Another week, another blog :)

Wow so this week has been busy to say the least! I finally got my tutoring flyer out and the first day it went out I had around 30 emails and 5 phone calls about it. In fact, I'm still at this moment returning email and setting up my schedule. This is a good thing but honestly I had no idea that there would be this much demand for a math tutor. I mean, people even want to meet on Saturday! I don't want to do math on Saturday! Haha oh well, it is a good thing I guess because I had been praying for God to provide for us financially and then within a week, this happens. I think I may be getting over-booked though and am considering hiring another tutor to work for me to take some of the load off. We shall see I guess.

It's amazing to me how quickly I can get distracted from what is really important. I was reading yesterday in Matthew the "sermon on the mount" I started reading it because in BLAST we are covering the Beattitudes this year and I really don't understand some of them to be perfectly honest with you. As I read the whole thing in it's entirety it just seemed like God was telling me to stop sweating the small stuff and just focus on seeking Him. I mean, we are called to be salt and light! We can't reflect Him unless we are close to Him. We can't be close to Him unless we seek Him. But as we seek Him we are not to "worry about tomorrow, about what we will eat or what we will wear" (paraphrase). Why not go hard after Him and after His business and not worry about stuff that God already knows I need? Not exactly what I planned to get out of reading that passage (I still need to figure out the beattitudes) but God has a funny way of showing me exactly what I need at the time. I have been trying to figure out what to do after December (since hopefully I will be done with school at that time) but I have been trying to figure it out all by myself. I realize that that's not my job. My job is to seek God hard. That's it. He will show me everything else and provide everything I need along the way. I mean, isn't that what I was created for in the first place? To have a relationship with the God of the universe?

Some random observations:

1. ACC football--BC=down year, Maryland=should be an FCS team since they seem to lose to them quite often, Virginia=who cares, Virginia Tech=it hurts me to watch their offense and their run defense looks like a spaghetti strainer, therefore they are over-rated, Wake Forest=missing all those defensive starters from last year, Carolina=good defense, offense...ummm we shall see, NC State=well at least we can crush FCS teams Maryland!, Duke football=oxymoron, Clemson=decent but will lose to South Carolina this year so that will mean a bad season for them, Georgia Tech=like their running game but they have a hard time stopping anyone, Florida State=good team and I like Christian Ponder but aren't quite good enough yet to win the ACC, Miami=class of the ACC and I believe a national championship contender...Jacory Harris is the man...yes I have jumped on the bandwagon...I like how they have stepped up and aren't afraid to play a tough early schedule! I mean their first 4 games are #18 Florida State, #15 Georgia Tech, #11 Virginia Tech, and Oklahoma (whatever they will be ranked next week). Kudos to them!

2. This hurricane season=sucks. I was planning on getting in some good hurricane chasing this fall but it's hard to chase hurricanes when they don't happen! I can't even remember a season with this little amount of activity. Perhaps that means nothing to you but it stinks for me...therefore I am posting it in this blog.

3. I am running out of time to write.

Shout outs:

Chris Williams--Those were some sick nasty shots you were making in open gym last night sir. My hat is off to your basketball skill.

Jake Delhomme--You did not throw 5 interceptions this week. Good job.

Rebecca Carlson--I have not given you a shout-out yet and this is bad. Rebecca, even though you always "have to go home" and never do anything fun, you are awesome! You are one of my favorite people.

That's all for now...'till next time!

-D-Lev

Epic Fail.....

