shawnp0wers

I'm a bloggy blogger who blogs.

How McDonald’s Messed Up Styrofoam

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I’m posted before about how wonderful McDonald’s Premium Roast coffee tastes. I’ve also expressed how that seems to go against everything that’s right in the universe. I mean, really good coffee? From McDonald’s??!?!?!. But alas, it’s true.

That being said, while they may understand how to brew good coffee, they apparently haven’t figured out physics. Or perhaps they haven’t figured out Styrofoam. Let me explain.

In the photo above, you’ll see that McDonald’s has taken a regular Styrofoam cup, and covered it with paper. Perhaps so no one realizes they are still using Styrofoam, since it’s so environmentally taboo? Who knows. Anyway, you’ll see the mysterious coffee that happens to be under the paper. Anyone who drinks McDonald’s coffee very often has had a cup drip from the bottom. It’s very frustrating because you don’t expect a drip from the bottom, and since it’s dripping from underneath the paper sheath — there is no way to stop the drip. It stains your pants, your shirt, your desk, your paperwork, etc.

How does the coffee get there you might ask? Well, the answer is physics. Look at the following photo:

What starts as a small imperfection in the top of the Styrofoam cup, turns into a physics dynamo, which pumps coffee directly from under the lid onto your pants. If the paper weren’t there, you’d get an occasional drip, which your thumb would catch, at which point you’d simply adjust the lid so it no longer leaks. Thanks to the paper coating, however, the drip is quietly and sinisterly absorbed into the paper. It then wicks all the way down the cup, and begins randomly dripping from around the entire bottom of the cup.

The first few months of this were maddening. I thought I just kept getting leaky cups. It turns out it was much more complex. So my only suggestion to fellow McDonald’s coffee drinkers? Drink fast. Wicking is relatively slow. And the most frustrating part? Throw the cup away after you’re finished. I tended to use my McDonald’s cup all day, to save on disposables. If you keep using the flawed design, the dripping gets worse and worse.

So there you have it, your lunchtime physics lesson. 🙂

Sometimes I Preach

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I don’t often post about religion or politics. Mainly because that’s not what I feel my blog is for. I just don’t want my personal blog space to be a focal point for religious and political disagreement. I want it to be a neutral ground that everyone can play in.

Today, however, I figured I’d post the sermon message I just preached. Why? Because I think whether you agree with my religious views or not, when I preach, I try to be transparent about who I am. Don’t think of it as me preaching to you, but rather me explaining myself and my beliefs. Also — a warning, while I’m not vicious, I do disagree with the Catholic church on some issues, and I mention it here. You’ve been warned. 🙂

Prayer

Terry read from Romans 12 a little bit ago, but I want to read it again, adding a few verses around it. Please turn there, and follow along with me.

Romans 12: 9-13 — 9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

My bible has little section headings in the chapters, and this section is titled, “Behave Like a Christian.” And it’s full of good stuff! Granted, that’s not a surprise, but I was just amazed at how awesome and important this list is. There’s like 14 sermons right here! I hope you brought a sandwich…

No, I’m just teasing. I’m going to focus on prayer. The thing about prayer, is that’s it’s one of the hardest things to explain to a non-believer. Our God is all-knowing, amen? Our God knows the future, amen? Our God knows the desires and cries of our heart better than we know it ourselves, amen? SO WHY ON EARTH DO WE PRAY?!?!? If anything, people without a relationship with God should be the ones praying! And that’s the key. We have a relationship with God. We have a relationship with GOD. It’s that relationship that gives us the privilege of communicating with him. God picked me. ME. He picked ME! Yes, he picked you too, but it feels a little more awesome when you say ME! Say it with me. GOD PICKED ME!

