OP evening

Friday evening, I was invited to a Dominican event and gladly attended. I am starting to know some of them by name, much to my surprise. I had certainly looked forward to seeing them, but somehow I didn't feel the excitement on the drive there. I think I may have had a mixture of fatigue and apprehension. "Socials" generally stress me out. Even though I enjoyed the time with them, I didn't stick around to help with the clean-up as would be usual for me and I wasn't on a high when I left. I was quite tired and just went to bed when I got home ... I didn't even read my prayer before bedtime.

My Dominican liason likes to rib me. Sometimes she refers to God as "She" just to tease me. This night she says to me "we might be doing some sun worship tonight." I am happy to report that there was no sun-worshipping going on.

And in case you are wondering: the meeting with my Dominican liason didn't happen due to events outside of our control. I think it may be several weeks before the occasion may be a possibility; I know the next two weeks are out.

culture shock

I've basically been sheltered from difficult people. I'm fortunate that I've never had to work for or with difficult people. So today when I ran into the ladies with the nasty attitudes at the County Courthouse, that was a culture shock. For as long as I had to wait in line, I saw no reason for those ladies to be nasty; all the clients were pretty quiet and just went about taking care of business.

I needed a certain something, and by law, I am cornered into having to go to the County Courthouse. It wasn't an ordinary thingamajig that I needed; I needed one that was X. I explained what I was there for and explained that I didn't know what the procedure was and handed over my papers. As the lady walked off to go get it, I said, "Oh, I needed it to be X." Her reply with an attitude to accompany it: "I know. I know what I'm doing."

I bet sex with her is no fun. You tell her what you want and she gets all huffy and says, "I know. I know what I'm doing." Dang, that spoils the mood.

Well, before she gives me what I was there for, she said she had to check on something. She comes back and pulls a form and tells me I have to fill out the form. This is the County Courthouse way: they give you no information over the phone (I conclude it's because they don't have the knowlege answer your questions), and they make you wait in line just to get a form. The fellow behind me knew he needed a form, but he had to wait in line to get it. So anyways, at this point, I had to leave the counter and go fill out the form. I asked whether I'd have to get back in line and the answer was yes.

I come through the line again. Now it's one of the other ladies. She asks me accusingly, "Weren't you just here?" Well yeah, was there a rule that I can't come back in the same day or something? She looks at my paperwork and asks me questions. I answered honestly (I should have lied), and she starts to tell me I can't do that. I ask her whether I can do so and so, but she doesn't wait for me to finish. I ask again, trying to see if she understood what I was asking. She glares at me and says slowly (as if to a kindergartener) "Now I've told you three times already that you can't do it that way. I don't know how else to say it to you."

My friends, I was pisssssssssed. I will have to go through this again another day. Tonight when saying prayers before dinner, I come to the part about praying for the less fortunate and my thoughts went to those ladies. What poor dried up souls they must be. I had said, "Good morning," to both, and neither was able to return the greeting. I should be exceedingly grateful that they are not healthcare professionals.

Memorial Day

It's pouring down raining this Memorial Day. I took advantage of it: I slept until 11:00 a.m.

Thank you military folks and families for your sacrifices, enabling us to sleep peacefully in our beds and party at will.

I personally know a veteran; he is "gay." Being gay doesn't automatically mean being sexually active. He bleeds the same as any soldier, and he is just as patriotic as any soldier and I'm sure he'd watch your back as much if not more than any other soldier. I know the military has a reputation to uphold and I respect that, but please don't discriminate against your gay soldiers.

In any case, thanks USN, US Army, USAF, USMC, US Coast Guard, and any other US military forces.

ride

I went bicycling this morning. Trying to get back into my Saturday morning rides. As I neared my starting point, the clouds looked ominous. A little while longer and the rain is splattering on my windshield. I see the group riders passing. True, in the direction they were heading, they'll be out of the rain in a little while. I stopped to get my Powerade then parked the car and waited for the rain to subside (it was coming down pretty good at this point). Twenty minutes later it was still raining, but not as heavy. So I hopped on my bike anyways, I didn't drive out here for nothing.

I got soaked pretty good but about ten minutes later, I was out of the rain. The good news is that I finished my usual 13-mile route this time and didn't feel too exhausted. Last week I didn't even quite make 10 miles. I haven't reached my usual average speed of 13mph (uh, that's slow compared to the 21mph of those on road bikes). Maybe next week, I'll extend the distance a bit more.

It was only when I got off the bike that I noticed a black collection of dirt on top of my soaked cotton socks. Apparently the rain ran down my legs and took the dirt with it and the top of my socks stopped the dirt there. It was a sight to see. I have a photo but I cannot upload as of yet, waiting on my new PC to come back. The top of my bicycle pack had a layer of dirt from the rain. Oh, I was pretty gritty myself. For the most part, the bike was dry by the time the ride ended. However, when I tilted it during a lift to put it back in the garage, water came dripping off from under the bike pack.

Another very exciting thing from the ride this morning: R2D2 mailbox! The end of my route cuts through a quiet neighborhood. And there, on a corner, I spotted an R2D2 mailbox. You go now, USPS! I gotta tell everybody when I get back to work on Tuesday (it's near the job).

....yup, drove by there today (5/29) and that mailbox is definitely there

just do it

There are some days (like today) when I want to skip daily mass. After all, it's not required, and I'm reaaally hungry, and I would like to take a long leisurely lunch, maybe even a nap. Well, I talked myself out of that and went to mass. I'm not looking for a pat on the back. I'm just letting you know that I don't attend mass because it's a "high" for me.

Hopefully I don't attend mass because it's "required" as if it were some burden. Hopefully I don't attend mass because the priest is cute; it sure helps, I won't deny it, but I have to question my motives every time when it happens. I have a whole litany of stuff I go through to get my butt to mass:

(1) It's a privilege. (2) People have risked their lives to celebrate mass. (3) If we believe that is Jesus in the eucharist, then why the heck are we not clamoring to see Him?! (4) At mass, we are brought to the foot of the cross. Wouldn't we want to be with Jesus in his suffering? (5) Even if I'm late to mass, I'll at least get to the end. At the very end, I get the priest's blessing. If Esau and Jacob were fighting for their father's blessing, likewise I should value the priests blessing! (6) Now I know it's not true, but I might be the only one to show up for mass aside from the priest. The priest cannot say mass with only himself there; hence I am needed. (7) It's a community thing: the more the merrier.

And there's more if that list is still not enough to get me going.

I'm sorry for those who "don't get anything" out of mass. Most certainly, you need a mass that speaks to you and is life-giving. But for those situations, even if you don't get anything out of it for yourself, at least put in something for God, namely worship. Then keep searching and may the Holy Spirit guide you.

funny

A funny at LAMLand. I love it.

window shopping

The thing about a computer is that you keep needing to spend $ on it ... peripherals, applications, upgrades and the like. I've been trying to find some good deals.

I mentioned http://www.slickdeals.net before.
Here is another one: http://bensbargains.net and its brother, http://dealspl.us/

Though some of the deals are tempting, I've yet to purchase anything. Last week I did purchase some things from local stores: CD-R, CD-RW, photo paper, and keyboard. I'd still like some DVD media, a TV tuner card, a micro-SD, a thumb drive of several Gigs and either an external drive or just a secondary hard drive. An MP3 player would be cool too.

