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My normal route home from work takes me right by the airport. It’s not unusual to see planes taking off or landing.

However, it is quite unusual to see the following aircraft a mere 50-100 feet off the ground, on an approach:

Air Force One (Image found at PlaneBuzz)

The plane touched down on Runway 11-29 right next to I-70, right before I exited onto Cypress.

A Boeing 747 painted in light blue with the words “United States of America” on the fuselage is pretty unmistakable; still, I hadn’t heard anything about President Bush making any appearances in Missouri today. I thought perhaps it could have been picking up some dignitaries from last night’s VP candidate debate.

As it turns out, it was President Bush, after all.

We will definitely not be using this hospital:

State public health officials say two babies were accidentally switched at a southern Illinois hospital, with one of the infants sent home with the wrong family.

Officials say the mistake happened in March at Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion and involved two newborn boys.

Hospital workers soon learned of the error and immediately contacted the family.

Apparently, this hospital gives free car seats to all babies born there. Just make sure you’re putting the right baby in that car seat!

We have been looking for quite some time, to find a church home suitable for Stephanie, Lily, and me – somewhere that we can get involved in the church ministries, outreaches, and service as well as somewhere that can meet our needs: worship service with which we can relate and be both fed and challenged, an excellent children’s program, and small-group ministry to facilitate building relationships and friendships with other people our age and in similar life circumstances.

We have tried several churches, trying to keep an open mind about non-essential things such as membership size and style of worship, while at the same time looking for unity in the things we consider essential: namely, doctrinal matters. For the past couple months, we have been attending Grace Church of St. Louis, and have connected well enough that we have decided to go through the four-week membership class to determine how well this church might fit for us.

We will be considering several things, including the details of the church’s doctrine, the dynamics of a smaller group (our class has about 70 people, which is considered “small” for a church the size of Grace), the ministry/small group/service opportunities, and the emphasis/mission of the church (missions, evangelism, discipleship, etc.).

If we have one concern thus far, it is the somewhat overwhelming size of the church. While I would be perfectly comfortable, provided that we can find smaller groups with which to get involved, Stephanie is not quite so comfortable. That is why the nature and dynamics of the church’s small group ministries will be critical to our decision.

Please be praying for us in our search for a church home – that God will show us where He would have us to be, and especially that He will enlighten us with respect to Grace Church through this membership class.

So, you wouldn’t know it from the ten inches of snow we got yesterday, but this past weekend was gorgeous. Sunday was about 77 degrees and sunny, and we got the chance to take Lily to the park, to enjoy the weather – and the infant swing:

I’m too cute!
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.

Whee!
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.

Hey, I think I really like this!
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.

As the weather continues to get nicer, and Lily gets closer and closer to being a year old, I’m really looking forward to playing together outside in our yard, and more trips to the park!

We closed on our house today! More later; things have been very busy, hectic, and at times stressful – but we are done!

Last weekend, we went back to our new home, to take more pictures, and get some room/window measurements.

The pictures below are part of their own flickr set.

An update on our offer for the house in Saint Ann: the owner came back this afternoon with a counter, and we have accepted their counter! We are now officially be under contract.

A little bit more about the house: it was built in 1920. The sale history indicates that it was foreclosed about a year ago, and then re-purchased by the current owner, who re-modeled and flipped it.

We’ll find out for sure after the inspection, but the house looks to be in great shape.

The front porch is adorable and inviting. We can really see ourselves sitting on the front porch a lot – perhaps even put in a hanging porch swing.

The front door opens into a very nicely sized family room.

The house has a room listed as the “dining room” but it is the walkway from the living room to the kitchen, and also opens to the stairs to the basement/side entrance. We think it would be too high-traffic for a dining room, but would work perfectly as a sitting room or library (we have several bookcases, and a ton of books). My parents have too kindly offered to give us two white love seat-sofas that they would like to replace, and we think that they will fit perfectly in this space.

