What Next?

This is going to be a very short blog post.  Because this is a public forum I can't say much about what is going on right now, and the health and safety of people are at stake.

Our family is deeply involved in this intensely personal issue and for the sake of decorum, and legal protection, I can't say anymore.

I haven't forgot about the blog.

Network + is next

This week I'm in the big middle of a long distance class delivered by the internet.  Its the Network+ study course.  My wife is out of town, so I'm all by myself.  Not much time to write stuff.

Status update

Well its official, I'm now A+ certified.

I've been studying off an on for these exams for several years, but because of financial reasons, Ive never been able to afford to take them.  Well, I took them, and passed them.  So now I get to wear the logo you see here.  Not a big deal really, many more of these to come by the end of the program.



After this semester, I'm exactly half way through my Masters program.  What a ride!

Recovery and Grief

Its been a tough few weeks for the Hall household.

First Dr. C's death (the subject of a separate blog post) and then my father-in-laws death a few weeks ago.

The family loaded into the car and drove from Nebraska to New York for the funeral.

Then a few days later we had to load back up in the car and come back.

Never mind the fact that my wife is grieving the loss of her father.

School started again, and so by Monday 3/22 I'll be a student and professor again.

Both schools had their spring breaks in consecutive weeks so I was going to have two whole weeks to catch up on what I was behind around the house, but with dads funeral, I used most of that time going and coming from New York.


Ah well.  Such is Life.

The quiet power of teachers

Dr. Michael Paul Crosslin 1940-2010


Dr. Mike Crosslin was my High School History teacher.  I can't say that learned alot of history from him, but I did learn something important.  Dr. Crosslin was an amazing musician.  One day in High School I casually mentioned that there was a Jazz concert at Oklahoma State University that I wanted to attend but had no way to get there.  Dr. Crosslin said that he had won two tickets to that very concert and offered to take me.  My father was his boss back then and we made the arrangements.  I have been a quietly passionate classical and jazz lover ever since.  Thanks Doc.  You will be missed.

The 9 principles

I'm copying this from the web site of the 912 project at www.the912project.org

Thought it was worth sharing:

1.	America Is Good.
2.	I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
	God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected  on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right  which Heaven itself has ordained.” from George Washington’s first Inaugural address.
3.	I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
	Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue  enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of  all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington
4.	The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate  authority,not the government.
	Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that  heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we  cannot be happy without the endearing connections  of a family.”  Thomas Jefferson
5.	If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind  and no one is above it.
	Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our  government…equal and exact justice to all men of whatever  state or persuasion,religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson
6.	I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but  there is no guarantee of equal results.
	Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone  has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he  thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.”  Thomas Jefferson
7.	I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I  want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
	Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity;  all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.”   George Washington
8.	It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to  share my personal opinion.
	On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government,  you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will  speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington
9.	The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they  answer to me.
	Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a  society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.”  Thomas Jefferson

Cooking and Life

My wife tried a new recipe for dinner tonight.  Its amazing how the heat of an oven can blend flavors that don't seem to have anything in common.

The meal was chicken but the marinade it was cooked in was interesting.  A blend of cranberry sauce (with whole cranberries), Catalina salad dressing, and onion soup mix.

Before baking my wife let me taste the sauce, and I wasn't sure what to think.  After the oven did its trick I was surprised.  It was really good.

How does this relate to life?  Sometimes God mixes things that don't seem to go together and then the heat or pressure of some problem, or struggle blends these things and the result is better than we imagined.

Is God doing that for you?  He seems to be doing that for me.