First of all, many apologies for not posting in so long...wait why am I apologizing...it's my blog I can post whenever I want to dang it! Anyways, I was trying to think of an appropriate title to accurately describe my day yesterday and the words "epic fail" came to mind. Ever had one of those days where absolutely nothing seems to work right and you begin to wonder if you have completely lost any and all ability to do ANYTHING???? Well that was yesterday. It all started two weeks ago when I got a homework assignment from my professor. Now this professor likes to give "homework" assignments that in any other class would be considered semester projects. This one was no exception and without going into all the boring detail about it, it basically involved writing a program to calculate how big a raindrop can grow by collecting other raindrops on its way through a 3 kilometer thick cloud (yes that is the short version of the problem...). Well I have never taking a computer programming class so I have oh...um....ZERO knowledge of how to code this problem. I would like to point out also that this is a METEOROLOGY class and NOT A PROGRAMMING class so WHY IS MY GRADE DEPENDENT ON MY ABILITY TO WRITE A PROGRAM!!!!??? Perhaps I am just a little bitter. Well I actually got a program written that semi-worked. It made the drop grow over time...unfortunately by t=50 seconds, the drop was bigger than the earth. Yes that's right, I created the biggest raindrop in the universe. After checking all my equations etc...I still could not figure out why the program was blowing up the drop size so i thought to myself, "I should go ask my professor about it". A logical thought right? Well this was on Wednesday and so I go all the way to NC State and knock on my professor's door only to find out that "she's not in on Wednesday". Perfect. After trying to get the program to work for another 3 HOURS, I email the file to my professor and ask her why she thought it wasn't working. 3 HOURS later, I recieve a reply telling me to do a bunch of stuff THAT I HAD ALREADY TOLD HER THAT I HAD DONE!!! By this time, I had had enough for the day and headed home...planning on getting up early on Thursday and coming in to work on it before class. So I get up early Thursday and go all the way to NC State again...only to find out that my professor hadn't come in yet. Again, perfect. I tried working on the project myself once again with no results until about 12:30 p.m. when I decided to go check and see if my professor was in again. This time I actually made contact! By making contact I mean that as soon as she saw me she said and I quote, "I have another meeting right now" and shut the door in my face. Jerk. (Other words which I won't say in this blog). Ok so I had worked hard on this stupid assignment for a week and failed, tried to get help, failed, and now it was time to turn it in. So I printed out my program and the graphs of the drop that was bigger than the earth, title it "This really sucks" and handed it in. Actually I titled it while I was working on it in a moment of frustration and then forgot to change the title before I handed it in. I believe that it accurately sums up my assesment of the problem however in hindsight I probably would have wanted to change it before handing in the load of crap that was my homework. Guess what grade this guy will receive on that homework? You guessed it...and F--.

So to sum it all up, this project has been the main reason why I have not posted in the last week. Now that it is over I have some sense of relief but I still want to finish that program and have it work right just for the principle of the matter.

Things I'm Looking Forward To:

1. Upward practice tonight...I like my team a lot. They may not have the most talent but they listen and work hard which makes coaching enjoyable! They will be pushed hard tonight haha!

2. NC State vs. Gardner Webb (football)--One thing you can always count on, State will schedule the worst football teams to play early in the season. The second thing you can usually count on is that they will find a way to lose to at least one of those teams. However, after last weeks BEATDOWN of Murray St. (65-7) perhaps there's hope for this season after all. I know it was just Murray St. but 65-7??? We NEVER do that, not even against bad teams.

4. Having healthy wrists--after barely being able to move them on Tuesday and Wednesday, I could finally shoot a basketball again yesterday. Lifting weights still kills but at least they're getting better. Here's a tip, when you fall from a great distance its best just to go ahead and take it. Don't try to catch yourself with your hands. Just thought I would throw that out there.

Things I'm Not Looking Forward To:

1. Watching Jake Delhomme play football. Jake Delhomme=suck. Why do the Panther's have to have the WORST quarterback in the NFL? In the last two games, Jake has amassed the amazing totals of 9 interceptions and 3 lost fumbles. Pretty sure I could go out and throw 9 picks in two games.

2. Ending this post...this has been the longest post in the world and it's time for it to stop. 'Nuff said.

Shout-Outs:

Polar Bear at the NC Zoo--Thanks for staying out in the heat to play in the water for us last Saturday. I would have been a little upset if you hadn't and that's an understatement.

Drew Claybrook--You may not read this blog but if you do, thanks for spending hours helping me with my crap assignment this week. You were a lifesaver.

'Till next time...

-D-Lev

Blog Schmlog...

Yeah so actually I just wanted to write "schmlog" to see what it looked like...kinda interesting but it has nothing to do with the content of this post.

