End of Year Thoughts

Wow the last day of 2007. We always say that the years go by so quickly, it certainly doesn’t feel like 12 months since the last time I was getting ready to go hang out at the Taylor’s place to see in the new year (a little tradition we have here is to go play a couple hours of volleyball and have a BBQ at the same place every year – usually with a half deadly fireworks display at the end).

Where does the year go? It’s another FAQ for this time of year. In my opinion I think most of the year goes to waste. I can’t help but remember so many times when I could have done so much more, but spent the time doing something that really wasn’t worthwhile. I’ve struggled with building meaningful and fruitful friendships this year. I find that most of my friends these days are married, in a relationship or even with a small family of their own. The people I grew up hanging out with now have totally different lives and I’ve been left with a bit of a hole in that area.

I don’t think that’s anyone’s fault. I’m still single, which kinda sucks, and seeing all my friends now with their own families can be tough at times. However I guess I’m still trying to find people to hang out with – and this has led me to spend more time with people younger than me… I find this hard cause I’m in a totally different stage of life (full time work instead of uni study or whatever) and building some deeper friendships is hard because people just don’t really want to discuss stuff at the level I’m use to with my old friends.

In a way I think this year I gave up trying to build those friendships. And looking back on the year I think I spent way too many nights in front of my laptop or TV when I could have been trying to get more involved in different things. I’m not just talking about going out with friends, but because that area in my life was waning I could have used that time to get involved in different volunteer organisations where instead of just moping at home I could have been doing something useful (and meeting new people at the same time).

I think when things kind of don’t go our way and we’re left with nothing to do it’s too easy just to plonk down in front of the TV instead of finding something different but still useful to do.

In the end you get into a cycle of just not doing anything.

We waste so much time. TV ratings for the year are up, records are broken in Internet usage, and Facebook and Myspace are becoming serious addictions for some people. Imagine if everyone just halved their time spent on the net and went out and served somewhere instead. The homeless wouldn’t go hungry, single mum’s would be well supported, their kids would have male role models spending time with them, elderly people would have well maintained yards, home bound people would have company and be looked after, it really would make a difference I think.

Years go by so quick I think, because we fill them with so much meaningless stuff. I’m hoping in 2008 my social life might get a bit of a rejuvenation, but I’m also hoping that if it doesn’t I’ll be able to find something else to do other than wait for the next comment on my Myspace profile.



P.S Oh but anytime time on the net was worth it to find that video below... I have to watch it at least once each day - always brings a smile!

Video of the Year - Aussie Pride!

A great Australian Racing Driver, in the Greatest Australian Racing Car, playing the Greatest Australian Folk Song!

2007 is almost over, but I caught this video last night and it just slides in to take the best video of the year award in my books.

So here's James Courtney in his Genweld Ford Falcon V8 Supercar playing Waltzing Matilda.


Not only can the guy drive.... and dance... he must also have a musical ear to pull that off so well!

My Chrissy

Good days - Christmas was playing in church (carols aren't the most exciting things to play on the drums!), breakfast at 11am at my brother-in-law's mum's place (with his brother and wife as well, so between Sandhams and Whites it was a decent sized gathering), home for a snooze and a game of SIMCity3000 (classic, but totally gold!) then finally dinner with the Whites coming round our place.

Presents took a back seat this year, but I managed to get some floor mats for my car, and my brother bought us all tickets to The Outback Spectacular on the Gold Coast!

Boxing Day was lazing round home, and then dinner with some family on mum's side in Brisbane.

Back to work today - but it's been a restful break.

Deano's Christmas letter 2007

Some of this you may know, but it's a blanket email for the year, a good sum up, and thought I'd throw it up here for friends whom I've fogotten their email addresses (if I have sorry, and please get in touch...)

Hello to you all.

Well it’s Christmas Eve, and I am just sitting down to write my Chrissy Catchup email, some of you I have seen recently as you’ve come home for the holidays, others I can only imagine are experiencing quite a different Christmas period to myself.

It’s a warm summer evening here in Ipswich, I have my fan on, and considering cranking up the air conditioning. I know the general idea of Christmas is your snow, and warm fires… but I don’t think I’d want it any other way than what we have in Australia – especially Queensland. That heat means shorts and t-shirts are your ‘Christmas Best’ – everything feels a little more casual, and the family game of volleyball in the swimming pool is something not to be missed. Instead of a Christmas Turkey, or hot roast meal, we eat on our back patio, sometimes BBQ meat, with a cold ham and seafood… but this year I believe Mum has cooked a roast pork to serve cold with salad, fresh prawns and oysters… We have a small family here… just my brother and myself at home with mum and dad, and my sister and her husband – we share Christmas with my brother-in-law’s family as well, since they are a small family too – so that’s made it feel a little more like a big family gathering.

I hope you are well – and that your Christmas can be a time of great blessing, as we remember the birth of Jesus.

This year has been a pretty full on one for me. I’ve had job offers I’ve turned down, been through the process of becoming a manager only to have it not come off… and then finding myself in charge of some large projects which could seriously impact the company if they fail. And that’s just my work at RACQ. Computers are still my thing, but I find I’m moving more and more into managing people more than working on the computers. I worked at the Gold Coast Schoolies event in November – RACQ as a non government agency helped out by running the registration designed at keeping all the celebrating school leavers safe. It was quite a large task – and one underestimated by the people planning the event. As the person on the ground I had to really think on my feet to provide enough computers to run the event – it was a very stressful week, but in the end rewarding as the manager and higher executives were very happy with how it worked out. I’m also currently running a company wide computer rollout – only a small amount of PCs (200 – but considering we have 1600 PCs company wide it is a small number), but it’s meant managing two other people who are basically working for me.

Away from work I’ve been continuing with the sport chaplaincy – it’s been a quiet end of the year, but we are still seeing the effects of the tragedy we had earlier in the year… track officials are still coming to grips with the fatal accident back in March. Willowbank Raceway is a great place, run by a great group of people – and I love being part of the team, there have not been as many meets towards the end of the year, and the couple that have run have ended up washed out with rain. There is a big meet on the first weekend in January so I am looking forwards to that and inhaling some burning rubber and fumes once again :-P

Church life is taking a bit of a turn for me – I’m spending most of my time at City North Baptist in Brisbane these days and really enjoying getting more involved there. Hopefully in the new year I’ll start playing drums and finding other ways to serve God in that church. I’m still going to and playing at Whitehill occasionally, and up until this last term I was helping run the youth group, but I am slowing drawing back from there as I try to inject myself into City North more and more…

I’ve played no sport this year – my ankle injury from last years soccer season meant that I sat on the sidelines in 2007 – it’s also meant I’ve lacked the motivation to get out an exercise like previous years… hence a new years resolution is in order to get a bit fitter so I can start pre season training for soccer in 2008. I plan to play only on a social level next year, as I don’t think my ankle would hold up in one of the higher grade teams.