The kitchen is large, clean, and open, and has all new appliances – matching Frigidaire refrigerator, dishwasher, and gas stove.

We will eventually want to change the cabinets and the counters, but that might be part of a bigger project later on. I could envision opening up the wall into the breakfast room, and adding more cabinets, and a counter/bar.

We think we will use part of the large breakfast room (21×8) partly for the dining room.

The basement has a workshop/storage area, and a large (17×20) finished area that we’ve not yet decided what to do with. It has a tile floor and plaster walls, and might make a good recreation or play room.

If we had one complaint, it would be the size of the bedrooms. The main-floor master is only 13×9, and the two upstairs bedrooms are only 9×9. That said, the rest of the house has so much room, that we can use the bedrooms as just bedrooms.

The breakfast room opens onto a small porch, with steps down to a nice, slab patio.

In addition to all the room in the house, the property has a very nice, fenced backyard with plenty of trees, and even a small shed.

We’re incredibly excited to be making this step! If all goes according to plan, we will close Feb. 15th – which will give us two weeks to get moved out of the apartment and get it cleaned. Keep us in your prayers!

We might be; today we put in an offer on a house in Saint Ann:

Photo taken from listing

We should hear back tomorrow on our initial offer. Wish us luck! (More accurately, pray that our offer is accepted, or that we can come to a mutual agreement.)

How’s everyone dealing with the little winter storm that is coming through the midwest? We’re expected to see a total of 6-8 inches of snow.

Oh, and we have no water.

We apparently had a water main break here at the apartment complex. I called the emergency maintenance number about an hour and a half ago to report a sharp decrease in water pressure. I was told that I would get a call back from maintenance, but never did. So, I just called back, and was told about the water main break, and that it would take maintenance 8-10 hours to fix.

Good thing we keep plenty of water in the apartment. Of course, I really don’t appreciate not getting a call-back on the issue, considering the winter storm we’re undergoing.

UPDATE: Our water has been restored.

I am often asked what my job – validation – entails, which is somewhat difficult for anyone not familiar with FDA-regulated industry.

Well, perhaps this AutomationWorld magazine article will help enlighten just a little bit, at least with respect to one aspect of my job. The article interviews and profiles yours truly, with regard to my (and my company’s) use of wireless technologies for environmental monitoring and testing:

KV Pharmaceutical is turning to wireless mesh networking technology as a way to save money, while reliably meeting regulatory requirements for temperature and humidity monitoring.

As a manufacturer of generic and branded drugs using proprietary drug delivery systems such as time-release and site-release processes, St. Louis-based KV Pharmaceutical Co. is subject to plenty of federal regulation.

“Being in a regulated industry, we’re required to do environmental monitoring for temperature, relative humidity and that kind of thing. We’re required to monitor those things and record them, so that we can present those data to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) if requested,” notes Chip Bennett, validation specialist at the company.

Read the rest, if you’re interested. Enjoy!

Family picture taken at Grant’s Farm
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.

Since the weather this past weekend was so absolutely amazing, we decided to get out to enjoy it as much as possible.

Saturday afternoon, we checked out another of Hazelwood’s many parks; this one was Howdershell Park, about five minutes away. We then decided to go see Grant’s Farm, but by the time we got there, it was just past closing time.

So Sunday afternoon, we decided to try again; this time getting there around 1:30, giving us plenty of time to look around.

The Grant’s Farm experience begins with a tram ride through the Deer Park. Of the myriad wildlife living in the Deer Park, we had the unusual pleasure of seeing the critically endangered, Chinese-origin Pere David Deer swimming in the creek over which the covered bridge traverses:

Pere David Deer swimming in the creek
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.

The tram drops off at the new Excursions building, entering into the main park. Since Lily is still too young to appreciate the more kid-friendly things such as feeding the goat kids, we decided just to wander around and see the various animals on display, such as the elephants and bald eagles:

Bald Eagle at Grant’s Farm
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.

