Tag Archives: scott

Getting Sick is a Waste of Time, Or is It?

17 Mar

Azalea in Bloom

I would say I hate getting sick, but so does everyone.  I haven’t been sick to the point where I felt like I needed to stay home from work (or refrain from work, these days you can work from anywhere) for years.  I say years because I really can’t remember the last time I didn’t feel well enough to go to work, until yesterday.  It really only lasted a few hours in the morning and then the rest of the day was semi-productive but it got me thinking about what a waste of time it is to be sick, or is it God’s way of forcing us to slow down.

Being sick always seemed like a waste of time to me.  All of a sudden you are sitting at home with time (which seems to be manufactured from some where, because if you weren’t sick you wouldn’t have the time) to do just about anything, except you can’t or don’t do anything because… you are sick.

Time to stop and smell the flowers so to speak.  In a few weeks this part of the country will be in full bloom of Spring.  The photo above is one of our very early bloomers in the front yard, and a reminder that one of the most beautiful times of year in the south is on its way, if we stop and take the time to look.

10 Things That Being Sick Brings to Mind

  1. we are not in charge
  2. those of us in generally good health often take it for granted, until we get sick
  3. we have time, we just don’t make time
  4. you take pleasure in little things, like silence
  5. a cloudy rainy day is a great time to be sick
  6. no one wants to be around you
  7. your spouse is the greatest person ever
  8. nothing tastes good
  9. daytime programing hasn’t changed and the news is still annoying
  10. the work you did’t get done, probably didn’t need to be done that day anyway

Of course this comes from being sick where I couldn’t move or do anything for about half a day.  If I was laid up for several days in a row I am not sure what in the world I would do with myself.

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How is Your Simple Christmas Going :: Friday Feet

12 Dec

Our church has been going through a series called Simple Christmas and it was going well until this week.  This week has been so incredibly crazy for me I haven’t even had time to do a blog post.  Part of it is the photo in my Friday Feet post today.  You can see a better description of this new entry into our house here.

I have a huge list of blog entries and all kinds of new posts to do here, hopefully I can get to them over the weekend.  Have a nice weekend everyone.

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And the Winner of the Dell Desktop Giveaway is…

29 Nov

And the Winner of the Dell Desktop Giveaway is…

Wow this month went by fast.  Yes, today is the day we are giving away the Dell Desktop that we originally posted on November 1st (see I am Giving Away a Free Dell Dimension Computer and 17″ Flat Panel in 29 Days) and we waited all the way until 12:01am on November 29th to announce the winner.  All in all we had about 100 responses on the blog directly, with approximately 5-10 of those being qualified entries.  I really appreciate all the people who have contacted me directly and I wish I had enough spare computers laying around to give one to everyone, but I only have one.

The Winner is Lisa Pierce with Alabama Rural Ministries (ARM)

Alabama Rural Ministries has a great program and their post (seen here Not Thinking of Myself Today!) is the winning entry.  The mission work for ARM is shown on their website as:

Our Mission

We believe Christ’s love must be expressed in action to people in need. ARM is a hands on ministry, responding to people through Christian love with an emphasis in housing repair and children’s ministry.

Alabama Rural Ministry coordinates home repair efforts and children’s day camps in rural parts of Alabama. We are interdenominational but are connected to the United Methodist Church. All denominations are welcome to come and serve!

“For the service that you give is not only supplying the needs of everyone but is an expression of many thanks to God.” 2 Corinthians 9:11-12


ARM has focused its efforts in sharing God’s love in two primary areas:

Home Repair – The ARM staff assists teams coming to do home repair by purchasing materials, introducing teams to their families, and serving as technical assistants. Typical ARM projects include repairing and/or replacing roofs, ceilings, floors and walls. We also build steps and wheelchair ramps for elderly or disabled individuals. We match our projects with the skills of our volunteers, maximizing the services we are able to provide. Our service extends to plumbing and electrical work when our volunteers are able to do such work. If you are involved in a group with any of these skills, please consider a trip to ARM to help the elderly and disabled families of rural Alabama.

Day Camps – Teams working with the day camp work with the ARM day camp staff to plan Bible studies, songs, recreation activities and much more! Day camps are run similarly to Vacation Bible Schools and other day camp programs. Our volunteers are able to enhance the children’s experiences through interaction, whether it be fellowship, playing games, going on field trips, or presenting Bible stories and devotions. The children of the Sonshine Day Camp are truly remarkable in their ability to show love to so many volunteers that come in and out of their lives each summer. We invite anyone with a love for children to join us for this amazing experience this summer.

Volunteer teams come from all over the country to do either home repair and/or work with day camps for area children. At select sites, groups may choose to do both types of ministries at the same time!

If anyone has a desire to get involved with them I am sure they would love to receive as much help as they can get, and it is a very worth ministry.

