Tell me what you think

So I had both main interviews today.  Both of them went well.  Both offices want to hire me, which is a pretty cool position in which to find oneself.

The first was with the Social Security Administration.  Nice folks, and the job seems like a typical boring office bureaucratic sort of position, a lot like what I did at AFLAC.  I'd be a GS-11 again in two years.

The second was with the cheese factory.  I'd be a supervisor in a very challenging, fast paced environment, and I'd get to wear a cool hairnet every day.

The starting pay is about the same for both jobs. In the SSA job, promotion to GS11 is guaranteed within two years, but it's fairly stagnant after that.  In the cheese factory, no promotion is guaranteed, but they are looking for people who can step up to the managerial level.

So which one should I take?

Tell me what life will look like, From My Position.

Ted Kennedy is dead

I will say nothing more than this:

Rest in peace, Mary Jo.

 

And that's life, From My Position.

Tomorrow is a big day

Tomorrow I have a follow up interview at a cheese factory, where they want me to be a packaging supervisor, and an interview with the Social Security Administration.

Please pray that God will grant me the wisdom to know the correct choice to make for my family.

It's odd.  I could work for a cheese factory less than a mile from my house.  10am to 7pm is the typical hours, for pretty good money.... or I could work for the Social Security Administration for equally good money, 20 miles from my house, with the security of working for the gov't and 13 years of government service counting for retirement.  It's a weird situation because both of them are actively trying to get me to work for them, so it's a bit of a bidding war between the two.  We'll see what happens.

In the meantime, this song has been running through my head for no particular reason all day long:

Don't Damn Me, by Guns n' Roses

GnR trivia:  This is the only GnR song never performed live.

And that's life, from my position.

Changing the Debate

If you haven't read Sarah Palin's statement on the ObamaCare, it's here on Facebook.  Go read it now.

Even if you haven't read it, you've heard the phrase "death panels."  That, to the best of my knowledge, is a Sarah Palin original.  The 'death panels' she speaks of refer not to any specific bureaucracy mentioned in the thousand page monstrosity of a bill, but instead to the inevitable result of rationed health care. 

Our forefathers fought and died to keep government out of their lives, to the greatest extent possible.   Rationed health care -- and let's not kid ourselves, that's what this health care 'reform' is all about, allows government intrusion into the most personal and difficult parts of our lives.  Who gets to decide whose life is worth living, and whose isn't?  Would my little niece, born months prematurely, who has survived and thrived against all odds, have made the cut?  Would my brother, who died of leukemia, have been given a vial of morphine and sent home after his diagnosis? 

No thanks. 

Okay, enough of a rant on that topic.  I find it fascinating that Palin is changing the terms of the debate, using nothing more than her Facebook page.

The hippies used to mutter about "three chords and the truth," although, like most of what the hippie freaks claim as their own, credit belongs to someone else -- a country singer named Harlan Howard, to be exact.  At any rate, three chords and the truth has mutated.  Maybe in 2009 it's all about a Facebook page and the truth.

And that's life, From My Position.

Cut the grass, got stung by a bee.

I guess it's an even trade.  I destroyed his house, he died in a kamikaze suicide attack.

Fair trade, I suppose.

It's a minor irritation for me, but to the bee, it was worth dying for.

And that's life, From My Position.

Living Your Faith - Peachtree Presbyterian

This article came to my attention recently from our friend Jawan's blog:

Peachtree Pastor: "We Will Care for Any Newborn"

Matt Pearl

METRO ATLANTA, Ga. -- Last weekend an Atlanta pastor made a promise that stunned his congregation and most of the people who heard it.

In a speech that discussed abortion, the President, and the sanctity of life, the most provocative statement from Pastor Vic Pentz of Peachtree Presbyterian Church came towards sermon's end:

"I make a promise to you now and I don't want you to keep this a secret," the pastor pronounced, "the Peachtree Presbyterian Church will care for any newborn baby you bring to this church.

"We will be the family to find a home for that child, and there's no limit on this. You can tell your friends, you can tell your family, you can tell the whole world ..."

Reflected Pentz a week later, "I seem to have touched a nerve by saying that to the congregation."

It's a speech he repeated this past Sunday, and it can be found on the church's web site under the sermon title, "Ethics of Life".

Pentz says the church will partner with Bethany Christian Services, which promotes itself as "the nation's largest adoption agency" and will handle the "how" of making this happen.

But Pentz didn't mention any of this in his sermon, saying he preferred it to stand out as a "stark, dramatic statement" amidst an already-controversial speech to his congregation.

11Alive's Matt Pearl spoke with Peggy Baird, the director of adoption services for the non-profit Families First service agency. Baird watched Pentz' sermon and said that, while she admired the sentiment, he didn't delve into the legal and psychological complications that go into giving up a child for adoption.

"You can't do all of that in one sermon," Baird said, "but I think if he's going to pursue this with his congregation, he's got to do ongoing education."

Pentz says he's planning to do just that, bringing in a speaker from Bethany Christian Services to talk to the congregation this August.
The sermon



Think about that one for a while. Most of the people reading this blog are pro-life, as I am. I've spent most of my adult life in the pursuit of defending the defenseless. This is taking it to a whole new level. It's not just tsk-tsking at the evil of the abortion industry -- it's saving a child's life.

How many of us are willing to take the next step and actually adopt a child into our homes that would otherwise have been murdered? I don't know that I am, at least not yet... but I should be.
That's living your faith.

The last orders we received were to go into all the world and make disciples of all men. This is doing exactly that. I'm proud as can be that it's a Presbyterian church leading the way, especially with our reputation as the 'frozen chosen.'


And that's life, From My Position.

God's Will and My First Top Five list

First off... for those of you that are Christians, please pray for God's will regarding Furball. I won't say any more online, and you don't need to know any more than that anyway. Just pray that God's will be done.

Hmmm.... I vaguely recall some theologian, probably a dead Scottish or German guy, saying that was how we're supposed to pray - "Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven."

Oh, waitaminnit. That was Jesus, in that whole Lord's Prayer thing.

Sometimes it's best to put away the books from Calvin, Knox, Piper, and Driscoll, cool as they are, and just read the Bible.




And now for something completely different...

Top Five Things That are Cool about our house in Belmont

1) Reverse slope defense to the south. Clear 3,000+ meter fields of fire to the north. Really, really useful for when the zombies attack.

2) The near-constant scent of cow poop on the breeze means that yeah, I can wait until tomorrow to take a shower.

3) Watching the waves of soybeans in the wind out our back door makes me feel like I'm in a Lee Greenwood video.

4) I can sit outside, in August, and not die of heatstroke.

5) 2600 square feet. 'Nuff said.

And that's life, From My Position

My first blog post, From My Position

Well, here we go. I've crossed over to the dark side, Lord Vader. I've created a blog.

Most all the blogs I see are family oriented, with lots of posts about what the little ones are doing, how day-to-day life is proceeding, etc. This one will be as well, but it will be 'from my position.'

"From my position" is a military term. When the Bradley or tank commander sees a target he wants to kill, he gives a "fire command," which is very abbreviated, formal way of saying "Holy ****! THERE THEY ARE, SHOOT 'EM!!"

If the gunner can't identify the target, can't make the gun go bang, or there's just not enough time to give the full fire command (all 3 seconds of it) the commander takes over, announces "From my position!" and shoots.

That's what this blog will be.

Me, shooting from my position.

It won't be particularly politically correct, but neither shall I go out of the way to offend. If I do offend you, learn to deal with it. Because it's about life 'from my position,' there will be a healthy dose of politics, some theology, some football, and some just plain weirdness.

That's life From My Position.



Inside the turret of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle