Lee & Cathy Jones

Natural Disasters

2008-05-12T22:25:00.000-07:00

The Myanmar cyclone has claimed more than 30,000 lives, in part due to the (in)action of the Junta.
Today, an earthquake in China killed more than 10,000 and many more are missing.

The presence of personal evils in the world, the suffering inflicted upon persons by other persons, is understandable. But the natural disasters of the world, or natural evil, is difficult to stomach.

Just this past Sunday I taught a class as part of a series on the so-called "Problem of Evil." How can there be evil in this world if there is a loving, all-knowning, all-powerful God?

A defense is one thing; I think I can speak with someone who wants to argue that God does not exist based upon the argument that bad things happen. The mere existence of bad things does not mean God doesn't exist. But explaining why God would allow bad things, a theodicy, would be more satisfactory.

Perhaps I should post the work that my friend and I have done for this class (it's mostly his stuff). But what I want is to be able to explain why, or failing that to explain why I cannot give the reason but still be convincing to others when I say that God is good, loving, wise and powerful. *sigh* That will be a lot of work.

Windows Vista's firewall has outbound rules

2008-05-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

Huh. Windows Vista's firewall has outbound rules. I didn't know that until today. I wonder if it does anything?

Anyway, this is accessible via Control Panel (classic view) > Admin Tools > Windows Firewall with Advance Security.

And then, suddenly....

2008-05-08T15:24:00.000-07:00

Things happen suddenly; usually it is bad things, but some things that happen suddenly are good. Actually, the worse of the bad things happen imperceptibly slowly. Anyway... Some sudden things happened to me today, two good, one bad.

First, I got a raise! After taxes, we're suddenly getting an extra $25 a week, but that's always nice.

Second, I was planning a new VOIP system at church for the eventual demise of our current phone and voice mail systems. Suddenly, today it died completely, but our phone tech had a mortgage company go belly-up and is re-selling us that system for 1/3 of what I was budgeting for. I hope we get new phones, too... I'll find out more tomorrow. So, that's maybe a good suddenly.

And finally, the owner of a company that I hear from often died last night of a hear attack; he was only 58. I can remember how his voice sounds over the phone. He was a nice man, and suddenly I'll never help him fix a computer problem again. OK, this didn't happen to me, but it was still so... sudden.

Windows XP SP3 (Service Pack 3)

2008-05-02T08:53:00.000-07:00

Windows XP SP3 (Service Pack 3) is available now as an optional update on Windows Update and will become automatic (probably as a critical update) on June 10th.

If you are using Microsoft Dynamics, Microsoft's POS (point-of-sale, not the other thing you're thinking) retail solution, don't install SP3.

Microsoft requires you to have SP1 installed before SP3, and recommends you have SP2 installed (get SP2 from Windows Update) as well before SP3.

In a nutshell, if you have been running updates all along, this won't be a big deal. However, if you load Windows XP fresh on your PC for some reason, this will save you a great deal of time. It adds some Windows Server 2008 compatibility and other networking features, but the big deal is saving time after installing SP2.

So, don't expect any new features. Getting SP2 was essentially getting a new operating system. SP3 is just a time-saving roll-up of patches.

You can download Windows XP SP3 here (316mb) or (more official looking) here. Of course, you should find it as an optional update.

For more, Paul Thurrott's got a review.

Yeah, I know, lots of boring technical stuff lately, but it's what I do for a living.

Update: Microsoft has released a hotfix for Microsoft Dynamics.

Reflections on teaching junior highers

2008-04-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure (and toil) of preparing a Sunday School lesson this pas week for our junior high students. My assigned passage was Genesis chapter 21, verses 1 to 21. This portion relates the birth of Isaac that God promised, and the sending away of Ishmael and Hagar.

I don't intend to give a lesson here, but I did note a few things worth mentioning.

