20/30
Day 19
Update:
It is amazing that Pastor Larry's "Side By Side" book keeps coming up on this journey!
Yesterday morning I opened my laptop as always to do my blog and post some photos and a video clip. However, instead of the nice friendly blue screen welcoming me to Windows, I was facing a black screen asking me to "Insert boot disk ..REBOOT".
Last night I took it to the Geeks at Office Depot. They gave me no hope.
"Find the master boot disk." was all they could say. If I have it after 4 years in which I moved 3 times it would be a genuine miracle. To send to e machines for one takes a month. I have less than 2 weeks on my journey.
Should I give up and just go home? Was this a message for me to quit? Was this an affirmation that the journey was foolish in the first place as some people told me?
Doubt!
Doubt!
Doubt!
I opened my daughter Natalie's refrigerator to get some orange juice at 5:15 Am this morning. There in a little square frame was this message from Marilyn vos Savant:
"Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent!"
Then I read day twenty-seven of "Side By Side". The Pastor's challenge was a "right in your face" challenge. "Have I been distracted from the ministry God called me to accomplish?"
Next I recalled our recent daily readings PSALM 109 a Song of Victory and Triumph.
Then 2 Corinthians 12:10 "...For when I am weak then, I am strong"
"OH NO!" I answered.
So I go on, and look for library PCs or airport kiosks. I will finish.
I am sending this out on my daughter, Natalie's, PC.
My oldest daughter, Jennifer is on the way to take me to lunch and then to the airport for my next stop: Portland, OR.
Friday, September 25, 2009
JFK- Jacksonville, Fl.
20/30
Day 18
Jet Blue Flt 519
Flt Deck: Bob and Gabriel
Cabin Crew: John, Longo and Brian
Nice smooth air night flight. On time and with great service as always. I was excited while on the approach recalling the many times I had landed here both as a private pilot in the cockpit and as a passenger in the cabin. My mind was doing a mental check list and lining up of the runway. I had lived in JAX for 35 years, and now I was returning for a brief visit.
I'm taking a short break from travel to visit my family in Jacksonville, FL. So you wont hear much for day 18 and 19.
My two grown daughters live in Jacksonville: Jennifer and Natalie. Natalie recently married Daniel, and they are trying to get a house and establish their new family. My Grandson, Christian, is there following my blog and mapping each of the places I visit.
While I was at JFK awaiting my flight to Jacksonville, I was sitting at the PC counter Jet Blue Provides with free Internet in Terminal 5. This is their new terminal, and it is first class. Peter was sitting next to me on his PC awaiting his flight to Texas. He noticed my blog posting and began a conversation.
Naturally this gave me an opportunity to exercise my XEE training.
Peter was a frustrated gentlemen in his mid 40's. He was generally negative about many things in his life. His outlook on life and business and living was very skeptically negative. I sensed his glass was always half-empty. He had no job: " No one is hiring someone over 40 these days," he told me.
"What line of work are you looking for?" I asked.
"Oh, I don't know. I have had a lot of marketing training, and I am still going to school." He replied.
"What vision do you have for your life, Peter?" I asked.
He replied with a question to me. "Who is you favorite piano player?"
"Well, by genre I would start with jazz piano, and work toward Classic." I replied.
"Did you know that Brubeck is still playing?" I asked.
His eyebrows shot up." I can't believe that. He must be 100."
"Well not quite that old," I replied. " I saw him perform live in 2004 on his 80Th birthday." I said. " Still strong as ever," I continued. " In fact, I am a member of the NPR Jazz link, and Brubeck was featured last month. I think it was at Newport?"
Peter then proceeded to tell me how music keeps a persons mind alert and alive.
"Look at Rubinstein...",he added.
"Yep, I had him on my list for you as my favorite classic player." I said.
"He played until almost 100." he said.
" Yes, and a lot of that is attributed to his faith and dedicated wife." I said.
"You know they had a strong faith and a very close personal relationship." I added.
"Didn't know about that.." said Peter.
"Well, Peter, Sounds like you have some very good interests in life. On a scale of 1-10. how would you rate you life at this point?" I asked.
