Missing

Yesterday evening our Buick turned up missing from our driveway. All that remained was a pool of transmission fluid that has slowly been leaking out of the car for the past several months. There are a few leads as to what might have happened to it, but we're in the process of checking them out. I only have liability insurance on the car, so if something happens to it, I don't think insurance will cover anything. I've included the most recent pictures I have on our computer of the car.



Later,

David

Spiritual Suicide

After much thought and debate, I have decided I no longer want to be a christian. This might come as a surprise to some of you, but for other's I'm sure you've seen it coming. I hate what the world thinks of me because of the choices that I have made, because of the moral code I've chosen to live my life by. I hate the look in people's eyes when I tell them I'm with a christian organization, that look of disgust, fear, a history that is seen through scars left from christians before me. Before continuing on I want you to follow the link below. I want you to read the definitions of what a christian is. For those of you that aren't familiar with the Urban Dictionary, it's an online dictionary containing definitions of words submitted by the visitors to the site. I think you'll be able to tell pretty easily which definitions are written by different types of people.

CHRISTIAN
If you skipped over the link, please go back and follow it before proceeding. After reading those definitions take a moment to think about them. Can you tell which ones were written by christians? Can you tell which ones aren't? Now I want you to specifically think about the ones that aren't written by christians, and ask yourself, is this who I want to claim to be? My answer is no. I don't want to be classified by the world like that. I don't want to be judged when I tell someone that I'm a christian because of the way they've encountered christians in their past. Do I still love Jesus, absolutely. Do I still believe? Yes. Am I still a christian? No, I am a follower of Christ.

Later,

David

Holding

I love automated phone systems... So, I get a call from State Farm today, but I didn't take it because the number was showing up as 'UNKNOWN'. Whoever it was left a voice message and I found out that it was State Farm calling me from their claims office to talk about the Bronco. They left a number and extension that I could call back in to work with someone. So I called, and ended up in a holding queue, which isn't a big deal to me, in fact, I almost expected it. After sitting on hold for about 10 minutes or so, I got tired of the hold music and the frequent interruption to remind me that all claims reps were busy, as if I had forgotten. Well, they offer an option to press '0' to speak with someone you can leave a message with. At first, I didn't want to do this, because when they call back it will show up as 'UNKNOWN' and I'd be reluctant to answer it, but finally I thought, this is ridiculous, I'm wasting my minutes waiting on them. So I pressed '0' during the music and nothing... so I pushed it again, nothing... So I pushed it over and over and over again and nothing... So I waited, finally the voice came back on to remind me again that I was on hold and give me the option to speak with someone I can leave a message for. So I press '0' during this message and am magically whisked away from the hold queue only to receive more music and a message saying that all reps are busy, so I wait...and I wait...and finally I'm thinking to myself, so I got out of the hold queue I needed to be in, so that I could hold for someone I don't really need to talk to. So, I hung up. Now I'm kicking myself because I'll have to once again brave the hold queue just to get to speak to someone, because they don't know to call me back.

Later,

David

More Details

Well, I wanted to post some more details about the wreck, and make a document of the damage that I have assessed. I know this will probably be rather boring to most, so please accept my apologies and recognize that this post is mainly for a historical documentation of what happened. You might also pick up on some of the activities from the day based upon the cleanliness of the vehicle.


This picture shows where the spare tire carrier mounts to the side of the vehicle. This previously was dented slightly from someone having left the carrier open and trying to drive with it. However, I think it looks like the wreck last night may have worsened the dent, as well as some of the paint cracking that had occurred.


This image shows where the spare tire carrier latches to the tailgate. When the car collided with me it hit against the spare tire, when it did this, it twisted the carrier, and caused the tailgate just above the mount to bow up.


This image shows some scuffing on the spare tire. It doesn't appear to be damaged, just scuffed up. I should check the rim where it attaches to the carrier to make sure it's not bent.



These two photos just show how much the bumper is bent under the Bronco.


This shows some of the damage to the rear driver's side quarter panel. The bumper ended up hitting it and bent it up some and scraped through to the metal.


This image is hard to tell, but it shows the end of the driver's side frame rail. It is slightly twisted at the end, I don't believe it is anything that will affect alignment or driveability, but might give me some trouble hooking up another bumper.



These two images are close-ups off my gas tank skid plate. The top picture shows where the trailer light hookup was sandwiched between the bumper and the skid plate and left a nice dent. The second photo shows the scrapes and dents from the car sliding under the Bronco against the skidplate.


This photo just shows another angle of the bumper, specifically the angle that the ball is at. I guess I won't be pulling a trailer any time soon.


This last image shows a skirt that goes beneath the tailgate and behind the bumper. It feels like it's a rubber or plastic and just needs to be pushed back into place, but I'm not really sure. It does have some wave in it too though.