First, when you study the Bible only for yourself, you get something out of it that is very narrowly applicable for you. At least, as someone who went to a missionary school from K-12 and attended a Christian college and seminary, that's what happens to me.
But, when you study for the purpose of teaching others, you have to take into account their concerns and needs, and suddently what God has to say becomes more broadly applicable. This may be because my perceived needs do not always coincide with any given text.
Second, junior hight students are in the middle of a transition, the cusp of entering young adulthood, and they are a fascinating mix of youthful naivite and hard-bitten realism. The JH's were innocent about personal relationships and yet really struggled with the screwed up dynamics of mixed families.
Third, God surprises you when you seek His message for your people. Something I never would have thought of on my own occurred to me the morning before the lesson, and it changed how the conclusion of the passage would be presented.
Finally, I enjoy teaching the young; there is so much energy there! I just don't know if they learned anything!

2008-04-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

Ran into an interesting Windows Server 2003 problem today. There was very high CPU utilization by lsass.exe and svchosts.exe (NETWORK SERVICE), and an inability to create outbound network connections. The client has previously rebooted this server to resolve the issue in the past, but wanted an explanation.

This client runs our application from that server using Terminal Services. Our application would not run and was given a cryptic message with the error code 10055. That five-digit code looked like a Microsoft TCP error to me, and sure enough it was. A quick Google searched turned this up:

10055 WSAENOBUFS -- No buffer space available.

Since that is a TCP error, that would mean no network resources are available. I ran "netstat -n" but saw very few established sockets.

Task Manager showed high CPU usage by lsass.exe and one svchosts.exe running as NETWORK SERVICE. I tried to download Process Explorer but Internet Explorer could not get to any websites; the bottom of the page said there was a DNS error.

I opened a command prompt (CMD) and was able to ping www.yahoo.com, so DNS works. I figured I would just FTP the file, so I ran FTP from their server to our web site and got another error:

> ftp: connect :No buffer space is supported

So, another error that points to TCP resources being unavailable.

I tried asking the great Google for answers about TCP resources and error 10055 but mostly found people who rebooted to make the problem go away. There were some Microsoft Articles about increasing the maximum TCP/IP socket buffers, but this is not our server, so I do not want to make changes requiring a reboot without knowing if it would even solve the problem.

Naturally, I examined Event Viewer and saw some error messages that suggested more socket errors which Microsoft's KB indicates a group policy not being able to execute. Probably not the root problem.

I decided to figure out which service was killing the CPU and see if it was also tying up the network resources.

LSASS sustains a bunch of services, including HTTP SSL, IPSEC, Kerberos, NetLogon, NT LM, Protected Storage, Security Accounts Manager, and maybe a couple others. It seems to manage TCP sockets rather than use them, so though CPU is high I figured I could safely ignore LSASS.EXE

OK, svchosts.exe is starts up services, so I ran the Services.MMC (or go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services) to examine services. I went through all the listed services and looked at the details for each. Where the command line included svchosts.exe, I looked for the "-k NETWORK" to determine which svchosts.exe service was running as NETWORK SERVICE. I restarted each one and watched Task Manager to see if the high-CPU instance of svchosts.exe disappeared briefly. When I got to the "Server" service, both svchost.exe and lsass.exe freed up their resources. The Server service also restarted Net Logon, DFS, and Computer Browser.

Ta-dah! I was able to browse the web, FTP, and of course our application worked again. Since this was not our Windows Server 2003 machine, I passed the information along. But, that certainly beats rebooting completely.

Clyde Cook

2008-04-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

Not many of those who read this blog will have had to privilege of meeting Dr. Clyde Cook. Nonetheless, his passing is both a sad and glorious thing. Biola has a tribute site for Dr. Cook.

I graduated from Talbot in 2000 and 2008. Biola found me in 1991 and I began attending in 1992. Dr. Clyde Cook was there for my entire Biola and Talbot experience. I was very pleased to hear he was retiring and it gave me joy to think that this wonder servant of God spending well-earned time with family and friends.

I heard about his passage into glory the day after; good friends and fellow Biolans told me. Strangely, while I felt sorrow for Anna Belle Cook, I smiled with the realization that Dr. Cook was received in celebrated in heaven.

"Well done, good and faithful servant." If I have known any man about whom I could confidently assert would hear these words upon meeting our Lord and Savior, it is Clyde Cook.