So really quickly, I want to talk about the “why” should we pray. I hope you’re sitting there thinking BECAUSE I CAN! But some of you are more analytical than that. Probably those same people that asked why they should eat broccoli as a child. You know broccoli, that green wonder-vegetable that has been linked to preventing cancer, has been shown to fend off sickness, grow strong muscles, and reduce heart disease. Why eat broccoli? BECAUSE WE CAN! But some people want more. So really quickly I want to talk about the why:

1) Because God said so. I gotta say, if God says to do it, we really shouldn’t need any more reason. Romans 12:12 says it, we just read it together. Acts 6:4, the apostles say, “but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Paul says to ALL of us in Colossians 4:2, “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;”, and in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Paul goes so far as to say, “Pray without ceasing.” We’re supposed to pray, and we know it because God tells us over and over. Which, makes sense. Because we’re his children. Those of you know with children know that saying something once isn’t usually enough. So we know we should pray because God tells us we should pray. But there’s more.

2) We pray because prayer changes things.

James 4:2 — You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

John 14:13 — And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

I know some of you are ready to lynch me, thinking I’m suggesting that by praying we somehow change the will of God. Or that if we pray enough, we’ll change God’s mind. No, of course not. But James 4:2 is pretty plain, we do not have because we do not ask. Of course those things we ask for must align with the will of God, but he doesn’t say “you don’t get what you want because it doesn’t align with my will”, he says, “you do not have because you do not ask.”

God is giving us the opportunity to affect the universe by praying to him. I won’t spend the bulk of my time discussing how that works, or what it looks like in practice. But know this, your prayers are not empty words. God tells us to ask him and he will act. I believe him.

3) Because the sovereign God of the universe sent his only son to die on a cross so we could have a relationship with him. He chose us as the people he wants to speak with by passing his holy word unto us through the inspired word of men. Because of the atoning blood of Christ we can be heard by a loving and sacrificing Lord. Why do we pray? I’ll reiterate, because we can.

I could stop there, and we’d all revel in our opportunity and responsibility to pray. We’d leave here excited at the command, and honored by the privilege. But that’s not what I wanted to come here an speak to you about. I want you to be excited about prayer, so we can talk about another 3 letter word. “How.”

1) Scripted

I have to admit, I grew up going to a Catholic school. I went to Catholic mass, took Catholic communion, and confessed my sins to a Catholic priest. At which point, I received my “penance”, or “punishment.” Prayer. That’s right, in order to repay my sins (don’t get me started on why Christ’s death on the cross wasn’t sufficient for my sins, my issues with the Catholic church is another topic altogether), I had to pray to God. Doesn’t that seem a little backwards from what we just learned about “why” we pray to God? Yeah. Anyway, my point is that for me, planned, scripted, or formatted prayer leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Then I got to thinking, one of the “punishment” prayers I was forced to repeat over and over (depending on how bad I confessed to being) was the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. So if Jesus himself taught us to pray in this way, it can’t be bad, right? Well, if we go back to the concept of a relationship, and consider that as the church we are called the bride of Christ in Revelation 21:9-10, think about some of the most important things you’ve ever said to your spouse, if you’re married. Last week, there was a beautiful wedding here. Many of you were here when Kelly and Mark were married, and I think it’s fair to say it was one of the most important conversations they will ever have with each other. And it was fully scripted. In fact, Pastor Josh told them what to say, and they just repeated it. Yet, saying “I Do” is one of the most important and memorable things you ever say to your spouse! So scripted and formed prayers are not a bad thing. In fact, when we pray prayers from the Bible, it helps draw us closer to God himself. They are the very words he has given us. Josh may have told Mark and Kelly what to say at their wedding, but God himself has given us prayers and scripture that we can pray to him. The same is true with prayers we write down, practice, or even sing. Just as a couple can write their own vows, and it can be immensely meaningful even though it was planned and memorized, we can pray to our Lord with learned, memorized, or written prayers. By praying in this way, we show respect to God. We show reverence in our carefully thought out words. We show commitment to him in our memorization. We show that the relationship we have with him is important to us.

