I’ll Be Home for Christmas

As in right here in my apartment.   It’s a bit odd that I don’t feel that bad about it.   I DO miss my kids and grandkids in Texas, but there is just no way I can swing a Christmas trip this year.  Other than missing them, I am good with laying low this year.

I have friends locally that are going to ask, “What are you doing for Christmas?”  and they might invite me by ’cause they feel sorry for me.  I appreciate it!  But honestly, I am good with some alone time.

It’s not usual, I guess, but I do very well in a crowd, one on one, and by myself.  When I first took the Myers-Briggs personality test when I was a teenager, I was right down the middle extrovert/introvert.  This surprises people I know, because when I am with people, the extrovert comes out.  However, I really need my alone time or I go a little crazy.  Of course, I need my hangin’ with the peeps time too or I go a little crazy.

I am looking forward to the two or three Christmas gatherings I have yet to attend in the next couple of weeks, but I am also looking forward to watching a little football Christmas Day and making some phone calls.  I’ll be home for Christmas.  Celebrating with my Savior on His Birthday observed :-)

December – Cold Start

It’s been a roller coaster ride temperature-wise here in Tucson and here at the apartment in Oro Valley.  May had a hot spell in the middle of the month and ended up warmer than normal.  Then June into July was cooler than normal.  October had a really unusual cold spell the third week of the month and now November has ended as the 3rd warmest on record.

Keeping with the pattern, December is starting out cool and getting colder.  Even though many places in and around Tucson experienced their first freeze in October, almost a month earlier than average, the Tucson International Airport has yet to freeze this season.  That is about to change.  Cold air from Canada, eh, is already invading the South Plains of Eastern New Mexico and Texas and some of that cold air is going to spread westward to Arizona.  Friday looks cold (by Tucson standards) despite full sunshine.  A north breeze will make the upper 50s feel even colder in the shade, although I guess if you can find a sunny, wind sheltered, spot it won’t be nearly as bad.

Friday night/Saturday morning will be the coldest so far this season.  Winds will die down after sunset and clear skies will allow for good radiational cooling.  It should be no problem for temps to fall from the 50s into the 20s to near 30… even at the Tucson International Airport.

Next weeks weather pattern looks good for our dry conditions.  Cool unsettled weather looks to be on the way with valley rain showers and mountain snows possible off and on much of the week.  I hope so.  I really like the rain in the desert and I really am ready to head up to Mt. Lemmon to see some snow!

Meanwhile, AccuWeather is highlighting the expanding December cold with snow expected from the Pacific Northwest to Arizona to Eastern New Mexico to Louisiana to the Great Lakes and East Coast

Dallas/Ft. Worth Snow!

It’s snowing in Dallas/Ft. Worth this morning.  I found this web cam image in Ft. Worth that shows snow sticking to the grass.  Looks like AccuWeather’s Winter forecast is coming true!

UPDATE 9:39 a.m. MST: KDFW in Dallas has a great slide show of this morning’s snow!

Lubbock TV

CBS 13 & ABC 28

Yes, that’s the President. As for my camel hair jacket with purple spot tie? It only proves that I had (have) no fashion sense :-) This was taken when President Bush was running for Governor of Texas.

Why Views on Climate Matter

With temperatures cooling and not rising you’d think that the debate on Global Warming, or Climate Change as the kids are calling it these days, would be more of a debate.  Instead, most of the liberal politicians are ignoring the facts and acting to prevent more warming when much of the globe is freezing!

A great example comes to us from the U.K.  Seems some British politicians are hoping to ban plasma TVs because they use too much energy!  Read it for yourself from the Independent.

Energy-guzzling flatscreen plasma televisions will soon be banned as part of the battle against climate change, ministers have told The Independent on Sunday.

“Minimum energy performance standards” for televisions are expected to be agreed across Europe this spring, they say, and this should lead to “phasing out the most inefficient TVs”. At the same time, a compulsory labelling system will be drawn up to identify the best and worst devices.

