the tindog coffeehouse

The recent outbreak of swine flu cases in Mexico and the U.S. probably warrants aggressive action — mostly preventative measures — but just how bad is the outbreak really?

The World Health Organization recently raised its pandemic alert level to Phase 4, which sounds pretty scary. What’s Phase 5, where everybody’s faces melt off like in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”? Because, you know, that would suck. Even the word “pandemic” sounds terrifying, as if we’re living during the height of the Bubonic Plague.

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There’s a spot on eastbound I-635 in north Dallas where the outer edge of the right-hand lanes dips suddenly, causing the shoulder to be slightly higher. If you happen to hit the spot with your right front tire, it can easily cause you to lose control of your car, especially if you hit it at 50 or 60 miles an hour.

I’ve made that mistake a few times on my way to work, and even though I’ve never fully lost control, it’s certainly scared the crap out of me.

It’s a dangerous spot, a defect so small and minor that it’s almost completely unnoticeable but significant enough to cause a major wreck for anyone caught by surprise. But here’s the thing: While it would be so easy to patch it up, road crews chose instead to simply mark it with a warning sign:

UNEVEN LANES

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It’s weird how social networks like Facebook and Twitter can mess with your mind. You sign up for a Facebook account because, quite frankly, everyone else is doing it. Then along comes Twitter because, well, why not. It’s all innocent fun at first, but at some point it becomes less about the quality of the connections being made through the sites and more about the quantity. How many Facebook friends do I have? How many people are following me on Twitter? How many hits is my blog getting, and how can I generate more comments?

Who cares?

I’m rarely on Facebook anymore. I thought it was because of all the ridiculous surveys and other nonsense that clutter up the news feed, but I’ve come to realize it’s actually because most of the “noise” is coming from a handful of Facebook friends that I’m really not that interested in. It’s not that they’re bad people, it’s just that I don’t really interact with them any more, and inevitably these are also the same people that update their Facebook status 20 times a day and feel the need to comment on everything. So I made a decision yesterday to unfriend several of them.

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Once the great Squirrel Uprising has come to its inevitable conclusion, I have a feeling we humans will all be made to worship this solar-powered glowing squirrel god.

It may be blasphemous, but at least it comes with a two-year warranty.

Previously:
Squirrel Uprising 2: The Revenge
Squirrel Uprising: Rise of the black ‘super squirrel’
Squirrel Uprising: Snobby French squirrels
Squirrel Uprising: The latest updates

The perfect theme song for Tax Day: Plumb’s “I Have Nothing”:

Naked I showed up here
With nothing to my name
Pure and crazy, blameless
Baby I’m ashamed

And naked I will leave here
With nothing left to say
My pockets full of empty
And now I’m not to blame

I have nothing (I don’t want it)
I have nothing (I don’t need it)
I have nothing (You can have it)
I have nothing, nothing, nothing

So catch me when I’m falling
Into strange, elusive state
And kick me when I’m stingy
Take everything away

‘Cause yesterday is gone now
And tomorrow isn’t sure
Today is all I’m given
And what I have is yours

‘Cause I have nothing (I don’t want it)
I have nothing (I don’t need it)
I have nothing (You can have it)
I have nothing, nothing, nothing

Oh why do I put so much time
In things I leave behind
That were never mine?

Oh why?

I have nothing (I don’t want it)
I have nothing (I don’t need it)
I have nothing (You can have it)
I have nothing, nothing, nothing

Previously:
Casualties of the American dream
Who owns you?

From Matt at The Church of No People:

When Jesus died, his friends thought that was it. A great teacher, a great miracle worker was dead. They had been convinced he was the next big thing. Now they were sure he was was not. He would go down in history as a great man who had been unjustly executed. Perhaps history would not remember him at all.

And then Jesus added something to his resume.

It was only after his earthly life was over that Jesus’ very purpose in life became known. That is something that no one else has ever done – achieved their purpose only in death. No one talks about the death of someone at their funeral – we celebrate their life! Because their death is not who they are, or what they accomplished or what they meant to us.

But that’s exactly what we talk about with Jesus. His life wasn’t about teaching, or healing people, or performing miracles. Even before he was born, his purpose in life was to go straight to the cross. And then he could achieve what he was sent to do.