Like most aspects of the Christian life, however, leaning too hard to one side is dangerous. While I would argue the idea of prayer as punishment is absurd, what’s even worse about the Catholic penance I received is that I was forced to repeat the same prayers over and over. In vain. Let me repeat that: I used the words of God over and over in vain. If you say “Our Father who art in Heaven” over and over in vain — you’re breaking the third commandment given to us in Exodus 20:7. Isn’t it a little scary that we can go from reverent and loving prayer to taking the Lord’s name in vain so easily? That’s where the other type of prayer comes in. With my propensity to push against my Catholic background, I admit I tend to pray in this manner more of that in a formed or scripted one. That’s wrong on my behalf, but only in balance. It is right to pray to God in unformed ways as well.

2) Free Form

Let’s go back to the marriage example. Marriage only works when two people communicate. If I only talked to Donna in pre-scripted, memorized conversations, our relationship would suffer. Think about it for a minute:

Dear Donna, who did the dishes. Thank you for your duties. My socks are clean, our kids are fed, both weekdays and on the weekends. I’m sorry I left my underwear in the kitchen, and I forgive you for washing my coffee cup just as it was starting to form a protective layer of dried coffee on the bottom. Please make my lunch so that I might eat it at noon. I am what I am, A-man.

No, if that were how our communication went, I would fully expect Donna to smite me. Possibly with that loaf of daily bread. While we’ve talked about scripted and memorized prayers to be important, it’s just as important to have personal conversations with God. Remember, this is the God that sent his son to die so that we might have the ability to commune with him. I think he deserves that from us, don’t you? Let’s look at the bible for some guidance here:

Psalms 88
O LORD, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you. 2 May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like a man without strength.
5 I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.
6 You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. Selah

I’m pretty sure this isn’t a prayer David learned as a child. In fact, I’d wager it’s not a prayer he hopes to repeat very often! David is pouring out his heart to God, much the same way I pour my heart out to Donna. I’m fairly certain the only person here that has ever seen me cry is my wife. I have a relationship with her that surpasses the relationship I have with any of you. How much more-so should my relationship with God be?

Praying like this is hard. It’s the sort of prayer we ask people to do “on the spot.” And when we do that, the prayers we tend to pray sound mechanical, or rehearsed. Think about it, there are some people you hear pray that you think, “Wow. That person can really pray.” Let me suggest that perhaps those people are good at public speaking. They might be good at praying too, it’s not that an eloquent speaker can’t be good at prayer — but as listeners, we have no way of knowing if that eloquent speaker is also opening their heart to God. But God knows. In fact, God knows even when we’re unable to speak, much less speak eloquently! Turn to Romans 8:26:

26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[a] with groanings which cannot be uttered.

He even helps us express ourselves when we can’t. The Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf, and expresses those things we are unable to verbalize. Brothers and sisters in Christ, I urge you to take advantage of the blessing we’ve been given. We have the ear of the Almighty Creator and Ruler of the universe. Talk to him. Cry out to him. And when you can’t think of words to speak, let the Holy Spirit intercede so that you can pour your heart out to the Lord that cares, no matter what your situation. If there’s one thing I hope you leave with today, it’s a desire to speak with God. And that leads us to my third “How” point.

3) Listen.

I keep going back to the marriage metaphor, because it works so well. If you’re not married, the same is true for a parental relationship. We often like to complain. We often like to talk about ourselves. We even like to ask for advice. Very seldom, however, do we listen to what we’re told.

All too often, we’re the same way with God. It’s like that joke about the Christian on the roof of the house during the flooding in New Orleans. He’s on his roof, praying and praying for God to save him. A guy on a rowboat goes by and offers to take him to safety, but the Christian says, “No, thank you, but God will save me.” A little while later, a group of people on an island of inner tubes floats by and asks him to join them. Again he refuses, insisting the Lord will save him. Finally, after days on the roof, a helicopter flies down and drops a rope to save him. He refuses for a third time, insisting God will help him. That evening the roof on his house collapses, and the man drowns. Upon reaching heaven he asks God why he didn’t save him. God of course replies, “I sent a boat, 12 inner tubes, and a helicopter — what more did you expect!??!”

