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      <title>Chadone.com Blog</title>
      <link>http://www.chadone.com/blog/</link>
      <description>Description of my blog</description>
      <language>en-us</language>
      <generator>Chadone.com Custom Software</generator>
	  
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         <title>Red Green Macgyver</title>
         <link>http://www.chadone.com/blog/posts/red_green_macgyver/</link>
         <description><![CDATA[The driver's seat of our car has been extremely uncomfortable for almost a year.  The foam padding started to deteriorate &mdash; leaving the driver sitting against metal frame on the left side (after a thin layer of fabric).  It's sort of uncomfortable most of the time, but really HOT when it's summertime.
Today was the day for action.  I went out there and spent a good 20 minutes just trying to get the seat cover removed.  It was strapped down, wrapped around, and stuck to the frame with industrial-grade velcro.  When I got it open, I saw a mess.  The foam was split from bottom to top on the left side, and halfway down on the right.  And since I already knew the foam was prone to ripping, trying to glue the foam to the frame would just end in a layer of foam ripped off the padding.
I've seen enough episodes of The Red Green Show and Macgyver to know just how to solve this one.  I went inside, grabbed a roll of duct tape and went to work.  The only way that foam was staying together is if it's wrapped completely around with duct tape, and that's what I did.
I'm sorry to say I didn't take any before and after pictures, because I was so excited to have somewhere comfortable to sit during my 22,000 mile per year habit.  It worked great, and I drove around the block in comfort and style.
&ldquo;If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy&rdquo;&ndash; Red Green]]></description>
         <pubDate>Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:06:58 -0500</pubDate>
         <guid>red_green_macgyver</guid>
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         <title>Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Cookies</title>
         <link>http://www.chadone.com/blog/posts/chocolate_chip_banana_bread_cookies/</link>
         <description><![CDATA[Had some old bananas, so I combined a recipe for banana bread with the recipe for Nestle Toll House Cookies.&nbsp; This is the result:3 &frac14; cups Flour3 Eggs1 tsp. Baking Soda1 tsp. Vanilla1 tsp. Salt3 Bananas1 cup (2 sticks) Margarine1 tsp. Cinnamon&frac34; cup Sugar&frac14; tsp. Nutmeg&frac34; cup Brown Sugar1 12 oz. bag Milk Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 375&deg;F.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.  Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in large mixing bowl until creamy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add bananas, and chop and mix and mash until only small lumps remain.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 9-10 minutes or until edges of cookie are golden brown.  Cool on wire rack until completely cool.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies]]></description>
         <pubDate>Tue, 18 Dec 2007 19:01:17 -0600</pubDate>
         <guid>chocolate_chip_banana_bread_cookies</guid>
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         <title>I'm Married</title>
         <link>http://www.chadone.com/blog/posts/im_married/</link>
         <description><![CDATA[I&#39;ve been married to Rachel Garrett (happily) since August 25.&nbsp; This Christmas, it will have been a full third of a year.&nbsp; Though it&#39;s been great, I don&#39;t have a lot to say about it.&nbsp; However, I have to make this post or Rachel won&#39;t let me post anything else new to my site.]]></description>
         <pubDate>Tue, 18 Dec 2007 18:52:28 -0600</pubDate>
         <guid>im_married</guid>
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         <title>DVR For Your Life</title>
         <link>http://www.chadone.com/blog/posts/dvr_for_your_life/</link>
         <description><![CDATA[As many know, and almost as many are frustrated by, Dish Network charges a $5.99 per month DVR fee to operate your DVR equipment.  It doesn't matter if you own or lease the equipment, if it's not a VCR and you got it from them, you pay the fee.  I never liked that, so I built my own DVR.

