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I know I just made a post a few minutes ago, but this was too much. We have this section in our weekly paper called “Opinions.” In Opinions, there is a section called “TOWN TALK.” Town talk is basically a phone number that people can call anonymously and grip about their problems, frustrations and complaints about our town. There are occasionally some good things posted, but the majority are general negative items. This one was just posted today and by far is the best I’ve seen in a while. Instead of confronting people in your yard, just call in a message to the paper like this:

If this wasn’t funny to you the first time through, then read it again, this time while pretending that you’re reading “Deep Thoughts” by Jack Handey. That’ll be sure to put a smile on your face.

I am terrifically thankful for my life’s blessings. I am also thankful for some undeserved bailouts I get as a result of some of my boneheaded choices. As many of you know, last October, my church purchased an iphone for me for pastor’s appreciation. If you didn’t know this you might be living in a box because I made a pretty big stink about it. Anyway, in June we were having some issues with AT&T and I had a run-in with their customer service department. Needless to day, it ended with AT&T letting us out of our contract early with no penalty. We went with Verizon per the recommendation of several friends in the church who have had them for years and sung their praises. Unfortunately, after almost a month of straight traveling, I returned to my office, youth center, and family life center at the church to find that I had very little or no signal at all with my new phone!

To make a long story short, thanks to some amazing generosity on the part of our church body, and the fact that I was able to get out of our Verizon contract with no penalty (don’t ask me, it had to be a God thing) I was able to get my hands back to where they were just four months ago. This may not sound as boneheaded as it does wishy-washy, but to explain things a bit further, most of my friends and all of my family have AT&T. So, a plan that was supposed to be cheaper for Brandi and I on a monthly basis, turned out to be WAY more expensive because we lost the privilege of all those mobile-to-mobile minutes. It may not seem like they would make that much of a difference, but trust me, they do!

I will say this for Verizon Wireless. Their customer service was absolutely second to none, and EVERYWHERE else I went (with the exception of heavy, indoor structures) their signal was fantastic and crystal clear. Unfortunately it didn’t do me any good when I was in the youth center or gym, and they were totally understanding, far beyond what I could have imagined, though it did take some persuasive coaxing.

The new iPhone software version 2.0 allows you to take screen shots. As you can see below, I haven’t had a problem quickly filling it up with awesome apps. Some of my favorites are below.

Yes, that’s me sitting in my office waving at the sky. Google earth JUST came out on Monday. AND IT IS SWEEET!

I really loath going online to check my myspace account. The problem isn’t the people or the concept of myspace, it’s the content. They for sure target guys with their propaganda and I choose not to check my account unless absolutely necessary. BUT, the myspace app for iphone is squeaky clean, really fast, and organized well.

If you know me well, you know I spend a lot of time on facebook. I’m not the biggest fan of the new facebook layout online, but the facebook app layout for iphone is stellar!

Kudos to lifechurch.tv for being way out front in the church world of creating cutting edge content. All of LC.tv’s materials, software and web stuff is FREE to individuals and church’s alike. This app of YouVersion.com is very easy to navigate, and it’s so practical it’s STOOPID!

I’ll be sure to have tons more apps to come. I’m currently looking/hoping for a great blogging app to come out (hint, hint to Google Blogger), as the options that are up don’t work well and are very limited in resources. By the way, all the apps I listed and hundred more are free via iTunes. The process of choosing them and downloading them are totally seamless and not only are they very handy to have, they’re just downright COOL!

Oh, and did I mention, Brandi got one too?

Yesterday Stevan Sheets sent me a message via twitter and told me to check out ooVoo.com, and download their software so we could do a video chat. Being a Mac user I general use ichat for all of my video chat needs, BUT if I want to talk to a PC user cross platform it is difficult to find a program that works well for both. Well, Stevan and I hooked it up and talked for a good 45 minutes with no hitch! We were even able to call each of our wives from the program and let them in on the convo. Stevan explains it really well on his blog HERE.

One feature that really stuck out to me was the video record setting. You can actually record the video conference while it’s actually going on if you want to! Below is a link for you to click on to add me to ooVoo if you want. You can also a Stevan with a link from his blog post as well.

Are you confused with all of the election hype and political mumbo-jumbo that’s going on right now? Does all of the hype and slander happening up in your grill and in the media have you debating whether or not you’ll even vote? Do you even know how our election process works?

If this is you, check out the vid below. It does a great job explaining the steps to electing our next president.

In my prep for youth tonight I found a good article about teens and underage drinking. Not only does it focus on some eye-opening statistics but it also gives us some steps to take and lessons learned to help us reduced this American Epidemic. The article was written by David R. Smith, the Director of Content for The Source For Youth Ministry’s Website.

Ruthi and I were waiting for Brandi to get back to the office from doing laundry today and we started an impromptu game of hide-n-seek. It was almost over when it dawned on me that I had the flip cam, but I still managed to capture the end of it. Ruthi was starting to get the idea of what to do when you hide, but got shy when she saw I had the camera out.