"We don't have enough time between now and my flight time to answer that one, But I would like to tell you more...but it would take some time" He continued. " see I'm depressed and I can't find myself sometimes."
" I may have something for you." I said.
"What I really need is a job." he said.
"How about peace of mind?" I asked.
He jokingly asked, " How much does it cost?"
"A few moments of your time..."
Peter Listened.
"OK," I replied. "See this site." I pointed to my laptop opened to my blog which I had been updating. " It is my blog. Here is a card with my email and the site URL."
Peter thanked me, we chatted almost another hour more, and then he had to get on his flight. I believe I'll hear from him again. The Spirit was with me in speaking with Peter, and I was pleased I had met him on this day.
An hour later I was on my flight to Jacksonville, my former home town where I had lived for 35 years.
Day 18
Jet Blue Flt 519
Flt Deck: Bob and Gabriel
Cabin Crew: John, Longo and Brian
Nice smooth air night flight. On time and with great service as always. I was excited while on the approach recalling the many times I had landed here both as a private pilot in the cockpit and as a passenger in the cabin. My mind was doing a mental check list and lining up of the runway. I had lived in JAX for 35 years, and now I was returning for a brief visit.
I'm taking a short break from travel to visit my family in Jacksonville, FL. So you wont hear much for day 18 and 19.
My two grown daughters live in Jacksonville: Jennifer and Natalie. Natalie recently married Daniel, and they are trying to get a house and establish their new family. My Grandson, Christian, is there following my blog and mapping each of the places I visit.
While I was at JFK awaiting my flight to Jacksonville, I was sitting at the PC counter Jet Blue Provides with free Internet in Terminal 5. This is their new terminal, and it is first class. Peter was sitting next to me on his PC awaiting his flight to Texas. He noticed my blog posting and began a conversation.
Naturally this gave me an opportunity to exercise my XEE training.
Peter was a frustrated gentlemen in his mid 40's. He was generally negative about many things in his life. His outlook on life and business and living was very skeptically negative. I sensed his glass was always half-empty. He had no job: " No one is hiring someone over 40 these days," he told me.
"What line of work are you looking for?" I asked.
"Oh, I don't know. I have had a lot of marketing training, and I am still going to school." He replied.
"What vision do you have for your life, Peter?" I asked.
He replied with a question to me. "Who is you favorite piano player?"
"Well, by genre I would start with jazz piano, and work toward Classic." I replied.
"Did you know that Brubeck is still playing?" I asked.
His eyebrows shot up." I can't believe that. He must be 100."
"Well not quite that old," I replied. " I saw him perform live in 2004 on his 80Th birthday." I said. " Still strong as ever," I continued. " In fact, I am a member of the NPR Jazz link, and Brubeck was featured last month. I think it was at Newport?"
Peter then proceeded to tell me how music keeps a persons mind alert and alive.
"Look at Rubinstein...",he added.
"Yep, I had him on my list for you as my favorite classic player." I said.
"He played until almost 100." he said.
" Yes, and a lot of that is attributed to his faith and dedicated wife." I said.
"You know they had a strong faith and a very close personal relationship." I added.
"Didn't know about that.." said Peter.
"Well, Peter, Sounds like you have some very good interests in life. On a scale of 1-10. how would you rate you life at this point?" I asked.
"We don't have enough time between now and my flight time to answer that one, But I would like to tell you more...but it would take some time" He continued. " see I'm depressed and I can't find myself sometimes."
" I may have something for you." I said.
"What I really need is a job." he said.
"How about peace of mind?" I asked.
He jokingly asked, " How much does it cost?"
"A few moments of your time..."
Peter Listened.
"OK," I replied. "See this site." I pointed to my laptop opened to my blog which I had been updating. " It is my blog. Here is a card with my email and the site URL."
Peter thanked me, we chatted almost another hour more, and then he had to get on his flight. I believe I'll hear from him again. The Spirit was with me in speaking with Peter, and I was pleased I had met him on this day.
An hour later I was on my flight to Jacksonville, my former home town where I had lived for 35 years.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Denver - JFK
I have to confess the cold Colorado air just knocked me out, and I fell dead asleep.
