Japanese Gift Exchange

As I might have said before I made a friend at the rakugo event in Chicago back in June named Asakichi-san. Well the other day we both got done with do a gift exchange over the mail. He sent me two containers. First one with Matcha (Powdered Green Tea - MY FAVORITE) and the other with dried green tea leaves made by his grandparent who grows green tea. He sent his on Oct 30th and I received it Nov 10th. I sent mine on the 17th and he got it on Nov 22nd. It was a bummer though that he spent about $7 to send one to me but mine which was about the same weight and size and cost me $22 to send. The idiots at the UPS store said it would cost $120 to send by them. It did not even say that on there website. Oh, yeah I sent him a 1lb bag of Dunkin' Donuts Coffee, 1lb box of Fannie May Choclate Assortment with the chicago skyline printed on the box and couple American Flags I picked up for only a few cents each. He sent me and e-mail saying the choclate was already gone and he loved the coffee. He has become a great connection for the future when I go the Japan, He might make a great Tour Guide.

Blockbuster Inventory

I just though I would post some information on last nights inventory
[Speed Results]
Me 3415 Items at 26 per minute
Brittany 2244 Items at 17 per minute
Adrien 1715 Items at 15 per minute
Jermain but did not get a chance to write down his results.

We were there from 10:00am to 2:15am
Still have tonight

Yesterday during church my pastor was talking about three transitions of change and he just mentioned the word ask god what job you should be looking for. Then It me that even if I'm praying for a job I'm searching in the wrong place. Then I realized I'm trying to leave Blockbuster not stay. I do not what to transfer to another store so here is what I'm going to do. I asked last night that if I can transfer to a different department in Blockbuster such as Scanning, IT and and well HHHMMMMMM Well she said she would find out for me whats available.

Sayonara for now

Black Friday

TODAY WAS THE DAY. My Dad, Brother and Me went to grab some Black Friday Deals. My dad wanted the $128 Blu-ray player from Wal-mart and I wanted the 32" AOC LCD from RadioShack. First we went to Wal-Mart and were hunting everywhere for the players and they said they had 20-so in stock and only 6 were behind the electronics counter. They did something diffrent this year I though made things easier. First they had almost 1000% more in stock and more products then best buy usually has. The store was already open and they had the big ticket items on a pallets with black plastic wrapping and people stood around the pallets and had to wait for 5am. I think this was better then tickets for items because some people would get 10 tickets. but in this setup they could get about one item because they had to wait at the pallet. The lady at the counter gave us the blu-ray player 8 minutes early.

Then we went to RadioShack and got my TV. The 32" Wal-mart had was regulay $499.99 was on sale for $388 but one Radioshack had was regulay $599.99 and was on sale for $399.99 it had some better features and the brand had much better reviews then the other. Also all the Wal-mart TV were gone in 5 minutes but the Radioshack had less in stock but lasted longer. Some people at Wal-mart were waiting since the night before. I got at Radioshack at 5:15am and was the first in line.

Last night I learned that Gwen my manager is leaving our store next Friday. She will going to a store in Chicago. because.........................my store is closing on January 11th, 2009. I think I might be a curse because so far me last two long term job they ended up closing the store......HAHAHAHA!!!!! Last day to rent Jan 4th and I volunteered to stay till the vary end packing up products and shipping out. I hope I can quit at that point and find something better.

We are doing one last inventory Sunday and Monday.

Laminin

Tonight was our first night of Home Group and we watched a teaching on DVD by Andy Stanley where he talked about how big GOD really is. And in the end told a story about a man who was some medical guy who told him to go home and look up laminin a protein in the human body.

If anyone noticed it is shaped like the cross. GOD is in the BIGGEST of things and the smallest of things. Its funny that a lot of sites (EX: Wikipedia) do not show a picture of laminin or morph the picture. Make you think they do it on purpose. Here is Wikipedia's description of laminin.