We made a stop in the Bauernhof to get something to drink, and to heat up Lily’s bottle, and decided to see the upcoming Elephant Education Show. Unfortunately, Lily decided that she was getting hot and tired, and that she had just about had enough for the day (and was probably bothered by the more noisy crowds by the Elephant Amphitheater), so we decided to head toward the parking lot and the Label Stable, home of the famous Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales.

Clydesdales and foals at Grant’s Farm Label Stable.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.

By the time we wandered through the stable and corrals and back to the parking lot and the car, Lily had fallen asleep. We carefully put her back into the car and made our way home, having very much enjoyed our first family outing to Grant’s Farm!

When I woke up this morning, Stephanie alerted me to reports of a Peanut Butter recall – one that particularly impacted Missouri/Saint Louis. The recall was issued due to a suspected link between the peanut butter and a widespread salmonella outbreak, and includes Peter Pan and GreatValu peanut butter packaged by ConAgra, with lot numbers starting with “2111″ stamped on the product lid – such as this one, that I just bought:

The jar of peanut butter that we just bought was included in the recall of ConAgra-packaged Peter Pan and GreatValu peanut butter with lot numbers starting with "2111".
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.

I returned it today, but of course, that didn’t do anything to help the jar I just threw away that also had a lot number starting with “2111″ – which means I fed a whole jar of possibly salmonella-contaminated peanut butter to Steph…

Saint Louis was hit with another minor winter storm over the weekend. Almost 100,000 people lost power this time around, though we only saw our lights flicker a few times. However, we didn’t escape unscathed. I woke up Saturday morning to a slight bulge and minor crack surrounded by water damage in the living room ceiling. I had hoped that we wouldn’t get any more precipitation, and the damage would hold until Monday morning. Unfortunately, Sunday night’s rains had other ideas:

Ceiling leak caused by roof leak, due to January 2007 freezing rain/ice storm. (Entire Set)
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.

I am extremely happy and relieved to announce that we now have our own home! Due to everything going on, we decided to put off buying a house a while longer so that we could concentrate on preparing for the baby in the spring. So, I found a 2BD/2BA apartment less than 10 miles from the office, at Hazelwood Forest. Not only will my commute to work go from about 45 minutes down to about 10, but trips to Indy and Cincy will be much easier as well, since we can just cross the I-270 Chain of Rocks bridge, rather than deal with downtown traffic and the Poplar Street Bridge.

Here is a layout of what should be a very decently-sized home for us, our two cats, and our soon-to-arrive baby:

2 bedroom, 2 bath, 970 sq. ft.
Image by Hazelwood Forest Apartments

We moved into our new home Saturday, November 18^th. Our extreme gratitude goes out to my parents, who not only brought us a washer, dryer, kitchen table and chairs, and lots of decoration; but also spent two days helping us get moved. Trekking all of our (mostly, my) stuff up to the third floor certainly wasn’t easy; but it would have been impossible without my dad’s help.

Now, we’re trying to get everything unpacked, in place, and organized – a job that will likely go on for several weeks. Most importantly, though, I have the living room and kitchen mostly done, and have the DSL connection set up. After more than three years of broadcast-only television, I decided to get a basic cable package, so Stephanie would have more options. (I must admit, I’m already hooked on Top Chef.)

Steph and I had a busy weekend. We left Friday evening for Rose-Hulman’s Homecoming weekend. As in previous years, accomodations were a tent on the grounds of the fraternity house. Activities included the Pep Rally and Bonfire Friday night, followed by the annual Alpha Chi Sigma alumni dinner at Applebee’s, and then another bonfire at the Pike house. Saturday, we visited the Chemical Engineering department open house, then joined the Rose Chorus to sing the national anthem before the football game, complete with F-16 flyover from the local air national guard unit. The game included copious amounts of roasted pig. Later that evening was the annual Pi Kappa Alpha actives-vs-alumni softball game at the IM fields, which spawned a pickup game of actives-vs-alumni football – and, of course, more food: grilled burgers and brats. Afterward, we had more bonfire action at the house. Sunday morning we had the annual Pike alumni association meeting on campus. After lunch, Steph and I headed back toward Saint Louis.

