The Post Where I Talk About Religion and Church

The headline brought you in....didn't it?

I went to private Catholic school from kindergarten through 12th grade. Actually I had the choice to attend private or public school for high school but most of my friends were going to private school so I figured why not. And honestly private school wasn't too bad. The worst part of it was the uniforms but they were pretty relaxed on that for the guys when I was there and all the girls had to wear skirts, so there wasn't too much of a downside for me.

Religion was, of course, a requirement. And it wasn't terrible. I only remember 2 things from my religion classes and both came during my junior year of high school.

1. Our school didn't have air conditioning but there were ceiling fans, which during warm months were always on. Well we got a kid who was sitting underneath the fan to through a banana up into the fan and of course it pretty much exploded over everyone sitting under the fan. The best part of that is the teacher didn't believe the kid when he confessed.

He stood up and said he did it and the teacher (honest to god) said "No you didn't Bradley, sit down." I couldn't believe it. She blamed it on Rob, who was what one might call a class clown or trouble maker. Honestly, she didn't believe anyone for a solid couple of days and then finally accepted that Brad must have done it since the WHOLE CLASS told her.

2. The other story is about cheating. Yes that's right I cheated.....in religion class. Shhhh....don't tell anyone, okay?

Tests were all taken on scan-tron sheets and were typically handed back (and gone over) in the same class. Well a group in first period would write down all the answers and it would make its rounds. I had religion in the afternoon and would get the answers during history class in 4th period.

But I was smart enough to never ace the tests. I always made sure to make 3-4 questions wrong on purpose so it wasn't obvious. Well it worked out for me. The ring was broken up and anyone who had a majority of the answers right over the few tests was questioned, including yours truly. And you know what saved me? Yup, making a few answers wrong kept me from getting into trouble.


But anyways, I am getting away from the main part of this story. Religion and Church.

My family went to Church with some regularity. It was never every week but probably closer to every other week. It was always nice when my parents would go out on Saturday night. If they didn't get home before midnight we knew we weren't going to church and I hated church.

As a family we stopped going to church when we stopped being a complete family. Actually we had started going less and less and then my parents got divorced. That happened when I was 18 and I have only been inside a church once since then, for a friends wedding.

So I haven't been to Church in almost 10 years and honestly I don't miss it at all. Church never really served a purpose for me. I went but I never felt anything or got anything out of it.

For the past year I have driven by old Church every morning on my way to the bus stop. And from time to time I think about going back. But not because I miss the religious side of it. More cause I miss the togetherness of it maybe. I mean I have so many memories of being in that church whether with family or with classmates.

I remember sitting in the entrance way a couple Christmas Eve's cause the building was so crowded. I remember crawling around under the pews during practices for special masses the students were a part of.

But I think mostly I miss going to breakfast after church. We would always go to Church with my grandparents and then afterwards we would go out for a nice Sunday brunch. I loved that. Although I am sure I loved it more now than I loved it when it was happening but still it was always nice.

Either way I am now what many would call agnostic. I do not believe in what most religions preach but at the same time I am not 100% sure they aren't right. Which is why I am not an atheist. I have no problem with anyone believing what they want but I would love to debate the myths of religion with you.

Anyways the point of this post was really more a reflection of a time when Church and Religion were important to me and my family. Although to me it was never about the Religious or Faith part and more the family and friends part.

Oh and yes that is the actual church I attended at the top of the post.

Is there anything from your youth that you miss?

WARNING! Do not leave small children unattended with dogs

My husband forwarded this to me this morning and I just had to post it.



Please read!!! If you are an owner of a dog that belongs to a 'dangerous breed' category and you also have a small child please take this as a warning. Don't leave your dog with the child unattended under any circumstances. Only a little moment was enough for the following to happen. See the photo attached .....

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and remember:

Busy Busy Busy

I have been very busy lately and obviously haven't posted in a while. If it wasn't for the wife there wouldn't have been any posts up here since WOW February 5th. (I just looked to see the last time I posted).

Lots has happened in the past month so I will give you all a small update on what has been happening.

Last you heard from me much of the discussion was the stupid job crap that was going on. And really none of that has changed. But other things have been added or are going to be added that has made me pretty busy.

Let's start with the current job.

