Author: Adam

Aciphex?!

Fun

In case you missed it tonight, some drug company or another advertised their new drug on television. This new drug is called aciphex (pronounced ASS-effects). “Whah?!” I’d like to meet the company clown that slipped that past the marketing department.

Of Pets and Their Masters

Observations

We visited a local pet shelter last weekend and the language used by the employees and volunteers shocked me. No, their language was not foul. Yes, they had personified the animals. They told us to look around and see if there was “somebody we liked.” We were offended by this language at two different shelters.

At the second of these shelters, they gave us a video to view before we should be allowed to adopt. In this video, new pet owners were called pet parents. Well, I have taken note in the last couple of years that folks don’t use the pet/master language as much anymore (if you know me at all, you will know that this only makes me use that language more), but calling pet owners parents is just going too far.

In case anybody (and I mean any person, not any animal) has not gotten the point yet, I shall make it explicit. Mankind was created in the image of God, the balance of the creatures were not, and the distinction is important to how we (mankind) view the world and care for it and its inhabitants. ‘Nuff said.

T-Shirt Wisdom

Fun

Tonight, I watched a rerun of The A-Team — which show I never watched as a child — and found myself laughing out loud. You are asking why I laughed out loud and I shall tell you. Murdock’s t-shirt sported the following aphorism: “GOD, GUNS, AND GUTS made America. Let’s keep all three.”

It is surely thought-provoking; and although an incomplete statement, it is true.  God and guns were obviously important to the founders. Among other evidences of this, I submit the first two amendments to the U.S. Constitution. And guts? Well, signing the Declaration of Independence took guts.

G: “That’s Impossible!”

Family

I was previewing this movie that Ben Stein is promoting, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. G was watching along with me and did not understand the premise of the movie, which is lack of academic freedom in scientific circles. We had recently discussed the disagreement that exists among certain scientists as to whether dinosaurs were contemporaries of man, so I reminded him of that and pointed out that some scientists do not believe that a loving God created the world, but that the world just happened all by itself. G retorted, “That’s impossible!”

I could not have said it better myself.

amen

Family

Last night, I was up late working and I heard K stirring and whimpering in bed. I checked in on him and it was as I suspected; he was having a bad dream. So I prayed for him. As I whispered, he settled into a restful sleep and just as soon as I said “amen” and kissed his forehead he did not wake up, but he did put in his own “amen.”

Driving Advice

Adventures, Observations

Assumption: If the speed limit on a given road is 55 miles per hour, then that speed limit is the speed — give or take a few miles per hour — that is reasonable to drive under perfect conditions.  Question:  Is it reasonable to expect folks to drive less than 55 mph under less than perfect conditions?  Another question:  Is it reasonable to expect folks to drive substantially less than the posted speed limit when conditions are almost as bad as they could possibly be — to wit, a half inch sheet ice covering the road?

 It is interesting to me that if visibility is less than 50 feet or so, folks tend to drive quite slow, but when icy conditions impair their stopping and steering ability, they do not slow down.  But the effect is the same.  You can’t stop or steer in time to miss your target. 

 I suspect that if folks tested their traction more often on slick roads, they would slow down more.

 And here is another thing.  While driving in heavy snow yesterday, we had probably 40 cars pass us.  38 out of 40 had Illinois plates.  Interesting?  I think so.