Emachies E725 Update

About one year ago this month I decided to buy an Emachines E725 laptop computer.  I swore I would never buy an Emachines because of the fact I have heard they are of low quality.  Well, I had my first failure around the first of this year.  The hard drive went out.  I replaced the hard drive with a new 500gb segate drive.  The laptop had a 250 gig Western digital drive and I had another Western Digital drive go bad so I thought I would try a Segate drive instead.  For the last couple of months the laptop has worked well.  Today I believe this laptop has suffered a mother board failure for no apparent reason.  The last time I used it (yesterday) it was working fine and there were no indications that the new hard drive was having problems.  Today when I tried to start this up I get the following set of messages:

1) Check Cable Connection...!

2) PXE-E63:   Error while initializing the NIC

3) PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel PXE ROM.

No bootable device --- insert boot disk and press any key.

I am at this point going to remove the 500gb hard drive and sell the computer for parts unless someone has a suggestion on how to fix this.  I will research this error on line, but I believe this computer has suffered a mother board failure at about one year of age.  My recommendation is to stay away from the Emachine brand computers.  I am going to get a Dell as soon as I can afford one.

Happy 71st Birthday Dad!

I want to wish my dad a very happy 71st birthday.

The Dawn of a new year.

For those who have followed my blog it has been a while since I last wrote anything. Been way too busy and way just too down on life to even think about it. It had been a long time since I had received any good news in my life. Good news did come my way. As most of you have read I have had one issue after another with my son. I have written many times about the issues I have had with my ex-wife and the problems I have had with that. I guess I just felt it was time to take a rest. I also wanted to work on me and the man I would like to be.

The good news, for those who have followed this blog, is my son came to live with me on Christmas Eve on a trial basis. Even though this is just a trial basis I am extremely thrilled to have him here. I just wish it was both of my kids and not just the one. He is currently going to school and attending daycare here in town were I live. Things are going well at this point. I am looking forward to spending more time with him in the coming weeks.

A fork in the Road

Sometimes in life we come to a point were we have to make decisions about how we are going to proceed with our lives. I will call it a fork in the road. Do we take the right path or do we take the left path. Over the past couple of years I have been examining my life and asking the question "What kind of man do I want to be?". The answer to the question is "I want to be the man God would have me be.". I not only want to be a good example to my kids, but I want to be a great example to my kids. Espscailly my son. I want him to have the example of what "real men" are about. I have made this my number one priority in my life and finding and eliminating anything that would stand between me and God is most important. For the last little while I have been away from blogging and the internet. I am asking my self the tough questions and praying for guideance along the way. Those questions would include, What else do I need to work on? What kinds of things can I watch on TV? Am I taking way from this effort though spending time with my computer via my blog, twitter, facebook, or just plain crusing the web? Does my many hobbies that I enjoy take away and preocuppy my mind in ways the might prevent me getting closer to God? So, I will continue to post to this blog from time to time, but it may be one or two posts a month. In the mean time I will continue to examine my life and make the changes I feel are necessary. I apreciate all those who read my blog and hope you continue to stop by. May God bless you!

Ten Commandments tablets in Lagrange Indiana

On Tuesday this past week I was out and about enjoying one of my vacation days. It was a sunny day so I decided I would go out and train chase (take train photo's). Around 11am I decided since I was half way to Shipshewana that I would go the rest of the way and walk around for a while and see if maybe I could pick up a Christmas gift or two. On my way up to Shipshewana I was traveling on highway 20 through Lagrange Indiana. On the corner of highway 20 and highway 9 is this Ten Commandments plaque. You hear all the time how God is being taken out of everything. I was completely stunned to come aross this. I felt it was worthy of a few photographs and a quick blog post as it is on public land. God hasn't quite been taken out of everything. As can be seen in these photographs the concreate below the tablets is fresh so it hasn't been there very long.

Note: Click on the photo's to enlarge them to full size.

One Year Later....

A little over a year ago I started a journey. That journey was to be the man I would like to be. I wanted to be a good example to my children of how to conduct their lives and how to treat people. One year ago today I decided to stop cussing/swearing and using any form of profane words. Not just in front of my kids, but at all. At first it was a real struggle. I had gotten to the point were swearing was almost automatic and had become part of my language.