The PC was picked up yesterday. I hope the vendor takes time to work with the box and not just rush to ship me another.

On a separate note, I am once more restless and unfocused and tired. I feel like I'm just thrashing about again. I'm exhausted and yet I can't rest...

kaput

Oy, our brand spankin' new PC up and died. It powers on, but I cannot recover boot. I can't even reload OS ... it never gets there. I might even have lost all my files, considering that I went looking through the backup and did not find certain files. But that remains to be seen. I am now awaiting word from the vendor. I am hoping they'll have me send the PC back and they work on it.

update: I have the PC boxed up. They will arrange to have FedEx come pick it up. They promised a quick turn-around.

The first reaction, of course, is to be upset if all my files are lost (including photos). But then, things of this world are ephemeral. There are many points in life when you have to start back from square one. So get over it and get on with it.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treaure is, there also will your heart be. (Mt 6:19-21)

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Thank you Natty, Lisa and T.O. for your encouragement. I do look forward very much to the meeting with the Dominicans. Aside from just visiting, I do have some things I need to get off my chest.

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We saw Spidey 3 yesterday. Violence balanced with a message of forgiveness, teamwork, and self-sacrifice. I can dig it. Would've liked to see it on Imax, but the drive out there would be hellacious, and we'd like to avoid hell. We went to the theatre by our house instead. Their four big, big screens were playing exclusively Shrek 3, upsetting my movie partner who prefers the big, big screens. This person is also annoyed by wiggly and noisy kids while the movie is playing. I've been tasked to find another movie house for the next movie outting, whenever that may be.

People with perfect pitch hearing are easily annoyed with wrong pitches. So too, people who have great awareness of their surroundings are easily annoyed by distractions such as kids or fidgeting. In that sense, I am blessed with being relatively immune to those things; the flip side is that I can rarely recount to anyone my "experience".

neglected

Yes, I know, I haven't done much maintenance on this blog...stagnant link list, broken links, old or missing graphics, etc.

No, I don't think it will improve any time soon.

maybe

I think I need a heart-to-heart with the Dominicans. I'll see how I feel in the morning.

update: will be meeting towards end of next week
update again: meeting will be rescheduled to a later date

it just hurts

Ow. The news is just so terrible. Grown man shoots an 11-year old with a double-barrel shotgun as the kid runs away. Father microwaves his baby. Ow. Ow. Ow.

When we move away from God, we lose our humanity. We forget what it means to be kind, patient, forgiving, generous, compassionate, hopeful ... all those good things that make us human. Then forgetting our own humanity, we forget the humanity of others.

sheer exasperation

I cannot even begin to count how many times I've run Vista Startup Repair. Many times it's heart-stopping since I can never be sure that the computer will actually boot up. It's amazing to me that Vista boot up can be so easily corrupted. I don't know what corrupted it (very possibly my ISP software). The other night I had Vista make me a backup, since I don't know when I'll just not be able to boot at all. Last night I re-installed Vista as "upgrade" since the other option, clean install, will wipe out the drive. When it finished, it had the audacity to tell me that my copy of Vista is not genuine and wouldn't let me into my computer until I do something about it. One of the options is to activate Vista online, but it wouldn't let me login. Instead, it had the option to set up a connection. I had to dig and find an access phone number for the ISP. Amazingly enough it connected, even though my ISP requires the ISP software. After logging in I dug around the internet to no avail about the authenticity thing, then rebooted and Vista seems to have corrected itself. The computer seemed to be working again. Except today I come home, boot up and it tells me I don't have a bootable device. A press of the key to reboot brings up the computer okay. The last resort is to do a clean install, i.e. wipe out the drive and start from scratch.

all cut

I got the other five sheets of plywood for the windows last weekend. Today I've just finished cutting them. I'm whipped. I was working in the front yard, so naturally I got a few neighborly inquiries. "Are you guys moving?" and "Do you know something we don't. You have predictions?" heh heh. No. and No. I just don't want to wait until the hurricane comes to start trying to buy plywood and cut them. I still have a very narrow window by the door to think about covering, but I'm not too worried about it. And again, I haven't tried them with the Plylox clips, but at least I know the boards fit in the window casing.

the spiritual thing

If you've been following by blog for a while now (you must be very patient indeed), you're probably thinking, "Uh, what discernment? I don't see anything about discernment here."

True enough, I've not blogged much about it, or church or religion or such. I toned it down a long time ago in an effort to not obsess over it. "It" being my desire to enter religious life. Truth is that I think about it every morning upon waking. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about it. And since I think about God most times when my mind is not otherwise engaged for other duties, the thought of religious life goes right along with it.

I don't have much of a prayer life, but it is standard for me to do my formula prayer every morning, say three Hail Marys on the drive in to work, and offer my day to Jesus. Then at night I read my usual two prayers, one for the souls in purgatory and the other to offer God my every breath and heartbeat. Now I did say read ... sometimes I'm not really into it, but I do make it a point to read those two prayers, even when I'm on the road. I try to attend daily mass during lunch but do miss sometimes, and sometimes I'm only physically there--my mind being elsewhere or I'm just outright asleep. It's been a long time since I last went to adoration or cracked open the bible.

And of course, I attend Sunday mass. This has been something of a transitional time. One of my volunteer gigs is on summer break, the second volunteer gig is undergoing some technical change, and I didn't make it to any of my third volunteer gig dates. Our pastors will be leaving the parish after Easter next year; I think they're going to try to take it easy from now onwards. Our parish has dropped one of the Sunday masses for the summer months.

I occasionally listen to one of the Christian radio stations we have in the area. I think I'm reasonably solid in my Catholicism to be okay with a Protestant program. I don't usually pay much attention to their bible teaching. Else there is some good stuff there, some food for thought. The Protestant approach is more focused on practical application--more "how to" for every day situations. The Catholic approach is more focused on worship; that is, orient your whole self to God and everything else should fall in place. Once in a while I catch some Catholic bashing on the station; that's at least a little annoying and for sure it's unproductive.

Back to the topic of discernment: it's ongoing. I have plenty of moments of doubt and discouragement. But for all my discouragement, I can't drop the idea either. On the one hand, I'd be disappointed if religious life is not for me. And on the other hand, I have to remember that ultimately what I want is for God's will to be done. If God deems that I should go to hell, then I hope to willingly enter hell in obedience to His will. So on a lesser scale, If God deems that I should not enter religious life, then may I find joy in following His will. I don't think that I'm hanging on to the idea, I think it's just persisting. If God sees fit to send something to displace this idea (such as a love interest, a handicap, or an illness, etc.) and give me something else to chew on, then may His will be done. Until then, I seem to be waking up every day with religious life on my mind.

two deals

Logitech G5 laser gaming mouse (up to 2,000 DPI) for $25 at Dell. (via Gizmodo via Slickdeals). I have an A4Tech laser mouse that can do up to 1,000 DPI and it's nice. I bet the Logitech at 2K DPI would be even better. I'm not getting it though, being that my current mouse is OK.

