The Land of Ozz

My big boy Caden was hospitalized yesterday.  He was admitted for a “fever of unknown origin”.  The 104 degree fever popped up while Caden was already on a pretty strong antibiotic for a sinus infection.  A major concern is that this illness could jeopardize the scheduled heart surgery that could take place as early as 9/22.  I am keeping my twitter pretty current if you want to follow more real-time progress.  I will be also be updating Caden’s Page with major changes.

The doctors are trying to identify the source of the fever so they can treat it.  We also have to consider potential evacuations with Hurricane Hanna if we do not get discharged before the storm arrives here in chucktown.  The latest predictions have it headed this way (Charleston is in the center of the five day forecast track). Apple pick’n in NC is looking better by the minute.  I just hope we can blow this Popsicle stand in time to beat this storm to the county line.

The good news is that Caden has O2 sats of 96-100.  The bad news is that it is taking 10 liters of blow-by oxygen to get the sats up.  Please keep Caden in your prayers.

One of the teaching pastors (Geoff Surratt) at Seacoast Church was pictured on the cover of a recent issue of WORLD Magazine. I follow Geoff and other pastors on Twitter and saw a note from him alerting us twits of some reactions to his picture being on the cover of WORLD.

Before I go any further I would like to say that Geoff and I are not very close and this response should not be taken as me coming to his defense even though it will probably sound like it when I am done. I have not always agreed with everything Geoff has said and done, but then again I do not agree with everything I have said and done either. Geoff and his wife have been a blessing to our family in so many ways. Geoff and Sherry have been a huge support to the GrowingKids parenting ministry and have served as class leaders for Secoast. Seeing a teaching pastor working along side of you in ministering for families in a church as large as Seacoast is inspiring. Geoff’s wife Sherry (also a pastor at Seacoast) was at the hospital with our family the morning Caden was born. Do you know how many babies are born each year at Seacaost? I don’t either, but I don’t think there are enough pastors to go around to all the births. Okay, we all knew that Caden was going to face some fairly unique medical challenges when he was born and the Surratts recognized the need to be there that day. Geoff and Sherry have joined the rest of Seacoast in loving our family through some really tough times in recent years and I am very thankful for that.

Now as for this picture on the cover WORLD Magazine, Geoff doesn’t need anyone to defend him because his response on his own blog does a great job of answering his lameness. I heard about the magazine cover story about a month ago while serving breakfast at a local homeless shelter with some fellow Secoasters. I have been serving breakfast at this shelter monthly for about two years straight. This kind of service is a very small example of the fruits coming out of Seacoast as a result of the leadership of folks like Geoff Surratt. The pastors at Seacoast challenge members to serve and love people where they are at. So while Geoff may look lame to some, the results of how God is using him and the rest of Seacoast is showing up in our community and in our families. I think the picture of Geoff on the cover of the magazine is a fairly accurate representation of who he really is based on my personal interactions with him. In my (not always) humble opinion, you can not pretend to be something you are not if you are going to stand up in front of people and try to help them grow in their relationships with Jesus Christ. In addition to being Biblically accurate, you have to be real, and you have to be believable. Seacoast pastors are all of these and they don’t all dress as lame as Pastor Geoff.

Our family hosted a pizza party this passed weekend. The party was very family friendly and did not have any beer, but did end up with a deer. More on the deer in a minute. We had about twenty five friends over for lunch including their children. It was a great time to celebrate the beginning of a New Year. The weather was great for grilling the pizza. Sherry and I have decided to make this an annual event. We intended to have the party on New Years Eve, but ALL of our boys ended up sick enough to be put on antibiotics a few days before the big event. Our two oldest, Riley and Caden were even put on breathing treatments due to wheezing. The big plan was to have a mock up of the “ball drop” at 7PM on New Years Eve in celebration of Zulu New Year. The Zulu New Year was an idea some of us dad’s came up with we would not miss out on the coming in of the New Year…somewhere.

