Biodiesel

I have mentioned in some of my past posts getting caught up on biodiesel and the such and there have been questions on it, so I figured I'd put some details in here. If biodiesel or renewable fuel doesn't interest you, just skip the remainder of this post.

A few years ago I heard about biodiesel and how easy it is to make and how you can fill your rig for only $.60/gallon. Since I'm a firm believer in the wisdom of there ain't no such thing as a free lunch I didn't buy it. I mean, c'mon, if you can make fuel for $.60/gallon then wouldn't everyone be doing it and save money and all that?

So it was rattling around in my head as some pie-in-the-sky idea that isn't truly viable. Until I heard about a co-worker who supposedly did it. Riverstones Biodiesel is the website he used and while there were quite a few steps in the process it seemed doable. So I took him up on his offer for a demonstration and headed to Salt Lake City. There was another guy from Utah County who wanted to see the demo so we were both there early one Saturday morning and watched the process. It wasn't that hard!

Still, I didn't want to have to run around getting grease from many different restaurants. Sure, you can purchase grease from one of the people who already get it, but it's expensive from them and certainly makes the price per gallon go way up. I was willing to make an appleseed processor but I didn't want to run around finding the grease. Enter the other guy from Utah County at the demonstration. He didn't have room for a processor, but was more than happy to fetch the grease!

About $700 to put together the processing station for this was going to be my initial outlay and my biggest concern is that the other person getting the grease would lose interest quickly and I'd be left out a ton of money with nobody to get grease. So we sat down and had a conversation where I laid out my concerns and he told me his. I agreed to do my very best to make the finest biodiesel I could and meet his needs for fuel and he agreed to be a part of this for at least one year so I can recoup my initial costs. Thus began the Utah County Biodiesel Cooperative.

He is fantastic and getting the grease from all the restaurants and I have refined the process over the last two years to where I make some fantastic biodiesel fuel. We currently run it in the following vehicles

• 1985 Jeep CJ-10a with a Nissan SD33T motor
• 1994 Chevrolet K2500 pickup with the 6.5L Turbo
• 2001 Ford Expedition with the 7.3L Powerstroke
• 2005 VW Beetle
• 2005 VW Jetta
  

The VWs scared me the most. New motors and all, but they run so much better on biodiesel than on pump fuel. The price of methanol has changed in the last couple of years. With my last purchase of a barrel of methanol the cost of biodiesel that we make is $.80/gallon. We split the grease in half. I run a batch through the processor (150 liters to a batch) and that one is mine then the next batch goes to the other partner in the coop. We both pay for the consumables for the batches we take.

We currently are not allowing any other members into the cooperative, but we use it as a clearing house for interested parties. Some people want to get grease and others just want to process biodiesel, so we try to get those two peoples together so they can make some fuel. The hardest part is finding people who are dedicated to actually getting the work done. It's greasy and a bit messy and there are some byproducts of the process that need to be disposed of properly. If you are interested in the process, you can contact me via email or if you want a hands-on demonstration of the process, just let me know and we'll try to schedule it for when we have a batch to run through the processor.

Feeling weak

I couldn't make it to the missionary dinner with Eric Friesen last evening at Benjamin Park.
Some horrific problem? Nope.
Car wreck? Nope.
Was called out for an emergency counseling session? Nope.
My back hurt.
Yep, that was it. My back hurt.
I know why now. I messed up on some of my medication and didn't have what I needed on board at the time which is what caused the problem. That's good news to me to know what the problem was. The hard part is I feel like a slave to the pain or the meds. Speaking as a guy, it is very difficult to have my life ruled by when I get my pain meds on board. I end up feeling out of control. It's not a very fun feeling.
The good news is I'm better today! But it means we were unable to record the meeting for future podcasts. Sorry.

Fun!

What a great time I had yesterday. I had the opportunity to have Eric and LaDonna Friesen in the RCC Podcasting Studio and talk to them about their story and it was a blast!

Like I mentioned during the Worship Experience on Sunday, everybody's story is important because it talks about our own unique journey with God. Jesus loves each of us and because of that we have the opportunity to celebrate every story about each person's journey with Jesus. Eric talked about his journey and it has been a struggle for certain. I'm finalizing the audio from our meeting at Golden Corral first, then I'll finish this audio up and we may get the meeting tonight with Eric and all of RCC recorded as well...not certain yet. If you are not subscribed to Real Time yet, get there now more episodes are coming!!!

