Tire Pressure Light

The tire pressure sensor light has been brightly lit on my dash for some time now.  I have repeatedly checked the pressure in all four tires and found them to be properly inflated.  Since I had some time of this week, I decided to take the FJ in to the shop to have them check out the warning light.  As I pulled into the service bay and started explaining the issue, the service attendant looked at me kinda funny and said, "Did you check the spare?"

I just rolled up the window and left.  The apparently 'super-stupid' look on my face was enough.  I'm sure they laughed about that all day.

Check the spare...duhh!

Merry Christmas Ya'll!

I know I've written about this before, but there's no law I know if against redundancy, is there?  It's Christmas Eve and I'm excited.  No, it's not the gifts or stuff.  Really, it is the marking of another year and the celebration with family as we remember the blessings our Father has granted and the ultimate gift of our salvation in Christ.

Our traditions are rather simple, yet I believe that they are profound too.  Tonight, we will not track Santa, or rush the kids off to bed, or stay up all night assembling stuff, or sneaking out loads of presents.  No, we will start the evening off with a simple candlelight service to celebrate the coming of the Savior.  It is the first thing we do and I believe it sets the proper tone for all that follows.

After the service, we'll come home and exchange stocking gifts.  If there is any sneaking around, it is sometime before this point as we all try to stealthfully place a small gift or two into each other's stocking.  The stocking gifts take a lot of pressure off of the whole event and evening.  It has allowed us to share something special and sleep well.  It has been years since we had to get up early on Christmas morning.

But, when Christmas morning arrives, we are all excited.  Usually, there are extended family around and plenty of food.  We'll exchange gifts mid-morning and enjoy our company through the afternoon.  It's peaceful and enjoyable.  We will remember the story of Christ's birth and the significance of the gifts we share.

I hope that as you enjoy your Christmas traditions, you will remember the Lord Jesus Christ as well.  He is the reason we celebrate and exchange gifts.  It is a remembrance of the most precious gift we could ever have the opportunity to receive, life.

Merry Christmas!

Mea Culpa

You know, there are times I am really disappointed in myself.  These times usually come after I realize that I have slidden down the preverbal 'slippery slope.'  It is only when I'm at the bottom, that I realize where I am.  That happened to me today.

I was caught off guard.  And in a moment of self indulgent weakness, I complained rather bitterly about another person in my office.  It was un-professional.  It didn't glorify my Lord at all.  Tomorrow, I will apologize to the person who listened to my outburst.  They deserve it.

Each day I start out with a time of scripture reading and prayer.  It is utterly amazing to me how quickly that can be lost when I walk in the office.  One day, I hope to change that.  With God's mercy, maybe I will.

Back Surgery

The continuing saga of the last five months of Jobesque existence led to back surgery a couple of days ago. The pain had become so intolerable that even the slightest movement brought excruciating pain in my back and down my leg. So, we hit the phones to the doctors to see what could possibly be done.

We finally managed to get in touch with the doc reading the MRI results. His comment was, "Yep, Mr. Fryar, you have a severe herniation of the L5-S1 disc. That'll take surgery to fix. I'm gonna call Dr. Dossett to get you an appointment."

By the afternoon of the next day, we still had not heard anything from either doc. So, we hit the phones again. And after many calls, we finally got in. It turned out the Dr. Dossett had to pass off to Dr. Clavennes, which turned out to be a good thing. Its amazing how God does that.

The next blessing came in the form of a nurse practitioner that recognized I needed some serious pain management and got me admitted to the hospital that evening. What an incredible blessing. They got my pain under control and my surgery scheduled. I met the doctor and he concurred that the only real option was surgery, so it became a matter of time. The next evening I was in and done in about an hour and a half.

When I awoke, the pain was gone. Wow. They had removed the portion of the disc that was pushing on the nerve and placed some pain-reducing agent in there as well. I could not tell I had been operated on. It was amazing. They told me that the nerves would wake up again in a day or so and that I would need to be extremely careful for the next few weeks while things healed.

