The Roblog

The Ultimate Healing.

2008-01-21T10:41:00.000-05:00

Been thinking a lot about our niece Melanie and her family. No big surprise considering the seriousness of the situation. As much as we all want to see her restored to health in this life, its a very real possibility that she will receive the "Ultimate Healing" from the Great Physician Himself. I have done a lot of thinking about the whole matter of healing recently. Any healing on this side of glory is only temporary. Think about the two examples where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and also the daughter of Jairus the ruler. Yes, they were miraculously healed not just from illness but from death itself. This healing was only temporary. They still had to grow old and go through death again for the second time. The ultimate healing takes place when we are in the presence of our Saviour at last. What a God we serve that has come in the form of His only Son to provide forgiveness of sin and eternal life. Have you trusted Him as Savior and recognized Him as the only means of salvation?

I haven't heard this song in quite some time and didn't even remember all the words but it started ringing in my head the past few days. I was able to locate the lyrics online and actually listen to the song as sung by Wayne Watson. Powerful stuff as I thought of Mel and her family with all they are going through. Here are the words...

I'm trying hard not to think you unkind
But Heavenly Father
If you know my heart
Surely you can read my mind
Good people underneath the sea of grief
Some get up and walk away
Some will find ultimate relief

Chorus
Home Free, eventually
At the ultimate healing we will be Home Free
Home Free, oh I've got a feeling
At the ultimate healing
We will be Home Free

Out in the corridors we pray for life
A mother for her baby, A husband for his wife
Sometimes the good die young
It's sad but true
And while we pray for one more heartbeat
The real comfort is with you

You know pain has little mercy
And suffering's no respecter of age, of race or position
I know every prayer gets answered
But the hardest one to pray is slow to come
Oh Lord, not mine, but Thy will be done

Let it be...

Chorus
Home Free, eventually
At the ultimate healing we will be Home Free
Home Free, oh I've got a feeling
At the ultimate healing
We will be Home Free

Home Free, eventually
At the ultimate healing gonna be Home Free
Home Free, oh its more than a feeling
At the ultimate healing
Gonna be Home Free

Please continue to pray >> MLMILLER & FAM

Melanie's Updates.

2007-07-05T07:24:00.000-04:00

Link to >> MLMILLER & FAM

I can see in the "stats" section of Marty and Lori's blog that a lot of you are using this blog to get the link to MLMILLER & FAM. I really don't mind but perhaps you could eliminate this step by adding them to your "favorites" in internet explorer or "bookmarks" in firefox. Just a suggestion.
Melanie has sure been through a lot. My heart just aches for her and the family. We continue to hope and trust in the Living God that He will provide the needed grace for this major interruption in their lives. I tried to imagine having a whole summer turned upside down by something like this! We plan to leave today on a little vacation to my brother Ben's place near Lynchburg VA. Its hard not to feel guilty considering the situation with Mel and the family. Our thoughts and prayers will certainly be with them even while we are gone.
Up to this point, this has to be my favorite picture taken from Mel's hospital room. Doesn't it get to you?

Mel and her youngest sibling Jana....

Please Pray...

2007-06-24T08:25:00.000-04:00

How does one go about coping with illness when its pretty close to home and the person affected is so young? For those of you that have not heard, my brother Marty and his wife Lori have been facing one of the hardest trials in life. Having to deal with one of their 5 children having a brain tumor is way up there in the category of “tragedies”. Although the surgery went very well, we now have the agonizing wait to get the oncologist’s report on what type of tumor it is that they took from her head. My heart just aches for them during this time of uncertainty. I have thought long and hard about how fragile life on this earth can be. I am so thankful for friends who continue to care and pray. What would we ever do without such support at times like this? This post goes out as a request that you would continue to lift them to the Lord as they await the report. Our hope is for a miracle that the report ends up better than expected. More importantly that God would provide much needed continued grace for the days ahead. I have already sensed that “amazing grace” in the life of Melanie and the family.

We have set up a blog for them to post updates on Melanie. There are a few pics on there as well.
Click here> MLMILLER

THE NEW ROBLOG!

2007-05-25T13:22:00.000-04:00

THE ROBLOG HAS MOVED! CLICK HERE> "THE ROBLOG"

Blown Up!

2007-04-28T14:48:00.000-04:00

Check out the latest Blog update as of 4/28/07. Here> The Roblog

Dont forget to bookmark my new blog URL.

A Blog Change.

2007-04-09T21:44:00.000-04:00

Here at the Roblog we are in a process of change. The words "clean" and "better" are what I like to see in a blog and/or website. I will admit that this blog service has been very good but when you find something even better why not go with it? I have made an executive decision to switch to "Wordpress" for all my blogging. For those of you that visit the Roblog often, don't get too concerned. I have imported all of my archived posts from this blog into my new Wordpress blog. Yes, all those exciting crabbing trips are still on there for your viewing pleasure! And yes, even the various wedding posts are still there. Just use the handy "search" tool to find just about any post. As far as my old xanga site goes, I will no longer be updating it. It will only be used to provide a link to my new wordpress blog.
How can I find your new blog? I am glad you asked! Click the link below and begin to enjoy a new, and hopefully, more frequently updated "ROBLOG"!
AWAY YOU GO! >> THE ROBLOG

Various and Sundry.

2007-04-07T20:09:00.000-04:00

The longer it goes before I do an entry on here the harder it is to think of what to say. Oh well, this will probably be a bit disjointed.
A lot of activities coming up. I shall list a few:
1. Regional student convention this coming week in PA. We plan to stay up there to watch some of the events that Brendon and Andrew are involved in.
2. A wedding in VA next weekend.
3. Our annual school festival is next month.
4. Tax time is here. Oh joy!
Other news:
It snowed early this morning! What a wild beginning to this spring. In the past 2 weeks we have had temps around 80 degrees and a forecast over night saying as low as 28 degrees! They cancelled the sunrise service for tomorrow. I can't fault them for that decision.
Here is a quick picture of our beloved dog "Kibi".... (pronounced "key bee")
This dog looks very docile in the pic below but he has been involved in a rather disgusting activity lately. He drags the skeletal remains of a deer carcass out of the woods and on to the front lawn. Its not my idea of a nice yard ornament and he comes around smelling rather repulsive! Hopefully he will tire of such antics real soon...

Typical This Winter.

2007-03-16T15:35:00.000-04:00

Here is the typical sort of weather system we have been having all winter. Plenty of snow just north of us in all of PA! Oh well, lets just forget it and get on with spring. I am soooo ready! I can hardly wait till its time to fire up the boat and start crabbing again.

Business and Bible Quizzing.

2007-03-09T20:14:00.000-05:00

Have any of you been aware of the recent slow down in construction? I have been self-employed since about 1990 and have seen a few slack periods but nothing to compare to the way this winter has been. I know many guys that would probably say they have had the slowest winter ever. Someone said we are in the midst of a "correction" as far as real estate goes. It makes me realize how blessed I am to have had a fairly busy winter with electrical work. I am not sure why because I don't feel I deserve it any better than anyone else. I just want to go on record here to give all the praise and thanks to God. He really is the One that controls such things and I don't want to take it for granted. He may choose to take me through some slow times. Spring is nearly here and hopefully it will turn things around!
Today was the end of the big Bible quizzing event at Black Rock Retreat. Our students did admirably considering the competition they were up against. Brendon and Andrew both won "All Star" quizzer awards! They did great even though their teams didn't win any trophies. It is such a blessing to see the eternal Word of God memorized and imprinted in the lives of so many young folks!

Way to go Brendon!

Way to go Andrew!

MennoDiscuss

2007-02-02T22:32:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite places to "hang out" online is here> MennoDiscuss Comps
You can often find me posting or replying on various computer related topics. I really enjoy the various discussions and they can be very informative and helpful.
Looks like a frigid week is coming up for us next week. I hope I can find enough inside work!

Today's Activities.

2007-01-20T19:29:00.000-05:00

I got the idea for this post from here> "Random Pitches"....
Here is a summary of my day:
1. Got up at 7:30.
2. Made a quick pot of coffee before rushing to get Andrew to a friends house so they could go up to the basketball tourney in PA.
3. Came home and drank a cup of the coffee mentioned in point 2.
4. Continued working on a friend's PC trying to get Windows Updates installed on it. It was horribly behind on those!
5. Got dressed for a wedding about 40 minutes south of here.
6. Continued to struggle with the PC to get service pack 2 for Win XP installed on it.
7. Left at 10:00AM for the wedding.
8. Stopped at WAWA to fuel up the van with gas and me with more coffee.
9. The wedding and reception meal was nice and we left at 2:30 to come home.
10. Got home, changed clothes and continued working on the PC and got all Windows updates installed including IE 7. Also put the latest version of Firefox and AIM on it.
11. We continue to wait for Brendon to get back from the basketball tournament in PA. In the first game they played Brendon scored a game winning 3 point shot as time was running out! Andrew was there helping to cheer them on today.
Short delay...
12. Its now coming up on 10:00PM this Sat night and the guys are back.
13. Its time for me to wrap this entry up and get busy studying for the Sunday School lesson for the men's class I teach tomorrow.
14. I often start with some commentary found at this website> Christian Standard

Winter?

2007-01-06T19:47:00.000-05:00

This looks more like the end of March...so says our daffodils!

What a warm day we have had! I guess winter is going to skip us this year. The record high temp at Philadelphia WAS 71 degrees set back in 1950. The new record, as of today, is officially 73 degrees. It seems that the prediction of a mild winter last fall is coming true.
I should have updated sooner since we returned from our trip to Alabama over Christmas. Yes we made it home. Getting back to the grind of work for me has been tough but at least the weather has been nice to work in. School has resumed and on we go to the business of schedules etc. Basketball games, Bible quizzing, to name a few.

Heading Toward Home.

2006-12-27T11:23:00.000-05:00

We are on our way home! Its now 11:30AM and we are traveling north on I-65. We are soon going to pass near Birmingham AL. Sometime in the early to mid afternoon we plan to dine at a Cracker Barrel. The weather is sunny and traffic is moving right along. We are not yet sure if we will use Maynard's place as a motel on the way through. I figured if we got near their place by 9:00PM or earlier we might just keep on going home but if its after 10:00 we might just stay overnight at their place. Many thanks to Jon and Dawn for a very memorable Christmas away from home. The visit will certainly be remembered and your hospitality was wonderful. It was sad to have to say good bye. More updates to follow...

In case you are curious how I am able to update while traveling, I will copy the chat I had with a friend below...

Hey there Beka....

