I love this guy

His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo

... or it's 'Ol Dan to me, respectfully submitted

He's very accommodating with the public. He'll spend time to talk with you; and if you ask, he'll pose for your very own photo. It helps that he's quite photogenic. Those qualities are just icing on the cake. His Eminence happens to be well qualified and is befitting of his office.

I hope he doesn't mind me posting a photo of him.

"must see" movie

Do you love a good documentary movie? After hearing an interview on NPR, I think "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" is a must-see movie. It is about women who were sick of war and decided to do something about it. It's about mothers who just wanted a better life for their children. Oh, just to hear them speak... experience it for yourself.

Info from the movie website:

Tribeca Film Festivals' Best Documentary Award-Winning Pray the Devil Back to Hell is the gripping account of a group of brave and visionary women who demanded peace for Liberia, a nation torn to shreds by a decades-old civil war. This incredible, uplifting story has also earned awards at Silverdocs (Witness Award), Jackson Hole Film Festival (Audience Choice: Documentary), Traverse City Film Festival (Special Jury Prize: Non-fiction Filmmaking), and the Heartland Film Festival (Best Documentary).

Desmond Tutu, Winner 1984 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, says that "Pray the Devil Back to Hell"...eloquently captures the power each of us innately has within our souls to make this world a far better, safer, more peaceful place"

Find a screening near you:http://www.praythedevilbacktohell.com/nonflash/intheaters.htm

trailer? http://www.nowrunning.com/Video/default.aspx?t=2902&lang=ENGLISH

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all. If we were to go and read a historical account of the pilgrims and their experiences on these shores, we would find an amazing story of hope and perserverance in the face of great difficulty. In the midst of our difficulties, as life these days is no piece of cake either, may we open our eyes to the many blessings that we DO have.

layoffs

There seems to have been a plethora of layoff announcements. Companies typically layoff near the end of the fiscal year--that's no surprise. But this year, it seems higher than normal.

And it really bites when it's a hospital that's laying off:
University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston learned Wednesday that 3,800 people there will lose their jobs.

November layoffs
HP announces 24600 layoffs
Most notable IT layoffs of 2008
Jumps in unemployment

sad

Baby elephant dies.

a little OP time

Monday evening, if all goes well, I will be spending a little time with the Dominicans at one of their events/gatherings/ceremonies etc. I meant to get up early, get to work early, so that I can leave work in time to be at the Dominicans'. Considering that it is now 1:00 a.m. and I still have stuff I need to get done, I doubt I'll be able to carry out that plan. It probably just means that I will take the missing work hours as vacation.

replacing disposer

disposer

The disposer died on Thursday. After performing manual rotations using a wrench, it still didn't re-start and I gave up. I tried again before going to bed and it started. I thought it was fixed. It was still running when I checked Friday morning.

Friday night, Gumby washed dishes then drained the sink after finishing, and water flowed out from the cabinet under the sink.

So here I am, on Saturday morning buying a new disposer. I spent the late morning/early afternoon installing the new disposer.

I still need to figure out what to do about the cabinet. The pressboard sagged; all the water-logged cabinet parts need to be replaced.

disappointing

This year's election is once again disappointing. In one corner, we have a Republican. The record for Republicans speaks for itself. Aside from that, are you ready for Sarah Palin to be president--it could happen. In the other corner, we have a Democrat who vehemently supports abortion and speaks of "catching and KILLING Osama Bin Laden." So Obama wants everyone to have a better life, even if it means killing off some "for the betterment of others."

It sucks. Vote for whomever you like, then pray like crazy that God will fix it.