Homecoming 2006 Photo Set
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.

Of course, on the way home, Steph and I took a detour to Hidden Lake Winery in Aviston, IL, for a wedding. Two friends from college were getting married on a gorgeous Fall afternoon.

Colleen’s Wedding Photo Set
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.

Democrats’ worst post-Labor-Day nightmare, Part I:

Gas Prices in the St. Louis area fall below $2.00. Here is the gas station nearest my house.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.

Great timing, Claire [emphasis added]:

“Considering that Jim Talent thinks giving tax breaks to oil companies raking in record profits is the best way to lower gas prices, it’s difficult to see how keeping him in the Senate will result in cheaper prices at the pump,” DSCC spokesman Phil Singer said. “Claire McCaskill thinks it makes more sense to eliminate those tax breaks so that we can invest in alternative energy sources like ethanol. That’s the kind of change that’s needed to deal with the record gas prices.”

Yesterday I received some tragic news: a friend of mine from Michigan was killed in a car accident near Saint Louis, on her way to a Joyce Meyer conference. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that the driver who crashed into their van was drunk.

I knew Sara through our church: Kalamazoo Valley Family Church. She was one of the team members on my mission trip to England in 2002, right before I moved to Saint Louis.

I know that Sara is in a better place now, and that God has a plan to work out even such tragedy for good. But it is still difficult to cope with the lamentable loss of the life of such a wonderful person, especially considering that once again such woe could have been avoided entirely if one less person had chosen to drink and drive.

Last night, I attended the Christians Against Human Cloning Rally, held at Life Christian Church and sponsored by Vision America/Missourians for Truth. Speakers included Shao-Chun Chang (professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis), Charles Drury (Hotel Developer), Archbishop Raymond Burke, Rich Bott (executive vice president, Bott Radio Network), Rick Scarborough (President, Vision America), Phyllis Schlafly (Founder and President, Eagle Forum), and Alan Keyes.

Some notable quotes:

“It is wrong to create human life for the purpose of destroying that life.”

— Archbishop Raymond Burke

“The most fundamental premise of our nation is not that we have rights, but that our rights come from God.”

— Dr. Alan Keyes

(Pictures will be available soon.)

UPDATE: See the Flickr photoset for the rally.

Christians Against Human Cloning Rally, Life Christian Church, Saint Louis, 28 August 2006
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.

The Post-Dispatch covered the rally. Below are some excerpts from the article.

(St. Loius Archbiship Raymond) Burke, head of the St. Louis Roman Catholic archdiocese, joined other regional and national religious conservatives – from Eagle Forum founder Phyllis Schlafly to commentator Alan Keyes – who addressed hundreds who packed the sanctuary at the Life Christian Church, 13001 Gravois Road in south St. Louis County.

“Hundreds“? My estimation was more like 2,000. I was in the balcony, and couldn’t see the entire floor seating area. The Cape Girardeau rally had 300, and gauging by the photo, we had as many in the balcony seating, alone.

(I just called the church to inquire about estimated attendance. Though I didn’t get an actual number, I was informed that the rally was believed to be essentially a “full house”, and the church sanctuary/auditorium holds between 3,000 and 4,000 people. I know the balcony wasn’t entirely full, but the floor seating was.)

Back to the article:

In a telephone interview, (chairman of the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures Donn) Rubin contended that it was the opponents who were spreading untruths. Otherwise, he said, the Cures Coalition wouldn’t have support from more than 100 groups, including research centers, health care groups and patient groups.

We’ll see the most fundamental of your untruths, a couple paragraphs below. And it’s about time I parsed your “factsheet” as well, since every single point listed is a mistruth at best, or a bald-faced lie at worst.

Critics, said Rubin, are “inventing wild claims to distract the public from what we’re really voting on – the right of Missourians to obtain the same medical treatments available in other states.”