How do Brits feel about this? The story doesn’t say.

Could you imagine if this was tried in the United States?  I know a few Texans who might say, “They’ll have to pry the remote from my cold, frozen, global cooled fingers!”

This in the face of the coldest Winter in a decade.  Glaciers grew last year in Alaska.  Snow is falling in the south of France and Madrid, Spain!  The Sun is quiet and Solar Scientists say colder decades are ahead.  We should be drilling for more oil and natural gas and burning it to produce electricity and to stay warm!  Not banning plasma TVs.

It really does matter your view of global warming. If you believe man is causing it then you have to control peoples behavior to combat it. If it’s natural and we are entering a very cold spell then it’s time to prepare by mining, and using, more fossil fuels!

It’s a debate we better have. Otherwise we could waste a lot of time, money, resources, and even lives.

What About Texas?

It’s a little aggravating.  All this talk of Florida being in the National Championship after beating Alabama.  I guess I understand that Florida IS playing great football right now.  They just beat number one at a neutral site.  In fact Florida has been playing great football since their loss to Ol’ Miss.  What?  Ol’ Miss beat Florida?  Yeah.  In the swamp!  AT Florida!  When they were unranked!

Meanwhile, Texas has one loss.  It was on the road against #7 Texas Tech.  Tech beat ‘em on the last play of the game.  Now, it wasn’t all that.  Tech lead the whole game except for 1:29 of the fourth quarter.  However Texas mounted an impressive comeback in the second half of that game before they got beat with :08 on the clock.

Assuming Oklahoma beats Missouri in the Big 12 Championship that is about 2 minutes awy from starting as I type this, then I contend it should be Texas and Oklahoma for the National Championship.  It’s the right and fair thing to do, but I doubt it will happen.

Texas Tech is being left out of the conversation because of the way they lost to Oklahoma on national TV.  But, don’t forget.  Tech has only one loss and they have impressive victories over Texas, Oklahoma State and Kansas in Lawrence.  Not really fair that after that kind of season they should play a Mississippi team that has lost 4 games.  Not a slam on Mississippi.  If that’s the way it is then Tech could have lost a couple of more games and still gone Cotton.

Utah, USC (who lost to Oregon State, who lost to Oregon), Cincinnati all are probably going to be in BCS Bowls and Tech won’t?  I don’t think it’s fair, but maybe I’m just being a fan.

To me it should be Texas and Oklahoma for the National Championship and Texas Tech to the Fiesta Bowl.  They all earned it!

We’ll find out for sure when the Bowl bids are given out I think later tonight.

UPDATE:  Bowl Selection Show is Sunday Night at 8:00 Eastern.  That’s 6:00 pm for me here in Arizona.  College Football needs a playoff.  Take the top 16 teams and play it out through December.  Fun times!

Wild at Heart

GREAT book!  I remember when I was a new Christian.  Barely a year in the faith.  My Church, Trinity Church in Lubbock, had a men’s groups study on, “Wild at Heart.”  I already had a home group so I didn’t sign up although I was interested.  Especially since it was being taught by an Air Force recruiter I admired.

So, years later, I FINALLY read it.  I read it on Saturday.  Now I’m wondering, what took me so long??

There is so much to the book.  I’ll probably reread it sometime.  The main messages I got out of the book?  For me, it boils down to a couple of principles that has really igniting something in me.  The biggest and most impactful?  It’s OK for me to be who I am!  God gave me a lot of wonderful gifts.  I don’t need to be afraid of them.  I shouldn’t suppress them.  That’s like hiding your light under a bushel.  No.  God has reasons why He made me the way He did.  I need to come out from behind my personality and quit beating myself up for being an under achiever.  And, to challenge myself to not be so lazy.

Growing up, school was very easy for me.  I’d show up, stay awake in class (for the most part), blow off the homework and ace the tests.  I developed a nasty habit of being lazy.  Hey.  If I can excel without trying, then why push myself?