Laminin is a protein found in the extracellular matrix, the sheets of protein that form the substrate of all internal organs also called the basement membrane. It is the major non-collagenous component of the basal lamina, such as those on which cells of an epithelium sit.^[1] It has four arms that can bind to four other molecules. The three shorter arms are particularly good at binding to other laminin molecules, which is what makes it so great at forming sheets. The long arm is capable of binding to cells, which helps anchor the actual organs to the membrane.

The laminin protein is made up of three separate parts, called the A, B1, and B2 chains. That gives it a total of six "ends", which accounts for a lot of its flexibility in connecting up various kinds of molecules. Because of this, scientists who create biomaterials are extremely interested in the whole family of laminins^{[citation needed]}. They are a family of glycoproteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding in almost every animal tissue. Laminins are secreted and incorporated into cell-associated extracellular matrices.

Laminin is vital to making sure overall body structures hold together. Improper production of laminin can cause muscles to form improperly, leading to a form of muscular dystrophy. It can also cause progeria.

Obama Online

Funny video of obama using his computer.
(Bummer he is using a Macintosh. I love Macs)
Sarah Palin for President 2012

Nick Movie

So, I just got done watching the premiere of the nick movie "iCarly: iGo to Japan". I don't usually watch that show but because of the theme of movie I did. I would like to say it was not terrible. It needed to be more accurate tough. First mistake was the steering wheel was on the wrong side in all vehicles including driving on wrong side of the road. (That can be fixed by just flipping the image.) You can tell they recorded the movie here in America. I give it a 3 out of 10.

Watch their sneak peek here:

We are so screwed!!!

So the other day we elected our next president of United States of America, Barack Husan Obama. So get ready for higher taxes and losing the war. I'm just glad he did not get a filler buster proof senate. This will keep him from going mad with power. But I always told people who did not like George W. Bush Jr. that they need to respect him even if they don't like him and that is what I'm going to do, even if it is MR. B.O.

Holloween Night

Well as I said early early this morning in a previous post. I wore my kimono at work and it was a huge success. I showed up and Gwen (My Store Manager) loved it. About 10-20 people though I dressed as a Samurai. I was aiming for that but I was unable to get a Katana (Japanese Sword) (Real or Fake) in time. Gwen was a Angel and Brittany (Key Holder) was a Devil. (-:

Also tonight I learned something very important. my blockbuster store is closing January 11th. But before I start banging my head on the keyboard. This might be what I need to push me to another job. rvgtfhrftb4ujymh I don't know if this is good thing or bad. I think I will pro sue the Geek Squad Job a little bit more.

Sayonara,
Joel Greene

,eelty,345y.,BANGwm6l;khm.e4 mwHEAD45.6hmw3ey/ONw4.,ymwsdnenl rln5hwgjbgKEYBOARDj,bgleubbadtg................................................

In 2007

In 2007

Whats New?

So, there is not much to update people on. Just some small changes. Yesterday I changed my hosting server from hostdime to inmotion hosting. I had to start paying a bit more but it might be worth it since hostdime in the beginning was great but now they are really getting at me. First they changed some PHP configuration on me and disabled a ton of handy features with PHP. (Sorry to the illiterate people who don't know technical computer terms) and the other day I created a new site using the mediawiki kit (FYI. Wikipedia Base System) But with the PHP limitation gave it some problems. I e-mailed them about it and they said in my translation "To Bad". they said put a PHP.ini file in each folder and website I am hosting to fix the problem, well thats fine and dandy but I have at least 30 domains with about 10 folders each (30 x 10 = 300 copys of PHP.ini) So forget them I switched to this new hosting service and got a VPS (Virtual Private Server). I would explain but it would be easier for the non-geeks to goto wikipedia and search for "VPS"...

Well today (being 2:30 in the morning) is holloween. Tonight I am wearing my yukata to work as a dress up. I showed pictures to our Asistant Manager and he loved it so much he wanted me to wear it. yet hes on vacation for the weekend, to bad. I can't wait till tonight but then I got a meeting and closing on saturday. I think tomarrow I will tell Gwen that I'm no longer available for Fridays but I hope that dose not mean she will start sceduling me for sundays tough I hate working weekends and sundays at BB with a vengence surtenly when its two or more nights in a row. One time I had to work Friday, Saturday and Sunday in a row. I hated it. Well I am glad our BB is only open till midnight on friday and saturday but 10pm on all other nights.