I am so thankful for the skill and knowledge that God has allowed these doctors to posses. I am also so thankful that He has allowed me to receive treatment. I still don't know why I have been required to endure these trials and I may never know. But the Lord has also shown me mercy through all of this and I will praise Him for that.

It is hard to be thankful for a trial. And I have discovered that instantaneous thankfulness for suffering is very hard indeed. However, I think that as time goes by and I can reflect on the happenings, the thankfulness will come. I believe it will come because I will see the wonderful things that God did during this time emerge from the haze of the pain. And I'm looking forward to that.

A very good reference and discussion of the type of procedure I underwent can be reviewed here.

I Don't Even Know Where To Start

I thought I was getting to the end of a serious time of testing with the jetski accident this summer. However, the Lord had other plans. Thanksgiving Thursday, I injured my back. I thought it was minor, but time has proven otherwise. The doctor was kind enough to call in a prescription on 11/28, and the pain was reduced. But, it came back with a vengeance. It has lasted with intensity ever since.

Last Thursday, I had an MRi. The doctor was supposed to call me with the results, but he hasn't yet. I think he will find a herniated disc which is putting tremendous pressure on a set of nerves down my left leg. It is so painful. This morning, I was in tears uncontrollably.

I do not know what the Lord is working in my life. Whatever it is, the lesson has been extremely difficult. I'm not Job, and I cannot claim to be righteous other than by the blood of my savior, Jesus. I only hope that this trial will end soon. I am blessed that it has not been worse and I know that I am loved as a child of the Lord. It is just so hard right now.

I am praying that He will heal me and that I will not fail in this trial.

Hurting: Follow up

Well, it turned out the the Lord heard our prayers and the doctor called me back on a Saturday. He thinks it is a strained or sprained paraspinous muscle. Either way, it is extremely painful. He called in a prescription for a steroid to reduce the inflammation. So far, I think it is working. The pain has subsided to the point that I can move about the house.

I'll be praying that by tomorrow I can function with some normality. We have an interview for some new work tomorrow evening. I need to be on my game.

Hurting...

I really don't know what's going on any more. I thought the jet-ski accident was a trial that had reached a conclusion. I was able to maintain a fairly good attitude through most of that ordeal only by the grace of out Lord Jesus. But today, I was struck with sever aggravation of a herniated disc in my back. I am hardly able to get out of the bed. I must admit that my attitude degenerated a lot today. I'm am so at the end of my rope with being hurt. I so desperately want to learn the lesson that God wants me to learn. Please pray for me. Pray that I will keep my eyes focused on Him and searching for His mercy. Pray that I will be able to maintain my responsibilities. There is so much to do...

I can't help myself. Really, it's a shame. I've been farting around with guitars for so many years I can't hardly recall how long its actually been. One thing I have never had is a great amplifier. Ok, I've never even had a good amplifier, let alone a great amp. Now, I do.

My early, and only Christmas present is this new Mesa Lonestar Special! An all Class A amplifier with a tone sent from heaven. Wow, I get a shiver just writing...I wanna go back home and play! Here's a bit from the Mesa website. It's all true. I'll vouch for them all day and then some. Read on!

Introducing the new Pure Class A, EL-84 Powered LONE STAR SPECIAL® featuring Channel Assignable Power (patent pending) that allows you to assign 1, 2 or all 4 EL-84’s to either of its 2 Channels for independent Power Ratings of 5, 15 or 30 Watts!

In one short year, the stylistic momentum of the Lone Star ® has been overwhelming.

Players and reviewers alike have bestowed global accolades on this gem, including prestigious Editor’s Pick and Platinum Awards.

“So …why another Lone Star?” Because tone this good, demands it!

Take that incredibly expressive pre-amp with its intuitive versatility, add the vintage magic of EL-84’s running Pure Class A — and a new classic is born.

Where its Big Brother boasts the huge warmth and headroom of 6L6 power, the Special delivers seductive, bubbly tone and a sensual, elastic feel. This Lone Star is short on weight, but tall on personality.