We are about midway through Alabama on I 65
I have your Verizon wireless broadband card in the other laptop and shared it out to my 2nd laptop through a network switch that I brought along.
This allows more than 1 laptop to be online at the same time.
Conrad is on the other one playing Rook online with other real people.
The website for internet multi-player rook is here> DuelBoard

Beka(10:28:20 AM): That's pretty cool. I'm glad it's working for you. Is it fast enough for you?

Rm65 (10:30:00 AM): Well, I have not found it to be much faster than dial-up but its certainly better than nothing and the portability of it is still worth a lot.

Beka (10:30:34 AM): That's what I like about it.

Rm65 (10:31:23 AM): I really appreciate the use of it on this trip. Being online sure helps the miles to go by faster...

Beka (10:31:35 AM): Enjoy it!

Christmas Day.

2006-12-25T18:32:00.000-05:00

Christmas day has been very enjoyable. After a light breakfast we had a time of singing Christmas carols and read the Christmas story from Luke 2. Then it was soon time to begin preparations for lunch. A few friends from church were expected to join us. The meal consisted of deep fried turkey, baked sweet potatoes, collard greens, sliced ham, mixed vegetables, cranberry salad, pie, ice cream, and cake. After the meal there was more time for games, puzzles, and some playing guitar and singing.

Injecting seasoning and preparing the turkey.

Cooking underway...

Partaking of lunch...

Jesse found a new friend...

Another rook game...

A New Couple!

2006-12-24T17:23:00.000-05:00

I know this is a quick post right after the last one but I just couldn't resist!
Here is the happy new couple. Click to enlarge the picture...

Katrina and Deaniel...

Christmas Away Part 2.

2006-12-24T15:40:00.000-05:00

Sunday afternoon...
We managed to arrive at Jon and Dawn's arround 1:00am Friday night after leaving Maynard's at around 8:30 that morning. We certainly didn't break any records getting there. Frequent stops and a few wrong turns were part of the journey. The big holdup was a tractor trailer wreck on I-65 in AL. I think it even caught fire. No wonder it stopped traffic for about an hour!
The following day was simply gorgeous. Bright sunshine with temps near 70. We spent some of the day working on a big pile of trees that were destroyed during the hurricanes that took place around here the past few years. A big fire was started to burn up most of them.
We really enjoyed church this morning with the service being about Christmas. We enjoyed the message that spoke of Joseph cooperating with the plan of God that brought Jesus into the world. The challenge was given that we need to allow God to invade our lives to bring about His purpose. Sometimes our plans/goals can get in the way of what God wants to do in our lives. Joseph surely had ideas/plans that got interrupted or at least put on hold.

Here are a few highlights.....

Plenty of games to play...

Even a rook game broke out...

The traditional jigsaw puzzle was under way...

And of course plenty of great southern food! This was called "southwest soup".

The bonfire...

A beautiful sunset...

Christmas Away From Home Part 1.

2006-12-21T21:21:00.000-05:00

This is the first official entry of our Christmas away from home. We arrived late Tues night 1:30AM (Wed morn) at Maynard's. We have had a relaxing and enjoyable time thus far. We plan to leave tomorrow morn for Atmore, AL. Hopefully we can get going at least by 8:00AM. It will be a 12-13 hr trip.
Below are some highlights from here at Maynard's.

Dinner is under way...

I bet grandpa and grandma back in DE would have loved this...

Brianna with grandpa...

Aint she a sweety!

Kristan lost a bottom front tooth tonight...

Brendon and Karl.

Maynard's have DSL and wireless router. Huraay!

One of their dogs recently had pups...

Christmas

2006-12-09T17:15:00.000-05:00

Nothing puts me in the mood for Christmas quite like good Christmas music! I am making use of "AOL Radio". They have a beautiful station on it called "XM Classical Christmas". Yes, XM Radio is part of AOL's service and AOL is free if you have broadband or another dial-up service. You will find quite an assortment of artists on there. A couple you might recognize is "The Kings Singers" and "Choir of Kings College". For those of you still on dial-up it might still work but not sure. I guess you could try it and see.

Meetings To Remember.

2006-11-20T23:48:00.000-05:00

How does one begin to summarize the week of meetings we have just been
through? It was a week that will never be forgotten. Even our
evangelist (bro. Lavern Swartz) said "I will leave here different than
when I came". What a great job he did in reminding us that "God is
good...all the time!" and "All the time...God is good!". Some
highlights also included the reminder that God loved us enough to
provide a plan for our lost and helpless condition. Yes, our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ IS THAT PLAN! The Christian life is all about a
relationship. The most important relationship we will ever know. Our
walk with Christ and Him living in us and through us! His resurrection
gives us the power to be victorious over the bondage/grip of sin.
Praise be to God! "How can you set there like that?!" and "Are you with
me?" What a week it was indeed. So many lives changed. I was so blessed
when some dear people we have been praying for made decisions for
Christ on Sunday evening. Lets keep them in our prayers that satan
would be hindered in his attempt to discourage them and bring doubts.
Even though satan is still a real enemy for us, I am glad he is
ultimately a defeated foe.

Helpful Internet Tips.

2006-11-15T17:34:00.000-05:00

Recently I have ran across some new internet related items that you should consider. I will list them below..

   #1. The new Internet Explorer version 7 is out! It is greatly
improved and includes a lot of features that Firefox has had for a long
time. The main reason to upgrade to IE 7 is mainly for the added
security. You can get the new IE 7 by going through the "tools" tab on
the top of Internet Explorer then click "windows update" then choose
"express".

   #2. Firefox version 2 is out! Firefox is largely responsible for why
Micro$oft has pushed ahead in coming out with IE 7. This of course
means that Firefox has been great competition against IE 7! Click here
to get the latest version of Firefox> Firefox!

   #3. A Free Internet Filter is available! I have recently came across
a decent free internet filter called K9 Web Protection. Click here to
download> K9

Random Thoughts...

2006-11-12T00:07:00.000-05:00

How do I go about summing up the past few weeks? Not an easy thing. Currenty I have been doing a little deer hunting with the boys. It just doesn't seem like deer season with temps pushing 70 degrees! This week will be very busy with revival meetings starting this Monday night. Lavern Swartz will be our visiting minister. I trust/pray it will be a good week. I am sure it will be worth the effort. We had 2 recent birthday celebrations this month already. Brendon turned 16 on the 10th and Byron turned 11 on the 2nd! Both of them have been a blessing to our family. They are each unique in their personalities. Brendon, of course, is all pumped about getting his drivers lic soon. His schedule right now makes me weary just thinking about it. His days are just crammed with school, basketball, dirvers ed, youth activities etc. etc. I hope he finds his way through it all in one piece. Byron is our little "brainiac" who seems to devour school work with ease. We are not sure if he will keep it up with all the tough stuff ahead but I am sure he will give it his all! He is also very organized and particular with his stuff. Not sure where he gets that from. Can't be from me. Just take a look at my work truck. No, please don't! As far as work goes, we have had a busy year. I feel blessed in that regard because construction has slowed a good bit recently. Seems like houses just are not selling like they were and a lot of guys are struggling to keep busy. Makes we wonder if its just a matter of time till things slow up for us. I am glad God is in control of it all. Yes, even the outcome of the recent elections. It would be easy to get discouraged by it all if we look at things in the short term. The Bible predicts that in the last days things will get worse and even terrible before they get better. It also promises a glorious future for those who endure to the end! Thanks be to Jesus who has made it all possible. Now is not the time to be getting all down and depressed. This sin-sick world we find ourselves in will soon be over. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords will someday bring an end to all hatred, sin, and suffering. Oh what a day, glorious day, that will be....

Testing A New Blog Editor.

2006-11-02T22:16:00.000-05:00

I have found a new plugin for Firefox that makes updating my blog a little easier. Its called "Performancing" for Firefox! Maybe this will help me keep my blog updated more often! By the way, my niece Kendra just got her own blog going! I am elated to say the least! She sure has a lot of interesting stuff to keep us posted with. There are very few dull moments on a dairy farm. Click below for Kendra's brand new blog and give her some encouragement in this new endeavor.

>> Chadkenlog

One more thing, have you all checked out the new version of Firefox? Version 2.0 is simply awesome! How can it get any better?

Late Season Crabbing...

2006-10-14T15:58:00.000-04:00

One would think that the crabbing will soon be tapering off. Even though we knew the morning would be very chilly and near frost conditions, we bundled up and headed out to give it another try at Wye Mills. I was figuring that this might be the slow crabbing trip that will show us the crabbing is nearly done. I was wrong. We nailed down another two b-bulging, lid busting bushels in less than 3 hours of crabbing! We used the trot line method in about 7-8 feet of water but its likely this method will begin to fail. The crab pot/trap method will work better as the water temp gets colder. As good as it went, I am thinking we might just have to try another trip next weekend. Once again, here are pics that reflect another great day on the water....

Lid Busting!

B-Bulging!

Crabbing Still Good!

2006-10-05T14:22:00.000-04:00

The crab season is soon going to be tapering off. Its a sad reality that comes with autumn. We decided to give it a try again today after much deliberation last night. I really didn't have time to go with the way my work schedule has been but sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do! We got our lines in the water around 7:30 and started after them. The first run proved to go very well. A good sign that we might be in for a good trip. A good one it was! We were ready to wrap up the lines at around 10:45AM after 2 (lids barely fit) b-bulging b-bushels! Certainly one of our best trips of the year. I sure can't wait to get back out again before the water gets chilly and the crabs head for winter hibernation out in the black muddy bottom of the Chesapeak!
I posted an official report on my favorite crabbing site. Click here to check it out> Blue Crab Archive Forum

Here are pics of the results!

The lids barely latch!

Baskets to overflowing!

Sunday Morning.

2006-10-01T15:35:00.000-04:00

Wow. Its been way too long since my last post on here. No real good excuse other than laziness I guess. Had a real good service in church this morning. We had our "pre-communion" time of sharing. Its always a special time mixed with joy and sadness. Its obvious that life continues to be a battle for all of us. I continue to thank God for a great bunch of fellow travellers that help me in my walk with Christ. I just want to say how much I appreciate our church and school. We are SO BLESSED and I am afraid I take it for granted far too often. I still feel we have the best thing going and hope the Lord keeps us strong and steadfast in the truth of His Word. It would be so easy to compromise our beliefs and convictions and take the easier road. But we all know where that road leads! May the Lord renew and restore those who expressed deep struggle and defeat.

Missy and Jason's Wedding.