My brother Brett is going to have a 2008 on the sidelines like my 2007 – he sprained his knee back in the year and had a full knee reconstruction in July. He’s almost back to normal now, but needs to continue strengthening it, any sport for the next 12 months is out, which will be hard for him. It’s also caused him some problems with his electrical apprenticeship and he’s ready to get back out doing normal work again – hopefully in the new year..

Vanessa and Andy moved into their own home on the 1st January this year – they’ve now been married 18months and still just making their way through life… there’s talk of maybe moving to the UK for a year to work and make some more money – and if they do, expect me to tag along to help them settle in and hopefully visit many of my European friend (and hopefully a return journey via the Gambia)

That’s all in 2008 though and a little far away to really start thinking about – Mum and Dad are doing well, they’ve bought a Caravan and have used it a few times to trek off to different places. Dad had to buy something to tow his van and decided on a Nissan Nivara – quite a large ‘pickup’ (for you Americans) and something he’s quite simply fallen in love with. We’ve just found Mum a new car and as of Friday she’ll be zipping around in a new Honda Jazz – it’s good to see her finally getting a new car, and not always Dad with the new toys.

Speaking of new cars, due to the rising fuel costs, and the age of my fantastic Falcon – I decided it was time to say goodbye. I sold it and bought a brand new Mitsubishi Lancer – one of the new models they’ve just released here in Australia and are doing those big advertising campaigns on. It’s a great little car – but saying farewell to my beloved Falcon was very tough – I think it will always be the car I look back on and regret selling – it was so much fun to drive. But I made a choice to make my life a little easier to live, and a little less expensive as well. I’m hoping to move out of home next year (it’s about time eh??) so cutting down on my costs is a must.

So this is quite long – I’m sorry and if you’ve made it this far you’re doing well – so I’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, and would love to hear from you. These days on the Internet there are so many ways to keep in touch.

God Bless and I look forward to sharing 2008 with you all.

Dean.

Merry Christmas

Well Christmas has arrived again, I'm yet to write my annual update letter, but still plan to before the day arrives (though I'm forced to the limit to emails now as postal certainly won't arrive before Christmas).

To all of you who read My Jarrol Spot, I wish you a very Merry Christmas, and that you may have a blessed time as you remember the baby born in Bethlehem who later died to save all of us.

"Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father."
- Philippians 2:6-11

That's the little baby who's birth we celebrate tomorrow... Praise God.

Model Cars

Was playing around and taking some photos last night. I built a light box a few months ago - that's just a 3 sided cardboard box with a floor all covered in white paper. It;s basically a mini-studio that when set up with my flouro desk lamp creates a clean environment to take photos with a white background. If you want some colour filter you just put coloured cellophane over the desk lamp. It actually works really well for such a simple idea.

Well last night I got out some of the multitude of model cars I have on my desk and using the light box took some photos using my macro filters, trying to create some 'unique' kinda car shots.












For the rest check out My Flickr Account.

Striking Photograph

I'm not saying I support the use of nuclear arms but this is an amazing photo.

(Man split the atom, but it was God who put that phenomenal power in something so small)

Life Lesson #231

If you're using an electric toothbrush... don't turn it on until it's in your mouth... otherwise it will spray you and the rest of the bathroom with toothpaste....








...the wisest lesson's come from someone else's experience, so please learn from my mistake...


:-P

Why are beer ads always the best?

Why are beer ads always the best ads on TV?

I'm not a big VB fan though, but this is good for a laugh

My Week

What's been happening you ask?

Well as with everyone, everything seems to pick up around this time of year and you start to wonder where all your time goes.

I got my new car... which is great, it's starting to feel a bit more like 'My Car' as I drive it more. I'm enjoying the lower fuel costs as I can get 700ks to a tank and it costs $20 less to fill up! So travelling further on a tank, and then not paying as much to fill it up.

Saturday we did the big Backyard Blitz for a family at church. It was a great day - the 22mm of rain the night before, though welcome, created quite a muddy environment for us to work in. We got it all done though, turf laid, road base down on the driveway and everything looking pretty shmick

Saturday night I went into the Carols in the City (Brisbane's Capital City Carol's night), which was run by the Brisbane City Tabernacle, and Christian Radio Station 96.5 - it's fantastic to have a church based carols services backed by the Brisbane City council and Qld State Government, both Brissie Mayor, Camble Newman and Anna Bligh (QLD Premier) said their bit, and then all throughout the carol night the story of Jesus was told to thousands.

If you're in Qld it's going to be telecast on Chanel 10 sometime before Christmas, it really is worth a look! I was lucky enough to fluke seating in the VIP section, second front row, right in the centre of the stage. It was an amazing place to watch the concert, and really got to experience the live music of James Morrison and his band, all the classic carols singers and Guy Sebastian!

I only had my phone there to take photos, which means there's no good ones, but I thought I'd put up a bad one of Guy anyway just to prove I saw him :-P

Sunday was a day at Wet n Wild with the guys from RACQ - a kind of unofficial Chrissy break up (even though we saw each other at work the next day) - it was a fun day cruising the water slides and having a bit of fierce competition on the 8 Wave Racer (which I think I can say I was the outright winner overall).

This week I've done a Project Management course... somehow destroyed my work laptop... went to the Motorola Christmas party and am now wondering where all the other time's gone, cause I just don't think I've had a spare moment at all.

Christmas Challenge

This Christmas period try and find someone who don't really know, and help them out with something they could never do on their own.

Tomorrow my home group are going to our Pastoral Care Minister's house to do a 'Backyard Blitz', now I know this person so it doesn't really count, but it will give you an idea... Something they possibly could finish themselves a group of 10 of us will attempt to do in a day.

I'll be trying to do something else, more along the lines of my first sentance, for someone I don't really know, I encourage you to do the same - it could be the smallest of things, but imagine if everyone did something like this how many more people will enjoy Christmas that little bit more because of the selflessness of others.

I'd love to hear what you get up to, who you help and any responses received...

To My International Audience

Thanks for reading


These are the last 100 Hits on my blog. From all over the World

End of an Era

1995 - The year I started highschool, and also the year Ford brought out the EF Falcon. Ford was finally realising that Australian culture is one that celebrates a V8 Muscle Car heritage. For so many years Ford Australia had ignored the muscle car trends and had let Holden win out on every front with their SS Commodores and the new HSV franchise.

In 93 and 94 Ford had brought back the V8 in Falcons... and the ED model had the first ever XR8, be it an uninspired generic Falcon just with a V8 and different headlight pattern on the front.

However in 95 with the EF Ford brought out the XR8 and XR6 models, with a distinctive front look and tuned suspension and other upgrades...

By 97, I was 15, totally into cars, with a huge family heritage of Ford supporters and Ford were finally getting it right with the facelift EL Falcon. The XR8 and 6 in that model looked fantastic, the development was done in partnership with motorsports partner Tickford. Tickford suped up both the V8 and straight 6 engines (the V8 a 'blue' engine and the 6 a 'red'), with a sunken quad headlight design and tuned and lowered suspension the XR series really became the pinnacle of Ford's Falcon line up.