Office Depot will have the Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 keyboard for $9.99 next week (sale starts Sunday 5/13/2007). At least it's true for my area. You can also check your area and the Office Depot website.

screwed

I have royally screwed up my e-mail. I went down the path of screwing with stuff that I didn't quite understand. I think I can kiss all my e-mails good-bye. I've spent huge number of hours trying to recover. Results are unsatisfactory.

Update: I seem to have recovered most of my old mail. But whatever was in my Inbox is gone forever.

where is JC?

hmm...where is Jesus? If he sent the Holy Spirit to do the work, does it mean he's chilling out in a hammock under the shade of a coconut tree on some tropical beach? Jesus...not limited by time and space...is He in the tabernacle quietly waiting my visit? Is He helping the soldier concentrate, comforting the patient in pain, keeping the shut-in company, helping the crop grow, blessing a baby, admonishing a priest, correcting a nun, inspiring a poet, giving hope to the poor, encouraging a war-torn people, pleading at the right hand of the Father? Is He right here helping me find the almonds in an unfamiliar store, is He averting an accident that could've happened? Is He listening with mild amusement at my whining? Is He forever there and forever here, ever patiently waiting for me, waiting for my attention, waiting for me to know that He loves me?

hey, you're spending too much time on the computer

Last night, it was pretty difficult to get to the keyboard with this thing in the way. I did try to work around it. It was slow going, fishing for one key at a time.

Into Great Silence

Someone sent me e-mail about the movie Into Great Silence. Looks interesting.

German web site http://www.diegrossestille.de/deutsch/index.html It has the trailer, English page doesn't have it.

showtimes
http://zeitgeistfilms.com/playdates.php?directoryname=intogreatsilence
Reviews
http://www.decentfilms.com/sections/articles/groning.html
http://www.decentfilms.com/sections/reviews/intogreatsilence.html

less than half a million

Just for fun, I decided to see what I could buy with the amount of money I owe in student loans.

I am happy to report that the amount owed is NOT enough to buy any one of the following (any model):
Aston Martin
Bugatti
Ferrari
Maserati

But the amount that I do owe would be enough for me to outright buy just ONE of the following:
2007 Infiniti QX56
2007 Lexus GS 450h
2007 Mercedes-Benz GL-Class
2007 HUMMER H2

Well, at least I don't owe half a million. In fact, I owe less than a hundred thousand. How about that.

nominations needed (top posted)

Sr. Anne of Nunblog posts the following (cut and pasted here for your convenience):

Keep helping NOLA!
Just a reminder that Burger King is doing a promotion-cum-donation event that will determine which organizations in New Orleans and Baton Rouge get what percentage of the "pot." I have been going on every day to "nominate" Catholic Charities and then clicking on the New Orleans button so that the points will add up in its favor, and I invite you to do the same! Here.

take it easy with those stones

I was listening to a talk about Islam. It was supposed to be informative. Some folks wanted to turn it into an Islam-bashing session. Um...and these were Catholics. You'd have thought that they've not ever heard of Catholic-bashing. Someone gasped, "How could they believe that?" in regards to some of the Islamic beliefs. What?!!!! Well, if you think those beliefs are ridiculous, let me tell you what Catholics believe! And heck, I'm Catholic!

wow

Fantastic papercraft

completed papercraft

I completed my paper Aibo. Not a project for the faint of heart. I probably won't be tackling any such projects for a long while. This one took over my life. If imperfections due to "hand crafting" is charming, then my little Aibo is definitely charming.

Update: I looked at a variety of other papercraft out there ... this one would rank as "easy" compared to the others I came across.

Paperkraft

I am enjoying a little semi-creative fun time. Semi-creative because they're not my ideas but I can attempt them. This is a fantastic website for papercraft.

photo fun

I've been having some fun with photos too.

And no, that picture is not me but it is one of our fellow bloggers.

plywood is cut!

I finally cut my five sheets of plywood for five windows. It took all afternoon (minus the 20 minutes or so for the bottle cap tripod mentioned below). The circular saw went very well. I had installed a 24-teeth (I think) blade in it and the cuts were smooth. Some of the pieces I had to cut twice and the saw had no problems trimming off as little as 1/4 inch. I had taped on a small strip of pink paper onto the saw guide so that I could see it better and it worked well. The edge of the pink paper served as the guide marker. I don't know if the boards now work with Plylox, but I do know they fit in the window wells or whatever you call them.

The sawing was done on the piece of concrete we have for a patio; 4ft x 8ft is big to handle and I need the space. The area between the concrete and the lawn had clearance for the blade. Anyway, I mention this to explain that I was on my left knee for the sawing. I just noticed after my shower that my knee is bruised. No wonder it was starting to hurt towards the end.

I'm so out of shape. I was so tired afterwards I didn't go get the other five sheets of plywood we still need to buy--before prices go up. After all, I would have to unload those heavy unwieldy boards to the garage. I think my body is complaining from this afternoon's activities. Just measuring and cutting is not a big deal, but lugging the sheets from the garage to the back yard took effort. Ditto with lugging the pieces back to the garage. Some of the pieces were only a little smaller than the original sheet (yeah, big windows), and now I have more pieces to lug because I want to save all the parts (except for the little strips I had to cut off in adjustments). My body hurts, I'm hungry, and the house still needs cleaning. But I'm glad I was able to get something done. Oh, and the weather was BEAUTIFUL!

homemade

I made my bottle cap tripod this afternoon. It has both a 20 oz. bottle cap and a Gatorade bottle cap. Getting the hole centered was tougher than I expected. I had it marked but the bit drifted. I guess I should've hammered a nail through first to start the hole. I used super glue between the caps so that hopefully they will move as one when I go to put them on bottles. No, I wouldn't want this thing in my pocket, but it might come in handy. I got the hardware from Ace. You can get onesies and twosies there, in stead of having to buy a whole box or package. I might try this again with a Gatorade cap and stiff wires as a version of the DIY Gorillapod. Sorry the photos are fuzzy; I suppressed the flash and the camera went into a longer exposure and my hands couldn't steady for a clearer shot.

this guy is hilarious

I was browsing for .gif and was at Mike's Free GIFS. Many of his comments accompanying the gifs were hilarious. For example:

In his horse collection, he has a gif of Trigger, Roy Roger's horse. Next to it he comments, "Are you hungry Trigger or are you stuffed. Ha Ha."

In his horse collection, he also has a sheep. He comments, "Most people don't know that sheep are just small cold horses."

great news

Natty has great news. Won't you drop by and give her a holler?

cat

my adoring fans

camera

I purchased a Canon A630 (or here) to have on the trip. It was around $200. Its price dropped due to the release of the A640. One of the A630's coolest features is the articulating screen. The A series also has the option for telephoto and wide angle lens and high-power flash. I didn't buy these accessories. I did purchase a 1GB SD card for $20.

It might mean more photos on my blog, but don't hold your breath. Blogger is not friendly to me when it comes to adding photos.

out of town

We were out of town this past weekend. It was partly to act as chauffer and partly just for leisure. Once there, the time was mostly spent resting. What exploring was done was accidental. I didn't get up on Saturday until 9:30. We didn't get out of the hotel room until around 3 p.m. The targeted eateries were all closed, hence the accidental exploration of the city while foraging for food. Then some obligatory people visits, back to the hotel, then a late night outing to go locate and drive around a landmark: a relatively new basketball stadium.

