Eclipse

On Wednesday night, February 20, the entire Chicago area had a perfect, clear view of the lunar eclipse. The moon was about 3/4 covered when Allie and I got home from work, and I didn't really have any choice but to grab my new camera and telephoto lens to see what I could come up with. I've only attempted photographing the night sky once before, so this was a fun experiment for me.
Besides the traditional shots, the camera produced some beautiful, though unexpected, results:

A funny thing happened on the way to the tollway

Yesterday morning, Chicago was able to see the sunrise for the first time in several weeks. Allison and I got to enjoy it together.

From a ditch.

Just before getting on the tollway, we were traveling eastbound in the lefthand lane. I was following the car in front of me at a "safe" distance, but needed to merge into the other lane within about half a mile. I spotted an opening and put on my turning signal. In the time it took me to begin turning the wheel, the gap in the other lane began to narrow as traffic slowed down and the car in front of me came to a quick stop. I put my foot on the brakes and the anti-lock device kicked in without slowing us down at all. In a split second, knowing that I didn't want to be in an accident or have to deal with the insurance companies, I decided to bail out. I pulled the steering wheel around hard to the left and my tires found traction just in time to angle the car through the bank of plowed snow and ice and down into the ditch separating the two directions of traffic.

We came to an abrupt, but not instantaneous, stop. The car kept running, and Allison and I were both fine. Unfortunately, the car was entrenched in the snow deep enough that we weren't going to get out on our own.

As we pulled out our phones to inform our respective employers that we would be at least a few minutes late, a police officer pulled up behind us to block off traffic and offered to call us a tow. We gladly accepted the help. She went back to her cruiser and Allison and I sat back to wait. We tried to make ourselves comfortable and watched as the sun began to peak over the treetops and fill the cold, clear sky. I sipped my coffee and put on my sunglasses while Allison pulled out her makeup bag. It was a strangely calm feeling to be sitting there, not able to do anything to help our situation, but still knowing that someone was taking care of everything.

We continued to watch the roads while waiting for the tow truck to arrive and listened to the radio to see if we would make the morning traffic report. (We did!) I pondered a dozen scenarios in my mind to see if there was anything that I could have done differently and decided that my course of action was the best. In the span of about 20 minutes, we watched another two cars touch bumpers, a 4-6 car pileup going the opposite direction, and at least two other cars spin out while trying to stop. I don't want to say that I was happy to see so many accidents and near-misses, but I guess I took some solace in knowing that I wasn't the only victim of the slick roadways. The city was already out of salt for the winter, and was laying sand instead. At only 10 degrees, that just couldn't keep the roads from freezing. (A quick note about so-called "black ice": this is a terrible and misleading name. It should be called "invisible ice.")

The police officer came up once again to tell us that the tow truck was on its way, but that it was "stuck in traffic." With the officer blocking one lane of traffic behind us, I could guess why. Nonetheless, it arrived soon thereafter. The driver was quick and helpful, and in a few short minutes we were out of the ditch. We thanked and paid the driver, then got on our way.

Everything was cleaned up almost as quickly as it had all begun, with the only lasting mark being the 6 foot wide channel cut into the snow along the side of the road. It was not at all how the morning was supposed to unfold, but I was reminded how much I love my wife by the fact that we could both take it in stride and laugh at the situation.

I'm looking forward to the many miles that still lay ahead of us.

Wrong holiday

It's almost Valentine's Day, so naturally it's time for me to finally post a few pictures from Christmas. My brother was home from Africa, and my parents picked up my Grandpa Griffin from Michigan.

Normally we save the bows for the cat, but my dad seemed to enjoy playing with this one.

The cat's name is Griffin, too. No relation.

I voted today

As I'm sitting at my desk listening to a Christian talk-radio program this afternoon, the hosts are naturally discussing the presidential primary elections being held in many states today. Wisely, they are asking their callers not to tell who they're voting for, but rather what issues are important to them.

Sadly, the only issues anyone has mentioned on this Christian station are abortion, the sanctity of marriage (i.e. preventing homosexual marriage), and occasionally illegal immigration. How is it that Christians in America cannot think of anything else to talk about than these two or three issues? I'm not saying that these are unimportant issues, and don't have clear moral direction in scripture, but it seems that Christians have a relatively narrow focus when it comes to selecting a political leader, always believing that the right candidate will eventually be able to bring America back to being "one nation under God."

