The blog of Sterling Franklin (DJ Sterf), servant of Jesus Christ.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
MPG Driving
Graduation comes once again on May 10.
MPG Driving
Well, since gas prices are insane, I've been working on getting as high a Miles-per-Gallon reading as possible. Here are a few obvious tips in conserving gas --
- Don't be heavy on the accelerator. If your car jerks when you take off, you're probably wasting gas.
- Know your most efficient MPH -- my minivan is most efficient around 60, and 55 is generally not far off.
- Use cruise control if there are flat stretches of land. I've had a lot lower MPG from hills in using cruise control, though. It seems to really push the gas to maintain the MPH on hills.
- Close the windows. More wind resistance = more energy required to keep the car going. It's much less aerodynamic to have your windows open.
- Turn off the A/C or Heat. This made about a 0.3 MPG difference on my minivan.
- Stay consistent with your speed if possible. At stoplights, try to glide into it so you don't have to jam on the breaks and then wail on the accelerator.
However: - Use the accelerator if you need to. Don't get into an accident because you're trying to increase fuel efficiency (obviously).
- You don't have to be an ascetic driver. I mean, why not enjoy the wind on a nice day?
The End!
lol that was lame.
Here's a link to a Bag AAA video. I also got Legend of Max AAAed today, praise the Lord. That gives me 511 AAAs on Single Expert/Challenge at the Arcade.
Sermon on Sunday. I have it done, text is Romans 8:1-11. Yesterday was sweet. I'm putting together a slide show to go with it tomorrow at the church office. I'll miss this church a lot.
Here's the Christmas greeting video I made since my camcorder is broken:
The Oregon Trail
So Facebook had a new application: The Oregon Trail. My friend Paul invited me to join, and so I did. I played it for about 15 minutes, and I reached a fort. We only had 4 oxen, and we had tons of money from me playing math games and totally dominating. We also had tons of food since I totally dominated at shooting a buffalo, though that was after hitting a bush and pond a few times (it's random on Facebook).
I then bought some supplies from the store. We had 4 oxen, and there was a message that stated, 'The more oxen, the faster you will go.' So I bought 46 oxen, which brought us up to 50.
Wow, did we go fast. In one day, we went about 9,500 miles past the finish (we were traveling at a pace of 11,000+ miles a day). How the heck were we going over 450 miles per hour? That's just dumb, but also hot!
I think I bugged the game out, though. We traveled over 100,000 miles after about 9 days, so I gave up on that.
Monopoly
My friend Ken and I have really gotten into playing Monopoly lately, both online and in person. We had some massive team games going on over at my house this last week, and I really have a knack at winning and making investment decisions. However, it usually turns out that I either win hard or lose hard. I typically take extreme risks in the game, and they -usually- turn out to my benefit. However, this is not always the case.
On the computer version (we have the ghetto $2 version of Monopoly, ca. 2000), most computer AIs are pretty cruel, especially with trading. However, there is this one dog who absolutely plays idiotically. I landed on Oriental Avenue one game, and he offered me $738 instantly (without having any light blue properties of its own). I also offered the dog a property for $500, and it countered by offering me $653 for it. I was like...okay, so you're giving me $153 for no reason, sweet! I'd then offer to buy it back for $50, and the dog offered a price of $36 for it. Wow, so I keep the property AND get a net gain of $617? Sweet! There has to be something buggy with that AI, but it's absolutely hilarious.
Ken and I also bid $106,000 for Oriental Avenue in one game, and we instantly lost since we couldn't pay it.
DDR
Maybe a barometer as for where the Lord wants me is where the DDR machines open up. There were several good machines while I was in NC, even through college. When I left for Trinity, all the good machines left. Now, even the fun 4th Solo machine is gone from the area. However, the good machines all were coming to Chicago! However, one left recently from Chicago that I liked playing on, and the quality of machines is going down. There is one that I play (essentially Drew's machine) that rocks out (it's a modified ITG2). However, the pads on that are going downhill, too.
So since the good dancing game machines seem to follow me, maybe I should look at where the machines are starting to flourish.