Random thoughts:

1. I have decided that the show Man vs. Wild is quite possibly the manliest show on television. I will admit, I have gotten a bit hooked on it lately but it's such an awesome show! First of all, the show is this guy who gets dropped off in some of the most hostile places in the world with nothing but a backpack with a rope and a knife and then has to survive for several days while trying to find rescue. This guy has survived in places like the Vietnamese jungle to the frozen tundra of Alaska. He has to create his own shelter out of whatever material he can find and eat and drink whatever is available. I have seen him do things like crawl into a camel carcass to shelter himself from a dust storm in the sahara desert or eat a meal of grilled scorpion for dinner! Pretty hardcore. Plus the guy's name is Bear! I mean...with a name like "Bear" you pretty much HAVE to be manly don't you? Anyways, you should check the show out...it's pretty intense.

2. There's no way that computer programming has ANYTHING to do with the dynamics of cloud formation! So why was I given a homework which is going to be graded on my ability to code a program when I am supposed to be learning about the processes that form clouds? By the way, you can skip this section...I am just ranting about school and it feels good to just let it out and have a good cry (single tear)....whew that's better...ok now I'm embarrassing myself and I need to stop. I will just add that my ability to write a computer program is about the same as Brett Favre's ability to stay retired. 'Nuff said. Homework failed. Nothing learned. Boo NC State.

3. Speaking of NC State, we have our first football game tonight vs. South Carolina. Now last year, we lost 30-0 which was the start of a very long season in which if Russel Wilson played we won and if he didn't play, we lost....well....30-0. Hopefully this year will be better but I am excited about football season starting up again. Also looking forward to the VaTech/Alabama game on Sat...not a better way to begin the season than with a Hokie loss (hehe that's for you Bristol j/k). Actually I'm more of an NFL fan and once again this promises to be a long season for my team (the Panthers). Our defense gave up over 30 points in the last 3-4 games of last season and now our two best players on defense are injured! So I can only imagine how many touchdowns we are going to surrender now. Plus, Jake Delhomme is great at getting your hopes up to where you believe that the Super Bowl is possible and then dashing them to pieces by throwing 5 INTERCEPTIONS in a playoff game verses the "worst playoff team in NFL history". Ahh well...I will still cheer for you Panthers...I can't help it.

4. On a more serious note, it's funny how God reminds you when you become to prideful or entitled. It's not like I do it on purpose but it seems like everytime God blesses me with something good and undeserved, I eventually get to the point where I either rely on the blessing instead of the One who blesses or I begin to think that I am entitled to continue receiving that blessing. This past week I got a wake up call about that...pretty sure it was God reminding me that He is my source and not anything else. God has blessed me beyond what I can ever imagine but why should I think that He owes me anything? If He sees fit to give me an abundance, I should praise Him and use the abundance to bless other people. If He sees fit to take that abundance away, it shouldn't change my attitude as long as I am trusting in my Source instead of my stash. I will still praise Him for providing all we need and more!

5. Schedule for the rest of the week: Today I am trying to finish up some Storm scheduling. Since the late great Fayetteville Crusaders folded (again for the second straight year), I now have 3 more games to schedule and let me tell you it is like pulling teeth to get athletic directors to call you back. I also have my class this afternoon and then tonight and upward prayer partner meeting and then ballin' it up at open gym. Tuesday I shot 400 game speed shots and had storm practice and then yesterday I did a speed workout so not sure how the old legs are going to hold up tonight hehe we'll see.

Friday, more scheduling calls and grocery shopping. Storm practice in the afternoon and then I am going to try to make it to the Milbrook football game in the evening. Also will try to get some homework done and my tutoring brochure printed.

Saturday...hmm...not sure but I know I will think of something before High School Hangout Broomball starts in the evening! Should be fun.

Well that's all for now...till next time!

-D-Lev

Shout outs:

J-rod/David-insulter--I don't usually give a shout out to the same person two posts in a row but I would just like to congratulate J-rod for taking the shout out I gave him last time and going WAY above and beyond! I would expect nothing less from him so kudos to you J-rod.

Emily J--Miss seeing ya around. Maybe I'll *67 you sometime soon! Nothing like a good call from a restricted number to start your day off right!