So there is one new thing going on. My dad and I our starting a business called Greenetree Surveillance Systems we install surveillance cameras. In reality it was started last year in September but we had no other work until early this month. First we redid are first job because the first people moved to a new location. then he recommended someone else to us almost an hour north of us. My dad made a comment that our jobs are getting farther and farther away because the our next job is almost 3 hours away. We might just go for a full day and then stay in a hotel. So our current job is not bad but is sort of bend in the neck. First it has took almost 4 weeks on and off to complete the job. My dad and I were both going to make $700.00 each but now because of the guy he has delayed our final payment til Friday since we finished on Tuesday. I'm thinking hello our contract says upon completion. At first my dad had me put a password on there system and told the guy until he pays us we will hold on to the password. then the guy though a fit and said that us putting a password is very unprofessional and I am thinking "yeah, and not paying is unprofessional". My dad gave in and he had me take the password off. He needed to hold his ground. I wish he did.
My mom today pointed out that I am having favor with my job, money and people. Like the other day my dad asked me to get Thanksgiving off so me and him can wait in line for the HOT FRIDAY (BLACK FRIDAY to some retailers) specials. I asked my boss and she said all employees are required to work either Thanksgiving or Christmas Day. But I said I have something to do Thanksgiving but I don't want to work Christmas (NEVER CHRISTMAS!!!) and she said since I am like her senior employee she would make an exception and I don't have to work either. (Thank you god.) And I have been late a few times also I only started in Nov '07 So I am no senior and there are many other employees working their longer then me. I thank god for what he has done and will continue to do. I don't work as much as I should and I am being blessed with money. I'm being quite faithful with my tithes and I'm scared to stop or miss one because I would bring misfortune to me because of it somewhere down the road.

Well we are only 5 days away from the US Presidental Election. And I going to be very outright forward. I HOPE AND PRAY JOHN MCCAIN WINS. (Sue me!!! I don't care.) If he dose not this contry will become socalist in no time at all and I would say it will mark the END DAYS for sure. Think of it the bible talks of people being blind of the last days and look at how many people think Barack Husan Obama is just wonderful.

Well I can see I am sort of blabbing away. Good Bye for Now.

Sayonara,
ジョエル グリイン (Joel Greene)

P.S. Also nothing new with Japan no answers from anyone. But I am more passionite about it then ever before. If anyone has incurragement for me please comment it here.

Small Updates

Well its been almost a month since I posted. I got a answer from Applied Systems. They told me I was not qualified for the position. SHOOT!!!. Well I have had several people tell me I should work for Geek Squad at Best Buy. Well I never wanted to support people who take so much advantage on customers by inflating their prices to ridicules amounts. You know its over a hundred bucks just for them to show up. But I guess I have no other choice. I found out from my old co-worker from Radioshack in Hazel Crest. He know that a guy named "Jon Smith" has become the Hiring Manager of Best Buy Mobile the Cellular Department of Best Buy. And maybe he could get me into Geek Squad easily. I'm going to visit him tomorrow (Tuesday). I also bought me my second kimono today this time in Black. I also bought a couple of weeks ago the undergarment for my kimono. Now I just need yo get my obi 100% correct and I will be set. Hoping to hear from City of Osaka soon so I can get involved another event. This time I will wear my kimono for sure.

And today I got an estimate on getting my convertible top fixed. about $1300 altogether. $155.00 to replace my hoses. $1000 to replace the whole top. $205 to replace to latches.

Job

Well I finally got my resume into Applied Systems and got a call to come in and take the placement test about 1 week ago. I went in and I was told they would get back with me in 2 weeks. I really need to get that job. I'm going to give them till next Tuesday then I'm going to attempt to get a job in downtown Chicago. Someone I used to work with at Walt's Food Center named "Debbie" has a son who is a lot like me. He haves a ability and passion for computers. She said he got a job as a Computer Consultant downtown.

