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WITandWISDOM(tm) – November 5, 2007 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "Never continue in a job you don’t enjoy. If you’re happy in what you’re doing, you’ll like yourself and you’ll have inner peace and more success than you could possibly have imagined." - Johnny Carson Source: Chapnotes, mailto:xanmansa@chapnotes.org?Subject=Subscribe ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: When we've dedicated our bodies as living sacrifices to Christ, we don't just sit around and enjoy the experience. We constructively go out and serve. One Sunday in Copenhagen, Corrie ten Boom, 80, spoke from Romans 12:1, urging her audience to present their bodies to Christ as living sacrifices. After church, two nurses invited her to their apartment for lunch, and Corrie went with them—only to discover they lived on the tenth floor, and there was no elevator. The task of mounting those stairs was almost more than she could stand, and she wondered if she might die en route. "Perhaps I am leaving earth to go to heaven," she complained to herself. Finally arriving in the apartment, Corrie found the parents of one of the girls waiting there, wanting to be saved, and both gloriously received Christ as their Savior. On her way down the steps, Corrie said, "Thank you, Lord, for making me walk up all these steps. And next time, Lord, help Corrie ten Boom listen to her own sermon about being willing to go anywhere You tell me to go—even up ten flights of stairs." Lord, make me willing, get me going, and take me higher! By David Jeremiah Source: Turning Point Daily Devotional http://www.turningpointonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=index ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: New Guidelines for “"Bedroom Design Don'ts” Decorating By Karen Rinehart, Copyright 2007 Why I do this? Last time I did, it took my husband two weeks to get me out of the dining room corner. Why do I torture my fragile ego with magazine articles that ultimately make me feel domestically inadequate? The latest? "Bedroom Design Don'ts: Ten typical mistakes people make when designing a bedroom". No more. From now on, I'm talking back to the "experts" who obviously don't have kids, dogs or carpool duties. (My responses are in parenthesis.) 1. Don't Go Color Crazy (In this house, I don't need something as complicated as Color to make me crazy.) 2. Don't Overlook the Ceiling. Do you see a bland, blank surface as you lie in bed gazing up at the ceiling? (No, I see a ceiling fan in desperate need of dusting and two burned out light bulbs.) If so, you're not alone. Everyone ignores the ceiling (for good reason). Instead, make it a celebrated space! (The only "celebrated space" in my house is one in which my kids can't find me.) A gauzy canopy and a glamorous chandelier on the ceiling provide a treat for the eyes as you lay in bed. (So would a poster of a sparkling clean car interior but that'll never happen.) 3. Don't Choose Out-of-Scale Furniture. (I "choose" whatever my parents and in-laws handed down to me.) 4. Don't Skimp on Storage. When you picture a private sanctuary, do you envision piles of newspapers and overstuffed? (No I picture a private beachside cabana on a remote island with a butler named Sven who, by day is a masseuse and by night, gourmet chef and wine steward) Clutter equals stress, so the bedroom should be clutter-free. (Okay, I really want to make a wisecrack husband comment but I'll refrain.) 5. Don't Overcrowd It. (Again, refraining from husband comment.) 6. Don't Forget a Cozy Sitting Spot. A sumptuous sitting area helps turn the bedroom into a private escape. (And by "sumptuous" you mean a pile of unfolded towels and Socks Without Partners on the bachelor barcolounger in the corner?) 7. Don't Leave Yourself in the Dark. Use accent lighting, in the form of wall sconces, torchieres or art lights, to add drama, wash the room in soft illumination and lend a cozy, welcoming vibe. (The last thing I need in my house is more drama.) 8. Don't Forget to Indulge in Luxurious Linens. The bedroom, more than any other space in your home, should be a tactile wonderland. (Again, the pile of unfolded towels and Socks Without Partners.) 9. Don't Shortchange Windows. Heavy, opaque curtains let you block it out sunlight for luxurious weekend sleep-ins. (Sleep Whats?) 10. Don't Bring the Everyday Into the Bedroom. Check your cell phone and PDA at the bedroom door. Consider losing the TV. (I lost it already. Under another pile of socks.) By Karen Rinehart, Copyright 2007, Permission given for use in WITandWISDOM. Karen writes a newspaper column titled, “True to Life” and is a popular speaker for moms' groups, book clubs, writing workshops and community and charitable events and organizations. Karen has also written a book complete with new insider tidbits and stories behind the stories titled, “Invisible Underwear, Bus Stop Mommies and Other Things True To Life.” http://isbn.nu/9781413711905 You can learn more about Karen Rinehart and subscribe to her free newsletter at: http://www.busstopmommies.com ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: While waiting to have my glasses adjusted at the optician's office, I struck up a conversation with a charming little boy. We played with a few games and talked about his preschool adventures. When his mother came over to say they were leaving, he hugged me and said, "You're lots of fun, but how come your hands are old?" By Cristina Ferrari-Logan, Lafayette, California Source: Today's Christian, http://tinyurl.com/oqyrc ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Johnathan Goodwin’s Creations Part 1 of 2 [November 5, 6] “Check it out. It's actually a jet engine," says Johnathan Goodwin, with a low whistle. "This thing is gonna be even cooler than I thought." We're hunched on the floor of Goodwin's gleaming workshop in Wichita, Kansas, surrounded by the shards of a wooden packing crate. Inside the wreckage sits his latest toy--a 1985-issue turbine engine originally designed for the military. It can spin at a blistering 60,000 rpm and burn almost any fuel. And Goodwin has some startling plans for this esoteric piece of hardware: He's going to use it to create the most fuel-efficient Hummer in history. Goodwin, a 37-year-old who looks like Kevin Costner with better hair, is a professional car hacker. The spic-and-span shop is filled with eight monstrous trucks and cars--Hummers, Yukon XLs, Jeeps--in various states of undress. His four tattooed, twenty something grease monkeys crawl all over them with wrenches and welding torches. Goodwin leads me over to a red 2005 H3 Hummer that's up on jacks, its mechanicals removed. He aims to use the turbine to turn the Hummer into a tricked-out electric hybrid. Like most hybrids, it'll have two engines, including an electric motor. But in this case, the second will be the turbine, Goodwin's secret ingredient. Whenever the truck's juice runs low, the turbine will roar into action for a few seconds, powering a generator with such gusto that it'll recharge a set of "supercapacitor" batteries in seconds. This means the H3's electric motor will be able to perform awesome feats of acceleration and power over and over again, like a Prius on steroids. What's more, the turbine will burn biodiesel, a renewable fuel with much lower emissions than normal diesel; a hydrogen-injection system will then cut those low emissions in half. And when it's time to fill the tank, he'll be able to just pull up to the back of a diner and dump in its excess french-fry grease--as he does with his many other Hummers. Oh, yeah, he adds, the horsepower will double--from 300 to 600. "Conservatively," Goodwin muses, scratching his chin, "it'll get 60 miles to the gallon. With 2,000 foot-pounds of torque. You'll be able to smoke the tires. And it's going to be superefficient." He laughs. "Think about it: a 5,000-pound vehicle that gets 60 miles to the gallon and does zero to 60 in five seconds!" Source: FastCompany.com, http://www.fastcompany.com Tomorrow’s Trivia will feature another one of Goodwin’s creations.