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I am Giving Away a Free Dell Dimension Computer and 17″ Flat Panel in 29 Days

1 Nov

I am Giving Away a Free Dell Dimension Computer and 17″ Flat Panel in 29 Days

Something just a little bit different for my blog today.  Today is November 1st, 29 days away from my birthday, and this year, on my birthday I am going to give away this Dell desktop computer plus 17″ flat panel monitor (and a bunch of extras) for free!  You don’t even have to pay the shipping.

It is a free computer, monitor, keyboard, wireless mouse, speakers, and an HP printer, to be given away on November 29th.  Yep, that’s right football fans, my birthday is on the same day as the Auburn vs Alabama game this year (if anyone wants to send a pair of UA vs AU tickets my way for my birthday that would be cool too), so this giveaway date should be easy to remember if you are the slightest bit familiar with Alabama football.

Every year when your birthday rolls around someone will always ask you what you want for your birthday, and I always liked to do something different instead of opening presents.  I like how Brad Ruggles celebrated his birthday yesterday by asking for his readers to donate to Compassion, a fantastic international children’s charity.  I may do the same thing, but I am also giving away this Dell desktop computer.

Details About the Dell Computer

Free Dell Computer Giveaway

The setup will consist of the following:

  • Dell Dimension E510 Desktop Computer
  • Windows XP, Service Pack 3
  • Microsoft Office 2003 (Excel, Word, Powerpoint and all that)
  • It has a 3.00 GHz Intel Processor, 500mb of RAM
  • 17″ Flat Panel Monitor
  • HP All-in-one Printer, Scanner, Fax PSC 1210v
  • Speakers
  • Keyboard
  • Microsoft Wireless Mouse
  • cables, wires, and plugs needed

This does not include any software discs as I can not find them at this point, but everything is up to date and works fine.  It is not a brand new computer of course, but it is a good working system for someone who needs a computer.

To Enter to Win the Dell Computer Contest Giveaway

In order to be eligible to win the contest, you will need to do the following simple steps below.  Preferably I would like to find someone or some organization that is in need of a computer but can’t afford to buy one.  Anyone can enter, but it would be nice to find a home that is in great need of a computer and I will only ship this computer within the CONUS, I am sure you can understand that.

To enter, you will need to do a blog post on your blog that links back to this blog post.  Somewhere in the post you just need to use the link to this post, here, and then come back here and leave a comment to let us know where to find your blog post.  That’s it, but, don’t expect to win by spamming my blog or leaving comment spam, you will need to write a blog post linking back here to be eligible to win.

If you know someone who doesn’t have a blog and is in need of a computer and would like to enter for them, just do a blog post saying so.  The blog post can be very simple and short but it would be nice to read what you need the computer for or how it will help, or who you would like to give it to if you win.  I would ask that if you win, and you do not need the printer to let me know so I can save a little bit on shipping.

So there you have it.  Simple.

  1. Write a blog post linking back to this blog post right here
  2. Come back here and leave a comment so I know where to go find your post
  3. Tell your friends so they can enter too

If you don’t have a blog, find someone who does and just ask them to enter for you.  Any questions at all please feel free to contact me, you have 29 days and counting.  The winner will be announced here on my blog on November 29th so you might want to subscribe to my blog or make sure you visit again in 29 days. Good luck.

Free Dell Computer Giveaway

Free Dell Computer Giveaway

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My Love of Baseball and Music // Throwback Thursday

12 Jun

My Love of Baseball and Music // Throwback Thursday

This is my latest installment for Throwback Thrusday from Vagabondrunn (see Throwback Thursday (7)). Yes, I finally was able to get some images of me. This one of course is me showing off my two passions at the time, baseball and music.

Actually, not much has changed, except now I am the one taking the photos. I still love baseball and music (although I no longer play the clarinet). This photo was taken in March 1981 by my mother of course. So there you have it, me at age 11.

Have you posted your throwback Thursday photo? Leave a comment below and let me know where to find it.

Scott in 1981 Ready for Baseball

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National Polka Festival in Ennis Texas 2008

23 May

We are getting ready now for a nice weekend in Ennis at the National Polka Festival. Here is me and the little dude, William hanging before the festival begins.  I have been able to take many photos of William each time we visit but this has to be one of my favorites.  You can see the reflection in my glasses as I hold the camera way out in front of both of us, while William is trying to figure out what in the world I am doing.

The Polka Festival is something we have tried to go to each year for the last few years, but this year Deborah is competing in the Polka competition with her dad. This is nothing new to Deborah. She has been going to the Ennis National Polka Festival since she was about 5 years old, but this will be the first year to join in on the Polka dance competition. The Ennis Journal interviewed Deborah for the festival, see Polka Royalty Bid, which was a very nice article about her and the festival in general. Sorry the full text is only available when you log into their site but we will try to get a copy of it to be posted here or on her blog.

Fillmer Family Photo

Bryan, Sara, William Fillmer

Bryan and Sara Share Kiss

The main part of the festival starts tonight at 7pm and goes through Sunday at 3pm. It will be a long and very tiring weekend but a lot of fun as well. Our son and his family (including our 2 year old grandson) have driven down from Colorado to be here as well. We have already taken some photos of him in his new vest, he didn’t know quite what to make of it.  We were able to get into town and get a few photos before everything got started. I love the expressions here on their faces. Especially when you know William has to be pulling Bryan’s hair. The vests were all made by Deborah over the previous year for this weekend.

scott-william

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.

