Exxon posts record $11.68 billion profit

Need I say more...

Ride'n in the Rain

Bruce came to town today to join me for a few meetings (1 today and 1 tomorrow) and an afternoon planning session related to our church plant. Good times, good times!

Anyway, he brought his bike and expressed interest in taking in a Billings Mustang game. Court and I had been discussing trying to take in one of these games in the near future. So I called Court at work and suggested she ride the few blocks down to the stadium after work to watch the game with us. 

Bruce and I got our bikes and set out on the short 1 3/4 mile ride to the stadium. As we stood in line to get tickets a guy came up and handed us three seats down the third base line. Free stuff! I love it. The 'Stangs were playing a team from Orem, Utah and it was a good game. In the 4th inning the bottom of the sky fell out and huge thunderstorm came rolling in. 

So we sat and waited, because it was to dangerous to ride our bikes. :) Court was not happy!

Eventually we caught a break in the weather and off we went, peddling as fast as our legs could take us. Water was spraying up on us and Court appeared slightly angered by our predicament. As we approached a small hill near our home a flash flood was occurring, Court may have become more angry as we crossed the calf deep water, at this point she wasn't responding to my quick witted quips. So I am not certain she actually increased in anger or was already beyond a measurable point.

Thankfully we all arrived home safely, but a bit less dry than before. All in all I called the night a win. We caught 4 1/2 innings of good baseball, for FREE! We also set a Tour De Billings time trial record getting home. I am not sure Court feels the same way.

Beartooth Pass Day Trip

We spent the day driving up to Beartooth Pass, it is awesome. Not to much to report other than I have never experienced terrain going vertical that quickly in my life. Here are some pics!

Mom about had another heart attack on this trip. She kept babbling about some childhood scar involving the Smokey Mountains and being sick.
Oh yea, and we saw snow in July. That was a first for all of us.

 

SunCom made it right!!!

I got a call from somebody from SunCom today. They have decided to waive the cancellation fees based on the five year history we have with the company and our good credit standing. They do stand behind their normal cancellation policy, but said all policies are open to be reviewed and they decided to exercise their wiggle room on this issue based on the history Courtney and I have with the company. 

They even referenced this blog. It was nice to be reminded that the big guys do listen to and hear the little guys, sometimes. 

What I learned today...

1) I wash and clean a vehicle pretty decent.

2) Court and I are not good at Frisbee Golf. In fact, we are terribleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! It was a lot like regular golf. I lost my ball (Frisbee) on the 3rd hole, I kid you not. The 3rd hole! After a long search for my Frisbee, which is apparently stuck in a Sycamore tree at Pioneer Park in Billings, Mt near the 3rd tee box of the Frisbee Golf Course, Court actually forgot where her last throw went. Thankfully after a 10 minute search we found her Frisbee, as well as, another frisbee so I could finish the round. Truth be told we have no idea how to keep score in Frisbee Golf, so we played every hole like a Par 4. I won 2 over par to her 4 over par.

3) The picnic on the Rims was cool. Court and I needed it. Here she is sitt'n on the edge. 

Side note: We got to watch a couple of planes approaching the airport. That was also impressive. 

4) I have been married to Courtney Leigh Tucker for 4017.75 days and I love her a little more each day or 1/4 day of every year.

I want to ride my bicycle...I want to ride my bike

Today was the first day I have had the opportunity to use my bike as a primary mode of transportation. A bit of background info...

Court and I chose the home we are now in for many reasons, but one reason was the area is friendly to foot and bike traffic. I can honestly say I have never in my life seen so many people out and about on bikes. Court is only about 1.5 miles from the hospital so a short 10 minute ride and she is at work. 

I am about .8 of a mile from my office, City Brew located off 17th St. and Grand Ave., So it takes me about 5 minutes to get to the office. I made the trek to the office this morning stopping by the bank to check on getting my pin number personalized. After I finished this brief errand I worked on some computer related details over a nice bottle of City Brew water.

Around 11:45 a.m. I headed another .8 of a mile west on Grand Ave. to meet a friend for lunch, we had a great talk about life, God, following Jesus and the potential of a missional church. I left there for another 1 mile ride further west on Grand Ave. to check out a potential preschool. 

Heading back east toward home I stopped off at our Montana Rescue Mission on the west side of town and made an appointment to speak with a guy who helps run it. It is my hope to establish a partnership between our church and at least 3 local missional efforts, the MRM is a potential partner. 