I had spent my day in Denver walking all over the city. The downtown area was very enjoyable and pedestrian friendly.
Train and bus transportation was clean, fast and easy to navigate. Though it is a very long way from the airport to downtown, I didn't mind the trip. Denver Mile High Airport is just that: a mile high, and it is so far out on the planes that you think you are in another state.
I really enjoyed everyone I met. It was like being in a western where they all wore white hats. In fact, there are "greeters" around the terminal who actually wear white hats, and they are just filled with information and tips on how to enjoy their beautiful city. There is much Denver pride about the Broncos or the vast array of things to do in and around Denver. Of course I had only a day, so I set my sites on the Botanical Gardens, The Capital area, the Convention Center, and Molly Brown's residence.
I got off the bus at 15Th and California, and walked a block following a "Visitors Center" sign to 16Th street. I did not find the Visitors Center, but I did not need to. I am ever armed with maps and pamphlets I pick up along the way. I was a private pilot and Air Traffic controller, so I am usually confident that I'll find what I'm looking for wherever I go, and no matter how foreign the territory.
The area along 16Th street Mall in downtown Denver is a Promenade lined with trees and beautiful street lamps. It is restricted to foot traffic, though free trams constantly ply their way slowly up and down this promenade lined with shops and restaurants other outdoor cafes. Since the trams are free one can hop on and off all along the route and save a lot of walking. At the western end of the line is the famous Union Station. A mecca for travelers when rail travel was as essential and popular as air travel is today. Of course earlier on this was the same rail which carried gold and silver from the mines and put Denver on the map along with Mr and Mrs Brown. The Browns were actually in Leadville just a short way from downtown. However, because of my time limitation I did not get to see Molly's famous house.
Just down from Union Station is the Platte River. Nothing compared to the mighty Colorado. The Platte is a slow moving muddy river that runs WSW of town. At the end of the line for the tram you can walk over the bridge which crosses the Platte river, turn left on Platte St which winds and turns into water street. SW of the bridge on Water St is the downtown Aquarium.
Back to downtown along the same route I got off the tram at California Av, and walked down tot the Convention Center. next to this beautiful Center is an older building which is the Denver Center for the Preforming Arts. SW of there along Champa St is the Met State College of Denver.
Back to the 16th St Tram for a ride ESE to Broadway and Colifax where you will run into Civic Center Park and the Colorado State Capital Espelande.
I was tempted to go a bit further East and visit the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. However, I feared missing my flight and with the thought that the airport is almost on another planet; instead I walked back to the tram and headed to WNW to the bus station on 16Th and Wazee between the famous Tattered Cover Book Mall and the old Oxford hotel touted as the oldest and most haunted in Denver. It is sometimes compared to the famous Philadelphia landmark Hotel The General Wayne Inn which I have also visited several ties.
On my way out of town we stopped at the Black American West Museum. It reminded me of a story my father -in-law a real native of Florida used to tell about the Black cowboys who used to work the large cattle ranches on which Disney and many other Orlando attractions have since erased.
Jet Blue was on time, but I was worried about making it to the gate since TSA had the alert status up to ORANGE, and the lines at Security were quite long and very slow.
Flt 126
DEN- JFK
Flt Deck: Irv and Wayne
Cabin Crew:Jennifer, Mago and YAYA
As I said I slept most of the way and in row 10 I was surrounded with AA employees getting back to JFK.
Toward the end of the flight, and interesting thing happened. I had Tim Donoho's book "Argruing With God" sitting on my tray, and a man across the aisle asked if he could see it. I told him it was very interesting reading, " Sounds like what I'm reading" he said handing me a book by Dr. Maurice Boyd former pastor of City Church, New York.. The book is called " The Fine Art of Being Imperfect." We swapped books and Tom, my fellow traveler. Said. "...very similar in nature wouldn't you say?"
I leafed through it, and there were similarities. However, Dr. Boyd's book was a compilation of weekly radio shows. Tim's book had much more humor.