This week I am working every night at Blockbuster. Last night was part 2 of our inventory. Last Wednesday we were done at 1:30am but last night we got done at 3:30am.

ジョエル　わ　まいにち　はたらいている わが　つくりて　を　みている。

さいばら、
　　ジョエル

Return from 12 Day Florida Vacation

Konbanwa,

SO I HAVE OFFICIALLY RETURNED.

I just got off the plane about 3 hours ago. Florida was very interesting. It was great weather and the last couple days we had below 80 degree weather with very low humidity. We return right before Hurricane Ike hits.

We were at my Grandparents Late Aug 26th thru Sep 1st. Then we went to Orange Lake in Orlando thru today (Sep 6th).


Awesome Resort/Timeshare. I suggest you check out it place first next time you are in Orlando, Florida. On tuesday (Sep 2nd) My Parents, Grandma Dot and Me went to a YWAM Orlando church service for staff members where guest were welcome. The service title was "Patience". It's hard to admit but that was targeted to me. I need patience for this dream of Japan. I got to talk to Barbra and her husband face-to-face and I got so many answers and information. Her husband is the IT guy for there Orlando Base. I saw there base and it was amazing.

(TRUTH TIME)
I got have a good talk with my Dad over my dream. I have relized how many people don't trust me that I will carry out my dream. My dad told me about several people who told him that. Which it makes me upset to not be treated like an Adult. I fell like when people do that they are underminding me. I do understand my dad is still in authority but it would be nice if people would tell me to. One concern I've received from friends and family is if I go to Japan and not like it or come home early well if that is what happen then "I WILL KICK MY SELF SO HARD MY CHRILDREN WILL FEEL IT!!!". My dad pointed out that people will not be interested in suppoting me if I can't prove my passion. And he said I NEED to take my two week or more trip to Japan (costing about $3,000 dollars) and paying for it and the lecture part of DTS my self. Because DTS is a schooling (You even get college credits for taking it.). Starting monday I am going to try to get a new JOB harder then before. In order to make the money by next year I need to get a job paying about $600-$700 a paycheck (even if its seperate jobs combined to make that.) I need to get out of Blackbuster because I go to work and get SO STRESSED!!! (I think thats one reson I can't lose weight and I'm affraid I'm going to go bald if it continues like this.)

PLEASE. PLEASE. PLEASE. Pray for me and ask GOD to show me the way.

As a update to some I really don't know why I care so much about Japan. But I can't get it off my mind. People ask me what I like about Japan but I can't answer because I don't know...
Hope to upload some pictures and video soon from the trip.
I return to work on Monday (Sep 8th).

Sayonara,
- Joel Greene

Update

Just though I would post a quick update. My family and I are about 1.5 weeks from our 12 day vacation to Florida for my Parents 25th and Grand Parents 50th Anniversary. We will be flying out Tuesday (8/26) Afternoon. It's an interesting story about these tickets. My dad won these tickets from Wendy's collect 64 cups and get a plane ticket promotion a couple of years ago. He never thought he would get these tickets. He was at Wendy's one day looked in the trash and saw about 10 cups. So for the next three four days he went dumpster diving. When he was done he had earned enough cups to send the whole family anywhere Airtran Airways fly's for free plus TAX.


I talked to Barbra at YWAM Orlando and next week someone will call me and schedule a tour of YWAM Orlando when we are in Florida. I hate going so long with out talking to people I know. I have not been able to get a hold of Josh who suppose ably is working for YWAM. Shamin has not logged on mySpace since 6/25. If I have not mentioned Shamin before she lives in Tokyo, Japan and I met her on mySpace earlier this year. She is christian and attends chruch. She said her church works with YWAM. Also Maria and Sandy have not replyed to any of my e-mails.