Our office is changing in the next few months and in May the entire office is moving its physical location. And there are some of us that will be separated and will no longer work together. That doesn't really matter much to me since I will be staying in pretty much the same position but part of a bigger group.

Right now there are about 10 of us in my section and that will probably turn into like 50 or something like that by the end of May.

Unfortunately the move is not going to help my career as far as stability or income which sucks. But what are you gonna do. There are worse things in life I guess.

Now let's move on to my job prospects.

I recently applied to be a IRS Agent and so far everything has gone well and I should be getting an interview in the coming weeks/months. I aced the assessment test and am listed in the top of the applicants for the position. The advantage here is that this area is considered hard to fill and could come with a nice signing bonus. Which would be helpful to me.

I am not certain I would take the position but more than likely I would. It wouldn't require much (if any) travel, which I hate right now, and it would be more secure and would pay more. I am excited about that and just hope that I actually get an interview.

Now onto my extra curricular activities.

I took a part time (20 hours a week) with a Internet start up company called netSpray.com. It is an online selling site that is getting started up and if you want you can come check it out. It is free to buy and sell items on the site so if you like to sell on eBay this site will be cheaper.

Basically I am doing a 12 week training course on Internet marketing while spreading their name across the web and doing some networking. After the 12 weeks (which ends in May) there is a chance that I could be kept on permanently to do Internet marketing, blog writing, and article writing. So I am pretty excited about that.

And it is a paid position so it really helps me make my bills.

More extra stuff.

I also am going to be writing for a local community newspaper starting with their June issue. I could have started sooner but with the netSpray stuff I didn't want to get too much on my plate. I will contributing to the sports section of the paper doing interviews and stories with and about local sports personalities.

That I am really excited about and can't wait to get started. It also pays a little per article so that works too.



So as you can see I have been pretty busy over the past month and that is the main reason why this site is not updated to much. On top of the stuff mentioned above I have my other 2 sites Hershey Bears Hockey and Jumping Offsides that I have been writing regularly on. And just this past weekend Verb and I started hbgsports.com to discuss local sports teams and news in the area.

I hope to continue writing here from time to time but it will not be with too much frequency. Hopefully anyone who still reads this keeps coming back and reading.

Sick

So I'm bored and tired of being sick. Our daughter was sick for about 2 weeks with a sinus infection/headcold. The hubby's been feeling off too, however, they can take medicine. I'm pregnant (23 weeks) and can't take much of anything. Plain old tylenol is it, to be exact. Which isn't getting me anywhere but annoyed, so I thought I'd type something to distract myself for a small while. Hope everyone out there is healthly. Oh and if anyone is wondering, I'd rather be pregnant then be able to take meds, but it's really annoying to keep up with a home, almost 8 yr old, 2 cats, and 2 pups without meds....blah....

Obese or Overweight, which is it?

You hear ALL THE TIME about how obesity is running rampant across the world and in the United States mainly.

You get stats like over 33% of American adults are obese. And 16% of children too.

And those stats are incorrect. BUT you have to understand the definition of obese.

Obesity is measured by calculating your body mass index (bmi) which is figured out by putting your weight and height into a couple boxes and spits out your bmi.

Now there are multiple problems with this.

First, it doesn't differentiate between men and women. And we all now that men and women are not created equal when it comes to body style and size. A 5'8" woman who weighs 140 lbs is fine BUT most guys that are 5'8" are probably closer to 170 lbs and they would be classified as overweight EVEN though neither looks overweight.

Second, even people of the same sex are built differently. Some people (like myself) have broad shoulders and can carry more weight without being too out of shape. While others who are the same height don't have the shoulder width.

Myself and one of my good friends are like that. We are both about 6'3" but my ideal weight is probably around 220 (I am not there by the way) while his is probably 195-200 because he doesn't have the overall mass to his body.

And the final HUGE problem with calculating your bmi is that is DOES NOT take muscle mass into effect. So if you are a decently built human being with good muscle definition you might be overweight.

FOR EXAMPLE:: Troy Polamalu (image below) is 207 lbs and 5'10". Which if calculating his bmi means he is ALMOST obese. Actually if he puts on 3 pounds he would be TECHNICALLY obese. Now does this man look obesed to you?



