Archive for March, 2005
Friday, March 11th, 2005
Can’t hardly get here from there
I never knew making travel arrangments could be so difficult! Trying to get conferees to our upcoming web ministry conference has been quite a challenge. Getting from Kyrgyzstan to Budapest is more than a trivial matter. No Hungarian embassy in Kyrgyzstan, so you have to go to Kazakstan for a visa from the embassy there. And that doesn’t even count obtaining a Letter of Invitation and the processing delay.
Mali? Even harder. The closest Hungarian embassy is in Rabat - two countries away in Morocco. I hope my friend Oumar can make it.
Makes me appreciate my U.S. passport!
No Comments » - Posted in General by Jerry
Wednesday, March 9th, 2005
I’m not paying for Iraq this year, kind of.
After reading America’s Secret War by George Friedman, I’m not as sore about America being in Iraq as I originally was. If George Friedman is right, George W. was more than a bit disingenuous in his public statement of America’s need to invade Iraq. He didn’t really believe there were WMD’s, he just needed a way to erode Al Qaeda’s support base with a show of US power in the region. Global diplomacy and American sentiments being what they are, you just can’t go around stating this plainly, though. I suppose a superpower has to do what a superpower has to do…
But this year I don’t have to pay for it!
I just finished my second night of calculating my U.S. taxes. YUCK!! This used to be easy, but moving overseas made it a mess. I started using tax software, too, for an extra dose of annoyment. At least there is one good thing about the mess; less taxes.
In fact, as a bona fide resident of another country I can exclude up to $160,000 of earned income. We slid quite easily under that high bar which means we don’t pay any U.S. federal income tax.
Which should theoretically mean the Hertzlers aren’t funding the war in Iraq this year.
However we still pay our fare share of American operating expenses via Social Security so don’t think we have a completely free ride.
2 Comments » - Posted in General by Jerry
Tuesday, March 8th, 2005
25% of school out sick!
Last Friday 25% of the school was out sick during the third round of flu in our community. This time Andrew and Audrey both caught it and cashed in on their sick days. We also cashed in on a visit to the doctor, something we haven’t had to do much since living here.
Audrey’s waiting for me now, her next opponent in Mancala.
1 Comment » - Posted in General by Jerry
Sunday, March 6th, 2005
New comment feature added to this blog.
Grant showed me how to add drop-down comments to my blog. Thanks, Grant!
Now you won’t have to wait for another page to load if you want to read comments on this blog.
Try it; click “comments” below.
2 Comments » - Posted in General by Jerry
Saturday, March 5th, 2005
Would you trust your child to this person?
I had a laugh when I ran across this one!
Here is a picture of the learning disabilities center teachers at our school.
1 Comment » - Posted in General by Jerry
Friday, March 4th, 2005
Cave slide
The best thing about the cave field trip was the hill in front of the cave!
Today Tom and I drove the 6th and 7th grade cave field trip. It was a snowy mess, and when we got there the boys found a snow slide within 5 seconds.
I went down twice myself. It was a lot of fun.
The cave? Interesting if you’ve never seen a cave before.
[Click the photo or click here for a video of the cave slide.]
1 Comment » - Posted in General by Jerry
Friday, March 4th, 2005
More snow, more dog entertainment
More snow today meant Annie was ready to play again. I managed to get it on video if you’re interested. Click the photo or click here to see it.
No Comments » - Posted in Annie the dog by Jerry
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2005
English Club at the Law School
Tonight I MC’ed the English Club at the Law School. It was a small, fun group.
Besides speaking English in small groups we played “Skit In A Bag.” Each group got a bag with several items in it and had to create a short skit using everything in the bag and everyone in their group.
If you click the picture (or here) it will take you to a few more pictures of the night.
No Comments » - Posted in General by Jerry
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2005
An interesting perspective on the Emerging Church
During the last year I’ve been following the Emerging Church. It pains me to admit that the movement is growing in the generation behind me; I’m no longer in the generation on the cutting edge of culture. But some people older than me help lead this movement, too. Jeff pointed me to an article that gives an interesting perspective on how the new church fits into the rest of the picture.
Click here for the article.
[Excerpt]
You have feelings of fear and dread. Your … son has gone away to the “big university.” Will it be a negative influence? Will he reject his … heritage?
He returns home for his first break, and you begin to notice some strange and disturbing patterns. As you ask him about his faith, he’s elusive. At church on Sunday, he seems uncomfortable and irritable. You begin wondering if this is it – the moment every Christian parent dreads. Has your son abandoned the faith?
At Sunday dinner, you muster the courage to ask. And his response floors you. “Dad and Mom, I’ve got something to share with you. I’m frustrated with church. It doesn’t tackle the deep issues I wrestle with.” Here it comes. This is it. You grab each other’s hand. And then he says it.
“Dad and Mom, what ever happened to the old hymns? My campus director plays guitar, and he’s got all these old hymns that I never hear in church anymore, and they are so relevant to my struggles. And what ever happened to the Lord’s Supper? Man, that’s the good stuff…that’s where I can lay it on the line with Jesus and bring him my fears and dreams. And what ever happened to the Bible? When I was young, I loved hearing the stories and struggles of faith. They reached me. I wish our pastor told fewer jokes and focused on some of the real life stories in the Bible and the church.”
You don’t know whether to cry or laugh.
No Comments » - Posted in General by Jerry
Tuesday, March 1st, 2005
5 things you must do
Today at lunch I had a conversation with someone who had just reinstalled Windows on his home computer. Here are five things I told him he should have running:
1. Anti-spyware software. This is no longer optional. Spybot , Microsoft, or Ad-Aware.
2. Anti-virus software. Norton, Authentium, Panda.
3. Firewall. Zone Alarm or Windows XP SP2’s firewall.
4. The latest update to your version of Windows (or Mac OS, or Linux, etc.)
5. A personal backup plan.
Leave me a comment if you want to know more.