I had picked a parish for Sunday and we located it as part of our outings. Except that a double-check of my notes on Sunday morn revealed that mass was at 11 and not 12:15 as I had thought. I had picked out several parishes and had gotten the mass times mixed up. We weren't going to make 11 a.m. mass. So no problem, there were others on my list! (My travel partner, though, was most unhappy with my mistake.) We made it to noon mass at option#2 with no problems and my travel partner was most delighted with the parish.

Then leaving there to pick up our passenger, I instructed a wrong turn (I do maps and travel directions, the other party drives) and once again we were exploring a new part of the city. Unfortunately my driver was unappreciative of the scenic route, arguing instead that we should've u-turned to get back on track. Not that I didn't have the correct turn--I just didn't communicate it correctly. Yeah, make a left turn but not here; left after you've gone under the freeway. The road curves, how would I have known that the lane will end up being left turn only at THIS intersection? But soon enough at the end of the scenic route we were back on familiar terrain. In fact, it brought us to the best-priced gas stop.

We all made it back safe and sound. Thanks be to God.

split second

Indeed, life as you know it can change in a split second. An accident, a tragedy, an illness and such.

I was trying to think of a split second event that would change your life more positively, but the examples that come to mind are not split second--they're all a cumulation of effort. Even a chance meeting is not a split second.

some tech stuff

Free operating system Ubuntu 7.04 has been released. There are many versions of Linux, but this one is most promising.

Hyfish Hydrogen fuel cell powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) took flight. (The flight one was not this colorful.)

Hitachi's terabyte hard disk drive reviewed

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 is the fastest desktop CPU; now has quad core.

Nvidia releases new DirectX 10 video cards.

just checking in

Lovely day today. Taxes are done.

I met with one of my favorite Dominicans this morning. We had a nice chat. Then in the evening, I met with my spiritual director. Now that's a double feature.
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Sorry to hear about the Virginia Tech tragedy. I think if I had been there, I'd have been frozen with disbelief. And had I been able to shake out of that, I don't know if I would have been able to think of the welfare of others. I think my mindset would be "every one for themselves." Of course, I desire to be able to act and think quickly in a crisis such as that, and to always consider the welfare of others first. Let's hope I will never have to find out.

God bless the people of Virginia Tech and their loved ones.

plywood

I went to Home Depot this afternoon. I bought some sheets of plywood. Thank goodness there was someone at Home Depot who could help. This guy was the fourth one I asked. The other three wasn't quite knowledgeable. This guy knew what he was talking about, and that's very helpful. Other than that, he wasn't exactly accommodating, but that's okay

I learned two new things today: 1/2 inch plywood is marked "15/32" (that's not quite half inch now, is it?) and you need a large flat topped cart for carting the plywood sheets.

The plywood is for protecting the windows should a hurricane hit. After the close call of hurricane Rita, we figure we need to be prepared. We bought some Plylox for securing the wood last week. So today, I bought 5 sheets of plywood--that's half of what we need. I hope to get the other half soon. The Home Depot guy said that come hurricane season, we're not going to be able to find the plywood for all the money in the world. Yeah, we figured that. Also with the gasoline prices skyrocketing, I'm sure the plywood price will soon go up as well.

hmm...I just looked at my receipt; they cost more than I thought. bummer. I might have been overcharged but I don't really know. (update: Yup, they did overcharge. They charged me for 5/8 plywood instead of the 1/2 (or 15/32) that I had. After the cashier made some phone calls, I got the difference refunded.)

I was hoping they would cut the plywood for me, but they don't do that. I've a few co-workers whom I'm sure wouldn't mind lending me their tools. I just need a circular saw with the right blade and I'll cut it myself. Else I'm sure there are a few neighbors who would either lend the tools or do the cutting for me.

We're on the very far edge of the evacuation zone for a category 5 hurricane. Hence we expect most hurricanes to not really affect us. But, it's better to be prepared.

taking care of the cars

Got the tires rotated, re-balanced and pressure checked on both cars. At no charge. Discount Tires, I do love thee. Today was the first available opportunity to go take care of that.

Next weekend we'll be taking a 3-hour drive to a neighboring city. We try to ensure that the car is ready for such trips.

endorsements:
For engine and tranny and the like: car dealer
For tires: Discount Tires
For brakes and suspension: NTB
For alignment: ?

We used to get our tires and alignment at the same time at NTB. However, NTB alignment numbers and the dealer numbers don't seem to match. I don't know who's right. Now we get the tires from Discount Tires so we've defaulted to the dealer for alignment.

I took my car in for an oil change a few weeks back. I also asked them to check on the rough idling. They said I needed new engine mounts and quoted almost $1K for that. Ouch. I think our neighbor will be able to help with that. He has an engine hoist. He's checking the prices on parts and will get back with us, but for sure it's going to be a few hundred dollars less.

looking for Jesus

In today's reading, our two guys were walking to Emmaus when they are joined by Jesus. However they were prevented from recognizing him. At the breaking of the bread, they recognized him and of course were excited. So excited were they that they immediately trekked back to Jerusalem, nevermind dinner and a good night's sleep. Nevermind that they had to walk in the dark.

So Jesus is risen. Will I recognize Jesus today? And if do, will I tell others?

note to self: music notation software

Sibelius 4 by Sibelius Software
Finale(R) 2007 by MakeMusic(R)
Igor Engraver 1.7 by Noteheads(TM)

(open source:)
LilyPond
LilyComp (graphical input companion to LilyPond)

profanity

I believe that it is possible to live without profanity. I think it would be good to never utter curse words. I don't consider being able to "curse like a sailor" an achievement. Our culture has gotten used to profanity and it pops up even in casual conversation. If it's a cool thing to do, then it's about as cool as smoking. It would be a mistake to think that the foul words are harmless. On the contrary, they promote a rather careless and negative attitude.

It is not what enters one's mouth that defiles that person; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one. (NAB Mt 15:11)

This is not to say that I'm immune from expressing profanities myself. I wish I had never learned to curse. I don't use foul language much; but When I do, it's from a dark place and it does nothing for my or anyone else's betterment. I hope to purge myself of this habit.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. (NIV Ps 19:14)

Vista activated

I called the PC vendor last Friday about being unable to activate my copy of Vista. They called back and said to go through the telephone activation method. So I tried going the telephone route on Sunday night. No luck.

Well, duh. They probably did not install my box using the DVD they sent. It would take a very long time that way. They probably had a master copy and simply cloned the PC's they build. They could clone using Ghost and can merge partitions (for bigger drives) with Partition Magic if need be. If they didn't use the DVD they sent with the PC, then the product key wouldn't match.

Being that I had only 4 days left to activate, I had to figure out which way I was going with this. So despite it being the wee hours of the morning, I took my Vista DVD and installed a Vista "upgrade" over my Vista. After approximately an hour installing (I didn't time it), bingo, online activation went without a hitch.

