Office Quote #2

"My girlfriend and I broke up recently and I must say I am relieved. Gives me a chance to sow my wild oats. In the Schrute family, we have a tradition where when the male has sex with another woman he is rewarded with a bag of wild oats, left on his doorstep by his parents. You can use those oats to make oatmeal, bread, whatever you want. I don't care, they're your oats."

-Dwight

This is a Post

Only for the reason of checking my RSS settings. Hopefully it isn't your favorite post on my blog.

Tax Season

I saw this on my Buddy Scott's blog.  As many know I am a tax man.  Not the bad kind taking your taxes, the good kind trying to have you pay as little as legally possible.  As we begin tax season this is a good video to lift our spirits!!!

Embedded Video

Customer Service Problems

If you are like me it seems like I always have to talk to "customer service" with a problem. It seems businesses now aday never come through with what they promise. This leads to customer service reps who haven't a clue trying to make excuses or convince you that everything is ok.

Well I was lied to, yet again, by a popular company:

Dear Apple,

I have been so happy with your products and services when buying my iMac and my wife's MacBook Pro that I decided to buy a MacBook. I placed an order on your website. I placed this order on Sunday January 25. I know you do not process orders on Sunday because you warned me before I confirmed the purchase. You told me you would process my order within 3-5 business days and then ship it. You told me I could expect my product to come between Feb. 2 and 4. However, I then received an email on Monday Jan. 26 at 5:12PM that my order was processed and would move to shipping. On Tuesday Jan. 27 the doorbell rang at 11:29 AM with my product. This is more than a week in earlier then what you had told me. Now I am going to have to stay up late and play with my new toy because I wasn't prepared to receive it until next week.

CHAD

Office Thursday

I love "The Office." It is my third favorite show in television history (behind Seinfeld and The West Wing, those of you who are wondering, 24 is 4th). I don't work in an office. I work by myself in my house. So I don't get to share the office at the office. So I will blog it. Let's see how well I do. I will attempt to every Thursday put up a favorite quote from "The Office."

Office Quote #1:

"Ever since I was a kid, people have been telling me that I can't do things. You can't be on the team, you can't move on to second grade. Well, now they're telling me that I can't win back clients using old-fashioned business methods. We'll see about that. And FYI, I eventually aced second grade, and I was the biggest kid in class."

-Michael

Horrible and Disappointing Future

I think often how disappointed I am in my future...which is actually my present. Thinking about the present, which is the future I imagined in the past. Anyone still with me?

I remember watching Back the the Future Part II in the movie theater in 1989. Those of you that don't remember, the future that Marty visited was 2015. Conversations broke out among my class mates at school after we all saw the movie. We were hoping those flying cars would be around by the time we got our drivers licenses! But most of all, we kept checking stores for Hover Boards. It has been 20 years now, and no hover board, or flying car. I am very disappointed. We are only 6 years away from the the 2015 as envisioned by Robery Zemeckis in the movie. Needless to say, I am very disappointed. I think too much research and development has gone in to how to make our portable music players more efficient and not enough engineering getting to what we reallly need... Hover Boards and Flying Cars!!!

Well, there might be hope. I read this article this morning. I guess it might be a good next step. Now can someone get on the little pills that your put in the microwave that turn into gourmet meals as seen on the Jetsons???

Obama Video

I don't usually post funny videos. I usually don't repost things I find on other blogs. I figure my few readers are all connected. But this is for the few that may not go to my buddy pat's blog. He posted it and this is hilarious. Now I wonder if anyone might be able to edit a clip together of him doing "Baby Got Back???"

Save The Date...Feb. 28th

Before I began diving I could care less about Corral Reefs or aquatic life. However, after numerous trips to encounter various species in their environment, my feelings on the subject have changed. There are millions (yeah millions) of spectacular different species of God's Creation that leave you in a state of amazement at his truly creative and artistic qualities.

Those of you in the Fresno area, may not know there is an aquarium in the works here. The Aquarius Aquarium Institute is going to bring awareness, and education of the aquatic world. It will also focus on our local auatic environments. Many say: What local aquatic environments? That is exactly why they are needed and will make a huge impact!

Project AWARE is an organization PADI started (which is who I am certified as an instructor through) that does all sorts of things with conservation and awareness of the world's aquatic environments. They sponsor many local events as well.

THIS LEADS ME TO THE POINT OF THIS POST:

Aquarius Aquarium Institute and Aquasports are assisting in putting on a Project Aware event. It is going to take place Feb. 28th from 9am to noon. We will be doing a cleanup of the San Juaquin River next to the future aquarium site near 99 and Herndon. We need people of all ages to come out and take part. There will be a few divers cleaning up the river and pools, but the majority of volunteers will be picking up trash that is all around the river and surrounding areas. Please help out! Save the date, and more info to come.

No Blogging

So it has been over 3 weeks since I have blogged. There are several reasons. 1 of those weeks I was sick and did nothing. The main reason is, I update my life 140 characters at a time on twitter. I could go into detail on my blog, but I usually don't. I don't post funny youtube videos I find, I only blog when I think I have something worth blogging about that people would want to read. I could post endless pics and updates about my daughter, but my wife takes care of that, and my daughter even has her own blog. So I guess there have been plenty of "blogworthy" things in the past month, but I have learned if I don't blog them right away, I won't. So I will see if I am more disciplined.

It's how I know...

I think I have written about, or if you know me talked about the worries of becoming a dad. It wasn't the diapers, or providing...it was the emotional side of things. I knew how I wanted to be, but wasn't sure if those emotions would reveal themselves when faced with this infant that would enter this world with my genes. Well, today was another day of reassurance like many that have preceded it. Makeena is sick for the first time. It isn't ridiculously sick, just what we would call a common cold. With every little breath that seems to hint at a little more fatiguing than normal, with every sneeze, and with every cough, it makes me ache all over. I can't stand the fact that she is feeling miserable and I can do nothing about it. I have thought in my mind privately the detailed torturous things I would endure to take it from her, but I can't. Tonight it will be another night of staying up all night, because I cant sleep, I must check every minute to make sure she is breathing. So it begins, this saga of fatherhood.
It makes me think; many things are going to happen to my little girl. Some of her own choosing, and some not, that I can do nothing about. All I can do is stand my and love her. She will make choices in her life that are going to make me ache like her weezing tonight. I pray I will hold her to let her know I lover her and check on her every minute to make sure she is ok...just as I will tonight. Maybe it is too much introspective analysis on my part with me and my little girl having a cold....but this is what I think about. Her sneeze at 3 months old triggers wonders and hopes for the future.

So yes... I don't know where...and I don't know when.... but somewhere this little girl has taught me what exactly unconditional love is.

Christmas Present

So today was Christmas. And Makenna decided to give us a wonderful present. She laughed for the first time (well, technically she has laughed before while dreaming, but never awake). It was great because it was just after present time, and the video camera was out and handy. Glad we got it on film.

Kid's Musical

A lot of time during my fall goes into the New Cov Children's Christmas Musical. This year is all done and behind us. It was a big success as far as Kid's musicals go. The only complaint I had is that it was too good. All of the kid's did everything they were supposed to do . They knew their lines. No kid picked his nose the entire time, ran off stage to mom, or any of the moments that people love about Kid's shows. But I was proud of all the kids. I doubt any of my readers are going to spend 35 minutes and watch it, but just in case, here it is. This is unedited video that the Weavemaster shot. Props to him and his team for making me look good.


Untitled from Chad Davis on Vimeo.

Back in the Water

Well a lot has happened in life this year. I haven't been in the water since late August during my wreck class in San Diego. Since that time, I have moved, had a kid, and taken on too many responsibilities at church. The Kids Musical is Dec. 7th and I have planned my first Open Water course starting the next day. I have been feeling withdrawls. I think I am going to try and get away for a quick week in January to do some diving. Bonaire to do some tech diving? Bermuda because I have never been? Key Largo because it is familiar and easy? I don't know. We will see how it transpires.

If you know anyone that wants to learn how to SCUBA dive now is the time. Catalina prices are cheap to stay this time of year and the water temp at 60 ft is about the same as in the summer. Give me a shout!!! There are still a few spots available for this class. The Pool session is Sat Dec. 13 and the Ocean Dives in Catalina are Dec. 20 and 21.

Gonna get back into a regular teaching schedule. And add Sean to your list if you want to hear about some diving. Sean is the other instructor at Aquasports and just started a blog.

And if you are curious about that pic, which I also use as my profile pic, it was taken in Bonaire a few years ago. (Yes I know it wasn't white balanced, I wasn't taken the pic, don't blame me). That is SCUBA MAN. He is a top secret location located somewhere in Bonaire in about 120 ft of water. You can't see it, but he also has fins sticking up from the sand. If you hang out and dive with me in Bonaire, I might just take you there.

Perfect Day

Today was the perfect day for me. Most people enjoy Thanksgiving, me not so much. I can't stand any of the traditional food (turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie), and our traditions aren't so much. My Aunt does a great job of trying to get the family all together. However, each year it feels like everyone is just fulfilling their duties before getting to their plans. We are usually home around 1pm. We watched movies and had burgers, and it was nice. But definitely not something to look forward to.

Then came today. My wife and sister decided they were going to be with the other crazies and left the house before 4am. So I was going to watch Makenna for the day. She woke up at about 6:30 am. We got to hang out all day the two of us until mommy took over about 7pm. It was a perfect day. I put everything else out of my mind and just focused on her all day. I do have a new respect for mom's that get anything done during the day with a baby. It is HARD to clean the kitchen while holding a fussy baby. We laughed, cried, watched some football, ate, pooped, napped, and played with Miles. It was perfect. This last week has been amazing. I have put things that have been occupying my time on the back burner and just focused on my family (the three of us, 4 if you count Miles). Today holding my little girl, I realized I have been gone for much of her first two months. All the little moments we shared today, I didn't really have any of those before. Mommy was taking care of her while Daddy was out committing to too much. So we had a talk today (it was a bit one sided because she only ooohhhs right now). I promised her I am going to look at what is on my plate and start trimming. Especially with the busy work season coming, I need to start prioritizing my time, and my girls need to be the top of the list.
I don't know what exactly this means for me, but it will mean more days like today!!!

Duh Time

What is Duh time? Duh time is something I need in my life. Don't be deceived by its title though, it is not a time of stupidity or stolidity. It is a time where I like to sit and do nothing productive. However, I don't like to zone out. I like to be entertained and stimulated during this special time. This time is usually right before my "zone out" time of the day, and right after the time I am productive for the day. It is often around midnight and consists of History Channel shows on DVR. I would much rather read a good book (usually American History or deep theological books), but lately I have settled for the TV. Duh time for me has to be non-fiction, until now. I always liked the show "The West Wing," but never made it through every season and every episode like shows I currently am devoted to. So recently I bought the complete series on DVD (it came from China through Ebay). This show stimulates my mind like crazy. I have to often pause the show because I am having my own moral or political debate in my dome. It has already lead to some conversations with my wife about things we usually don't talk about. Most shows of its kind are just left wing agendas. This show, make no doubt about it created and produced by left wing Hollywood doesn't take that route. It presents many sides to many arguments and let's the viewer reach conclusions, the whole while including amazing writing, acting, and character development. I watched the whole first season and 4 episodes of season 2 in two days. My duh time went from an hour at night, to a 2 day fest. It was great though. It was the first time since Makenna has been born where I didn't have to be somewhere or do something. We got to enjoy each other as a family, and then entertained ourselves and minds watching the West Wing.
Aaron Sorkin put out another masterpiece in "Studio 60" on NBC, but it was cancelled. Why, because American's are stupid. Things that actually make you think don't get ratings. Great writing doesn't get ratings. We want spoon fed plots and punch lines and would like to end the hour feeling good about ourselves. We want entertainment to be an hour of escape and not a reflection of reality. We want to imagine every Doctor at the hospital hangs out in the on call room and sleeps with every other doctor within the period of a year. We like to watch a detective always pursue 2 suspects when finding out it was the Butler all along. And...
Wow, I had to stop that. This post has taken a totally different turn and I am going to end it now before it is 52 pages long.
Point: I like Duh time. I like west wing. I don't like stupid Americans.
The End

Text message

Receiving text messages from my wife when we are both home is nothing new to our marriage. However, most of the time, over the past 7 years they offer a good reason to leave my office (if you know what I mean, wink wink). This is the one I just received. Oh how times have changed.

I can't move

So the Men's retreat went very well. The speaker was good, hopefully the music didn't suck, and I think a bunch of guys took steps to growing as men. However, today when I woke up, I couldn't move. I get sore. You know when you go skiing for the first time of the season and those leg muscles you hardly use ache the next day. Well my whole body is that way today. I don't think I have a muscle in my body that is not screaming in pain. The reason...the annual summit football game. See, these guys spend the weekend growing and sharing with each other, and it is amazing. However, on Sat. from the hours of about 1pm to 4pm, it just gets nasty. It is like an old testament battle against the other side. I got laid out several times by a guy about 6' 5" 250. Yet, everyone that I have talked to that can't move, will be right out there next year.

Summit weekend

Well today I took my girls to the airport. They are going to Atlanta to go to a blog party. I hope they have fun. I will not get to sit at home and miss them, as I am leaving in the morning to go to the Santa Cruz mountains to the New Cov Men's retreat...errr... Summit. There are about 160 guys going, and I will be leading worship for the weekend. I am looking forward to it. I never get to lead worship for adults anymore. So there will be no hand motions, no back and forth noise competitions, and should be a great time.

Election Woes...woe

Well the much anticipated election has come and gone. My vote will be counted in approx. 10 days. I had to fill out a provisional ballot. So evidently, when you change your address with the DMV and you also choose for them to update your address with the Secretary of State, that process takes several weeks.
The reason I am sick to my stomach is for one reason. Before yesterday, it was obvious Obama was going to win. No big news. People wanted something different because they are not happy for whatever their reasons are.
There are liberals and conservatives. Everyone has their reason for having their views. I accept this. My views mostly come from my belief in the Bible. I think that neither side is neceissarily Biblical, and I am sure Jesus wouldn't vote for any. However, I have come to my convictions based on Biblical principles that influences my vote. So Obama won. Not my choice, but I do not think that people that voted for him should be locked away in alcatraz.
Then there was Prop 8 in CA. A constitutional amendment to ban Gay marriage. Again my moral convictions influenced my vote on this. However, I realize that many do not share my same morals and values and viewed a no vote on this a step for equality. I disagree, but I can accept there different viewpoint. I do not hate them, and do not think they should be locked up in Alcatraz. I do think that our local churches were way off base in promoting this the way they did. I think their message was "Homosexuals, even if we have not persecuted you enough and you were thinking about joining us for a service, well now by our non-stop promotion of this proposition we are going to make sure you never step through our doors." I think Jesus would be very disappointed in how this was handled.
Then there is Prop 4. This is the reason I am sick. A yes vote means that a MINOR, yes I said MINOR, has to wait to get an abortion until her parents or guardians are notified. This proposition was defeated in our state. If the church wanted to get on board with a proposition, this is the one they should have been waving their signs about. Does the church not care more of God's mandate of parenting then the sin of homosexuality? Prop 8 not passing doesn't take away your right to have a marriage under God's design. However, Prop 4 not passing does take away your right to be a parent under God's design. Hmmmmm.
Then the voters??? Who in their mind thinks parents should not be informed if their daughter was raped or is getting an abortion. You think that we should leave parenting up to health care professionals and the government? I respect different views in every little mark you made on your ballot yesterday...except this one!!! I think everyone who voted no on this proposition should be locked up in Alcatraz.

Thats all for politics for me. Back to Diving, and Wining, and pics of my little angel to come.

Sunday Rap

I spent a lot of time lately researching, purchasing, installing, and trying to program lights in the Chapel at New Cov. This is where we do "kids church" every Sunday morning. I was very happy with how they turned out, although I need to make several minor adjustments to improve them. Here is a low quality video from this past Sunday. Brent and I did a rap to tell the story of Jesus healing the Lepers. I think the lighting and fog machiene really contributed to the whole thing. Second service was wayyyy better, but the camera died so you can see our first attempt. The kids loved it. Just helping Randy and asking him a bunch of questions when he was still here helped give me some direction (not to mention calling him and asking him a bunch of questions along the way). I wished he was still here to help me, but I had to make do without him.