My problem with that is, well, that's not what Jesus did. Jesus came to be with the people he was trying to save. He got to know them. He loved them. He did not come to legislate morality or overhaul the government. He intentionally avoided taking up a role in government, even when the people tried on several occasions to force it on him. The world already had the law at that point, and it was powerless to save them. Jesus built relationships and served people, and by his life and death (and life) brought real change.

"...A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified." (Galatians 2:16)

"After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, 'Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.' Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself." (John 6:14-15)

I say all of that to say: Vote for a good leader. Vote your conscience. Vote to put the best possible people in office. Just don't vote thinking that it's the way to bring America to God. God uses real people for that, not politicians.

I love my job

Yesterday, we lost a water main for our building.

With no running water, we also lost use of all of the restrooms in our building. No flushing, no washing hands, no rinsing out my bowl after finishing breakfast- nothing that required water. Many of my coworkers visited the local McDonalds over the course of the morning for a cup of coffee (the cafeteria was also closed) and the promise of working facilities.

By lunchtime, we had contracted with an outside service to drop off several port-a-potties inside the building, along with manual hand-washing stations. It was somewhat ironic that on the same day our CEO was ringing the bell at the NYSE, the employees in our building were just looking forward to having running water again. As crews worked to repair the damage, my coworkers and I found ourselves questioning why we were working under such conditions.

The reality is that that's the business we're in. Our job every day is to help keep other businesses, schools, hospitals, etc. up and running even when things happen unexpectedly. For us to do anything else in our own situation just wouldn't make sense. In retrospect, I'm glad we have companies like us around.

Today everything seems to be back to normal. The water is running, the toilets are flushing, and we're all quite relieved.

NOTE: The postings on this site are my own and not the Company’s.

Haiku

Single digit high
Feels even colder with wind
Chicago winter

Some Time Passes

Very little has happened since my last entry, except that college football has ended and the NFL playoffs have begun. With all of the teams that I care about eliminated, I will probably end up watching the Super Bowl for the commercials, like most years, laughing at a few and making sure that I know all of the new slogans and catch phrases when people in the office start quoting them in the days that follow.

It occured to me that today is only the 11th day out of the last 26 that I have worked, thanks to a combination of holidays, vacation days, and sick days going back to December. Tomorrow will be the first time since the week before Christmas that I have been in the office on four consecutive days. I know it's only been two weeks since New Year's, but that already feels like a long time ago.

Allie and I had a discussion a couple of nights ago about why anyone would buy books today when our library has such a good selection. We came up with three reasons, and the first one doesn't really count:

1. The book is a classic and it looks good to have on your shelf.
2. The book is one you plan on revisiting several times.
3. It's a book you plan on loaning to friends.

On the right-hand side of my blog, I've added a short list of books that I have enjoyed reading or plan to read soon. I realize I may not be breaking any new ground with C.S. Lewis and a couple of children's books, but they're all good if you can pick up a copy at your library. I'd buy all of them.

A day unlike any other

One day each year, and only one day, I root for Ohio State.

Tonight is Ohio State's annual trip to a bowl game. *Sadly*, three out of the last five years this event has been the BCS National Championship game (2003, 2007, and 2008). I have to keep reminding myself that what's good for Ohio State on the national stage is good for the Big Ten, so, "[Sigh] Go Bucks."

Having grown up in Ohio, many people naturally assume that I grew up as an Ohio State fan. Short of reminding those people what happens when you assume, I've come up with the short list of reasons that I am NOT an Ohio State fan, except in January.

1. My parents and extended family are from Michigan. I may have been born in Ohio, but my roots are in Wolverine country.

2. The John Cooper era. During my formative years, John Copper was 2-8-1 against Michigan, making it much easier to root against Ohio State than for them in the big game.

3. I attended Northwestern University.

4. Over the last three years, Ohio State has outscored Northwestern 160 to 24.

5. Ohio State has a completely unrespectable mascot. "Look out! It's a... Buckeye?"

6. Nothing fails to inspire confidence in an academic institution like emphasis of a definite article. "THE" Ohio State University. Players on athletic scholarship must be able to correctly spell it before graduating or entering the NFL draft.