I headed the 2.5 miles back toward the house and noticed a home based daycare about .5 miles from my home. I stopped in and checked it out. It was pretty nice and the director was enjoyable to speak with, she attends one of the larger congregations in town that began as a small group out of the pastor's home. 

I rode the final .5 miles back to the house. Not a bad day for what is traditionally my day off, I plan to attempt to keep it that way when possible. :)

Why a bike? Hmmmmmmmmm...I guess I have many reasons. 1) Money! We are looking to cut back anyway we can now and our gasoline usage will be something we need to watch. I also hope to reduce some of the normal institutional cost of doing church and mileage reimbursement is one thing that can go for now. 2) Truth be told you just see more people and notice more things on a bike. I hope it helps me interact with people a bit more. 3) Ecological footprint, I hope to reduce mine a bit.

The high today was only about 71 degrees so it was quite pleasant. I did realize the dangers of riding a bike today. The cars are scary at times! 

I do believe I look cool in my helmet, though no other person has told me that...

Court and I have an anniversary tomorrow, so we'll be head'n to Pioneer Park for some Frisbee Golf and then up on top of the Rimrocks for a twilight picnic. Will ride our bikes to the park, but Court doesn't think she would make the top of the Rimrocks. :)

SunCom (UP DATE: Read the SunCom Made It Right blog)

I found out today that a regional cell provider like SunCom has the crazy contract stipulation preventing you from a moved out of the area out clause...so if you move outside of their calling area it is to quote them, "You decided to move we didn't why should we have to void the contract!" I heard that about 50 times today quoted exactly the way I typed it from 3 different people.

We have moved 3 times and each of the other 2 moves the cell providers let us out of the contract because we left there calling area. 

So I am using the power of this blog to boycott SunCom...unless of course you want to take over a 2 phone unlimited plan for the next year at roughly $90 a month. :)

Viva La Verizon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mov'n to Montana...Jump in the Snow (Part VII)

Day 8

This is the final Mov'n to Montana blog...I'll have plenty of other things to blog about but we are officially moved. 

It is 9:22 p.m. and the sun is setting as we look out of the City Brew window (Port City Java of Billings for my friends in ILM) I won't get internet until Monday so I'll have to hang here a few minutes each day. 

Today started early as we began to unload the truck around 8 a.m. Mountain Standard Time. The work went quickly and we were excited to learn we had minimal damage to our stuff. A few broken plastic tubs and a scratch or two on the furniture, nothing major. We finished unloading around 3 p.m. and Court got busy unpacking. The men, argh, we put the beds together and made an errand run or two.

We do have a few issues, our bedroom furniture doesn't really fit the bedroom, but other than that it is good. 

A friend from Billings named Jonas came by and helped with the last few heaviest items, but more importantly introduced us to the Golden Phoenix, a delicoussssssss, Chinese restaurant.

I'll drop Donald at the airport around 5 a.m. in the morning and sometime tomorrow afternoon Donald's big adventure will be over. "THANX! I couldn't have done it without you."

If you are interested in my new contact info feel free to send me an e-mail. (Phone, Address, E-mail) If you don't know my e-mail you can find it on the www.montanamc.org website.

Prayer Request: Please keep Court, Avery and I in your prayers, pray for spiritual protection. Also, pray for our first church meeting this Sunday night. I believe there will be 3 other couples from Billings present that have some level of interest in helping to plant this church. Finally, pray for God to develop our leadership team.

The highlights today were Golden Phoenix and Court was extremely excited to find out that we have a strawberry patch in our back yard. Oh yea, Avery picks and eats them without washing them. So we'll have to keep an eye on that...

Text Message Competition Up Date:

Donald 301

Ryan 12 (Personal Best)

Court 1

Police Report:

0 Traffic Stops

Mov'n to Montana...Jump in the Snow (Part VI)

Day 7

This morning we woke up early and headed to Mount Rushmore. We didn't have long to visit, it was more of an opportunity for Court, Avery, Mom and Dad to see it. After a short visit we were on the road again.

The first couple of hours of our drive this morning were breath taking. Starting in the Black Hills of Rapid City, SD until we hit Sundance, Wyoming I was in awe! It was awesome!

Our drive today seemed slow and we were showing signs of being on the road for one week. We were tired! Our stop at a Subway took well over an hour thanks to less than speedy service. It did provide us with our first Grandma or to be more exact Granny E neck, when my mom attempted to walk into the guys restroom. 

