A Warning?

I just had a dream.

If you haven't, yet, read my previous blog post before reading this one.  But, even if you choose not to do that, feel free to read on.

© 2012 dHb Photography, Beach Grass Wallpaper

I was somewhere I'm not familiar with.  It was a military instillation, but I'm not sure which one.  I was at a baseball stadium on base - no...a field, not stadium.  There was some desert grass, steel bleachers, chain-link fence, no dugouts that I can remember seeing and a small home-grown crowd.  The colors in my dream were very drab and sandy.

There was a kid's game being played.

But, earlier in the dream, I was somewhere else on base.  Inside of a brick building.  I was there with people that I did know, but I can't recall right now.  I had a feeling of familiarity with them.  One of them was my supervisor.  My supervisor called me into a room with another person that I don't currently know, but felt like I had a modicum of familiarity with so that she could have a talk with him.  It was a feedback session of some sort.  But, this kid getting the feedback was either not military, new to the military, or didn't take being in the military serious.  He was a little heavy (not super heavy) and his hair wasn't quite in regs.  But, I never got a serious look at his face.

After the feedback session, I went to what I felt like was a sort of classroom.  But, it wasn't a college class (as far as I can tell).  There were only about a dozen other students and the instructor.  The instructor was getting ready to ask where the other kid was (the one from the feedback session) but I told him that he was talking with his supervisor (or some similar excuse).  I feel like the instructor was foreign...or at least spoke English with some sort of accent.  The instructor nodded in understanding.  The classroom was relatively bare.  I remember there being a lot of white, but that could possibly be from the lack of detail about the room that there was in my dream.  It is even possible that this specific classroom could have been outside.

The next thing in my dream is I am walking to the baseball field.  At the time, I feel like it was empty, but after I arrived, I looked up at the 8' or 10' tall bleachers towards the top for the buddy of mine that was in that feedback session.  I barely glanced up and noticed a fighter aircraft flying high and fast.  It was something that caught my eye because of what I currently do...I can't and won't go into that.

I got a sinking feeling in my stomach that is coming back as I type this.  My pace quickened, my heart sank, and just as I was starting to say the words, "That looks suspicious."  I thought to myself, "Could the Iranians be here?  Could they be conducting a bomb run?"  They're one of only a VERY few countries that would be crazy enough to try it." 

USAF F-4 Phantom II dropping munitions

The aircraft - no, this time two of them - came back and dropped something.  I finished the sentence that I had started as the debris with some sort of light on the bottom of it fell and I started quickly walking away.  As I did so I told my friend to come with me.  The sinking feeling in my heart and mind became dire and fight or flight took over and I began to sprint, my friend following.  All I could think about was getting to a secure building...a brick building.  I kept thinking to myself that a brick building was just beyond a berm of sand and desert grass - the tall grass that you find on sand dunes.  The whole time I ran, I could hear what sounded like a high pitch whistle.  The kind of whistle you'd expect to hear from bombs falling out of the sky...just like my three year old dreamed about last night.

If it wasn't for my sleep apnea (which, by the way, hasn't acted up like this in about a year or more) causing me to stop breathing and wake up abruptly, I think I might have saved me and my friend's life by trying to get us to a brick building.  I just kept thinking that I'm grateful for the PT test that up to that point I had passionately hated.

A pair of F-5 Tiger II

But, I'm scared...as I type this I'm scared.  I a little hopeful, but still scared.  It is 2:26 in the morning on a work morning, but I'm scared enough that I am up right now typing this out instead of trying to sleep for work.

I just had this conversation about dreams with my wife the other day.  Because of the dreams she has been having, she was somewhat distraught and confused over them.  Should she believe her dreams or not?  I told her that when I was a kid, I used to have these certain dreams.  Now, don't write me off when I say this, but every time a girl I had been dating was about a week out from breaking up with me, I would dream about it.  Then, about a week after I would have the dream, that girl would break up with me just like she did in the dream.  And I do mean just like it happened in the dream.

