Unlocking the Mystery of Life

Did you know that there is a little machine inside of each cell that untwists your DNA so that it can be transcribed using a messenger RNA which is then moved into the manufacturing part of your cell where it is put into a little two-part building machine which then matches the code with one of 20 specific amino acids to form a chain that is moved into a tumbling machine that helps it fold into a protein? (And that is only one part of the process.)

If you randomly dropped Scrabble letters onto a table, what are the chances they would ever fall in such a way as to line-up and make one complete sentence? And DNA has millions of lines of code.

And some people actually think this all happened by some big cosmic accident or by chance. Ha! That's not science, that's science fiction.

I recommend you view the Unlocking the Mystery of Life video if you get the chance.

Just Relax

Today I read an article on the importance of not being stressed out and relaxing regularly. The article then explained the physical effects of stress and relaxing. It explained that you can learn to relax with very little effort or time.

Several ways to relax were explained. Ways to relax include breathing deeply, laughing, meeting with a friend, singing, reading, and listening to music you enjoy.

While I was at the printer waiting for a print job to appear, I decided to take the few seconds to relax. I breathed deeply, laughed and sang a song in my head all at the same time. It was very relaxing. (grin)

(For those of you who know how busy I am and wonder how I could have time to read a magazine article, let me tell you my secret. There is a spot in every house and office where you sit for at least a few minutes each day and don't need your brain power. That is when I find time to quickly read an article or two each day.)

A Week in Review

Well, I can hardly believe I haven't blogged for a whole week. And I was getting downright regular at it. I can only credit such a lapse to the fact that on Monday I spent my lunch time on someone else's blog answering their questions about dishwasher use. The rest of the week I didn't have a regular lunch time.

The week has been busy, as expected. My fellow employees returned from their combination of vacation and conferences (except for two). Most importantly was the return of the two "top dogs" in our organization who create a lot of work for me when they are here. (Not that I am lacking in work when they are not here.)

Deadlines that could not be met early because people were gone had a heyday with my schedule this week. I know in theory that the best way to avoid the tyranny of the urgent is to get stuff done ahead of time. However, when people have their own deadlines that prevent them from getting you the stuff you need until you can't let them put it off anymore, what can a person do?

I'll just keep trying to get "ahead" when I can. Meanwhile, all these urgent deadlines keep my life from being boring!

And since I brought that up, what is it like to be bored? I really can't say from personal experience. If I was ever bored in my entire life, I don't remember it. I'm sure it didn't last very long.

Rain Drops

Last night I stayed up after I got home from my meeting to water the plants and cook some tomato soup stock. (I really wanted to get two batches done before my housemate returned this weekend.) As I went to sleep I thought I would need to jump out of bed first thing in the morning and move the garden hose from one section of the garden to another.

When I woke up this morning, I heard the pleasant patter of rain drops outside. Actually, it was pouring! I was delighted. The garden would be fully watered without my assistance. This left me enough time to finish the soup stock, clean-out the fridge, and empty the compost and garbage. Since my housemate has been gone for almost two weeks, and I have been gone all except for one evening, stuff that would normally have been eaten long ago looked more like science experiments than food. Fortunately there really wasn't very much that was bad (since we knew our schedules would be crazy, we didn't put a lot in the fridge to begin with).

Rain is amazing stuff. Water is amazing stuff. Praise God for His wonderful creation! One of the greatest arguments for creation is water. Without it there would be no life as we know it. It defies many of the "standard" rules for how things act, and if it didn't, we wouldn't be here to talk about it.

On another note, the mole pushed up another mound yesterday and a third one last night while I was sleeping! I called the mole man again and left another (more urgent) message.

While I find the mole to be another remarkable creation of God, (the amount of dirt they can push around is incredible,) I would really like them to stay out of our yard! I guess this is the "subdue and rule the earth" part of God's commandments for man.

Note for my more literal-minded readers: I consider a commandment of God to be anything He tells (or has told) us (as in man and sometimes more specifically Christians) to do (or not to do).

P.S. Did you ever think about the fact that God's very first commandment to us was to "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." - Genesis 1:28

IT'S A NEW GAME!

(And it's the first time I've done one of these on my blog. Thank you QOC.)