Right from when I saw the EL's I loved them. In 98 when I was getting my learners and in 99 when I had my license, the car I wanted was an EL XR8 (obviously couldn't afford it, but it was my 'dream car'). Even with the release of the AU Falcon at the end of 98, the EL was still my favourite, in many cases it still is to this day.

It was the car I loved, the one I dreamt of owning, so when I returned from Africa in 2004 and needed a new car I thought about Subaru Imprezas, but what I really wanted was a manual Falcon. I found a heap on carsales.com.au and set out to take a few for a test drive.

The very first one I went to look at was a 1997 EL Falcon XR6, and from the first moment I saw it I fell in love with it, even more so when the dealer started it up and it's 2.5 inch exhaust made one of the sweetest sounds I've ever heard! Without looking at another car I bought it.


It wasn't the XR8 I'd dreamt of, but in so many ways it was better - the custom exhaust on it (which I later added a sportier muffler) makes it simply the best sounding 6cyl Falcon I've ever heard. I'd decided against a V8, so this XR6 was definitely the next best thing.

Today marks the end of my 3 year love affair with that car... I bought a brand new Mitsubishi Lancer last Friday (the one in all the TV adds, Newer... Better... Safer... Greener and all that...) and I pick it up this afternoon, trading in my beloved XR6 at the same time.

The new car is my decision to try and cut my week-by-week travel costs, fuel, rego, maintenance and general running will be much cheaper with the Lancer. The Falcon's now 10 years old, done 161 000k's and getting to the point where it will need some work and money poured into it.

However saying goodbye to this car is like saying goodbye to an old friend - actually this is starting to feel like a eulogy isn't it!

I'm looking forward to having a new car, but at the moment (5 hours before pick up) I'm more grieving the Falcon than I am excited about the Lancer.

Sounds a bit sad and dorky doesn't it??? Well I don't care, I sure love that car!

AIDs Patients Blaming Jammeh for Crisis.

Almost 12 months ago I posted a few blogs on The Gambian President, Yaya Jammeh, proclaiming he had a cure for AIDs.

Read the initial blogs to find the Presidents self professed cure here and a follow up post about the international outcry here.

Well so many months later and Jammeh is still 'treating' patients, telling them they are cured and not to use the antiretroviral drugs offered at hospitals and non-government agencies (such as WEC) clinics.

The Freedom Newspaper in The Gambia has this article from Nov 30.
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200712030185.html

As Africa celebrates world aids day, aids patients in The Gambia, said many of their colleagues have died in the recent past due to President Yahya Jammeh's recent decree, which bared hiv patients in the country from using antiretroviral drugs.

The said drug helps to prolong the lives of hiv patients. But in The Gambia, the Government had warned against the use of the said drug. The Gambian leader warned patients benefiting from his aids treatment program to stop using antiretroviral drugs if they want to be cured.

Speaking to the Freedom Newspaper, one of the male hiv patients accused President Jammeh of endangering their lives by advising them not to use antiretroviral drugs. The patient claimed that many of his colleagues were dying in The Gambia due to President Jammeh's decree against the use of antiretroviraldrugs.

"Many of our group members are presently hospitalized with little hope of recovering. Some have died in the recent past. All these deaths can be attributable to the President. He is endangering our lives by warning us not to use antiretroviral drugs. The President knows that he cannot cure aids and yet he wants to secretly kill our group members by exposing them into such risky treatment program. As the world celebrates, world aids day, I'm appealing to the International Community to please come to our aid. Our group members are dying on a daily basis due to the president's ill conceived advise." said the 40 year old Gambian hiv patient...

The article goes on to say that many HIV patients who believe they are cured are returning to life without antiretroviral drugs and becoming sick again... but more than that they are heading back into a society full of sexual promiscuity and believing they are cured not using any protection methods... thus spreading the disease because they think they don't have it anymore.

This is a huge issue facing The Gambian nation - and all because of the false ideas of grandeur of the nation leader. Something must be done to stop the President from continue to lie to his people.

Please pray that the lies of Jammeh can be found out, that the nation will stop their blind faith in the man who is slowly killing them all. His reign of over 10 years has been full of corruption, but this current farce is something the International Community needs to be aware of, and visibly opposed to.

Pigging Out

Thieves have stolen 16 tonnes of Christmas ham!

CHEEKY thieves have made off with 16 tonnes of ham and bacon from a Sydney warehouse, leaving the message "Thanks, Merry Christmas" daubed on a wall.

The thieves cut their way through a wall of the Zammit Ham and Bacon Curers warehouse at Pendle Hill in Sydney's northwest, between 3.30pm (AEDT) on Saturday and 5am on Sunday...

...The thieves escaped with meat worth $80,000-$100,000, warehouse co-owner Anthony Zammit said today.

It's not yet known how the thieves escaped with the huge haul.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22859830-2,00.html

Wow, I guess there is a lot of money in ham this time of year - but how does someone manage to cut through a wall and truck off 16 tonnes of pig without being noticed.

I enjoy a Chrissy Ham, but one usually feeds our family for a week or bit more - these guys are gonna be pigging out!

Christian Volunteers

Received an email from Evan Donovan asking me to mention this on my blog. It looks like a great idea so if you are looking for volunteers or wanting to volunteer somewhere - check it out.

ChristianVolunteering.org is a free directory with over 2,000 volunteer opportunities in ministries serving the “poor.” The site’s partners include the Salvation Army, GospelCom (BibleGateway.com), World Vision, the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions and over 1,000 ministries serving under-resourced communities. In addition to volunteer opportunities for individuals, you can also search the site for opportunities that might be appropriate for church small groups and for short-term missions trips. If you just type your postal code, you can get a listing of the volunteer opportunities in your region.

Daily Verse Rings True

Psalm 61:8

Then will I ever sing praise to your name and fulfill my vows day after day.

Had a bit of a weird day - a duel with a car salesman that I think I lost, and then this is the daily verse on my facebook page.

Thanks for the reminder!

Dad

Hey all.

For those who know my Dad I thought I'd give you an update.

Dad's had a heap of neck pain for a fair few years, and finally it was decided the only way to stop it for good was to perform surgery.

It had gotten to the point where Dad could hardly use his right arm due to the nerve damage that was being caused by inflamed vertebrae in his neck.

The surgery was yesterday, where surgeons removed fluid from the vertebrae relieving the pressure and inflammation. Obviously anything round the neck is dangerous, but Dad's come through the surgery ok. He's back home today - was suppose to be tomorrow so that's a good sign. He's in a fair bit of pain still, but looks like he'll recover fully.

Thanks to those who have been praying, and the people who provided meals last night and tonight, that took a lot of pressure of mum - and kept Brett and I fed while mum's been out so much :-P

Haha thanks

Schoolies Round Up

Well it's been over a week since I posted... so some of you may have started to wonder if I'd been trampled to death by a horde of schoolies.

Close... but not quite.

I was totalled after the long hours and stress of Friday, but Saturday was much much worse. I got up to set up all the laptops - we'd only allocated 10 laptops to assign wrist bands, and 14 for the schoolies to use who hadn't registered yet. I also had 10-12 laptops for use on the beach for the event entry scanning, and as I'd said in the previous post, they weren't working.