Anyway, about the deer. The big event of the day for me came when I sat down with my good friend Chad after most of the guest had departed. Chad and I were enjoying the cool breeze on the screened porch as we looked out over our backyard into the wetlands protected area behind our house. Chad asked if I had ever seen any deer in my backyard or in the wetlands. I told him no, but I had seen deer tracks. He went on to tell me about the deer he saw in his backyard a few days earlier. Well, it was about 5 or 10 minutes after Chad asked me about the deer when we both just happened to be looking in the same direction at my next door neighbor’s yard. My neighbor has a privacy fence and we were entertained by the leaves swarming up over the hight of the fence as he used his leaf blower. Then, in the flash of an eye, a full grown whitetail doe came flying through my yard (front to back). I could barely believe my eyes. I told Chad that I was so glad we were both looking in that same direction at that moment because he would never have believed me if he had not seen it for himself. I have lived in this house for six and a half years and never once seen a deer. I had not five minuted earlier told Chad as much and then there comes a deer out of my front yard.

A few minutes later my new neighbor from three doors down came walking up. He introduced himself and asked if we saw that deer run through the yard. He said it came running right past him as he was sweeping his driveway and then it took a hard turn into my yard. I think he was as surprised by it as we were and maybe he just wanted someone to verify that he was not crazy.

It was an unbelievable end to a great pizza party to see a full grown deer run through the yard at 2pm. I think the next time Chad comes over, I would like for him to ask me if I have ever seen bags full of $100 bills fall from the sky into my backyard.

It was really more like Sticky Fingers had Fred Thompson. Presidential candidate Fred Thompson made his rounds in the low country of South Carolina today with stops at a gun show and then a brief visit with supporters at Sticky Fingers in Summerville. I attended the rally at Sticky Fingers and got to hear Senator Thompson speak in person for the first time.

There were no ground breaking surprises in what Senator Thompson had to say today in Summerville, SC, but that is exactly the way he plans to keep things. Senator Thompson is grounded in strong conservative values unlike many of his republican opponents who could have easily switched parties and run on a democratic ticket due to their liberal views. Senator Thompson spoke of his strong support for the idea of appointing federal judges that will uphold the Constitution of the United States above their personal beliefs and prejudices. He ranked the presidential duties of appointing judges right up next to national security in terms of importance.

While appointing judges and national security rank high on Senator Thompson’s list of important presidential duties, it was the immigration issue that seemed to get the most attention today. This grates on my nerves a little since the immigration issues in this country have only been a big concern since September 11, 2001. A large portion of the general population of this country seems to have been put under some sort of hypnosis that makes them think that unsecured borders and illegal immigrants are closely tied to the events of 9/11. I will concede that immigration and border security are valid issues that a president should be concerned about, but in my opinion, these should not be the main issues that determine how people vote in 2008.  The root of the immigration issues did not crop up since 9/11 and will not be solved by the president alone. Unfortunately these issues seemed to be much more of a crowd pleaser than any other issues on the stump today.

I would like to have asked the Senator a few questions, but time and opportunity was not available for more than a few questions. I would like to have heard some specifics on the following:

• Given his experience in Hollywood and in Washington, elaborate on his publicly stated views on how he as president could help strengthen family values.
• What is the first thing he would do as president to help put money back into the hands of the American people the way SC did with the recent sales tax changes that netted my family of five almost enough tax savings to buy a month’s worth of groceries per year.

I have yet to see the heat get turned up on Senator Thompson’s lack of specifics regarding his Christian faith. Many of the front runners claim to be Christians and that may factor into the results here in the deep south when the primary day rolls around. Some big name players in the Christian community have questioned Thompson’s Christianity. I would certainly prefer that our president be a committed Christian. At the same time, I know plenty of self proclaiming Christians who are not qualified to be president of the United States of America. It is entirely possible that many of the presidential candidates are not true believers when they get out from in front of the camera. Regardless of how outspoken Senator Thompson is or not regard his faith, the fruits of his public service support his claims to uphold values that all of my Christian friends hold dear.

Senator Thompson has as good chance of winning SC in the up coming South Carolina Republican primary according to the most recent Rassmussen Poll. I hope my friends will follow my lead and vote for Senator Fred Thompson when the polls open in 2008.

It seems that there is a new tax law in South Carolina. The picture on the right shows a portion of the receipt my wife brought home from Wal-Mart this weekend. I was so shocked by the tax amount, or rather lack of tax, that I called the Wal-Mart store to ask if their registers were malfunctioning. The lady from the customer service center at the Goose Creek Wal-Mart enlightened me on a new tax law that removes the sales tax from our grocery bill.

