Entries from July 2008 ↓

• been a blistering day of getting things done. my pre-US action list is getting shorter. another hour and i’m done. #
• Done – sort of – for the day. Waiting to pick up my son from work. Running a lot late. #
• My day is almost done. 9pm. I was up late last night reading, so feel a bit tired tonight. But, it’s been a productive day. #
• Can anyone out there recommend a good tool for dragging tweets into blog postings? Currently using Twitter Tools, but not happy. #
• Hey, any Twitter buddies in Dallas between July 16 and Aug 4 want to connect? Let me know – it would be cool to make happen. #
• enjoying my first espresso for the day and into my bible for some wisdom for the day. #

• what a day! going hard at clearing the decks before i head off to dallas. just blew through my inbox – nearly to zero. #

• another busy day at church. worship team was awesome, especially rohan who had the barry white thing happening with his flu… :-) #
• played with deano’s iphone, and i’m so tempted, just for the cool factor. not sure it could be better than my BB Curve, but it’s just cool. #

I like to think of myself as a guy who gets things done without needing the pressure of deadlines, but there is no question that deadlines have a way of focusing the mind and forcing us to prioritize and trim out the non-important.

I’ve got just over a week to go before I head off to Dallas for my doctoral course, and it’s pushed me to do exactly that. It makes you wonder whether it’s the kind of discipline you need to stay on track with stuff. Problem is that we have a way of ignoring self-imposed deadlines. It’s usually the externally-imposed stuff that has the most bite if we let it go.

My routine each Saturday morning, after I drop my son Joel off to work, is to drive around the corner, park in a favourite spot and just sit and enjoy the view of the bay for a bit. It’s a kind of centering experience for me. Not sure I can even explain it really, but I just feel like this is a very peaceful spot for me in what is a rather chaotic world at times.

Today it’s grey and rainy and I can’t even see Garden Island, but it still feels peaceful and “right”. It’s weird, but I’ve been doing this for quite some time now without even really thinking about it at all. I just pull around the corner and do it.
Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I was deeply influenced by Winnie the Pooh as a kid… :-)

Anyone else have a peaceful spot?

• Very late finish to our Leadership meeting last night, so moving a bit slower today. Can’t believe it’s Friday. #
• just realized the date… happy 4th to all my american mates…! #
• ok – off to get the friday night curry happening! ;-) #

Rainbow at the end of the road…

Originally uploaded by obrienmb1966.

i’m a christian, but i have to say that i think the freedoms given to NSW police to arrest people who are an annoyance (what the heck is that, exactly?!) to catholic youth day participants are just ridiculous and set a dangerous precedent in limiting freedom of speech. what if, as the next thing, suddenly christians are prevented from voicing opposition to some other event going on that offends our sensibilities? christians would be incensed at their freedom of protest being limited, and i think it’s a pretty arbitrary approach to “keeping the peace” that ought to be rejected. laws of expedience are seldom good ones…

• Well, Joel’s dental adventure lasted 1.5 hours, so he’s a happy camper. Bec’s turn now. She thought this was going to be fun… :-) #
• Well, Bec did apparently enjoy the dentist and is now keen on eating. I guess this is good. Is there a word for “fear of the dentist”? #
• Home from Leadership Team meeting. Marathon, but excellent. #

• Just introduced our youth guys to Twitter. Should be interesting to see what they do with it. #
• big day with a CRAZY finish. oddball problem that i have to figure out. #
• wish i could type properly… :-( all these years working with computers and i still can’t type properly… doh! #
• taking 3 of the kids to the dentist this morning. should be fun! my youngest thinks it will – she just doesn’t know any better yet… :-) #