Save Christian Radio

2008-04-24T16:50:00.001-07:00

New MSN phishing problem

2008-04-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

I use several instant messengers. There's a new phishing / trojan (?) program floating around on MSN Messenger. If you get the following message you should not click this:

Hey check this.. http://very.c00l-stuff.com ..brb !!

In fact, as a general rule, don't click on stuff unless you have a good reason.

The scary thing is that the message came from a family member on my contact list. That implies that my family member has an infected PC. So, watch out for unsolicited links to websites and downloads, even from trusted sources. Always double-check.

First weekend in the RV

2008-04-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

So we had our first weekend out in the RV. We got here really late on Friday night. The neighbors were all very understanding; a couple of them helped us back in to our spot and our next door neighbors John and Shannon Williams (full-timers) helped me do part of the hookups. John and Shannon's son is four and is also named Lee. He starts montessori school on Monday; he's a bright and very social. The neighbors and RV'ers we did meet all seemed friendly and social. I could get used to this.

The sewer hose that came with the RV was too short, so I've yet do do my first dump; that will come in a hour or so.

Oh, we slept fine. The RV wasn't quite level, so we slept with our heads sightly higher than our feet on Friday. I fixed that with a couple of tiles Saturday morning. I'll have to pick up some leveling blocks.

Our biggest worry had been the cats and dog. This weekend was a scorcher and we kept the air conditioners off to see what it would be like. We did have the windows open and the vent fan on. There were no problems; though it was very hot outside, it didn't get too hot for either one of us, and the cats and dog seemed rather content, even though it got to 93°F outside.

I like being connected with the outside; all the windows and openness of the RV makes me feel less disconnected from the environment and our neighbors. At night, I can see stars. It feels good and right to sense the rising and setting of the sun, to be part of the circadian rhythm.

The cats' favorite space is under the hideaway sofa; the enclosed space may make them feel more secure, and it is probably 5° cooler under there.

Today we ran the RV's air conditioning, and it is very comfortable. We haven't had air conditioning at home since October 2004, so even adjusted to 80°F it feels great in here.

Well, I need to batten down the hatches and get ready to move. We wants to be home about 16:00 and I still need to dump the RV...

First night in the RV

2008-04-11T23:50:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this from our RV, on my laptop. I've got the accouterments (or accoutrements) of geekhood; laptop, PDA, cell phone, Internet access... the lot rental covers the utilities and we're not looking into someone else's RV.

OK, the RV isn't quite level; we'll get blocks in the morning to finish the last bit of leveling. Things are working, which is good. We can do this; we can go RVing.

Anyway, one of the first things I noticed; people are very helpful.
Second thing, very little light pollution; I can see stars!
The third thing, it's quiet! I like it very much.

I hope we sleep well tonight; it was my first time leveling the RV, so we'll have to see.

Before you download Windows Vista SP1

2008-03-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

Thinking about installing Windows Vista SP1? I am. It doesn't offer new features or (necessarily) better performance, but it does fix stuff in a neater package. I'm going to back up my data and restore a disk image from my fresh Vista installation, then install SP1.

Anyway, Microsoft strongly recommends using Windows Update instead of the Microsoft Download Center to download and install Windows Vista SP1 on single PCs. You can get the standalone install from the Download Center, and if you are rolling out SP1 to 50 computers, it kinda makes sense.

However, for most of us, using Windows Update sounds like a good idea to me. Here's why:

The download size from Windows Update of Windows Vista SP1 for x86 is 65 MB (compared to 450 MB from the Microsoft Download Center).
The download size from Windows Update of Windows Vista SP1 for x64 is 125 MB (compared to 745 MB from the Microsoft Download Center).
Windows Update will recognize PCs with known problematic drivers and postpone downloading Windows Vista SP1 until the PC has updated drivers or other applicable updates.

Be sure to uninstall any prior versions of SP1 first.

If something quits working, try uninstalling and reinstalling the driver.

If you choose to install Windows Vista SP1 via the standalone installer, first visit Windows Update and install all optional drivers (see Knowledge Base 948187 and 948343).