7. Seriously... a Buckeye? I hate to say it, but even Wisconsin wins in this department.

I wish Jim Tressel and company the best of luck tonight. More than that, I hope that they show up to play instead of falling flat on their face like they did last year. Please, Ohio State, bring one home for the Big Ten.

Nothing Special

This Sunday I'll be playing electric guitar in the band at church. This is no small deal, because I usually don't play any form of guitar more than twice a year, and I certainly can't claim that I'm particularly good at it. Fortunately, that doesn't stop me from trying!

Playing in a worship band requires a peculiar balance, especially on an instrument where I'm not my best. On one hand, I want to do an excellent job because God deserves our best worship (in all aspects, not just music), but it also helps to keep me humble because it will be a small miracle if anything good comes out of the speaker. It's a lot harder to be proud when you know you're nothing special.

I think that's one of the things that makes God's grace so great. If I try to honestly compare myself to Him, I'm less than "nothing special". At any given time, there are more than 6,600,000,000 other people alive on earth, none of whom even come close to God's perfect majesty. The fact that He knows us and loves us can only be a testament to His greatness, not anything I can attribute to myself.

Better late than never, I guess

Some of you may remember my recent open letter, describing how the US Mail managed to lose two different gifts. In a bizarre and truly unexpected twist, BOTH of them were delivered on December 31 to their respective destinations. My mom ended up signing for her tickets more than two weeks after the concert and I just took possession of my wife's DVD after it made its way through our building's mail system. I'm glad that both eventually arrived, but I have learned a couple of things:

1. If something gets lost in the mail, make as much noise as you possibly can. My packages were missing for three weeks and then magically reappeared in the system less than three days after I started emailing the post office regarding their disappearance. I have little doubt that if I hadn't said something, my packages would have been "lost" forever.

2. FedEx everything anyway. I sent a package to my sister in Pennsylvania at 5pm the Thursday before Christmas. I shipped it using FedEx Ground, their cheapest option, since "timely" delivery didn't matter as much to me as delivery itself. It arrived that Saturday, about 36 hours later, with three days to spare BEFORE Christmas.

On a much lighter note, Allie and I had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's with our families and friends. We enjoyed seeing the Hoskinsons, Griffins, Grahams, Millers, and Beavers. Whether we'd been planning it the whole year or just at the last minute, we had a great deal of fun with all of you, and we look forward to seeing you and those we missed as soon as we can.

Generation Gap

I had an awkward interchange last night after dinner. While browsing my parents' digital cable lineup, I saw a Christmas concert that I wanted to watch. Unfortunately, it was on one of the "premium" channels that they do not receive.

It went something like this:

Me: "Barenaked Ladies on TV! Rats... it's pay-per view."

Mom: "What?!"


(For the record, it really was the band.)

A Friendly Holiday Competition

It almost sounds like the beginning of a bad joke or an even worse reality television series: "What happens when five teams of engineers are asked to come up with their own table centerpieces for the annual Christmas luncheon?"

The tool team responded to the challenge with the beautiful tree pictured above. We started with old copies of specifications and glued them to a 4-foot cardboard trunk. Next, we fed fiber optic cables through the base to add lights and color. For decoration, we added icicles (drill bits), ornaments (miniature tape measures), and topped it off with a stuffed Tigger in a handmade angel costume, complete with a copper halo. (Tigger is the unofficial mascot of our group, since we were founded in the Chinese year of the Tiger.) We finished it off by garnishing the base with greenery and a few personalized stockings filled with million dollar bills and candy canes to bribe the judges.

We finished in second behind the team that built a working fountain with red and green water.

Maybe next year.

An Open Letter

Dear United States Postal Service,

I am writing to you as a wholly dissatisfied customer. On two occasions since Thanksgiving this year, you have lost packages that were intended to be Christmas gifts. One contained tickets to a concert last weekend (it's now too late), and the other contained a DVD for my wife. Neither have been delivered, despite being mailed two to three weeks prior to my writing this. Both were sent with delivery confirmation numbers which I have provided to you. You have told me that delivery confirmation numbers don't allow you to track the packages until they are delivered. Alas, since they haven't been delivered, it appears we are chasing our tails.