So my first job after setting up for the day was to cart those 12 laptops up to my apartment, and set about reimaging them from my self made imaging server (another laptop) and hashed up network set up on the dining table. I worked all day until they were ready to go, when I got a call from the MBC that things were banking up and getting out of hand, so they needed extra laptops to do the wrist band assigning. Event Entry went out the window and I used the extra 12 laptops at the MBC... in the end I jumped on one and started handing out wrist bands myself (we had 12 extra laptops, but not 12 extra people to use them).

At about 9pm the line for wrist bands was about a kilometre long, and 10 schoolies wide! I think it even made the news, as some schoolies were waiting up to 6 hours in the line - there was no coordination with the event staff and crowd control was horrible. In the end the inevitable happened and we had ourselves a mini riot.

The police shut the line down saying they could get onto the beach without a tag for the Saturday night... but for a few moments there it was very scary. A thousand or so schoolies surging forward ended up with the table I was sitting at pinning me against the MBC (so hard I had a bruise on my belly the next day), and when I went to get up I timed it really badly and stood up just as some drunken, ticked off kid decided to throw something at the truck.

It hit me in the head... it hurt... I don't know what it was, but I was really light headed and ended up falling over as I tried to get out of the area. I was helped into the truck and after 5 minutes or so and a bottle of water I was fine.

Eventually the crowd disbanded as police moved them all on - I'm amazed they didn't start hurling the laptops around or vandalising the Mobile Business Centre. A few of the cars around the MBC were kicked and stuff written in the dust... I'm quite grateful my work car - a silver Commodore Wagon - looked a lot like an unmarked police car... it was untouched, and when I went to leave people were getting out of my way quick smart.

Things could only get better after that and they did... on Sunday the IT manager and a couple of other IT staff came down, bringing an extra 25 laptops - we ended up with 50 laptops doing the wrist bands and registration combined... again I spent the day registering and assigning wrist bands, but with some proper crowd control in place everything ran very smoothly. The decision was made to cut the event entry scanning - which sort of made the wrist bands useless - but meant I didn't have to worry about setting laptops up on the beach every night.

By Monday the registrations had started to settle down - new problems arose like rain... and kids wanting replacement wristbands all the time (we found out they were selling them to toolies for $20 each!), so we had to come up with ways of solving these issues... but I've never been verbally abused so much in a week as I have this past one.

By Tuesday I was able to set up in the mornings, go have a swim, catch up with some friends, swim in the afternoon and then hang out with some of the friends I'd made at the MBC from Red Cross. Friday night I went and hung with some mates who were doing Red Frogs, it seems they had a much tougher week than I did.

The only other painful part of the week was getting stuck in the elevator of my apartment block. I'd just ducked out to grab some Indian take-away, and jumped in a lift with 4 other guys who seemed really rough round the edges... then the lift got stuck between the 1st and 2nd floor!

We rang the security, and one of the roughies swore his way through an explanation of what had happened... he annoyed the girl on the other end so much she threatened to leave him in there all night (which is when the others told hit to shut the %^$^%# up and that there were other people in here too). The conversation was not the least bit pleasant... and one guy had just had his nipple pierced and it was bleeding everywhere.

Oh these weren't schoolies either... men probably in their 30's!!!

Eventually after 30 minutes or so the repairman arrived at the apartments, reset the lift and we were free. I finally got to my room on the 24th floor, and enjoyed my somewhat cooled Indian dinner.

It was certainly a week of very different experienced... nothing like what I was expecting, but in some ways something I'm glad I went through, because it's taught me to deal with a lot of very different stuff out there in the real world... not that cushioned world us Christians sometimes find ourselves in.

Schoolies Day 1

I am gone... exhausted... flat... spent... buggered... knackered... etc etc...

I started at 7am this morning in Brisbane, and was on the Gold Coast by 8:30am, I finished tonight at 9:30pm. What a long non stop day.

We had all the laptops at the MBC (Mobile Business Centre) set up in time for the 10am media conference, and got the Skoolies Self Registering ones up not long after that. We then spent the rest of the time trying to sort out hat was going on with the Beach Event Entry laptops where half seemed to work and half didn't.

I checked into my room - a two bedroom apartment I'm sharing with the MBC Driver, on the 24th floor of an apartment block right on Surfer's Paradise beach. The view is AMAZING, but I don't know what chance I'll get to enjoy it.

At 6pm we started setting up the Beach Entry Laptops... and none of them worked. We realised they'd been set up wrong, and were connecting to the network in the MBC, but not the one we'd set up on the beach. The other issue is that sandy beaches work quite a bit like a Radar Jammer... the soft and absorbent surface of the beach literally eats radio waves... so our laptops on the beach were having a hard time finding the network.

Then there was a power surge and it blew 2 of the laptops up... and then some of the bar code scanners wouldn't work. So my simple laptop set up turned into an all night troubleshooting exercise as one after another things went wrong.

So it's 10pm, I've finally got dinner... and I feel like I'm about to die after 15 hours of the most stress filled work I've ever done.

And all the guys at work thought I was getting a holiday on the coast... I wish.

Sitting Around Waiting

We're not very patience are we!? I mean we may think we are, that we can put up with a lot, but when pointless waiting comes upon us, we don't usually handle it very well.

I'm sitting in the Ipswich branch at the moment. Since I live in Ipswich, I get most of the jobs in this branch, I just do them on my way in of a morning. This morning I'm swapping out one of the Travel Agency PCs. One of the other guys built the PC yesterday, but was unaware that there are a few extra functions this user completes that means they need some extra software.

So here I sit, on a slower branch network, waiting for a large install of Oracle to come down over the network and install here. Something that would take 5 minutes at the Head Office will take (has taken) at least 30 minutes here.

And I'm a little annoyed... not at Shane who couldn't have known this software was needed... not at the user (who should have told Shane the software was needed - but she's fairly new so probably didn't know better), but just at the fact I'm sitting here waiting.

I can be patience enough to listen to someone's problems, to put up with someone I know has a few issues and acts strange... but sit me at a desk watching a little status bar slowly creep from 0% to 100% and I go nuts!

It's funny how it's the simple things which we have to wait for that really bug us.

What is it for you? What really aggravates you and highlights your lack of patience?

This Week's Photography Assignment

Topic: Everyday Artifacts.

A fond memory of my childhood was mum cooking eggs and soldiers for dinner. This consisted of a soft boiled egg and toast cut up into strips (the soldiers). I'd love dipping the toast into the egg.

So my first thought for everyday artifact was an egg cup. However it's been a while since I was a kid, and I actually had to run out and buy a new egg cup for this assignment.

I haven't had a soft boiled egg in so many years, that not only did I enjoy photographing this assignment... I really enjoyed eating it as well

Scat - Digs Christmas

It's getting close to that time again, and Scat-jazz have been working on a new album... Sick of hearing Mariah belt out a carol? We'll Scat's got something a little more snappier.