- Joel Timothy Greene

New Info

Well today it's official I received my passport. I have taken the first big step to going to Japan.

Last Sunday (8/3/08) I found out from Jacob Davis at my church that someone named Josh Topper (A long time friend of mine.) is in Florida working with YWAM. I was amazed because I no idea. I have been trying to call him all week. Hopeful I get a hold of him soon.

My friend Luke recommended a book to me called "In a pit with a lion on a snowy day" by Mark Batterson. It's based on a verus in the Bible about Davids Strongest Soldier who chased a lion into a pit and jump head first after it. It teaches to jump head first into Hugh Opportunity and trust GOD will carry you though. For me that would be raising $10,000.00 for DTS.

Not that I believe in Fortune Cookies but today to went to a Chinese restaurant and my fortune cookie said "Your problem will be better next month". I'm not sure if this should be good news or bad news...

Monday at about 8pm we had huge summer storm. We lost power for almost 2 days. Half of Hazel Crest, Homewood and Lansing lost power. Here is some of the Pictures of the damage to our power poles. (Sorry for the quality. Was using my cell phone.)

YWAM Update

I got two more e-mail from YWAM in Japan. One from Maria McDaniel in Tokyo and the other from Sandy Gibbard from Japan National Office. I liked Maria's e-mail. she gave me a breakdown of what it would take to join there staff and live there. I would need to come up with about (estimate only) $700 per month during my stay taking DTS. It looks like the next possible available time for them would be April, 09.

Now for Sandy. She said there is only two people in there National Office. Chiori Kawamoto is there Office Manager. Sandy lives in a Small Appartment and Chiori-san lives with her monther. She said untill now they have not had anyone volunteer from overseas except short-term teams. Also they have part-time volunteers help in the office but they live in Tokyo and did not need housing. If I come on a very short trip to see Japan. She said I might be able to stay with some DTS Leaders a few days. She said also they need a letter from my church saying that they send me out to work with YWAM as a missionary in Japan.

As for Language Classes she said there was some weekly free classes offered by many city goverments.

I would incurrage anyone reading this to pray for YWAM Tokyo to find a place with all the fixings (Coffee Shops, English Classes, Concerts, Artistic Presentations and etc)

Like I said above I will need about $700.00 dollars per month to live in Japan plus $4600.00 for DTS admission, so I would like to request if any of my friends or family are reading this blog to let me know if you would be interested in supporting me financially one time or commitment once the time comes. Also I need people to pray for me and ask god to remove the barriers in my way.

Joel Greene

Beach Today

Today we went to the beach in Indiana. The water was nice. it had to be in the low 70's. Oh, It was Me, My Sister and her friend (Anna Ullrich) who went. We had a lot of fun.

We got there around 11:30am and left 4:30pm. We all got quiet tan.

YWAM Update

On July 7th I received an e-mail from Maria McDaniel. In reply to my inquiry on a trip to Japan. Well she said DTS is going to be a requirement to join the staff but in the mean time I can volunteer. It makes me wonder what is the difference between Staff and Volunteering? Do the Staff get paid or don't have to worry about some expenses. What? She gave me some information about what is going on in YWAM Tokyo. So I'm going to copy her e-mail here

<-- Original E-mail -->
Dear Joel,

My name is Mara McDaniel and I am the Registrar for new students and staff here in Tokyo. Thank you for your letter. I am excited to hear about your heart for Japan, and we would be happy to a resource for you as you continue to pursue the possibility of coming here.
Somehow your inquiry has been missed, and so I want to apologize for the delay in our reply. I'm sorry about that.

If you don't mind, I will share a bit of information and history of what is happening with our particular operating location in the Tokyo area.

I don't want to repeat a lot of information you already know, so forgive me if I do. YWAM's basic structure is that we do evangelism, mercy ministry, and training. The variety of ministries that can be done within those categories is unlimited, and YWAM encourages people to dream with God and serve Him in the area of their passions, skills, creativity, etc. In order to serve as a staff with us, you must go take the Discipleship Training School which is normally 5 months in length, 3 months of lecture, and 2 months of outreach. After successful completion of DTS, you can apply to any operating location in the world.