2006-09-05T20:13:00.000-04:00

As some of you know, the wedding was to take place outside at our church. Due to the rain and wind of tropical storm Ernesto, plans were changed and the wedding was quickly set up at the place meant for the reception. I was surprised at how well the adjustment went and must say that the service went very good after starting only 1/2 hour later than scheduled.
I have received numerous requests for pictures of this wedding and I apologize for the delay. I was not at the official picture taking session. The pictures below were taken during the wedding and reception. Some were done without the flash.

Jason talking to the wedding cake maker.

"The Cake"

The Happy Couple.

The Crocodile Hunter.

2006-09-04T23:35:00.000-04:00

Most of you have heard the news of the death of Steve Irwin. He was also know as the "Crocodile Hunter". I came across a really good article related to this story. It will really make you think. Click here> Article

Wye Report 8.25.06 (good news/bad news)

2006-08-29T21:21:00.000-04:00

I got my new prop installed and we went crabbing at the Wye last Friday. Chad and Kendra were along and we ended up with 2 b-bulging b-bushels! That was the good news. The bad news is...the boat motor is still messing up. It still has this annoying jerk in the motor when in gear and at half throttle or full. I finally gave up and took it down to a marine place to have it fixed. I am beginning to think that only Japanese built motors are the only trouble free motors.... PERIOD! If I have anymore problems with this Evinrude, that last statement will be confirmed in my mind. I might just have to go out and buy me a Honda or Yamaha outboard!
Here are a few pics from the trip....

Hangin on to my hat...

Conrad was up to his usual antics...

Take a look at a crab factory! This female is about ready to unload her eggs. Of course we tossed her back in the water.

The end result... 2 bulging bushels!

Prop Installation.

2006-08-23T22:31:00.000-04:00

As you may recall from my last entry, the last crabbing trip we were stranded and had to be towed in. What a bummer. The naughty prop that decided it didn't want to be on my motor any more has been replaced. Hopefully it will behave and last a good long time! We hope to make another trip crabbing on this Friday. We are privileged to have the recently married Chad and Kendra from SC to join us on this trip.!

Something is missing here....

A nice shiny new prop!

Ready to roll!

Stranded at Chester River!

2006-08-12T22:38:00.000-04:00

There was a reason we only got about 20 crabs today! My boat has been having a strange outboard motor related problem. My 48 HP Evinrude had this strange skip when running along at mid or full throttle. I changed the power pack before today's trip hoping the problem was solved. After luanching the boat and starting off, I could tell the same problem was still there. I took a chance and decided to continue on with the trip. Made it out about 5 miles and dropped our lines. Ran them about 3 times each when suddenly, when in reverse, it made a shudder and quit all forward and reverse motion. I called for help and some friends brought my brothers boat to pull me in. After getting the boat out of the water I was shocked to see what the trouble was. My prop was clean missing off the motor! I guess that must have been the trouble all along. Hopefully after the new prop is aquired, the 2006 crab season will resume for us!

Aug 4 Crab Results.

2006-08-06T17:20:00.000-04:00

My bro. Ben and his employees came in for a crabbing effort on Friday. We all spread out among 3 boats. Ended up with nearly 6 bushels. They are running a little smaller right now but more of them. Our boat was done filling the 2 bushels by about 10:45. A good time seemed to be had by all!

4 of the six bushels are seen below.

AOL For Free?

2006-08-02T10:18:00.000-04:00

Some of you may find this interesting. Especially if you are an AOL user.

click here> Money News:- aol-shifts-to-ad-oriented-strategy - AOL Money & Finance

We have been using AOL along with our high speed internet connection mainly because the 15.00/month AOL fee is covered by points I accumulate using my AOL visa card. I recently received a notice that AOL was going to terminate the points for AOL fee offer. I had made up my mind that I was not going to pay the 15.00/month just to have AOL. According to this article it appears like they will be giving AOL for free now to those who use it through DSL or cable high speed connection. I really believe they are doing this because they have been losing piles of people that are finally going with a high speed connection. Its still too bad that many of you can't get, or don't yet have broadband. If you did, AOL would be free to you and you could make use of the high speed features they offer. Those of you still on dial-up, I feel your pain!

Critical Files (A Robview)

2006-07-26T16:49:00.000-04:00

Time for another useful..... ROBVIEW!
I wonder how many of you have experienced the scary/frustrating situation of losing, or almost losing, critical data? I have had it happen a few times and it can really get ugly. I recently ran across an online file backup service that really works nice and can give you some peace of mind. Its called "Mozy Remote Backup." < click here
The free side of this program gives you 2 Gig worth of storage room. Enough for your most important documents and files. I currently use it for my quickbooks and MS money files. A really great feature of the program is that it automatically backs up your critical data on a schedule that you choose. Folks, do yourself a favor and start using Mozy to protect the files you just can't afford to lose!
>> Click>> MOZY REMOTE BACKUP

Wye Mills Report 7/21/06

2006-07-21T21:46:00.000-04:00

Left at 3:00AM this morning for Wye Mills. It was a hard fought day but in the end we had 2 bushels.

Indiana Wedding

2006-07-10T23:23:00.000-04:00

We went to Indiana for Trevor and Angie's wedding over the weekend. Nearly packed out the bus! The wedding was really nice. Its so uplifting to see another marriage started in such a wholesome way. Congrats to the "Nice" couple!

No Crabbing This Week!

2006-07-06T07:53:00.000-04:00

We are leaving Friday morning at the ungodly hour of around 4:30AM! We are going on the coach to a wedding in Indiana. If it wouldn't be for this wedding, I would most likely be going crabbing on Friday. Oh well, I guess I will have to wait till next week for crabbing. I hope the food is good at the wedding. LOL

2nd Crabbing Trip of 2006> Wye Mills!

2006-06-29T16:41:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday, June 29th, was our second crabbing trip of '06. This time it was good ole Wye Mills! Although we didn't quite get 2 full bushels this time, a lot of these are much larger than the ones we got at > Easton Point a few weeks ago. A good number are between 7 - 8 inches point to point. We started crabbing around 7:15am and finished up with 1 and 3/4 bushels by around 1:30. Had to really work for them and move the lines a lot. All in all, not a bad day on the Wye since its still a little early in the season for the Wye. Here are a few highlights.....

Cruising out to the spot....

Letting out the baited lines....

Time to drop the line anchor....

Check out this 8 incher!

Up close and personal.....

The final result....

Much Needed Rain.

2006-06-25T00:15:00.000-04:00

This evening has produced a large amount of much needed rain. I would say we have gotten at least 2 inches! It has poured down several times tonight. Most of this is the result of a nearly stationary weather system here on the east coast right now. Here is a view of the current radar as seen on my favorite radar site > Intellicast
Note the heavy stuff right over "DOV". (You may need to click on the image to enlarge it)

Congratulations Chad & Kendra!

2006-06-17T22:44:00.000-04:00

What a lovely day for a wedding. What a testimony they have been on how a couple should conduct a courtship! Because of their committment to the Lord and to purity, one can't help but believe that the blessing of the Lord will follow this new home. Much more could be said. Congrats to Chad and Kendra! Here are a few pics....
(Remember to click the pics to enlarge them)

June 17, 2006 A Wedding.

2006-06-14T23:13:00.000-04:00

Saturday is the wedding of Chad and Kendra. Many pics are sure to follow so stayed tuned!

Two B-bulging B-bushels!

2006-06-08T23:00:00.000-04:00

Our first crabbing trip of the season yeilded the following results...

Yes, you are seeing right. Two B-bulging b-bushels! Here is how it all came about....

The boat and gear just launched at the Easton Point Ramp. The 2 baskets are empty, but not for long!

Feeding out the baited trot line....

The next few pics below were copied from Conrad's blog...
The master dipper! Thank you, thank you.

Another crab on the line!!! Wondered why that line was sagging?!

Wonderful just wonderful!

"Yes! We're going to eat you tonight! And don't look at me like that!!"

You can't tell this boy nothin!

My brother bringing the trot lines in after a good days catch. He was also the tonger that helped keep the crabs in the boat.
"But Conrad, do I have too?"

There maybe some work involved getting a crabbing trip together, but its all worth it and I can't think of a better summer hobby than this! Crabrad

The lid barely fits!

As uncle Remus would say... "into the pot you go!"...

Can't wait till the next trip!

Saturday Musings....

2006-06-03T22:51:00.000-04:00

Its been one of "those" Saturdays. Had my hands into several projects. Pretty much finished up pre-crabbing boat maintenance. Checked air pressure in the boat trailer tires, greased the wheel bearings, made sure the horn works, got the depth finder working, Andrew and Brendon baited one of the trot lines. Can't wait to get that first batch of crabs! I heard that Wayne Miller nailed down 2 bushels out of Easton Point the other day. That means Wye Mills should be kicking real soon! I am thinking of giving it a shot this coming Thursday and of course I will post a full visual report on here.
The other thing I got done today was to change the fuel pump in my other blue Astro minivan. Its always a rough job since it requires taking the gas tank out. It is running again but I still have another issue to resolve on it. It seems to have a miss in the engine that is most likely a bad valve. I will probably have to remove the head to get it repaired.

What a Trip!

2006-06-01T18:14:00.000-04:00

Well, we made it back home from VA in one piece! The trip wasn't without a few hurdles. The big one was when the power steering pump went out in our 1996 Astro van. It happened on the campus of JMU in Harrisonburg. The worse part about it was that, along with no power steering, it also messed up the power brakes! I managed to fight the van back to Maynard's place about 35 minutes south of JMU. Many thanks to Arlen for aquiring a new pump and the help to get in put in. I couldn't have done it without him. Its one of those components really hard to get to. We had to work from the top as well as underneath. The steering and brakes seem to work better than ever. I just hope the van goes for a while. It has like 124K miles on it and we had to put a new A/C compressor on it too. Phineas did a great job getting that done for me right before this trip. With temps in the 90's we sure put the A/C to use! The service engine light has been staying on for a few weeks so I am not sure what the problem is with that. Hopefully nothing major since it seems to run ok anyway. Below is a pic of the van and further down are some pics from Maynard and Shirley's.

Many thanks to Maynard and Shirley for hosting us during the convention. We always enjoy being with them and often wish we lived closer to each other. Their family has become very dear to us. What a testimony to the grace of God they are! Their children are beginning families of their own and are serving the Lord! No broken homes to be found out of this bunch! A big blow to satan for sure!

After a wonderful meal of grilled hamburgers and hotdogs...

The "expectant" couple below...

ISC Update 2

2006-05-31T09:34:00.000-04:00

Tuesday featured a lot of track/field events....