There was one time I dreamed about something other than being broken up with that happened, too.  In 9th grade, I was in my English class and our teacher told us to write about a dream we recently had.  So, I picked my most recent dream and I wrote about it.  After a while had passed - long enough for me to have forgotten about the dream - it happened.  The dream played itself out right before my eyes.  I realized it after the events of the night had almost completely played out, but before the end of it I realized that not only did I have a serious case of déjà vu, but I had written about it a few weeks in advance.

So, I don't know if this is nothing, or if this is something.  But, it has me scared.  I will say that the one and only time before that I had dreamed about my own personal harm, it did NOT come true.  So, I guess time will tell.

Bombs Blowing Up The World

Man...I just finished writing this blog and I am having a hard time hitting "Publish".  But, here it goes...

So, last night, we had our normal argument with our oldest about eating dinner.  It goes the same every night.  Either my wife or I make dinner for the boys and ourselves and every night, the oldest complains about what we make for him to eat.  So, we started giving him time limits and choices - either eat your dinner, or go to bed hungry.  Normally, that works.  Sometimes, he only eats part of it.  But, rarely, he decides to go to bed without eating.  Last night was one of those rare nights.  But, this time, there was a momentous temper tantrum attached with real tears, screaming, and the spitting defiant phrases about not wanting to go to bed.

In light of all of this, we decided that our little boy was tired and needed to go to bed an hour early - he hadn't had his nap.  So, I explained the situation to him.  I told him why he was going to bed.  I also reassured him of how much we love him.  I told him that if he quite crying and yelling, I would read him his bedtime story, but he would still have to go to bed.  There was a moment in there, though.  It was a memorable moment.  He and I met eyes.  I stared into his and he stared into mine.  My heart just wanted to love on him.  So, I asked him if he could see it.  Could he see my love for him in my heart through my eyes?  He smiled and nodded that he could.  The tears still hadn't dried on his cheek, yet.

I asked him to go ahead and go get whichever book he wanted to read.  He chose a Magic School Bus story about dinosaurs.  I hunkered down, indian style, on his floor, and he sat in my lap.  About half-way through the story, he got up to go get his special blankie and came back and cuddled in my lap.  Before I was done with the book, he was out.  Snoring.

I picked him up, and put him into his bed.  That was about 7:30 p.m.

And, that, more or less, is our nightly ritual.  Most nights we don't have the temper tantrum, but we do dinner, get ready for bed, read a story, and the boys lay down.

So, I hopped on Facebook for a few minutes, helped fold some laundry while we watched Sea Quest and then when that was done, I went to my "man cave" and played some video games.  I started playing at about 10:30 p.m., but by about midnight, my wife comes upstairs with a concerned look on her face and tells me that our oldest son had a dream.

Copyright - A. Yendall, 14 May 2010, retrieved from:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aaron-yendall/4606743415/lightbox/

Apparently, he had woken up and went to go get momma to tell her his dream.  He dreamed that there were bombs falling from the sky and that they exploded the whole world.  That was it.  But, in that short explanation, there is just so much more.

About three or four weeks ago, my wife started having intuitions and dreams - that we've never discussed with or in the presence of the children.  She had a feeling that "something" was coming.  She couldn't ever put her finger on what that "something" was, but there was a feeling of impending doom.  She's had two or three dreams about it since then, too.

A couple of days after she had her dream, she began to talk about it with some of her closest friends.  They, too, have been having dreams.  The friend that she has been talking about this with he most - we'll call her Jennifer since I don't have her permission to talk about this - had a dream that there were a large number of people all huddled together in the hallways of a hospital in Boston.  Jennifer doesn't live in Boston, nor ever has to my knowledge.

A few days later, my wife gets a text message from Jennifer that said she had a dream that in mid-December there were going to be a lot of innocent deaths.  And then in later December there is going to be a power outage for a few days.  These are all dreams, mind you and there is always room for interpretation and debate.

So, I want to say that for the most part, I am a skeptic - a doubting Thomas.  I believe in God.  I believe in the supernatural.  But, I don't usually believe people when they say that they are experiencing the supernatural.  I have been a member of a couple of churches in the past that really rubbed me the wrong way in that regard.  But, I have also been a part of a church who's pastor was a prophet.  So, I've seen both sides of this coin and these dreams are hard for me to ignore.