Church is not about you

This has been taught at RCC for as long as I have attended. I have taught this myself time and time again in sermons I have delivered. More importantly than what this church has taught, Jesus lived a life that showed us it was not about him, but rather about serving others. If Jesus, God become flesh, shows us that serving others is our calling, heck tells us it is the next most important commandment to loving God with all of our heart, mind and soul (See Matthew 22:36) and we run around telling the world that we are followers of Jesus, where in the world does this consumer mentality of church come from?

What do I mean?

I'm talking about the complaining about what programs the church is missing. I'm talking about people who have attended the church and get offended at something that occurred and rather than working through it, they decide to chase down another church that better "meets my needs." You know, if church were about meeting your needs it would be a different place. People don't really seem to care about having their needs met, but rather they are looking to have their wants met.

People complain that they are not connected. To them, being connected means the pastor calls when they don't attend church for a few weeks. So I ask them "are you in a connection group?" and I get the run around. Oh, we tried it and didn't fit in. I just don't have the time for a connection group. It's too much work getting the homework done for it. If you attend RCC and truly want to be connected, you must be in a connection group. There are easily hundreds of reasons why you wouldn't be in one, but if you really want connection, the group is what does that. Your connection group will care about you and wonder where you are when you don't attend church. Your connection group are the ones that will be there when something happens in your life. This is connection, when we live life out together in a community. Our connection groups help us to do that...help us to stay connected. If you complain you are not connected, it is because you have chosen to disconnect.

Don't blog angry

That's one of my rules I try to work with in my blog. I tend to blog about whatever is on my mind at the time and when I'm ticked off that's all I can think about blogging about...the thing that has me frustrated and I try to keep this blog upbeat and positive if I can. So I had to give myself a time out and not blog about the frustration. Oh, I'm sure I'll get something out about it, but I'll try to keep it upbeat.

Passing it on

There are days when my children drive me insane. I mean, truly insane! The days I ask my wife if I may close my office door and lock it so I can have 30 minutes without the constant bickering, fighting and whining about what they want next. Then there are the other days. The days when my kids do what I want them to do without me standing over them. Last night was one of the good days.

My oldest boy wanted to talk last night. There were a couple of items that were concerning him. The first was a set of rules that allow him to run our 4-wheeler around the farm since that is a ton of fun for him. The second item he wanted to talk about is returning to church with me on Sunday mornings to get work done. He hasn't been doing that since baseball practice started since he wasn't in the best of shape and practice was wearing him out pretty good...he needed sleep and getting up at 0500 on Sunday morning wasn't helping. Last night my back was a bit tender still so I told him after his homework for the week is complete, he can choose which item is more important to him and we can talk about it. We'll talk about the other later.

Since I already said yesterday was a good one, I'm sure you know he chose to talk about helping on Sunday mornings. I've been thinking about this a lot though. I really want to know why he wants to help out in the mornings. What I come up with is his mother and I model this behavior of a servant. This idea that we are here to serve others is just a part of our lives and he sees it in us since I'm up every Sunday at 0500 he wants to be up as well. So we discussed it with him and starting this Sunday, 20 May, he will be there in the mornings to help out again. It looks like he'll be working with Junior hauling cables for the musicians and stringing them along neatly.

It's gratifying to see them do the right things...especially when it's for the right reasons as well!

Books of the month

Both Dean and I have a list at the connection center about books for the month that we recommend reading. I just sent off the next five months of recommendations and I figured I'd post it here for those of you who don't see the connection center. I've made the titles direct links to Amazon.com. I'm telling you if it wasn't for my Amazon wish list there is no way I could remember everything I want to read!

Okay, here are my suggestions for books to read:

Blue Like Jazz - Donald Miller

Messy Spirituality - Mike Yaconelli

Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality And Spirituality - Rob Bell

Pour Your Heart into It : How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time - Howard Schultz
This one might not look like it fits into the list, but it really talks about some important issues. One of Howard's big points is be passionate about what you are doing.

Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church - Mark Driscoll

Okay, that will take us another five months. I am currently reading some books but I don't know if they will be recommended or not.

Tom

The Crew

I have to blog about this. Our sound guy was a bit late on Sunday morning. We hire a real sound guy to run the sound board on a Sunday morning because of what a huge difference the sound person can make with the musicians. An excellent musician can really sound horrible and a bad musician can be made to sound pretty good just by having a good sound guy on the board. So our sound guy was a bit late...because he was up until 0500 at a private party mixing for Hootie and the Blowfish! That's our boy...mixing for Hootie on Saturday night and for the church on Sunday morning!

Addiction vs. Dependence

I have been in back pain since February 2005. Sometime around May of 2005 or so my pain management doctor talked to me about putting me on long term pain control. I certainly didn't know too much about it when it came about, but I have researched and learned plenty since then. Basically, rather than taking Percocet or some other short-acting medication too many times a day, you are given a regular dose of a pain med and them some Percocets for breakthrough pain. The scary thing to me was the long term pain control was morphine. As soon as I heard what he wanted to put me on, I immediately was afraid and didn't want to do it. You see, I was afraid I would become addicted to this heavy duty narcotic pain medication. I have learned since then.

Words mean things and there is a big difference between addiction and dependence. Addiction is when the narcotic is taken when a person is not in pain, but rather just for the buzz of taking the narcotic. Dependence is when a person needs the narcotic pain medication in order to function through the day, but if the pain med is taken to deal with the pain, you do become addicted but can become dependent. Probably the biggest step a person takes to not become addicted is to be accountable. I have a monthly meeting with the pain clinic to discuss how I have been the last month and what we're going to do for the upcoming month. Also, my wife is the person I am accountable to on a daily basis. I will call her during the day to tell her what I'm doing and how I am.

The fear of addiction almost caused me to not accept the long term pain meds. I have come to realize I cannot interact with my wife or family properly without some help with the pain. It's been hard to accept the realization that I cannot get through this on my own, but I have accepted it. I am aware of my dependence and with continued vigilance and accountability I hope it will never become addiction.

4 days!

It's been four days since my last post! I think the marathon session to get all the podcasts updated has hurt or something! Well, I'm still cooking along. Bought FSX ostensibly for the kids, but I certainly enjoy it! Brewed up a fresh batch of biodiesel last night and I'll probably move stuff around the processor tonight. The lawn still isn't in, but I have the pump housing and that is my main project for this weekend...get the pump housing on, wire the back of the shop and get the sprinklers plugged in. Once that is done, it's head installation time and then the lawn is laid. Let's see...what else? Oh, the boy had his first real game and his team did great! He only had one at-bat but went down swinging and was a great team player out there. My neighbor was kind enough to haul over the huge trailer that spreads fertilizer and laid down around 600 pounds of fertilizer in the pasture in preparation for the water to show up this weekend (maybe). The critters are in the corral, so the doctoring will be going on this Saturday. What else? I have a buddy in the hospital for back surgery and that isn't working very well so far. The narcotics have shut down the bowels and that has turned bad since they haven't fired up in a couple of days. The good news is his surgery went great! I think that's enough randomness for me today. I'll try to get some photos from doctoring on the farm this weekend.

It's almost unbelievable

I am so happy! It has taken me way too long, but I finally have all the podcasts up to date with what I have.

WHEW!

Pastor Dean's Sunday morning audio blog where he speaks with all the workers in the morning is available and updated with everything I had available. I certainly missed some while I was broken, but I'm back on it!

The Sunday morning Worship Experience is available and up to date with Yesterday's message that I had the pleasure of giving.

Spike Speaks hasn't had a new entry in a bit, but I think he'll be in the podcasting studio soon to lay down another track and Real Time is in the same boat. We had two more Real Time podcasts in the can, but I have not done a good job of keeping track of them and they may be unavailable...I did find some audio and I'll see if I can put it together into something coherent.

In case anybody is interested, I'll lay down a list here of what it takes to put Pastor Dean's blog or the Worship Experience podcast online. I'm sure others have different ways, and I would love to hear from anybody who has an easier solution. This is just the way I've been doing it and I've refined my choice of software over the last couple of years.

The first step is making sure I get a copy of both the blog and the worship experience. You may think this is the easy part, but a lot of the time the people making copies of the worship experience forget me! After I get the CDs I take them home for further processing.

