Brandstad vs. Culver. The facts on their differences.

There are stark differences between current Gov. Culver, and former Gov. Brandstad.

Brandstad has salt and pepper graying hair. Culver has redish/blond hair.

Culver's wife smokes. Brandstad's wife doesn't. Or not that we know of.

Culver has kids at home. Brandstad has grown children.

Culvers likes to alienate his Union voter base, while Branstad (via Doug Gross), likes to alienate his Evangelical voter base.

Brandstad is Catholic. Culver is Presbyterian.

Culver hasn't raised taxes to cover a big budget. Brandstad has.

Branstad lives in West Des Moines. Culver lives in Des Moines.

Culvers has a -D after his name. Brandstad has a -R after his name.

Culver hasn't expanded gambling in the state. Brandstad oversaw the origin and expansion of gambling in Iowa.

Culver's first name is "Chet." Brandstad's first name is "Terry."

Brandstad was in office when there was a major flood in Des Moines. Culver was in office when there was a major flood in Cedar Rapids.

I'm trying to think of more. Somebody help me out.

Some of my favorite customers

*Inspired by actual people and events* I hope this doesn't come across as complaining. I actually say this because these people are funny. And it would be good if we realized any tendency we have towards this ourselves.

The Engineer:

The engineer comes in and tells you he is considering building his own central vacuum. Yes, he's going to buy the parts on the Internet and the vacuum is going to take up most of one of the stalls in his garage. He rattles off a bunch of technical terms, to make himself feel smart and confirm your ineptness, therefore convincing himself (or more importantly, his wife) that he should build his own central vacuum.

The Snob:

The snob literally does keep their head at an upward slant at all times. They ask brief questions, tell you exactly what they want, and cut you off when you utter more than one short sentence. In between, they pepper in information about "their private secretary" or "at our house in Florida" or "or this stone is from Italy." When you call them, you always go to voice mail (or their private secretary) and they return your calls somewhere between 2 to 5 days later. Usually they are nice people, just superior to you in every way. The ones that aren't nice can literally make you feel like cursing or crying after every interaction.

The Nutty Negotiator:
NN: "Well Wal-Mart has the same TV for $999." Me: "Actually, they don't." NN: "Well, they've got TV's for $999." Me: I thought you were specifically looking for the XBR, and wanted it hung on a mount from your ceiling, with it connected to the satellite receiver and DVD player in the closet, with a remote that works through walls?" NN: "Well, all I know is that Wal-Mart has TV's for $999." Me: "You can buy that TV from Wal-Mart and we can install it the way we discussed." NN: "Why don't you have TV's for $999?" And so on.

The Small Town Builder:
The small town builder calls and asks for a bid on something. They ask you to e-mail it to them. You e-mail it. You call them to make sure they got the e-mail. They then tell you it's been a couple weeks since they got on e-mail. A week later you call again to see if they got the e-mail. They say they have. You don't want to insult them by asking them if they opened the attachment you referred to in the e-mail. Two weeks later, on Friday at 4:30 PM they call and say "Yeah, all that work you bid out for me, I need it done on Monday." You turn in the bid and somehow the guys are able to be out there on Monday. The next day you get a call. Small town builder is upset. "This isn't what we discussed." In the conversation you figure out that they didn't open the attachment that was the bid (they didn't understand "you will find the bid in the attached pdf" written in the text of your e-mail) and therefore everything is all wrong, because they never actually read the bid.

Interesting Little News Story

I found this pretty interesting. I realize we would prefer that people saw abortion from a spiritual perspective, but pragmatism that saves a baby's life is still pretty good. Between stories like this, Abort73, and movies like Juno and Bella, we might be making some real progress on this. As Abort73 explains, the only audience that needs to change their opinion about abortion is women at or before child-bearing age. Of course, that assumes the pro-life movement is actually about saving babies and protecting women, not gaining ground or funds for a certain political party or its politicians.

Three Random Thoughts

1. There are people who are snobs. Most people are misjudged for their snobbery because they are shy, like to dress nice, or have money. However, there are some who are genuinely snobs.


2. Why aren't all my naturalist (or whatever you call it) friends up in arms over government controlled health care? You tirelessly oppose vaccinating your kids, and many of you oppose the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, along with other practices of the medical establishment. If you think the mandatory vaccinations are bad, just wait until they take over everything.


3. Your opinion of the Rick Pitino situation lies solely with your beliefs about abortion. If the abortion removed a tissue blob that was mistakenly fertilized, no harm, no foul. If it ended the life of a unique, unborn human being, he's an accessory to murder. There is absolutely no way to discuss this issue without discussing abortion and it's comical to watch the sports news media try to skate around the issue.