The “medical treatments” canard is nothing but a “wild [claim] to distract the public from what we’re really voting on.” Missouri’s access to medical treatments available in other states has never been in question, and likely will never be in question. In the far-off (and, in all reality, unlikely) event that a human treatment derived from embryonic stem cells ever becomes available, the location of the research into that treatment will not determine the location of the application of such a treatment. The availability of such a treatment will depend only upon the availability of access to the stem cell line from which such treatment was developed.

At the rally, opponents emphasized that much of the debate centers on a procedure known as somatic cell nuclear transfer, or therapeutic cloning.

Under that procedure, the nucleus of an unfertilized human egg is replaced with the nucleus of another human cell. Opponents say it is a form of human cloning and cite the use of the procedure to clone Dolly the sheep. The Lifesaving Cures Coalition says the procedure is not cloning and cites the proposed amendment’s specific ban against implanting such an egg in a womb.

And here it is: the number one, most fundamental, outright, bald-faced lie of the Coalition. By definition Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) is cloning; cloning is SCNT. The two terms are interchangeable.

In genetics, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a technique for cloning.

…

This technique is currently the basis for cloning animals, such as the famous Dolly the sheep, and could theoretically be used to clone humans. Scientists at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute are currently researching a technique to use somatic cell nuclear transfer to produce embryonic stem cells.

For human cells, no other method exists as a viable means of cloning.

Even your own supporters recognize and admit this truth. From your own website:

Let us freely admit that the procedure used to produce human stem cells for research is cloning, but not in any way part of a process for creating human babies. The distinction should be clear.

The distinction is clear, but it is also irrelevant. Your Coalition is promoting Amendment 2, specifically stating that the amendment “bans human cloning” – yet, you never reveal that the amendment uses a conjured definition of “cloning” not recognized anywhere else, nor do you point out that the amendment actually prohibits the banning of human cloning – that is, cloning according to the proper usage of the term.

So, which side is it, again, using distractions and spreading untruths?

Back to the article:

Scarborough said the number of Missouri rallies would depend on how much money can be raised to pay for them. So far, each rally has cost close to $20,000. That includes Keyes’ speaking fee of $2,500.

The Lifesaving Cures’ leaders point to the payments as evidence that Keyes and Scarborough may have financial motives. Scarborough said he was offended by such talk, and added that Keyes’ payment was a fraction of his usual speaking fee.

Let’s compare rallies, shall we?

How much do you want to wager that the Coalition Rally held at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City, with its Hollywood glitz, busloads of “hundreds” (er, make that, about 150) attendees from across the state, red-carpet treatment of speakers, and applause cues cost more than the Christians Against Human Cloning rallies? To wit (emphasis added):

From their state-of-the-art audio/visual equipment to the busloads of backers brought to town from across the state, it was clear supporters of an effort to amend Missouri’s constitution to protect embryonic stem cell research spared no expense at a Monday morning campaign kickoff rally.

With an audience of nearly 150 proponents at the Capitol Plaza Hotel prompted to applaud on cue and a podium of speakers from the political to the poignant, the rally in favor of the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative had the look and feel of a television talk show.

Are you going to imply, with a straight face, that all of the Coalition’s speakers are speaking without compensation? Further, what of the over ten million dollars in Coalition support from the Stowers Institute? Would you actually lead to believe that this investment is made without an expectation of a return? Follow the money, indeed!

See also: LifeNews coverage.

Good news for my parents, since they are currently looking for a home in Indy, now that they have retired (emphasis added):

The Indianapolis area had the most affordable housing among major metro areas in the second quarter, according to the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo.

…

Eighty-seven percent of Indianapolis-area homes were considered affordable for families earning the region’s median household income of $65,100.

