-ghp

This may have been an ad paid for by Chrysler about a new car, but ultimately it was an ad all about Detroit.

And it was chock full of WIN

Never before have I seen the city of my birth so chill-inducingly pimped on the national stage.

Green Bay may have won the game, but with this ad Detroit won the Super Bowl…

-ghp

Well, let’s see how this goes, shall we…

-ghp

Props to the first commenter(s) who can ID what the backing track is/is taken from…

Heritage Promo ver2 – mp3

Heritage Promo ver2 – m4a

Vielen Dank!

-ghp

Naturally, I couldn’t let that go…

So, I decided to dip my toes into the heretofore untested waters of audio recording & podcasting, albeit not without a certain amount of trepidation (I’ll get more into the specifics, technical & psychological, in later posts; at this juncture, what I’m needing to do is have y’all check out my first publically-listenable offering.

As I’ve not yet worked out all the specifics of how to best go about making it available once I’ve created the audio, I’ll leave it at this:  Here are links to two different formats of the same 30 second spot…

Heritage Promo – mp3

Heritage Promo – m4v

I would very much appreciate your feedback on the promo spot (audio, text, pacing, etc…), because I’d really like to avoid embarrasing myself and/or my church when I eventually send this in to the fellas at Issues, Etc.

Thanks!

-ghp

After (for me) an amazing amount of patient research & consideration, I’ve made a choice. I’ve picked a lane. I’ve cast my ballot. Why, I’ve even ordered two 80 K-cup boxes from Sam’s Club! And the winner of my undying (for now) loyalty is…

The Caribou Blend K-Cup from Caribou Coffee!

As the ad copy for this brew (accurately!) states, “Caribou Coffee’s signature blend meets that challenge, balancing a big-bodied, syrupy taste with a clean, snappy finish.” IOW, It’s goooood! ;^) A nice, bold, medium roast that doesn’t overwhelm you (like a certain over-roasted brew favored by my beloved bigsis…), but neither is it one that wusses out & leaves you wanting more. It smells & tastes like a good cup of joe should. WIN.

Today was my first Voter’s Meeting in 8 years where I wasn’t part of the leadership/power structure, and the first in 2 years where I wasn’t the head elder having to give a report.

It was nice. I felt kinda giddy, I must admit… ;^)

Two really good things happened at the meeting, though, that I just can’t help celebrating.

First, our Treasurer reported that our building project 30-yr mortgage has been paid off as of the 1st of the year, after only 10 years, and this was even about 5 months sooner than we figured it would happen as recently as passing the budget at last November’s meeting! God blesses us abundantly!

Second, a year after Issues, Etc. was “snuck in” & supported via our endowment interest fund, the voters approved adding IE as a formal mission line in our budget for the upcoming year! We are now going to continue on as a member of the IE 300! This makes me very happy, indeed…

-ghp

I moved lots of snow today. That comes with the territory, you see, when you live in NW Indiana, home of what Chicago TV weather-folk like to call the “Lake Effect Snow Machine”.

All total, over the course of yesterday & today, we got about 8-12″ here in Valpo, so it wasn’t overly severe (I mean, South Bend got 30+” last Fri/Sat). Surprisingly, but not ungratefully, PNC closed campus today so I got the day off of work. The kids still had to go into school, though, albeit on a 2-hr delay. Heh…

I got to start clearing snow bright & early, first clearing off our back deck & a little bit of the yard, so that the dogs would have a place to tend to their bidness. Then, it was the driveway, followed by taking Deb to work (yes, I *am* a sweetheart, thankyouverymuch! :^) ). All that snow removal was not too bad (at least on the driveway) even though it was about 10-12″ deep, and quite windy, thanks to the snowblower.

Finally, at 8:15, it was time for the 1st Coffee of the Day!