Haha wouldn't that be a horrible thing -- giving an account for following DDR machines.
God would ask, "Why did you go to ________? I was telling you directly to go to ________!"
I'd be like, "Um, well all the good DDR machines were going to the place I went! I thought that was the sign."
LOL IDEA OVER.
It's obvious that the priority in life is FOLLOW GOD AND HIS LEADING!!!
I do think that it's amusing that the DDR machines seem to follow me where I go, though. Maybe that's a blessing that I've taken for granted quite a bit, as it's a cheap hobby that has opened the door for me to reach millions who have needed to be reached! It's still highly-demanding exercise & fun, and it's a means to outreach as I keep up my skill.
Obviously, the direct plan is to go wherever the Lord leads, regardless of whether the place has a DDR machine or not. However, don't stop me from laughing when a really good DDR machine comes to the area for no reason!
So follow God in all you do, but along with the trials and tests, expect Him to give you random and abundant blessings along the way! Always be thankful.
Pulse Outreach - First Day Recap, Sans-Video (Slow Internet)
The first night of Pulse, we had 2 people accept Christ for the first time and 25 people recommit their lives to Christ.
The Internet is weak everywhere we go, so the video performances will be uploaded whenever I can possibly find an internet connection capable of loading Gmail efficiently!
Tonight we're performing at Jamestown College.
I pretty close to nailed the first performance. Songs were Power! [Expert] (1 non-Perfect) and BabyBlue [Expert] (3 non-Perfects), both by Renard and his aliases (99.69% on a sans-Great SuperNOVA scale -- would probably have been 99.84% on a full SuperNOVA setup). Thanks, Renard, for letting me use stuff from Mungyodance/2 for the tour, that really helps, and there are a lot of songs/stepcharts that I like on the mix.
My brief message/homily last night was about setting your hearts on things above (Colossians 3:2), and not storing up treasures on earth, but rather in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). We need to walk by faith, not by sight, relying on Jesus as opposed to material things (2 Corinthians 5:7).
I'm honestly really depressed right now in my mood, but I know some things. I know that the things of Heaven are worth seeking, and regardless of how I feel, I'm going to press on in seeking God and serving Him wholeheartedly, no matter how much I'm hurting.
Even when I'm in the deepest valley, the Lord is literally my Good Shepherd (cf. Psalm 23 & John 10:10). I'm thankful that whenever I am frustrated or down or grieving, I have a Lord who listens and answers prayer miraculously.
I really wish the sun were out today.
But think of two things --
(1) God is good, despite of who I am Regardless of my character or past, He is still the same unchangeable, amazing God. From everlasting to everlasting, He is God (Psalm 90:2). From age to age, He is the same. He is a God of Love (1 John 4). He is a mighty God (Psalm 93). He is a God who heals (Isaiah 53, Psalm 103). He is a God who CARES for us and wants us to come to Him (2 Peter 3:9). He is more wonderful than we could ever express, regardless of anyone's opinion of Him.
(2) [In our perspective] God is good, because of who I am Because I'm a sinner, and I fall short of God's glory, as we all do, He shows His Goodness in His response to us, as well (Romans 3:23). He gave His Son Jesus for us so that we could have eternal life through Him (John 3:16). Because we're imperfect, IN OUR PERSPECTIVE, we see more and more of His wonder as we live life. Happier is he who has been forgiven MUCH than he who has been forgiven little (Luke 7:47).
And regardless of how I feel, I love the Lord with my whole heart, and I will serve Him forever.
So keep praying for Pulse as well as me. God bless you, and if you haven't decided to follow Jesus Christ with your life, please consider. He gave His life for you so that you won't have to take the punishment for your own sins ('missing the mark'/disobedience against God's Commands in thought, intent, or even motive).
One of my major hobbies is playing Dance Dance Revolution.
Twin Galaxies had an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records last year for the highest 5-song-machine set score, done by Jason the Great (who is[/was?] an amazing ITG player especially, but also is solid at DDR). I initially had that record, but that was literally a walk-in, film, and walk-out ordeal. 15 minutes after I entered, I had the highest set score submitted to Twin Galaxies.