I then use a program called FreeRIP to rip the CD into mp3 format. Now I could use OGG Vorbis or WAV formats, but I am more concerned with getting the audio into the hands of everybody I can and since iPods are ubiquitous I rip the audio to mp3 format.

The next step is some post production. I use Audacity for that. Normally not much needs to be done. I remove some of the lag in Pastor Dean's blog from when he says it's prayer time and when everybody gets down to the stage area to pray and I remove any extra thumps or squeaks, but mostly I use it for the addition of the intro music and the voice that introduces the worship experience podcast and I use the compressor tool to try and even the audio out. This takes a while for the processing to occur, then I export the finished product as mp3. I use the podcasting studio to get the introduction recorded and that requires the computers turned off so the fan sounds aren't there. Once the Audacity bit is done, it probably took about 30-40 minutes of processing time to get it all complete...and me clicking time of course!

After that I have the completed product. Now I use SmartFTP to get it placed on our web site. This also takes a bit of time. I don't have the fastest connection at home, so I get it going and then go do something else for a while.

Once the audio file is up on the web site, I already have Blogger and Feedburner wired to iTunes so a single post in Blogger activates the others to make a new entry in iTunes and notify all waiting that new episodes are available.

That's the process. And that's why it took so long to get updated. It's not really the amount of brainpower that is used each week. Most of the work was the wiring and that's done. The biggest issue is the hurry up and wait. Figuring out where to cut, then compressing and waiting for that to complete. Then getting back to the computer and exporting the mp3 file and waiting for that to complete. Then getting back for the FTP to occur and waiting for that before the Blogger entry is done and the rest can go.

Anyway, after being behind for months and months and months, I am finally completely caught up! Hopefully I can make this one last for at least a little while!

It returned!

Oh, joy! My iPod is back! My iPod is back!

Whew!

Glad that's over with. Not exactly adult behavior, but man am I happy that my iPod has returned. Days without mobile music, podcasts and television shows (yes, every TV show I watch is on the iPod...nothing on the box any more). Apple did an absolutely fabulous job of sending the material, picking it up, emailing me that it arrived at their place and sending me a brand-new iPod. Unfortunately there was a fly in the ointment. With all the effort Apple put into customer service, you would think they would understand that I am an English speaker and cannot understand French on my iPod. Without a second iPod in the house to know which selection was 'settings' I was forced to guess at the strange language, but I was able to get it changed back to something I can speak. Then another 3-4 hours of sync time to get all the video and unlistened-to podcasts on and I'm back on the road again with the iPod.

YEA!

RCC @ ?

We have done a lot of talking about RCC having multiple locations and most of our talk has focused on Utah County. We want to get our next location further North and get that going, but there are some complexities with each location we still need to work out and a lot of equipment needs to be purchased. So this week as we were going through the list of members of RCC to move to inactive those who have moved away or have moved on to a different gathering we began to talk about RCC @ other places.

You see, there is one particular family that was an important part of what we're doing at RCC and after moving, they have looked for a gathering of believers to attend but were unable to find something that felt authentic to them. It wasn't for lack of trying, but just that nothing really met their needs and where they are on their journey. So we in leadership started talking about it. Do we really need to move people off the active member list just because they are no longer located in Utah? We constantly are talking about how our connection groups are the most important aspect of participating at RCC so what would it look like for people in another state to attend RCC via podcast (or even vodcast...stay tuned for more on that!) and meet together with other people in their community that are looking to experience church outside the traditional meeting to have a connection group? We're wondering if we should have somebody experienced in facilitating a connection group join in via Skype or other technology, but the internet has shrunken boundaries and the ability exists for us to start doing this.

Now there are a ton of questions that we just don't have the answer for yet. There are reservations in what we are doing and we want to be sensitive to peoples' needs for growth and meeting together with other followers of Christ, but we have adopted the saying everything is an experiment for what we're doing here at RCC and we are going to try this experiment out for a while and see what works and what doesn't and start making refinements.

I realize there are blog readers from not just around the US but around the world and I'd love to hear input from you. Whether or not you want to be a part of the experiment, I would like to hear how it may look or seem to you from your own perspective.

tom@rockcanyon.org