Maybe being mates with the band makes me biased, but I think many people around Queensland have probably heard of Scat these days (most people in the 'Christian Scene')

I'm really looking forward to getting this album, and in true Scat style, they're posted a zainy YouTube ad for their new album

Check it out.

Understanding of a word.

I posted this as a comment on Hamo's blog: Terminology but thought that I've fleshed it out enough to be a stand along blog here... and was interested in your thoughts so here it is...

I think my ideas on the terminology of the word ‘church’ is what’s been evolving for me this past 12 months.

Looking at what you’ve been up to, my own journey with Whitehill Church of Christ in Ipswich and getting more involved in City North Baptist in Brisbane, plus looking at WEC and the Muslim targeted church they’ve planted in Sydney really has stretched my ideas on what ‘church’ really means.

Relationships seem to play the key role in the church, not the services, music and people already in the church (how i was brought up). The WEC church plant in Sydney especially has shown me how outer focused the church really should be, how comfortable it should be for the people around it who are not part of it, even if it’s not exactly what the people already in it are feeling.

The idea of the church is to introduce people to Jesus, through doing that we can strengthen each other, but the core focus isn’t strengthening each other, it’s a by-product of working together to introduce people to Jesus (did I just say the same thing twice back-to-front???)

By looking at that it’s really been able to define more clearly the work I’ve been doing at the Drag Track as a motorsports chaplain. That is no longer a ‘outward ministry’, but simply a church I belong to, I and the other chaplains, trying to introduce people to Jesus through being there at meets and simply building relationships with them.

I’d never considered it church before because we didn’t preach, or even very visible outreach. We were just there - people to come and chat with about every day life… people who the guys knew they could vent to, or come to if there was an incident at the track - which has now developed into them coming to us when they have bigger questions on life… like the death of a mate or parent, marriage and troublesome kids.

Suddenly that seems a whole lot more like the church (according to my new understanding of the terminology) than what a Sunday Service looks like.

Car Search Continues

I took the brand new model Mitsubishi Lancer for a drive last night. Wow! I never expected it to drive better than the Subaru, but it out-shines it easily. The Lancer feels sharper, more responsive and more comfortable.


I've been doing a lot of reading of late, and am slowly changing my ideas on a purchase of a new vehicle. Funny enough, it isn't looks, performance or 'newness' that's influencing my choices, but the safety equipment being fitted as standard in these latest model cars. The Impreza and Lancer now come with Electronic Stability Control, Cruise Control, Driver, Passenger, Side and Curtain Airbags and the Lancer even has Knee Airbags and Active Traction Control.

Maybe I've been working for the RACQ for too long, but it's that equipment that is starting to sway me to spend a touch more and purchase a new vehicle. If a second hand car had this stuff I'd probably still be looking at them, but it seems to only be these 2 new models that have been upgraded to such safety standards.

I guess I also find it a little ironic, that the swaying factors in buying a car are functions you hope you never use. The fact the Lancer has every type of airbag available is a selling point, but I know if I ever use those airbags I'm going to be in a whole heap of trouble.

RACQ works kind of on the same principle I guess. You join RACQ to have the option of Road Side Assistance, but you don't ever really want to use it. RACQ has always said they sell 'Peace of Mind', knowing that if something goes wrong, you have the peace of mind of knowing RACQ will come and help solve the problem.

So this extra for a new car??? I think it's just buying Peace of Mind, knowing that if something does go wrong, I'll be in the safest possible vehicle.

However it does mean that I'll have to sell the XR6 privately to get enough money. Trade ins and change overs just make it too expensive... so anyone know someone who'd like a near perfect condition 1997 EL Falcon XR6 Manual?

Bloglines

I've just started using Bloglines to monitor the different RSS feeds and Blogs I regularly read. I must say it's much easier than just following the different links on my blog roll and perusing individual blogs.

I do kind of like the personal effect actually looking at someones blog creates, but Bloglines makes it much more efficient.

So do you use a RSS Feed Reader of some kind? Are there any others out there better than Bloglines?

Reading Archived Blogs.

I've had a couple of people comment over the past week that some of the 'quotes' in my older blogs are hard to read due to the colour.

Sorry, but when I redesigned My Jarrol Spot the old quote colour I used became hard to read (see!!!!) so now I'm using a different colour to quote which is easier to read (I Hope!) - But I haven't gone through and changed all the older posts from before my blog redesign.

So I apologise if you have to work a bit harder to read some of the old posts. But be assured that all new posts will have quotes that are easier to read.

Simple and Effective

Both Hamo and Vawz have blogged on this, but I'm joining them. Made my $1 donation, and hoping to see it grow and grow until the world's changed.

ONEHITWONDER is an initiative of Third Place Communities in Tassie, I like it and hope others get into it as well.

http://www.onehitwonder.org/

Long lost Cousins

COUNSELLORS at an exclusive drug treatment facility in Malibu are scouring Los Angeles in search of Ben Cousins.

Sources close to the Summit Centre in Malibu told The Australian yesterday the 29-year-old failed to check in, as scheduled, on Monday.

They say they are worried for his safety.

"No one has any idea where he is," said a person with knowledge of the situation.

"He's got everyone freaking out because LA's not a good place to be out doing what he may be doing.

"I just hope nothing bad happens to him."
news.com.au Story...

Worrying, but by this point you have to ask, how much is fact, how much is media speculation!?

Impressionable Impreza

I'm currently looking to replace my car, the Falcon is getting old, and I'm starting to have too many problems (none very little) which are just costing me more and more money.

I'm also looking at something a little smaller. When I bought the Falcon I was using it to carry 5 people on youth group outings and camps, the extra space was really helpfull when you're going away for a few days and have 4 other people and their luggage with you. These days I'm finding 90% of the time it's just me in the car, which seems a bit of a waste being such a large car.

The only problem has been that I love my XR6, but I am coming to terms with the notion of getting rid of it.

I'd been browsing carpoint.com.au looking at later model Subaru Imprezas when I found a 2007 model with 133kms. Interested I looked into it a little more and found out the car is brand new, in Ipswich (amazing conincidence), and being run out because the new model Impreza has now arrived in show rooms.

2007 Impreza on CarPoint

I wasn't planning on buying a brand new car, but the price on this particular Impreza was amazing, so organised to go look at it, however the price was too amazing it seems, the car had sold by the time I arrived yesterday afternoon.

The salesman was really good though, he showed me the brand new model, let me take it for a test drive, did an evaluation on the Falcon and just gave me my option. He didn't pressure me on anything, knowing I hadn't particulary been planning to buy new, he even tried to find some used cars I might like but they had nothing.

I think they'd do me a really good deal on that new Impreza, but I don't think I can justify buying a brand new car, even at that price.

New Model

How's the new model Impreza drive though? Amazing! I really really liked it, the handling and grip is insane, but it doesn't quite have that exciting rigid feel my XR6 has. It's a tempting idea to own a car that's only been release for under a month, drives so well, and has one of the highest safety results in Australia.

But it's more than I had intended to spend, so I must fight the consumer within me that says spending a little more is ok...

Down In Flames.