Maybe nothing will happen.  Most likely, nothing will happen.  But, what if there is something to it?  I know that archaeologists have already disproved the supposed Mayan Doomsday prediction.  The Mayan's never predicted such a thing.  And, I know that the Bible says that no one will ever know the time when Jesus will return and rapture His people - yes, I believe in Jesus and the rapture.  So, I feel confident that the world will not end on 21 December 2012. 

Remington 870 Express Synthetic

But, I will say that the dreams and just thinking about the possibility that something could happen to my family, my wife and I have decided to start doing some emergency planning and preparations.  We bought a 12ga shotgun for home defense - I've never owned a firearm before.  We are creating a shelter-in-place emergency kit which will eventually have three days-worth of supplies.  We are creating evacuation plans (which is actually an Air Force requirement, anyway).  At the end of the day, whether we believe that something horrible is brewing or not, it is always good to have an emergency kit.  We also bought a survival book: SAS Survival Handbook: Revised Edition, by John "Lofty" Wiseman.  We changed or added items on our Amazon wish lists to reflect our desire to learn survival skills.

To be honest, we're not doomsday preppers or anything like that.  But, my wife, with regard to her dreams and intuition, has this sinking feeling that our country is headed towards a civil war.  Neither of us has seen this country so divided as it is now.  Granted, we're only about 30 years old.  And sure, there have been other periods in time, other presidential elections, that our country had a hard time keeping it together and maintaining its composure.  But, all of the hatred being spewed in every direction on Facebook and in the media scares us.  It scares us for our children and what future will or won't greet us eventually. 

The Newtown, CT shooting was horrible.  But, instead of mourning the loss of 20 innocent 6 and 7 year olds, our country turns in on itself and argues.  We spit venom at each other about gun control.  Gun control.  Instead of talking about the mental illnesses that people who conduct such massacres must be suffering from, we talk about regulating "evil" guns as if they are inherently good or evil.

We are scared.  I miss my family.  I have three brothers and each of them lives somewhere different.  One of them even lives in another country right now - doing great things, but still far away.  I miss my dad who also lives yet somewhere else.  My mother is separate from all of them as well living elsewhere with her cousins and family from her father's side of her family.  Now, more than ever, we want to be "off the grid".  We want an earthship.  We want to feel secure.  We have never felt less certain than we do now.  And, it isn't because of a dream, or even a collection of dreams.  It is because the country and the world gives us reason to be. 

Paying Down Debts

Okay, so normally, I personally hate asking anyone for anything.  But, I noticed recently that people have started using this tool called chipin.com to help raise money for random things.  One guy was using it to raise money for his trip to the Dominican Republic with his buddies.  Another time, I saw someone trying to raise funds simply to buy a pizza.  So, I thought to myself...maybe...just maybe people would be willing to help my family get to a place where we can actually survive on a single income as my wife is going to be leaving the Air Force in just three weeks.  You see, she has been looking for jobs, but has thus far been unsuccessful as the job market in our area is close to non-existent.

For the most part, we would be okay with a single income if it weren't for the fact that we have credit card debt, a mortgage, and two car payments.  But, it is the car payments that are causing the most heart-ache for us.  So, I set up a chipin to see if I could get your support in paying down my car until I am no longer upside down on it so that I can sell it for fair market value.

I appreciate any and all help.  Thank you.

Earthships

I have some thoughts about Earthships, most of which are good thoughts.
 
But, I also have some questions.  Here is an excerpt from Earthship Village Ecologies:
“The building is built from 45% recycled materials... thus starting the construction of the building with a negative carbon footprint. Discarded materials take the place of new materials that require energy to produce. Also, once used, discarded materials, would have taken energy to dispose of. There is no energy required to reuse existing materials. This further contributes to a negative carbon foot print at the birth of the building.”

So, the premise of the Earthship is to not only create a home that is completely self-sufficient and “off the grid” but to change a cultural mindset with regard to how we live and interact with the environment around us.  The principles behind Earthships are at least in part trying to get us to actually consider our environment on a daily basis – to not leech off of it, but cohabitate in it.  That’s awesome.  It’s a philosophy that I am definitely drawn to if there is a practical way of doing that AND living a normal life within society.  It seems as if Earthships are at least one method of doing just that. 
 
