All Things Supercinski

We went to the doctor’s office yesterday for an ultrasound and got to see Baby Super. He/She has two arms, two legs, a heart with 4 chambers, a brain with two lobes, a stomach, a bladder, a face, and more. It was amazing to see. The radiologist was trying to get a good picture of Baby Super’s face, but he/she loves to put their hands all over it. Baby Super also loves to move around and kick so as to keep anyone from getting a good picture– I think Baby is going to be a lot like his/her daddy. Here is a picture of Baby Super’s profile (looking up). You can see his/her nose, mouth and eye as it looks up to the placenta–the lumpy stuff above its face.

We are 19 weeks along now, almost halfway through the pregnancy. My belly has been growing and I can’t wear any of my old shirts except for t-shirts–and even some of those are too small. Since this is a post about the baby, why not include another belly shot? In this photo, I chose to wear an old shirt so as to accentuate its size. Strangers are even noticing now.

All the closers for the team are warming up, waiting to get into the game. We close on the house Friday, 11am.

Update - Approximately 45 minutes after beginning the closing ceremonies, Rachel and I walked out as homeowners; no longer mere steerage, renters, or transients. We signed and initialed many papers, but not nearly as many as I anticipated. For those interested, there are photos of the house available in the photos section over there -> I’ll let you look around and find them.

This is a haphazard conglemeration of my thoughts on America, oil, hurricane Katrina, et al.

I think mass transit and alternative fuels are going to be growth areas in the coming decades. If any of you have been to other countries, particularly European countries, you’ve had the opportunity to enjoy the convenience of mass rail transit. Now, many people object to mass transit citing the ‘facts’ that Europe is different geographically than the U.S. or that rail transit in Europe isn’t perfect (delays sometime etc). Using that logic would mean we wouldn’t build any more grocery stores, since the grocery store sometimes doesn’t have fresh salmon or watermelons. If any of you have been to larger U.S. cities like New York, or even Houston or Dallas with the light rail systems, you’ve seen the benefits of mass transit as well. I’m not saying mass transit is the cure all for the ‘oil woes’ of late or that Europe is utopia, but don’t we have the responsibility to at least seriously consider a different way of life? After all, wouldn’t it create a lot of jobs? It sure would have been convenient and helpful for people in New Orleans to hop the train away from Katrina. I know that train tickets cost money that most of those people didn’t have, but it would be nice to think an American rail company would have given free rides. Maybe not. At least having the option would have been nice.

As fossil fuel costs rise, I anticipate American entrepreneurship will take the opportunities presented in alternative fuels, not so much out of a sense of responsbility to others in this country and the rest of the world, or to the stewardship of the earth we’ve been given, but more out of a grab for the almighty dollar. I think the U.S. auto industry has kept their head in the sand too long to be innovators in the hybrid arena, c.f. Honda Civic, Toyota Prius.

Plus, I’m really tired of seeing quad cab, 8 wheeled, 85 feet long, dual hemi trucks with 4 step staircases under the doors sitting in the parking lot of Academy - Sports and Outdoors. How many houses do you need to move?

As Christians, I believe we should be leading the charge in being responsible in how and what we consume and how we view people in the rest of the world. I don’t believe we are supposed to be ‘tree huggers’ because ‘trees are people too’, mainly because trees are not people, but also because trees aren’t as important as people. People’s souls are the only ‘commodity’ that really matters. How we live effects other people and their ability to live, much less hear the gospel.

I don’t think we will ever stop poverty completely. Jesus said the poor will always be among us. What an opportunity we have to serve Him.

So, these thoughts aren’t fully fleshed out, but something to think about more. Here are a couple of resources that are interesting. The first is compelling. I’ve not investigated the second all that much, but the trailers are thought provoking, at the least. I don’t recommend taking it fully to heart, as it seems to me a bit more sensational than necessary.

• World on Fire, Sarah McLachlan
  I really like these lyrics:

  The more we take, the less we become
  A fortune of one that means less for some

• The End of Suburbia