Some things will have to be re-installed, but at least I can stop worrying about the PC turning into a pumpkin. Despite all this, I am in fact, enjoying the new PC.

Holy Week summary

Happy Easter to all!

We attended Chrism mass at one of my favorite parishes. Then Holy Thursday at our parish. Then Good Friday downtown. Then Easter vigil back at our parish.

I spent much of Saturday at church involved in some of the prep activities. Then I had minor duties during the vigil. The weather was cold and rainy, so the outside fire ceremonies were limited to attendance by those in procession. The light ceremony for the first part of the liturgy is not as dramatic as usual, but that's okay. Then for the second half we process to the church with our re-lit candles and as usual, that's a magical moment as we fill the darkened church with the collection of candles. Our pastor loves this.

We had 14 baptisms and 6 confirmations. Our pastor loves this too. I think it went well.

I returned for one of the Sunday masses for my second volunteer gig. The church was packed. (wonderful!) It stopped raining and the sun came out a few times, though it was still cold. Except for one glitch, I think the second gig went well also. I hope everyone was able to catch at least SOME of the excitement, joy, and "magic" of Easter.

I haven't spent much time in reflection. I don't think I did well this Lent, but God is patient. I remember watching my dog and was rather amused at his inability to resist temptation. He knew it wasn't something we'd be pleased with, but it was the natural dog thing to do, and he was rather sheepish afterwards. I gave him the obligatory chastisment, but was more amused than angry. So too, I bet Jesus is more amused than angry for my Lenten infractions.

to all

Belated most holy Triduum to all.
Early Happy Easter to all!

Vista blues

PC Vista Blues. I accidentally clicked the button option to make Firefox my default browser. Wham-o, at next boot my modem doesn't work--it's not even correctly recognized. My ISP software goes haywire. And my DVD drive disappears. Actually, the DVD drive is correctly recognized in Device Manager but the driver can't be loaded (code 39).

I uninstalled Firefox. I think that fixed the modem problem. Firefox shall remain uninstalled.

Where might the driver exist? On the Vista DVD is my guess. Do I have a DVD drive with which to read the Vista DVD? Heck no.

After some research, the following solution worked for me regarding the missing DVD drive (posted here for those who are suffering similar blues):
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929461/en-us
Yes, it requires getting into regedit and deleting two things. In my case one was missing and so then only had one thing to delete.

My latest blues now is that I seem to be required to activate my copy of Vista. I do the online thing and typed in my key. Website says it's already been activated. Huh? My system is still telling me that I have only 11 days left to activate, after which my princess of an OS turns into a pumpkin and renders my new tool useless.

Given that the DVD drive may at times be non-operational like this, the idea of "HOWTO: Install Windows Vista from a high speed USB 2.0 Flash Drive" is now more appealing.

bible trivia

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all indicate that there were two others crucified with Jesus. But only Luke has the "good thief" story. Also, Luke didn't mention Jesus being scourged prior to crucifixion.

Have a most blessed Holy Week, all!

connected

Lucky me. The new modem came with software for my ISP. It's not problem-free; it puts up an error message every time, but at least it gets me connected to the internet. I've moved over three of the four e-mail "accounts." The old Outlook used "identities," not so with Vista. I'd have to have a separate user account for each identity. Hence I haven't ported over the 4th and lesser used identity. Not sure if I will create a user account for it or just combine it with my main "identity."

The problem is that every time I switch user accounts, I lose my ISP connection and would have to reconnect. Being that I am currently the main user and self-appointed administrator, I usually check all the accounts one after the other. I suppose it's not that big a hassle. It takes no longer with the multiple reconnects now with the new machine than it did with my one connect on the old machine.

I hope to one day fork over the administration of the other two e-mail accounts to its owner. I don't relish having to keep up with someone else's e-mails. I have enough with my own.

I've only ported over the messages; I still need to port the contacts.

music

Monday eve we went to a free concert by a local chamber orchestra. It was at a downtown venue. We had never been there and this was a good opportunity to go. It was a cozy place.

Tonight we went to a free piano concert. Piano is my favorite instrument. Maybe I'll make it to heaven, and in heaven, I'd be given the ability to play the piano. :) The pianist is very good. Too bad he had to play on a Young Chang. The favorite piece from the night is Beethoven's Sonata in D minor, Opus 32, No. 2. I had no idea it goes that fast. Only a grand piano action can support such speeds. Third movement is the best, second movement is a sleeper for me, and first movement has some great sections. The rest of the music didn't really make an impression on me. As for his playing, I don't know enough to even comment on it.

new PC

Tuesday we had some business to take care of on the north side of town. I didn't go in to work so that this could be accomplished. It wasn't until late afternoon that we finished and headed for home. When we got home, we were surprised to see a big box on our porch.

It was our new computer. I wasn't expecting it for a few more days. Surprising too that they left it there without our signature. Anyhow, although I was exhausted, I dove into the new PC. It's a mid-priced system, with the basic hardware and Windows Vista. Yeah, Vista. So far it looks good. My immediate problem was that my old modem wasn't stable in it. And to top it off, my ISP software won't load onto Vista.

After trying a variety of things, I went out and purchased a new modem this evening. It seems to be working. As far as my ISP, I called tech support and explained that I have Vista and that the software won't load. (The software, in fact, has a huge notice that it wasn't Vista compatible and that I should call tech support.) So what did tech support do? She started to walk me through a modem diagnostics. *sigh* That didn't go far because I wasn't at home to do the steps. Regardless... yo there, cookie cutter, this ain't that kind of problem.

Anyhow, I've loaded Open Office, Adobe Reader 8, Mozilla 2, and Filezilla. I haven't connected the printers, but one has a Vista driver that I downloaded and the other claims that it has native Vista support. I transferred the photos from one of the cell phones to the new PC. I can't get the pictures out of the other cell phone -- I need a data cable for it. I've moved a bunch of files over from the old PC already, but I haven't moved the e-mail stuff.

The monitor was purchased separately and it came today. I've been consumed with the new PC. I still have some things to figure out regarding it.

Convent blues

Some women who have left the convent recount their bad experiences (Nunsuch blog). Interesting read and perhaps a word to the wise.

folding bike

Interesting folding bike from Mobiky, a French company with distributors in the US. The Mobiky Genius folds in seconds flat, will roll even when folded, weighs approximately 30 pounds, and has built-in carry handle. Not a speed bike, for sure, but suffices as a commuter. No need to leave your bike outside and have to lock it - just take it inside with you: on the bus, on the train, in the store.

free office software suite

Have you heard of Open Office? Sounds good, and it's FREE!

Pope photo

T.O. at LAMLand has a wonderful picture of the Pope. Go ahead, take a peek.

my weekend

Earlier this past week, we had stormy weather. It cleared out by Thursday. This Saturday was second of the three Saturdays that our parish participate in Habitat for Humanity. The first one got rained out. This time I got down there and it was still too wet from the rain earlier in the week. They sent the volunteers home. I helped clean up for about half an hour then took off as well. We had beautiful weekend weather (I feel for you guys up north). I drove past a bicycle ride on the way home ... crowds of cyclers in colorful jerseys ... police directing traffic to protect them. I've been in such events before. I haven't been on my bike in ages. I'll need to start back up one of these days. I came home and rinsed off our two cars. Then worked on installing a new shower head.

