Don't replace a Blown Head Gasket without a Chiltons(Part 2)

Dan came over this afternoon, and it only took us about 2 hours to take most everything back apart on his truck, including the water pump.  We were able to loosen the timing chain, take out the camshaft, and re-adjust the chain to where we think it is supposed to be.  We got most everything back together.  All we lack are the two pulleys, the fan blades, and radiator.  The rest should only take about an hour tomorrow.  Hope it works!

Don't replace a Blown Head Gasket without a Chiltons!

I should know.  I tried it, and failed!  My friend, Dan has an 84 Mazda b2000 pickup with a small 4 cylinder engine in it.  It took about 3 days to get everything apart(rusted and frozen bolts), and took a little over a day to get it back together.  While we were putting it back together, the crankshaft turned just a little bit while the timing chain was off(we didn't have the timing cover off).  We got it to what we thought was TDC, and started putting it back together when we discovered that the chain was too tight!  The tensioner was not designed to loosen unless you do it yourself.  We ended up having to take off a bunch of other stuff.   To make a longer story short, when we finally got it back together, and tried to start it, it was spitting exhaust out the carburetor, and trying to suck air into the exhaust pipe!  Oops!  Well, maybe next time.   I'm going to do Bro. Pridgen's brakes next week, then maybe try to take it back apart and get it right.  The moral of the story. . . If you don't know what you are doing with a vehicle, get a Chiltons or a Haynes!

Fun on Sunday!

I just saw something that I have not done in a while.  There is a lady at church named LaShawnda, a nice lady who graduated from OBC not too long ago.  She works in one one of the Jr. Church classes(i think), and/or a Sunday School class. While she is taking the little girls to the restroom, or walking them outside, I like to tell the the girls that Miss LaShawnda is a vampire, and if the lights all turn off, they need to run!   It is just as much fun to watch their eyes pop out of their heads as it is to see LaShawnda get irritated.  After thinking about it, there seems to be a vampire craze on television here lately, so I'll probably not do it any more, but it sure was fun while it lasted!

No More Mondays!

The other day, my wife went to the library and got a book for me to read entitled, "No More Mondays."  Dave Ramsey recommends this book, as well as another, "48 Days to the Work You Love," both by Dan Miller.  I have only started on the first one, and am really enjoying it.  I've learned quite a bit so far, and really believe that I will learn a lot more.  I recommend that if you have an opportunity, check these out(or just buy them), and read them.  Not only will you learn ways to enjoy your work better, but will get ideas on how to find something you will enjoy if the former is not possible.   ---  just an idea.

Officially voted the worst dining experience ever(By me)!!!

A few months ago, Sandra(my wife) and I went with a friend of ours to a restaurant here in OKC called Lin's.  When we went, we did nothing but praise the place as a great restaurant.  It looks like a very expensive place to eat, and overall is kept very clean, but. . .   We went tonight.  We'll never go again.  The food was the worst in Chinese I have ever eaten.  Some of the food was cold, other items were old(although still hot), and overall very unimpressive!

They have very quickly made it to my "Never again" list.

Sandra and I love Chinese food, and eat it regularly(not always eat out--she can cook a mean Chinese meal too!).  I don't recommend it.

Flying Car! Production to begin Summer 2011!

The son of martyred missionary, Nate Saint, has developed a car that is also a boat, plane, and ATV!  Starting at $80,000, he intends for it to be used on the mission field for medicine and other such things.  An amazing invention if you ask me!  Click on the title to read the article and watch a couple of video clips.  You will enjoy this!

The Bus Ministry Really does Work!!!

A good friend of mind, David Oldenkamp asked me to watch this video, and it really stirred me up.  Sometimes people get discouraged and wonder if what they are doing for God really does have an impact on other people's lives.  It does.  May this video be an encouragement to you as it was to me.  Click on the title, or the link below to watch the video.  It is a long one(about 15 Min.) and is high enough quality to watch full screen.  If you have a slow connection, you may want to let it sit for a few minutes and download all the way.  Let me know what you think!

http://vimeo.com/14983291

Cat. . . Or Alien!!!???

