Tomorrow is Friends’ Day at church. I guess I should be excited about it, but somehow I’m not, or at least not excited as I should be. I invited a handful of people, all of which seemed either disinterested or had a reasonable excuse not to join me or both. I guess I don’t like crowds. Or to be more specific, I don’t like crowds in places which weren’t built for crowds. This is the same reason I avoid the Hermitage Walmart on Saturday afternoons.
Still I remain upbeat about it. Jesus can’t be put into a box. We’re supposed to share with everybody. Friends Day is just those bicycle training wheels that reminds us to invite our friends to church, something we should be doing anyways.
Anyways I hope things go well tomorrow. Whenever you bring alot of new people into worship services you stand a chance of offending someone….or having someone act against social mores. Once at a church of Christ in East Tennessee during the quiet part of the Lord’s Supper someone yelled out “This is not making me grow closer to God!” or something like that. Strange indeed. So some people may not know to be quiet during certain parts of the service. Others might get offended at what the minister has to say and walk out of the service. I suppose there’s a small chance of this happening, but I doubt that it will.
Oh yeah. Scott finally updated his weblog. So be sure to read it.
Anyways here’s some war links:
WTC Mural Found in Iraqi Barber Shop – Bizarre indeed. Quite a different view compared to this.
Statue of Liberty Replica gets the French treatment. What a shame. Wasn’t this a scene in Planet of the Apes?
ALWAYS wear your helmet
The Internet Necessity
Tried installing Mozilla browser 1.3, but after the install it won’t even start. So I’m back at Mozilla 1.0.2. If only more people would use Mozilla, we’d all find out that Internet Explorer is a inferior browser…at least in those stupid pop-up ads. IE may work better with some Microsoft products, but only because Microsoft designed both products.
Techie nerds use Mozilla as their browser and Google as their homepage. Everyone else uses IE and MSN or some other inferior search engine.
Also I’m having problems networking a Win98 and Win2K machine using a 3com HomeConnect hub. They just can’t see each other. I feel like I’ve got everything setup properly. These computers aren’t going to be connected to the internet, so that may be part of the problem. The Win98 computer seems to get as slow as mollasses once it is plugged into the hub. Maybe its looking for an internet connection. I don’t know. I just want to share files and printers between the computers. Might need to talk to some networking guru to get this problem solved.
Its getting to where you just about HAVE to have a internet connection if you want to do anything with a computer these days. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to download little files for the non-internet connected computers at church. Then have to go back and forth from home to church installing little tweaks and stuff to make the computer operate more smoothly. The internet is a good thing, yet its becoming almost a necessity these days. I’d hate it if terrorrists or something were to knock it out.
Since being laid off from Nortel, I don’t have a laptop anymore. This laptop came in handy when I went off on vacation and needed a hard drive to store digital pictures on. I have a limited amount of Smartmedia cards for my digital camera, and they tend to fill up quickly over a week’s time. So I’m going to have to find alternate means when camp time comes in June. The possible solutions is as follows:
- Borrow my sister’s laptop – And who knows if she would let me. She’s a big nerd with the internet these days and would probably need to use it while I’m gone.
- Use someone’s else’s laptop. – Most likely someone at camp would have a laptop which I could borrow. Even the camp director had his laptop with him last year. I could possibly use his.
- Get a cheap laptop and use it. – However this solution is quite expensive and wouldn’t really be worth it.
There are some good mass storage devices out there. Like a 1 gig USB keychain drive. I saw one on Ebay for $400, which is way too expensive right now. Maybe prices will fall. Then there’s this USB device which stores a laptop hard drive. Comes in really handy if you are backing up your computer or have a large amount of data to easy transfer from one computer to another.
Go west, young man
I visited West Elementary to take more pictures for their webpage, which I’m designing. The older kids were hams about it, wanting to have their picture made. I saw Mrs. Orange, an old teacher of my sister’s. She remembered me, or at least acted like she did.
The kids were busy earlier with their TCAP tests….which must be the equivalent of Achivement tests we had when I was in school. Archivement tests were meant to tell you how smart (or dumb) you were. It was fairly grueling for kids and was only a taste of what we’d have to go through with ACT tests in our high school years. Tests are supposed to standardize things. The problem is that people who write the tests are pretty ignorant of how things really are. Someone judged to be an idiot might just be doing fairly well in school and doesn’t need a Standard Achievement test to tell them how stupid they are. Remember kids, fill in the circles with a number 2 pencil.
I suspect West Elementary School had the same architect/builder as Lakeview Elementary (my alma mater). I was told that West was built years before Lakeview. Yet the same setup is there…the lettering on the outside of the building; the color of the tiles on the bathroom; the whole setup. It was all very familiar, yet different. In any case both schools are at least 25 years old, if not older.
I kinda got antsy when I got home and found a really good picture of some West kids…yet had one kid doing the ole pinky finger in the corner of his mouth pose. I wasn’t sure if this was some kind of naughty sign, so I asked a friend of mine hip to culture. It’s a Dr. Evil (Austin Powers) reference. Haven’t not seen the movie, I wasn’t sure what the pinky thing was. But it’s all clean, you know. Or as clean as a PG movie can be.