I was relieved and pleased to meet a fellow believer in my travels. Tom was just returning from Denver where he visited his Dad. Also,he was attending had just attended the funeral of a good friend. Tom had a custom cane pole split into 3 parts so he could carry it on the plane. His best relaxation and way to ease his burdens seemed to be fishing the pristine streams of Denver. He was a native whose work placed him in New York. Tom was a Christian, but we did not have time to delve into weather he was having a personal relationships. I did sense a calmness about him,a nd a I felt comfortable in his presence. It is short encounters that gave me energy and inspiraation to contuinue this journey.
My daughter Natalie picked me up at the airport. I was happy to see her again, and thanked her for picking me up at nearly midnight. Christian and I walked to school this morning, and today is "early Release" day so I will walk over and get him at 1:30.
Before we left for school, he gave me a precious hand made card which said "Happy Grandfather's Day." I will treasure it always.
I'll be here until Friday when I leave for Portland, Or.
I had spent my day in Denver walking all over the city. The downtown area was very enjoyable and pedestrian friendly.
Train and bus transportation was clean, fast and easy to navigate. Though it is a very long way from the airport to downtown, I didn't mind the trip. Denver Mile High Airport is just that: a mile high, and it is so far out on the planes that you think you are in another state.
I really enjoyed everyone I met. It was like being in a western where they all wore white hats. In fact, there are "greeters" around the terminal who actually wear white hats, and they are just filled with information and tips on how to enjoy their beautiful city. There is much Denver pride about the Broncos or the vast array of things to do in and around Denver. Of course I had only a day, so I set my sites on the Botanical Gardens, The Capital area, the Convention Center, and Molly Brown's residence.
I got off the bus at 15Th and California, and walked a block following a "Visitors Center" sign to 16Th street. I did not find the Visitors Center, but I did not need to. I am ever armed with maps and pamphlets I pick up along the way. I was a private pilot and Air Traffic controller, so I am usually confident that I'll find what I'm looking for wherever I go, and no matter how foreign the territory.
The area along 16Th street Mall in downtown Denver is a Promenade lined with trees and beautiful street lamps. It is restricted to foot traffic, though free trams constantly ply their way slowly up and down this promenade lined with shops and restaurants other outdoor cafes. Since the trams are free one can hop on and off all along the route and save a lot of walking. At the western end of the line is the famous Union Station. A mecca for travelers when rail travel was as essential and popular as air travel is today. Of course earlier on this was the same rail which carried gold and silver from the mines and put Denver on the map along with Mr and Mrs Brown. The Browns were actually in Leadville just a short way from downtown. However, because of my time limitation I did not get to see Molly's famous house.
Just down from Union Station is the Platte River. Nothing compared to the mighty Colorado. The Platte is a slow moving muddy river that runs WSW of town. At the end of the line for the tram you can walk over the bridge which crosses the Platte river, turn left on Platte St which winds and turns into water street. SW of the bridge on Water St is the downtown Aquarium.
Back to downtown along the same route I got off the tram at California Av, and walked down tot the Convention Center. next to this beautiful Center is an older building which is the Denver Center for the Preforming Arts. SW of there along Champa St is the Met State College of Denver.
Back to the 16th St Tram for a ride ESE to Broadway and Colifax where you will run into Civic Center Park and the Colorado State Capital Espelande.
I was tempted to go a bit further East and visit the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. However, I feared missing my flight and with the thought that the airport is almost on another planet; instead I walked back to the tram and headed to WNW to the bus station on 16Th and Wazee between the famous Tattered Cover Book Mall and the old Oxford hotel touted as the oldest and most haunted in Denver. It is sometimes compared to the famous Philadelphia landmark Hotel The General Wayne Inn which I have also visited several ties.
On my way out of town we stopped at the Black American West Museum. It reminded me of a story my father -in-law a real native of Florida used to tell about the Black cowboys who used to work the large cattle ranches on which Disney and many other Orlando attractions have since erased.
Jet Blue was on time, but I was worried about making it to the gate since TSA had the alert status up to ORANGE, and the lines at Security were quite long and very slow.
Flt 126
DEN- JFK
Flt Deck: Irv and Wayne
Cabin Crew:Jennifer, Mago and YAYA
As I said I slept most of the way and in row 10 I was surrounded with AA employees getting back to JFK.