Convention Update.

2006-05-30T09:55:00.000-04:00

ICS has been going quite well. Did any of you get to see the rally last night on the webcast? I though Ms. Kauffman did a great job with her brief testimony. She challenged the audience with the idea that if you allow God to take full control of your life, you can overcome any/all obstacles. Also, there is no better place to be than in the center of His will. Her segment can be viewed on the archived link for Monday night's rally. Click here> 2006 ICS Convention Archives.
Here are a few pics...

The male quartet just before their presentation....

Lauren and Brendon (the mixed duet).....

Lauren receiving some advice from her sister! She doesn't look impressed..

International Student Convention

2006-05-27T08:10:00.000-04:00

The A.C.E. International Student Convention is being held in Harrisonburg VA. this week May 28 - June 1. We plan to leave today to be there for the event. They have evening rallies that can be watched via live webcast. Click here for more info> School of Tomorrow
I hope to post updates during the convention.

Quilts and Other Auction Items.

2006-05-19T20:57:00.000-04:00

Here are pics of quilts and other auction items to be sold tomorrow....
Hope to see you there!

Festival Potato Salad!

2006-05-19T10:35:00.000-04:00

Gladys Yoder's "award winning" Festival potato salad is now being produced.
Check out the pics below...
Stay tuned for more festival related documentation soon!

FESTIVAL 2006!

2006-05-14T15:31:00.000-04:00

Our 20th annual spring festival is this Saturday, May 20th! Please pass a link to this blog to all your family and friends. We would be glad to see you! All proceeds to benefit our school. More quilt pictures will soon be added during this week. For directions please click here> Festival Location.
Remember to click on the pictures below to enlarge them.

Here is a copy of the flyer we are circulating in the area...

Quilts to be sold at this festival include:

This quilt was primarily done by Gladys Yoder.
"Spinning Star"

This quilt was done in the home of Donna Pritchett with the help of many ladies from church.
Applique "Rose of Sharon"

40th Birthday/ 20th Anniversary!

2006-04-26T19:07:00.000-04:00

This is a few days late but better late than never.

In the recent past, namely April 25, we celebrated my wife's 40th birthday. April 26th was also our 20th wedding anniversary. Can't believe 20 years can go by that fast! If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't think twice of asking her to be my wife. She has been such a great companion and mother to our children and I thank the Lord for bringing her into my life. Here are a few pics of the b-day party that took place at TGI Fridays:

Wow this cake was good. It was loaded with some sort of creme filling!

Lori did a great job setting things up for this event. Many thanks!

Can she do it in one breath?

She sure did! We have witnesses.

It was special to have these two around for such an event.

Dave, of course spoiling, his first grandchild Blake...

She joined me over the hill. I went over last June.

Opening the "loot".

A Robview. Cell Phone Upgrade Part 1.

2006-04-17T17:39:00.000-04:00

Its time for another exciting Robview!

I have been with Verizon Wireless for at least 4 years now. Verizon offers a deal to upgrade your phone after 2 years called the "new every two" offer. A lot of the phones offered are free with a new 2 year contract. Well, the time had come to upgrade. I previously had the Samsung model SCH-A650 which performed very well. I liked its compact size, good battery life, and reception. The phone still works great. I actually have 3 more of these all sharing minutes on my family share plan.
Here is a picture of my old phone.....

And now, to the upgrade:
In considering the upgrade, I spent quite a bit of time trying to decide on which phone would be the best possible replacement. After all, it would be with me for the next 2 years! I did my usual research online to get user and professional reviews on the various phones offered by verizon. After much contemplation and comparing, I decided on the Motorola E815. Check this review out on > PCMag.com <...and this link> SPECS to see all the features.

As you can see, unlike my old phone, this is a camera phone. I often said I wasn't interested in a camera on my cell phone mainly because the little so called "cameras" are often cheesy and produce lousy images. I must admit that its been fun to play with it and create wallpaper/backround for my phone's display. I usually put a picture of one of the children or my wife's face as a display backround. The pics actually turn out pretty decent.
Some features that really interested me in this phone that my old one didn't have are these:
1. Its has a speaker phone function.
2. Bluetooth enabled. (This looked really useful to me. More on this function below.)
3. A larger display.
4. More room for contacts. (up to 1000)
5. MP3 Player.

I recently ordered a bluetooth headset for it at Compusa's website. Here is a link to check out the Philips Vox 120 > Headset

In summary, I am well pleased with the phone after 1 week. I will post again soon after some time to try out the phone with the coming headset. Until next time.....

Stay tuned for "Cell Phone Upgrade Part 2" on the next "Roblog Review"

Taxes and Trees.

2006-04-15T23:41:00.000-04:00

I always dread this time of year. Mainly because of April 15 which is the day taxes are to be mailed for the previous year. I have really gotten nailed a few times. Most folks don't think much about it because their taxes are taken out of their pay checks every week. They even get happy when they get a refund. That is really silly because it simply means that they took too much out of them during the year! And guess what, they don't get paid any interest for being out of their own money (the refund amount) through the year. Imagine the interest you would have to pay on a credit card balance of $2000.00 over a year! At least once in their lives everyone should have the experience of paying taxes like us self-employed folks do. It would sure open some eyes on how much money gets jerked away from you!
This tax time turned out to be much easier than I expected. A pleasant change indeed!

On a different subject, my favorite shade tree is the "Norway Maple". It provides the most dense shade that a tree can produce. In fact, its often hard to grow grass under them. I planted several around our place in the late 80's and the picture below shows the little brand new leaves coming out on one of them. The leaves will get very large and dark green soon but don't they look cute right now?

I can almost understand how a "tree hugger" might feel. LOL. I hope Rush doesn't see this. He often says "The most beautiful thing about a tree is what you do with it after you cut it down. Such as build a piano, nice cabinetry, baseball bats, houses, etc." He has a great point!

Miss Update 2.

2006-04-06T22:32:00.000-04:00

We went on a trip to New Orleans today after lunch to do some looking around and also hand out cd's to folks. It was quite the trip. We got to tour some of the area devastated when the levee broke. Some pics can be seen below. The final 2 pics show the area near the French market. We plan to leave for home early tomorrow afternoon.

From Mississippi!

2006-04-05T22:43:00.000-04:00

Well, here is the first official update from Mississippi. We got here around 6:15 on Sat night. Had a pretty good trip except the A/C in the bus was not working. They hope to get someone out to look at it tomorrow. It will be a rough trip home unless they get it fixed. We have had temps in the mid 80's about every day. It got real chilly last night because it was around 50 this morning. Work has been good. We have split into about 3 or 4 groups doing anything from roofing, electrical, drywall, and insulation. There is always plenty of ribbing and teasing about which crew works the hardest etc. The destruction is still incredible even after several months. It will be years until all the restoration is complete. Curfew is 10:00 in the sleeping house with lights out at 10:30. I am really rushing this post. I might have time for a picture or two but the connection is way slow compared to my high speed at home. The first picture shows a little damage. The second pic is of Elizabeth. She is a super nice lady that is so appreciative of what we are doing. She would love to have us come down and visit sometime. Well gotta go. Perhaps more tomorrow night. Your continued prayers are much appreciated!

Bound for Mississippi!

2006-03-30T21:41:00.000-05:00

Well, it looks like a group of 16 guys will be boarding our church coach bus and heading for Mississippi. We will be doing construction under Christian Aid Ministries in an area that was damaged from hurricane Katrina. We plan to leave this Saturday night around 7:30 and get back the following Saturday or Sunday. If I can get an internet connection, I will post pictures during the week.

A Wedding.

2006-03-25T20:14:00.000-05:00

It was a lovely wedding indeed! Enjoyed seeing a number of folks that came in for the event. Click on the link below to take you to a number of pictures I took from the wedding and reception.

> LaDonna's Blog < Click

Top 7 List Add-on.

2006-03-21T22:48:00.000-05:00

Most of you are probably familiar with Adobe Acrobat Reader which allows you to open and view/print PDF files. I mistakenly thought that you had to purchase an expensive full version of Adobe Reader in order to create your own PDF files. A friend of mine recently enlightened me to a neat little program called >PrimoPDF<
This program allows you to create your own PDF files. The best part is....ITS FREE! I can now send estimates/invoices to customers as an email attachment. Been wanting to do this for a long time now. Primo needs to become part of the Top 7 List as #8!

Wonderful Ebay!

2006-03-19T21:26:00.000-05:00

One of the things mentioned in my "Top 7 List" a few days ago was Ebay. Once again Ebay has saved us about 70.00. My wife has diabetes and of course goes through a lot of test strips in her blood glucose monitoring machine. These test strips cost 51.99 for box of 50 as seen here at
>> Walgreens.
This brings us to the title of this entry "Wonderful Ebay!" Naomi recently won the auction for 100 of those strips. The winning bid, 33.00 including shipping! Buying the same quantity at Walgreens would have cost 104.00! Click here for the evidence as seen on ebay> Ebay Item #5676335766
Are there any Roblog readers with similar great deals on ebay?

Dial-up Hassles Part 2.

2006-03-19T16:02:00.000-05:00

As was mentioned in the last post, sister Barbara was having trouble getting email etc. Well, the problem seems to be solved. Switching to > Coppernet < seems to have made the difference. She said that connecting goes through a lot faster now. I called Earthlink for her and got that account cancelled. She is still really interested in getting DSL if/when it EVER becomes available on her road. How wonderful that day will be!

Continued Dial-up Hassles.

2006-03-15T16:25:00.000-05:00

I just got back from Sister Barbara's place. For some reason she continues to have random connection problems with her laptop. It appears to be a problem with Earthlink but I won't know for sure until we try another ISP. Another reason I am suspicious of Earthlink is because friends of ours >gokum< have complained of similar problems with Earthlink. I am suggesting that she give "Coppernet" a try. Its only 9.95 per month which is no more than she is already paying. This whole dial-up struggle that folks go through just makes me sigh and wish for they day when affordable broadband will be available for EVERYBODY! I consider affordable broadband to be anything under 30.00 per month. I will keep you posted on how this latest dial-up fiasco turns out.

Family Singing.

2006-03-12T23:27:00.000-05:00

Our family was in charge of the service this Sunday evening. We had been asked to sing again by the Sunday evening comittee. All in all, it went a little better than I expected. Practicing tends to be rather tough as you can imagine and it seems that we just don't get it done like we should unless we have the pressure of a program to give! I told the congregation before we began that this might just be a continuation of our practice session. Thanks to the prayers of people before and during the service, it went pretty good. Hopefully somebody was encouraged and/or the Lord was honored.

