US’ where nearly half of the population is obese – The ‘fattest city in the US’ has been named, with one location in particular having a staggering 44.9% of adults who are obese – and it might not be entirely their fault
  • Mississippi governor signs typo tax overhaul bill into law to phase out income tax
    • Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill to overhaul Mississippi’s tax system — one that many lawmakers inadvertently voted for because of typos — into law on Thursday. This sets Mississippi on a path to become the first state to eliminate an existing income tax, when the tax is phased out in about 14 years. Reeves said the law marks a turning point in the state’s history and that it would make Mississippi a magnet for corporate investment and workers from other states.
  • Members of President Donald Trump’s National Security Council have conducted government business over personal Gmail accounts, according to documents reviewed by The Post and interviews with U.S. officials.
  • Obama Photobomb.

  • She confused her Stones when stating LBJ was responsible for JFK’s assassination.

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Your Bag of Nothing for Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Your Bag of Nothing for Monday, April 1, 2025

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Your Bag of Nothing for Monday, April 1, 2025

Your Bag of Nothing for Monday, March 31, 2025

  • My best friend in college, the namesake of DaughterGeeding, and I roomed together for a year in an off-campus apartment. We played a lot of Madden football on the PlayStation, and what you see above is the record board we kept. I miss that dude so much. Friendships like that are rare, and I’ve learned as an adult that making new friends is a hell of a challenge, especially the older you get. Trust me, I’m putting myself out there and trying, but I seriously wonder if I’m capable of making another friend as an adult. It seems I bore every new person I meet and don’t leave a good enough impression that they are willing to stay in touch. Everyone already has their own friend groups and is set in their ways. Perhaps I need to focus my energy on other things.
  • The mother of my best friend in college created a scholarship in his name and I’m grateful she appointed me and his closest college friends as trustees. Scholarship application submissions were due last Friday. For the last two years, we’ve allowed applicants to submit a video. I’m happy to report that this year we finally have a video submission. I manage the scholarship website. It’s entertaining looking at the timestamp of each submission. It’s not uncommon to see them turned in hours and even minutes before the deadline. That’s a deciding factor for some of us. For instance, one applicant submitted their application at the end of January. That’s darn impressive.
  • I used AI to make a slight CSS coding modification to this blog. There should now be a bit more space between bullet points. Hopefully, it looks less cluttered and easier to read.
  • I think there are certain things that only I do as a father that my kids have picked up on. For one, I give forehead kisses, especially at bedtime. That goes back to kissing my father goodnight. As I grew older in my teenage years, I became a bit uncomfortable kissing my dad on the lips, but I didn’t want to stop or say anything about it. So, I defaulted to the forehead kiss. DaughterGeeding has started to pull away from them. As much as I want to grab her and tell her that I’m her daddy and I get to do that, I’m going to respect her boundaries. In the meantime, I’m going to cherish giving them to BoyGeeding as much as I still can.
    • BoyGeeding stays over more than his sister. Sometimes when his time is up and his mother picks him up, I get teary-eyed, and he might even hear a little shake-voice as I tell him, “I miss you already.”  Last Friday, his mother was running behind, and he gave me the heads up. I gave him a half-smile, and he mimed a few tears falling down his cheeks and did a tiny imitation of me saying that phrase. That little bit of jovial love hit me in the feels.
  • BoyGeeding had a chess tournament this past Saturday, and it was at this interesting-looking school in Arlington.
  • Despite three rounds of antibiotics, I still have a lingering upper respiratory infection.
  • I need to give a detailed update on my car. The good news is that there’s nothing negative to report. It’s just a fun car to drive, and I love no longer having range anxiety. And, the way things are looking with this Trump economy, I bought at the right time.
  • I’ve always been a fan of magic and lately have dabbled in it. BoyGeeding likes it because his friends at school can’t figure out how he’s pulling off some of his tricks. Yesterday, I learned that there’s a video recording app some magicians use that traces their volunteers and audiences’ eye movements to see what they are focusing on at certain points of the illusion they are pulling off. I guess it’s not too dissimilar to an athlete watching tape of their swing, throw, and other movements.
  • Here’s a new term – Boomerasking – Not boomer as in “OK boomer” — think of it more like a conversational boomerang, where you constantly bring the focus back to yourself.
      • It’s when someone feigns interest by asking a question but doesn’t really pay attention to the answer. Instead, they use it as a way to springboard into their own story or anecdote. It’s a ruse to make someone self-serving and egocentric pretend they’re really a good listener.
  • I’m sure this news surprises no one – Why plans are already in motion for a Trump third term – no matter what the law says
    • Other legal scholars have dismissed the idea of running for a third term as impossible, but for Trump’s most ardent supporters, constitutional roadblocks have rarely been a concern. In fact, the mere suggestion that he might seek to extend his grip on power has already energised his base. And there is little political opposition in sight.
  • The Yankees are using a newly designed torpedo bat, and some are crying foul.

 

 

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Your Bag of Nothing for Monday, March 31, 2025