Outburst at Harkin Townhall

This was about as exciting as it got.

Favorite Birthday Free Stuff

These deals are all free. Not buy one, get one. Just free. I've enjoyed all three this year, and now it's time to get back to eating right.

Red Robin Free burger for your birthday. They give you about a week to use the coupon. Dine in only.

Ruby Tuesday Free burger for your birthday. Also about a week to use the coupon. Dine in or carry out.

Cold Stone Creamery Free scoop with stuff in it. Paying full price at this place is just crazy, but free is always good. If you are a 31 year old man, by yourself, and the girl behind the counter asks you if you want them to sing, the correct answers is always "no."

On Authenticity

*If you think this is specifically about you, it probably isn't. I have been contemplating these things for years, writing a blog like this for months, and now have finally written it.*

This is a struggle I have had, and my wife has had. Authenticity. Being who you are.

I grew up in a wonderful, Christian family. As a kid, I saw how people respected my parents and the way they people would come into our household and enjoy the love, freedom, structure, and reliability of it. My parents were not legalistic. Rules were few, and I knew the focus was on God, not on my parents. Somehow, though, I really struggled with self-righteousness. Probably because that is the core of our sin problem..."I can do this myself." As some of you know, when I was about 13 I went through some radical changes, and my faith in Jesus Christ become personal, not just something I knew, or believed, but something that was all-encompassing.

So, over the next couple years I believe God led me to actually take what I believed seriously. If the Bible says "(blank)" than "(blank)" is true and my life needs to be brought into conformity with that reality. I quickly become someone who was searching out truth, and then, usually prematurely, wanting to share that truth with others. Most of us have been there. We learn something, and want to share it with everyone, before, perhaps, it has even taken root in our own lives. In high school I was annoying most of the time. Teenage insecurities and an often hap-hazard passion for God blended into a nice little Pharisee, most of the time. Being a vocal "leader" on spiritual things shored up insecurities with my peers. At least I was good for something. I hope and pray that God broke through on some of the things I said and did, and made some of it useful for something, but I'm sure a lot of it was in vain.

The goal was simple. Strive for the righteous requirement, take comfort and security from any "good" stuff I did, and make sure that I didn't get caught sinning. Yes, people like me struggle, but we admit to stuff like "not spending enough time with the Lord" or "not praying enough." Not stuff like lust, bitterness, jealousy, hatred, slander, and covetousness. Was I always like this? No. Did I ever go to others in honesty, and really pour out who I was, and how imperfect I was? Yes. In private. In big dramatic moments. But I had to cover, cover, cover my daily ongoing struggle with the flesh. Be nice. Say all the right things. Think those profanes words and thoughts, just don't say them. Don't act on them.

I don't have it figured out yet. I know this, Christ in me is the only hope of glory. I want to be a person of integrity. Not because my behavior is flawless. But because my beliefs, thoughts, and actions are all consistent with each other. No acts. No shows. We know from Jesus that our outward words and actions flow out of our hearts (Mt 15:18). The essence of being a Pharisee is stifling anything bad from coming out in public, while pointing out the righteous standard to others, and holding them accountable to keep it. All the while, the inside of the cup is filthy. I want Christ to be formed in me. I want His resurrected life to be what people see when they look at me. I want to be conformed to the image of His Son. And when conduct that looks like Jesus comes out of me, I want it to originate with His life, not my desire to produce my own righteousness that I can feel good about.

Something really ironic happened yesterday (4 days ago, now that I am posting this). I was contemplating writing this blog, and specifically about how good little Christians think swear words, but never say them. About 30 seconds later, as I was driving, two teenage girls started crossing E. 14th (for those of you not from here, that's a major 4 lane highway through town). They just started walking, and all of us got to slow down, or stop, so they could walk across the street. I believe the exact words I said were "frickin idiots!" Oh yes, the Christianized f word and "idiot," a word that Jesus said is bad enough to condemn me to eternal, unquenchable, hell fire (Mt. 5:22). I don't think I would have said that if anyone else was in the car. Maybe my wife, but then it would have been under my breath.

The point is this. I want my behavior to mirror my heart. Authenticity. If something good comes out, it is by the grace of God. If something bad comes out, it is evidence that there's a raging sinful flesh still inside of me. God still has work to do on me, and I don't want to act like He doesn't. Do I just let whatever fly that comes to mind? Of course not. There's something to be said for being wise, not to mention polite. But there's a big difference between being polite and being a Pharisee. Yes, I still have self-righteous tendencies, so even writing this is dangerous because there's some accountability that comes with it. Just thought I would share something that's been on my mind for a long time now.