if you can read this, you're literate

that's what time i'll be getting off work tonight.

i should be walking out to my truck right about now.

but i get to be here for another three hours.

sooo... i think i'll use this time to catch up on some reading, some scores/stats... and who knows? maybe i'll just finish the internet.

"you know that internet? ...finished it."

Posted by erichapman at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments

i just got back from a 110+ mile trip with my friend rob zurhorst.

yeah, 110 miles isn't that far to go... but we didn't go anywhere. we just got on our bikes and went. we saw cloudy skies, got rained on, got sunburnt... everything.

i had to fill up twice. and i still only spent less than 11 dollars!

rob taught me how to ride a bike when i first bought my sportster. i went to the dealership on a saturday, and picked up my bike on a tuesday, so in the time inbetween, rob taught me how to turn, stop, and not fall over.

totally cool cat. he's like 40, and yet we connect so well. just goes to show the true character of biker guys. [we're nothing like the movies]

i was a little overzealous when i first got a motorcycle... i had never even ridden one and there i was signing up to pay harley-davidson over 8,ooo dollars... what was i thinking???

but after today, i know what i was thinking... and i get it all over again.

rob just got his first harley. (he used to have a honda shadow.) he got the awesome nighttrain softtail. totally blacked out EVERYTHING!

what's one of the only things that could get me out of bed when i'm totally zonked out?

another ride like today!

Posted by erichapman at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments

have you ever talked to someone, or heard someone's story of "miraculous redemption?"

that's what i'm calling it... b/c that's what it seems like to me.

miraculous.

it usually goes, "i was a sinner. a bad person. then i found Jesus. now i'm free from my chains of sin and living the good life! everything is better now b/c i don't struggle with my past!"

wow... what a relief it must be to be not to have anything go wrong.

i'm not buying it.

why do these people [who get to stand on the pulpit and read verbatim what sounds like a letter to themselves about how they used to be a sinner, and now they're free.

so why do i still feel like i have the same old problems?

when i decided to live "the good life," wasn't i supposed to be free from all sin?

that's the notion mainstream christianity would like to give you.

but it's wrong.

you don't overcome a struggle overnight.

you don't have an epiphany and start the good life.

in fact, most of the time, your struggle will become harder and it's lifelong.

nothing goes away overnight.

if someone tells you it does, they're trying to sell something.

Posted by erichapman at 8:51 PM | Permalink | Comments

here's a quick update on something i'm about to blog on...

i had a job interview for a job in mossville. after that, they had me take a "gallup poll." it's a bit of a personality test. it shows your strengths and weaknesses as a manager. they ask you questions like "do you like finances?" and whenever you answer with a "yes" they tell you to explain.

one question was actually "do you have a sense of humor?" i answered "yes" so they told me to "describe the last time i made my crew laugh."

i took this gallup test about a month ago and they didn't end up offering me the job. (apparently my personality isn't the caterpillar personality they were looking for.) so i finally got to go over the results of this test with the guy who did (or rather didn't) do the hiring.

they gave me the wrong test. i took the test for upper management and i was supposed to take the test for entry-level management.

the good news? i don't get to retest.

oh wait... that's the bad news.

that's right... there is no good news here! just me griping.

Posted by erichapman at 7:41 PM | Permalink | Comments

jeff sent me this link.

hasselhoff at his finest.

Posted by erichapman at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

ok, i haven't blogged this yet b/c complaining isn't my thing... BUT...

i really hate my job. i've been on 2nd shift for over a year now. that's 3PM-11PM.

i have almost no life b/c of that.

here's the deal.

i can get this other job almost no problem. the hours are better (not ideal, but better), so i'd like that but... it wouldn't be a promotion. it would be a sideways move.

6 months from now, it would be a promotion (you automatically get bumped up a salary grade after 6-12 months).

the big dilemma though, is that i would lose 7% of my income. i get a 7% night shift bonus for working 2nd shift.

so here's what i want...

if there are any readers of this, just post what you would do...

stick it out in your current job with crappy hours but decent pay hoping for a better job eventually, or taking the sure thing and a pay cut for the next 6 months yet be on a better shift?

what to do, what to do...

Posted by erichapman at 7:39 PM | Permalink | Comments

i'm going to this!

Posted by erichapman at 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments

i have this day-calendar thing. it's the 365 stupidest things ever said calendar.

here's what may 10th was.

"ally hilfiger (star of reality show rich girls): maybe we could do something a bit more interesting (to raise money). like a quilt-making thing to send dresses down there.

friend: yeah, and think of the therapy they need as well."

why is this stupid??? ok, at first glance... yeah, they sound dumb. i can just hear the valley girl tone right now...

but really, think about it... if you had been starving most of your life, seen so many friends/family die off under the most barren conditions... wouldn't YOU want some therapy??? or maybe your first dress, or just to curl up with a quilt.

i think i'm going to keep that little piece of paper in my wallet.

Posted by erichapman at 10:13 PM | Permalink | Comments

some of these people, i'm kind of sad to admit that they are in the top 50 INFLUENTIAL christians in america.

but some of them [like number 25] are totally cool, daddio.

and yet, no tim reist??? come on!!!

so YOU tell ME... who belongs, who doesn't? who should be added?

Posted by erichapman at 9:52 PM | Permalink | Comments

so last night we volunteers got surprised at church.

they gave us an awesome night of music (good music... not church music) with lincoln brewster.

if you haven't heard his music, you might still have heard his music.

let me explain: as i understand it, lincoln did a lot of backup guitaring for joe perry (joe perry of the famous aerosmith group). i haven't seen it for myself, so i'm quoting charlie who's quoting jamie markley when i say, "his name is all over [joe perry's] solo album."

having said that...

i heard a lot of praises about this special thank you to the volunteers... and ONE negative comment.

it was a lady here at work who i think USED to volunteer... notice the capital USED to. i'm pretty sure she doesn't volunteer anymore.

she complained that it was too loud. she was wearing ear plugs, but she knew of a "steady stream of people leaving" b/c of the noise level.

IT'S A CONCERT, WOMAN! yeah, it was a church, but if you're going to see someone as awesome at guitaring [that's the second time i used that word, and yeah, i made it up], why WOULDN'T you want to be able to feel it in your chest? cripes.

at any rate, i say thank you back, nwoods. thanks for making me feel welcomed, loved, appreciated, and most importantly a part of something huge.

Posted by erichapman at 8:34 PM | Permalink | Comments