And, as always, back things up (you should be doing so anyway).

My mom misses my dad

2008-03-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

I spoke with my mom yesterday. Though I still miss my father some times, she misses him terribly every day. It is something that I had not considered before. *sigh*

Translating Taiwan Postal Addresses into English

2008-03-25T22:07:00.000-07:00

I found a wonderful tool for ensuring proper delivery of postal mail to Taiwan. The Taiwan post office has wisely provided an address transliteration/translation tool. If you have the address in Chinese, a properly formatted English address is provided for you.

Taiwan addresses are broken down by county, cities, roads, sections, alleys, lanes, number, floor, then rooms. So, an address (I made up) could look like:

8F., No.3, Alley 21, Lane 31, Chung Gang 2nd Rd. Sec. 2, Puli Township, Taoyuan County 333, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

See why this is useful? :-)

Free e-Sword Greek and Haitian modules

2008-03-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

Back when I was taking Greek classes, we were too poor to afford anything as nice as BibleWorks (which is great for exegesis). For my daily Bible computing needs, I used e-Sword.

e-Sword is a excellent free Bible program. The modules are based on Microsoft Access so you can build your own modules if need be. Some modules with copyrighted materials can be purchased from third parties (Rick Meyers, who wrote the program, doesn't sell anything). It is donation based and I believed enough in it that I gave even during our poor seminary days; I would encourage you to donate as well if you use it.

That said, I built several e-Sword modules. For example, I owned both the NASB and NIV in other formats and converted them to e-Sword myself. Once they became available for purchase, however, I could not use them in good conscience. However, the following modules are redistributable.

Haitian
I put together the Haitian Créole Bible for a missionary brother in Haiti. The install will locate your e-Sword folder and extract directly to it; just restart e-Sword to see the Haitian modules.

Greek
When I was studying Greek, I could not find a usable, free version of the Nestle-Aland text offline. So, I found the CCAT text (about NA26 text) and Nestle-Aland 26th edition module (original ZIP package). Later, I discovered that I did not use final sigmas for the text, but I was willing to live with it. A user by the name of Bruno Neuckermans
figured out what password I used and fixed them.

So, if you want the NA26 module, download my original ZIP and extract the contents to your e-Sword directory. You may want to (maybe even should) download Bruno's corrections to overwrite my module. The NA26-.BBL file will give you hints to help in translation, but won't do all the work for you.

This BBL module contains the text with diacritcal marks and punctuation, but not the critical apparatus. You may want to use this in conjunction with the e-Sword module GNT-V for basic textual criticism, but I recommend you buy a hard copy of the UBS4, with the dictionary.

P.S. Even if you re-upload the file to another site,
please link back to this post in case
there are any updates, like Bruno's. Thanks.

2008-03-18T11:28:00.000-07:00

God provides some things through us

2008-03-18T07:20:00.000-07:00

I can't complain about my lot in life. We have much and plenty.

On Saturday, as we left a grocery store, a man and an old woman approached our car, begging for money. He said he was trying to feed his family and his mom. We didn't have much cash to give them, so he only got $3.00 from us. As he guided his mom to another car, I started to pull away but decided to stop. We went back to the man and his mom; we offered to buy him a meal or some groceries and he took us up on it.

His name is Robert. I went into the grocery store with Robert while Cathy stayed outside and chatted with his mom. His family moved here from Philadelphia. He does auto body work and thought he could find a job here easily, like back home. Unfortunately, he can't find work and lives day-to-day. We got a modest basket of food because he does not have refrigeration; I paid and we joined Robert's mom and Cathy.

Cathy had been chatting with Robert's mom and prayed with her. Robert's mom is a Christian, and was very glad for the company and prayer. She's blind (we don't know why) and Robert is the son trying to take care of the family. She thinks her other son, who comes by and follows them around harassing them, may be demonicly influenced. They have it pretty rough.

We left Robert and his mom at the grocery store, heading home with their daily bread.

While it was good to do something for Robert and his mom, it hurt that we have such limitations. But just as we trust God for our daily needs, I have to trust that God will watch over His other children, too. It is not for me to try to do it all, but we'll try to do all that He asks of us, when He asks it.