This time, I set out to get a really solid 3-song-machine set score, so by the grace of God, I did.
I'm Going on Tour (Again)! I'm going on tour with Pulse Outreach this next week. My act is very eclectic -- I play DDR half the time, and I evangelize for half or slightly more of the time (it'll probably be split 5 minutes DDR/8 minutes homily or evangelistic message). If you know much about me by now, I like DDR, but I absolutely am in love with the Lord Jesus...and that's how my act is structured. Hopefully I will be a blessing to the thousands I encounter this next week all across North Dakota.
Twin Galaxies has an interesting way to a 'World Record' -- getting the highest set score on a DDR machine. There is one entry for a 3-song machine, and another for a 5-song machine.
I always considered categorical ranks more convincing (number of singles AAAs, Nonstop course rank, Oni course rank, consistency, etc.), and DD:Recall is ok to about an 80% level of significance as to where you're ranked in certain areas. However, the whole highest set score is a toughie. Here's why:
DDR Extreme -- If you get 10 Greats on the first 10 Steps of a song, you can still get a higher score than if you get 1 Great the entire song, but on the last arrow. Arrows are weighted very unevenly on DDR Extreme. The best measure of skill is accuracy (i.e. usually, number of Perfects), though I suppose I'm underrating doing well when it really 'counts' (though I think that's the entire song, to be honest).
DDR SuperNOVA -- You get the same score for a AAA on Jam & Marmalade Beginner as you do for an AAA on Fascination Maxx Oni/Challenge. Yeah....
But regardless, I took two sets to warm up today, and Jeremy went to the arcade with me to film. Here were my sets to try to get a nice score on a set of 3 songs + Extra stages.
Set One: (1st Stage) Sakura Heavy - 2 Greats (2nd Stage) Max 300 Heavy - 3 Greats (3rd Stage) Sakura Heavy - 2 Greats and 1 [Pad] Good (up arrow) (Extra Stage) The Legend of Max Heavy - 7 Greats and 3 Misses (OMES) Dance Dance Revolution Oni - 2 Greats
Total Set: 16 Greats, 1 Pad Good, 3 Misses -- set score was 486,8xx,xxx
Set Two: (1st Stage) Sakura Heavy - 1 Great (2nd Stage) Max 300 Heavy - 6 Greats (3 in the end stomps, ug!) (3rd Stage) Sakura Heavy - AAA (0 Greats) (Extra Stage) The Legend of Max Heavy - 9 Greats and 1 Miss (OMES) Dance Dance Revolution Oni - 4 Greats
Total Set: 20 Greats, 1 Miss -- set score was 487,065,570.
There is a little bit of room for improvement, but these sets were encouragingly beastly. It's breakable, but it's a very hard set score to break. I could probably get this up to 488 and 489 million soon if I really went for improvement, which I just might do after the tour.
Regardless, the Lord has given me a massive amount of talent in various areas, including this one, and I'm thrilled to be able to use it and because of it, having openings to talk to thousands and millions (video hits alone are over 7 million to my knowledge, probably more, though I suppose three random people could just be trolling the same videos over and over!) about the hope we all need that comes through Jesus Christ. Some verses I try to follow here --
Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Colossians 3:23-24 "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."
Think of my involvement with DDR this way -- God has given me and developed wonderful legs to use, the ability to develop stamina, the patience with which to become so deadly accurate, the love for outreach that makes me enjoy arcades, the musical rhythm and mathematical skills to read the arrows incredibly well, and the time with which to become really exceptional at the game. God blesses us with talent, and woe to us if we bury it in the ground! God also sustains us and protects us through life, so all glory to the Lord and King of the universe! I love the Lord deeply, and I hope it's contagious.
So overll, I hope to live by those verses and principles, and I'll do that as long as I can use this to God's glory. I want all I am to be a blessing to the Lord and to others, and hopefully as a result of me playing this silly game, even more will come to the knowledge of Jesus personally.
Sweet.
So here's the video link to the second set. The Great count was slightly worse, but the set score was higher. God bless you, and I hope you enjoy the video!