I've never liked Acer computers, we have about 200 Acer workstations that were bought back in 2004. They're coming to the end of their working life with us, but they've always had hardware problems.

I sort of took it to a new level today though. Had an Acer workstation which wouldn't power on, we have a bank of spare power supplies, so I swapped them over and turned the PC on. Next thing I know one of the resistors on the mainboard (motherboard) melts, and lights up the plastic casing, which then lights up the plastic and silicon wires around it. It looked like a gigantic candle - which gave me the idea to pull the power and simply blow the flame out (lucky I've had 25 years to practise blowing candles out).

It created enough smoke to make the fire alarms beep, thankfully though there was not enough to set off a full evacuation. However everyone in my section learnt that burning computer components don't smell so good.

Sort of made the day a little more entertaining though.

An Old Drawcard.

Was just checking some stats on my blog. It seems one of the biggest link in pages for me is a certain post I made in May this year. It's one I really thought out, from a seeming random observation one day at lunch. I just read through it again and what I said still resonates deep within me.

So I thought I might post it again and see what other conversation it can develop, there were a few good comments on the original post so you can check that out here.

_______________________________________________________
Authentic Christianity – Like Chinese Food.
I was eating some Chinese food for lunch the other day, one of the dishes that was being served was ‘Crunchy Chicken’. I didn’t buy it (choosing a freshly cooked soup over the pre heated dishes out the front), but noticed that the majority of customers were ordering the Crunchy Chicken.

I wonder exactly what ties Crunchy Chicken has to authentic Chinese dishes, and if the dish is more produced for an Australian audience, and that’s created the high demand.

I like Chinese food, but the distinct thing I remember when I went to China back in 1995 was how different the food is over there. My favourite dish was Gou lao ruo, which was pork pieces wok tossed in a sweet sticky BBQ sauce with some sour (or more savoury) herbs and chilli flavours… (Gou lao ruo translates into English as sweet and sour pork). Now if you order Sweet and Sour Pork in most Chinese Restaurants in Australia you get deep fried pork balls with a sweet and sour sauce, which is runny, not BBQ flavoured and has pineapple in it.

There was no pineapple in the authentic Chinese dish I loved in Beijing!

See most Chinese Restaurants in Oz cater for an Australian customer base. They also have access to different cooking styles. In both cases this has altered the traditional style of the food to be modelled on an Australian ‘flavoured’ dish. The desire to be a successful restaurant usually overpowers the traditional cooking styles so that they compromise on the authenticity to give the consumer what they want. Over a long period of years we all in Australia have come to accept this is Chinese food, many restaurants advertise ‘authentic’ dishes, but are serving the Australianised version of authentic Chinese food.

To the point where we now expect Sweet and Sour Pork to be a serve of deep fried pork balls with a runny sauce (with pineapples) to pour over them. In some cases places that don’t serve it this way may be questioned as to why they’ve changed…

Are we a bit like that in the Church? To appeal to the society around us, or because of some of the ‘access to different styles and mediums’ we have at our disposal, do we change slightly from our authentic beliefs? Has this been going on so long that now the general population just assumes that’s what authentic Christianity is? Has it been going on so long that we believe that’s what authentic Christianity is? Do we compromise on our authenticity to give the 'customer' what they want?

Has the culture of music, entertainment, risky thrills, wanting to fit in, wanting to be uncontroversial, consumerism and materialism added ‘pineapple’ to our faith? Does this compromise the core biblical basis the church was founded on?

Like the Crunchy Chicken that was the obvious favourite for most of Brisbane’s CBD, are people outside the Church drawn into churches that offer a culturally acclimatised experience? Is that because they haven’t seen how good the authentic stuff is?

All I know is that if I had the choice of pork balls or traditional Gou lao ruo I’d be going the original and the best! I just pray that I’m also seeking an authentic faith of the same kind.

Update on Jeff

Received this email this morning, please keep praying.

Dear Folks,
Many of you will have heard this news via the grapevine or you're on othere-mail lists. However I am going through Jeff's list now to make sure nobody misses out.
The sad news is that Jeff's illness has developed into an acute arthritic condition. After 10 days in the Hovd hospital the Dr referred him to Ulaanbaatar (UB) for tests and treatment. After two days of these the Drs strongly advised him to come home toAustralia in the hopes that avoiding the Mongolian winter would help the condition not tobecome chronic.
Jeff had really resisted the thought of coming home till then, but hasagreed it is good idea and he will be arriving 10.30am tomorrow Monday 29th (not Tuesdayas we were at first told). He is coming with just hand luggage and a return ticket, so youcan see he really believes he'll soon be well enough to return.
Please pray for a comfortable trip. He is coming as a wheel chair passengeras he can't walk many meters without becoming sore and exhausted. Many of his joints areaffected, so the long trip won't be easy. I'm praying that he'll be able to have his sore leg elevated somehow, and the long trip won't affect him adversely.
Thanks for your prayer support. I'm sure it's not easy for Jeff to suddenlyhave his plans and life changed. But we are trusting for God to be glorified in it all, andthat healing will come before long.
Blessings on you all,
Alan and Anne King

Gold Coast Indy 2007

Here are some of the photographs I took over Indy Weekend.



[Will Power - Second Pole Position in 2 years, and second time he crashed out early too!]



[Aussie Racing Cars - look like great fun]

Holidays

It's been great to relax and just have some time off.

Many things to write about over the week, but I just decided to have a bit of a break from blogging too. Not think about too much and just take the week nice and slow.

Well it didn't start off slow with 4 days of Indy. Man there were some serious skills on display by the drivers to navigate that amazing circuit between the high rises of Surfer's Paradise. However you did have to keep you eyes off the balconies of those same high rises, and the general behaviour of people during the weekend was a pretty stark reminder of exactly what's going on in the world today... sometimes we forget within our Church walls.

Got home from the coast on Monday, spent Tuesday doing nothing productive at all - bit of a waste of a day actually... then Wednesday I went down the coast again, another swim and then had morning tea with a friend before dropping in to see my mates at 107.3 Life FM. Thursday I mowed the lawns and did some stuff around the house before driving up to Toowoomba to have dinner with another friend.

Unfortunately as I was leaving home Thursday the electric window in the Falcon broke - I heard a snap, and then the window just slowly slid down. Not being able to lock the car properly I jumped in Mum's and drove to Toowoomba after organising to take the car into Bryan Byrt Ford on Friday.

So Friday took the car to Bryan Byrt's, which I usually do and then get dropped off at work. Well this time I went into the Brissie CBD just thinking it would be a few hours. I was having a service done as well, and it seems the same problem has occurred as the last time I had the car in there. Suspension issues - Bryan Byrts had made me buy new tyres after they told me the suspension was fixed, now those new front tyres after only 8000kms have been worn through again!!! The inside edge of the tyres are totally bald, for that to happen after just 3 months is pretty incredible. The people at Bryan Byrt's have no idea what's wrong and the car's gotta go back in on Monday. I'm going to be hitting them up for a new set of front tyres though, since they got me to buy them after fixing it last time! Either way, I think it's still gonna be expensive!