It truly is a blessing and a curse.  How cool that I can just show up and learn!  Of course the flip side is, sometimes challenges come along in life that do require extra effort.  I’d rather watch TV :-)

When I was in elementary school I found out that not everyone thought the really smart people were cool.  I also discovered I could make people laugh.  So.  Why not suppress the one and develop the other?  Classic under achiever syndrome.

I think God is challenging me.  Not to be the smartest around, but to not be afraid to be who I am.  To be thankful for the gifts He has given me and to use them for His glory!  That means studying His word more.  Spending time in His presence.  As I learn about Him and get to know Him, I can share with others.  I desire to teach and preach.  If it’s His will I need to pursue it!  The big question I have now is, what is the best path to take to do that?

Another area is assertiveness.  I need to assert myself more and have more confidence!  Or at least realize that I have more to contribute then I have at times.  Once upon a time in high school I was brimming with confidence.  I was class president.  I was all league in track.  Good at football.  School was easy and I was popular.  It seemed everything I did turned to gold!  Slowly as my drug and alcohol use increased I started to falter.  By the time I was a junior I quit football, was kicked off of the track team and dropped out of school the following year.  I languished for a few years before I moved to New Mexico to start my broadcasting career.  I have done pretty well despite not having a college degree thanx to the gifts God has given me, but I never quite regained the confidence I had before I started messing up.

I need to realize.  God’s gifts and talents are without repentance!   I didn’t mess up His best plan for my life, rather He has made me a new creation in Him!  I can forget the former self and truly live!  That means forgetting those things that are behind and pressing forward to the high calling of God.  With His help I intend to do just that.

The other area is relationships.  Women.  But that is none of your business :-)  God is teaching me some things.  Someday, Lord willing, I am going to be a great husband to a blessed beautiful woman!

Blurred

I’m back from an incredibly wonderful visit to Texas!  It’ll take more time than I have to recap it all here, but I will try in the coming days.

One thing I have noticed lately that is really bugging me is my vision.  Most of the time it’s great.  I have 20-10 and can see both near and far very very well.  I try not to take it for granted.  It’s a gift from God that I really do appreciate and enjoy.  I should probably quit showing off like I do occasionally by reading someone’s e-mail off of their computer screen from half way across the room.  “You can read that from there?”  Yeah.  It’s annoying, I’m sure.

I started noticing this three weeks ago driving back from Yuma after visiting Dad.  It was getting dark and I was still on the highway.  I took off my sunglasses and everything had a slight blur to it.  I could still see OK, but everything was just slightly out of whack.  I thought maybe it was the glasses since they are kinda scratched up.  So, before the return trip from Texas yesterday I bought a brand new pair.  That ought ta fix it!

Not so much  :-(  Same thing last night.  It was getting dark, I took off the glasses and there was the blur again.  I guess it’s time to get my eyes checked, although the rest of the time I seem to have my usual excellent vision.

It’s not likely to last forever.  Dad had great vision and ended up getting cataract surgery.  Aunt Lora V. had awesome vision too, but now is going blind from macular degeneration.  Mamaw had that too.  I think I’ll enjoy what I have while I have it and try to keep my attitude of gratitude!

My advice to you young people;  Don’t get old!

Happy Mother’s Day

I love to drive!  Especially when there is family and fun on the other side.  For Mother’s Day I was in Lubbock on my way to the Big “D”.  Let me back up 650 miles.  Saturday morning, I left Tucson for Lubbock.  It worked out really well.  I am visiting my son before he leaves for basic training on May 22 (or is it the 21st?).  I stop in Lubbock on the way to Dallas to spend the night and visit with Mom.

The timing was perfect!  Saturday night at Mom’s and wake up Sunday morning just in time to take Mom to Golden Corral for Mother’s day!  That’s where she wanted to go, so that’s where we went.

