So I’m pretty excited. The only thing that’s kind of strange is that it has Windows Vista, which at first I wasn’t liking…and I still don’t know how I feel about it, but after changing some quick settings, it doesn’t appear to be much different than XP. We’ll see, but anyway, I have a new computer and I’m freakin’ stoked. It’s fast enough to do anything I want to do, and that’s awesome.

1. The people who work there at least behave as if they enjoy their job.

In the city I live in, we have a Wendy’s that is awful to visit. The only reason to go there is for the food, never the service. The staff apparently hate their jobs and literally ask “What do you want?”. Needless to say I don’t go there anymore.

When I visit a Chic-fil-A, no matter where, the staff is always kind and polite. They even say “My pleasure”, which is probably the way they’re trained, but it still makes me feel nice to do business with them.

I’ve found in any field, having the right attitude about your work will only do good for you. I worked in fast food, at Chic-fil-A in fact, and I know how stressful of a workplace it can be, but keeping a cool head and a smile on your face goes a LONG way to create a place where people will return the favor.

In essence: The staff at Chic Fil A are nice to customers, so customers are nice to the staff.

2. The food is incredible.

Obviously you have to like chicken in order to like Chic Fil A, but the food is A+ Quality. The chicken is real. Like, it comes in raw breasts where the fat is trimmed and the actual chicken breast is seasoned. There’s always a guy in the back preparing the chicken that will be serviced to customers about 10 minutes later. How many other fast food restaurants actually use REAL meat?

3. The Price is Entirely Resonable

I like Arby’s a lot. The food there is quite good, the meat is real and fresh, the fries are also quite tasty; but it’s expensive. For less than a combo at Arby’s I can get a combo at Chic-fil-A. Not to say it’s BETTER necessarily, but I like it more.

4. They are a principled organization.

Chic-fil-A is closed on Sundays. Think about how much money that costs the company. Sunday is probably one of the more profitable days of the week for restaurants, and Chic-fil-A is closed. Because they stand for something, because the founder of the company (S. Truett Cathy) believed that, as a Christian, he should stand for something:

As Christians, we have an obligation and responsibility to abide by the principles of the Bible.

- S. Truett Cathy

5. They just do it better.

When I’m in a hurry to get something to eat, or I’m choosing to eat fast food because it’s more convenient for me, I don’t want to be abused while giving up my hard earned cash, I want to be treated with dignity and respect, as we all do. Chic-fil-A is a place I can go and feel good about the money I’m spending. I want the business to succeed because I want to come back later. I feel good about having my family there, and my daughter can play on the playground. The food I eat there is better for me, tastes better, and I don’t feel like I’m annoying the staff when I ask for a refill or order my food. It is, where I want to go over any other fast food chain. Chic-fil-A, you win.

I leave you with this quote:

The best location we get is right next to a McDonald’s. We can compete with them because we do it better.

- S. Truett Cathy

Anyway, one of the common exercises are box jumps, and I’m a jumper. For whatever reason, jumping comes very naturally to me, so I wanted to have a tall box. My wife is also a good jumper, so I didn’t really need a very short box. We also have limited space, so I was happy to have a rectangle solution that satisfied 20″, 24″ and 30″ heights for box jumps, but I couldn’t find any plans that made the building part easy. So, I made my own, and am now sharing the plans.

Download 20x24x30 Plyo Box Plan (.pdf)

Box from the side

After using the box standing 24" tall, I noticed the middle give a little, and decided to reinforce it with another 18.5" x 22.5" piece. It added a little more weight, but it's super solid now.

Note: the plans deviate from how I actually built my box, but after giving it a lot of thought, I’ll build the box exactly as I describe in the plans next time.

Download 20x24x30 Plyo Box Plan (.pdf)

1. Messing around with what I’m calling the “Geekitopia” theme

…if you come to my site regularly…you can see it’s changing pretty frequently. I am building a back-end to this theme that gives the user the ability to select color schemes. It’s pretty sweet. I’ll probably release it fairly soon (really once I get the new RSS buttons added on). If you have a WordPress site and are interested in testing it for me, .

2. Hanging out on the back deck in the evening with my wife.

We’ve been enjoying the weather. For the past few days it’s been the perfect temperature; what I imagine to be what it’s like in San Diego, CA. We light up the torches and enjoy the evening.

3. Netflix Watch Instantly

Using Netflix Watch Instantly and my Xbox 360, I’ve watched some pretty cool flicks. All of the available Mythbusters, Die Hard (which I saw for the first time), and the Lethal Weapon series. It’s nice to browse the library…and I’m pretty much scraping the bottom now, but here are some suprisingly under-rated features:

• Henry Poole Is Here - watched last night, very interesting movie.
• Fido - Mentioned this in a [intlink id="570" type="post"]previous post[/intlink], neat zombie movie…not scary though.
• Discovery Channel; Extreme Engineering - I love this kind of stuff, watched the one about the Panama Canal tonight — freaking impressive.
• Vantage Point - a kind of FBI whodunnit that shows an event from several perspectives, all colliding in the end. Entertaining to say the least.

I had forgotten how cool our downtown is. Granted, it’s not New York City or anything, but it feels fresh, and old at the same time — the air this time of year is crisp too, which makes it even more invigorating. We started the day with coffee from the little coffee shop in our building, and had lunch at the pizza place across the street. I’ll post a picture of the view from my office below.

Stay tuned; there’s more to come soon!

In WWII, our country made sacrifices to fund the war, we banded together, we fought the enemy, it was long, and grueling, but we won. Everyone felt the weight of the war. The whole country was united in bearing the burden.

With the Iraq war, that’s not the case. Instead we go about our lives, watching the war on TV, not even too interested any more because we’ve seen it for so long. We complain about high gas prices, the high cost (economically and environmentally) of energy, and bicker about the solutions. All the while, we are going deeper and deeper in debt to fund a war hardly anyone understands, and most people disagree with.

We’re not going to change the middle east, because we haven’t stopped to consider the cost. It’s that same “Great White Hope” mentality that I abhor in the mindsets of American churches that want to send a team to whatever foreign country, save souls, then come home and everything is fine.

The truth of the matter is that the change must come from inside people, then inside governments, then nations. That is not a goal that can be achieved militarily, no matter how hard we try.

In the way of Missions, I do believe that Jesus Christ is the answer to the world’s problems. The solution to war is forgiveness, to hatred peace and so on. Where I disagree with the American mindset is to set small, unrealistic timetable and expect results. We can’t expect results in that manner, nor can we expect those types of results in Iraq. We have to realize what that change would really mean, and how long it would really take.

The overarching question is, can we afford it? And, is it really making us safer — in the long run?