Toward the end of the flight, and interesting thing happened. I had Tim Donoho's book "Argruing With God" sitting on my tray, and a man across the aisle asked if he could see it. I told him it was very interesting reading, " Sounds like what I'm reading" he said handing me a book by Dr. Maurice Boyd former pastor of City Church, New York.. The book is called " The Fine Art of Being Imperfect." We swapped books and Tom, my fellow traveler. Said. "...very similar in nature wouldn't you say?"
I leafed through it, and there were similarities. However, Dr. Boyd's book was a compilation of weekly radio shows. Tim's book had much more humor.
I was relieved and pleased to meet a fellow believer in my travels. Tom was just returning from Denver where he visited his Dad. Also,he was attending had just attended the funeral of a good friend. Tom had a custom cane pole split into 3 parts so he could carry it on the plane. His best relaxation and way to ease his burdens seemed to be fishing the pristine streams of Denver. He was a native whose work placed him in New York. Tom was a Christian, but we did not have time to delve into weather he was having a personal relationships. I did sense a calmness about him,a nd a I felt comfortable in his presence. It is short encounters that gave me energy and inspiraation to contuinue this journey.
My daughter Natalie picked me up at the airport. I was happy to see her again, and thanked her for picking me up at nearly midnight. Christian and I walked to school this morning, and today is "early Release" day so I will walk over and get him at 1:30.
Before we left for school, he gave me a precious hand made card which said "Happy Grandfather's Day." I will treasure it always.
I'll be here until Friday when I leave for Portland, Or.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
JFK-Denver
9/21-22-2009
Flt97
First inconvenient flight with Jet Blue.
Flt Deck: Jeff, Kevin
Cabin: Stephen and Regina
Gate 8 Capt Jeff comes out to announce there are problems with the aircraft.
We are all directed to move to Gate 5 to get on a new plane.
Much confusion and delay due to the fact hat we were ticketed on an Air Bus 320 and at gate 5 there sat an Embrair 190. Like going from a Limo to VW MICRO BUS.
Baggage was a major problem, and most normal carry on would not fit in the Brazilian flying VW.
Finally we're in the air over an hour late. I hate to say that the cabin crew was shook too, and it showed in some of Regina's unprofessional announcements. But The passengers held up; including me. I have much comfort on this trip, so a slight delay will not deter me. Just reporting the facts for the blog post.
I sincerely believe Jet Blue did the best they could facing major equipment failure, and they did it for passenger safety. Like any numbers game, a winning streak ends at sometime. Mine just came on a late night Red Eye to Denver. To boot, I was coming from nice sunny warm Aruba to Mile High 53 F Denver at what is now 3AM on the East Coast. Because I had to check my back pack due to the limited space on the Embrair 190, my jacket went into the "belly" so I froze until I retrieved it in Denver.
Tomorrow I have a day planned at the zoo, museum and Molly Brown House,then on to Jacksonville via -Yep JFK.
Flt97
First inconvenient flight with Jet Blue.
Flt Deck: Jeff, Kevin
Cabin: Stephen and Regina
Gate 8 Capt Jeff comes out to announce there are problems with the aircraft.
We are all directed to move to Gate 5 to get on a new plane.
Much confusion and delay due to the fact hat we were ticketed on an Air Bus 320 and at gate 5 there sat an Embrair 190. Like going from a Limo to VW MICRO BUS.
Baggage was a major problem, and most normal carry on would not fit in the Brazilian flying VW.
Finally we're in the air over an hour late. I hate to say that the cabin crew was shook too, and it showed in some of Regina's unprofessional announcements. But The passengers held up; including me. I have much comfort on this trip, so a slight delay will not deter me. Just reporting the facts for the blog post.
I sincerely believe Jet Blue did the best they could facing major equipment failure, and they did it for passenger safety. Like any numbers game, a winning streak ends at sometime. Mine just came on a late night Red Eye to Denver. To boot, I was coming from nice sunny warm Aruba to Mile High 53 F Denver at what is now 3AM on the East Coast. Because I had to check my back pack due to the limited space on the Embrair 190, my jacket went into the "belly" so I froze until I retrieved it in Denver.
