bierkergaard

For the last ten weeks or so, I have been gazing upon a discarded living room set across the street in a front yard of a townhouse. With a combination of irritation and humor, I practiced forbearance. It did become somewhat amusing to see how long it could go before something gave. I named it Abraham's Acres, a place of rest for weary travelers between Lancaster and York. I posted weekly updates on Facebook which at least some of my friends found funny. I thought about knocking on the door to ask them if I could assist them with its disposal. I didn't want to act like a jerk but I am a firm believer that neighborhoods degrade because no one seems to care about trash, loud music, barking dogs, ignorant parking, etc. All these minor signs of incivility grow like weeds. And once there is enough weeds, it chokes the health of the neighborhood. The bad element moves in, crime goes up. Yada, yada, yada. Maybe I am selfish, but I just don't like my car windows broken for spar...

A few days after the COVID-19 shutdown, I bought this book. I figured it would provide hope in facing a crisis. After reading about 90% of it, I stalled. Then, with tomorrow being Memorial Day, I thought it would be good to finish it up and then blog about it. The kayaking trip can wait a week. Or, it may be gone forever as a blog topic. Who knows. The day that we got word, Friday, March 13, that the schools were closing the following Monday, a casualty of that close-down was the SAT on March 14.  Technically, before the close-down order was going into effect. We were one of the last high schools in the area to cancel the SAT. I knew that it would affect over 150 students who needed to take the test as a part of their college planning process. I will save for another day whether these tests (SAT and ACT) should have the weight they do. But, the reality is that they are important. And pulling a test should be done with great circumspection and caution. The shut-down has obvio...

Well. I said that I'd finish my thoughts about the bench, so here goes. In order to make sense of this, if you didn't read last week, go back and do that first. Here are some points: - Good equipment matters. You have to find the right tools to do the job. My old bench press did one lifting movement, the bench press. Every other lifting move was constrained by the arms of the bench. The incline bench does 95% of the lifts I need to do and provides good back support. - Good technique matters. In the age of the internet, as long as you go to a reputable website, you can glean a ton of information about good technique. Most of it at no cost. Gone are the days where we have to pay to be informed. There is also a lot of garbage. Know enough to know the difference. Get a decent book to start. Chance are, the book has had at least some vetting.    - Good equipment and good technique, however, do not add a lot to motivation. Some, but if you lack motivation, the best of bot...

The above incline weight bench was bequeathed to me from a neighbor that I will call "Rambo" when I lived the town east of where I am now. He was a body-builder and when he pushed the lawnmower looked like a colossus striding the earth.  He shared an abiding and mutual hatred of groundhogs and operationalized the hatred from theoretical to practical through his acute skills in hoisting his 22 rifle out the back bathroom window of his domicile and pegging said diabolical creatures in their foreheads as they peered out of their holes. The poor vermin never saw it coming which preserved a serene look on their face when in state. The day just seemed so promising to ravage my and others' gardens. My history with lifting weights goes back about 40 years. My dad purchased a set of concrete weights covered by plastic and a wobbly weight bench in my early teen years. We didn't have a basement so it had to either go up to the attic, which became infernal or cold dependin...

My Honda All Ready To Roll Yesterday, a buddy and I headed up to the county park across the river that has mountain biking. The trails are from easy to quite hard and the name of the park contains more than a hint as to why: Rocky Ridge. The first time I have been out since late October, with my ribs still not fully healed then from a bike wipe-out at said park when an insect the size of a drone landed on my arm and in my attempt to shoo it, I lost control.     Pennsylvania is not exactly mountainous in any Alps-like manner. And while the elevations are low, the trails are hard. And stocked with stones and rocks. Which makes for interesting and dangerous mountain-biking. I prefer a fairly clear trail with elevation rises and drops, twists and turns, and not a ton of rocks. If you hike the Appalachian Trail north past Delaware Water Gap, boots go there to die. I have heard it said that it is the hardest part of the trail. I have done that part. It destroyed a pair...

Thursday night we re-convened Craft Church. But Cyber. Before COVID-19 we would meet monthly in person at my immaculately sumptuous palatial townhouse, read and discuss a verse in the Book of James, and drink craft beer. I know it is not revolutionary but it has been great to pair theological discussion, practical application, conversation, and craft beer. I am always excited to see what people bring to share beer-wise and also their take on the verse at hand. Ah, the good old days. Let me tell you grandkids, it was the best!  I had been doing enough video conferencing through the various platforms to realize ahead of time that there may be "technical" problems. I wasn't sure what the issues were but the evidence was pointing that it was on my end. I had been resorting to using my iPhone for both work and out of work online discussions and conversations, but didn't quite realize that this was truncating what I could see and what others could see in reference to m...

Last week, Easter Sunday, I wasn't feeling it. I didn't want to write. I just wanted to rest. In my theological viewpoint, resurrection means rest. The end of attempting to earn favor with God. That is a treadmill that will run the soul down. Just rest, just receive. My dad thought my lack of blogging meant that I was cracking up.   In general, I don't get too worked up about writing this blog. I don't spend hours pondering words and sentences, or constructing over-arching outlines on paper in terms of logical digressions. God loves a cheerful giver and if I can't have fun with this and maybe make a few points worth considering, then I wouldn't do it. I have enough stress elsewhere just to add another burden. So, I sit at the keyboard and write. I surprise myself a lot on the direction the blog takes. It is like the wind. Or breaking wind. You be the judge. I did have WiFi  issues while writing this so I had to take a break, eat lunch, and return. I am n...