I have to be careful about this type of stuff. In 1983 one kid flashed the bird during a class picture of my sister’s 6th grade class. The yearbook staff didn’t realize it and it showed up in the yearbook. So the kid got in big trouble about it and the annual staff was left cleaning egg off their faces.
In over my head in El Salvadorian Waters
I hope I’m not getting in over my head with this El Salvador mission trip thing. I certainly don’t want to be compelled to do this year after year (it gets pretty expensive) and I just don’t have that much vacation time. I know its pretty fickle to be talking about vacation time when people are starving over there.
Anyways I’m sorta wondering what is my role in all of this. I mean I can sorta see why you would need skilled workers like dentists and doctors. However the rest of us…the former Nortel data analyst….the college student….the Walgreens worker….are we really needed? I mean supposedly there’s a translator within arms reach of all of us. Are all of these extra hands needed or are we just getting in the way? Seems like we could streamline the trip by putting translators around doing stuff.
I know I’m just speaking off the top of my head. Having never been to Central America I am totally ignorant of what goes on there. Maybe the crowds are so overwhelming that they actually need 30 of us and 10 translators or however many there are…. I don’t know. I just hope I don’t get glassy eyed and feel compelled to go back year after year. I already do 2 church camps every summer. And I don’t want another thing on my list to do.
I probably need to put together a list of things I need to get/do before the trip. Maybe I’ll post it here for archive purposes…. I already know that I need an air matress. Maybe a visit to Goodwill is in order. They say don’t take anything you’d feel bad loosing. And you end up giving away clothes to the natives since they have nothing. Kevin Bass wants me to take a Creative Graphics hat for the locals. Advertising his business even in El Salvador.
And I was able to raise all of the money required for this trip.
U follows Q
Some observations about this war:
One of the first things I learned in Kindergarten was how a U always follows the letter Q. In Scrabble, that’s the rules. Yet, we have countries which are gramatically incorrect. Like Iraq. Shouldn’t it be Iraqu? And this country Qatar….pronounced “Kotter” as in “Welcome Back, Qatar!” No wonder these people in these countries are always upset. Someone took away their U’s.
Also I’ve noticed Iraq’s weather is pretty crappy. Like with these sandstorms. Who’d want to live there? You’re out in the garden and here comes a sandstorm. Pretty soon you’re stuck out in the blackness unable to find your way back to the house. No wonder Middle Eastern people are upset. Shouldn’t they blacktop that sand? Clean it up, you know?
Also have you noticed how many microphones are placed on the podium anytime the Iraqis have a news conference? While the president has one lone microphone at his podium.
Too Few Superior Church Camps
I was having a conversation with a friend of mine tonight. He was bummed out that he wasn’t going to Short Mountain for their usual retreat this year. I have tried to invite him on our retreat, but not surprisingly he doesn’t want to go since he doesn’t know anyone in our youth group.
Anyways I think there are just too few superior church camps out there. Short Mountain Bible Camp and Taylor Christian Camp both meet my expectations for having the best facilities. Taylor will always be my sentimental favorite, however Short Mountain is the crown jewell among Christian camps around here. I’ve been to others. Meribah? I’d like it better if there were more individual cabins instead of big giant cabins. Y.E.S. Camp? I think its a bit too rustic for me. Tear down a few of the cabins and rebuild and you’ll have something going there. And I haven’t been to Whispering Pines. It must be pretty decent since the ladies had their women’s retreat there once upon a time. And I think we’re going to Valley View Christian camp for our Fall Retreat. Never been there either. But Madison Church of Christ sponsors it, so it probably has reasonable facilities.
But who am I to nitpick and little measey things about camps. Plenty of churches in remote areas don’t have Christian camps to go to. I guess we are lucky to be blessed with a wide selection of locations to go to.
In any case I’m really looking forward to camp at TCC this June. We’re supposed to have some kind of new bigger better faster bionic slip-n-slide, which Mark Sexton and gang are building. Whatever new element they’ve discovered that will be as permanent as concrete, yet as slippery as plastic tarp, must have been the most significant scientific discovery since penicillin.
My first church retreat was when I was in 5th grade�.about 1984 or 1985. Since I was a big weenie and needed someone around to cling to, both my parents went along. Maybe for that reason, or just in general, I never got along with kids my age then. Usually it consisted of me being talked down to. Never letting me in on their reindeer games.
At this particular venue, we were all in one big building. Girls and boys on separate wings. Tall ceilings. Bunk beds. We pushed our bunk beds together to make it easier to talk to each other. Then the adults made us separate them apart. Community showers. Not surprisingly I didn�t shower at all that weekend.
So anyways there were these 2 kids which I didn�t get along with. There was a history there for some reason. They didn�t like me for one way or another. I remember being particularly upset about it, having a private conversation at a table with my mom�.and then one of them coming along and wanting to clean the table. Egging it on.
I survived it, but didn�t go on another one for a long time after that.
