My Odyssey

With Each Sunrise, We Start Anew

2008-01-27T08:53:00.000-06:00

“We can only appreciate the miracle of a sunrise if we have waited in the darkness”

Good morning. It's another beautiful morning in St. Joseph Missouri. It's going to be 51 degrees today! I woke up this morning at 6:30 AM to pray and do my devotional time with the Lord. I stopped around 7:00 AM to watch the sunrise. A sunrise is such a beautiful thing. It's hard not to think about the glory of God's creation. In ancient times a sunrise was also the beginning of a new day. The Bible says, sorrow lasts but for a day, but JOY comes in the morning. It's good that we get a fresh start everyday, even when we feel we have screwed up. It's like we get to reboot the computer and start over. I'm reminded of God's goodness when I watch a sunrise. Salvation is like a sunrise. The dawning of a new life. A life full of JOY, PEACE, VIRTUE, HOPE and LOVE. It's like a fresh start, a clean slate. You know what I mean. Sometimes I get so caught up in the days activities that I forget how good God has been to me. But in the morning I see the sunrise and I'm once again reminded of God's goodness.

My goal:
To spend more time outdoors in God's creation.

Peace,

Joe

A Week Before Finals

2007-12-04T18:44:00.000-06:00

This is the final stretch. Only one more week until the big "F" FINALS!!! It's a scary thing in the life of a student. Expesically when your final is comprehensive. Ouch! How can any one person retain all that information? I just hope that I pass all my classes this semester. It's been one rough semester, let me tell you. I had Genetics, Chemistry, Algebra and English. That's seventeen flippin' hours. Plus I was working thirty-two hours a pay period. Which is every Saturday and Sunday. I know this just sounds like I'm ranting. It pretty much is just me ranting but it feels good to get this off my chest. I feel better now.

What else is new? My friend Patrick is a Marine now! I know it's crazy just to type those words. Skinny Patrick is now a Marine. He got this idea over the summer and never told me about it. Three months later he's gone. I can't explain it. He just decided one day to make a HUGH life change, a few months later BAM he's in boot camp.

Sorry about this RANDOMNESS but I have to go pound my brain in and study for my Genetics test tomorrow.

Peace out!

Joe

Top Ten Chuck Norris Facts

2007-07-18T12:17:00.000-05:00

These Chuck Norris Facts are all true. You can't make this stuff up.

Top Ten List: Chuck Norris Facts

#10. Chuck Norris once ate a whole cake before his friends could tell him there was a stripper in it.

#9. Scientists have estimated that the energy given off during the Big Bang is roughly equal to 1CNRhK (Chuck Norris Roundhouse Kick)

#8. Chuck Norris doesn't actually write books, the words assemble themselves out of fear.

#7. If tapped, a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick could power the country of Australia for 44 minutes.

#6. The grass is always greener on the other side, unless Chuck Norris has been there. In that case the grass is most likely soaked in blood and tears.

#5. While urinating, Chuck Norris is easily capable of welding titanium.

#4. Wilt Chamberlain claims to have slept with more than 20,000 women in his lifetime. Chuck Norris calls this "a slow Tuesday."

#3. Chuck Norris can drink an entire gallon of milk in thirty-seven seconds.

#2. Every time someone uses the word "intense", Chuck Norris always replies "you know what else is intense?" followed by a roundhouse kick to the face.

And number one is...

Some people wear Superman pajamas. Superman wears Chuck Norris pajamas.

Top 10 List: Funniest Ways to Say You Have to Poop

2007-07-18T11:17:00.000-05:00

Yesturday when I went over to the Mental Health ward at the hospital (I was delivering medications) I over heard a conversation between a doctor and nurse. The doctor just finished evaluating a patient and the patient apparently said,

"Doc, I haven't turned a turd in three days."

The doctor had apparently never heard this saying before and found it hysterical. So in honor of that doctor I dedicate this Top Ten list to him.

Top 10 List: Ways to Say You Have to Poop

#10. Drop doo-doo depth charges.
#9. Going to Donkin Donuts.
#8. Drop one from the poop deck.
#7. Drop a wad to the porcelain god.
#6. Smoke a brown dooby.
#5. Free the chickens from the coop.
#4. Make a constipation proclamation.
#3. Drop the kids off at the pool.
#2. Back the big brown caddy out of the garage.

And last but not least...

#1. Drop the Browns off at the Superbowl.

Thanks Burger King!

2007-06-19T10:57:00.000-05:00

I was so bored today that I went to the Burger King website where I got my very own pet moustache. Thanks Burger King! You can get one too. All you need is a picture of yourself. This is how mine turned out! Get one for yourself at by clicking here.

Napoleon in Rags

2007-06-19T09:48:00.000-05:00

The meaning of Napoleon in Rags comes from a Bob Dylan song called Like a Rolling Stone. It's a contender for the best song in history. In 2004 Rolling Stone magazine rated it best song of all time declaring, "No other pop song has so thoroughly challenged and transformed the commercial laws and artistic conventions of its time". I really liked the idea of Napoleon in Rags. I think this character Dylan invented is interesting. Napoleon was a great leader and Dylan describes him wearing cheap clothing. Rags describes clothing that is filthy, used and tattered. There is more going on here, though. The words are also about illusion and understanding, deception and truth. The song repeatedly describes ways in which the woman failed to see what was really going on around her.

