Shave and a Haircut

It was time for a haircut, so yesterday I tried a place that boasts specializing in men's and boys haircuts. The do it the old fashioned with that includes shaving the back of your neck where the hairline tends to creep below your collar. I had a coupon for money off, so I thought I'd give it a try. No appointments needed. so, while Dee was exercising at her gym, I got my ears lowered. I'm happy with the result.

Later in the day we went to the Cranberry Community Center and Library. Picked up a couple of books on html. Then we walked their indoor course (8 times around the path and you cover 1 mile.). We did a mile. It was good to do that indoors and out of the cold weather. It's a nice option when you want to exercise or walk but can't do it outside. We'll do it again I'm sure.

The lenten luncheon yesterday was again enjoyable. We're getting to know some of the people there from the various churches. They even saved us a couple of seats. Not only that, but the kitchen help seems to know we drink "high test" and brings their special stash out for Dee. (The coffee on the tables is all decafe.) The speaker's topic was "liberating grace." He spoke from Galatians and Ephesians. He suggested that most Christians don't share their faith because they fear they'll do it wrong. And that our fear of not being perfect is what holds us back. That is, we fail to be salt and light. Both of which our world desparately needs. I like the way The Message translation puts it:

"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness! You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be a light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept...I'm putting you on a light stand - shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."

I like that... the reason we are here is to bring out the God-flavors and God-colors in the world. You see, when we fail to do that Jesus says we are "useless." And that's about the worst thing you can say to someone is that they are useless. Jesus has come that we might have purpose. So, --- shine!

At Last!

At last I've been able to figure out how to indent paragraphs with the proper html code rather than using a multiple space command! I've been looking in bookstores every chance I get, at the computer section to find an entry level html book. Yesterday during out trip to Boardman, Ohio I found the info I needed. Evidently there is also something called a "style sheet" that I could create that would make multiple changes in the whole blog with just one entry rather than put the code manually at the beginning of each paragraph. But until I figure that out, I'm happy to have made this progress.

As the time of retirement continues, I'm resolved to keep trying to learn to do new things. The list is getting longer and I'm enjoying it very much. Our trip to Boardman was on Dee's list of things to do. She'd been there 25 years ago with her mother and daughter and thought it would be a nice day trip. It was. The temp hit 60 degrees, we picked up a slew of vitamins we needed, she bought some new boots and we learned that the price of wine is about the same in Ohio as in PA. I was surprised that Ohio doesn't use E-Zee Pass on their turnpike.

On the list of new things I've learned is "how to use my new printer." It's a Kodak Easy Share 5300. It specializes in printing good photographs. I have probably used the "copy" feature the most. (When I was at the church I took for granted the availability of the copy machine. And I knew once I retired I wouldn't have that any more. So the copy feature of this printer is getting used regularly. Just single copies here and there, but it's nice to have.

I remember when I first got the machine and tried to install the print head per the instructions. It didn't work. I called the company and they walked me through the installation and even sent me a second print head. It still didn't work. They determined the machine was defective and so sent me a new one to replace the new own I bought. On one occasion the conversation with the tech person went like this, "Push the little black button in the upper left corner of the print head." I said, "I don't seen any little black button." He said, "You can't see it, but it's there. You'll feel it. When you do, push it and it'll click and cause the print head to pop out." I did what he said and sure enough it was there.

Later I thought, of the theological parallel to what he said, "You can't see it, but it's there." Sometimes that's where we are with our faith in God and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Scripture gives us the assurance that "God is there, even when we don't see Him." The challenge is always to "trust in the Truth of His Word." In the words of The Word, "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed."

As you can see from the photo below, the footprint of the housing unit being build below us is now complete and they've hauled away most of the excess dirt. Fascinating.

By the way, I see Sherron left a "comment". Thanks. Anyone can leave a comment by just clicking on the link below where is says "0 comments".

It's a Small World After All

Yesterday we went to the new dentists office we selected about 3 miles from our house. Little did we realize that the dental hygenist would be a former high shcool classmate of a young person from our church in Linwood, NJ. Or that she would also have had Dee's former boss's wife as a teacher. Go figure. We were both impressed with this new office experience. The technology they use now is astounding. They took digital photos of my fillings with a pen like tool and showed them to me on a screen in five seconds... Amazing. As they took Dee first, I read more about Ben Franklin's experiences in London.

While they took me, Dee then went to Contours for her workout right next door. Then at noon I went to Rotary had a great lunch and met more new people. As luck would have it I sat next to the manager of the Golf and Country club, so I was able to ask him my questions about the membership options and also about summer hiring of "rangers" etc. It was very helpful. The speaker was from a social agency that seems to be doing a lot of good in the greater Pittsburgh area. And one of the ways they do it is through a Ben and Jerry's franchise that they non-profit operates. I was impressed. They also have a traveling ice cream stand that people can rent for fund-raising events. Great idea!

During the afternoon I worked on new chord progressions and committed them to memory for "Amazing Grace." I even started experimenting with various rhythums for the sone since the Qchord has 10 built in rhythumns.

      Our dance lesson ventured into new territory last night as we were introduced to the "hustle" and it's timing. It's a faster step and syncopated. A little more difficult, but we'll get it. It's interesting how the instructor has organized the class so that even though the East Coast Swing, the Jitterbug and now the Hustle all have different timings, once you get the timings of the "basic step" down, then the various things you can do with it are the same in each style of dancing. (e.g. inside and outside underarm turn, sweatheart cuddle, hammer-lock etc.)