The scary part to me was that I took the Lord God's name in vain on a consistent basis. Not a good thing if you are a church going person. To say the least it is one of the Ten Commandments. Now, some people might disagree with me, but I believe God will test a person to see how serious they are about things. Or better yet, allow the tests to be conducted if you will have that. I have never stubbed my toes more than I did in the first three weeks of trying to quit. Seemed like every piece of furniture in the house moved out in the way. I also believe God has a sense of humor as well. I am glad to say that I recently got hurt on the job and it never occurred to me to sware or cuss. I will say I did slip once about February and my son was present. I have pretty much eliminated that from my language. This is a good thing as my son was beginning to pick it up and had started using the language at school.

I guess the only thing I am disappointed with is that I haven't yet finished reading the bible. I made it my goal to finish it by the end of the year back in May of 2009. Unfortunately I have read a little bit here and there, but I am no where near finishing it. I started with the Old Testament and I am up to the first book of Kings. Long way to go. My son is reading it as I told him it is the early history of the world. I have a lot more work to do to be the man I want to be or better yet the man I believe God would have me be. I just hope God is pleased with the progress over the past year. I don't miss using that language at all and I am glad I stared this journey.

Thanks for the memories?

No this is not a tribute to Bob Hope! He was a great guy and a funny comedian who entertained troops for the USO all over the world. Nineteen years ago today I met the kid’s mom. This post is not to upset her or start something. On Friday she was talking with me thanking me for continuing to do my part in supporting our son and daughter. As I told her it is my responsibility to continue to make sure they get taken care of. I also told her I was grateful for the kids. As we talked she said she never wanted the kids to have to experience a divorced home. She said “We had some good times didn’t we?” She was taking the kids to Disney World in Florida starting today and they won’t be back for a week and she said it was always her dream to do that as a family. I then told her that I cared for her as a person because it is the good Christian thing to do. I didn’t care for her as a Husband would a Wife.

It was never my intent to divorce. I had hoped I would never have to say “my ex-wife” in a sentence. The problem I had with the marriage was really simple. I didn’t feel important to her. It didn’t matter how bad I felt or how tired I was if she wanted to do something it was more important than my health. It didn’t matter what time I had to get up if she wanted to talk I had to talk until she was done. I could have settled for second to the kids, but I was somewhere at the bottom of the pile of things that was important to her. The things that bothered me I discussed with her many times and she would agree at times to work on things, but it always seemed to remain the same or change for a little bit and go back to the way it was. And the very next time we discussed these things yet again she didn’t seem to know what I was talking about. After not being heard and not having my feelings and health respected for a number years I became angry, irritable, and picked up cussing. At the end of the marriage I would cuss to the point a sailor would blush with shame. It wasn’t like warnings that the marriage was going to end weren’t there either. I had told her many times that if certain things didn’t stop I was leaving. It also amazes me that after fifteen years of being married to me she still doesn’t know me. I continue to surprise her. Today I am working on being a better man than when she met me. I don’t believe in divorce and in Malachi 2:16 it says God Hates divorce. In this instance I believe it was necessary and I hope God forgives me for doing what I felt was necessary. I feel bad for my children, but there is no way on God’s green earth I would take her back ever.

Now, after the divorce has happened, my ex-wife has decided she wants to be a totally different person. Nothing like the person she pretended to be when I married her. She has multiple Tattoos’ and has taken up drinking, and an alternative life style. Forgive me again, but she should know I don’t like Tattoo’s, I don’t drink, and wow is all I will say on the last one. If I had met her with all the Tattoo’s when we first met she wouldn’t have gotten a second look. I would not have dated her with tattoos. I also don’t understand why she can’t see how I might feel lied to and used. Yes, we did a lot of cool things when we were together and we should have a lot of fond memories, but since the whole relationship feels like it was a lie how can I look back on any of it with fond memories. The only fond memories I have is of the birth of my children. If I am way off base on this then please someone call me down on it.

You know I could go find another person to be with (another wife). The rumor has already started that I am gay since I don’t actively date. No offence to anyone, but I am not gay. I just don’t know if I want all the headaches that go with a relationship. There is another whole set of headaches with finding a new person. I would have to go through and remove all the pictures in my digital images that contain my ex-wife. Most people might not feel good about their spouse having pictures of the ex around. As of now life is improving and I don’t know if I want to risk messing it up again. Can I really say "Thanks for the memories"?