As far as I have been able to tell, both items should have passed through your central Chicago sorting facility on their journeys. This is the only place where they both may have been, so for the sake of my conscience, I am assuming that they are there, comfortably sitting next to each other in their own little bin marked "Christmas Presents We Are Not Delivering This Year". My boss, who lives near that office, told me that they were hosting a public open house this afternoon to show off their systems and efficiency at the peak of the holiday season. Regretfully, I was unable to attend. I'm sure it would have been informative. Perhaps I would have even seen my own mail in its own little bin.

While your correspondence has been friendly over the past few days, I must inform you that I will no longer be requiring your "services". I have found that processing my bills electronically has been much more timely and efficient than receiving them through your offices, and several other parcel services go so far as to guarantee that my packages will be delivered to their recipients. I find both of these options quite helpful. If you intend to add those services at any time in the future, please let me know.

Sincerely,
Adam

P.S. Thank you for delivering the gifts from my sister and her husband and my grandparents. Those were quite unexpected surprises.

P.P.S. Please feel free to lose the junk mail you so faithfully deliver any time you'd like.

Ye Olde Englishe Christmasse Feaste

Last night, some friends from church invited Allie and I along with another family to attend "Ye Olde Englishe Christmasse Feaste" at a high school in Kenosha, Wisconsin. I can honestly say that it was one of the most fun and enjoyable Christmas events that I have been to in years.

As the name would imply, the entire evening is set to transport the guests back in time several centuries to a grand banquet hall just in time for the Christmas feast. Ye Lordes and Ladyes are served a full seven course dinner while being entertained by ye singers, ye jesters, ye tumblers, ye pipers, ye dancers, ye thespians, ye swordsmen, and ye jugglers. It's an incredible production carried out almost entirely by a high school cast.

The choir performed nearly two dozen carols throughout the evening.

The jesters kept spirits light in the hall. Here, we see several forming a human pyramid, which toppled over moments later.

The food was probably as good as the entertainment.

Throughout the evening, the jesters tried to steal food from the Lords and Ladies. A few succeeded.

The choir continued singing after the feast as well.

The jesters assisted in the singing of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" by acting out each of the gifts. This is one of the seven swans.

At the end of the evening, the dessert of "Ye Flamyng Puddyng with Custard Vanylla" was served.

We had a very fun time and best of all, the carols and narrative of the Christmas story stayed focused on Christ in addition to being entertaining. It was a great reminder of all we have to celebrate at Christmas.

Infamy

Emmanuel: God With Us

Since the beginning of December, I have been searching for Jesus.

One of our neighbors has a Christmas display in their front yard complete with Santa Claus, his reindeer, snowmen, candy canes and brightly colored lights. I can assure you that it's quite festive. Jesus even makes an appearance in the yard, but after our recent winter storm, all you can see are Mary and Joseph staring down at the drifted snow.


I thought it was an interesting metaphor: Jesus came at Christmas but ended up being buried by the season.

I have seen other displays where Jesus is attended by reindeer rather than cattle, or where snowmen, Santa Claus, and the Nutcracker guard the baby instead of the wise men. Jesus has begun to keep some strange company at this time of year, not at all like the porcelain manger scene above my parent's fireplace.

With the voice of past generations I want to lament that Christmas has become too commercial. Then again, maybe this isn't that far from how Jesus lived when He came to earth. After all, He did associate with the kinds of people we didn't expect Him to, and He went to great lengths to keep people from promoting Him for the wrong reasons. On more than one occasion, He warned people not to tell about His miracles, lest the masses try to use His power for their personal gain. Is it worth putting Christ back in Christmas if all it means is a boost to the economy? Is this the only battle that Christians have worth fighting?

In his book, The Irresistible Revolution, Shane Claiborne talks about a homeless group he lived with in Philadelphia. For Christmas, a church sent them a carton of microwave popcorn, not thinking about the fact that homeless people typically do not have electricity, let alone a microwave. The local mafia who were more familiar with their situation sent bicycles and coats for the children. Who do you think showed them greater love? Without associating with someone and understanding their needs, it's difficult to love them.