Today I went back down to Burleigh with my Bro for a swim in the surf and lunch by the beach. Good times.

Well expect some Indy photos, and some other ones I've taken during my time off. Maybe a few more random blogs from thoughts I've had in all the spare time this week.

Gold Coast - and Indy

Well 6 days on the Gold Coast sounds fantastic, packing up Dad's caravan and heading to Tallebudgera right on the creek and near the beach.

Though I'm hoping to get to the beach today, it's not the reason for our holiday... the Gold Coast Indy Carnival is this week, and Dad's there as one of the official chaplains, I'm just lucky enough to have a free 4 day pass!

So I've packed my Ford shirts, grabbed my Willowbank drags shirt to show off some local pride and I'm ready to hit the track. Plus I've got my camera so hopefully I'll have some nice shots to post next week.

Have a good one...

The Day Before....

Isn't it funny how on your last day before going on holidays you have to work extra hard, and stay an hour late to get stuff finished off and write a huge essay explaining the things you've been doing the last two weeks because the place has a good chance of falling apart because you aren't going to be there for a week and a half.

Woah what a long sentence.... big breath....

HOLIDAY TIME!

New Blog Layout

Holy dooly!!! Check out the new look!

I thought it was about time I took advantage of all the new features of Blogger Beta (which is now just the Google Blogger layouts). It was a little more indepth than I thought it would be, and once I started there was no stopping until it was up to my standards (which took a while).

If you want to know why the car up the top, well simply it's cause I just love 1969 Dodge Chargers... and that's just a really cool photo of one. I'm all about putting forth all the stuff God's put in my life, and the passion he's given me for cars has allowed me to move into ministries like sports chaplaincy, so I think putting my favourite car up there is in a small way giving God glory for the passions he's given me.

Well it's a much cleaner layout, so hope you like... let me know your thoughts.

Please pray for a friend in Mongolia

A letter from Jeff's parents here in Brisbane. Please uphold Jeff in your prayers

_____________________________________________________________
Dear Folk,
For some of you this will be an update on Jeff and for some of you it will be first time news.
Jeff was admitted to a private hospital in Hovd, Mongolia early last week with severe back pain. He could hardly walk and nor could he stay lying down for long. The pain started after he got extremely cold taking someone home from a wedding in the early hours of the morning on his motor bike, and gradually worsened despite medical care.

It seems to be a pinched nerve or some such as he is not sick and has no fever. We have been assured that he is in good care there. The Dr has a good reputation and the clinic is well run. His Field Leader had visited there recently and was impressed with it. Jeff himself was very concerned before admission, but it is evident now that he is relaxed about the care there.

Until yesterday he was not noticing any improvement except after injections for pain. But yesterday a neurologist from the capital had a clinic there and she ordered physio and acupuncture and new medication, and he was feeling slightly better last night, certainly in better spirits. They can’t xray as the machine has broken down.

Thanks to all who are praying. We are trusting for God’s glory to be manifest in this and that the devil’s wiles will be thwarted.

Jeff has a Mongolian couple, man and wife, in the room with him. They are from way out in the country and have never been anywhere past Hovd. They are enjoying Jeff’s MP3 player etc and marveling at modern technology. The clinic provides just one meal a day and relatives and friends bring other meals. Jeff shares his with them, and they share theirs with him. They’d never tasted fruit juice before, nor chocolate, and asked if they came from Australia. They didn’t realize such delights existed there in Hovd itself. He’s also been able to start sharing Better Food with them. Actually the lady has been a recipient of a hearing aid the team had given out on a visit to their little settlement.

Of course Jeff is unable to access the internet there and asked me to contact you all. We have no trouble ringing him on his mobile.
_____________________________________________________________

Digital Photography School Weekly Assignment

This week's assignment topic is quite close to my heart - coffee!!!

This week I need to give a really big thanks to Bon-Amici, a cafe in Toowoomba. I was up there last Tuesday replacing a server in the RACQ branch, and whenever I'm in Toowoomba (for work or otherwise), I always love to grab a coffee from Bon Amici - they use Merlo Coffee and make a great expresso.

This week I asked if I could jump behind the counter and take some shot of coffee being poured. However I made a rookie mistake, too high an ISO, and didn't account for light and movement... not one of those shots were any good.

However as I sat down to enjoy my expresso, I chose a table with some really unique lighting curtosy of a down light, and some sunlight coming in through the windows. So I still got a shot I really liked.

Flat on my back...

That's basically where I've been since Thursday. Without warning my back started aching again and I spent all day Friday lieing around home, unable to move.

I'm still sore, and had to be careful all weekend, but I am at work this morning - not planning on doing any lifting though. Only have today and tomorrow till I have a week and a halfs holidays so hopefully that will allow some more time for healing.

The only time I went out was Saturday night, went for a BBQ dinner at Southbank. I sprained my ankle when kicking a soccer ball with some mates...

Just my luck eh???

Finally a Gambian Blogger.

Every now and then I peruse the net for different blogs. One thing I keep an eye out for are bloggers who are from or in The Gambia.

The Gambia holds a special place in my heart after the time I spent there working as a missionary in 2004, they are a unique people, and I'm really glad to finally have found someone not only writing in The Gambia, but are Gambian themselves.

http://fromgambia.blogspot.com/ is maintained by Amran Gaye and here's his little blurb about himself.

I am a Gambian, currently working at YMCA Gambia as a sysadmin. I am interested in writing, and this is my attempt to present my country, and my experience living here.

I also worked at the YMCA Technical Training Institute while in The Gambia, I was helping to start the Christian Union there, so I know the campus that Amran is working at, and I'm pretty interested to find out what sort of Sys-Admin work is going on there.

He covers some current affairs from The Gam, but also has some pretty humerous stories which relate to the life-style in the Kombos region of The Gambia.

I've added him to my blogroll.

I just had too...

To round off everything Bathurst.

This is especially for those of you who don't really know the extent of the history of this race in Australia - watch this video, made as an intro to the Channel 7 coverage this year, these are the drivers speaking a bit about the cars and history, but the end bit which is a walk through the track is just unreal.

Some great footage of big crashes from over the years, and some great quotes from the drivers... I love Lowndsey when he's talking about Skyline; "Then you come to Skyline... ooooh crap!"

Good sum up :-P

Garry Coleman

Well it seems fitting to round up a 'Bathurst themed' weekend of blogging with a Thumbs Up to the V8 Supercar Chaplain Garry Coleman.

When it comes to my chaplaincy work I guess you can say Garry is my boss... he organises and runs the whole motorsport arm of Sports Chaplaincy Australia. Putting this on top of travelling to every V8 Supercar event, ministering to teams and officials, and also looking after some speedway racing in Sydney, Garry's got a pretty busy job. He's not a young man these days, but does a fantastic job.

Walking around the pits at Queensland Raceway with him this year I got a small idea of the respect the entire racing community has for him. Drivers, engineers, media personnel, officials, marshalls and corporate staff all stop and take the time to greet and have a few words with Garry - well it's more that Garry stops to take the time with them - always with warm words and signs of great friendships which have been built over the 15 years of Garry's work.

