Do you shake hands?

This week I was reminded of how small cultural differences can make for awkward moments.

One is handshaking. In churches especially, but also in any social gathering in Mexico, you are expected to shake everyone’s hand and greet them when you enter an event. This would not be true at a place of business, but just about everywhere else.

Also, upon leaving the event you are expected to shake hands once again.

Many of us will enter a church here in the US and never think to shake hands with everyone. Typically we will hit a few casual friends and call it good.

I saw a lady today whom I have known for nearly 20 years. We were at church and I instinctively stuck my hand out to shake hers. When I did I realized something: close friends don’t shake hands in the US. That is not a hard and fast rule, but I am having trouble thinking of a time that I have regularly shaken hands with my very close friends. At the very least, you should not feel obligated to do so.

It seems like in the US we shake hands with acquaintances or people that we are meeting for the first time. It is almost a stale business gesture. Somewhat of a ritual, but not a warm action between friends.

My friend today seemed to take my shaking of her hand as a cold gesture. For me it was something I have become accustomed to while living in Mexico. Shaking hands is a very friendly gesture there, though it can also be used as an obligatory ritual.

Another cultural difference is the “excusing” of oneself from another individual. This has become more evident to me while visiting in the US for the last few weeks. When we finish a conversation in the US, it is not unusual for one party to just walk away. That is considered very rude in Mexico. You must ask permission to leave from a “one on one” encounter. Also, if you are at a social event, you are expected to excuse yourself from all the other individuals that you would consider your peers or those above you in the food chain.

You would never leave someone,s house without first shaking hands with the host or hostess and then asking for permission to leave.

February Goals Report

Running
I ran 15 days out of the month. I did not run 14. There were 2 times that I missed running 3 days in a row. The rest of the time I only had 1 day breaks between running.

I ran a total of 72.2 miles for the month. I ended the month right on track for a 1000 mile year. At the end of January I was 6.5 miles ahead of schedule. Traveling and a very tightly scheduled conference ate up the 6.5 mile buffer, but that was why I worked to get ahead.

Reading
I fell way behind on my reading. I only read 657 pages (goal is 800 per month). Most of the reading I did was in the last week and a half of the month. No real excuse other than I was busy and did not make it a priority until late in the month.

I read Do You Mind if Your Kids Don’t and Cure for the Common Life and I completed When Charity Destroys Dignity. I also read on the book D Day, but not very much. I need to finish it within the next 2 weeks so that I can give it back to the owner when I see him. I also read a master’s thesis entitled Seducing Spirits.

The month of March will be another tough month, but without the goals I think it would be easy to cruise through the month and not accomplish much in the area of reading and running.

Review: Do You Mind if Your Kids Don’t?

Do You Mind coverDo You Mind if Your Kids Don’t? is written by Evangelist Bill Rice III. I worked with Dr. Bill for many years and learned a lot from his daily teaching for my spiritual life and family ministry.

In this book, Dr. Bill talks mostly about the relationship between parents and children, but it really is more than that. He gives you great biblical principles on family relationships and how to train your children to be disciplined and respectful. He also explains very clearly how one can be saved and know it as well as how to find God’s will for one’s life. Much of what he gives are the same principles he teaches to teenagers every week at the Bill Rice Ranch (named for his father).

One of the biggest emphasis he has in the book is about the relationship between parents. The Bible has very clear teaching that parents should be united in their relationship, especially with their children. This does not mean that parents always agree or that they never have to work through differences of opinion, but as far as children are concerned they need to see a united leadership in their mom and dad.

Because I know Dr. Bill’s children very well, this book means much more to me. I know that the things he teaches have been borne out in the lives of his three children who are now grown and serving the Lord in different ministries.

I would recommend this book to any teenager and young adult. It is best to start building your philosophy about family before you are married. This is also a good book for anyone in ministry. You will learn how to clearly communicate the message of salvation.

Do You Mind if Your Kids Don’t?, Bill Rice III, Bill Rice Ranch Publications, 2007, 205 pages.

Podcast on podcasting

Here is an audio recording I did of a lecture I gave last week. It is entitled “Podcasting from Linux.” It really is not Linux specific, but it was given at the Pensacola Linux Users Group February meeting.

Here are the notes I handed out at the meeting.

Podcasting from Linux

Software

  • Audacity – for audio editing
  • EasyTag – for tagging your MP3 files
  • Skype
  • WordPress

Hardware

  • Microphones
  • Recorders
  • Mixers
  • Audio Interface

Why podcast?

When to podcast?

What makes a good podcast?

  • Passion!

What makes a bad podcast?

Podcasts as examples

Stories

News

Video

Professionally recorded

Viral

Forums

My podcasts

No end to the joy of owning an old vehicle

Today I started a project that was not anticipated. We started having a strange noise in Tampico, Tamaulipas. It is an odd grinding noise that almost sounds like a bad exhaust leak when we accelerate quickly, and mostly only when turning left. But, the noise goes away as soon as you let off the accelerator. Then, a few days later, I started getting a strange shutter just after the car shifts into third gear.

While listening to Car Talk the other day, they had a caller that had a similar problem (with the shuttering) and they suggested that the problem might be related to a bad motor mount. I crawled up under my truck yesterday and found that the bolt that holds the motor side of the mount to the frame side was broken. Part of the bolt was missing.

I called my uncle and we talked about it a bit. He guessed that it was my left mount that was the problem. When I told him it was the right one he immediately told me that my problem was related to the transmission mount. It was probably worn out. I crawled back under the truck to find out that he was correct in that there was a problem with the transmission mount. The problem was not that it was worn out though, it was because there were no bolts holding the mount to the transmission. They had fallen out.

I remember that I had that mount replaced a couple of years ago. It still looked to be in good shape. Since I had the transmission rebuilt this summer, I know that the bolts have only been missing, at most, 7 months. But more likely they went missing shortly before we started having the strange noise.

Dad, a friend and I got the transmission mount reconnected and one of the motor mounts removed today. We will have to replace that mount and do the replacement on the other side tomorrow. Of course this comes with a whole lot more effort than those 2 sentences can convey.

$20 and 6 hours worth of work and we will be back in business. While I hate having to tinker so much with it, it sure beats a $400 a month car payment.