“Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it, is… As usual, should you or any member of your I.M. Force be captured or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your existence. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim.”

It’s probably a guy-thing, but Mission:Impossible was one of the coolest shows I watched growing up. It made espionage the best job ever. Say what you want about the M:I movies, but Alias, Bourne Identity, and now 24 have tapped into our obsession with spies and specialized government agents.

Well now technology has caught up with Hollywood. Just like Jim Phelps, you too can send and receive self-destructing messages, text messages that is. I found this online and if it’s not worth your time, then THIS message will self-destruct in 40 seconds. Good luck.

ARTICLE: SELF-DESTRUCTING TEXT MESSAGE

Just a heads up: Barnes and Noble is having a huge sale on DVD box sets – 2-for-1. The box set must be more than $30 and more than one disc – which ones aren’t. I’m hoping to get West Wing seasons 4-5 this week.

And in a related and developing story, Katie is really getting into the West Wing. Is this really happening???

What can I say, I’d been waiting for January 14 for months! It marked the 2-day, 4-episode premiere of 24. Jack Bauer is back!!

I know some people wonder how many times a single man can save the country. The answer is as many times as the country needs a hero like Jack Bauer. Here’s some info on Jack:

MISSING

EXPERIENCE:
Department of Defense, Washington DC – Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense CTU – Director of Field Operations, Los Angeles Domestic Unit CTU – Former Special Agent in Charge, Los Angeles Domestic Unit Los Angeles PD – Special Weapons and Tactics

EDUCATION:
LASD – Basic SWAT School Master of Science, Criminology and Law – University of California (Berkeley) Bachelor of Arts, English Literature – University of California (Los Angeles) Special Forces Operations Training Course

MILTARY:
US Army – Combat Applications Group, Delta Force Counter Terrorist Group

PERSONAL:
Widowed Daughter – Kimberly Bauer

Are you catching the drift? This is serious stuff. At least to some of us. Sunday night Katie and I watched the premiere together. Then Monday night we got together with the Metzgers and Cranneys for the 2nd night. If you’re not already into this show, I doubt you’ll check it out. But if you want a thrilling drama every Monday night, you can catch up in one night. Otherwise email me and I’ll give you a summary.

You gotta like two nights of college hockey!!! As I said, Katie and I went out for a burger and beer – Dotty’s Dumplings. You need to try the Ostrich burger.

We got to Dotty’s a little late for a Kohl Center Event. The wait was 30-40 minutes, but it ended up being about 60. All my worries were put to rest when we got a seat just after 6pm, and I knew we’d eat and get to our seats before they dropped the puck.

A sad night, though, as the ugly (and I mean UGLY) Gophers beat us, 1-0.

I just told Katie a week ago that I really miss going to UW basketball and hockey games in these cold months here in Madison. If you have been to more than a few of these, you know what I mean. There’s nothing like walking from the cold weather into the warm confines of a UW Athletics event. And this week I was offered tickets for three events:

Friday – Women’s Hockey (in a suite)
Friday night – Men’s Hockey (in a suite)
Saturday night – Men’s Hockey (student section)

Here’s Katie and I at the Nitty Gritty after the women’s game. We went out with a bunch of her co-workers.

After this, I went to Ian’s and met Kirk and Matt for some pizza before the men’s game. The Badgers are playing the Gophers who are ranked #1 in the country. Kirk got us into a suite through his work. Life is good in the suite.

And tonight I’m taking Katie downtown for a burger and beer before the 2nd men’s game tonight. Oh, thanks for asking (Todd). The Badgers won 2-1 in an exciting game that went down to the final shot w/ 8 seconds left. This makes for excellent drama tonight.

GO BADGERS!!

As noted weeks ago, I have put my arborist business on hold for three months while I accepted a long-term teaching job in Verona. The first thing I tell people is that the kids make me laugh. Remember that show with Bill Cosby, Kids Say the Darndest Things? I feel like I’m on the show when I’m playing with these kids in the gym. It fascinates me as they are learning about games and activities in the gym. I am lucky enough to have a front row seat as they grow and develop their skills and accomplish things for the first time. Jumping rope is new to a kindergartener. Then they learn to jump backwards. But when I challenge them to do “criss-cross,” they quickly make it known that they can’t do that, yet.

The question I get the most is, “Will this turn into a full time thing?” Unfortunately the answer is no. I’m filling in for a teacher who’s taking three months of paternity leave. He’ll be back January 22. And I’ve been asking all around about other jobs in the district. Bad news for gym teachers. They cut one at the high school, and they reduced one from 100% at a school to 50/50 between two schools because enrolment dropped 50 kids at one of the schools.