I was surprised.  The food wasn’t that great.  However, the company was good :-)  We got done in plenty of time to go to church at my friend and pastor’s church, Calvary Chapel Lubbock.

The service was AWESOME!  Pastor Ben is a good teacher and he showed us how Jesus prayed in John 17.   Jesus prayed for ME!  and He’s praying for you right now too.

After the sermon we visited quite a lot and then I took Mom home.  We said our goodbyes and then I went to visit with my friend Don Webster!  We are working on a web site that I will talk more about soon.  His daughter had graduated from Texas Tech over the weekend, so they were all in town.  We went to the Tech campus and took pictures with Kristi and her diploma and all that.  Then Don rode part of the way back to Dallas with me while we talked about family, life, and business.

I even got a Calzone at “One Guy From Italy!”  They are the best Calzones EVAH!

So, now I’m safely in Dallas having a nice family visit :-)

Hopefully I’ll take the time to update throughout the week.  Right now we are getting ready to head to the UT Arlington Campus.  Michael s thinking of transfering there for ROTC and Engineering.  Should be a good day!

President Bill Clinton

Imagine my surprise when I came back to work from lunch Tuesday. It was Super Tuesday Two and Senator Hillary Clinton was in the fight of her life to stay alive in the Democratic race for President. So, on my voice mail was a person from the Hillary Clinton Campaign asking if we’d be interested in interviewing President Clinton that afternoon?! I thought about it for a few seconds and called ‘em right back!

I was a bit nervous. We are a 501 (c)3 and are not allowed to endorse any candidates. I knew we couldn’t let him on live and just urge everyone to vote for his wife. I thought maybe his people might decline us the interview if I told them we would have to record the Former President’s comments and then do some editing.

I called and explained and they were still interested! We have stations in Amarillo, Lubbock, and Midland/Odessa so it made sense that they would like to reach segments of all three with one phone call. So. I started preparing questions and waited for the call.

FINALLY they called at 5:30 p.m. and gave me the number and code to join the conference call and wait my turn. I heard Clinton wrapping up his last answer to the guy before me and then he asked the President for a liner! So this guy is saying, “could you say, ‘you’re listening to so and so on Fox such and such.’” After two or three tries you could tell that President Clinton was getting frustrated with the guy and told him he was having trouble hearing him. He got through it sorta monotone with a half stumble and that was good enough. My turn.

Someone from the campaign got on the line. “Mike Shaw are you on the line?” “Yes I am.” Then Bill Clinton’s voice. I thanked him for his time and made the comment that his schedule must be grueling. He agreed with that but said he was enjoying traveling around Ohio and Texas and that he had been to all three cities, Amarillo, Lubbock and Odessa. Then he just kept on going. Urged everyone to caucus after they vote for Hillary. The Texas two-step. Only time you can vote twice and not get in trouble., etc.

I was then able to ask him three questions before we ran out of time. Actually, I sorta stole the time for the last one. I expected him to be personable and smart and I was actually surprised just how well he handled all three of my questions. Especially when I asked about his wife’s faith and how that might help shape her policy. As he was answering I was thinking that he sounded like he had actually read James a few times. Not sure why that surprised me. I guess you look at all of the controversy surrounding his time in office and I suppose I was thinking that maybe he hadn’t read a lot of Bible. Ever since the interview, I’ve been wondering, and hoping, that he has a relationship with God and that just maybe we can visit in Heaven about the interview and maybe some other stuff.

The time went by too fast. I ended up talking to him maybe five minutes. If I had to do it over again, I would have ditched my third question and instead followed up on his wife’s faith. I would have liked to ask him to reconcile the answer he gave about having a faith that works vs. her stance on abortion and stem cell research. Unfortunately I didn’t think on my feet fast enough and the moment passed.

All in all, it was a very interesting experience. I mentioned to him before we got off the phone that we have a lot of stations in Michigan. If they end up re-voting, I would like to talk to him again! We shall see.

Here’s a link to the three questions and answers on the stations web site.

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