Now granted it’s not just like that in our prayer life, but it is easy for us to ignore God’s response to us. It’s easy to read the Bible, but never really listen. The bible tells us itself that it’s useful:

2 Timothy 3:16 — All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

Yet we often forget to look in God’s revealed word for an answer to our prayers. If you want to know someone, you get to know them. The same is true with God. He hears us through prayers, and we hear him through his inspired words to us. One of my favorite lessons to teach the youth group is “How to read your Bible.” If I get an opportunity to speak again, perhaps that will be what I focus on up here. For now, just know that the main part of “how to read your Bible” is that you actually read your bible. Get to know God. Talk to him. Listen to his word. Take advantage of the relationship he allows us to have. I gotta say, knowing *about* God is one thing. Knowing him personally is quite another.

So let’s go back over what we talked about. First off, why pray?

1) Because God commands us to.
2) Because prayer makes things happen.
3) BECAUSE WE CAN!

And then how do we pray?

1) Scripted and practiced prayer.
2) Free form, and inaudible prayer.
3) By listening — ie, reading his word.

Let’s close in prayer…

That’s Right Ladies, He Was SINGLE

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I know, it’s hard to believe, but this fine piece of 12 year old geek was single. Mind you, he had a TI-99/4A computer, a black and white television, and a laminated library card — but no woman could hold him down. In fact, it was so obvious to them, that none tried. 😀

I know they say size doesn’t matter, but just look at those glasses. Oh yeah. You know what I’m talking about. Homeslice could see the whole computer screen without moving his head. (Coincidentally, the computer screen at that point was that aforementioned black and white TV. Uh hu, we kicked it old school.)

How did I happen upon this glorious bit of the 80s you might ask? Well, that’s what happens when your Mom starts a blog. 🙂 So far there are no bathtub photos over there, but it’s probably just a matter of time.

On The Burning And Building Of Houses

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UPDATE: I just got a call from the CEO’s executive team, and the full check is being overnighted! Thank you to everyone that helped. 😀

Anyone that knows me personally or professionally knows that in January our house burned down. Many of you know that we’ve had problems getting our house replaced as well. Oddly, while it would seem obvious to blame the insurance company, in this case Auto Owners (our home owners insurance company, I know, funny name for homeowners) has been amazing. Our problems have been with Chase Manhattan. Let me tell you a story about why there isn’t a house in this photo…

How Insurance Claims On House Fires Work

This process wasn’t something I ever considered before, but it turns out it’s a bit complicated if there is a mortgage on the house that burned. It is a 4 step process:

  1. The insurance company gets an appraisal of the structure, based on its value just before it actually burned. This is for the dwelling only, not the property, etc.
  2. The insurance company cuts a check for that amount to the homeowner AND the mortgage company.
  3. The homeowner endorses the check, and sends it to the mortgage company for them to cash and send back to the homeowner to pay the contractor. In our case, thanks to the crappy housing market, our dwelling appraised for a whopping $65,500.
  4. Once the house is set, the insurance company cuts another check to the homeowner and mortgage company for the difference in the original check and the actual cost of the house. This is what “replacement insurance” on the dwelling means. I endorse that check, send it to the mortgage company, and they cash and send it back made out to me and the contractor doing the work.

Yes, it’s complicated, but legally that’s what needs to happen. The problem is that Chase won’t release all of the first check to me. Since our house is a modular house, it’s complete when delivered. In fact, my house has been completed for weeks now, and is sitting in a warehouse in Indiana. It can’t be delivered until the contractor has the cash to pay for it.

This might seem hinky. The manufacturer needing COD for a house? But as it turns out, this is the norm. Once the house they built is on private property, they have no legal right to it. So, they insist on getting paid, especially since their job IS done. The problem is that Chase is keeping back half of the first check. This means the contractor (the middleman between me and the housing manufacturer) is expected to pay over $100,000 for a house while only being given roughly $44,000. (See, there was a $12,000 deposit the insurance company paid, plus that first half of the check already sent to the mortgage company).

If people were actually buying houses, the contractor might have enough capital to fund the house while Chase Manhattan dragged their heels. Sadly, no one is buying. No one is building. In fact, here in Michigan, people are moving away because there are no jobs. So that’s what puts us in the current pickle.