Ironically, that day I had been to the Junk Yard. Had I know what was going to happen later, I would have scouted the yard for a replacement bumper. I was taking some other parts back, and ironically I now have a $60 credit at Pick-N-Pull, something tells me I'm going to get to use them sooner than I had expected.

Later,

David

Shove It Up Your...

Well, in recent times it seems that my Bronco has been a frequent discussion piece on my blog, and tonight, it gets another. I've been talking about the repairs I've done on the Bronco recently and some of the stuff I'm wanting to do to it. Well, I have a new project to start on the Bronco, and that's replacing my bumper. Today, at approximately 5:00 PM I was involved in a 3 car pile-up. Stopped at a stop light tonight a Ford Ranger rearended a Chrystler Sebring, which in turn was shoved into the back of my Bronco. I'm proud to report that my new brakes work great and I was not subsequently pushed into the car in front of me. However, the bumper of the Bronco was bent under about 90 degrees, and from what I've inspected so far, it looks like there might be some other bits and pieces of damage. I'll try and post some pictures later that show the damage that I have found. I'm hoping to sweet talk my insurance agent into totaling the vehicle so that I can avoid having to try and sell it. If he'll total it for me, I then want to inquire about buying it back and just using it as a beater, then take the insurance money and finish my Jeep. Hopeful...yes...likely...no. Anyhow...time will tell. I don't think I'm hurt, although, my back has been kind of sore this evening, hopefully that doesn't turn out to be much more.

Later,

David

Bronco Updates

I was scrolling through some of my recent posts and I saw where I had told everyone the parts I needed for my Bronco. Well, I wanted to let everyone know that I've gotten the repairs done, and I even took some pictures so you could see how far into it I had torn.






Of course, not that the repairs are done, I have some parts I need to return to the salvage yard since I couldn't use them. Anyone want to go to Pick-N-Pull with me on Saturday?

Later,

David

New Bloggers

Well, I have two new blog's that I have listed in my links to the right. The first is Matt's Blog, Matt is one of my friends from University Church, and started his blog as an addition to his website 'The Nub' which is a site he created to post about his post motorcycle accident experiences. It's pretty comical, so you should check it out.

The second new blog listed is Tim & Heidi's Blog. Tim & Heidi are some friends of mine who live in Portland, OR. I met Tim while we were both attending college at Emporia State University.

So, everyone needs to stop by these two new blogs and say hello, it's always great to start off blogging with a bunch of posts.

Later,

David

A Lot and A Little

I was reminded by my wife that I hadn't blogged for a while, which is true. So I told her I'd do it today. Now, I sit here, writing this entry and I don't really have much of anything to share. Yeah, a lot has been going on since I last posted, but there's a lot that I'm not really ready, or wanting to share. Much of the same stuff continues regarding how I feel about the different aspects of my life. Although, after my last post I did make some changes and things are doing pretty well. I've been able to start helping more people, and even recruiting people to help me out. I recognize that I myself can't do everything, which is one reason why I'm wanting to try and build a network of people, but I'm sure I'll talk more about that in future posts. Some other blogs have been inspiring to me, and I think I'm recognizing that I can't sit around and wait for someone to give me the opportunity to do what I'm wanting to do, but that I need to take the initiative and do it. Work is going ok, and it looks like there may be some travel coming up in the near future. Well, I need to get busy, I have much to do.

Later,

David

Tired of Talking

I can't shake this feeling in my head right now. I've been reading, a lot. Articles, books, and essays and they all seem to be saying many of the same things, to make the Kingdom of God relevant to people today, we have to take the Kingdom of God to them. This means we need to serve our neighbors, and show them love and compassion. We read, we discuss, we brainstorm, but what do we do? This weekend I was reading the the book "Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. He was talking about passion and he had a comment that specifically stood out to me. He said "Passion is not what you talk about, but what you do". This statement seems to be nagging at me right now, as I examine my life and what I "do". I'm tired of talking about it, about how to live the life, I'm sick of the words, what I want is action. I need action. Please pray for me as I attempt to begin doing what I love to talk about.

Later,

David

Random Post

Well, for those of you who have been following my posts regarding my Bronco, I'm proud to announce it's back on the road again. I finished up the last of the repairs on Wednesday night and it seems to be doing great. I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but I was working on a deal to sell it, but that fell through. This week has been kind of a rough week. I'm been stressed out at work, frustrated with the Bronco, and just tired in general. Also, if you've read Sarah's blog today, you know about our friend Matt who was in a motorcycle accident yesterday. So, I'll be looking forward to the long weekend. We're going out to Sarah's parent's place for the weekend. Sarah's grandparents are getting crowned the King and Queen of Watermelon Days, so that will be a fun time. We're also going to spend some of our time in Gaylord, KS on Monday enjoying the watermelon. I'll update you again soon.

Later,

David