Tomorrow I have a day planned at the zoo, museum and Molly Brown House,then on to Jacksonville via -Yep JFK.
Aruba-New York
9-21-09
Jet Blue Flt 756
Flt Deck: Ron & Curtis
NY Based Cabin Crew: Donna, Tammy, Sally
Great crew and nice flight. We had no snags and smooth air all the way.
Service was tops as I have experienced throughout this journey.
Fellow Travelers: David and his friend bothe in the retail food services industry.
Both were intense on Killing the 4 hour trip laboring over a crossword booklet.
David was somewhat curious about Tim Donoho's book "Arguing With God".
I am so happy Tim has allowed me to use his work. It is always a great conversation starter.
I went over some of the thought provoking chapter headings with David. That got him to open up a bit about his experiences with "Religion". Pastor Brian has said many times that Christians are sometimes their own worst enemy. Here is an example:
David, like me, was raised in a Catholic home. Yet at a very young age, his family fell apart, and I had the feeling this deeply effected David's outlook on life. He lost faith in a lot of things because of this trauma.
As a teenager, David went to 'Confession'. At the end of his confession his priest told him that he could tell David did not like God. This was shattering news for a young man who was newly seeking answers for his Spiritual direction. His family was falling apart. His faith was shaken. His belief system was in shambles. He went to "Church" to seek guidance.
The answer he received was, "Sorry, You do not like God."
It was obvious that this rebuke hardened David's heart, and made him fear exploring his faith. He told me he has thought about it, but that he kind of put it on the back burner after the "Confession" incident.
I pointed out that the Gospel tells us we need not have a mediator to tell us about our relationship with our Creator. I quoted out several passages from the Bible I had out showing we have but to Profess our Love in the name of our Savior Jesus and communicate our love for Him directly. No Confession; No priest; no church can stand in the way of a personal profession of our faith. We talked about the need to have a personal relationship with God. Just like we have personal relationships with friends. I mean it has to be real and interactive. We have to talk to God as we are now talking to each other.
Further, I explained that sin stands between us and a right relationship with God, and that Jesus has taken that sin by His death on the cross, thus allowing us to be accepted by God.
There was no instant confession or profession, but I could sense that David was sorting this out, and he did take my Blog card to further seek this information.
I used to watch Perry Mason all the time in the 60's and I really did not believe people would just confess to everything just because Perry intimidated them on the stand.
I also believe that just as it was for me, Coming to Jesus and accepting Him sometimes is a process of revelation. Yes the light comes on, but for some of us it just takes time.
Arrival in JFK was smooth,and as always I love the new Terminal 5 there. Jet Blue has one of the best travel facilities in the country, and I speak from 53 airports of experience.
Also of note this trip: The guy sitting in front of me was from Columbia, and is doing the All You Can Jet Pass Also. He was doing four trips,and felt he was getting his money's worth at that. He wanted to see my blog, and I gave him a card too.
Jet Blue Flt 756
Flt Deck: Ron & Curtis
NY Based Cabin Crew: Donna, Tammy, Sally
Great crew and nice flight. We had no snags and smooth air all the way.
Service was tops as I have experienced throughout this journey.
Fellow Travelers: David and his friend bothe in the retail food services industry.
Both were intense on Killing the 4 hour trip laboring over a crossword booklet.
David was somewhat curious about Tim Donoho's book "Arguing With God".
I am so happy Tim has allowed me to use his work. It is always a great conversation starter.
I went over some of the thought provoking chapter headings with David. That got him to open up a bit about his experiences with "Religion". Pastor Brian has said many times that Christians are sometimes their own worst enemy. Here is an example:
David, like me, was raised in a Catholic home. Yet at a very young age, his family fell apart, and I had the feeling this deeply effected David's outlook on life. He lost faith in a lot of things because of this trauma.
As a teenager, David went to 'Confession'. At the end of his confession his priest told him that he could tell David did not like God. This was shattering news for a young man who was newly seeking answers for his Spiritual direction. His family was falling apart. His faith was shaken. His belief system was in shambles. He went to "Church" to seek guidance.
