You Decide

It has come to our attention that certain of our family members are comparing Tod's prom suit to Napoleon Dynamite's.

I believe they are referring to Tod as 'Tod Napoleon Henderson Dynamite II'


















You tell us. Are these the same?

And.. by the way.. i think Napoleon is wearing Julie's glasses!!

26 years!

Three reasons we don't walk alone.

1. It’s safer. Have you ever walked alone at night through a dark alley or down a lonely country road? It’s a little scary. But if you have another person with you, you immediately feel safer.

2. It’s supportive. Life is not a fifty-yard dash; it’s a marathon. Walking with other people gives you the energy to keep on going until the end.

3. It’s smarter. You learn more by walking with others than by walking alone. If you’re walking alone in the wrong direction, you may never realize it. But if you have a friend alongside you, one of you is likely to recognize you’ve veered off the path and need to find the right direction.

We also learn some important lessons when we walk alongside other people. We learn how to get along with others, how to cooperate.

We also learn how to love. Genesis 2:18 tells us, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (NIV). God hates loneliness, and community is God’s answer to loneliness. When we walk alongside other people, we find a community where we learn how to love.

Walking together for 26 years. Now we even run together sometimes!! It has been a joy to walk with you all these years Tod. Thank you for always loving me on our path.

How Many Bad Guesses Does a Prophet Get?

Just 34 years go..in the June 24, 1974 edition, Time magazine warned,

"Climatological Cassandras are becoming increasingly apprehensive, for the weather aberrations they are studying may be the harbinger of another ice age". The article included data and quotations from some very notable scientists.

Its April 8th, 2008 edition led with 'How to Win the War on Global Warming'. Of course, that double edition included data and quotations from some very notable scientists.

Ironic.
Sad.
What should you believe?

Interestingly, amid the furor over global warming it is noteworthy that the planet has been on a temperature downturn for the last 14 months or so. It's not getting hotter... it's getting colder. In fact, the average temperature between 2007 and 2008 has declined almost a full degree C. The short term trend is now decidedly downward. (oops!)

As a result (I assume) I have noticed, lately, how the phrase 'Global Warming' has been replaced, subtly, with the term 'Global Climate Change'. Get the subtle shift?

Of course it's changing! Sometimes it's warming, sometimes getting colder - and sometimes it just stays about the same. So - this is a phrase that means almost nothing.

Except, it does mean something. You see, if you're for 'Global Warming' you'll only be right 1/3rd of the time (when temperatures rise). However, if you're for 'Global Climate Change' you'll be right 2/3rds of the time (when temperatures rise or fall). In fact, you'll be right if there are fewer or more tornadoes, more or less rainfall, stronger or milder hurricanes, fewer or increasing cloudy days, .. whatever.

So - folks are climbing off the global warming bus and boarding the climate change bandwagon. And, everyone knows that change is bad. Let's legislate!!

My point isn't to deride anyone that believes that global temperatures are trending up. They are. In fact, they have been for well over 180 years (far before you could blame the burning of fossil fuels for the problem). And over time they have trended down. Up. Down. Up. Down.

It's not even to deride anyone that believes that humans are demonstrably contributing to the warming of the globe. For the record, my personal belief is that CO2 emissions are not a meaningful contributor to global warming. And I'll tell you why I say that in just a second.

However, as a Christian - I am compelled to be a good steward of all that I am entrusted. So, I have a good reason to be wise in utilizing the resources of this planet without any arm twisting regarding global climate change. I do not need to be motivated by fear. I am motivated by love and respect.

So - what was the question? Oh yeah, I was wondering 'how many guesses does a prophet get before you should stop listening to the prophet?'. Generally speaking, I think the answer is pretty obvious. One.

You might think that is pretty harsh.. but in human terms that's all you should really get. If you say, authoritatively, that XYZ is going to happen and it does not - you are not a good predictor of future events. Period. You lose your rights to claim that you are. If you wear your lucky shirt... because your team always wins when you wear it.. and then they lose. Well, apparently your shirt isn't quite the predictor of things you thought it was - no matter how much you believe it is.

In a scientific sense.. the answer is also one. You see, when you are testing a hypothesis in science you can have all sorts of data that agree with your hypothesis. However, when you properly measure something that is not in agreement with your hypothesis you are done. Finished. Kaput. It only takes one contrary observation to debunk a hypothesis.

Unfortunately, marketing doesn't work the same as science. In marketing you might be able to overcome shortcomings of fact using advertising and presentation skills. Peace. I just don't like marketing near as much as I like truth. That's all I'm saying.

Okay -enough editorializing.. back to the point about science. It's not always possible to know with absolute certainly if two sets of facts are closely related to each other (example: wearing my shirt is related to my team winning). So, there is a mathematical thing called 'correlation' that is measured. When independent observations (shirt wearing vs. team winning) are aligned you have high correlation. When observations don't align you have low correlation. Low correlation means.. this thing didn't cause the other thing.

Which leads to the main point you should know: observations that are highly correlated don't necessarily prove a hypothesis - but observations that have low correlation absolutely disprove a hypothesis. You only get one wrong answer.

So, here's a cool thing (pun intended) about science. You can test all kinds of data. New data, old data, whatever. With something like global warming we can look backwards using all the data we've collected and make some general conclusions. We don't know that we will 'always' be right.. that lucky shirt may fail one day.. but we can at least figure out if we are right so far!

In that vein.. if you do some digging up of past observed data you will find that global temperatures highly correlate to solar activity. When solar activity increases.. temperatures rise.. and vice-versa (i believe God is in charge of that department). This has held true for hundreds of years; which is a lot of time in which to find contrary data to disprove the theory.

At the same time - you will find that global temperatures do not correlate to increases in fossil fuel use over long periods of time (decades).

This is just one example.


My point is simply this: if a prophet only gets one wrong guess.. why are we still listening to these people? And allowing them to keep driving the bus (legislate, tax, etc.)?

What's wrong with us?

Mad Pool Skilz

With Summer upon us.. (yeah!).. and approaching 100 degrees here today.. I thought it a fitting time to remind us all of some of Team Henderson's mad pool skilz. We are a talented bunch! Here are some golden oldies.

Enjoy!


We'll start with Joel - tube wrangling! Niiiiceee.




Next we have JT - tube shooting - bottom first!




Joel - heal grab to a tube shoot - feet first!




Hannah - micro tube shooting! How does she do that????




And finally - Joel - oops!!!!

Who's Watching in Illinois?

I work in the Surveillance and Reconnaissance Biz (I dare you to look away and try to spell those two words yourself).

As such, I have access to an amazing array of sophisticated analytical tools that allow me to track every visit to our blog*. One of the many capabilities of these tools is the ability to geo-locate (map) the location of every visitor.

As you can see.. we've picked up a blog visitor(s) from Illinois - making regular visits to the blog. Specifically, their ISP is located in Mchenry and they've made 10 visits to the blog in the last month.

I'm guessing it's RH.. because we know what an internet aficionado he is! You must be impressed by a man who is a righteous keyboard artist. MLOL ;)

Or perhaps it's Grandma Marian! How utterly cool would that be? Grannie hitting the keys to stay cyber-nected!

In any event.. whomever you are.. welcome to the Team Henderson blog. And... if you're so inclined to share your identity with us.. please add a comment to the blog by clicking the COMMENTS link just below here and tell us about yourself.

Team Henderson Technical Manager

* okay.. so does everyone.. they're called Google Analytics

PS.. where is the most exotic place we've had a visitor from? It's from the country pictured on the left! Can you name it? First one that gets it right (not counting Steve who I already told).. get's total bragging rights (and perhaps a prize??)!!

Nephews Rule!

It was rewarding to get a chance to see each of our nephews (including Chris who is not pictured here!) on our last trip to Michigan/Indiana.

Every one has a wonderful, distinct personality which seems to grow and expand each year. They are all a blast to hang around with, play with, and just enjoy.

Check out this roster of studs!

Arie - the Graduate


















Andrew - next in line!


















Tyler - in contemplation. I think he might be thinking of a special someone in this picture. Notice the ring on his pinkie finger (it's not a men's ring!)?













Troy - the gentle spirit.. who spends a lot of time being abused by his older brother and cousins!


















Trent - the magnificent ball of energy!

Oh What Fun it is to Ride...

These are some of my favorite pictures from our adventure down to Indiana.

It feels good to be a part of a family that quite clearly has so much fun when they get together. We spent a lot of the drive back and forth and the festivities laughing and just enjoying being back together as family.

The first two photos are of Julie's father (Bill) and sister (Janice) caught having a great time taking a spin on one of the kid's bikes in their driveway after graduation.

There's no way to fake that kind of joy and happiness!