A Top 7 List.

2006-03-07T14:52:00.000-05:00

I sometimes wonder what life would be like without the internet. I have come to depend on it for so many things. Let me list a number of things I do online that would be a pain to do without. I will try to list them in order of importance with number 1 being most important:

1. Online banking and bill paying. It has been wonderful to almost eliminate the use of stamps, envelopes, and the associated costs etc. It now frustrates me when I can't pay a bill online!
2. Communication. Email and instant messaging are of equal importance to me.
3. Ebay. The amount of money we have saved on ebay pays for most, if not all, of my high speed internet bill.
4. Product Research. I love to research and read reviews on a product before I buy something. Examples would include a digital camera, camcorder, car, notebook computer etc.
5. Product Purchasing. Buying things online is so easy and convienient.
6. Blogging. Can you even imagine not having Xanga or blogs? It has become a great way to keep in touch with friends and family that you don't get to see very often. Instead of a Christmas letter that comes via snail mail maybe once per year, blogging has become a weekly or even daily newsletter!
7. Helpful Info. Have you ever lost a users manual for something? I recently needed a manual for a fax machine. No problem. Just get the model number go online and download the manual free at the manufacturers website. I have done this for my chainsaw, to get instructions for a 24 hour time switch, and instructions for a programmable thermostat to name a few.

Maybe this list will grow with more thought. Perhaps some of you have some things to add to this list?

A Puzzle And Then Some!

2006-03-05T20:58:00.000-05:00

For services this Sunday evening we met at church then divided into several groups to visit our ministers. Our group ended up at brother Bill's place. All of us brought our own snacks! We did a little singing and had a devotional. After the little worship time, we had a good time visiting etc. One thing I have been wanting to see at bro. Bill's place is the huge jigsaw puzzle he has been working on for a couple months now. Its a 6000 piece monster puzzle! He hopes to get it done and in a frame to sell in time for our annual festival. Here is a look at the puzzle still under construction. Anybody out there want to come help on it?

Sadness.

2006-03-01T23:39:00.000-05:00

I had kind of a sad day. Went back to this little house that I need to finish up the electrical work. This is the house that was being built by Daniel Swartzentruber. You may remember me mentioning him in an >earlier post. < Its kind of surreal inside that house seeing some of his tools still laying around probably the way he left them. They included a hand trowel for finishing drywall, a trim saw, ladder, paint brushes, extension cords, halogen work lights etc. Its just so hard to imagine I will never be able to hear his friendly voice again in this life. It was a tough day working there. I was sort of in a daze and just going through the motions trying to get some things done. I was glad the plumber was there. We were both under the house in the crawl space for most of the day. He mentoined that they had gone over to see Daniel's wife the other night. She was a little embarrased when they showed up because she must have been having a rough time of it moments before. Its so hard to imagine the amount of grief she and the boys must be feeling after only 1 1/2 weeks of him being gone. Death is so cruel and painful. How do people survive times like this without the Grace of God? That Grace, along with some time, will help bring this suffering family through this aweful haze. I am hoping the same will happen for another family near and dear to us. Namely, the Mark Yoder Sr. family. Oh how great the Day and great the Joy when Jesus returns to destroy our last and most feared enemy which is death! Hallelujah What A Saviour! I am so glad He loved me/us enough to die on the cross and rise from the dead. All for you and me!
These verses taken from 1Cor 15:

55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

A Powerful Testimony!

2006-02-25T21:45:00.000-05:00

Joni Eareckson Tada is the founder of Joni and Friends, an organization accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community.

A diving accident in 1967 left Mrs. Tada a quadriplegic in a wheelchair, unable to use her hands. During two years of rehabilitation, she spent long months learning how to paint with a brush between her teeth. Her high detail fine art paintings and prints are sought after and collected.

Joni was a guest on "Larry King Live" and did a tremendous job giving her testimony! It will move you to tears at different points during the interview. Its amazing the freedom they give to someone in her condition to share their faith. The whole interview can be watched from her website. I am not sure if will work for those of you on dial-up but you can give it a try I guess.
Here is the link> Joni and Friends.
Scroll down to get to the Larry King interview.
The two ideas that jumped out at me as she shared were these:
People get all pumped and excited when their favorite sports team or hero wins. Do we Christians get excited and pumped when we hear a fellow Christian proclaim the name of Jesus openly in front of millions of people? Joni could be considered a hero to our Christian faith for her courage.
The other thought or question that kept coming to my mind was this:
What it will be like when Joni moves from this life to Glory? I can see her running to Jesus with her new strong legs and wrapping her new strong arms around Him in utter joy and delight!

Disputed Charges and Good Ole BBB!

2006-02-21T21:50:00.000-05:00

We have a dear lady in our church that we call "Sister Barbara". In her 80's, she continues to defy her age by doing things that most folks her age either can't do, or don't have the courage to do. Some of those "things" include email and internet usage. She started out using a "Mail Station"
which allowed her to send/receive email using a small LCD type unit about the size of a large calculator. The cost for this service was about 10.00 per month. The main problem with this arrangement was that she was missing all the pictures of family and friends that were coming across our church email group on occasion. Since the cost for dial-up internet access was no more expensive than what she was already paying, it made sense for her to move on to real email and internet access. I had gotten a new laptop around 6 months ago so she purchased my very capable >Toshiba Satellite A65-126<.
I was amazed at how quickly she was able to get the hang of doing email and basic internet usage. She really enjoys visiting blogs and corresponding through email.
This brings us to the title of this particular roblog entry: "Disputed Charges and Good Ole BBB!"
The service she had with the "Mail Station" was switched over to a dial-up service offered by the same ISP(internet service provider). A problem surfaced as sister Barbara noticed that she was being double-charged the monthly fee of 9.95 per month! It began to appear that they never shut down the old "Mail Station" account! I contacted the ISP through online chat support last month and thought we had it all taken care of only to discover that the same double charge appeared yet again this month! This was not acceptable. I told her I would try to get it taken care of for her. Well, once again I went to this ISP's online chat support signed in using her login ID. Here is a complete copy of how it went:

Welcome to LiveChat. Your chat session will begin shortly.

Not at home and you want to read your email? With Web Mail you can check your email from any computer with an internet connection!

You are not currently in a chat session.
'Sally V.' says: Thank you for contacting LiveChat, how may I help you today?
barbara@earthlink.net: hello
barbara@earthlink.net: I seem to be getting double charged on my debit card for my dial-up service.
barbara@earthlink.net: I called to clear this up last month and they failed to fix it
barbara@earthlink.net: I was double charged 9.99
Sally V.: Hello. Please let me look into the issue.
barbara@earthlink.net: plus had an odd charge of 6 dollars and change
barbara@earthlink.net: this double charge has occurred twice now
Sally V.: I apologize for the inconvenience caused.
Sally V.: Let me pull up your account details and assist you in this regard.
barbara@earthlink.net: Can you credit my account 26.00 to cover the overcharges?
barbara@earthlink.net: Ok thanks
Sally V.: Please let me know the security word on your account for account verification purposes.
barbara@earthlink.net: ******
Sally V.: It is not matching. I am referring to the account with barbara@earthlink.net
Sally V.: It appears to be a duplicate account issue.
barbara@earthlink.net: I asked earthlink to clear that problem up already. Over a month ago.
barbara@earthlink.net: It seems they have failed to correct it.
Sally V.: I apologize for any inconvenience caused.
Sally V.: I can verify the account by another method.
Sally V.: Please provide me the last four digits of your VISA card on file, for account verification purposes.
barbara@earthlink.net: Ok...give me a minute to find the card (Rob quickly calls sis. Barb)
Sally V.: Okay.
Sally V.: I will wait for you.
barbara@earthlink.net: *****
Sally V.: Thank you for the account verification information.
Sally V.: I have verified both the accounts now.
Sally V.: I se that the mailbox from the MailStation account is moved to Dial-up account and the second (MailStation) is inactivated.
Sally V.: Yes, it has been inactivated.
Sally V.: You have only one account with Unlimited bill plan.
barbara@earthlink.net: yes....I got rid of the mailstation and went with regular dial-up
Sally V.: You have signed up this account under the $9.95 for 6 months promotion.
Sally V.: There are 4 months remaining on this promotion.
barbara@earthlink.net: At a promotional rate of 9.99 per month for 1 year
Sally V.: You will be charged $9.95 for the next 4 months too.
barbara@earthlink.net: oh ok
Sally V.: It is only for 6 months.
barbara@earthlink.net: Yeah for 6 months
barbara@earthlink.net: What about the credit of 26.00 for the over charges?
Sally V.: I see that the mailbox move has been done on 02/03/06.
Sally V.: You were charged only $9.95 on your Dial-up account.
barbara@earthlink.net: But my bank statement shows two additional charges from the old account that was supposed to be cancelled 2 months ago.
barbara@earthlink.net: it showed double 9.95 charges for 2 straight months...plus an odd 6.00 charge
Sally V.: Okay. I will forward a credit request of $9.95 on your account to our Billing department which will be reflected on your next bill cycle date.
Sally V.: I understand your concern in this regard. But, any billing issue must be raised within 30 days from the date of the invoice generated.
barbara@earthlink.net: It means I have paid a total of nearly 46.00 for the past 2 months for just 1 dial-up account
barbara@earthlink.net: I already raised the issue on the previous invoice but earthlink failed to correct the problem the first time
barbara@earthlink.net: I plan to copy this chat to file a complaint with the BBB Better Business Bureau if you fail to refund the amount.
barbara@earthlink.net: I will also send a copy of my bank statement showing the charges.
barbara@earthlink.net: to the BBB
Sally V.: I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused. Okay. I will forward a credit of $19.90 on your account which is for 2 months.
barbara@earthlink.net: Ok...I can accept that
barbara@earthlink.net: I agree to let the other 6.00 go since you agree to crediting 19.90 to my account.
barbara@earthlink.net: Thanks for your help in this matter
Sally V.: Okay.
Sally V.: Also, for your information, the security word on this new Dial-up account is placed as *******
Sally V.: You are welcome.
Sally V.: Can I assist you further?
barbara@earthlink.net: I will look for the credit on my next bank statement.
barbara@earthlink.net: Not at this time.
barbara@earthlink.net: Thanks
Sally V.: Okay.
Sally V.: I am sorry for the confusion. It is a credit that is to be forwarded.
Sally V.: It will be reflected on our account on your future invoices.
barbara@earthlink.net: Ok, and hopefully that secondary account got eliminated
Sally V.: Yes.
barbara@earthlink.net: So I won't keep getting charged for it.
Sally V.: You will be charged for only one Dial-up account.
Sally V.: Yes, exactly.
barbara@earthlink.net: ok thanks again
Sally V.: Okay.
Sally V.: You're welcome and thank you for using EarthLink LiveChat. Should you need further assistance, please feel free to contact us again.
Sally V.: Bye.
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What would we do without the help of the BBB! I have used the BBB on 2 other occasions with excellent results. I have found that simply the threat of using the BBB makes a big difference. I just hope they follow through with the credit they promised.

