finite speck

Right now as I'm typing inside my warm home it is -18 degrees outside. I don't think I've ever experienced weather this cold in my almost 40 years. This morning I'm thankful for our furnace that has kept up, our water heater that's provided warm water, blankets, insulation, a solid home, windows that keep out the cold, warm clothes, and cars that start. Schools, daycares and many businesses have all been shut down this week because of the extreme cold.  This could possibly be the coldest week I ever experience in my life.

What's the correct answer? After a period, how many spaces should you use one or two? I've been using one for a while, but I was taught two and I was curious as to why there was a change and what's actually correct. Two spaces after a period was taught to those that learned on a typewriter because of the way a typewriter spaces individual letters. The typewriter treated each letter the same giving each letter the same amount of space. Because there is so much extra spacing in the typewritten monospace font, people using typewriters needed the extra space after punctuation to indicate a full stop, such as a period, question mark, or exclamation point. Now, with word processors, each letter is treated differently and automatically spaced individually eliminating the need to add additional space at the end of a sentence. It's called proportional typesetting. It puts the same amount of space between all letters no matter how wide they are, so you don't end up with

Does social media help the hurting? When someone who tends to use social media a lot to share all of a sudden is facing something very personal and painful they tend to just remove themselves from social media altogether. Why? It seems like the very antithesis of the word social. Except that social media isn't a true form of being truly social. We can make things look better than they are, we can say things differently than we might in person and so when things get really tough it tends to not be a place where the truly hurting find healing. I believe this to be true based on a couple people I've seen that have been very active on social media all of a sudden once something major happens to them go totally missing on social. It's probably not a bad thing, but I think it reveals something about social media that shows how unsocial it really is.

Have you ever been physically stuck? I mean you can't move forward, backward, up or down. You don't have the physical strength to get yourself unstuck. This happened to me this past weekend. The thing was I also had plenty of people that could have helped me, but they couldn't get to where I was. My brother-in-law was helping me move a refrigerator from the basement to the first floor and this fridge was old and heavy. We made it all the way up to the top steps with me holding the top end and him holding the bottom end. My wife, sister, and kids were all down in the basement. Once we got to the top I realized I needed to move my hands so they didn't get smashed in the door frame, but in moving them and shifting weight around I ended up going down on the landing and getting one of my legs caught under the fridge. I was stuck! My strength was zapped and I couldn't get myself in a position to lift the fridge so I could get my leg out. Plus, my brother-in-law was

The median income for the U.S. is $3,714 per month. For a musician to get this kind of income from streaming music services alone they would need to get at least 474,330 plays per month. If they're mainly reliant upon Spotify for their streaming income it may look more like 935,516 plays per month. It's hard to get a feel for what the average amount of plays is per month on a streaming service, but these plays per month numbers seem big and takes a lot of .007s to make the median income, plus you've got band members as well. I think my main takeaway from this is to support artists I enjoy in tangible ways if I want them to keep making music. They're not going to make a living by me listening to Spotify or Amazon even if I listen to them a lot. But they will make a living if I go to their concert or buy a physical album or some other merch or support them more directly. Per-stream pay by music service for 2018 Apple Music $0.00783 Amazon $0.0074 Google Play $0.006

We were notified that we had won something for last nights regional NAMA event, so my boss and I traveled to the event. But we didn't win... we received a second place merit award. I have to admit in these situations when I have an expectation that we will win and the expectation isn't quite met the way I thought I have feelings of unfairness, wondering how are they judging this work. We've won before at these events and we've also come away with merit before and even nothing. The thing I have to look at is we made it to this level and it gives us the opportunity to see what others are doing as well as network with those that are doing it. Judging creative work for awards is an imperfect art, by imperfect judges, but it's better than no recognition and no ability to see what else is being done in our industry. So, it's always a good thing to experience not winning, to see those that are winning, to keep showing up and creating the best work that you can an

Do I really need that new phone? Do I need a newer kitchen? What about a newer TV? Or maybe a little bit better smart speaker. This list could just keep going on. There's always something that someone else has or that I see advertised that I think would be great to have. But the question is do I need it or do I just want it? What is going to happen after I get it? How long will that high of having that thing last until there is something else that captures my attention? I need contentment in this world. I don't need everything right now, even if I can get it and could afford it. I need Jesus each day. He is the only one who will truly satisfy my desire for shiny new things. I'm thankful for a wife who does not need the newest things. Who is content with an iPhone 5 even though she really needs to upgrade soon! I'm thankful that she thinks about the cost of something new versus what we already have. I'm thankful that she questions why do we really need that and i

Why are we drawn to the negative? I'm thinking today specifically of when looking at survey results in relation to our big conference last week. We're never like, "Look at how many people loved the conference, loved the food, said everything was great." We typically are drawn to the individuals that said, "It was too cold. The food wasn't good. The speaker could have been better... etc." Why is that? I think it's because we want to get better and to do that we need to know where we need to improve. But, the challenge is knowing how much weight to give those negative comments. How do we know what all was happening with the individual that gave a bad review? Have they had great reviews in the past? Is it a customer or is it a competitor? The more we know about the negative responses the better we can weight them and understand them and improve where we really need to in the future.

How many close friends do you have? Do you have any? This is a sore subject for me because I would struggle to say that I really have any. There are a couple guys that have remained in my life for a long time, but I would not say we stay close. There are other guys that have come in and out with seasons in my life. But I would have a hard time naming or counting close friends, the way I think a close friend should be defined. Why is that? I think most of the reason is on myself. I tend to put tasks in front of relationships and I don't want that to be the case. We were challenged this weekend in church on the importance of community within our church. Challenged to send a text each day this week to someone, call someone, have a 5-minute conversation with someone there at church or spend some time in the word with someone this week. I tend to think it's the other way around that people should just be drawn to me and want to do stuff with me or my family, but I know that it

I have a very vivid picture in my mind of our company at about 3PM on Friday after our Winter Conference was over. At least 30, men and women, we're getting after it in our main exhibit hall, tearing down. Tablecloths were flying, folding chairs were folding and tables were stacking... and within literally minutes the entire room was put away. It didn't matter people's titles within our company. Everyone was out on the floor helping tear down. It was amazing to see and be part of. Towards the end, there was so much help it reminded me of watching 5 year-olds play soccer where all the kids are going after the ball. We didn't know quite what to do next, because it was all happening so fast and those that knew couldn't keep up with the passion the team had to just get the job done. I can't say enough good about Precision Planting, the place I work. So thankful for a great team, full of passion, hard workers, people that extend grace and care about each other.

Well, it's over. Winter Conference that is. So much hype, work, hours, thinking, decisions... and it's over. We finished up yesterday and it feels good to be done. I'm still riding on a little bit of a high, but I know it won't last. Next year we'll be talking about how this Winter Conference will be the best one yet. We'll be ready for another high, but that one won't last either. It's like anything in this life. We can look forward to an event, a launch, a date, a trip, a meeting, a something, but when it's over, it's over. The ONLY thing that isn't like that will be that day when those that trust in Christ's work on the cross to save them from sin are with him. I believe that is something that we can look forward to and after it happens that high won't ever go away. I think there's something to the longing in our soul to look forward to things that point toward the coming of Christ. The difference is anything else will lo

Just really enjoyed this song, Mistakes, the past couple of days. I'm reminded of my failure, my sin, my mistakes... that I'm not perfect and never will be. And... the powerful, amazing grace of God. I'm also reminded of the importance to extend that grace to others as well. Mistakes I make 'em, I try to hide 'em Sometimes it feels like I'm defined by them All of the evidence stacked against me All of the fingers that are pointed at me I can't deny it I hunger to be holy But I still wrestle with the old me You know who I am, who I'm becoming Through all the dirt and the stains, you love me I can't deny it Every hard fall, back in yesterday Every stumble that I've yet to make The cross redeems, and washes them away And washes them away, All of my mistakes Woven through my story All the mess I make God, use it for Your glory Every wrong turn, it's true Led me right here to You I may lose my way, nothing's greater