Hide-N-Seek from Eric Ebbinghaus on Vimeo.

If you use or have been using my old church email address (ebbs@warrentonwesleyan.org), you should know that as of this week we are launching our new website which means new (SHORTER!) email addy’s for the WWC office staff. Mine is ebbs@wwconline.net. That’s nice and short isn’t it? Just thought you might like to know. For those of you who use my gmail account, I still use it frequently. It’s brave, I know posting my email addresses on my website, but hey, I’m a brave (stupid?) kind of dude.

I’ve also got another thought-provoking blog in the mix I’ll be posting this afternoon or tomorrow, so stay tuned for that too!

Video #1 is my own spoof on our favorite in-flight magazine/catalog: SkyMall.

Video #2 is Ruthi’s response when she sees us for the first time in 2 days.

SkyMall from Eric Ebbinghaus on Vimeo.

Ruthi’s Surprise from Eric Ebbinghaus on Vimeo.

A couple of nights ago I completed an interesting test online that I hadn’t done in quite some time. What was it? It was a Keirsey Temperment Sorter test. I did a test similar to this 5 years ago before leading a EuroTrain adventure with Jeff Galley and the Nexlead crew, but I hadn’t looked at it for quite some time and was excited to have another look into what makes me tick.

If you’re wondering what a Personality Profile test does, it basically maps out who you are based on preferences, thought process, and decision making for particular scenarios and questions.

One of the coolest things about this testing process, is that at the end when you’re reading the rundown on who you are, you sort of experience one of those “aha!” moments. It’s as if someone opened up your brain, did an in-depth study of your makeup, and then wrapped it all into easy to understand definitions of who you are, who you work best with, and what areas of life you function at your highest potential.

I think my favorite part about the testing process is learning about who you are. You might be surprised at how much relief you will feel when you find out more about yourself after years of living in the dark and wondering why you feel a certain way in particular situations or specific feelings when confronted with adversity or life struggles. Another good reason to do it? It develops a sense of pride. It’s as if we feel when we read our profile,

“This is me, this is who God created me to be, and I AM A WONDERFUL AND UNIQUE CREATION!”

It can also be extremely humorous when you read your profile and it pegs you to a T. If you are honest and don’t overthink the questions, it will nail you down to your last idiosyncracy. However, if you cheat and try to overthink questions and answer a so that you can be a certain way that you want to be, rather than the way you are, you’ll be sorely disappointed at the results. So, my biggest tip? BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF!

Here is a rundown of the things I learned about myself as an Artisan-Promoter (type ESTP):
Check out the bottom of the page on the Artisan-Promoter link where it shows celebrities and leaders who share your personality type. My favorites? George S. Patton, Teddy Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and JFK!


Artisan-Promoter (ESTP)
Promoters live fully in the realm of the real. They have an extraordinary memory
for facts and details, as well as superior powers of observation. Ideally, they have
work that makes use of their vast databanks of impressions. Promoters are excited
by the possibility of capitalizing on opportunities that others don’t perceive,
applying information to present or emergent challenges. They don’t have much
motivation for pursuing intangible goals and “visions,” except as those goals
present themselves as events to which they can respond now.

Your Ideal Job:

1. Contains a lot of action and lets you respond to your impulses and hunches.
2. Brings excitement and adventure to you life.
3. Lets you make an impact.
4. Allows you to compete on your merits.
5. Lets you fix problems on the spot.
6. Lets you use your keen powers of observation and memory.
7. Offers a lot of spontaneous, unplanned situations.

Things you’re good at:

1. You can be extraordinarily resourceful; you pull in the people and things you need to get what you want.
2. You read people’s agendas well and aren’t distracted by their expressed intent.
3. You are a superb troubleshooter.
4. You act with extreme confidence and don’t agonize over choices.
5. You can predict people’s future actions from their past and current behavior.
6. You enjoy initiating and promoting projects.
7. You adapt well to change and emergencies.

Things to be aware of:

1. You may be perceived as ruthless or manipulative in some situations.
2. In static environments, you may cause trouble to make something for yourself to do.
3. You can be so motivated to win that you overlook such things as other people’s feelings or the ultimate objective of your company.
4. Your boldness may cause trouble for you in formal, protocol-driven situations.
5. You have a tendency to be blunt or insensitive.
6. Making evaluations and value judgments can be difficult for you.
7. You may neglect to develop supportive friendships in your field or workplace.

Last night I fell asleep on the couch after some school work and awoke to Brandi laughing hysterically. If you’ve ever heard Brandi laugh like this, it’s complte chaos, NO control whatsoever. Being groggy, I said “what is your problem?” She couldn’t even talk other than pointing at the screen telling me to watch. This is what I saw: (oh, and make sure your speakers are up)

Not really that funny if you ask me, but for my wife, it was the funniest thing she’d seen in a while.