Pilot Retirement Age

The U.S. congress & senate unanimously voted to raise the pilot retirement age from 60 to 65 earlier last week, and President Bush just signed it into law.

Here's the Chicago Tribune article:
Pilot Retirement Age - Raised to 65

The last 6 years has been rather difficult - 30% pay cut, negative growth, and now my Captain upgrade has been extended another 5 years. I feel like complaining about all this, but it won't do any good. My career has been OK. Grandpa had it great after upgrading in 1 year, and flying in the glory days of aviation. Dad had it not so good (although he loved it)... he had multiple furloughs & worked for a bunch of different airlines.

I've been mulling over the idea of changing airplanes to the B-777. It's been almost 13 years on the MD-80, and a change would be good. Annie likes the idea, so 2008 might be the year for it - we'll see.

Sledding Adventure

We had 6 inches of snow over the weekend! Highlights included buying a new snowblower at Home Depot (finally!), getting our Christmas tree, and SLEDDING at Paulus Park in Lake Zurich.

Here's a 3 minute video...

Controversy at Willow Creek?

Willow Creek is a "mega-church" that we've been attending for about 7 years. They just came out with a book called "Reveal". It sums up the results of a study that involved a survey of more than 70,000 churchgoers from over 300 churches around the world. The controversy...

U.S.News & World Report
Crosswalk Blog

Our senior pastor (Bill Hybels), and executive pastor (Greg Hawkins) both spoke about this at the service last weekend. According to them, the results aren't quite as shocking. They use business techniques such as surveys, leadership conferences, and mission statements to help run the church. Some people have a problem with a church who's organizational chart looks more like a business than a traditional church. I don't. Mostly because their mission statement goes something like this... help non-religious people transform into fully devoted followers of Jesus. I think that's cool, and I'm happy they are evaluating the techniques they use to help people with this.

My goal as a Christian is to grow spiritually - not just with knowledge, but to grow from the inside out. I'd like to get to the point where I'm not always asking God to help me with my agenda in life, but what I can do to further his agenda. I'm not there yet. Will I ever be? Probably not, but it's a goal worth pursuing because if I set my heart towards working for God, then everything else will likely fall into place.

This all begs the question: What is the role of church in terms of the spiritual growth of an individual?

For me church is a place to get motivated and challenged. And it's also a place to be entertained. Yeah, you got it - entertained. And why not? What's wrong with 20 minutes of entertainment over the course of a 90 minute service? Church is also a place where serving opportunities exist, and for organizing people into groups for study & fun. Maybe that's not your idea of church, but that's what it is for me.

How do I achieve spiritual growth? Going to church on the weekends is surely part of it. So is my personal study and quiet time in prayer & reflection. And the couples group that Annie and I attend twice a month. Serving others, like shoveling their driveway, helping financially, or maybe going on a mission trip (which I have not done). It's all about LOVE - loving God & loving others. And losing the attitude that this life is all about me. It's a struggle. My bad side (sinful nature) seems to prevail a lot, but I really do find peace and guidance and direction when I ask Jesus for help. And that's way cool. Thanks God.

Flying with Popper

This video was taken in September. It features Erik & Popper at the controls, but Mom & Peter logged some right seat time as well. Kurt & Dad were back-seaters.

College Costs

Annie and I met with a financial planner yesterday, and we were astounded by the forecast cost of college. College costs have been rising at 12% a year for the last 3 years. Yikes!

The nitty gritty... It'll cost us about $160,000 per kid for 4 years of in-state college. That's $480,000. Yikes again!

Here is a free college planning tool: www.collegechoiceplan.com

There are other things to consider such as junior college, part-time jobs, scholarships, student loans, grants, etc. But it's good to have some numbers to help with the planning & budgeting.

Google Maps

I discovered something pretty cool about Google Maps while working on a mapping solution for a new vacation rental website. Embedding google maps is now as easy as copying and pasting the code generated from a normal Google Maps Search.

This is brand new stuff, and it's going to be totally awesome for bloggers & small business owners. Until now, anything to do with embedded maps required a special API key, and a lot of technical know-how. Now any old hack (like me) can do it.

Here's a map of our neighborhood...


View Larger Map

Walworth County Fair

The Walworth County Fair hasn't changed much in 30 years. Games, rides, tractor pulls, music, 4-H exhibits, & animals... it's still a lot of fun! The biggest change was the transportation to & from. Instead of a 15 mile bike ride, we rode in the luxury of a 2000 Chevy Minivan complete w/ tv & dvd player.

Short Video (3:20)...

Schnaubelt Cousins - Old & New

We made a visit to Madison, Wisconsin earlier this week and got to meet the newest Schnaubelt kid - a good looking cheesehead by the name of Sawyer James Schnaubelt. Sawyer likes to eat, sleep, and look around a lot. He didn't cry once for the 4-5 hours that we were there... must be a problem with the child. Joke, of course. Congrats to Ed & Jennifer on such a fine & healthy baby! And welcome to the world Cousin Sawyer!

Amanda is going to college in Whitewater, so on the way back from Madison the boys got to see their oldest cousin as well. Mandy is adjusting well. She acts, thinks, and eats like a college kid. We offered to take her out to dinner anywhere, and where did she choose to go? Taco Bell. Love it!