OneDrive. The idea is simple and not novel. Google is doing it. Apple is doing it. Windows (OneDrive) is doing it. What is it? The idea of sharing a document and being able to edit and save at the same time that others are in the document. Our team decided to try OneDrive for our conference presentations this year and overall it was a good experience. Until yesterday... the day before our conference. All of sudden all the presenters I had shared the documents with couldn't access their files. And I had no way of contacting OneDrive support to figure out what was actually going on that was removing access for everyone. Fortunately, we were able to figure out a workaround to still get the presentations and continue to finesse them before today, but it was extremely frustrating. I think the biggest frustration I've experienced with some of these good tools is it's really hard to get answers when you can't find them online. There's no person to call and no immedia

We're about at that moment. We're 1 day away from that moment when all the prework is done and the "show" must start. Of course, there's still the work of the "show", but the amount of organizing, decision-making, and setup is done and the moment is here. So, today will no doubt be a long day. I'm getting myself ready now for all of the unexpected. All of the questions from others and the questions I'll have myself. The things I forgot to do or still need to do. Knowing that after today it's "go time". See you tomorrow.

We got about a foot of snow in the last day. So today we went out and played with the kids in the snow. The snow wasn't the best packing snow, but we made it work anyway and the kids loved it. We made a little "hill" in the backyard which also provided some entertainment since we don't have a hill close by. It reminded of me of when I was a kid growing up in Kentucky using laundry baskets for sleds and going down our little hill in the backyard. There's something about snow that just changes things a little bit. It usually doesn't last that long in the midwest, but when it comes it's fun to get out with the kids and enjoy it... so we did that today.

This is post 100. When I started I didn't know I'd get this far and that this would become something that is just part of my day, but it has. Now, I haven't done this perfect. I've missed a couple days but I'm enduring and plan to continue to. But in the failing of not writing every day, I'm reminding of one who never fails. One who never gets sick. One who never gets tired. One who never breaks a promise. One who endures for me when I don't, because I'm weak. I'm talking about God. The God of endurance. His endurance is perfect and I'm reminded that I need Him to endure. When I in my weakness decide I don't care about obeying Him. When I in my selfishness just care about me, I need His endurance. When I say things about others that are mean, I need His endurance. His endurance of grace. His endurance of keeping me and making me like Him. His endurance of perfecting me. This blog shows how I on my own, by God's grace can endure wr

All of us are on the cutting edge of something, but none of us are on the cutting edge of everything. When I was younger, in my teens I think I thought I was in the know on a lot of things, but the older I get the more I realize there's a ton I don't know anything about. Even the biggest leaders aren't in-the-know on everything. I think this comes down to the saying my wife has, "You like what you like." The things you're most interested in are the ones you're going to spend the most time thinking about and reading up on and you'll be on the cutting edge of. There may be other things that are really basic, that you have no interest in and the knowledge just won't be there.

It feels like our big conference starts tomorrow, but then I counted the days we still have left and counted 4, which then doesn't sound as bad. I've already prepped myself and my wife for working all day Saturday and I'm hoping we as a team are in good shape by that point. We'll see... everything is coming together. Weather is looking good for next week. Attendance keeps going up. And I'm ready to go to bed.

I need to figure out a way to get myself really psyched about the opportunity I have as being seen as the professional to clean up all presentations for the biggest conference we have every year. But instead, I don't look at it like this... I see it as a huge stack of PowerPoint slides that I dread cracking into. It doesn't help that I have a lot of other things on my plate leading up to this conference as well. Ultimately, I need to see it as an opportunity to provide a professional service to my colleagues that is desired and give it as much time as I possibly can. They have become my customer for this week and I need to do the best job I can at taking what they have created one step further from an aesthetic and creative angle. Also, another part of the battle here is perhaps the idea that it's not my original idea or work. But in reality how many things really are? Most ideas still started with someone else's. So... today I'm getting psyched to work on other

Sometimes when I pick up my kids from my parents I have some funny conversations with my 3-year-old daughter on the way home. Yesterday was one of those. We were talking about kids that don't have a mom or dad because there's a family in our small group that's in the process of adopting and another family that has watched our kids has adopted. My daughter proceeded to tell me about the couple in our small group that is adopting the baby. She said, "That baby is getting dropped ." I was totally confused. She then said, "You know dad. Jeff and Pam are going to dropped  that baby." Then it clicked. She was trying to use the word adopted. It actually sounds pretty close, dropped and adopted. It's so fun seeing my kids learn new words and start using them, even when they don't get it quite right.