Directions: Copy and publish on your blog; bold what you have done.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins (I think any dolphin should count.)
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula (I may have and just forgotten about it)
07. Taken a candlelit bath
08. Said “I love you’ and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten tipsy on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. *edited*
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business (I'm assuming lemonade stands don't count)
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie (homemade)
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert” (in seagull calling)
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas (I had a plane layover there)
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. *edited*
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (Does helping other people count?)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray (their skin is very soft)
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced (not for cosmetic reasons, anyway)
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol (all three)
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery (appendicitis)
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours (I was sick)
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi (just so I could say that I had tried it)
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school (for many Septembers)
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you (if you count crafts)
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident (at least not as far as I know)
150. Saved someone’s life (I count leading them to Christ as saving their life...their eternal life)

Driving Directions

My family has long held the opinion that my driving directions tend to be too complicated. This opinion was formed from experiences of many years ago when I wanted people to be comforted by landmarks along the way to assure them they were going the correct direction. (Makes sense to me.) Since those bygone days, I have acquired a better understanding of what level of detail people usually require and desire in directions. Although my family will now "admit" that my driving directions are good, (no one actually gets lost if they follow them,) they still enjoy teasing me about the way I gave directions in the past. (And I don't mind.)

Yesterday I e-mailed driving directions to my Tuesday evening Bible study to my sister, who was going to begin attending with me. She had never driven to that particular town before, so my directions were very carefully written. However, the computers and printer were not working where she was, so she asked me to fax them to her. I printed out the e-mail and faxed it to her.

Shortly after work I received a call from my sister on her cell phone. She had left the faxed directions behind and needed me to give them to her again. So I did...slowly explaining each turn (happily there were not very many of them).

Unhappily something was not written down somewhere along the line, because there was a turn missing...and something she was looking for on the right was actually on the left...and by the time she got there it was dark so that made it hard to see things.

She did make it, (although she was a few minutes late,) and was very happy she did, but it was somewhat of a challenge. I cannot help but wonder if "someone" was trying to keep her from attending. The Bible clearly teaches that we are in an unseen war with principalities and powers, and that there are two sides. If you're not with God, then you are against Him...and vice versa.

My sister's drive home was not uneventful either...she almost hit a deer on the road. Her first close call with a deer. So who thinks life is full of coincidences???

Not me.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

I can never think about kites without thinking about the song from Mary Poppins "Let's Go Fly a Kite." There is something about the (apparently) gravity defying kite that seems to speak to the very soul. Perhaps it is because the kite demonstrates the marvelous balance of God's creation. It is gravity that enables the kite to use the principle of lift to fly.

This is kind of like the relationship between the laws of God and the grace of God. Without the law we would not know that we had sin and needed God's grace to lift us out of sin (Romans 6-8).

Anyway, back to my story. The reason I have been thinking about kites is because our family decided to take a short family vacation this past weekend. We went to Ocean Shores (and stayed in the cheapest motel we could find near the ocean). By the way, the Huckleberry Motel/Inn was quite clean, and quite small. It looks to have 6 rentable units, with two being occupied by the daughter & family of the owner and two more occupied by us. We were the only guests during the weekend.

While there we spent some time flying kites. The ocean breeze (especially as the day goes on) gets stronger and stronger. It was fascinating to me to see the different attitudes of kite flyers. It is kind-of like dogs and their owners; they tend to reflect each other's characteristics.

My dad & sister bought kites at a local "Easy Kite" shop. The shop was opened up only the day before by a kite enthusiast who wanted a shop full of nothing but easy to use kites (he has another shop for more complicated ones). The most complicated of the kites in the store had only one rod that had to be put into place before flying the kite.

Dad went for ease, height and not too expensive. His was colorful and had 500 feet of string. My sister went for beauty. She bought a kite that has a colorful parrot design on it with 300 feet of string. Both of them wanted a kite that would soar up in the sky where they could lay on the beach and look at it away up there.

I didn't need a kite. I already had one. Many years ago I was introduced to controllable kites (two strings) by some friends we made during a conference. As a result of that casual friendship, I purchased a "Beetle" kite. It is controllable, but small enough to fly in fairly low winds. It is also very sturdy and can take the kind of punishment a beginner is likely to inflict upon it.

So our family set out for the beach. And here is what we did:
Dad flew his kite while laying on the beach.
Mom sat next to Dad reading a book.
My sister flew her kite while laying on the sand (with bare feet).
My brother sat next to my sister watching the kites.
I stood, flying my kite in circles, curves, trying to knock targets over on the ground, etc. the whole time. I even progressed to sky writing (sometimes more and sometimes less recognizable).

We all enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Then we walked down the beach with our kites to see what other people were flying. There are lots of fun, pretty and interesting kites out there.

Some people fly kites like they fish (except their line goes up instead of down). Some people fly kites more like fly fishing; where it is an activity in itself.

This same scene was repeated the next day, minus the sister who decided that she wanted to take a nap.

All in all, we had a very relaxing weekend.