A side note> She is looking forward to getting DSL if it ever becomes available! We sure hope its soon!

More Great Deals!

2006-02-18T23:22:00.000-05:00

Staples has some really good deals again this coming week! Check these out:
1. How about a 200gig hard drive for only 40.00 after rebate.
2. A 1gig USB storage drive for only 35.00 after rebate. (the 512MB is only 15.00 after rebate)
3. A 50 pack of blank recordable DVD's for only 5.00.
4. A 17" LCD flat monitor for 180.00 after rebate.
5. Another great deal on a laptop. 480.00 after rebate.
6. Has a super good deal on the Netgear Super G (108MBPS) wireless router with notebook card. Only 30.00 after rebate!
One thing I really like about staples is their "easy rebates"! You can submit the rebates online. No cutting UPC's, making copies of reciepts, or mailing anything!
There are more deals on the circular. Click here> Staples Circular
I ought to be getting paid for this free advertising. Staples owes me big!

Valentines Day

2006-02-14T23:59:00.000-05:00

Valentines Day started out a little rough. Some of you may know that my wife has diabetes. She didn't get this disease until later in her life. It began showing its ugly head during the pregnancys of our last 2 or 3 children. Of course this condition is called "gestational" diabetes. She was warned that gestational diabetes can turn into full blown type 2 diabetes. Unfortunatley, we really feel that instead of type 2, she has aquired type 1! Her sugar levels can sometimes test out from 300 to over 500! This is unacceptable to say the least. Tonight we decided that the time has come to approach her doctor with some concerns! I really believe she needs to be treated as a type 1 with different types of insulin that will help control the high sugars. Attempting to control with diet and pills IS NOT WORKING!
Back to Valentines Day:
She was really down this morning about thie diabetes stuff. Even shed a few tears. I realized that this would mean that V-day would have to be done up right to pull her out of the gloom. I proceeded to sneak out to the local Christian bookstore and found the following items:

First, a card.... (click the picture to enlarge)

Then a musical table motto.... (click to enlarge)

It worked! Her tears of frustration this morning turned to tears of joy this afternoon! I even choked up a bit.
PS. I don't like to give flowers because they fade away. This sort of thing lasts a lot longer!

Check out this picture taken soon after our wedding 20 years ago this April! Aint she a real Hottie! (click to enlarge)

Winter Pays a Visit.

2006-02-12T08:59:00.000-05:00

As you will see in the pics below, winter has finally paid us a little visit. It is Sunday morning here in mid Delaware and still snowing. Church services have been cancelled for this morning. We have about 8-10 inches so far. Andrew's prayer for snow has been answered!

A Sad Day.

2006-02-11T14:33:00.000-05:00

I am deeply saddened. I just got a call that Daniel Swartzentruber from Greenwood died suddenly of a heart attack today. I was speechless and had to sit down in silence for a while. Daniel was one of the contractors I was still doing work for. I still have 1 house to finish the electric work on for him and he had another new home to begin construction on soon. Daniel was one of the nicest guys you could know. Very soft spoken and loved the Lord. My heart just aches for his wife Connie and two boys Carey and Matthew. Many of you would remember Carey from the accident he had with his Ultralight airplane. His head got too close to the propeller while it was running and he suffered rather severe head injuries. Carey has done well recovering from that ordeal but now the whole family has this to cope with.

I will also copy the email we received from Clinton Yoder below:

Dear Ones,

We are just getting word that Daniel Swartzentruber has just died of a heart attack. No details yet. He has been troubled with diabetes for quite a number of years. He is the son of Lewis and Evelyn. His grandparents were Milton and Savannah Swartzentruber. That makes him our second cousin. Clint

To Drink a Soda...A Tutorial.

2006-02-10T13:06:00.000-05:00

I have wanted to do a tutorial of this sort for a long time. I am hoping this will prove to be helpful to those of you that enjoy consumption of "soft drinks", "soda pop", or simply "soda" as we like to call it around here. Failure to follow these instructions will mean that you will not be getting the most out of the hard earned money that you spend for sodas. The following will work with any carbonated beverage. Well, here goes:

Step 1. Start with your favorite soda. (in this example, I used a "black cherry/vanilla Coke"

2. Make sure that the soda is "ice cold". (This is important)
3. Make sure that the glass is also "ice cold" (this is even more important) the thing we are trying to accomplish here is minimal meltage of ice (this dilutes the soda) and minimal foaming when pouring (this flattens the soda).
Another hint: Do not use a hard plastic cup. Any soda generally tastes better out of a chilled glass full of ice. Proper chilling of the glass is acheived by filling the glass with ice AND water. Let stand for approx. 1-2 minutes. See pic below.

4. Pour the water out of the glass.

5. Slowly pour the soda into the chilled glass of ice. Note the minimal amount of foaming. That is a sign that the soda and glass of ice were chilled properly. Always remember, the less foaming during pouring of the soda the better it will taste!

6. Now you are ready to consume the soda and get the best possible taste!

Ahh....wow this is good!

Other helpful tips:
**A McDonalds/Wendys/Burger King/ etc. cup with straw is actually better than using a chilled glass with ice. Also, rinsing the ice is not necessary when using the flaked ice from a commercial ice machine.
** Save the empty cans for Sister Barbara. Scrap aluminum brings big bucks right now and she needs the money to fund merit shop at school!

Some of my favorite sodas are:
1. Code Red Mountain Dew. I like it better than regular M.Dew.
2. Coke.
3. Coke with lime.
4. Black Cherry/Vanilla Coke.
5. Dr. Pepper.

I don't really care for Pepsi. It tastes too flat compared to Coke.

DSL For Mom! AT LAST!

2006-02-09T18:45:00.000-05:00

Well, perhaps all the nagging helped. I actually recieved the following email from a local Verizon representative today:

Mr. Miller:

I just checked the Verizon On-Line DSL database (see site below) and
302-xxx-xxxx qualifies for VZ DSL service.

I would order as soon as possible since the DSL equipment is assigned on a
first-come-first-servered bases.

Good luck,

Paul

Paul Thielemann
Verizon Delaware
Phone 302-576-5322
Fax 302-777-0491

As you can imagine, I was elated! I immediately rushed to the Verizon website and placed the order. I sure didn't want to wait till it became "unavailable" again! How can you beat 15.00/ month! That is cheaper than AOL and a lot of other ISP's!
I reminded her of the other big benefits of DSL.
1. Your phone is no longer tied up by the computer when its online.
2. The computer stays online. No more waiting to dial up the connection.
3. Of course the SPEED! 768K download speeds compared to whimpy little 56K (at best) dial-up modem speed.

A Live Chat Session "DSL"

2006-02-07T22:07:00.000-05:00

I was at Verizon's website recently to check few phone numbers for DSL availability. As often happens, a pop-up box came up inviting me to chat live with a verizon representative regarding DSL. Here is how the chat went:

We are routing you to a chat representative. Thank you for contacting Verizon Online DSL. Your average wait time is 4 seconds.
You are now chatting with Megan C.
Megan C: Hello. Thank you for visiting our DSL chat service. How can I help you with your DSL questions?
you: Hello....I have a few questions.
Megan C: I'd be happy to help you with that.
you: How come my number always shows unavailable when I check it for DSL?
you: Its the year 2006 and its hard to believe I can't get it yet.
Megan C: There could be several reasons. DSL is a distance-sensitive technology that works solely over copper phone lines. Currently, Verizon Online DSL is only available to customers residing within 3 "wire-run" miles (up to 18,000 feet) from their Verizon Central Office. In addition, customers must be served over copper wires.
you: But I have friends less than a mile from me that have had DSL for a few years now.
you: How come its taking them so long to get it expanded?
Megan C: I do not know why your area is not qualifying, or when it will qualify.
you: My mom can't even get DSL yet and she lives right in town
you: Cable internet is so expensive
Megan C: It is possible that there is not a port open for your line at this time and that is the only problem.
you: I mean, you all got a great price at 15.00 per month....but what good does it do if its not available?
Megan C: I'm sorry.
you: I realize its not your fault
you: I just can't figure out why it is taking so long to get DSL available on a larger scale
you: I figured by the year 2004 DSL would be everywhere
you: But it seems to be stalled out.
Megan C: Verizon Online continues to expand its networks. If you enter your telephone number on our web site, you will receive a page that will allow you to enter your name and email address for notification of future availability.
you: Hopefully that availability will happen in this century!
you: Thanks for your input
Megan C: You're welcome. Thank you for using Verizon's chat service. If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact us again.
you: Ok. Goodnight
Your chat session has been terminated by the Verizon Online DSL chat representative.

As you can imagine, after this chat session I sighed and thought to myself "its hopeless" !

Robview #2 "Packet 8"

2006-02-04T23:43:00.000-05:00

Yes folks, its time for another thrilling edition of "Robview". In this edition, we discuss the topic of "Packet 8". Packet 8 is a VOIP type phone service that we have used for nearly a year now. Some of you may have heard of "Vonage" which is probably the most well known VOIP service out there. VOIP works through a broadband internet connection (you must have broadband to use VOIP) and functions essentially just like a normal phone line. Why switch to a VOIP service you may ask? Number 1 reason is to save money. We pay under 25.00/ month for phone service and features that cost over 60.00 month with regular phone company. Features include: unlimited long distance in US and Canada, caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, voice mail, to name a few.
Let me list a few cons in all fairness:
voice quality is not always the best, echoing can sometimes be heard, phone is out when internet connection is down, they don't yet support faxing.
In summary,
I have felt it has been worth it. Our 1 year contract with Packet 8 is over at the end of this month. I am thinking of giving Vonage a try next. Some friends of ours will be going with Vonage soon and I want to check it out at their place. I will keep you posted.
Stay tuned for the next Robview where the topic will be the much anticipated look at "Plaxo"
You may never lose another phone number or address again. EVER!

Rebates.