Note to reader: I am so frustrated at the lack of funding in the public schools. Even before I became a teacher, I felt it doesn’t make sense that the people teaching our kids, the future of our country and world – it doesn’t make sense that they make such little money and there’s not enough for additional teachers. Another blog for another day.

So I’ve been trying to pray about my situation. God certainly has refreshed my desire to teach, but the question of “where” is still unanswered. I’m thinking about the traditional idea of a gym teacher, but I’m also thinking about how else to “market” myself as a self-employed teacher. Sorry if this is boring you or you’re confused. But basically I’m trying to be more effective and more independent than the public school teacher. It’s just hard for me to ignore experiences I’ve had with business and thoughts and dreams I’ve had concerning my career. Stay tuned.

As I sit with my wife’s family, it’s a gathering like so many others. We’re all on our laptops, iPods, cameras, and updating Facebook.

We’ve watched Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Christmas Story. Now we’re starting National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. You need to go watch that right now.
“Going for a new, landspeed record…” Griswald is the last real family man.

You’re probably reading this after Christmas, so all the rentals are back at the video store. Go rent it now and write me a comment.

I have been doing leadership with the college ministry at Blackhawk for over five years now. As my experiences grow, I am learning so much about what it takes to influence college students, and particularly college leaders. I love to read books and go to conferences on leadership development, but so often we learn best by the experiences we have with those we’re leading.

This semester, as I was writing out my thank you cards to those on my leadership team, I was able to reflect on what these students have done in the last 16 weeks (or so) for the ministry. This wouldn’t have happened if the card read as follows:

Dear Leader – thanks for your help and service this semester. Looking forward to next semester. Here’s $10 to use at Starbucks.

I don’t mean to slam you if that’s the extent of your thank you card, but I guess I kind of am… If you are serious about leadership, you’re serious about making an impact. There is no impact in that thank you.

So I made sure to write a few sentences of specifically what I was thankful for in their service, what I saw in their efforts with the ministry, and (specifically) what I was looking forward to as we prepare for the second semester. This was such a great reflection for me – it’s really going to be a springboard as we begin thinking about the spring semester.

Are you a leader? Do you want to influence others? Imagine the impact you can have when you get specific with your thank you cards and pour out praises for team members… Celebrating victories and encouraging spirits go a long way in the heart of the leader.

For the last 3+ years, I’ve been building up a small tree care business and enjoying life as an entrapaneur. A few weeks ago I got a call from a P.E. teacher who I did my student teaching with. He’s going on 3 months paternaty leave, and wanted me to fill in for him. It was a quick decision, but I had to jump at it. So I’m hanging up the work clothes.

I’ve been at the job for 2 weeks now. It’s been a really crazy switch – from tree work in Carharts and workboots to teaching elementary kids in shorts and gym shoes.

It took a couple days to get back into the teacher mentality, but I really miss it and it came back to me very quickly. I miss so much of the interaction with the kids and the teachers.

So this has spurred me on to prayer concerning life’s direction. I’m not quitting the tree business. In fact, I just did a job yesterday. But God has provided another opportunity for me and I’m continuing to challenge the status quo as I pursue this career.

I’ve never blogged about my job as an arborist. I’m sure you know I’m in the tree care industry and own a (very) small business, Sycamore Tree Care. My idea for the name comes from the Bible. Zachius wanted to see Jesus as he was coming through town, so he climbed a sycamore tree. I figured any tree that someone climbs to see Jesus is a good tree for me. And as you’ll see, I’ve climbed some big trees.

So this is an elm tree on the east side of Madison (Academy Drive for those of you keeping score at home). On Wednesday this week I spent 5+ hours in this tree and we got probably 2/3 of it done. The pictures start with the second day.

So here’s the base and top of the tree – 24ft. ladder. It’s hard to get an idea how big it is until you see me in it. The line I’m attached to is my climb line. The red line is what I’m climbing on and the blue line is our lowering line. The winch system from the first picture helps us to lift limbs that are over the power lines.

When I got into position the second day, I looked to the west and found the Capital building between two oak trees. People, this is a view no one sees except climbing arborists, and trust me – the pictures don’t do it justice. Click on these and blow them up – the second one has an arrow of the building)

So I spent another five hours in the tree and finally, I’m done with all the branches. Just wood to deal with now.

“VICTORY IS MINE!”

I’d love to show you the 31 pictures I took of Mike making the notch and bringing this 66 year old elm to the ground, but I’ll spare you the details and give you the highlights.

The notch is cut.

The rope actually helps us pull that big thing over (est. at over 10,000 pounds).

(click on this picture to see the rope)

Eric tells Mike how much further to go on his back-cut. If the saw gets meets (and violates) the notch, the tree could go backwards (not good).

Perfect notch, perfect cut, good pull – the anatomy of an elm removal.