In installing the shower head, I was not convinced that it worked properly. So I took it down and took apart the three-way coupler. Boing! Springs went flying. I found the pieces but didn't know where the two springs went. We have the exact same shower head in the other shower. So of course I took it apart too to compare, this time I was prepared for the springs. I discovered that I was missing a part. It was small and the same color as the rug in the bathroom. I couldn't find it. But it was time for mass so I took off.

Coming back from mass, I treated the yard for weeds lest it get too late I start re-neg'ing. The yard should've only taken less than half the bottle to treat. It was the kind where you just hook up your hose and start spraying. Well, the stuff was coming out so fast that by the time I finished, I had less than half a bottle left whereas there should've been more than half left. I hope it works.

Coming back in, I had dinner before tackling the shower heads again. After dinner, I had to use the bathroom and lo and behold, I stepped on the tiny part that I was missing. "Thank you, St. Anthony," I thought, followed by "God is sooooo good!" So praise be to God; the shower heads have all their innards and are working just fine.
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Today I had a rare block of several hours where I was alone. I don't know if it's a woman thing, but the tears started flowing. Partly from pent-up frustrations, partly from already missing my pastor since he'll be elsewhere starting next year, and partly from the "who knows why?" bucket. It dried up shortly and I put on some CD's while I did some house cleaning: Christina Aguilera, Michael Jackson, and Whitney Houston. Later on, since it is Sunday, I decided to put on Sandi Patti. "More Than Wonderful" is a favorite. Then my thoughts wandered to why I will never go see another live Stations of the Cross: it hurts too much. Then Sandi started singing "Via Dolorosa" and the thought of our Lord suffering had my tears flowing again. Dang. And this is supposed to be a joyful Sunday. sigh. I'll get it together.

It occurred to me that one of the reasons I'm so tired is that I spend such effort to restrain the tears. Well, and also that I'm not getting 8 hrs of sleep per night (does anybody?) and also that I'm quite uninspired on my job at the moment.

birthday meme

Seen at LAMLand.

Your Birthdate: there's one every year!

You have the mind of an artist, even if you haven't developed the talent yet. --darn right about the "yet" part Expressive and aware, you enjoy finding new ways to share your feelings. --Gee, if only I knew what my feelings are ... I might be feeling fresh mint green today. You often feel like you don't fit in - especially in traditional environments. --Yeah, traditional environments like sockhops, loud, smoky bars, and funerals do make me uncomfortable. You have big dreams. The problem is putting those dreams into action. --I have big debts too ... they're real difficult to move. Your strength: Your vivid imagination --Wow, now THAT's a vivid imagination. Your weakness: Fear of failure --True enough. My plan for success is vague though. Usually the plan is to be somewhere in the vacinity and then just work out the details real-time. Your power color: Coral ... ahhh, so THAT's why I haven't been so powerful! Your power symbol: Oval ... ok, fine: the Miraculous Medal Your power month: November --and what about the other 11 months? Should I be hibernating?

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

CDP discernment invite (top posted)

Sisters of Divine Providence in San Antonio, Texas
invite you to:
March 16 - 18, 2007
Walk with Providence Weekend

Come and join with other women and the Sisters of Divine Providence for a weekend of sharing, listening and journeying together. You are invited to a vocation information weekend for single women, 18 years and older, who are considering religious life. For more information contact Sister Elsa Garcia or Sister Gloria Ann Fiedler at (210) 434 1866.

or

VocationMinistry at CDPTexas dot org

brothers and sisters, can you spare a few $100

Merced Housing in Texas has great programs in regards to sheltering the poor. If I weren't sooooo over my head in debt, I'd certainly send some dollars their way. They also have a program to fund repairs to the homes of elderly folks (Serve Our Seniors) in San Antonio, TX. The SOS program has run out of moolah. If you can help, they need it. Thanks.

music teachers in Toronto

The Music Teachers National Association will be having a conference in TORONTO, ONTARIO on March 23-27, 2007 at the Sheraton Centre. This will be in collaboration with the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers' Association. Prices are prohibitive. I had no idea music teachers can afford these prices. (This is really intended to alert T.O. at LAMLAND, who lives in those woods.)

oops

At our parish, it is customary to announce the name of the presider before the mass begins. Many times we have guest priests. The name would be written on a piece of paper and be made available to the announcer. The pronunciation of the names are prone to errors. Today our presider is one of our bishops. And the announcer mis-pronounced the bishop's name. Oops. Uh, for your homework, name the current head bishop, name the one that just retired, and name the other auxiliary bishop, and name the current pope; and yes, that's first name and last name for the bishops.

all together now

Some time ago, a fellow parishioner and I were discussing speed limits. He said the speed limit on street A is 35 mph and on street B it's 40 mph. I said I thought it was the other way around. He said no. It turns out that we were both correct. It depends on which section of the street you're on. For street A, it's 40 mph until you get into the neighborhood where it drops to 35. For street B, it's 35 mph until you get out of the busy shopping area, where you can then go a little faster at 40.

It reminds me of the story about the three blind folks describing an elephant. It went something like as follows. One grabs the tail and says the elephant is small and round and flexible. Another feels the leg and says the elephant is large and round and wrinkled. The third one grabs the tusk and says it's curved and hard and smooth. None of them had a full picture of the elephant.

And so it is with our perception of God. God is Father. God is Mother. God is friend. God is leader. God is shepherd. God is shelter. And so on. None of us can adequately describe God, but only our own personal experience of God. But the more we --all those before us and all those present -- share our experiences, the better we'll be able to understand the picture. Of course, we'll have to weed out some misperceptions too.

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On the topic of perception, isn't it a little mind bending that we have no way of knowing how another person perceives something? For example, we may all agree that the color RED is RED, but I don't know how you perceive red. I can assume that you see what I see, but there is no way to know that. Which kinda leads into the topic of Jesus in art. We've seen Jesus depicted in a variety of ways, but we agree that it's Jesus who is being depicted.

essential skills

Folks, typewriting skills are still essential in the workplace. I guess these days they call it keyboarding skills. Henpecking is ok, but typing is better, especially when you're sitting in a meeting with a bunch of folks and they're watching your handiwork real time. Or when you're doing customer support work and you need to type your notes as you converse over the phone.

The other essential skill is writing. Grammar does matter. You can get away with poor spelling, but poor grammar sends a very poor message. My personal pet peeves: "utilize" and "irregardless." OK, so maybe that isn't a grammar problem; it's a style problem. Please, may I suggest "use" and "regardless" instead?

majorly slacking

Major slacking today. It was not due to malicious intent. Rather, it was due to a total inability to move past my lack of motivation. I think I have exhausted the many possible ways to shift around in an office chair. I even stood up for a while and knelt for a while. At one point, I was overcome with sleep. All told, for the day's effort, I was able to read 17 pages of an almost 400-page document.

But I can tell you that the Popular Science webpage has photos of some robots. One robot can produce human-quality speech thanks to human-like speech mechanisms, one can balance itself although its base is a basketball, one can modify its grip based on feedback sensors of its malleable parts, one can map its surroundings, and one is "learning" to differentiate itself from its surroundings.