The bottom one is a close neighbor of Janice and John's named Martha. Martha is 86 years old.. and still very joyful and encouraging. I only hope I will be in that good of shape (emotionally and physically!) at 86!

Congrats Arie

Congratulations Arie (Griffioen, our nephew) on your graduation from high school.

It was fun to be able to travel to Waldron High to visit you and your family and to share of bit of this experience with you. We had a great time.

We are amazed at all your incredible academic (5th in class!) and other accomplishments (Arie is also an Eagle Scout - which is no small feat). It was great to see you among your friends having a great time.

We also congratulate your parents, Janice and John, for getting you to this point in life. They are to be commended for your excellent job.

It was also a treat to see Mary (grandma) again. We were truly impressed with the imaginative quilt that she made you using many of your old, special, t-shirts. What a great way to be surrounded by some fond memories and your grandma's love. That was really cool.

Have a great summer and enjoy your transition to Rose-hulman in late August!

We look forward to hearing about your continuing adventures.

Team Henderson

Elsie: Harley Babe

Her name is Elsie. Her fame is riding hogs. That's right - Grandma Elsie is an 82 year old hard core Harley babe.

As grandma will tell you - the attraction to the machine is a physical thing. I experienced this first hand when I joined Elsie at a recent graduation ceremony she attended.

As she told me in an interview for this article "it hits me the first time I see a hog glimmering in the sunshine. I am immediately drawn to the machine. It's graceful lines. That's when I know I have to be near it. Touch it. Feel it. Sometimes I'll just slowly approach the bike - like a dance. But, eventually, I'll need to have that feel of polished steel up against me".

At first that seems to satisfy her. To quench her thirst. However, as this interviewer found out... that is only the beginning.

"From the moment I lean against one of those glorious machines - it starts a chain reaction deep within me. I know, right at that moment, that it is only a matter of time before I need to have the feel of its rumbling engine underneath me" she goes on to say - unapologetically.

"Some have called it an addiction. But I prefer to think of it as a life long love affair. A constant, smoldering, ember that from time to time flares into a burning need for speed. For the feel of unbridled horsepower beneath me. As I approach 83 - I can honestly say that that fire burns just as strongly now as it did years ago.'

As she donned a helmet before taking her most recent ride with her grandson John she confided to me, "I am very fortunate. John understands me. Accepts me. He doesn't judge me the way some people who don't understand might" she goes on to say.

John, who asked that his last name not be disclosed for fear that other older harley babes might descend on his location - explains it like this. "It's almost a religious experience to ride with Elsie. You can tell that, for her, it is a form of worship. At times she gets so lost in the moment - feeling the machine vibrating below her - the air rushing past her. It allows her to connect with a higher being in a way that is rare - and beautiful. Often, she'll just raise her arms in pure joy. I am blessed to be a part of her life. I truly appreciate those times where we get together.. strap on some leather - and just ride. It is cathartic for both of us."

As Elsie is quick to say, "Yes, feeling that horsepower below me makes me think of Glory. I believe there is a God. And, I believe there is a Heaven with streets of gold and mansions for those that believe in Him and accept Him as Savior. Just like the Bible says. And, personally, I believe that inside the garage of my mansion is a bright, gleaming hog. Just waiting for me to ride for eternity. This is a love affair that will never end."

Indiana: Do Not Enter

Last weekend Julie and I traveled back to Indiana to attend our nephew, Arie's, high school graduation. We flew into Michigan and joined the Rexford/Buckner caravan: destination Flatrock Indiana (I dare you to find Flatrock on a map).

Obviously, the people of Indiana must have heard that we where coming because they threw a big 'welcome to Indiana' party for us. Apparently, it's their tradition to greet visiting out of towners by having power polls attack.

I think they call this local custom a 'tornado' - which comes from the latin 'torn' - or split.. and 'a-do' or get out. Put it together.. and I think they were trying to tell us.. 'take a hike'.

Well, being the illiterate people that we are.. our knowledge of the state is limited to what we learn watching Indiana Jones adventure flicks. We thought they were telling us 'hey - drive down this road with live power lines laying in the middle of the road to go visit your nephew with the crystal skull'.

Admittedly - a very poor effort at translating 'Indiana-eze' - on our part since, to be fair to Indiana, they also did post some DO NOT ENTER signs to make it simpler for us to understand. Alas, Grandpa Bill was driving and he can't exactly read.

Indiana, you're going to have to throw more than that at us to keep us out!