But, let’s take this model as far as we can.  Let’s create a scenario where Earthships have successfully changed the mindset of America and ALL new homes being built are being built with discarded materials under the Earthship model.  If Earthship succeeds, then construction companies would seldom go to lumber yards for materials opting, instead, to go to the dump.  Lumber manufacturing companies would go out of business (not all, but a lot, I’m sure) all the way down to the very lumber jacks that harvest the wood for lumber.  All of the energy we spend on creating the materials we use for building most homes today would be gone.  Done away with.
 
What happens then?  Where do all of those people who are out of work go?  Would Earthship builders be able to find discarded materials to build homes with if no one is making those materials to discard anymore?  I realize that car manufacturers would still be creating cars and likely using rubber to make tires and tires would still be discarded so Earthships would still have foundations and most of their walls.  But, would the supply meet the demand?  And if not what would happen? 
 
I think that some savvy, business-minded person would see that there is a demand without a good supply and a new industry would blossom.  But, at that point, would the Earthship ideal be dead?  Because now tire manufacturers are needing to make more tires because discarded tires aren’t meeting the needs and so increasing the carbon footprint that Earthship is attempting to get rid of.
 
I do realize that my hypothetical scenario is somewhat unrealistic because the idea that the mindset of America would be changed in such a way is almost foolish.  Too many Americans are too set in their ways and are too drawn to shiny, sexy things.  (Which, in my opinion Earthships are not – organic? Yes.  Sexy? No.) But, posing the question does make me wonder whether Earthship is actually the answer?
 
My conclusion is that it is a step in the right direction and that we should walk down this right path until it becomes wrong.  But, Future be warned…Eartships might help decrease the carbon footprint and dependency on international energy corporations in the relatively near future, but in the long run will likely create another problem set in and of itself.

These are just my thoughts. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the topic.

Mass Effect 3 Review in Progress - PlayStation 3 Feature at IGN

Mass Effect 3 Review in Progress - PlayStation 3 Feature at IGN

I pre-ordered this on XBox, not PS3, but I am very excited about it. This was a well-written review with just a few grammatical errors.

Shark Petition: Widget | Project AWARE

Shark Petition: Widget | Project AWARE

Hey, guys. So, as a scuba diver and a surfer, I've always felt a responsibility for taking care of our marine resources. Just in case anyone is unaware, the ocean is probably the biggest balancing factor in our global ecosystem. The ocean determines to a very large degree the global temperatures of the surface of the Earth. That's just one example of many. People all over the globe still rely almost solely on the ocean for sustenance.

So, what does any of that have to do with sharks and protecting sharks? Well, the treatment of sharks is an indication of how we treat the rest of the ocean. In Japan, where shark finning is common, sharks are treated with less dignity than most people would treat their most hated nemesis (I just got done watching Megamind...so, I apologize for the theatrical vocabulary here).

So, here is a little note from Project AWARE:

"You can join tens of thousands of AWARE divers and shark advocates who are serious about shark protection. Sign the petition and urge your friends and colleagues to do the same.

"Shark populations are devastated by over-exploitation, including targeted fishing, by catch and finning. Together, we’re gaining the attention of policymakers worldwide. We’re closing loopholes in existing global shark management policies and insisting on full protections for Endangered and Critically Endangered sharks."

Some statistics from the above-mentioned organization:

"Each year, tens of millions of sharks are killed by Earth's most dangerous predators - humans. Too many of them fall victim to the cruel and wasteful practice of shark finning - the act of removing shark fins and discarding the often still alive shark overboard. As Asian demand for fins remains strong, markets for shark meat are growing, helping to push shark species to the brink.

"According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) analyses, all shark species proposed at the meeting met the criteria for listing under CITES Appendix II. Such listing requires that trade is controlled in order to avoid use that threatens the species' survival. Despite the depletion of sharks worldwide, restrictions on international trade are in place for only three shark species - whale shark, great white shark and basking shark."

So, if you do feel that this is a worthy cause in the least, then please go ahead and sign the petition by clicking on the link I've provided at the top and once again here: Shark Petition: Widget | Project AWARE

Take care and God bless!