2006-02-02T20:59:00.000-05:00

When it comes to rebates, I try my hardest to get them sent off. I realize that a lot of companies are figuring/hoping that most people will not bother to submit rebates. I am not one of those "most people"! There are few things that make me more upset than when a rebate check fails to come back. I recently got 2 post cards back in the mail from a company that I submitted 2 rebates to. The cards stated that my rebate submissions were invalid. I WAS LIVID! (sounds a lot like invalid!) Fortunately, there was a phone number on the post card that made it handy to call and dispute the charge of "invalid rebate". I called and told the guy that I submitted everything in accordance to the requirements and was surprised at those notices of denial. He didn't seem to hesitate to say "I will, on this one occasion, validate your rebates for you". When I got off the phone with him, I thought to myself "Wow, if they don't win because folks submit the rebates then they try to cheat you out of the rebate checks by saying you messed up when you submitted the rebate!".
I haven't got the checks yet, maybe I still lost. "Time will tell" as the saying goes.

Buck From 2004.

2006-01-28T17:34:00.000-05:00

I shot this buck during the shotgun season of 04. I wasn't planning to get this one mounted but my dad wanted it to decorate his wall!
The mount was done by Sapp's Taxidermy. As you can see, he did a great job on it.

A Robview. (Review)

2006-01-21T20:30:00.000-05:00

I have wanted to do a post like this for quite a while now. I think I will incorporate a new type of post on here called "Robviews". The purpose of these posts will be to inform loyal Roblog constituents of PC or internet related products that I deem to be highly useful. The first "Robview" will be dedicated to the product "Firefox".
Firefox falls into the category of "internet related products". Namely, its a web-browser. A VERY good one too. It blows "internet explorer" clean out of the water in my humble opinion! Any thing that gives a Microsoft product a run for its money MUST be good. I have used Firefox for at least a year now. I will list the things I like most about this great browser.
1. Its very clean. Doesn't have a lot of useless cluttery toolbars etc. like IE. This, of course, gives you optimal viewing space on web-pages.
2. When you go to launch or "start" Firefox, it loads up quickly.
3. Tabbed browsing. You can open new web-pages in tabs instead of whole new windows.
4. Bookmarks (favorites) are easily customized. The "bookmarks toolbar" is especially useful for your most frequently visited sites.
5. Has a powerful built-in popup blocker.
6. Is not targeted by security threats near as heavily as IE.
7. Google search is built right into the top right corner of the browser.
8. Very few websites fail to function properly under Firefox.
9. Yes. Its FREE.

One small detail to make you aware of is this:
About the only thing you can't do with Firefox is get those, all important, "Windows Updates". You MUST use Internet Explorer to get those unless you have your PC set to receive the updates automatically.
In summary, you would do yourself a favor by downloading and using Firefox if you don't already use it. You will not regret it.
Click here to get Firefox > Rediscover The Web!
Has this edition of Robview been helpful or informative to you? If so, leave a comment below.

Coming up on the next Robview: A look at Plaxo! It could be the last address book/contact solution you will EVER NEED!

Cheers! Rob

Web Page Design. Any Advice?

2006-01-19T17:35:00.000-05:00

Looking for some good comment activity on this post. The topic of discussion is "web page design". As you all know by now, blogging has become quite the revolution across the internet. The thing I have noticed is how easy it is to create and update a blog. A blog is so much like a web page that I got to thinking "there has to be something online by now to create and update web pages as easy as a blog". I have used a few programs in the past like Namo and Front Page but was always frustrated at how time consuming and tedious it was to navigate and work with those programs. File uploading was also a pain at times. If anyone knows of a reputable online service that lets you create, edit, and host a website at a decent price please leave recommendations or suggestions below. Keep in mind that you don't need to have a user ID and password to leave comments on here.
Thanks

Where is Winter?

2006-01-13T11:09:00.000-05:00

I must be different from most folks. When its winter, I expect the weather to be winter like. The weather around here lately has been more like the beginning of April than the middle of January! Its supposed to hit 60 again today! Someone said the Almanac predicted warm weather for the first part of this month but said the end of January will turn drastically colder and snow like mad. I will believe it when I see it with my own eyes! LOL Oh well, we all know that the weather is controlled by God and its up to Him what we get. The picture above (taken from last winter out of our patio door) will hold me through till winter does show up, if it shows up.

Val Yoder and Family.

2006-01-07T22:02:00.000-05:00

Click picture for larger view.

Many of you would remember, from an earlier post, that Conrad was at SMBI during the 2nd term. This was the November/December term. Kendra was able to go back for the 3rd term and is there now. Conrad, Katrina, Ashley, Stephanie Keller, went this weekend to visit Kendra over her birthday. All of SMBI was shocked with the news that came today. Japheth Stauffer posted the following on his blog today:

Today God Saw fit to take another of His gems home. We received word this afternoon that Krystal Yoder, wife of Val Yoder, was ushered into the presence of her beloved Savior.

She has had a long battle with her heart and today it gave out on her while attending a wedding in Lancaster Pennsylvania. Her brother who is a medical doctor was there with her and said that she could not have been revived even if she had been at the best hospital. It was her time to go.

Please pray for their family! Their oldest son is in Thailand doing prep work for the whole family to move there next year. This also happened at the same time that Val was attending a meeting to plan the development of a Bible school for Asians in Thailand. Pray for the family’s strength in all of this!!

Newly Engaged!

2006-01-02T21:07:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to 2 fine young couples! They announced their engagements this weekend. May the Lord richly bless you all in this new venture!

Chad and Kendra

Justin and Ladonna.

Carry-in or Fellowship Meals.

2005-12-30T10:26:00.000-05:00

An interesting discussion developed after church last Sunday morning among a few folks. It was regarding the benefit vs. hassle of having carry-in meals. I was heartbroken just as much as Marty and Kenny that it got canceled for this Sunday! Lets look and the pro's and con's of this subject.
Some of the argument in favor of the carry-ins seems to be along this line:

1. Lunch is often prepared before leaving for church on Sunday mornings so why not just bring it along to church.
2. In most cases, you will find that you actually eat sooner on Sunday afternoon at a carry-in than you do if you go home to eat.

Arguments against:

1. It might be more difficult for those who live a distance from church.
2. It creates too much work for the hospitality committee.

I invite any of you to contribute more arguments in favor of or against carry-in meals on Sunday.

An Interesting Phone Call.

2005-12-23T22:55:00.000-05:00

I wonder how many of you heard the young high school guy that called into Rush Limbaugh's show today? He was trying to get advice from Rush on how to respond to his liberal democrat father. Click here > RIGHTONTHERIGHT to find out how to replay the phone call. I actually got to talk to Justin online through Instant Messenger. Here is how the conversation went....

Rm6565: Hey man. Great call on Rush's show today. I bet you can't keep up with all the IM's coming to you!
RightOnTheRight: Hehe, couldn't be more right
RightOnTheRight: And emails
Rm6565: You are suddenly famous! :-)
RightOnTheRight: Ya
RightOnTheRight: Went from 120 hits on my site a day to a couple hundred per hour
Rm6565: Who is hosting your website? Did you have to upgrade or switch hosts?
RightOnTheRight: Hehe, my admin hosts a forum online
RightOnTheRight: He said his server crashed within seconds of my plug
RightOnTheRight: So he called his host company up and got it fixed
Rm6565: After you gave out your web address on Rush's show I figured it would crash! Anyway, I know you are a busy guy. Good chatting with you, keep on doing what you are doing. We need more young skulls full of the RIGHT mush! Merry CHRISTmas!
RightOnTheRight: Merry Christmas, and keep in touch
Rm6565: Sure thing.

Caroling At The Mall.

2005-12-17T16:43:00.000-05:00

Our Church was at the mall last night caroling. My father-in-law wrote an email regarding this effort. I thought it was well said and I have pasted it below the picture.

"We ARE the reason for the season!" That is what the preacher said. I heard him say that yesterday. He was not being smart--his point was:

"If it had not been for humanity (you and me) there would not have been Christmas". I have a Christmas cup that says: "Jesus is the reason for the season" I don't think I will be able to look at that statement again in the same way.

Last night, close to 100 Central people stood in the center of Dover Mall and sang our hearts out for nearly and hour!! Usually, we end with: "We wish you a Merry Christmas!!" and when we were finished, someone in the picture taking booth with Santa in it said: Happy Hanukah!" Perhaps he was attempting to be "politically correct"or he may have heard too much about Jesus!! We have been doing this sort of ministry for close to 40 years and as we were singing, I thought: "how special it is to be able to do this!!" My next thought was: "How long will it be 'til we are told--

"sorry--we can't let you do it no more!!" I'm sure you heard where parents were upset, because the teacher told her students: "there is no Santa Claus!" She needed to go back and tell a lie in order to take care of telling the truth!!!

As I watched the 'stream' of humanity moving back and forth while we sang, one could see the 'emptiness' of hearts without the Saviour of the world. no wonder I find myself often sad---

Our Beloved Mnissle

2005-12-11T10:42:00.000-05:00

Anybody recognize this fella? He is sure in his element wouldn't you agree?!

Sleeping Late.

2005-12-10T10:11:00.000-05:00

This entry will be in the form of a poll. Its 10:15 Saturday morning here and my dear wife is making the typical breakfast/brunch for this day of the week. Pancakes and eggs! During this process, she asked the following question: "I wonder if I'm the only woman who stays in bed until 9:00am on a Saturday morning?" She asked this question with a bit of remorse. I tried to reassure her that there are probably a lot of women who sleep that late or even later! I have to admit that we are not a morning family. We all tend to be night owls around here, including me. So the poll question will be in two parts:
1. Do you often sleep until 9:00 or later on a Saturday morning?
2. What tends to be your typical breakfast/brunch on this morning?

By the way, I also stayed in bed until 9:00 this morning! I had a good excuse though, I have a pretty bad cold right now. Don't ask me what my excuse is on other Saturday mornins! LOL

Firewood.

2005-12-03T18:51:00.000-05:00

Today was firewood accumulation day. Many thanks to Kent for providing a nice oak to cut up and split. He even helped out with cutting it up. The fairly large tree was damaged during a storm and was threatening to come down on the road and power lines. A local tree removal service felled it under contract with the power company. That left a nice log for us to go to work on. I recently picked up a "like new" Husqvarna from Lowes that was marked down to almost 1/2 new price. It was sitting outside along with some other returned power equipment. It was returned for some sort of repair etc but still had 1 year factory warranty on it. Today offered a great opporunity to put it to a good test. It performed flawlessly! Below you will see the saw etc....