+  

10 oz. of Emeril’s Big Easy Bold + 6 oz. of Green Mountain Breakfast Blend

Verdict:  Not too bad. I think the lighter roast Breakfast Blend, even in the lesser amount (albeit higher concentration), cut the darker roasted Big Easy Bold enough that it didn’t overpower me. (Note: I use Starbucks as my benchmark for “overpowering”, as I find that they over-roast their beans for my taste, much to my sister’s everlasting disagreement… — Love ya, bigsis! ;^) )

Then it was off to drop the kids off at school & head over to clear the driveway of the house that we

STILL HAVEN’T SOLD.

But I’m not on edge. NOT AT ALL. Really. Seriously, though, if all goes well (please, Lord, let it go well…) we might actually close on the sale by the end of the month. But, back to my obviously riveting narrative…

So, after removing 10-12″ of snow from that driveway, I ended up back home where, after getting cleaned up, it was time for…

The 2nd Coffee of the Day!

16 oz. (2 x 8 oz. cups)  of Caribou Blend

Verdict:  Very, very tasty! Per the description & a review or two, this was a very smooth, almost syrupy brew, with very good “mouth feel”. It also had a very nice aroma, and its mid-roast still provided a nice bold flavor that didn’t overpower. It also proved to be nicely surprising in that, for such a boldish initial flavor, it didn’t have a lingering aftertaste (another thing that I detest about Starbucks…).  Super enjoyable.

While I certainly wish the city would’ve done a better job of plowing & salting the streets (they’ve done a particularly poor job thus far this season…), I must say that I’m pleased thus far with the folks that the HOA have contracted to do our development’s streets. Particularly the fact that today, when they came to re-clear the cul-de-sac, they respected the fact that I’d already cleared the end of the driveway, and didn’t just fill the end of it with a new 6+” of slushy snow. Like the city always did.

It’s the little victories, isn’t it? :^)

-ghp

Just got myself a new toy last weekend – a Keurig B60 single-cup “brewing system”.  Pretty fancy, eh? I’ve had my eye on one for a while, as I’ve not been too terribly pleased with either the price or the quality of the McDonald’s joe that’s been my mainstay morning brew for the past few years (as it’s the most conveniently located on the way to work). Other options have proven to be either too expensive/out-of-the-way (Starbucks, Dunkin’, etc…) or inconvenient (grinding & brewing my own in a regular 4-12 cup coffee maker or French Press).

So, after a cursory bit of research, I finally hit the local Target & entered the world of K-Cup brewing.

Thus far, it’s been pretty darned tasty & convenient. I’m still in the process of casting about to find the proper choice of K-cup coffee/roast — fortunately, there are enough choices to not feel limited, but not so many as to feel overwhelmed.

Plus, I plan on taking advantage of my daily experiments to find the perfect combo of K-Cup brand/roast & water ratio as a way to get back in the daily blogging habit. Nothing to serious or deep, but just establishing some muscle memory, and possibly getting some good comments & tips/info from folks who know more about these things than I do.

Btw, this morning I combined a Green Mountain Breakfast Blend (8 oz.) with a Tully’s Kona Extra Bold (6 oz.) with a splash of regular CoffeeMate.  Very tasty!

-ghp

‘Cause, I’m special and all…

;^)

-ghp

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,400 times in 2010. That’s about 3 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 27 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 772 posts. There were 12 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 4mb. That’s about a picture per month.

The busiest day of the year was November 25th with 84 views. The most popular post that day was A Proposal from a Lame-Duck, Outgoing Head Elder.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, bestronginthegrace.blogspot.com, twitter.com, alpb.org, and puttingoutthefire.blogspot.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for reclaim news, bloom county, methobapticostal, prothus, and banana jr. 9000.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

A Proposal from a Lame-Duck, Outgoing Head Elder November 2010
3 comments

CN & Reclaim News August 2006
6 comments

Regenting – the Election Gets Real July 2010
3 comments

Territorial Bloggings Now on WordPress.com May 2010

Swept in by the Issues, Etc. Revolution July 2010