New Banner

As some of you may have noticed, there's a new banner on the right side of the page. It's for a website called FreeRice.com. For every knowledge question you answer correctly, a sponsor will donate 20 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program. Now 20 grains in itself is not a lot of rice. But if you answer 50 questions correctly, that's 1000 grains. And now you're getting somewhere.

Please click over and answer a few questions. Then do it again later!

Thanks!

Redskins 26 Cowboys 24

Today is a good day to be a Redskins fan. Tomorrow will be good too,
but it's just extra good today....

On the topic of restaurant dining.

I like to eat out. But I've also gotten much more picky about the places that I eat at. And that's because my eating habits have changed. Dramatically.

When I was younger, I would frequent places like McDonald's and Hardee's. My breakfast would consist of one or two biscuits of some sort, perhaps bacon, egg and cheese or sausage, egg and cheese. My lunch might come courtesy of Wendy's and would consist of the Spicy Chicken Combo. My dinner would be a large one-from topping pizza Pizza Hut. Now, it's important to note that I would not eat at these places all on the same day. But I would hazard to guess that these venues would provide 2-3 meals a week for me. As you can see, I've linked to all that crap so you can see what exactly I was consuming nutrition-wise. I'm not proud.

I am older now and in theory, wiser. I am very careful about the restaurants that I eat at. I make a concentrated effort to educate myself on what restaurants are serving (both ingredients-wise and nutrion-wise). I will not voluntarily eat at Arby's, Chili's, Friendly's or the Macaroni Grill. For eating at these establishments means that I cannot eat anything else that day. And I don't roll that way. Even eating at a place like Chick-fil-A requires careful menu planning, due to extremely high levels of sodium in their products (there were 1270 mg of sodium in my chicken biscuit this morning, 52% of your RDA - by not eating the biscuit, I cut out 610 mg of sodium).

I've provided links above to establishments who make their nutritional information available on the website. Many others (I'm looking at you Cracker Barrel) do not provide information, so you're left to guess what exactly is in that Coca-Cola Cake (If you pick up a piece to go at the counter, the ingredients are on a white label on the bottom of the container. Hint: I skip a meal when having a slice of this cake.).

I decided to post this information because I want people to be informed. Chances are that if you're reading this blog, I know you and I care about you and your health. I think everyone should be aware of what exactly they are putting into their bodies.

And if you don't know, ask! Heck, I was curious about the nutritional information of the Maple Frosted Donut at Maple Donuts, so I called them and asked (Total Fat: 15g, Sat. Fat: 3g, Sodium: 240mg, Carbs: 46g). We have a right to know what we're eating.

We'll save High Fructose Corn Syrup and Partially Hydrogenated Oils for another day..

The only thing better than Chick-fil-A....

is free Chick-fil-A!

On Wednesday mornings, the Mechanicsburg CFA is offering a free
breakfast entree between the hours of 0630 and 1030. The catch is
that you can't pick the entree. Each week, they feature a different
breakfast item. So while the free entree this morning was the chicken
biscuit, next week it might be a breakfast burrito. Be advised that
this is not a permanent promotion, so I don't expect it to last
forever. But if you're in the neighborhood or you're a sucker for CFA
(like me, who had to take the long way to work this morning), it's
worth it!

Everbody Scrabulous!

"Do you like to play scrabble? Sure, we all do." These words were not-quite spoken by Sally Struthers on commercials years ago. But in order for me to make it relevant to my post, I had to change the words. Moving along....

Scrabulous is a Scrabble-like game that involves using tiles to create words, score points and beat your opponent(s) with the power of words. Some of you may know this game from that very popular website, Facebook. The best part of it (from a subjective angle), is that you can play it online, with people all around this great big globe of ours (provided of course, that they have interest access).

If you're interested, head over to the Scrabulous website and register. Once you've registered, add me as a buddy (screenname: stevorama) and shoot me a message to let me know you've registered. We'll play a game or two. It'll be good times.

What I've been reading....

I've been reading through Proverbs over the past few weeks. I'm
amazed by the clear distinctions Solomon makes between wise and
foolish people. I think it would be cool if somebody took all the
"wise" portions of passages and grouped them all together, and then
did the same thing for the "foolish" sections. Or maybe somebody has
already done that. If you know where I can find that, let me know!

In other news, I don't spend nearly enough time in the Word. I've
been convicted about how much time I spend studying for class,
compared to how much time reading the Word. I figured that for every
page I've read in my Bible, I've read 17 pages in a textbook. And I
know I can't compare the two (I think that Bible is a much slower and
deliberate read), but still...

Your iPod

I'm in the market for a larger iPod, and I was wondering if I could
have yours.

I don't want to take your only iPod mind you, but if you're
considering upgrading or just getting the new generation version of
what you already have, I'd like to take it off of your hands.

I'm currently the owner of a first generation iPod shuffle (i.e. the
stick of gum) that has about 1G of memory. This has served me quite
well for almost three years now. But I've started using my shuffle
more frequently. And I have to admit that it's become a little
laborious to be switching music out two to three times a week. And
because I'm using it more frequently, I would like the freedom that
comes with a screen so that I can select albums that I want to listen
to, in the order I want to listen to them in, without having to
fast-forward through 30 tracks to get there.

I would even be willing to provide some sort of compensation. If
you're interested, drop me a line or give me a call. All offers
considered.

Eating at the York Fair

So "The Fair" started on Friday. I went on Saturday (yes, in the rain) and took pictures of what I ate. In order: Shoe-fly Pie, Chicken Corn Soup, and Monkey Butter ice cream (banana ice cream with chunks of peanut butter) from Hope Acres. And I got all three of them for the grand sum of $7.00 (the same price as the "Roast Beef Sundae").




I'm planning on going back later this week and I'll see if I can't get some more pictures of the aforementioned "Sundae" as well as some other goodies...

Children of Light

On Saturday, in the great state of Texas, two people are getting married. Actually, I'm willing to wager that more than two people are getting married on Saturday, but I have a special interest in one particular ceremony that happens to involve an old roommate of mine. I'm excited for these soon-to-be-newlyweds and I wanted to express my excitement by sharing a passage that I feel is relevant. It's not found in Corinthians, but rather in Ephesians. It talks about living a holy life and it's something that is important to all of us, regardless of our marital status. Consider the passage below, and pray for my friends. You can call them David and Victoria.

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
-Ephesians 4.17-32