Day 33 (October 31, 2009)

I don’t like roller coasters. Or for that matter, I don’t like anything where I’m in something on a track going down quickly. It’s not a fear. It’s not an “I’m feeling sick.” It’s just an extreme dislike.

Oddly, I absolutely love water slides. Going down at a high rate of speed either on an inner tube or on tubeless slide is a great delight of the summer. I can’t get enough of them.

So what’s with that?

Well, I can’t explain the psychology of it all. I think it’s a matter of faith and control.

In a roller coaster, I’m strapped into someone else’s contraption. I’m under someone else control. I’m on someone else’s plan. How I feel is irrelevant to the machine that contains me. I’m always bracing myself against the machine to prepare for the next curve, descent, or swoop.

On a water slide, however, I’m not strapped into anything. The key to its enjoyment is relaxing my body and trusting in the laws of physics. In that I find a freedom. The more I can relax and trust, the more enjoyable and freeing it is. Every curve, descent, and swoop brings its own special and unique sensation and delight.

The last few weeks we’ve been trying to find the right place for Bryce to go to high school. It has truly been a roller coaster experience. I feel strapped within the convoluted system of high school admissions, public and private, in Baltimore. I feel totally at the mercy of forces throwing me up against the side of the car and am at a constant search for the barf bag.

And that’s how it often is in the World. I sometimes feel like much of life is spent in search of the barf bag. However, the Kingdom calls for my water slide outlook: Just as many twists and turns and drops but no seatbelts. It may seem less safe and secure at first glance and feel riskier with the lack of seatbelts and fear of drowning. But, the Way through the Kingdom says, “Relax. Trust Me.” He said it another way when he said, “I give you peace, the kind of peace that only I can give. It isn't like the peace that this world can give. So don't be worried or afraid.” (John 14:27)

So, my question for myself is: How do I remember the Kingdom to which I pledge my allegiance and remember that I’m on a water slide despite the roller coaster the world tries to strap me in? When I can do this we can go through anything in Joy and Hope and Peace.


Thanks for reading.

Jeff

Day 32 (October 30, 2009)

So, as we all can tell, this blogging thing isn’t my best example of moving into the current century. For those of you keeping track, I am doing better with the other two things I started at the same time. I’m conquering Facebook and connecting with people I haven’t been in contact with for years. I’m also texting away on my cell phone. The blogging, though; that’s a different story.

Many of the issues are PEBKAC: Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair. Though, that doesn’t explain 100% of the problem. Several times that I tried to post the system wouldn’t let me log back in. “Try back later” was not a viable alternative.

So, what to do? We’ll, I don’t know. I certainly don’t want a more exciting life. In fact, I’d like a little bit of boredom now and again. I’ve got a day or two’s worth of content that I’m working on at present so there’ll be some new material coming soon.

In the meantime, I’m taking a “time out” from the neighborhood for a couple of days next week. Perhaps new insight will appear.

Thanks for reading,

Jeff

Day 31 (October 25, 2009)

So, this discipline thing isn't working quite as I had hoped. Perhaps you noticed.

The weeks just slipped away without a posting. Sorry about that. I'm trying to figure out a better system.

Thanks for reading,

Jeff

Day 30 (October 7, 2009)

Wednesdays are long days. The computer (and everyone else in my time zone) thinks that it's already Thursday. It can't be because Wednesday is still going.

The alarm went off at 6:25 this morning. By 6:40 I was at the church setting up for SonRisers. SonRisers ended as I pulled out of the church parking lot at 8:02 to take the kids to school.

Once back at the church I visited with Tamara and Sarah. Donna stopped by to get the key to the church for the nurses group then Tamara went home to get me some checks from the checkbook.

Meanwhile, the HVAC repair man was working on the furnace. He left just as Joyce Meyer was signing off at 10:00. From there it was home for a quick shower followed by getting started on a middle school/high school mailing.

By 11:15 I was back at the church. The nursing student group was working in the front room. A nursing student from a different group came to interview me at 11:30.

Once that was over and I had a visit with Donna (who asked if I was done with work for the day), I locked up the church and went home for a 1:30 lunch. I finished the mailing and headed out to the post office at 3:00 after stopping back at the church to pick up some things I'd left there.

Naturally, USPS 21223 only had 100 postcard stamps when I wanted 200. I only needed 63 today so I bought the 100, affixed the 63 on the postcards in my hand, and dropped them in the mail.

I picked up Onalee from extended care at her school at 3:45 then waited for Bryce got out of after school band at 4:00. I got them home and started on their homework after they changed clothes so we could run a load of uniform pants/skorts. Vonceil and I had a quick review of the kids' interim report cards at 4:35 then I was off to the church to set up for the Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meeting.

While waiting for the NA group I visited on the phone with a friend in Missouri. I got home at 5:30 in time for supper.

After almost finishing the dishes it was back to the church at 6:20 to shut down for NA and set up for the 7:00 Mid-Week Service. Afterward I took home the communion cloths that had gotten stained on Sunday.