The Husky Model 359 with 20" bar.
Original new price at Lowes was around 490.00
I picked it up at the reduced price of 250.00!

A gas wood-splitter would have been nice...

Go Kent!

It was a rather chilly day so I, of course, consumed large amounts of coffee!

For Those "Techno-geeks" Out There.

2005-11-22T22:31:00.000-05:00

In a previous post titled "The Struggle for Broadband" I mentioned some of the hassle it has been for Bro. Bill to get hooked up with a high speed internet connection. Some of the hassle I didn't mention was the 2 or 3 attempts he made to get DSL at his place. His line showed "DSL available" each time he tried to proceed with the Verizon DSL order. Each attempt was met with Verizon telling him "We are sorry sir, but our DSL service is not available for you after all". What a disappointment to be sure. So we talked it over and decided to try a "plan B". This "plan B" meant teaming up with Comcast to get their cable based broadband service going at his place. This option started out looking rather expensive (in the 1200.00 to 2000.00 range) for the initial underground cable installation. The installation cost was because of how far they had to run the cable back his lengthy driveway. The distance of over 500 feet would require the use of the pricey large "hard line" type cable. After much discussion with a manager from Comcast, he agreed to work with me on getting bro. Bill connected at a much lower price of 120.00 for their install fee! They would run the more standard cable up to 320 feet at which point I would install an enclosure to house the cable modem. From the enclosure we ran a cat5, in conduit, the rest of the 290 feet to the Netgear wireless router that we installed in his garage. We also had to run a 110v. line (to power the modem) to the enclosure.
Before we actually got started on this "plan B" one of the things the manager at Comcast said was "The 320 feet length on their cable will not allow enough signal to support any TV service but should still be fine for the cable modem to work at full capacity". His other words were something like "We have never really tried this sort of installation before but we are willing to give this a try". Wow, it almost felt like we were into some kind of experiment and even had me wondering if it would work! I felt all along that it would work because of some similar things I had done at my own place. The distance of the cat5 had me a little concerned, I must admit, since the maximum distance on a cat5 is supposedly 320 feet. We were at around 290 feet from the modem to the router!
To sum all this up, IT WORKED! He now has 2 computers networked and both online with broadband. The speed test results showed near 4300 KBPS. Folks, that is cruising! Now he is ready to send/recieve Autocad files at blistering speeds.

As you can see, quite a distance from the road!

The trench for the cat5 and 110v modem line is shown here....

We took the guts out of an old meter pan and turned it into "The Enclosure"
Don't laugh. It works!

Hey Willis, are you ready to get hooked up?

Wedding in VA.

2005-11-12T21:41:00.000-05:00

Sorry its been so long since the last post! What better excuse to get something new on here than a wedding? Days like this are so refreshing. Weddings have a way of bringing family and friends together on such a positive note. Both Jerrel and Karen are blessed with great families and up-bringings. The foundation has been laid for a new, strong, Christian home to be a shining light in a world full of broken homes! We wish them God's best in the days and years to come.

SMBI

2005-10-31T20:58:00.000-05:00

Made the trip to SMBI on Sunday afternoon to take Conrad and his cousin Kendra up for a 6 week term. This is their first time at Bible School. We pray it turns out to be a growing and grounding experience for both of them.

Arrived around 8:30 Sunday night.

Getting unpacked into his dorm room.

The Struggle for Broadband!

2005-10-29T19:20:00.000-04:00

Had kind of a busy day today. Working on a Saturday is not one of my favorites. Phineas seems to really get a bang out of it but I sure don't! Went to brother Bill's place to get the cat5 cable in place that will carry the high speed internet connection on back to his office. He is really wanting to get CAD going in his drafting business and broadband is almost a necessity to be able to do it right. Since DSL is not available for him, he had to go with the local cable company. This option started out on a bad note. Originally, Comcast wanted over 1000.00 to get the cable (large "hardline" feeder cable) back his rather lenghty 600 foot lane. I managed to talk a Comcast engineer into running the more standard cable halfway back his lane. I offered to take it from there. It will mean putting the cable modem, and 110v. receptacle, in an enclosure about halfway down his lane. From there we plan to run a cat5 cable, in conduit, the rest of the 300 feet. This will allow us to make it into his garage where we will install the router and connect the 4 PC's located in the office above the garage. All this may seem like a lot of hassle but I feel it will be worth it in the end. The thing that really makes me frustrated is the whole DSL issue or lack thereof! I have to pay 58.00/month for my broadband through Comcast simply because there are no other cheaper options. If Verizon would just get their act together and get DSL more available around here it would save a lot of trouble and money etc. Everytime I see an advertisement for Verizon DSL it makes me want to scream! That Ad seems to be everywhere loudly proclaiming their DSL service for only 15.00/month. That is an incredibly cheap price for broadband to be sure but what good is it if hardly anyone can get it? I just can't believe its almost the year 2006 and DSL service is so sparce. I will keep you posted on how things work out at bro. Bill's place.

Another Deer Pic.

2005-10-25T23:08:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Chad (Kendra's boyfriend) on this nice one! I didn't know they got this big in South Carolina! I wonder if Wesley's is any better than this one? We may never know since nobody gets me a picture! LOL

More of Baby Blake.

2005-10-24T23:04:00.000-04:00

We finally got over to see baby Blake for ourselves tonight. He seems to be adjusting really well as do the new parents! It seems just a few short years ago that we had our first child. He is now 18.5 years old and planning to leave for Bible School this coming Sunday! It hardly seems possible. Where did all the years go so quickly? Its too bad there was no capability of blogging back in those days. It would have been fun to post pictures for friends and family to see almost right after they are taken. There are certain things about technology you just gotta love!

Baby Blake...

The picture of contentment....

But it was short-lived!

Even I got to hold him....

School Benefit Auction in VA.

2005-10-22T09:54:00.000-04:00

Here it is a cool rainy Saturday morning here in DE. Been wondering how its going at the school benefit sale in VA. I hope the rain is not messing things up too badly. I sure wish we could have made it this year because we really enjoyed being there last year. A couple factors influenced our decision not to go. One is the fact that our 1996 Chevy Astro minivan is still not running very good. I am thinking its a bad valve because the motor has a noticable "miss" when at idle. We already tried changing what seemed like a bad spark plug/wire etc. but it didn't solve the problem. The van only has 112K miles on it and it really disappoints me that this sort of problem has showed up already. I may try ebay about getting another Astro because I like the ability of this type of minivan to pull a trailer. Also the fuel mileage is pretty good with these at around 18-20 mpg.
The 2nd reason of not making it to the sale would be the wedding we will be going to in Stuarts Draft VA. for Naomi's nephew Jerrel. Hopefully we can have the van issue solved by then.

Talk Radio

2005-10-18T22:21:00.000-04:00

This post is mainly for those living in, or near, Delaware but feel free to post comments on the subject if it interests you.
I have to admit being a big fan of talk radio. One station we have in our area WDOV AM1410
is pretty much all news/talk. Dr. Laura's show has been part of the daily programming for many years on this station. That seems to have come to an end. I guess station management has decided to replace her show with Sean Hannity. I guess I have mixed feelings about it. I enjoyed listening to Dr. Laura but have found myself really enjoying the Hannity show. I am wondering how you all (those living around here) are taking this change? Are you glad? Sad? Mad? Or simply could care less.
For those from our church please sign your comments with your first name and last initial.
Thanks.

New Baby!

2005-10-16T13:02:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Jason (Naomi's nephew) and Emma on the birth of their baby boy! We wish them the Lord's blessings as they begin this new stage of their lives.

Details:
Name: Blake Sterling Yoder
Weight: 7lbs. 6oz.
Lenght: 21 inches.
Arrival: Today (10/16/05) at 1:15am

The expectant couple just a few days ago.

He seems so content!

Dad seems to be doing ok in spite of the long night!

A close up.

Nice Buck.

2005-10-03T22:17:00.000-04:00

I got a call tonight from Travis. (one of the guys from church) He said he wanted to stop over and show me something.

He got this with his bow tonight over at Blackiston's Wildlife area. He said he was only in his stand for 2 minutes! Way to go Trav! I bet a lot of guys would like to say they got one like this with bow.

Crabbing on Friday 9/30/05

2005-10-01T21:45:00.000-04:00

This could be the last crabbing trip of the season. When the water temp starts to fall the crabs begin to head out to sea or bury in the mud. Its been a really good year. This time it was Conrad, Kendra, and I on the boat. I forgot my camera but luckily Kendra brought hers. Its the exact same camera as mine. (The Fuji Finepix S7000) A few pics below show some of the highlights. And yes, another 2 bbulging bbushels was the result of this trip. I hope to switch from the subject of crabbing soon to show that its not the only thing that we do! One thing I had to do was work on the minivan today. It developed a "miss" in the engine on the way home from crabbing. I was fearing the worst like maybe a busted valve. I was hoping maybe it was a spark plug or wire going bad. It turned out to be the distributor cap after doing some troubleshooting. It wasn't delivering a hot enough spark to the one spark plug. I got a new cap installed and it seems to be doing ok again.

It was a gorgeous clear cool morning as seen below.

Hanging on to the bait awaiting dippage! LOL

Up close and personal!

Father/Son Retreat

2005-09-25T22:12:00.000-04:00

We really enjoyed the time at Camp Mardela again. Plenty of Rook was played, crabs eaten, late night chats, challenging emphasis on the topic "What makes a Godly man?". Many thanks to Steve and Willis for all the effort and time they put into the planning. The big crab effort went over quite well even if there was a delay on getting them steamed. I think there were 5 boats out and we totalled 9.5 bushels!
Thanks also to Bro. Bill and Richard for sharing their hearts freely with us. It was very meaningful. Here are a few pics of the highlights:

Crab steamers getting fired up!

Richard expounding some of his wisdom...

Expounding cont....

Don't look so bored Freeman!

C'mon Vern, aren't you done yet!?

Table after table of shells. We had about a bushel left over
but they soon got finished off the next day or so.

The bleachers at the "fathers against sons" ball game.
PS. The dads won by 2 points I think.

What was so funny?

Yes, crabbing again!

2005-09-23T15:32:00.000-04:00

Went crabbing today again and got another 2 bushels! As a matter of fact, several fellows from church took their boats and went. This was a coordinated effort to provide enough crabs to take to our father-son retreat near Denton MD. I would estimate that there will be a total of 8-9 bushels of crabs there at the campground! I wonder if we can consume them all. I doubt it! We do plan to have a hotdog roast to go along with the crabs. We look forward to a nice weekend with "the guys".
Rob