Even though Napoleon is wearing a disguise he was in truth a great leader. The disguise allowed him to travel without being attacked. This tactic is used by Dylan also. The Napoleon in Rags concept is a great life lesson to be learned. There's always more going on around us than we realize. Life is like an onion. There are more layers for us to peel back and more truth to discover. There are many of us out there who are like the woman in the song. We fail to see what's really going on around us. When we fail to see something it's our own fault. We need to get to know people. Really know them. If I can use another analogy. We need to be able to see the truth just behind the veil. Sometimes it's a good thing to look around the curtain and see the crew pulling the ropes and adjusting the lights. We enjoy going to the show, but we don't really know what's going on behind the curtain.

People aren't always as they appear on the surface.

Exposing One's Self

2007-06-19T09:30:00.000-05:00

I went over to mental health today and while I was filling the patients medications I over heard this conversation between a doctor and a nurse.

"If Mr. Thompson keeps exposing himself to the female patients we will have to put him on the A side (Alpha Level 1)." The doctor said.

"That's not all he's doing. He's also jacking off. I don't know how you would write that in your report." Said the nurse.

"I would probably have to use a medical term like "spanking his monkey."" The doctor replied.

All the nurses were laughing including myself.

"I'm just kidding. I would use the word masturbation." The doctor said.

I'm standing in the office filling medications when this entire conversation happened. I thought it was so weird and funny I had to included it in my blog.

Cheeky Monkey

2007-06-19T08:45:00.000-05:00

Last night at the hospital when I was on the third floor doing rounds. I came around the corner and one nurse said this to the other.

"Here comes that pharmacy boy with the nice butt!"

I said, "what!?"

"You know it's true." she replied.

I didn't know what to say and felt really embarrassed. So I went into my best Mike Myers impersonation of Simon (who likes to do drawrings.)

"Are you looking at my bum!? You bum looker, you cheeky monkey." I replied.

What's weird about this was the nurse who said this was in her fifties. I felt like a piece of meat!

Mental Health Ward

2007-06-15T13:36:00.000-05:00

Today I went over to the mental health ward at the hospital where I work. I had to deliver medicine to the patients. The mental health ward at the hospital has two areas. Which I call "Alpha Level 1" and "Alpha Level 2." The people on Alpha Level 1 have the major issues. When I entered Alpha Level 1 today I had an older gentlemen hiding right by the door waiting to escape. I had to quickly shut the door, so he didn't get out. We were then standing really close to each other. I slowly looked at him and he quickly went into conversational mode. (Note: Before I left the pharmacy Debbie told me NEVER to look at a "Alpha Level 1" patient directly in the eye.) I realized my error after the incident.

"So do ya got killer bees in those drawers? Is that a honeycomb where you keep those killa' beeeees?" He said.

Which I responded by laughingly saying, "no sir there are no killer bees in there just medicine." (I thought he was joking.)

"Damn it! Don't call me sir, you don't know me!" He shouted.

Then he just stood there huffing and puffing with a scowl on his face. At this point I was totally freaked out so I quickly made my way into the nurses station where I was safe. Then I quickly left before he saw me again.

Just another day dealing dope

2007-06-14T07:54:00.000-05:00

I'm what you call a professional drug dealer. I work at a pharmacy. We have a special room where we keep all the narcotics. A few days ago I came across a shelf I hadn't noticed before. Something that I didn't know was a legal drug to dispense. Cocaine. That's right we have cocaine. In powdered and liquid form. Just the other day I had to dispense some cocaine to someone in the ER. Apparently it's used to stop bleeding and reduce pain in your nose. Apparently it's been around for a long time. Take a look at this old advertisement I found. It's hard to believe that they use to give this stuff to kids for a toothache. My how things have changed.

Another weird thing that I despensed was leeches. That's right live leeches. They are used to help circulate blood in a digit that has been severed and help drain clotted blood vessles. Doctors have been using leeches for a long time. They use to keep them in leech jars like the one in the picture. They would also be used at barbershops to clean the blood of their patrons while they got a haircut. That's why the barber shop signs use to have the red and white candy cane thing outside. The weird thing about leeches is that the doctor doesn't know how many he will need. So we buy a leech motel and have about thirty on hand in the refrigerator. When I dispense a leech I have to go over to the leech bucket and scoop up three or four leeches and put them in a smaller container. The pharmacists joked with me and said that I had to feed them by cutting my finger and puting a few drops of blood in the bucket everyday.

To my Friend

2007-06-11T18:00:00.000-05:00

I heard this song and it reminded me of a Friend.

Lost Highway by Jeff Buckley

I'm a rollin' stone all alone and lost
For a life of sin I have paid the cost
When I walk by all the people say
Just another guy on the lost highway

Just a deck of cards and a jug of wine
And a woman's lies makes a life like mine
All the day we met, I went astray
I started rolling down this lost highway

I was just a lad, nearly twenty two
Neither good nor bad, just a kid like you
And now I'm lost, too late to pray
Lord I paid a cost, on the lost highway

Now boy's don't start to ramblin' round
On this road of sin are you sorrow bound
Take my advice or you'll curse the day
You started rollin' down that lost highway