I arrived home around 8:15. That lead to finishing the filling of the dishwasher, fighting (and claiming victory) over stains in the communion cloths, and quizzing Bryce for Thursday's vocabulary quiz.

At our house the world stops at 9:00 each Wednesday evening for Glee. At 10:00 the TV was off and it was time for attendance tracking work and miscellaneous email.

I started typing this post at midnight.

Somehow in there I also registered for a conference in California in February, booked plane tickets, reserved a rental car, and selected a hotel. I also reserved a rental car for World Conference, visited my mother-in-law on the phone, sent out a bunch of emails, fielded phone calls, updated Facebook, developed a shopping list for this weekend's Homecoming, and started putting together an agenda for this Sunday's priesthood meeting. Did I mention the planning for Mid-Week Service and previewing the crafts for Sunday's Kids' Church?

Wednesdays are long. But not long enough to get everything done. I have to take some of what others call Thursday to wind up the work of the day. Tomorrow (or later today to most of you) I'll have a couple of hours at St. Mary's Seminary library and chapel to let the spirit and the flesh catch up with each other again.

Thanks for reading,

Jeff

Day 29 (October 5, 2009)

Please warn car salesmen for me. Their livelihoods depend on it.

I seem to be able to pick them. See, the first care I ever drove (in 1995) was an Oldsmobile. It was the first brand new car that I remember my mom and dad buying. As a teenager who couldn't yet drive it was a thrill to go with them a few months earlier to Cliff Anchutz Chevrolet-Olds-Nissan and shop for a brand new car.

It was blue. It was beautiful. It was fun to drive (not that I had anything to compare it to). And it was brand new.

(Of course, for a 15 year old, it had the most important thing of all ---- a 4 speaker electronically tuned am/fm stereo. The '78ish Chevy Caprice it replaced had a single speaker am dial-tuned radio. I was in love.)

Another car of mine was a 1997 Plymouth Voyager minivan. Bryce was almost a year old and the little Saturn we'd bought was broken beyond repair. It was a BASIC model (except for the stereo and cruise control) in purple. It made me feel like a responsible dad.

It was also the vehicle I used when feeding the homeless in Houston and for hauling things to and from Airline Drive for the Solid Rock Cafe.

In Baltimore I we bought a '99 Metro for Vonceil to drive around town. It was right when Geo was being converted into Chevrolet.

Just over three years ago we bought a green 2006 Saturn ION. So far it's been a great car for us.

Oldsmobile? Gone. Plymouth? Gone. Geo? Gone. Saturn? Gone. I feel like I'm bearing part of the weight of the nation's unemployment rate based on the men who sold me cars and are now out of work.

Now, I've owned used cars (Chevy and Suzuki) and some new cars (Honda and Dodge) that continue to call salesmen to inflate giant blue gorillas on the roofs of their dealerships. Still, the odds aren't too hot for me right now in terms of brand loyalty.

Perhaps I should look for work with Ford. I've never owned one. They could get me to buy cars from other manufacturers to weed out the competition. Maybe I'll send them my resume. I could list some Oldsmobile, Plymouth, Geo, and Saturn salesmen as character references.

Thanks for reading.

Jeff

Day 28 (October 1, 2009)

I caught part of a talk show on WYPR yesterday talking about people always trying to buy things on the cheap. The real push from those talking was "you get what you pay for" and that quality is worth the price.

I couldn't agree more, except where they miss the point.

Now, those of you who know me well know that I'm always after a deal. I know, though, that there's no such thing as a good deal on a piece of junk. Quality is worth paying for, but the quality has to meet the need.

For example, take cell phones. Naturally, I need one that works without fail and want to get one that is as inexpensive as possible. As a late adapter, I would still be using my original cell phone I got back when the company was still called VoiceStream.

However, I'm glad I got one that wore out in about 2 years and that the other phones I've had since then did likewise. Each time I've replaced my "good enough" phone the technology had changed a lot. Each new phone has been smaller, been lighter, been able to do more things, and had a longer battery life than the one before it. Yes, I could have bought a higher quality phone each time, but it lasting longer would have been a detriment, not a benefit.

Another problem of "getting what you pay for" is that you can't always tell from the price what the quality will be. I've had enough times that I've paid a little more to get something "better" that ended up not being as good as the stuff with the reputation for being cheap.

Finally on this soapbox, there is a cost-benefit ratio. When we bought our last car it came down to a Honda or a Saturn. Clearly, the Honda was the superior product; there was no question about that. However, the Saturn was good and was $5K less. For us at that ratio, the decision was easy to go with the Saturn.

(When we replaced our van a few years earlier, it came down to a Honda and a Dodge with again the Honda being the clearly superior product. We decided then that the $3K price difference was worth it for that vehicle. We've been happy with both decisions.)

So, I guess I'm arguing a bit with the premise that "you get what you pay for." I would have to say that it's better to "know what you're paying for" and align your values with that value.

Thanks for reading,

Jeff