  • Without the second half of the first check, which Chase Manhattan is holding (and collecting interest on, I’m sure), we are unable to get a house placed on the foundation.
  • Without an inspection of the house ON THE FOUDATION, Chase will not release the second check.

See the problem?

Why Chase Manhattan Sucks Like The Tootsie Roll Center of the Galaxy

That was weeks ago. No, really. I’ve been dealing with Chase Manhattan since mid-June trying to figure out a solution to the problem. After hours of phone calls, and supervisors of supervisors, I finally got them to agree to investigate a deviation for us. Mind you, for the past month I’ve been faxing information they requested, getting paperwork notarized (and re-notarized, don’t ask), having my insurance company send explanation letters on company letterhead, etc, etc, etc. Every step takes 48-72 hours. Send a fax? It’s not official for 48-72 hours. Want a call back? 48-72 hours. Waiting for a decision? 48-72 hours.

So now, I’ve reached what seems like the end of my ability. I’ve been the patient customer, holding for literally hours. I’ve been the irate customer, immediately demanding to speak to supervisors by name. I’ve been the annoying customer, and when given a direct line, left multiple messages.

It never does any good. At all. Here is what I’m hoping: That you might help. Lord knows you’ve all helped my family before. I’m only asking here for publicity. If you know someone at Chase, please send them to my blog. If you are on Twitter, please tweet a link if you’re OK with that sort of thing. If you work at Chase, by all means, PLEASE email me. If you are Jamie Dimon, dude, you should know how poorly your company treats its customers.

Here is a list of email addresses. I’m sure they’re not all valid, I just came up with them based on the standard structure for Chase email addresses. They are the names of the company board members, CEO, and some of the managers I’ve spoken with inside Chase. I’m not asking you to email bomb these folks, but feel free to add any addresses in the comments so I can email them as well:

List deleted, since they’ve finally done the right thing!

My house is done. It’s been done for weeks. It would be really nice if the next 48-72 hours actually accomplished something. You have my thanks.

Dear Universe,

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Hi! How have you been? I realize it’s been a while since I last wrote you, and quite frankly I was hoping another letter wouldn’t be necessary. It turns out, however, that you sent another one of your famous conundrums my way. I realize it may be your little brother Karma that has been shanking me in the shower for most of the year for burning ants with a magnifying glass as a child, but to mess things up this much, I suspect you had a part in it.

See, while the house you so lovingly destroyed is just about replaced — the little catch 22 you threw into the mix is quite a beauty. The manufacturer won’t release the house until they get paid, and the escrow company won’t release the money until they inspect the house. I’m sure you see the problem, and I suspect you planned it this way. Anyway, I just wanted to write and let you know I’ve adopted a supermassive black hole. Oh, it will take some time, but ol’ Blackey will eventually suck all your belongings into nothingness.

If you’d like to work things out, I’ll be in my basement. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to see me — there’s no house covering it. I’ll be down there burning ants. Feel free to put on your ant costume and come for a visit.

Sincerely,
Your buddy and pal,
Shawn Powers

Puffy, The Camera Slayer

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Long ago, in a land not very dissimilar from our own, there were two little girls. Their names were Lagoria and Lizzanthia. The two sisters were particularly good one season, and at the Sun Harvest Festival, their father purchased them each a fairy scribe of their own. Fairy scribes, as you know, can not write words at all. They can only sketch ideas and words into pictures. Lagoria and Lizzanthia both loved the fanciful fairy sketches their mother’s High Fairy Scribe created — and their father Shagoth knew they would train their fairies to be as skilled as Lady Donaria’s one day.

Sadly, before the double moon set on the harvest celebration, Lagoria and Lizzanthia were on a photo hunt with their new fairies and fell upon a fierce dragon. Excited to get sketches of the dragon, both girls sent their trembling fairies after the dragon as it retreated into its cave. The girls stayed safely outside the cave, but knew that since fairies can’t be burned by dragon flame, the sketches they would get would be lovely.

And they were.

The sketches were magnificent. Everyone from miles around was shocked and amazed at how detailed the sketches were. Why, even the corners of the canvases were scorched, and the sulfur-laced smoke could still be smelled as if the viewer was deep within the dragon’s cave. In fact, it was so full of realism, the girls were forced to keep the sketches outside so the family wouldn’t choke from the smoke!

The problem came when the girls took their fairies out on another photo hunt. While fairies can’t be harmed by dragon fire, they aren’t immune to dragon magic. So while the fairies continued to sketch for the girls, every sketch smelled like fire and brimstone, and every sketch contained the likeness of the dragon himself. See for yourself!

So now, the girls borrow their mother’s Sketch Fairy from time to time, but apart from that have no way to record the beauty of the realm. They hope someday to be gifted with the Pink Camera of Sweetness and Light so they can once again capture their world without the taint of dragon. Until that day, the Sketch Fairies will live in agony, knowing they can not make Lagoria and Lizzanthia smile.

The End. (Or is it?)

Hello World

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July should be the last month The Powers Family is displaced. This is something I find profoundly awesome. My birthday is on the 19th, and I would be quite happy for my belated birthday present to be a home. Also, school is out. ALSO, I’m half done with the super sekrit project I’ve been working on. (It’s a two part endeavor, so half done is significant, it means one part is completely done!) What does that all mean for you? Well, it means you will hopefully be hearing more from me. You will be seeing more of me in odd videos I’ll likely shoot and post. You’ll be reading more about me here. Basically, it will be as if my life were returning to normal, because as abnormal as normal is, I rather fancy it. 🙂

So, whether I’m talking about my latest escapades with weight loss and exercise, explaining why charcoal grilling is the only real grilling (Hank Hill can disagree all he wants), or speaking geek over at Linux Journal (I’m horribly behind on blogging and videos over there) — I expect in the near future you will hear more from me.

And stuff has been happening. It’s just that you don’t know about it. If you follow me on Twitter you know more than some people — but really I’ve been pretty silent for half a year or so.

Can you believe it’s been that long since our house burned down? Dang.

Anyway this post serves 2 purposes:

  1. To prepare the world for the tomfoolery I’ll likely spew upon it, and
  2. To commit to actually returning to life as I used to know it. Saying it publicly kinda makes me a jerk if I don’t follow through.

So, how have you been? 😀

Imagine If Apple Used Their Powers For Good

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I like Apple products. No, really. Yes I’m fanatical about Linux and open ideals, but Apple makes really nice hardware and software that “just works” well. Their products are expensive, but if the elegance is something you like, you’re willing to pay for that premium.

And it’s a free market. So that’s OK.

The thing that fascinates me is just how much obsession and fanaticism Apple gets from their fans. It’s creepy. One look at the coverage of the iPhone 4 release day will show you just how loyal/crazy/creepy people are about Apple products. I don’t get it, and for that I’m rather thankful.

Ick factor aside, however, imagine if Apple wielded its forces for something that would benefit humanity. Imagine if all opening day iPhone purchasers had to donate $20 to fight cancer. (C’mon, they have disposable income to work with…) Or better yet, what if Apple donated $20 for every iPhone they sold on opening day. We KNOW they have some excess profits that day.

Whether you love Apple or hate them, you have to admit they do something right when it comes to keeping loyal fans. Until they go bonkers that is…

Tigger

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Yesterday, my family went to a local animal shelter to walk some dogs and pet some cats. As I walked “Taz”, an old dog with a mellow personality, I realized that I haven’t mourned the loss of Tigger. I want to tell you about Tigger, and while it won’t bring him back, perhaps it will help him to never be forgotten. And maybe, I’ll be able to get past his loss instead of just bottling it away inside.

I didn’t want a dog. Really. I didn’t want to housebreak a puppy, I didn’t want to worry about feeding and caring for a dog every day. I didn’t want to find a dog sitter every time we left town. Dogs were messy, stinky, hairy, and stressful. That day so many years ago when the girls were staring over the fence next to the church, and gawking at puppies, it was very clear to everyone we were NOT getting one. Still, puppies are cute, so I walked over to the pen myself in order to gather my girls and look at the clumsy little pups as all the kids from church reached through the fence to pet their noses.