Here are the ‘06 Q2 report, and official press release for the NAHB-Wells Fargo HOI:

In the nation’s most affordable major housing market of Indianapolis, 87.4 percent of homes sold in the second quarter were affordable to families earning the area’s median household income of $65,100. The median sales price of all homes sold in Indianapolis during that time was $120,000, which is up from $113,000 in the previous quarter and equivalent to the median sales price for Indianapolis homes sold in the final quarter of 2005.

Interestingly, Saint Louis isn’t all that far behind: the median house price is $127,000, which is affordable for 79.1% of the population, at a median income of $65,800.

Another note: I apparently missed a golden opportunity to buy a house, as housing prices plummeted in 06Q1, and then recovered in Q2.

My church, Destiny Church of Saint Louis, is featured this week as the 700 Club’s Church of the Week:

Destiny Church of St. Louis provides ways to get their members involved in evangelism.

…

For making a difference in St. Louis and throughout the world, The 700 Club commends Destiny Church in St. Louis, Missouri.

The articles quotes my pastor (and occasional tennis partner) Jim Stern and my friends Alicia and Nikki, and references the church’s Serve St. Loius efforts, including sending care packages to troops in Iraq and pillows to children at a local hospital.

Tonight I’m at the Crave Coffeehouse, just off of the SLU campus, for the Saint Louis Songwriters’ group songwriters’ showcase. Neat venue for a coffeehouse:

Photo © Crave Coffeehouse

Photo © Crave Coffeehouse

My friend Christina is one of the songwriters performing tonight.

While today saw more deadly storms raging across the Saint Louis area, sparks were flying inside my apartment.

I noticed this morning that my lights and power were flickering. The problem seemed to get worse toward the late afternoon, when a power spike fried three of my surge protectors and took out the GFI outlet in my bathroom. Inside the breaker panel, I found sparking and arcing going on at the common line – an indicator of a short somewhere.

I tried isolating the short by systematically turning off each breaker in turn, but could not find a specific culprit. So, right now, I’ve got all the breakers off, except the essentials: the breaker with the refrigerator, and one with the bedroom outlet with my alarm clock. (The laptop is running on battery power right now.)

Worse yet, nobody was answering the emergency maintenance line for the apartment complex. I’m pretty sure I’ve mitigated any risk of an electrical fire tonight, and hopefully someone can get over first thing tomorrow to find out the problem.

Surely, if we can even discuss whether burning the American flag is a form of protected political expression (not speech), then a church building a cross must be protected religious exercise.

When it comes to tony Town and Country, some residents like to say there’s an understated character in the city.

So imagine the response in this enclave of million-dollar homes and manicured estates when a church proposed building an illuminated cross on its grounds adjacent to Highway 40. And not just any cross. This one would be made of glass and steel, soaring 99 feet into the air – a height equivalent to five streetlights stacked on top of each other.

…

He claimed that when the church first approached the city with its intention to erect the cross, the city had no such height restrictions, but added them soon after. He called that “an effort to erect obstacles to the exercise of our rights of religious freedom.”

Hey Town and Country, remember this pesky little line?

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

I’m sure you do so hate it when the Constitution gets in the way…

Unfortunately, no-go on Plan A. One of the matching offers was for cash – not really any chance of besting a buyer like that. So, on to Plan B!

Plan B is also in Saint Ann, so it may be just as fast-and-furious.

I must say, as a first-time homebuyer, this is quite an interesting learning experience!

After renting for three and a half years since moving to Saint Louis, the time may have come for me to venture into home ownership. Pre-approval has been acquired, and an offer made on this 2-bedroom house in Saint Ann:

10513 Saint Francis Lane, Saint Ann, MO, 63074-3407
Photo © Prudential Alliance, all rights reserved.

Within walking distance of Tiemeyer Park and only 6.2 miles from my office:

Driving directions from 10513 Saint Frances Lane to 13910 St. Charles Rock Rd.
Image © Yahoo! Maps, all rights reserved.

Mine is one of three offers, and the house has only been on the market since Monday. Things are progressing fast-and-furiously today, so I should know today or tomorrow if my offer will be accepted.