This new tax code supposedly went into effect on November 1, 2007. Did it get buried on page 23 of section Q of the local paper? While I do not watch much TV, I would have expected to hear about this on the radio or maybe at work among the idle chatter. Is it possible that this tax cut came in so low under the local radar that no one even knows about it?

For a family that spends about $600 per month on groceries, this will help us to the tune of approximately $40 per month*. That is sweet. That is another date with my sweetie each month. If we share a “Tour of Italy” at Olive Garden and only drink water, we might even be able to squeeze out the sitter’s wages for a couple of hours. This tax savings will be put right back into the economy as far I our house is concerned. Thank you SC State Government!

*Note: Not all of our grocery budget is spent on unprepared food so the tax cut will only affect approximately 95% of our grocery budget. This sale tax change only applies to unprepared grocery items “that are eligible for purchase with US Department of Agriculture food coupons.” Source

On Friday I was at church for a small group leader rally. I happened to end up in the food line on the other side of the table from our senior pastor (Greg Surratt). He was sporting a picture of a big fish he caught earlier that same day up on the Wando River near the 41 bridge. I poked fun at him and told him all I wanted to know was the GPS coordinates of where he caught this beauty, the bait he used, etc. I am still waiting.

Now Pastor Greg’s fish was big, but I have news for him. His fish looks like bait compared to the one my good friend Gary Ezzo has posted a picture of on his web site. Seen on the right here is a picture of a man named Harold. Gary’s friend Harold caught this giant Drum (estimated at nearly 40 lb) in a hole that is not supposed to have fish this big. Gary gives the details of the fight between Harold and this monster Drum over on his site titled Carolina Fishing from Grandpa’s Dock.

Gary also posted a note over on GrowingKids.org tonight highlighting his new web site. He throws out a teaser on GrowingKids.org for his story titled An afternoon on the Wando River. Check out Gary’s new fishing site and drop him a little link love if you like fishing in the low country of SC. Shrimping season starts in just a few weeks, and I will guarantee you that you will be able to read about Gary catching his share of shrimp along side our mutual friend Rich Young.

This time the story is not about Google’s upcoming move into Goose Creek.  The national news agencies are following a story that began Saturday night during a routine traffic stop.  Two men are being held after an explosive device was found in their car after they were stopped for speeding.

Read the full story on USAToday.com.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed suit against BurnLounge and former University of South Carolina football player Rob DeBoer has been named in the suit.  BurnLounge and DeBoer are being accused of running a pyramid scheme and misrepresenting the earnings investors made with the company.

My personal experience with BurnLounge is much like that of SC Attorney General Henry McMaster.  According to The State newspaper, “McMaster suspected the company [Burnlounge] of being a pyramid scheme after hearing a sales pitch for the company with his wife.” 

A friend recently tried to recruit me into BurnLounge.  He had asked me to visit a website called yourburnteam.com, call a toll free number for more information, and then attend a presentation by former USC quarterback turned attorney Todd Ellis.  Ellis is mentioned in the article linked above.  I visited the site and called the number.  Then I proceeded to warn my friend via email by saying, “This program is a multi-level marketing (MLM) strategy at the roots.”  

 BurnLounge retailers are expected to get customers simply due to having a personal relationship with folks.  The customer buys music much like they would on iTunes.  This lawsuit is likely resulting from the questions raised from potential retails like reading thins like this:

Those talking about downloading the most music say they use torrents and P2P solutions.  Those who buy their music fair and square from iTunes or Walmart.com have already busted past the initial impulse music purchase after acquiring a new digital music player for the first time.  After a brief informal survey of friends using services like iTunes, I found that all fell squarely in the middle of the estimates made by David Caulton, a Zune contributer as reported on the Electronics Design Strategy News web site.  David says:

“iPod owners initially buy 30 tracks in the first three months, but then drop off to one track per month or less on average.”

The Wojcik family has departed the low country of SC on a one month RV tour of the USA. The father and RV pilot of the Wojcik family is a friend and co-worker Marty Wojcik. I think I might remember how to spell his last name by the time I get done following him across the country via this blog.

I can take at least part of the credit for Marty starting this blog. He was going to just update static HTML pages on the free space that Comcast gives with Internet service. I showed him how Blogger and WordPress.com work behind the scenes and he loved the idea of journaling his trip using a blog format. You will notice that Marty shamelessly stole my header graphic. I told him I didn’t mind of he used it.