Authentic retro-tone is all about power and the way it clips. Yet in any given amp, the sweet-spot of power clip is inseparably tied to its wattage and playing loudness. The Lone Star Special smashes this age-old limitation by offering three distinct power configurations, each with its own window of wattage: 30, 15, or 5. Perfect Power. Per Channel. On Demand.

Thirty Watts, bold and pure from all four power tubes punches through the mix and hangs with a band in mid-size venues. Fifteen watts cries the blues with sinful passion …coaxing expressive soul from an electron-soaked pair of EL-84’s. Both these circuits run Pure Class A in a Push-Pull configuration. But what really makes this Lone Star Special is its ability to switch down to five watts of single-ended power bliss (patent pending).

In Push-Pull circuits, the second harmonic is cancelled out when the two halves of the wave-form are re-combined in the output transformer. Unlike Push-Pull, Single-Ended circuits preserve this most musical of all harmonics. A subtle coating of warm distortion (an octave above the note you’re playing) glazes the entire spectrum with a purring, golden halo of precious nuance. Perfect for individual playing or recording.

Lone Star Special ® FEATURES

Handbuilt in the Petaluma, California

Pure Class A, Multi-Watt™, Channel Assignable Power Amp (Patent Pending) allows you to assign either 1, 2 or all 4 Power Tubes to each Channel for Power Ratings of 5, 15 or 30
Watts per Channel via independent 5/15/30 Watt Power Switches / 4xEL84, 5x12AX7, 1x5Y3

Rectifier Tracking™ (5&15 Watt Mode = Tube, 30 Watt = Diode - Patents 5,168,438 & 7,193,458)

2 Fully Independent Channels each with Gain, Treble, Mid, Bass, Presence, Reverb & Master Controls

Channel 1=Boutique Vintage Clean/Classic Breakup

Channel 2=Clone
of Ch 1 or Cascading High Gain

Drive/Clean Switch activates Ch 2 “Drive” Control (Multi-Stage
Cascading Gain Circuit)

Thick/Normal/Thicker Voicing Switch (Channel 2)

All-Tube, Long
Spring Reverb with Bright/Warm Reverb Tone Switch

Output Level Control (over all channels
when activated)

Footswitchable Solo Level Control – Patent 6,724,897 (over all channels
when activated)

All-Tube FX Loop with Send Level Control (over all channels when activated)

True “Hard” Bypass Switch that removes FX Loop, Output Level & Solo Level Controls from signal path

Slave Out w/Level Control

Fan Cooled with On/Off Switch

External Switching
Jacks for Channels 1/2, Solo & Reverb

All Aluminum Chassis

2 Button Footswitch (Channel 1/2 & Solo)

Slip Cover

Been Too Long

I have been occupied for some time now with the joys of Facebook. Not that I should have been ignoring this venue, but alas, I have. I don't think I'll abandon it altogether. I simply have too much to say...most of the time. As usual life has been full of twists, turns and the unexpected. I suppose that is what the Lord meant when he promised that we would have and live life abundantly. So, a short summary of my abundant life might look something like this:

Still hunting and fishing. I'll never stop that so far as I can see. It is simply too cathartic to be out of doors.

Still messing around with my guitar. I'll never be good enough to break beyond our church Worship Team, but that's ok with me. I hope to move beyond a simple digital multi-effects pedal to individual pedals...that seems to be the topic de jour.

Trying to recover from a major jetski accident. Two surgeries, four plates, three wires and twenty five screws later I am back together. Not healed yet, but better.

Still trying to grow my relationship with Jesus, my wife and my children. All of which can be difficult at times and blessings at others.

So, I guess I'm simply living. Nothing wrong with that, it's life...

abundantly.

