RIP Steve Jobs

Today it was announced that Steve Jobs died at agee 56 from pancreatic cancer. 

Jobs was the creative talent behind such revolutionary devices as the Macintosh, NeXTSTEP, OS X, the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad. My inner geek thanks you.

Now, may God have mercy on your soul and grant you pardon and peace. As the Scriptures day, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, but lose his eternal soul?".

That is casting no aspersions on Steve Jobs; rather that is every man's destiny.  Tempus fugit. Momento mori.

Overheard In My House

The ever-quotable Nod-girl said this at dinner tonight:

My feet are stretching, that's why I'm full.

This kid makes me laugh.

Parallel

So we had Hurricane Irene come through town in DC and the verdict is in -- meh.

I know that it was much worse elsewhere. Although I'm grateful for everyone's safety, I must say that I've seen worse thunderstorms on a hot summer's day.

So, here's a little idle speculation. We've had a hurricane and tornadoes and an earthquake; what's next: fire?

Anybody remember this reading from a few weeks ago? (1 Kings 19)

Then the LORD said: Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD;* the LORD will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD—but the LORD was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the LORD was not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, fire—but the LORD was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound.* [whisper]

When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

Now, I'm not saying that just because we had a couple of natural disasters [Acts of God as the insurance company calls 'em] and that similar events happened in the Bible once that this amounts to some kind of cosmic replay.  That's just crazy talk.

What I _will_ say is that, hey, we've had a couple of natural disasters (that weren't actually that bad), and hey, that reminds me of this Scripture reading that we had a couple of weeks ago, and at the end of that list of calamities Elijah heard a small whispering sound that actually _was_ the presence of God ... 

and isn't every time the right time to be listening to God who chooses to be found in the quiet stillness of our hearts because He will not force Himself upon us?

We had an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. We had a hurricane, but God was not in the wind. But in the small, still quietness that is right now God is present and whispering. Can you hear that?

Earthquake!

Today at 1:53 PM we had an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale. The epicenter was in Mineral, Virginia but was felt as far away as Toronto, Canada. It was a "shallow" earthquake which is why it was felt so far and wide.

For the first 10 seconds, I thought somebody was moving something large, heavy, and loud on the floor below which was causing an unholy vibration. Then, when the bookshelves started shifting a foot to each side, I realized something was wrong and that it was an earthquake.

Now, I spent 5 years in Los Angeles, so we were used to earthquake drills. You need to get under the desk or in a doorway if you're inside so nothing falls on your head. My desk is so flimsily constructed, that I decided in a flash that it was probably _more_ dangerous. So, I stayed in the middle of the floor away from shaking shelves and desks.

Strangely, I was not frightened.

After about 30 seconds, we quickly and calmly filed outdoors in case of aftershocks or building structural integrity problems. I tried to call my wife, but the cell phone airwaves were jammed with everyone else's calls. (Just like on 9/11. Some things don't change.)

A few buildings were superficially damaged, but there have been no reports of serious injuries. For example, the National Cathedral has some damage to one or more of its spires. The quake triggered an immediate exodus from D.C., and so rush hour began at 2:00 rather than 4:00.

We normally have a 3-5 hour "rush hour" on normal days. Today, _everybody_ left at the same time. Gridlock. Fortunately for me, I was in the first third of that wave, so it was merely bad traffic as opposed to standstill.

Mrs. Nod had all 6 Nodlings with her at the Doctor's office at the time. Her building didn't shake too badly at all. However, when the order to evacuate the building came, the two of the older ones, Wynken and Nod-girl, rushed down the stairs. Nib tried to follow but was momentarily left behind on the 3rd floor landing to her great consternation. Blynken helped carry Nub down from the 6th floor, and Mrs. Nod carried baby Dab and the stroller down the stairwell with her, collecting poor Nib along the way.

Whew!

It was a very exciting day, but we're grateful to God that no one was hurt and that all immediate and extended family members are safe and accounted for. It would be okay if we didn't repeat this exercise any time soon.

Just sayin'.

Overheard In My House

The yeast got put in the wort and the not-yet-beer needed to be agitated.

Of course it's Very Naughty to joke about such things, but when he said, "Of course I'm good at squatting down and shaking things. I have children.", I couldn't help busting out laughing.