Turn off your tv
I think what this world needs is a marathon of Wonder Years episodes. I’m tired of the war coverage, yet intriged enough to watch it continuously. I remember Rick Waldrop telling me about how he grew up in the 70s when there was a body count on the nightly news through the course of the Vietnam war. Maybe it won’t get that bad, yet I can see the count seemlingly going up each time I turn on the tv. We all need to stop watching tv.
I’ve been watching MSNBC since I think they have the best war coverage. CNN is too intellectual and boring, while Foxnews is not as fair and balanced as I would like to see. Besides, you can’t beat Peter Arnett in Baghdad. Where has he been for the past 10 years? He just pops up each time we have a war with Iraq then goes back to obscurity…the subject of a VH1 “Where are they now?” episode.
It’s been stressful for all of us. But not as stressful as those soldiers in the field. Or the innocent civilians in Iraq…. I couldn’t imagine what its like to be in the middle of a war. Which makes me think…do those news reporters riding around in the tanks with the soldiers…do they have a death wish or something. It’s not worth the Pullitzer.
Somehow I expect Saddam to show up on the island of Atlantis with Amelia Earheart, Elvis, and Jimmy Hoffa while the Dixie Chicks sing the national anthem. Weirder things have happened.
The Face of Courage
I met Levi a month ago. Tom, a guy who is a periodic helper in the audio visual ministry at my church, had invited his nephew, Levi, to church one Sunday. I introduced myself to him. Found out he was from Illinois, but living in Clarksville. He was in the military. That’s as far as our conversation went. Now, mind you I didn’t bring up the impending inevitable war. I didn’t really want to make him more nervous about it than what he may have been already. Besides, surely they wouldn’t be sending this kid to war…..I was sure he had just started in the military.
Levi left for Kuwait the week after I saw him. You see, Levi is a member of the 101st Airbourne. An unlikely hero. An extraordinary champion willing to put his life on the line for me, someone he had just met.
It was just recently that I realized that these are real people. When CNN says “there were heavy skirmish around Basra,” they’re talking about real soldiers like Levi fighting for your and my freedom. Freedom for us to go out without fear of some attack on our hometown. It puts a face on courage.
But what about the rest of them? Surely I know more people over there. Keith, someone who I grew up with, just got called up. Rebecca’s husband Brad is probably over there. What about Adam? I met Adam at a church camp a couple of years ago. He was just out of high school. The next thing I know he’s gone to basic training. I asked him if there was a chance he’d be going over there if there was a war. He said definitely. I hadn’t seen him online in several weeks.
Is Garrett over there? Garrett’s been in training with the air force for several months now. Surely he isn’t over there. But we haven’t heard otherwise.
Amature Song Leading
We found out tonight how much Phil is missed when an amature like me leads singing at the youth devotional. I was drafted….to be song leader. I never know if I’m pacing it too high or low. No melody. Anything like that. I’m lost sometimes. Especially when the kids request songs like “The Greatest Commandment” or “Someday.” Both songs require a broad range of voice tones, which we just didn’t have. Plus they’re pretty difficult songs to lead. Not necessarily my favorite songs. My favorite songs being “Amazing Grace,” “Have You Seen Jesus My Lord?” You know. Old school stuff. None of this flashy new stuff that Acapella came out with last year. Give me that old time religion.
I was in high school band. I know how to read music. It’s just difficult sometimes in a small group like that. Usually I can pick a relatively well-known song and just let autopilot take over. The kids were pretty adament about getting their requested songs led. So I didn’t have time to pick out my own.
I have recently discovered (or reminded) that war is very very bad. Iraq is a brutal regime. What were they trying to accomplish by showing beaten American P.O.W.’s on television? Were they trying to garner more support from other Arab nations? Were they trying to shock the homebound Americans into pulling out of the war? What they really did was to show their true colors. Pull out? Nope. Not until we get back out P.O.W.’s and bring to justice those monsters who did this.
I guess I’ll be inundated with Oscar reports tomorrow. Celebrities giving each other gold statues for making movies I haven’t heard of. All the while making misinformed political statements everyone else doesn’t care about. The vast majority of the time the Best Picture nominations I’ve never heard of. But somehow fickle shows like the Today Show covers it for some odd reason.
Not much else to say….except I’ve been listening to Goldfinger’s version of “99 Red Balloons.” Pretty good song in times like these.
Blood Drive
Blood Drive at church today. I was commissioned to take pictures for the church bulletin. Keep in mind that I don’t give blood. I am a big weenie when it comes to blood. I hate needles and all that. And stop that laughing.
So as I was taking pictures, I got a stern warning from the head nurse. “Don’t pictures until the blood gets started.” I later found out they really don’t like pictures of needles because it would drive people away from giving blood. So I waited until the covered the needle with the bandage.
They have special chairs with armrests for giving blood. It’s not just some flimsy deck furniture you’d see at Kmart.
You could tell the nurses had already heard all those lame bloodletting jokes. Vampires. Bad blood. Junk like that. They had heard them all.
A word about Dan Rather’s hands: They’re old and wrinkled. We’re talking hands that make him look 80 years old. I saw them when he had a close-up view of the map of Iraq. Goodness, Dan, don’t try out for any hand lotion advertisements.