That didn't keep me from getting charged a "DVR fee."  No, they aren't going to charge me to record shows. However, they are charging $10 per month to pause my account (they consider it a service, and call it DishPause.  That's right, I'll be without an apartment for 3 months, and they'll be getting a $10/mo. DVR fee in order to pause that account.  It makes me wonder if I can skip commercials next time I call them, or fast-forward through my hold time (or at least the music).]]></description>
         <pubDate>Sat, 26 May 2007 07:39:00 -0500</pubDate>
         <guid>dvr_for_your_life</guid>
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         <title>Huge...Tracts of Evangelism</title>
         <link>http://www.chadone.com/blog/posts/huge_tracts_of_evangelism/</link>
         <description><![CDATA[I went to Value City today to do a little belt shopping.&nbsp; Apparently it&#39;s harder than I thought.&nbsp; I turned to leave the men&#39;s clothing area, and this nicely dressed guy walks up to me.Apparently, he sees my T-shirt (wearing LaMoine Christian Camp shirt) and he says something like &quot;I know you may not need this, but give it to someone who does,&quot; and holds out a piece of paper on which I see the word Heaven.&nbsp; Oh no, a tract evangelist!&nbsp; I said &quot;no&quot; and started walking away.&nbsp; He said something else, and I turned to him and asked &quot;Are you soliciting in the store?&quot; to which he replied &quot;no.&quot;&nbsp; I started walking away really fast now, and went straight to a manager.Told the manager that there was a guy handing out tracts and harassing people.&nbsp; He asked &quot;where?&quot; and I looked behind me - apparently I was being followed.&nbsp; I said &quot;The guy in the brown shirt,&quot; and pointed at the fast-approaching man behind me, and added &quot;I&#39;m out of here.&quot;As I drove off, I see the guy walking out toward his out-of-state vehicle.&nbsp; I made eye contact with him and drove off. &nbsp;Did I do the right thing? Well, not exactly.&nbsp; I rushed out too quickly and didn&#39;t say anything to the person handing out the tracts.&nbsp; He deserved to hear what I had to say. &nbsp;What he was doing was not evangelism.&nbsp; It was not even Christlike.&nbsp; Can you imagine Jesus as a pushy salesman?&nbsp; We don&#39;t hear of even the apostles handing out papyrus tracts.&nbsp; Sure, they drew crowds when they told what they knew.&nbsp; They didn&#39;t come from another country, stop in town for a day and abandon them the next day.&nbsp; I made sure he left at least that one store.&nbsp; I hoped at least one less person wouldn&#39;t get such a poor picture of God. ]]></description>
         <pubDate>Mon, 14 May 2007 17:55:00 -0500</pubDate>
         <guid>huge_tracts_of_evangelism</guid>
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         <title>Hold On A Minute!</title>
         <link>http://www.chadone.com/blog/posts/hold-on-a-minute/</link>
         <description><![CDATA[I had to make a phone call to Adobe customer service today.  I'm selling old software and I needed to transfer the license.  I called their 1-800 number.  After 25 minutes on hold, I started getting a little worried.  Of course, I was working on things, so listening to hold music wasn't terrible.  I even made and received a few phone calls while waiting.

1 hour.  I still haven't heard from a person yet.  I didn't have to go through a complex menu such that I'd be worried my call was lost.  I had pressed 1 button at the first menu and waited 1 hour, and 10 minutes now.  I didn't want to hang up and lose my place if the line was that long.  I got out my cordless phone and dialed the same number, pressed the same 1 button at the phone prompt.  Now I had hold music playing through 2 speakers.

Why not make things more interesting?  I found the non-toll-free number of Adobe Headquarters and called that on my cell phone.  I pressed 1 for an operator and got right through to someone.  They were shocked by the time I had to wait.  They said they would transfer me to customer support themselves, and that I may or may not hear hold music.  I heard nothing but silence, but I stayed on the line.

6 minutes, 34 seconds.  The cordless phone comes to life with a human voice.  I heard her ask "Is that our hold music in the background?"  I told them yes, and that the phone 2 feet away has been on hold for 1 hour, 18 minutes now.  She resolved my problem in 2 minutes and was clueless how I had been on hold so long.  She'll tell it to her supervisor, which in the customer service biz just doesn't mean anything.]]></description>
         <pubDate>Wed, 09 May 2007 13:17:00 -0500</pubDate>
         <guid>hold-on-a-minute</guid>
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         <title>Trapped</title>
         <link>http://www.chadone.com/blog/posts/trapped/</link>
         <description><![CDATA[A friend sent me a poem today that apparently I had written.  It was written in 2002, and I didn't even have a copy of it.  I liked reading it again so much, that I decided to post it here:
Trapped
Trapped.
Easy is on one side,
Life is on the other.

It matters not that the grass is greener over there;
The grass is dead here. I am getting no where.

With apathy as my apothecary,
I try to fix things – giving others my hurt when I deserve it.

As I am feeling no pain,
I feel that life is ok again.
I woke up from an unusual dream;
Instead of the situation changing when I opened my eyes,
I was what changed. I rediscovered Christ.

I’m trying to fix it all. My old life is just down the hall.
I’m running down the corridor but sometimes
I take turns that leave me where I was before.
I need to try, but I need to rest. Surely God can handle it best.

I’m ready to drop everything;
To run, jump, and embrace the life that He has for me.
I have to let go of the old or I’m 
Trapped
]]></description>
         <pubDate>Tue, 27 Mar 2007 12:03:00 -0500</pubDate>
         <guid>trapped</guid>
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