When I got to the fence, I saw just what I expected. Sure enough, there were puppies gathered at the fence, stepping on each other to get closer to the children that were giving them affection (and possibly crumbs of cookie still stuck on their fingers from Sunday School.) What I didn’t expect to see was a puppy halfway to the fence laying spread eagle and wagging his stub of a tail, but not coming over to get scritched. I thought perhaps he was shy, or scared, or that he had just eaten so much food that he ran out of gas on the way over to the kids. Moments later, however, I saw the problem.

All the pups had slight neurological problems, and walked a bit more awkward than a normal clumsy puppy. I hadn’t noticed before, but realized it after looking for a while. This pup, however, was much much worse. He had spent the 15 minutes or so since church got out trying to get over to the fence, but had only made it halfway before collapsing from exhaustion. His back legs couldn’t quite support his weight, and try as he might, he never made it over to the giddy children. It was in that heartbreaking moment of realization that Tigger became my dog. Honestly, I didn’t even know it yet, but looking back — it was that moment.

I jumped the fence, decked out in my Sunday best, and walked over to the squirmy puppy. Since he was unable to walk, he was covered in mud (and probably other things), but I picked him up anyway. I wish I could describe the joy that little puppy showed when I picked him up. There are some amazing joyful times in life for people: The birth of a child, scoring the winning point in a game, marrying your spouse — but in the life of a dog, I don’t think it’s possible to be more happy than Tigger was at that moment.

I carried him out of the gate, over to our van, and into our lives.

Looking back, it seems like a rather bold move for me to make, introducing a dog, especially a crippled dog, into our house without talking to Donna about it. I don’t recall her ever questioning me though. We took him home, cleaned him up, and let him play in the front yard with the girls. It was that day he got his name. See, Tigger wasn’t strong enough to walk, but when he tried, his back legs would bounce his butt up and down. He didn’t walk, but he sure could bounce! Thus, Tigger was his name.

That summer proved to be quite challenging for Tigger. The vet told us he would probably never walk right. He had about a 3/4″ overbite, bad legs, he shook constantly, and had possible brain damage — but his brain didn’t appear to be swollen, and he wasn’t in any pain. The best we could do would be to walk him often and strengthen his back legs so he could get around.

Yes, house training a dog that can’t walk is a challenge. Thankfully, since he constantly shook, Tigger liked to sleep wedged between the couch and the wall to help hold still. We knew when to take him outside, because as he came out from behind the couch, he would bang against the wall as he tried to get up. “THUMP THUMP THUMP!” It was time to carry Tigger outside to do his business. 🙂

Every day we would walk and walk with Tigger. At first he would only make it to the end of the driveway before collapsing, but as days turned into weeks he was able to go for short walks. We’d generally walk him as far as we could get him to go, and then I’d carry him on the way back home. The bigger and stronger (and heavier and harder to carry!) he got, the further he was able to go. We started tying his leash to the stroller, and he would pull the girls along on our walk. It was good for him, and the girls though it was awesome. Summertime sled dog!

While he had a taste for garbage (not so much in his older years), and he liked tangling with skunks (actually more often the older he got), Tigger was the best dog I could ever imagine having. He spent almost a year sequestered from the family due to an undiagnosed thyroid problem, which caused a constant nasty skin infection. But his last days were spent with the freedom to roam around the house again. He lived longer than the vets ever expected, and almost fully overcame his leg problems. Tigger had a funny little limp when he ran, but he was able to run and play throughout most of his life.

Sadly, Tigger was in the house when it burned in January. When I opened the front door to search for the animals, I found him, already gone right by the front door. With all the grown up responsibilities, duties to perform, children to care for, home to provide — I’ve never really taken the time to think about Tigger. My dog. My friend. My loyal companion.

So Tigger, it breaks my heart that you’re gone. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. And while your passing rips out my heart, I can honestly say that even though I’m typing this through the blur of tears — that look on your face when I picked you up after church all those years ago makes my pain bearable. Thanks for being there for me, when I didn’t even know I needed you.