Lake Tahoe Vacation

Our annual summer vacation in Lake Tahoe was actually a vacation in Tahoe, Gardnerville, June Lake, and Carson City.

We stayed with Papa Jimmie & Grammy in Gardnerville, but we made many trips up to the lake, went camping at June Lake, and hung with the Morris crew in Carson City.

Many thanks to Craig & LeAnn for the use of their "rig", the boys loved it, and it was a very comfortable ride!

5 minute video...

Learning to Read Website

Ed & Kent Lee turned us on to a great Learning to Read Website. Starfall.com is for kids ages 3 and up, and it's really got Erik & Kurt hooked on learning their ABC's.

There are many levels. The page that we are playing with the most deals with letter recognition & phonics.

Here's a quick video (1:39) ...

How can this man forgive?

There was a terrible tragedy a couple weeks ago in the town of Cheshire, Connecticut. A home invasion resulted in a nightmare for Dr. William Petit and his family. After the two intruders beat Dr. Petit unconscious, they raped and murdered his wife and daughters. They left him for dead, but he miraculously escaped from his burning house and survived.

The cops captured the two men they believe are responsible. They were caught fleeing the scene, and are now charged with the crime.

My thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Petit as he tries to put his life back together. The big question I'm left is: How can this man ever forgive the two guys who did this? This would seriously test my faith. Forgiveness at this level just doesn't seem possible, and I pray that Dr. Petit can find peace in his life. I should also pray for the criminals, but I just don't have it in me.

God help us all.

Honey Lake Bass Fishing

Kurt was very excited yesterday. He caught this 17" largemouth bass on Honey Lake using a worm and an orange jig. He did everything but lift it into the boat... his brother Pete gets the assist for helping with that.

Big thanks to the Hollensteiner family for allowing us to use their boat!

Devil's Lake State Park

For the 4th annual Daddy & Boys Campout we joined Tom & Elizabeth at Devil's Lake State Park, located 30 miles north of Madison, Wisconsin.

Devil's Lake is a Midwest geological anomaly. With its 500 foot mountain peaks & crystal clear water, it looks and feels more like Lake Tahoe - not the middle of Wisconsin.

Activities consisted of swimming, kayaking, fishing, biking, go-carts, miniature golf, climbing to Balanced Rock & Devil's Doorway, snake handling at the nature center, and Uncle Tom's big catch (Peter). Thankfully, Peter was deemed not to be a keeper, and was quickly released with only a minor abrasion to his little toe.

Campers: Jeff (39), Tom (38), Elizabeth (7), Peter (6), Erik (5).

Indiana Oil Refinery Pollutes Lake Michigan

The State of Indiana and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allows the BP Oil Refinery located near Chesterton Indiana to legally dump harmful toxins into Lake Michigan. We are talking about nasty stuff like mercury & ammonia. Yuck!

This has been happening for years, and BP just got another 5-year extension on a waiver allowing them to skirt the environmental laws that were designed to prevent this sort of pollution. What is happening!?

Twenty five miles to the north lies the city of Chicago, and its 3 million inhabitants. Where do all these people get their drinking water? You guessed it, Lake Michigan.

Looks like our government values BIG OIL more important than CLEAN WATER, and I find that truly disgusting.

Read the Chicago Tribune article

Kurt rocks till he drops!

As a typical 3 year-old, Kurt develops a whole new personality right around bedtime. It doesn't matter how tired he is, he just doesn't want to go to bed! While his brother (Pete-6 & Erik-5) are peacefully slipping into dreamtime, Kurt is either bouncing off the bedroom walls or sneaking around the house.

The following picture was taken last night when Annie and I came upstairs after watching the 10 o'clock news...

The Catholic - Protestant difference

The pope wrote a remarkable letter earlier this month that illustrates the defining issue separating Protestants & Catholics. It all boils down to apostolic succession.

Here is the Associated Press story on Pope Benedicts letter.

Every single issue that divides Catholics & Protestants hinges on the Catholic claim of apostolic succession. It’s the trump card the Catholic Church uses after exhausting all scriptural & historical based rational defending its traditions and scriptural interpretations.

Apostolic succession is the notion that Jesus made Peter his earthy successor, and gave him authority to establish a “church” that continues this chain of successors to help govern religion.

The Catholic Church stakes out this claim with controversial interpretations of scripture, along with letters issued by the early leaders of the Christian community in Rome. Protestants argue that early Christian history and scripture supports the idea that Jesus did not intend to create a religious institution, and instead of passing down a hierarchy of popes, he passed down his way of life as a guide to live – a life of love and forgiveness.

And there you have it in a nutshell.

Related Articles:

Ethan Cole - Christianity Today
Gerald Hunter - South Lyon Herald
Martin Marty - Newsweek
Carl Rollberg - Chicago Tribune
Bishop Vasa - Catholic Sentinel

Grand Haven Vacation 2007

This years Grand Haven trip started with a ferry ride from Manitowoc-WI to Ludington-MI on the SS Badger. We had a birthday party, celebrated the 4th of July, and had a great time at the beach! A bunch of us stayed in a 4 bedroom rental house, others stayed at the state park campground.