I can also tell you that on Gizomodo, you can find out about a bullet-proof, knife-proof rain coat that you can buy, a Tivo2 deal at Best Buy, and Sony's plans to release two high-end cameras.

I can also tell you that there is some model "DB2" antenna that was intended for outdoor use but which you can mount in your attic and it supposedly does a fantastic job. Also: I am within 20 miles of most of my TV signals, that the majority of the signals come from the north and the west side of the house (according to antennaweb.org), and that all roofing materials attenuate the signal, and that a house with aluminum siding may lose the signal altogether. Also, if I were to desire a DVR, I would like one with dual HD tuners.

I can also tell you a little bit about portable fire extinguishers, about the A, B, C, D and K types. I can tell you that the dry chemical extinguishers have a corrosive effect on metal, that the D type is for metal on fire, that the K type is for kitchen fires, and that there are also extinguishers with "clean agent."

But none of this, you see, has anything to do with my job.

So after slouching all day, I dumped the almost-400-page document onto a thumbdrive and took it home. Maybe I'll read a few more pages tonight.
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I am into the 5th month of my employment now, and I'm still not connecting with any of my co-workers. (sigh)

feeling better

I felt miserable enough on Friday to stay home. I entertained the idea of going in to work for the afternoon. But as I sat playing FreeCell, I got really, really tired. I think I might have over done the medication. In the end, I didn't go into work at all. Gumby left me alone, not asking me to do anything.

It just occurred to me this morning that I was supposed to abstain from meat yesterday. Uh, that didn't happen. I had forgotten and ate whatever.

I was jolted out of bed this morning, shortly after 10am, by a runny nose that followed a cough. The runny nose happened to be a nosebleed. Fortunately the only item that needed blood cleaned off was my pillowcase and that was taken care of in short order. The nosebleed stopped as I was rinsing the pillowcase. So it was a light nosebleed not requiring that I get horizontal and apply pressure.

I think I feel okay except for the occasional cough and the still slightly sore throat.

The weather looks nice outside; very sunny today.

getting sick

May God Bless those affected by the tornadoes in Alabama.
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I just came back from a short and impromptu business trip to a more northerly state. My travel partner rented a big honkin' SUV. I said I ain't driving that thing. It was a nice and short trip and we left the afternoon of the day it started snowing. We were treated to the scenery of fresh blanket of snow everywhere (except on the road, thank God). So we've seen mountains, foothills, snow, and snowfall ... we were both ready to return to good ol' warm Texas. We didn't particularly enjoy standing in 22-degree F with light snow and wind waiting for the rental car shuttle to take us to the terminals.

I woke up this morning with a sore throat. It hasn't gotten better. I think I'm trying to get sick. I was sitting in the office after hours making use of the speedy internet connection to browse Gizmodo, when it got colder and colder. I think I left the office when my body was no longer able to generate heat. My right shoulder is sore too. I must have hoisted my luggage over my right shoulder at some point. My body keeps reminding me that I'm no longer in my 20's.

G'night. I need some sleep.

rodeo

I guess I've not mentioned one of the biggest events in this big city. It's the livestock show and rodeo. Trail riders still trek hundreds of miles on their horses and wagons to this city for this event. The rodeo parade was Saturday morning: horses, riders in jeans and cowboy hats, horse- pony- or mule-drawn wagons, floats and bands. All these marching bands know about coming up after the horses and having to trod over the horse puckey. This city also has a mounted police force. We also have bicycling and motorcycle police force, but it was the horse-mounted force that was in the parade.

Kinda interesting...there are groups of "white" cowboys, and then groups of "Mexican" cowboys, then groups of "black" cowboys. I say cowboys but there are also cowgirls. And please forgive the lingo...I am grossly simplifying.

It just about always rain on this parade, and this morning was no different. Our newscaster joked that the humidity was high, so high in fact that the humidity is coming down on them. Nonetheless the folks turn out to line the streets.

This livestock show and rodeo lasts for roughly a month. Aside from the usual cowboy and livestock fare, there are also concerts and festival rides. The show also raises money for scholarships and gives a chance for the kids to show off their livestock. The high school by our house has a livestock barn just down the street; I bet they have entries. I don't usually go to the rodeo, but I was there once. I am most entertained by the rodeo announcers' commentaries; they exemplify "color commentary."

Yeah, it's another one of the big events that I don't go see. There are lots of big events, but I think the livestock show and rodeo is the biggest.

Lent

Wishing all a most blessed Lenten season. Hopefully you had a great kick-off on Ash Wednesday.

just checking in

Huh? What? February is almost over? And Lent is starting in a day or so? I guess I won't be doing much planning as to what to do for Lenten penance.

I don't remember much of last week. So that recaps that.

This past Sunday I was able to sit down and chat with one of the Dominicans. Poor Sister, she didn't see it coming. It was impromptu. I guess I failed to emphasize that it was no emergency and that I was just in the neighborhood and needed to while away a little time. Being the giving person that she is, she agreed to meet with me on the fly.

I also learned that my volunteer duties were a bit more extensive for this upcoming weekend. That was a surprise. I have a Dominican dinner date for the upcoming Sunday. If all goes well, the volunteer event won't run into the Dominican dinner.

I went to an organ concert. This was in support of a friend who went in support of a friend. Organ is not my favorite instrument. On top of that, this particular organist's music taste does not gel with mine. I've heard wonderful organ solos, but these didn't make sense to me--it was just a bunch of sounds. I can't remember any of it. If they were to be played again, I'd have no chance of recognizing them.

Oh, yeah, Chinese New Year was a surprise too. Happy New Year to all. And belated Happy Presidents' Day.

BTW, it looks like Sr. Steph has returned to blogging.

fire extinguisher

I stopped by a restaurant on the way home to get dinner. I placed my "to go" order then left to run a quick errand. When I returned, the order was still not ready. The counter person greeted me then left to enter the kitchen. Some yelling in the kitchen ensued. Maybe the yelling is just how they communicated. I stood there and watied. With nothing to do, my eyes wandered. Behold: in the corner, on the floor, tucked behind a large planter is their fire extinguisher. The plant itself is not leafy and the fire extinguisher is easily accessible in between the four trunks of the plant.

When she came back with my order, I tried to tell her in a low voice that it's not good to have the fire extinguisher where it was, that it needed to be on the wall near the kitchen entrance, and that they might get ticketed if inspected. She didn't understand (they were of foreign descent). So we went the pointing route ... not that, not that, not the plant ... yes, the thing in the corner! Yeah, it should be here on the wall.

Ok, so maybe the issue is not that they might get ticketed; rather, it's that the fire extinguisher should be readily accessible. They're usually mounted on the wall both so that they can be seen and also so that things on the floor won't block their access.

Here is the actual NFPA wording:

The employer shall provide portable fire extinguishers and shall mount, locate
and identify them so that they are readily accessible to employees without
subjecting the employees to possible injury.

