The Musings of Colleen & Tim Dearborn

San Francisco or Chicago?

I have been at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco over the last week. I think the below graphic adequately describes how much I am looking forward to Chicago weather when I return.

A Lesson in Stupidity or Humbleness (Not Sure Which Yet)

Note to self... unlock handlebars before riding motorcycle.

My motorcycle has a security feature of being able to lock the handlebars in a slightly turned position. This is designed to be used when parked (not riding). It seems that I forgot that yesterday. The result -- I went about 4 feet and dumped my bike in the middle of our driveway. The engine guard / highway bars on my bike (see pervious story) worked great, and neither my bike nor my underside leg were scratched. However, my top-side foot did not fare so well. I'm not sure how, but I sprained it well enough that I can't put weight on it. I have a doctor's visit this afternoon and will have to use crutches for the first time in my life.

P.S. If anyone cares, this is not the first time something like this has happened. When first starting to use cleats on my bicycle, I fell over once or twice when I forgot to unclip.

Motorcycle Highway Bars

I also ordered highway bars from Vicente, a member of an online Kawasaki Vulcan forum. These bars are custom made in a shop in Mexico. Then Vicente checks them for correct fit, has them chromed, and then ships them from his home in Texas. I received the bars in a well-packed box. As Vicente described, the bars were very sturdy and the chrome was high-quality. The included directions for installing the bars were great, including numerous photos.

When I installed the top black steel plate which the bars attached to, the holes in the plate were about 1/8" too far apart to match the screw holes on my frame. I had to elongate the holes on the black steel plate with a drill press. (Vicente tests them for fit before shipping, so we are not sure why my bike was off a little.) I also added a few extra washers to each end of the u-clamps. Other than that, the installation was straightforward.

I am very happy with the highway bars and tell anyone that cares about my custom-made bars that spanned 2 countries in being made. I would recommend them to anyone with a Vulcan 500 who wants bars.

Of Dinosaurs and Cavemen

While taking care of a email setting problem for an instructional assistant in a 3rd grade classroom today, I overheard an interesting discussion. The class, seated on the floor in a circle, was discussing a book about a caveman who had a dinosaur as a pet. The teacher, emphasizing the fictional nature of the story, asked, "Did caveman really have dinosaurs as pets?" A resounding "No!" arose from the class. "Were dinosaurs around when cavemen were on the earth?" Another strong chorus of "No's".

I bit my tongue and shook my head a little, heart saddened some. I am probably imaging it, but perhaps there was a little disappointment hiding underneath that 2nd third grade "No". What if they were able to hear or read about true dinosaur stories? "True stories", you may ask? Yes, true stories like God creating the land-based dinosaurs on the fifth day, the same day as man, stories of Adam giving different dinosaurs their names, stories of Noah finding room in his huge ark for them, stories of Job's knowledge of dinosaurs, and speculative stories of a new Earth were dinosaurs may once again roam the earth along side of grown-up third graders.

Behold now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you; He eats grass like an ox.
Behold now, his strength in his loins and his power in the muscles of his belly.
He bends his tail like a cedar; The sinews of his thighs are knit together.
His bones are tubes of bronze; His limbs are like bars of iron.
He is the first of the ways of God; Let his maker bring near his sword.
Surely the mountains bring him food, And all the beasts of the field play there.
Under the lotus plants he lies down, In the covert of the reeds and the marsh.
The lotus plants cover him with shade; The willows of the brook surround him.
If a river rages, he is not alarmed; He is confident, though the Jordan rushes to his mouth.
Can anyone capture him when he is on watch, With barbs can anyone pierce his nose

Render unto Caesar...

I just finished the filing my Federal and State taxes, as well as paying my first installment of our property taxes. In Sunday School, we just finished studying about how the slaves in Egypt paid 20% of their produce as a tax to Pharaoh through Joseph. The slaves had a good deal. We pay a total of about 27% in taxes -- and I'm sure I missed some. I am not complaining... much. We live in a great country. It's just that people sometimes forget that if the government does something, we have to pay for it.

10% Effective Federal Income Tax (after deductions and such)
3% State Income Tax
9% State & County Sales Tax (don't forget utility, gasoline, and phone taxes)
5% Property Tax (property tax compared to our annual income)

Antarctica or the Shores of Lake Michigan?

Brain Tumors and Thankfulness

Romans 5:3 (RSV) says, "We rejoice in our sufferings..." and I Thess 5:16 (NAS) commands "Rejoice always". There is no one I know who has lived these verses out more powerfully than my younger cousin, Melinda. In 2007, she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Since then, she has had 2 surgeries, with a 3rd surgery coming up on Monday, Feb. 1.

However, ifyou read Melinda's most recent journal post (Jan 27, 10), you will not find someone who is petrified, but someone who is bubbling over with thankfulness, literally in every paragraph. Melinda spends more time praising her surgeon and asking people to pray for God to bless him, than she does asking for prayer for her own surgery. Wow - what an example for us all. The next time I start to complain about something, I need to shut my mouth, re-read this post, be thankful, and pray for Melinda (and yes, Melinda, I will pray for Dr. Madden too).

A Sequel to the Bible

An eight-year-old daughter of a friend of mine asked him, "dad, in like a million, thousand years are they going to write a sequel to the Bible?" Here is my long-winded response to her...

"God's sequels, unlike many movie sequels, are always more powerful, exciting, etc than the original (ex. 1st Earth/New Earth; 1st Adam/2nd Adam). If God authors a 2nd version of His Word, the same will be true of it.

But wait, maybe in a way, He has already started. 2Cor 3:2-3 says that our transformed lives are letters of Christ, are trophies of God's grace (Ephes. 2:7)

Revelation 20:12 talks about books that contain all the deeds people have done. Unbelievers are judged by these books. Perhaps these books also contain our story. Maybe we will study them, discovering how God worked through ALL the events in our life, good and terrible, to protect us, bring us to Himself, and showcase His grace. And then, after we have just begun to understand God's goodness, we will hear other people's stories about how God did the same thing in their lives.

Maybe, just maybe, WE are one of the books in God's sequel."

Bald Eagles and Ice Flows

Karis an I just returned from a beautiful, albeit overcast trip to Starved Rock with some friends from church. We viewed the first Bald Eagles that I have ever seen in the wild. The frozen waterfalls were mind-boggling -- good thing I didn't bring crampons and 2 ice-axes. The path and wooden steps were icier than I have ever seen them. Thankfully, I was wearing a pair of Yak-Traxs that I picked up at Menards for $14. It was like walking on dry pavement the whole time, even when I climbed around the ice-fall.

Bicycling Alive and Well in 2009

Despite getting my first bike with a motor, regularly bicycling is still alive and well. I rode 2,507 miles in 2009. For the first time in my life, over 50% of those miles - 1,306 of them - were ridden inside.

Grand total for the last 26 years? 38,698 miles. Click on the image on the left for all the breakdown. Only 200,000 miles left to cover the distance from the earth to the moon.

Stock Market Peaks and Valleys

I like to publicly comment on how our retirement funds have done at the close of each year, in hopes of offering some encouragement to others. In 2006, I started taking personal responsibility for managing our retirement money by investing in 10-15 individual stocks, with the help of Motley Fool Stock Advisor. My goal was simple when I started. I wanted to do better than the S&P 500. 2008 was an awful year. However, as a result of not withdrawing from the market, we ended 2009 slightly above where we started in 2008. The current score, from 1/2004 to 12/2009: S&P 500 - up 1/4 of 1%; Our investments - up 102%.

Below is a table of how our retirement investments have done over the last 6 years on an annual basis.

Year	Method	Our Increase	S&P 500
2004	Mutual Funds	16%	09%
2005	Mutual Funds	08%	03%
2006	Indivd. Stocks	24%	10%
2007	Indivd. Stocks	52%	04%
2008	Indivd. Stocks	-40%	-38%
2009	Indivd. Stocks	72%	23%

2010 Bible Reading

There are lots of Bible-reading plans available online that involve reading the entire Bible on different schedules from 90 days to 3 years. My plan for 2010 is a little more simple, and doesn't involve a schedule, per se. Simply read the New Testament in order, one chapter a day. What happens if you miss a day? No sweat. Just read ONE chapter the next day. Don't worry about trying to catch up, as that often discourages people from continuing if they miss several days in a row. (You can miss several days and still will complete the whole New Testament before the end of the year.) Is anyone interested?

Hundreds Gather to Protest Global Warming

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2009 Christmas Wish List

Christmas is the only birthday celebration I know of where the guests are the ones that receive the presents, instead of the One whose birth we celebrate. What are you giving the King for His birthday this year?

As you reflect on that, on a much lower plane, if you need any gift ideas for me this year, click here.
Continue reading "2009 Christmas Wish List"

Beautiful Halloween Covered Bridge Ride

On a chilly Halloween morning, I rode with my brother-in-law, Eric, to central Indiana. The day started before sunrise with a light rain and 10-15 mph winds. It gradually warmed up and the sun came out (though I discovered that traveling at 60+mph for an hour in 40 degree weather can be quite chilly). Our destination was Rockville, IN and Parke County, the Covered Bridge Capital of the World. Once there, we toke the "red" covered bridge route, enjoying several covered bridges, low-traveled back roads, a little bit of gravel, and some beautiful scenery. We stopped at Bridgeton, home a double-span covered bridge, where we enjoyed some hot chili at the Mill and I had hot cherry cobbled topped off with some very orange pumpkin ice-cream. Then, after a primer in ninety-degree turns on 1 1/2 lane blacktops, we headed home to finish my first road trip of 380 miles.