Monthly post

I realize that I need to keep up with this a little bit more. When things are in a normal routine its easy...but that just doesn't seem like the norm any more. We have just returned from a skiing trip. It was quite a privilege to have the family out for a weekend on a business trip. Since I had to spend the weekend in LA, we decided to take the opportunity to travel up to Big Bear together. We had a great time, to say the least. I have been suggesting that we ski for some time now and my hunch was right, they loved it.

On a sad note, we were heartbroken to hear of Natasha Richardson's death. I had just been pushing Jennifer to branch out on the skis a bit more and the news was hard. But, I think we had a good enough time that we will do it again next season.

What's up in the office? Well, we are undertaking a giant move; a rearrangement, really. I'm not particularly fond of the work it takes to move, but the folks that get paid to know how we should all be seated think its best. So, I move.

Work? We need some. The competition is fierce and we have lost some projects I really thought we would win. But, we'll keep trying.

Turkey season starts soon and I'm extra excited! Ground blind, dekes, bow...I'm ready to go!

How's that for a twelve year old with a brand new 20 ga. Benelli Nova? Cool, huh! Nathan shot till his shoulder couldn't handle it any more. We had a great time!
















Pierce had a great time too. Here he is with the .410!

Well, here I am not posting for more than a month. Sorry. As usual, things have taken an upswing in the busy department. Also, BG got me into Facebook. Very interesting. So, I'm there.

I last wrote about the CHL class. We finally received our certifications for our shooting qualification test. I have no idea why it took so long. But, it took about three weeks to receive the paperwork. After we got the certification, we could submit our application. I did and BG waited. I bet it takes to mid-summer or later to receive word.

The next two weeks are crazy travel again - Houston on Tuesday and Wednesday, LA on Thursday and Friday, Phoenix on Sunday through Wednesday...

I think I'll go to Groesbeck with Benton tonight...I need some fishing time!

CHL Reprise

Our day in class was relatively uneventful. It made for a very long day. My brother and I had taken Jennifer out to the range earlier in the week to familiarize her with the weapon and get some practice in before the qualification. She practiced hard. If there is one thing true about my wife, what ever she decides to do, she does 100%. Learning to shoot a handgun proved no exception. The night before the class, we practiced loading and unloading, working the slide (we intended to qualify with a Glock .40 SA), and safe gun handling.

When we went out to the range, we had no idea what to expect. Neither of us had been there before. It turned out to be outdoors on a very cold and blustery day. I was a little nervous for Jennifer because we had practiced on an indoor range in perfect conditions. But, my fears were unfounded. She shot a 218 with ease. Both of us passed the class and qualifications easily. We still have to submit our paperwork to the state. I anticipate that will occur next week.

Jennifer and the boys really enjoyed the range. In fact, Nathan shot the .40 pretty well. I was impressed with my 11 year old handling the larger caliber. Pierce shot the Ruger .22 target pistol very well also. He's not quite ready for the big gun. Everyone has asked when we're going back. Maybe we found something new to do as a family.

Handbrake

Recently, I have been looking for a way to put some of my DVD movies onto my hard drive. I found that it was not as simple as just copying the files over. That would have been way too easy. What you need is software that will allow you to rip the movie similar to the method you would use to rip a CD. Handbrake seems to fit the bill.

Handbrake is an open-source, GPL-Licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 movie converter. Just download and install the software, place the non-copy protected DVD into your machine, point Handbrake to the DVD/Video_TS folder and start ripping. Be prepared to wait a while, the process takes some time.

I have converted several DVD's into a format that I can view through iTunes. No more having to work on an airplane or simply sink into boredom. Now, I can watch movies without carrying the discs.

CHL

My wife and I have discussed becoming licensed to carry a concealed handgun for some time. I think it is right to have the option should we decide to do so. There have been times in my past that I wished I had the extra protection with me, but by the grace of God, I have never been in a threatening situation where I feared for my life. Except maybe once...

About seven years ago now, I was in a situation where I innocently attempted to assist someone in the office where I worked. They were out and I was alone. A message come in and needed an answer. In my ignorance and haste to do a good job, I accessed the information and answered the question. To my surprise, when I told the person about the incident, rather than thanking me for helping, I was berated about my accessing the information. After discussing the situation and apologizing, I thought the event was over. It was not.