The answer he received was, "Sorry, You do not like God."
It was obvious that this rebuke hardened David's heart, and made him fear exploring his faith. He told me he has thought about it, but that he kind of put it on the back burner after the "Confession" incident.
I pointed out that the Gospel tells us we need not have a mediator to tell us about our relationship with our Creator. I quoted out several passages from the Bible I had out showing we have but to Profess our Love in the name of our Savior Jesus and communicate our love for Him directly. No Confession; No priest; no church can stand in the way of a personal profession of our faith. We talked about the need to have a personal relationship with God. Just like we have personal relationships with friends. I mean it has to be real and interactive. We have to talk to God as we are now talking to each other.
Further, I explained that sin stands between us and a right relationship with God, and that Jesus has taken that sin by His death on the cross, thus allowing us to be accepted by God.
There was no instant confession or profession, but I could sense that David was sorting this out, and he did take my Blog card to further seek this information.
I used to watch Perry Mason all the time in the 60's and I really did not believe people would just confess to everything just because Perry intimidated them on the stand.
I also believe that just as it was for me, Coming to Jesus and accepting Him sometimes is a process of revelation. Yes the light comes on, but for some of us it just takes time.
Arrival in JFK was smooth,and as always I love the new Terminal 5 there. Jet Blue has one of the best travel facilities in the country, and I speak from 53 airports of experience.
Also of note this trip: The guy sitting in front of me was from Columbia, and is doing the All You Can Jet Pass Also. He was doing four trips,and felt he was getting his money's worth at that. He wanted to see my blog, and I gave him a card too.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Phoenix-JFK-ARUBA
Phoenix-JFK
9/19-19/2009
Red Eye
Another Sleeper Uneventful but smooth. All were sleeping the moment we were seated.
JFK -
This was a close one! Arrived at 6:15 AM Aruba Flt 755 leaving
IT appears that Jet Blue delayed for 20 min so other connecting flights could make it.
Bravo Jet Blue!!! These guys are really good. Fly them and see…
Flt Deck: Stephen Walker and Stephen Barnwell?
Cabin Crew: Rich, Jennifer and Kate
Superb cabin service- Kudos to Rich; 1st officer opened with some great humor which put the cabin in a great mood. BTW they got a great well deserved round of applause on landing in
Fellow Travelers: Enrico and Elsie
Elsie is a certified Real estate professional, and also works in the Pharmaceutical business. Her company is headquartered in
Enrico was also staying at a time share in
Enrico is an IT Professional Project Manager also in the Pharmaceutical business – unrelated to Elsie’s work. I did not ask if he had PM certification, but I kind of thought he may have. We shared some stories about the business. At one time in my career, I managed IT projects too. However, I also told Enrico of my exploits as a Network Engineer. As he said, “Oh yea! The guys we are always waiting on to get service up.”
“Guilty,” I said.
Actually I did a lot of different WAN networks as they relate to
“You ought to chat with my Dad.” Enrico commented,” He retired from ATT.”
Getting more to the point, we discussed Tim Donohos book “ Arguing With God” I have only to review the various chapter headings to facilitate a meaningful discussion about where one is heading in life and how they view the deeper more meaningful side of life.
Enrico was no exception.
He told me of a life changing experience he had in his life recently. After looking at his work and his one sided focus on the job about a year ago he decided that this year ,2009, he was making a commitment to refocus and begin to think about the broader aspects of his existence. Life was not all about the job. “Oh, I still do a good job,” he said,” and I am as conscientious as ever, It is just that it is no longer the only thing in my mind.” He said.
“Yes, I understand,” I added. “I went through a similar change, and I knew I had to begin to experience my relationship with God to more fully understand why we are here and what our purpose is in life .”
Enrico and I were both raised Catholic and each rejected the ritualistic service to God in a formalized church setting. We each sought a more personal communication with our Maker. At that point I knew we were on the same page with our discussion. I spoke a bit more about closing off the internal dialog and listening more for God’s input. Enrico was very receptive to the idea.
I gave him this blog address and my email. I will send him AWG and I also recommended some other books.
Great flight, and Great company!!
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