I know Aliens and Martians aren't real(except Marvin the Martian), but every time I take a picture of our cat, his eyes glow a mysterious green!  It is really pretty funny!  Even the red eye reducing flash with which I took this picture doesn't help at all.  I just thought that someone might get a laugh out of the eyes.

Final Update of the OBC Chapel!

The third picture probably gives the best idea of the coloring of the chapel.  (That is also my wife, Sandra, and Mrs. Harding standing in the doorway!)

Strange leaves in my back yard.

I found these in my back yard next to the house today, and can't seem to find anything like them online!  They look nice, but they seem to grow very quickly because they haven't been there long.  I thought for a while that they might be the Mile a Minute Weed, but the leaves are backwards for them to be that.  There are three leaves, all connected to the stem at the acute angle of the triangle.  Any ideas?

An Interesting fact about insurance.

We had a man over to our house last night to help us get signed up for a good life insurance policy.  You don't want anything but term life insurance.  Only with term are you guaranteed the amount that you are paying for.  With all the other types, the insurance company keeps a large chunk of it. 

While he was here, he mentioned to us something that we didn't know that goes for all types of insurance, life, health, etc.  If you do not have an agent, and something happens to you, then no one can represent you to the insurance company.  I don't know all of the details of how exactly it works, but I do know that if you want representation, you must have an agent.

It was interesting to note.

The New OBC Chapel!

Today was an exciting day!  The very first service in the new OBC chapel was one that was as special, and unforgettable as any services I have ever attended in that room.  There were new coins given that were specially made for OBC graduates, Bro. Bob Macy(Retired OKC district Attorney) was given an honorary doctorate, and the melodies also sang!

Here are a few photos that I took of the completed auditorium.  The chairs are not in yet, so you will not see the new ones, these are only borrowed from the high school, and the cafeteria.

                                                                                 

Praise and Worship Choruses

Pastor told a story Wednesday night about a farmer who decided one Sunday morning that he was going to drive to church.  He was there for everything, and when he returned home, his wife asked him how the service was(since she didn't go with him).  "Well," he said, "It was pretty good, except, they did something a little different.  They didn't sing Hymns at church this time, but they used 'Praise and Worship Choruses' instead." 

"Hmm." His wife said.  "So, what are the differences between Hymns, and Praise and Worship Choruses?" 

"Well," he said, "If I were to say to you, 'Martha, the cows are in the corn,' then that would be like a Hymn, but if instead, I said,

Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha,
The cows, the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the brown cows, the black cows, the white cows,
Are in the corn, the corn, the tall corn, the yellow corn, the sweet yellow corn,
Oh, Martha, sweet Martha, big cows are in the beautiful corn.

And I repeated every last bit of that to you four or five times. . . That would be a Praise and Worship Chorus!"


I think that description hits the nail on the head!

Baby Boom?

I think this is pretty funny!  Several hospitals in OKC are reporting a substantial baby boom in the area.  Why?  Well, If you remember right, there was a really large snow storm in Oklahoma City last year at Christmas.  Nine months ago.  Hmm.  I'll bet that's the Lord's sense of humor showing up again!

Katydid Ferocia

Only Yanis could have given us the laugh we got today on bus 6.  He found a cricket yesterday at his house, that is called a camel cricket.  After the bus meeting he started showing it off to everyone, and then left it in a cup in another room as we were leaving.  Bro. Finn stopped myself, Yanis, and Jim Post as we walked past his office to tell us hi, when Yanis remembered that he left his cricket in the other room.  "Hey, Bro. Finn, I found a bug last night, can I go get it and show it to you?"  Bro. Finn said, "Sure! I studied entomology in college, so I might be able to tell you what it is." 
Then as Yanis walked away, Bro. Finn looked at us and laughed and said, "I don't remember a thing about that stuff!" 