Exercise. I know it's the new year and everyone is starting it off right by choosing to eat better and exercise regularly. I should make some changes as well, but I don't want to unless it's going to become part of my daily or weekly routine. But, what if I just start small, but stay consistent? Like brushing my teeth twice a day for 2 minutes each time. What if I exercise in a similar way? Could I by just being consistent with a small amount make progress toward regular exercise? I'm going to keep thinking on this... I think there's something to it. It feels similar to blogging as well. Or daily reading the Bible. The daily practice of something makes us better at that thing and we get the benefits of being healthier when it comes to exercise or eating healthier options. I still don't really want to exercise today and I probably won't, but I do know there's value in it and I'm going to figure out how to incorporate into my daily life.

I was just referred to a TED Talk yesterday by Adam Grant and it's a really interesting concept. The surprising habits of original thinkers Here's just a few quotes from the talk. "Greatest original thinkers are the ones that fail the most, because they're the one's that try the most," Grant says. "You need a lot of bad ideas in order to get a few good ones." "Doubt the default and find a better option." "Moderate procrastination increases creativity." It gives our mind time to ruminate on the idea.

We are 11 days away from the first day of our big conference for the year and it's crunch time. But this seems like about the time when all the ideas (both good and bad) start flowing out. So the question then becomes can we get it done. And the answer at Precision Planting is yes! We will figure out a way to make it happen because that's the kind of company we are. We do hard things. It's just who we are. I'm writing this to remind myself of what the next 11 days leading up to out Winter Conference will be like. They will be hard. I will be up early and I will go to bed late. But it will be worth it. We do it because we want to see farmers succeed this year and every year and we want them to have the best experience possible at a conference for farmers. So when more ideas come up and we have to figure out a way to make them a reality and the ideas are going to make the farmer's experience even better I'm going to say, "Yes we can do that." Bec

I discovered a new tool a couple months ago and I'm looking forward to trying it to see how well it works. It's called "click to tweet" and the concept is pretty simple. It's designed to allow someone to communicate a clear message to the masses by using those that are already fans of a brand to all communicate the same message with a simple click. You first write the tweet and the web app generates a unique URL to then share. Once someone clicks on the URL it opens up their Twitter account with the written tweet and all they have to do is click "Tweet". Then you have the ability to look at analytics on how many used the "click to tweet" feature and you have control over the message that's being communicated. We're going to try this to promote our big conference through email and SMS text messages. We may try using it in some other ways. It's always fun to try new tools and measure the impact. You never know unless you try.

Back to it. I've had 7 days off work and it's been wonderful, but I'm ready to hit it again. Especially with less than two weeks until our biggest conference of the year coming up. I'm already thinking about what to tackle first when I get in the office. Thankful for time off that our company gives us to be with family and friends over Christmas and New Years. Thankful I was able to stay mostly away from work for over a week. There's something about getting those breaks that recharges you and actually makes you more productive in the end. You would think it'd be the opposite that you lose productivity or that the momentum is lost, but I think it's the opposite. At some point it good to get a break in... even if it's right at the busiest time of your year.

It's a new year. 2019. What will this year bring that I don't know about? We already plan to move this year. We already plan to have a new baby this year. We already plan to have a large conference this year. But, what else will be coming our way that we haven't planned for? My in-laws are planning to move to the same town as us this year. Every year brings new things, some we plan for and some are unexpected. What's going to be popular? What will change in our nation? What will happen within our church? What will our kids be doing? How will my wife handle 3 kids compared to 2? What will living in Morton be like compared to Peoria? Will we make new friends? What will it be like living a few blocks away from my parents and my in-laws? What will God teach me in this new year? I have no answers to these questions, but I know God knows. Some changes may be tough, some may be easy, but God is sovereign over them all which gives me comfort.