The ministry model that Garry has with the V8 circuit (and what Dad and I have adopted at the Willowbank drags) is one of building relationships. Through being there in the normal life struggles, emotions and personal highs of people you build an unprecedented relationship with them... it's through that you can start 'injecting' Christ into their lives - sometimes without them really realising it. It's something that's apparent in Garry's relationships with everyone at the track.

From big things like marrying Steven Johnson, leading memorials for Peter Brock and speaking at the funeral of Mark Porter last year, to the small things of catching up on the health of a track commentator and checking the well being of merchandise staff, it all incorporates Garry's intent on showing people Jesus.

Garry's one big public moment of the year is the opening prayer on Sunday morning at Bathurst (and recently at Indy as well), the Bathurst one is always telecast and this year's blew me away. He spoke and prayed with conviction, remembering the family of people affected by last years accidents, praying for the safety of all marshalls, drivers and team members, and acknowledging that we are all imperfect beings who need God - even if we ignore that fact. And to top it all off it's proclaimed proudly in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord - AMEN.

Garry on the big screen at Bathurst 2005

He speaks with such God given authority, so that not one of the few million or so people watching world-wide could doubt this man's faith in God.

Garry's a great role model for me - and this is probably longer than most 'Thumbs Ups' but I can't say enough good stuff about this bloke...

1st - 2nd - 3rd - FORD!

With about 25 laps to go in yesterdays Bathurst 1000 I was thinking "This has been an uneventful, almost boring race."

Apart from it looking like a Ford victory, the first 135 laps really hadn't provided much to write about... sure seeing the Number 1 Rick Kelly/Garth Tander car struggle all day with brake issues was nice - the trip across the sand at 300km/h would have been a hairy one for Rick earlier in the race. Seeing the pace of the #6 FPR and #888 Vodaphone Falcons was heart warming, but nothing had really happened to make the race memorable.


Then it rained....

The small shower of rain suddenly changed the whole outcome of the race - within an instant Jason Bright went from needing an extra pitstop, to having a good change at an outright win, then only to slip on the wet track, hit the wall and end his race. A small clip of the wall by Mark Winterbottom meant the #6 FPR Falcon ended up with a flat tyre and took a hair raising ride across the sand at the bottom of Conrods Straight, leaving the pole sitter to struggle to a 10th finishing position.

Rain also took Russel Ingal and Mark Skaife out (two of the most experienced drivers in the field) when they slid at Regents Park and hit the wall - almost in tandem.

That left Craig Lowndes, Steven Johnson, James Courtney and Greg Murphy fighting hard for the last 15 or so laps of the race, all still on slick (dry weather) tyres on a damp and slippery track. The skill levels of these guys to fight each other for position without slipping into a wall or each other was exceptional. Steven Johnson's move of Lowndes at the end of Pit Straight to take the lead was fantastic! Unfortunately he slid a touch wide the next lap and both Lowndes and Courtney were able to pass him.

Those last laps were nerve racking - you had no idea if the next corner would be where they slid off, ran into each other or made a successful pass... 3 Fords up front with a Holden trailing close behind ready to spoil the show if any of the Ford drivers made a mistake.


In the end it was the second closest finish in Bathurst History (last year was the closest), but 2007 will be the most competitive finish, with 4 cars able to take the lead anytime on the last lap, and 10 cars on the lead lap at the end of the race.

Lowndes and Whincup made it back-to-back wins, which is just awesome. I've said before I'm becoming a big Jamie Whincup fan, and I've always been a Lowndes fan so I'm pretty happy they won. However, I wouldn't have minded if James Courtney/David Besnard had won, and would have been pretty impressed if the win had gone to Steven Johnson/Will Davison.


Having an all Ford podium is excellent - a proud day for Ford fans!



P.S - Some awesome photography from http://www.v8supercars.com.au/


P.P.S - Adding this youtube video - a news report with a great round up of the race. Footage of the Kelly off, Winterbottoms trip across the sand and the amazing pass Johnson put of Lowndes.

It's On...

Bathurst!


I love it, I live for it, every year since I can remember I have been excited, anxious and totally pumped for a full weekend of racing on the world's most exciting race track .

With Lowndes and Whincup winning Sandown this year, it's looking good for another Ford win. I'm really into Whincup's racing this year, I think he's a young guy who has an amazing talent. To have Lowndes and Whincup in the same car certainly sets up the most potent driving combination in the entire field... both drivers could still win the 2007 Driver's Championship.


Will Davison is someone else who's really stepping up to the plate this year. He's the No.1 driver for Dick Johnson Racing, relegating Steven Johnson to co-driver. Will's been consistent in practice so far and is looking good for a nice Top 10 Lap later today. The new paint job on the cars looks great too.

Also in typical Bathurst style, there has already been one big crash - in qualifying yesterday Damien White clipped the wall coming into the Esses, the force of the impact knocking him out. The car then careered down the mountain before slamming the calico wall. It tore the car apart.

Damien White won’t be returning to the circuit this weekend after a horrifying crash at the top of the Mountain. Damien lost consciousness during the accident and was airlifted from the circuit shortly after the crash. He is now stable and under observation.

It is a blow to the team and Damien’s co-driver, Christian Murchison. The damage done to the #14 Team BOC Falcon means that it is unlikely that the chassis will be repaired in time for Indy in a fortnight, let alone Sunday’s 1000 kilometre classic.
From V8Supercars.com

So bring on another awesome weekend of Australian motor racing history. Bathurst always brings on memorable moments, heart break and overjoyed success...

Looking Over the Shoulder (Part IV)

Final Session of Rob Coyle's speaking from Psalm 16 at Recharge...

~David's Prophecy

v10: because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

-let your Holy One see decay

• Acts 13:35-37 - Paul talks about the Holy One again, David is here in Psalm 16 looking forward to Jesus.
• The Hebrew word used here for decay means like an animal trap - caught to the point of death.

-you will not abandon me to the grave

• Because Jesus will not be caught in this trap of death, he can reach down and lift us out of our pit of decay.
• The great thing about being a Christian is the assurance that as we die Jesus is waiting to take us into heaven.

~David's Pleasure

v11: You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

• Three tenses

PAST PLEASURE:

-You have made known to me...

• David is saying "God, you've helped me to discern and that has helped me in times past"
• The Hebrew used for know here was used in Genesis and is the same word used to describe Adam and Eve's sexual relationship:: "And Adam knew Eve"
• Describes a deep deep intimacy. Like a husband and wife.

PRESENT PLEASURE:

-you will fill me with joy in your presence...

• David is saying "God when I spend time with you now it brings me unmeasurable pleasure.
• How often do we really get pleasure from our time with God?
• Are our church services providing that time?

FUTURE PLEASURE:

-eternal pleasures at your right hand.

• The Living Bible Translation says "And the pleasure of living with you forever"
• All sin will be gone
• Not just an absence of sin, but also the overwhelming presence of God.
• Something David looks forward to, as should we.

SEEK INTIMACY WITH JESUS!!!!