When Jesus came to earth, He demonstrated love by associating with us and getting to know us. Understanding our greatest need, He gave us Himself. Maybe we should welcome Santa, Frosty, and Rudolph to the manger to remind us to love the real people around us.

Gabriel's Message

Those of you who know me pretty well (and judging by the fact that you're reading this, you do) know that I begin listening to Christmas music very early in the season. As in Autumn.

Or Summer.

About a month and a half ago I bought my first Christmas album of the year. Jars of Clay has long been a favorite band of mine, and while they have released a few individual Christmas songs before, they finally put out a full Christmas album this year, appropriately titled Christmas Songs. I can honestly say that it is not like any other album I own, Christmas music or otherwise. I highly recommend it. One song from it called "Gabriel's Message" keeps coming to mind as I write tonight, a lilting and ethereal conversation between Gabriel and Mary. I like the last verse:

Of her Emmanuel, the Christ was born
In Bethelem all on a Christmas morn
And lowly men throughout the world
Forever saved
Most highly favoured maid,
GLORIA!

Thanksgiving by the Numbers

Growing up in my family, all three of the kids would try to predict the date of the first snowfall of the season. Mom would write it down on the calendar and when the snow finally came down, we would see who was closest without going over, The-Price-is-Right-style.

A few weeks ago, the older and more cynical child in me predicted that the first snowfall this year would be the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, just in time to enhance the frustration of holiday traveling. For the first time ever, I predicted this event correctly, and awoke to find about half an inch of snow by Thursday morning.


As you can see, we were hardly snowed-in, so three of us (Allison, her friend Glenda, and myself) proceeded to travel to Allison's parents' house for Thanksgiving dinner. Like always, I had my fill of side dishes. They were delicious. I even tried a piece of the turkey with my stuffing, and it wasn't bad. That brings my list of "acceptable turkey products" up to five: Grandma H's turkey, mother-in-law's turkey, deep-fried turkey, turkey ham, and turkey bacon.

I also consumed a quarter of two different pumpkin pies (one 10" and one 12"). That's the equivalent of half of one 11.05" pie or a whole 7.81" pie. As an engineer, I almost feel obligated to make some sort of "pie"/"pi" joke here, especially given the title of this post. I'll spare you this time. (Now YOU have something to be thankful for.)

After dinner, Allison's dad (not pictured), brother, sister, and brother-in-law invited me to play a game called "Axis and Allies." It's a lot like the game "Risk", but recreates the major campaigns of World War II. I respectfully declined, knowing that this exercise would fill the better part of 4-6 hours. Approximately 4-6 hours after it began, I was saddened to learn that Japan and Germany had, in fact, succeeded in taking over the world.


I also carried out my own tradition of taking a picture of Bill, the cat, to capture the mood of the weekend. I think we were all thankful for the chance to relax and enjoy each other's company for the day.

Moment of Clarity

I've been looking for an "all-purpose" zoom lens for my camera, but finding the right lens is more difficult than it sounds. Pentax has manufactured hundreds of lenses in 14 different styles, all of which are compatible with my camera. Many third-party manufacturers have done the same. In some cases, the "same" lens will even be manufactured at several factories, each producing different results. How am I supposed to choose with such variety in style and quality?

Given this daunting task, I've located half a dozen databases where professionals and consumers alike have reviewed many of these lenses. They are rated on every aspect imaginable, from focal length and aperture settings to the Modular Transfer Function and "Bokeh" characteristics. (Don't ask. It's even more boring than it sounds.) In the end, it almost all comes down to the glass. The best lenses have perfect glass that allows the light to pass through clearly every time. Lower-quality lenses will subtly distort, exaggerate, or color the image. They will produce a picture, but it won't be as sharp or clear as the original object.

I wrote in my profile that "My goal is to be a lens that God focuses on people, places, things... all of creation... in order to see them the way He does." In light of all of this research on lenses, I realized that I need to ask myself the question, "What kind of a lens am I?"

How clearly do I allow the Light to pass through?

What kind of distortions do I add to His image?

Do I perform the same under all conditions?

How is my focus?

Self Portrait

There were so many good titles for this photo that I had trouble choosing:

"Double Take"
"Half and Half"
"Split Personality"
"Twin Peeks"
"Just the Two of Us"
"I Think I'm a Clone Now"

I wonder which side is my good side...