Finally, at 5:55 p.m. Mountain Standard Time we arrived at our new home and unloaded most of our gear from the vehicles. We had enough time for a short meet and greet with our new neighbors to the north and then we went for a celebratory dinner at Olive Garden. Avery, of course, imitates everything she sees and attempted to enter the guys restroom at the Olive Garden. 

The highlights today were Mount Rushmore and the drive from Rapid City, SD to Sundance, WY. A side note: Sundance is much smaller than I thought it might be.

The total travel distance for our trip was 2355 miles. It took seven days including one day of rest. After all we are planting a church we figured we should stay biblical...

Day 1 486 miles

Day 2 331 miles

Day 3 Rest

Day 4 347 miles

Day 5 519 miles

Day 6 348 miles (plus 35 miles for The Badlands loop)

Day 7 380 miles (plus 30 miles to Mount Rushmore and back)

Text Message Competition Up Date:

Donald 341

Ryan 5

Court 2

Police Report:

1 Traffic Stop

Mov'n to Montana...Jump in the Snow (Part V)

Day 6

This morning started off bright and early and a bit uncomfortable. Donald and electronic TomTom were a bit close for my own comfort levels...

After a quick breakfast we hit the road. We didn't have a long drive today, only 7 hours, but we had some sight seeing to accomplish. 

Driving through South Dakota on Interstate 90W is best described this way...

hhhhhheeee (throat clear)

"This is a bunch of rolling grassy hills and every time we reach the top of a rolling grassy hill we see rolling grassy hills as far as our eyes can see. Repeat for the next 6 hours." 

THE END

After two hours we stopped at the Chamberlain, South Dakota Rest Area... This is more than your normal rest area. We took about 45 minutes to check out the info and enjoy the view. For the WPBCer's who braved the mission trip to Rosebud several years ago it was the same Rest Area we stopped at minus the 14 inches of snow and 50 mile an hour minus 10 degree winds.

We trekked another two hours down the road and stopped at 1880 Town, that is actually the name. 1880 Town are you kidding me...

We swapped the vehicle arrangement. Mom, Dad and Timber in the Nissan and Me, Court, Avery and Donald in the Honda with Donald working the Avery Entertainer seat. He did well! 

My first visit to The Badlands was in 2000 and I remember wishing Court was with me. I was excited to have the opportunity to share this with her. We made the hour drive through The Badlands loop. Words really can't describe this place! It is special and you feel like you momentarily leave earth. Court also earned her first neck of the trip...when a grasshopper jumped up out of nowhere and almost made her eat a face full of Badlands dirt.

Side Note: TomTom threw a fit today, I mean a hissy fit. When we first detoured off Interstate 90W to take The Badlands loop TomTom began to tell us to "turn around", to "immediately turn around" and to "look for a place to turn around". We didn't realize TomTom was going to spend the next 30 minutes insisting, no, imploring, nay, begging us about these 3 requests over and over and over again. It was almost as if you knew somewhere, someplace there was a single micro chip personally vested in this journey with us. Tear!

Finally, he got on board and rerouted new directions faithfully leading us out of The Badlands back onto Interstate 90W. The Badlands loop ends up in the small town of Wall. Home of Wall Drug! We counted 81 BILLBOARDS on the interstate reminding you Wall Drug was down the road. It is the South of the Border of the west, although it is somewhat interesting and not quite so trashy.

The day finished with the final hour drive to Rapid City, South Dakota. It was good to spend some time in the car with Court today. I have missed her, even though we have been on the same trip. We are enjoying a light afternoon in Rapid City. Donald is lobbying for a Taco Bell dinner which my parents are counter lobbying for something else. Court only wants a salad. We'll head to Mount Rushmore tomorrow morning before making the final leg of the journey to Billings. 

The highlights today were seeing a Hen Pheasant with about 15 poults, they looked like they were less than a day old. We also learned that life is truly a circular journey. On two different occasions Avery made a jail break from Granny E and Grandpa. We found out that a 2 year old is much faster than a 62 year old. Much, much faster! Much, much, much faster! Those little alligator legs were just gett'n it as she pulled away from them each time. Thankfully we have Timber trained to run her down and bring her back by picking her up with his teeth and carrying her by the skin of her neck. 

A side note: It seems a bit dangerous that she thinks it is fun to run away from us. Any ideas of how to break this habit?

Text Message Competition Up Date:

Donald 281 (He actually lost a signal at points during The Badlands drive)

Ryan 0

Court 0

Police Report:

2 Traffic Stops