Later that day, as I was again alone in the office, the person's husband, an equity partner in the business, came in and confronted me. The situation become more threatening the more I tried to apologize. All of my desire not to fight this man or resist what he was saying resulted only in his becoming more enraged. I had no idea what was about to happen. All I could see is that he was between me and the only way out of the building.

After I realized that he was not going to let me out. I decided that if I was going to get beaten, I was not going down without a fight. Amazingly, I bowed up to this much larger man and it stunned him. I that moment of confusion, I made my exit and escaped the building without injury.

Several things came to light about that incident. One, there are times when non-resistance will not diffuse a conflict. Two, I didn't know a darn thing about self defense, and I needed to learn. Three, the reason for the anger and conflict is that they were embezzeling from the company and they thought I found out. Later on the next week, I was fired.

I don't know if having a firearm that day would have made a difference. I hope that I would have had the calmness to deal with the situation similarly and without injury to me or anyone else. I did enroll in a self defense class and learned a few things that I hope to never use.

We will, however, take this class. It will be a great responsibility if we decide to carry. I believe we have thought about it and are ready to accept it. It will be a busy week as we practice shooting and brush up on those skills before Saturday.

New Year

It's the new year and I haven't had a chance to rest. During this week off, I have hunted, shopped, cleaned, visited, celebrated, cooked, repaired and created. Not much time there for rest and relaxation...well except during the hunting.

We started off the holiday week with a visit from Jennifer's Grandma, Cora. We had a great visit before she went on the Albuquerque. She celebrated Christmas with us which was truly a blessing. I know Jennifer really enjoyed having her here.

The weekend after Christmas, I went hunting in Groesbeck with Benton; great time. As always we had long conversations about strategy and tactics. His wife, Holly, even saw what we think was a cougar. Benton called Texas Parks and Wildlife to report the sighting and they did not seem surprised. The most exciting point for me was a 14 yard head shot on a squirrel with my bow. It was a shot to be proud of; at least is was for me!

The remainder of the hunting has taken place at Lake Bardwell as Koby and I chased ducks. I haven't really duck hunted in about 6 years, but it seemed to come back. Maybe my calling was a little weak...OK it was really weak. But that did not stop a few from decoying. Nathan went with me one morning. As usual, I had to constantly remind him that if he was up moving around the ducks would see him. It is hard to convince an 11 year old that the ducks can see him before he sees them. Anyway, after it was all over, which soon was due to cold toes, he mentioned to me that he had fun...it was worth it! I have one more outing planned, maybe two, maybe we can repeat the experience.

Several months ago, Jennifer had the kitchen floor tiled. When I got home, I thought it looked great. The I noticed that the base trim was not re-installed. "When are they coming back out to install the base trim, Honey?" "Oh, they're not. I told them you could do a better job and I wanted new trim anyway." SO...I started the project. I got most of the way through the kitchen except behind the refrig. And, I can't lie. It took several attempts at coping the trim at the bay window. I never really did get it right, but it's close enough that a little painter's caulk will make everything alright. After I finish the kitchen, I'll still have the laundry and the half bath to go. Hopefully, I'll finish before Monday.

As usual, I cooked my mashed potatoes for Christmas. They really aren't that special, but people seem to like them, so I do it every year. Butter, pepper, sour cream, oh my!

My last project during the break, is to make some background boards for Jennifer's mosaics. She has promised several to people over the last few months and I am the hold up. Yesterday, we outlined what shapes she wanted and the sizes. I think after I get the kitchen trimmed, I'll work on the mosaic bases.

Kinda scattered, but that has been my life lately. I believe that in spite of the hectic nature of things, I am doing better at getting it all in order. I am continuing to organize my time better and focus on balance. It will continue to be a challenge and it in one I must accept. Maybe that will be my New Year's resolution...