No he doesn't.

Another example:


LaDainian Tomlinson is a running back for the Chargers for any of you that didn't know. He is 5'10" 221lbs. And he is obese!!


Seriously this is all fact. Go to this site to check your bmi and it gives you the ranges for different levels.

Honestly if you are concerned with getting into shape or just want to know if you could do more than use your body fat percentage.

This will actually take into account your age, sex, and body style. For guys you have to measure your waist, hips, wrist, and forearm. For all the ladies out there you measure your hips, calf, thigh, and waist.

Go to this site to check your body fat percentage. And go here to see what a healthy level of body fat is.


And the next time you hear about the obesity rates in this country remember that Troy Polamalu is only 3 pounds from being obese and LaDainian Tomlinson is obese.

Well That Kinda Sucks

Last week I bitched and moaned about the state of my job. And this week it kinda got worse.

Yesterday afternoon I learned that the promotion/raise I was up for probably isn't going to happen. Now let me add that I was the ONLY person in the office up for the position. So unless they really don't like me I was going to get it.

BUT now they are saying it might not happen at all. And if it doesn't it could be a YEAR before I get a raise.

Now the reason that sucks is that I barely make enough to live on right now. The wife works a few hours a week cleaning on office and makes $550 a month. And I make enough to live on but probably just barely. (I am currently in the process of determining if we make enough).

She could obviously work more but there are a few problems with that:

• No experience in an office setting so she is going to have a REALLY hard time getting a good job
• She is 4 months pregnant and will have to take multiple weeks off within 5 months of getting a job
• NO ONE IS HIRING ANYTHING RIGHT NOW!!

So I was very frustrated last night as I might have to get a part time job working in a warehouse or at a convenience store or something just to get by for the time being.

I am still working on the Real Estate license that I talked about last summer but it is turning out to be harder than I originally thought it would be.

And on top of that I need like 2 grand just to get my license and everything else I need AFTER I pass the tests!

So that sucks.

Basically I was counting on this raise/promotion. I understand that I am not guaranteed anything but being that I do a good job and that I was the ONLY one up for it I figured I would get it.

And now.....maybe not for a whole freaking year!

I F'in HATE the economy right now!

How about you!?

For Some Reason it Bothers Me

How was everyone's weekend? Mine was long. I was off on Friday and then yesterday was traveling for work but luckily got to start a little late and actually finished up early so it was almost like a day off.

Did you watch the Super Bowl? I did. The game was good which it has been lately but I thought the commercials were MUCH IMPROVED over the past few years. I can remember watching the game the past couple years and not being too impressed with the ads. But this year I thought it was much better.

My favorite adds were the Doritos (snow globe), Bud Light (thrown out of window), and both of the E-Trade commercials although they came at the end and after the game. For some reason I absolutely love all the talking baby E-Trade commercials. No matter how many times I see them I laugh.

Shank-opotamus!!! Awesome!

Anyways....

Thursday of last week I was at a training class for Excel. I use Excel from time to time and even though I can do everything that is required of me now I thought that I might get some use out of learning more so I signed up to.

But the class wasn't as interesting as one thing that happened early in the day.

The idiot in front of me (probably in his late 40s or 50s) was sending and receiving emails with people all day long. No big deal...I was surfing the web and emailing too.

But my emails did not involve making plans to cheat on my wife. His did. I have gone through most of the possible scenarios in my head and am almost certain that he was doing just that. He was making plans with a woman with a different last name and everything seemed very secretive. And then he immediately deleted the emails from his account.

Suspicious...that's all.


There is local FM radio show host that recently got divorced and another national radio host I listen to that got divorced in the past 12 months.

They bother me now. For some reason since I learned that they are divorced they bother me. It isn't the fact they got divorced but more that they brag about being single now. And both of them had just recently had babies.

I understand that sometimes things don't work out. My wife and I have had some problems but we made it through. That is one thing. But to brag about being divorced on the air. That is unacceptable in my book.

I think that is mainly why I am bothered. It isn't the divorce that bothers me. That happens. But for them to talk about it and seem happy about it just doesn't make sense.

Obviously I don't have all the details on what happened. But I don't think you should be on the air (whether national or local) talking about your relationship status and bragging.