Yanis came back with the bug, and Bro. Finn looked at it and said, "Why, This is a Katydid Ferocia!  I can tell by the antennae.  If I remember right these are rare, and Yanis,  I'm pretty sure that they are fairly poisonous!"  Yanis' eyes were pretty big by this time, and he then loudly exclaimed, "I knew it was!"  "How did you know," Bro. Finn asked.  Yanis replied, "Because of the way it acted!" 

Well, the rest of us knew that Bro. Finn was just making every bit of it up, and we were having a very difficult time not laughing our heads off.  When Bro. Finn finally admitted that he was pulling Yanis' leg, I actually think Yanis was relieved that the bug was not poisonous. 

New Gold High!

With our government spending money like crazy, and printing paper bills like they are going out of style, it is no wonder that the price of gold is soaring to a new high.  Today, gold hit a high of $1,276.00+ and settled at a slightly lower price of $1,271.70/oz.  I don't think we will be buying any new jewelry anytime soon!

Chapel Renovation Update

I was at work today, and realized that I had not put anything up about the Oklahoma Baptist College Chapel in a while!  There is a reason for it, the last picture that you see is about where it is right now.  The carpet is here, but we are waiting for for the installer to come and put it in, as well as the hardwood, and tile for the platform and hallway.  It looks really nice in person so far, and a picture really does not make it as nice as it really is.

A good day on the bus!

Well, we had a great day today on bus 6!  There were 27 people altogether, with a few visitors.  We had a few rowdy kids, but for the most part they behaved pretty good.  Miss Bethany bought the snacks for the kids on the way home, and personally, yuk!  She bought Oreo's and cheddar cheese squirt cans, and put the cheese on top of the Oreo's and called them mini cheesecakes!  Not interested.


Otherwise, a pretty good day!

Good BBQ!

While we were on vacation this past weekend, we stopped at a little place in Davis, Ok called Smokin Joe's BBQ.  It was probably the best I've ever eaten, and we had to share a meal!  If you are ever through Davis, you have to stop and eat there.  The food was brought out to us on a tray.  The same kind and size as they give you food on at McDonalds, only, it's not in boxes or anything like that.  I was impressed.  The picture is the one meal that we shared, and when we were done we filled an 8" to go box with the leftovers!

Thanks Joe for a great Meal!

Medieval Times

Medieval Times is a pretty cool place!  It was hard to get good pictures because of some of the lighting, and also because of how far the actors were from where we were sitting.  Here are a few of the pictures.  If you click on the photos, you can see a larger version of it.

Medieval Times

Just a short excerpt of some cool stuff at this place.  Enjoy!

JFK Memorial

Well, We are in Dallas this weekend, and stopped at the Sixth Floor Museum.  I was pretty impressed.  We were not allowed to take any pictures inside the building, but we did get a few from the outside.  The picture on the left shows the window from which JFK was shot.  It was on the sixth floor, last window to the right.  The picture on the right is a close up of that same window.  To see how everything happened seemed to make it a little more real.

Twenty Degrees in Five Minutes!

We just had a really nice cold front come through!  Some pretty hefty storms and a temperature drop from about 95 to 75.  The wife and I just took a nice walk, and with the breeze, it feels better outside than it does in!


After the storm, I walked outside and saw one of the brightest rainbows I have ever seen, and wondered to myself what Noah and his family must have thought as they looked at the very first rainbow.  There were a lot of firsts for that family that year.  Rain, floods, I am sure that lightning and thunder were probably new for them, and a rainbow.

Isn't God good?!

Keeping Cool comes with a price!

Ouch!  I just got our electric bill for the month of July/August, and it was a lot more than I expected it to be.  Usually, during the winter, it is about fifty dollars/month, and during the summer it is around one hundred twenty-five, but this last month's bill was practically one hundred fifty dollars!  Our house is only just under one thousand sq. ft., so it is not very big, but our A/C is about 28 years old right now(and I think that is the problem).  The person that I had come recharge our A/C this summer said that the unit that we have is a very efficient one for it's time, but I can't help but wonder how much more efficient a newer one would be.

Chapel Renovation Update

Well, things are moving fast in the chapel!  School has started, and it is not finished yet, but it is looking better every time I see it.  Bro. Winston is here more often than not, and is making sure everything gets done. 

Every day, I look forward to seeing what changes have been made. 

Chapel Renovation

There are still a lot of tools and things in the way, but the chapel is starting to take shape!  It is starting to look much better than I thought it would!  The trim on top is going to be all the way around, , and they don't have the lights finished yet, but it looks good!  A new pulpit is being made, and the carpet has been ordered.  I'm excited!  I may just go back to College so I can sit in the new Chapel every day! 

Hydrogen Fuel Cell

I've started to work on a hydrogen fuel cell to put in my vehicle.  I don't have the book, because I don't want to spend $300 for something that may not work!  I have worked over it mentally several times, and I think I have something that will work.  I put a rough draft of one in a car about a year and a half ago, and it turned off my check engine light!  The car didn't have a catalytic converter in it, and was getting a bad reading from the oxygen sensor.  Apparently it started burning clean enough to remove that code.  The only problem that I was having--after about an hour or so, the water was so hot that it was boiling, therefore putting a water vapor into the engine rather than the pure hydrogen and oxygen.  oops!  Well, let's see in a couple of weeks if it works.

Front of the Chapel

Back of the Chapel(sorry about the light in the middle!)

I'm getting excited about how the chapel looks!  They did most of the walls, and the ceiling all this past week.  They have a little over a week left, so pray that they get it all done!

New Bus Captain

Well, Surprises never cease to exist!  This morning, I received a call from Bro. Jones asking me to drive up to the church early.  He wanted to discuss something with me.  Shawn Parker is leaving to go to South Carolina in a few weeks, and Bus 6 needs a new Captain.  I had no clue that I had been considered, but it looks like they have chosen who it will be. 

I rode with Shawn and Yanis today to visit the route, and have started the process of learning it.  Looking forward to getting started on bus 6!

I love Youth Conference at Windsor Hills Baptist Church!

All of the teenagers that you see here made some sort of decision last night. Altogether there were 63 teenagers and adults. The decisions ranged from salvation to surrender to full time service, to giving up alcohol and tobacco! Bro. Hanks daughter was saved during the middle of the first session! Hopefully I'll be able to post a link to these services later.

Live BP Camera

Pretty cool! I don't know why it took me so long to put this up here. Right now they are doing some testing on the new "cap" they are putting on it, so sometimes it is a little off, or doesn't show anything at all. Just click on the title and watch!

Another Danger of Facebook

I don't use facebook, and probably never will. It is interesting that at a Youth Conference Meeting on Wednesday evening 7/14/2010, Bro. Rick Dawson preached about a few things that make us "Fleshly," or carnal. Facebook was one of those things, and he also mentioned that it was a growing cause for divorce in the United States. The very next day, This article showed up on cnn.com! Click the title "Another Danger of Facebook" to read the article.

Chapel Renovation

The Heart of Oklahoma Baptist College-that is the Chapel, is getting a face lift this month! For those of you who remember what the chapel looked like before--this is what it looks like now. Actually this picture was taken about four days ago, and they have the old windows on the sides covered and most of the room insulated now. The view is from the front of the chapel. The doorway in the middle will be the entrance with an office on either side. The door on the right is where the new sound room will be! No more sound men running around in the front of the auditorium any more!!! I do not believe they will be lowering the ceiling, but it will stay peaked. Anyway, I hope this has drawn a little bit of a picture for you as to what will be happening soon!

Bus 2

I'm sorry to say, but Bus two is no longer bus 2. We have combined with Bus 8, and bus 10 has become the new Bus 2. Bro. Crownover is our new bus captain, and he does a great job!
Bus 4 has been discontinued altogether because of money, and a lack of drivers. Bus 9 has now taken that number(4).