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Adidas, My Great Grandad and Me // Throwback Thursday

8 May

Adidas, My Great Grandad and Me // Throwback Thursday

Well, one of my fellow bloggers, Run’n Like a Vagabond in his post, Throwback Thursday, has challenged us to do our Thursday blog post as a throwback photo post, so in lieu of my image of the day post, I am doing a throwback Thursday photo post. This image was not taken by me (as you might have guessed), and I am not the one sitting in the chair.

This is probably the first time I have ever posted a photo of myself in my earlier life, but also probably the first time I have posted an image I have not taken myself. So, if you are up to the challenge, do a post for Throwback Thursday and come back here and leave a comment and will make sure you get linked in.

Please, go easy on the photo itself here. Thanks.

Scott at Age 13 in Alabama Summer

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Time Lapse Video of My Work Day // What’s in a Day

1 May

Time Lapse Video of My Work Day // What’s in a Day

Another beautiful day down here in the south. This is such a great time of year in this part of the country, but we all know it will be short lived. Hot scorching days are just ahead. Today was one of those days I didn’t have to go anywhere at all and was able to get some work done here in my office.

Welcome Video and Some Time Lapse

First thing I did this morning was finish up my welcome video for my blog pages. I had been putting this off for some time and finally got it done. Instead of me rambling on, after watching this from another blogger it game me the idea to use it in my video. I put this video together yesterday and finished it up today. The refresh rate on the parts where I am talking are not as good as I would have liked, but I think it worked out ok, let me know what you think in the comments below. This is the only time I am going to actually put this video in a blog post, but since this blog post is my “daily post”, this is part of what I did today.

That was pretty much my first try at time lapse but once I saw found out how to do it I was a little enamored by the whole thing. You can really find out a little more about yourself by watching some of these videos. First thing Deborah said was she didn’t realize that I was actually so left hand dominant, me neither.

Everything Else

I did manage to get in my 4 miles of walking today and a long day of general work. No wildlife today other than or normal neighborhood of squirrels. Something neat I found today blogging wise was this new application that will allow you to use video comments, called seesmic. You can see their latest post here, Thwirl with Friendfeed released, you can also sign up for their alpha test at seesmic.com. I am going to try their wordpress plugin and see how it goes.

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Major Fender Bender, Fender Guitar That Is

29 Mar

Major Fender Bender, Fender Guitar That Is

Here is a question for you. What do you do if you are in the thrift shop and you see a ridiculous deal on this? Well, if you are me, you grab it fast!

Opportunity almost never knocks when you are ready to receive it. It is more like a neighbor, who, having something very exciting to show you, shows up when you are in your robe and slippers. Usually, to seize the opportunity when it comes you have to act very fast. Scott and I have both wanted to learn how to play the guitar for a very long time. We were not actively searching for a guitar, but this one found us. We promptly left the shop with it, went down to the guitar shop and had it re-strung and tuned.

Viola, a beautiful, sweet sounding guitar ready for playing. My first lesson is scheduled for Tuesday, 2:30pm. Wish me luck…

Update: well it seems that Scott is going to take on the leaning of the lessons, I will enjoy listening to him play. There are only so many things we can do in our life and listening to him play will be a good one for me.

Update: well Scott lasted about 4 months and did quite well, but his photography was far more developed than he could ever be as a musician so he is sticking with photography.

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Installing a Ham Discone Radio Antenna on the Roof

6 May

Don't fall!!

This Saturday we installed what is to be the first of several radio antennas on the roof of our house. I climbed to the top of the roof and mounted the mast and antenna while Deb ran around on the ground fetching tools and lending moral support. After it was installed we went into attic to retrieve and feed the wiring from the antenna on the roof down the inside of the wall of his office and then out at the base of the wall by an electrical outlet. Hot doesn’t even begin to describe the temperature in the attic in the summer in Alabama.  It had to be something in the order of 130*F or more.

The hole saw’s that we own have been used for years and are quite lousy so after fighting with the hole drilling for a while we decided to bring out the big guns. I retrieved the new sledge hammer and it did the trick. Now the scanner is working great with the new antenna installed. It does look a bit sci-fi though.  This antenna is called a Ham Discone Radio antenna and I am going to be using it with his Radio Shack Pro-2052 (dual truncking) scanner until I get a 2-meter ham radio, probably an ICOM 2-meter radio.

Check out the view from up here.

Don’t fall!!

Installed

Can’t wait to see what configuration the next one has. Hopefully it will be a little cooler the next time we try this.  The heat was just incredible today and I probably lost 10 pounds just trying to feed the wires through the attic into my office.  This antenna can now be seen quite a ways off, maybe we can use it some day to put Christmas lights up with a star on top, you will be able to see it from Birmingham.

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