So please write back and let me know if you have taken DTS at this point. If so, I can send you a staff application. If you haven't and want to work with YWAM in Japan, then the school would be the first step. Our next DTS will be next year, but the starting date is not yet set. It could be as early as April (09) or possibly in summer. I'd be happy to send the student application. Or you could also do DTS in any of our base locations world wide.

If you haven't done DTS and don't feel led that direction, you could possibly come short term as a volunteer as well, as you mentioned in your letter. If that still interests you, we could discuss possibilities.

Regarding ministry, let me give you a little background. Up until 6 months ago, YWAM's base in this area was located in a suburb 1.5 hours by train outside Tokyo. That building was recently demolished, and our homeless group took the opportunity to pursue our dream of moving into the heart of the city. Tokyo is super expensive, but the Lord has provided housing for each of our small staff team (some permanent - like our family - and others are just in temporary housing). We still have no base, and so we rented a big house for the DTS. But after DTS, we will again be homeless as a ministry.

We have had a number of staff apply, and we believe the Lord has a plan for housing and a space to do ministry. But basically we are praying and standing in faith for this. We believe that the Lord has moved us into the city at this time for a reason. We have a sense of momentum, and we believe that amazing things are on the horizon. Currently we are serving in various areas individually and as a group. Together we do evangelism, worship, intercession, and DTS. Individually, people are very involved in various churches and ministries, such as homeless ministry, children's ministry, worship seminars, and youth ministry (You would be welcome to get involved in any of these).

We are really praying into what our next steps should be after DTS ends. As our time frees up again, and we don't have the next DTS until April '09 at the earliest, we can really put some time into what God's heart and strategy are for us. We will likely pray into more creative ways to do evangelism, and we hope to use more music and arts as well. Some of the direction may be determined by the type of base the Lord provides (it's location and features). We have big dreams of coffee shops, English lessons (and other ways of meeting people), hosting concerts and other artistic presentations, etc, if the base has a space suitable for such things. Your skills in computer would be a real blessing, I'm sure.

Basically, we are in a pioneering stage, where things are not set in stone. The people who come here, with their particular skills and passions, will determine so much of what direction we go in. It's an incredible opportunity to build a ministry from the ground up in one of the most populated cities in the world. It's also a humbling opportunity, and we truly want the Lord's heart and direction in all things. So our next season isn't a settled routine, but one more of seeking the Lord and then taking steps of obedience to follow His lead. It is a different sort of situation than many YWAM staff opportunities.

So let us know how we can be of help. What time frame are you considering? The main challenge for us receiving you as a volunteer in the near future is the housing issue. If you had the budget to afford a youth hostel (maybe $25 a day) that is another option. But let me know what you are considering, and we can begin to explore it in detail and see how God leads us.

I look forward to hearing back from you. Take care!

In Christ,

Maria McDaniel

<-- End of E-mail -->

So that is the e-mail I received from Maria McDaniel. I would like to hear from other bases as well. Hope I can update more soon.

Back from Tennessee

My family and I got back from my Grand Parents Farm House in Tennessee on Sunday at about 7 pm. It was really great. We got there on Wednesday at about 3:30pm and got settled in that day. Thursday we went to Cumberland Gap and had some great fun.

We tried to make the best of it once my sister got locked in the brig HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Just Kidding. After that we went to chick-fil-a (They have the best Chicken Sandwiches) You only find them in the south-east side of the country and yes Macdonalds is copying chick-fil-a's sandwich.

Also on Thursday my Grand Parents got to the Farm House. Then Friday (The 4th) we went and got Fireworks (One of the things I look forward to in Tennessee).

Grand Parents on the Left of the picture

The rest of Friday and Saturday we did not do much. We usually go to a lot places in Tennessee.
Now we are only 7 weeks away from our Familys 10 day trip to Florida using our Free Air Line Tickets we won from Wendys (Long Story). This year is busy!!!