So, if you would, ask God to watch over Robert and his mom. Thanks.

Up and Down, Up and Down...

2008-03-17T22:57:00.000-07:00

Looking back over the last year or so, our lives have been crazy, with lots of ups and downs. Through it all, God has been unchangingly good. Thank God!

Cathy had Hep-C, but she was healed!
Then Cathy lost her job, and we found out Cathy's dad had cancer.
We almost lost Boaz because he swallowed a glass bead. But he recovered nicely!
Then we got tricked on our refinance into a really high interest rate.
But, hey, I graduated from seminary (finally)!
Then we had a slab leak, but the plumber gave us six-month terms.
And the Cathy's dad was healed! And Cathy got a job!
Then my father got sick and died. But I went to Taiwan and was reconciled with my mom.
My dad didn't leave a will, so I've got a small hill of paperwork to fill out to try to get support for my mom. But some fellow Christians (who remain anonymous to me) covered the cost of the trip!
Now we have to sell our apartment for less than it is worth. We will have terrible credit because we have to do a short sale (where you settle with the mortgage company to pay less than you owe). These days, landlords check credit when you rent, so we'd have a hard time renting. But we were able to buy a RV to live in and plan to use the money savings to pay off debt.

So... an update is LONG overdue.

My Mom: My mom is doing OK. She finally received that 'bereavement package' from the DoD HR department. Dad's bank account has to go through a kind of probate, so mom's not getting that money any time soon.

I've got two forms for her to sign, but it takes so long to mail them back and forth that I was hoping to send them to her as PDF files and cut half the journy. However, nobody there seems to own a printer! Everybody has email and IM (Yahoo! is very popular there) but nobody can print the PDF files. In fact, I had to explain what a PDF file is to several people. Anyway, it is slow going, but it is going.

Cathy: Cathy's job is going quite well, and her boss likes her. That is a blessing. Her health is good.

I'm doing OK. The kitties are cute and the doggy is dogged. All is well, considering!

Selling the Apartment Building

2008-03-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

So... we're trying to sell the apartment now. If I had only listened to my wife in 2006 and sold then... *sigh*. But, I wouldn't have met my nice neighbors and I may not have as involved at our wonderful church, and we may not have gotten Boaz and Bubba. Anyway...

So, why? Last year we started refinancing with Purpose Funding. The guy we were working with, Jason, did four refinances in a row with us. In September we started a refinance and he told us to hold off on paying the mortgage as the refinance would take care of it. However, he was slow getting the loan to us and it was almost late by the time he showed up with the paperwork. The rate was much higher than we arranged over the phone, but he promised to refinance it to a lower rate in November and we were stupid/desperate, so we signed. Jason disappeared after that, and when we called Purpose Funding we found out that Jason didn't work there any more and nobody could get in touch with him. So, our mortgage shot up by $2000 and we were in deep trouble. I guess he made a lot of commission or something, but I have a hard time not thinking bad thoughts about him.

We tried to refinance elsewhere, but very few people are able to refinance apartments. Besides, mortgage companies started getting scared about that time. I had called our mortgage company several times since November in order to restructure the loan. So far, no joy. (I didn't realize this, but I must have picked up the phrase from my father.)

The last few time I called, the mortgage company said they just could not restructure the loan. I told the loan company that we are having a hard time paying that much more and we won't be able to make the whole payment; we've used up our savings and even paid a couple mortgages on credit. If it weren't for the extra side jobs I get from time to time, we'd be in really serious trouble. Still, they say they cannot change the loan as it was originated by Fannie Mae and they won't allow a restructure.

So, we have the apartment up for sale with a note indicating it is a short sale. We post what we would like, but the "short sale" note tells potential buyers that we'll take much lower offers. Once the bank approves an offer, we sell and move. If the short sale does not happen, we'll be unable to keep up and we'd face foreclosure. *sigh*

Pronounced Hay-Soos

2008-03-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but this is very funny to me.

That's about how I feel...

2008-03-07T09:17:00.000-08:00

True, that...