And here is the OSHA recommendation:

To prevent fire extinguishers from being moved or damaged, they should be
mounted on brackets or in wall cabinets with the carrying handle placed 3-1/2 to
5 feet above the floor. Larger fire extinguishers need to be mounted at lower
heights with the carrying handle about 3 feet from the floor.

reference:
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/evacuation/portable_placement.html

women, unite

Women, unite! Or at least network.
85 Broads is a network for women. Check them out.

“85 Broads connects women across geographies, generations, academic institutions, and cultures. We are more than a community of 16,000 women. We are the women who will lead companies, win the Nobel peace prize, dance on the Broadway stage, find the cure for cancer, and invent new technologies. We will accomplish everything we ever wanted to accomplish in life by sharing the best of what we have with each other.” Janet Hanson, Founder, 85 Broads

I heard about them on CBS News.

bumper sticker

Seen on a black and white bumper sticker some days ago:

"What would Buddha do?"

ha ha

better

I did take sick leave today. Slept almost until noon. Got up, ate lunch and popped some pills then slept again (sitting up this time) until 4:30. So I slept the whole day just about. I do feel better. The headache is largely gone, though I feel as if it's still on the fringes with the possibility of coming back. I don't feel a hundred percent; that my just be due to all the sleeping. But I do feel capable of functioning now.

Thanks, T.O., for the well wishes!

ugh

I don't feel so good. I took two Tylenols and a Mucinex Friday night. Then again Saturday morning. Then again Saturday afternoon. I refrained from taking another dose on Saturday night. Sunday morning I peeled myself out of bed, went to mass, did my volunteer thing, then ran some errands, came home to eat lunch then was back out again. I filled up the car and picked up dinner then I'm home for the day. I took an hour and a half nap. My head was really bothering me and I didn't want to get up. But I managed crawl out of bed, took two Tylenols and two Mucinex this time, then hopped in the shower, then I ate dinner then washed the dishes. I've more stuff to do but I'll just get up super early in the morning to take care of it. I sure want to call in sick tomorrow, but I doubt that it'd happen. If I feel this crappy tomorrow, then I'll reconsider.

tidbits

This past Saturday I was at an ordination ceremony for 32 permanent deacons. Cool. The mass was 4 hours long.
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Announced on Sunday at all masses: the order which runs our parish will be pulling out of the region. Starting next Summer, we will have new leadership for the parish. It was a difficult announcement to make; I'm sure our pastor would've preferred to just have to make it once, but he did it at every mass.

I'll post further thoughts on the matter only if there is any expressed interest.
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Revelation: training wheels on a bicycle do nothing to help the rider learn to ride a bike.
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Lisa Nowak. It's a sad story. But it's good that no one got maimed. I pray for the well being of all involved. Our astronauts are people who are "cream of the crop," "pick of the litter." They have credentials and accomplishments that would make anybody's head spin. Much is asked of our astronauts. They are among our national heros (heroines). Let us not be disrespectful.

DU

Natty has raised my awareness of depleted uranium, or DU for short. If this is true, it is a catastrophy of horrendous proportions.

nothing new under the sun

While the battle still hung in the balance, the crusades, introducing a new method and color of thought from the East, and the general diffusion of the teaching of Aristotle, injected a new element into the struggle, and one that was hostile to the spirit of feudalism. The new spirit triumphed; schools multiplied, scholars abounded, universities sprang up and numbered their students by the thousands. The whole age was marked by rapid and radical changes, great ideas and mighty movements, many of which have endured with undiminished influence to the present day. It was altogether a forceful, impetuous and chivalrous age, possessed of a giant's strength and a child's discretion. Indeed, the thirteenth century's tireless quest of truth has often been likened to the persistent inquisitiveness of a precocious child.

But this intellectual revival was not without its disquieting element. Human reason, fostered and developed under the guidance of the Church in the middle years of the twelfth century, dazzled by the consciousness of its own power, began to take on an overweening arrogance towards faith and authority. From this time on it asserted its absolute and undivided supremacy in the realm of knowledge, human and divine. It undertook to measure all truth by the capacity of its own understanding. Faith was impugned, dogma challenged, and even the mystery of the Trinity was held to be not beyond the reach of scholastic analysis. It placed its own judgments above God Himself, and demanded that they be accepted as the infallible criteria of truth. St. Bernard thus describes how generally this spirit had permeated the times: "Along the streets and in the squares people dispute about the Catholic Faith, about the child-bearing of the Virgin, about the Sacrament of the altar, and about the incomparable mystery of the Trinity." Of course, this license in human thought could have but one effect, and that a disastrous one, on the souls of men and the cause of truth alike.

hmm... sounds like today, actually

Saint Dominic and the Order of Preachers
VERY REV. J. B. O'CONNOR, O.P., P. G.

communications?

I don't spend that much time thinking about homosexual issues. I've read only a very few things on it. Today I ran across this article, titled The Homosexual Condition. Maybe it's just me, but I keep expecting to see a conclusion but not seeing it. Reading these things leave me feeling like I've only been given half a breath and I'm still waiting for the other half. Again, maybe it's just me, I was required to take remedial reading classes after all.

I mean, I get it that I don't condemn or else disrespect anyone just because they're "gay." But how do I manage to communicate acceptance and at the same time say "you need fixing, something is broken." Hey, I'd be the first to admit that I need fixing ... I sure ain't perfect. But I don't have the general population singling me out for some fixing. How can I communicate that it's not that I'm better than you, it's not that I pity you; how can I communicate without seeming self-righteous or holier-than-thou? I can say, "Dude, you have a knife in your side. You might want to see about getting it removed" and there probably won't be too much repercussion. But if I say, "Man, you are gay. You might want to look at options for not living the gay lifestyle," I'd probably not survive to tell of it.

Speaking of trauma ... I remember when I had a joint that needed surgery. That surgery didn't come until weeks later. If I understand correctly, the doctor is not fixing the joint until the body has gotten over its trauma. (Ah, then surgery is another whopper of a trauma.) So if our gay friends continue to be traumatized by society, it's going to be mighty difficult to heal.

Maybe these commentaries don't have a conclusion because the conclusion has to be individualized. Sometimes we just need a hug, a laugh, not a prod, not instruction. Sometimes those things just can't be talked about until we can understand each other at a level deeper than words. Then when we talk about things that hurt, we won't have to wrestle with motives; we can move past suspicion and can focus instead on the ideas.
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And lest I be misunderstood: I do stand by the Church and I agree that sexual acts outside of marriage is immoral and that marriage is between one man and one woman and therefore by logic, all homosexual intercourse is immoral.

anecdote

I remember a story which illustrates how the time of praise may interact with the time of the clock, the time of modernity. When one of my brethren was a child at school, a dentist came to give lessons in dental hygiene to the children. He asked the class when they must clean their teeth. There was absolute silence. He said, `Come on, you know when you must clean your teeth. In the morning and in the evening ... ' This touched a button in the minds of these good Catholic children who knew their catechism. And they all carried on `before and after meals'. `Excellent,' said the dentist. `In times of temptation and in the hour of our death'. Well, if we always cleaned our teeth in the hours of temptation, we might avoid many sins!

The Bear and the Nun : What is the Sense of Religious Life Today!
An address to the Major Religious Superiors of France, October, 1998
Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP