Life is like a video game....Donkey Kong for me.

Life feels like a video game to me sometimes. I thought that I would reflect some of my logic into why I think the way I do. I will put my thoughts into video game text for you.

Insert Coin: To me this where you invest your time and money to achieve the highest score possible while enjoying the challenge. This is where your paycheck gets used up on taxes and food, bills and everything else that your money goes towards other than to you bank account.

1 or 2 Player Mode: I enjoy 2 player mode…to me I try to think that I can do things on my own, then when I fall, I realize that if I was in “2 player mode” I could have learned from my mistakes while growing and developing my game skills. My wife is my bestfriend…and she is my player 2 that is there for me and someone who I can go to when times are tough or when I need more quarters or tokens to play more.

High Scores: Do we really try for the high score….do we actually get intimidated when we see the score set so high that the game might not be worth playing if you have a competitive edge. One thing that I like to do is unplug the machine and start over. It is kind of ironic…but I thought that I was a bad person as a child. I used to think I was in a gang and if I intimidated people I would earn respect and no one would challenge me. When I became a Christian and devoted my life to Jesus Christ….my burden and past was removed. I had my machine unplugged and the high score was erased. I now try to beat my high score knowing it is mine to improve.

Cheat Codes: Getting ahead in life my manipulating the system, I used to find ways to cut corners and get things the easy way until I realized I was cheating myself and could be setting a bad example to others around me. I have to do things the hard way….I need to feel the disappointment and I am fine with that. When the success comes my way, I can enjoy and recognize it was mine and I am not afraid to start over. Just insert another coin.

Game Over: Is it? For me that is when I give up….which is not going to happen, or do you really ever see the end of the game. The game of life changes and never is quite the same. I will keep a firm grip on the controller and push that “Mario” up the ladder towards the prize….then it is off to the next level….what do you do? That is what separates the average gamer from the pro’s.

a week in review

Photo: I received two of the three coins showing from a friend who came back from a short term missions trip to Hungary. He was aware that I collect elongated coins for the past 6 years and that is where I got the name “squishaholic” from. I had a week full of unexpected coins given to me from people traveling. My mother in-law just returned from Australia and she brought me back a coin from Philip Island nature Park, and also from an auto museum in San Diego, Ca.
Yesterday, Breck brought me in the two coins from Budapest, Hungary. So I am blessed to have others looking out for those penny pincher machines who traveling.

Geocaching: Breck (chimneyguy) had emailed me to let me know he was able to get out and find a cache while in Hungary. The cool thing was that he was able to bring back a travel bug to the United States. So I will be watching the mileage for travels it has gone. I have not had time to get out and geocache….and besides it is hunting season here in Maine and the woods get filled up with locals and out of state maniacs. I was able to find 2 cache’s in Augusta, Maine last week in the rain while we had some errands to do. So that is # 102, #103 for me….I do have some wild plans for 2009 which should be a fun year for caching.

Dominican Republic Missions Trip - Overview

Dominican Republic Missions Trip

Day1 – 4:30 AM we left Waldoboro, Maine and headed to Portland, Maine Airport. Portland to New York (JFK). We sat around for several hours waiting. JFK to Santo Domingo (arrival time of 4:45 PM). It took a while to get through customs and one of our luggage bags did not make it onto the plane. Arrived to Pastor Jose Lopez’s house around 6PM, I was in bed by 8PM.

Day2- Had a great breakfast, we had pancakes, fresh pineapple, cantaloupe, and guava juice. We all went over to the school (Saturday) and removed all sinks and urinals. Our goal was to change over the plumbing from 2 inch to 1.5 inch diameter pipes which is a regulation standard. After lunch we had run out of parts and projects….so it was nappy time for me. Grant ended up going back to the airport to pickup the luggage and Vick Pease who came down a day later than us. We ended up heading out to the La Sirena for some misc. item shopping…I ended up buying pillows, since the pillows I used had left as firm as rocks.

Day 3 – After breakfast we went to Church and met some more of the locals. That afternoon we all walked down to a baseball field to play baseball with 40 kids (ages ranging from 7-12). I was quite a site….there was a huge pig laying out in leftfield and there had been 3 baby pigs running around also. The kids did a great job getting along and playing baseball. I played the third base coach and was giving out some ridiculous signs to the kids. We all went home for dinner at dusk and hung out and did devotions.

Day 4 – Monday brought some minor challenges….we didn’t have all the parts available to us. We ended up running back and fourth to the hardware store looking for stuff. Several of us had been replacing urinals and sinks with some of the newer parts we obtained. That afternoon we started to assemble some fan units….we had to wire a light unit to the fan and splice wires for installation. That night was more of the same thing….I think I did devotions for the group and it was on Mark 5.

Day 5 – Morning time was slow….some of the others in my group went to visit an orphanage and also pick up parts at a store for our projects. We ended up finishing up putting together a few fans and prepping them up to hang later that afternoon after school was closed and no one around. That afternoon we hung up and installed fans….one unexpected issue we did not expect was that the school wired almost backwards vs. the way he wire our homes in the US. Our ground wires had not been accurate with each of the rooms. We did figure out some of the glitches happening with having power….when the power has shut off.

Day 6 – Same stuff….we installed all the fans and wired them up while testing to make sure some of them worked. This took several hours to finish up….our work week was almost complete.

Day 7 – After an early breakfast….we all boarded a bus and headed into the city. We went to the tourist trap La Mercado….I have been there 6 years in a row. I was able to find a neat chess set with old Dominican Warriors, a switch blade knife, vanilla extract and a pocketbook for the wife. Then it was off to Juan Dolio to barcelo Capella Resort for some R & R. It rained several times throughout the day….it didn’t matter to me since I was in the water already. We stayed and ate from the buffet and had many fun drinks to consume while in the Caribbean. We went home and started to pack up for our trip back home the next day.
Geocaching
(I carried a cache with me and I had intentions of planting one around the resort) It rained the steady towards the end of our stay….so I ended up missing a chance to stash one internationally.

Day 8 – Travel, Waiting, Travel, More Waiting….and home around midnight.

Notes:
No one celebrates Halloween in the DR.
Don’t drink the water
Carry lots of hand sanitizer