Pet Pocket: I want one

2008-03-06T10:33:00.000-08:00

Zechariah and Boaz would both love this Pet Pocket.

Oops, it is a Leap Year

2008-03-02T06:56:00.000-08:00

I spoke with my mom this past Sunday and promised to send her some money. As it turns out, we were broke after paying bills, so the next time we would have money was my paycheck at the end of the month. Figuring it's February, I'd get paid Thursday.

It's a Leap Year. I got paid Friday, which is not in time to wire mom money for this week. Nothing seems to go according to my plans. *sigh*

Mom: she's staying in Taiwa and we're getting along again

2008-03-01T16:35:00.000-08:00

For the record, my mom is staying in Taiwan. She's got a coffee shop that gives her enough income for now. It's only subsistence-level, so she'll chew through her savings (such as it is) at a very fast clip. She only needs $600 a month but she makes about $450. She'll need to have it supplemented, but that's where I come in. I am hoping that my dad's retirement pay will be payable to her; she appears to be elligible for about $600, so that would be just enough. It will take months, though, to wade through the paperwork if these forms are any indication of what's ahead.

One reason to stay is that I cannot afford to support her fully. There's not just room and board, but also medical. Another reason is that she would have no social life here. She's only 57 and she is surrounded by what she knows and loves; now is not the time to move her. I have to prepare for that eventual day, though. Besides, we're only recently reconciled.

If the occasion was more cheery, I would have enjoyed my trip. As it were, my biggest fear was my time with mom. As you may already know, my mother and I have not been on speaking terms for 10 years now. It boils down to my failure to be the son she needed; the details are murky and (at this juncture) not important.

That weekend which we visited grandma was another turning point. I watched a painful exchange between my grandmother and my mom. Grandma berated mom for an event from her youth, humiliating her in front of me, her son. I recognized the pattern in our the dysfunctional exchanges my mom and I have had at times. It pained me, but I understand now why we have the problems we do. The sins of the father really are visited upon the children.

On the bus ride home from grandma's, my mother told me she is proud of me; I was there for her in her time of need. For the first time for a long time, I fulfilled a son's duties in her mind just by doing what I knew to be right. In taking care of my father's business, I was finally able to honor my father and my mother in a way we both understood. I take the command "honor your father and your mother" very seriously. It is good to finally be able to do so in a way my mother recognizes.

It is the beginning of something better. I have much to do in the weeks and months ahead, trying to get my father's benefits applied to mom. Ultimately, however, we will be a family again. And that's a blessing.

Did I mention I'm back?

2008-02-29T16:51:00.000-08:00

In talking to my father-in-law, it became clear to me that I did not tell everybody that I am back in the USA. I came back on Wednesday, 02/05/2008.

I want to say for the record that the trip was under God's care. For example, just getting on to the plane was a feat.

I had found out my need for a plane ticket and passport on Friday night. My passport had expired, so I called for an emergency passport. There is an after-hours duty office in Washington, D.C., and she arranged the next available appointment for me, 7 A.M. Monday.

My father died Saturday morning my time. Still, I needed to get there A.S.A.P. for my mother's sake. Cathy helped me pack, I took time off from work and drove to L.A. to arrive before 7 A.M.

That's when I saw my first clear sign that God was watching over me. The L.A. passport office was closed! It wasn't a holiday; they were closed for training. However, the will-call window would process my passport since it had expired (they would not process new and lost passports for a couple of other people).

Then there was another difficulty. I only had a Chinese death certificate. The agent dissappeared with my dad's death certificate and came back less than 10 minutes later; it just happened that one of the employees (who they did not expect to be there) is Chinese and could read the certificate.

Next hurdle; they wanted a ticket to show proof of travel. I explained that I did not want to buy a non-refundable ticket that weekend (and, given that they were not actually open, they said they understood). The agent was so very kind; she gave me her cell phone number so I would not have to navigate the phone system. So, I was able to call China Airlines and got a ticket faxed to me, and I got my passport in time, before the passport agency closed at 11:30.

Getting the governent to renew an expired passort when they are not open for business? That's a acti of God. :-)