      Here's the latest installment of the progress on the building going up behind us.

      Thought for the day: Today when I turned on my computer there was a message on the screen that said, "New updates are ready to be downloaded." The implication is that with these updates my computer will be protected from the viruses out there and will run more efficiently once they are installed. Hummm - That's what is supposed to happen each week when I go to church and have my faith updated and installed for greater efficiency and faithfulness. And to be protected from the nastiness that can cause a person to crash. "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice!"

New People, New Experiences

      As you can see we finished our third jigsaw puzzle. This one is of a golfer whose big grin indicates his happiness over finding that his golf ball didn't go in the drink after all, but landed on a large lillypad. We bought this puzzle for 50 cents at the Mars Library booksale. You'll note there is a piece missing in the lower right side. Tra-la.

      Yesterday we met new people and had new expereinces. Dee went to a "newcomers luncheon" with a new friend from church. The luncheon was at the Highland Country Club. She said there were about 60 people there and told me all about the people she met and the speaker (an image consultant - who said there are 4 basic body types - and that each "type" has certain kinds of clothes that flatter that "type." It sounded like she really had a good time. I'm glad she went.

      I on the other hand went to the local clergy meeting and met some new pastors and got to know others I'd seen at the lennten luncheons from a distance. Our discussion centered on music in the church. Of the 6 pastors there, half of them said it's nearly impossible to get people to sing in adult church choirs these days. (Evidenced by what we experienced at the church we're attending where the adult choir only sings once or twice a month, with other musical groups filling in the other Sundays.) As one pastor said, "It's a major time commitment to sing in a church choir. Probably more than any other thing in the church." He's right. Later I learned that several of the pastors are golfers. I look forward to golfing with them. Think spring.

      I stopped at a local restaurant to try their $1.99 breakfast. That's when I bumped in to the lady I sat next to at last Friday's lenten luncheon. She plays is a music director at a local church. I joined her for breakfast and we continued the topic of church choirs and music. She agreed that getting people to sing in the church choir is difficult, and that getting them to wear robes is even more difficult.

      Later I stopped by the local campus of Butler County Community College to see what they're offering in the way of non-degree adult education courses. Nice campus. When Dee got home her doctor called and indicated her blood work numbers were all very good. Praise the Lord. The exercise and vitamins and fish oil are doing their thing.

      Today's quote says "Part of happiness is learning to enjoy even the less invigorating parts of the journey." and "One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magicl rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today."

      Speaking of what's happening outside my window, here's the picture from yesterday's progress on the new housing unit.

A Time for Building

      Yesterday was a quiet day for us. Dee went to Contours to exercise and I did the treadmill while watching "How They Do It." I learned about how they make banjos, down and feather pillows and faucets and plastic bottles and jelly filled donuts (The person who squirts the jelly into the donut makes 49 per minute.) I never cease to be amazed at the assembly lines and precision tools that are used to make the products we use everyday.

      We live in a housing plan that is almost complete. They still have two units to build. One of them is behind our home down over the hill. They started that new housing unit yesterday. I thought I'd take pictures of it as they work on it and note the progress from time to time. Here is a picture of their first day on the job.

      The lectionary readings for this next Sunday will be from Matthew 21:1-11 (Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday) and Isaiah 50:4-9a. (That's if your preacher is using the common lectionary readings for the Christian year.) I like to read them over, do a little research on them and think about them ahead of time for the Sunday worship experience.

      Here's today's quote from the chapter on "Balance" from Everyday Greatness, "What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it." And another reads, "Ultimately time is all you have and the idea isn't to save it but to savor it."

      That sounds a lot like "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." from the Psalms.

View from the Pew

     I continue to be amazed at how quickly the snow is removed from the streets here in Mars. Whereas in Jersey the snow could linger for days even before they seemed to get around to our street.

      Yesterday we went back to the church we attended the Sunday before. Sitting on the pew side of the pulpit is new for me. Since we arrived later than we'd planned, we sat in the last pew. As we worshipped, I observed some of the pew activities that compete for the preacher's attention. Children like to curl their mother's hair and/or lay on the pew; teens bring books with them to peruse while the service proceeds (the girl in front of us had a puzzle book she kept leafing through; mother's curl their children's hair, people chat back and forth and occasionally people come in and walk up toward the pew of their choice, or walk back to go to the bathroom.) The pew is a busy place.

      The preacher spoke on the raising of Lazarus from Luke 11. A story that takes the entire chapter to tell. As he read parts of the story for us, I realized that the entire service relied on the audio senses -- "listening". There was nothing for the eyes to do and so they wandered. Even with the scripture reading we didn't engage with the text (although one could pick up the pew Bible and rad along). The words to the songs were printed in the bulletin so there were no notes to follow. Though two of the songs in the bulletin listed hymn numbers, I discovered there was a photocopied sheet in the pew of one of the hymns, and no hymnal for following the other.

      After the service we attended the fellowship hour. That's when the congregation seems to come to life. Dee spoke with a gal named Marsh who'd invited her to a "newcomers luncheon" this Tuesday. They planned to meet and go together. We met a couple of new people (John and Pat). As it turns out John works with the teen choir, plays guitar and enjoys music. I mentioned the congregational singing issue, and he said, "You're not the first person to mention it." So I had the idea it's a problem they're trying to solve. The thick carpeting and thick pew pads created a "dead sounding room." He introduced me to the music director. I asked her about the adult choir (which we'd heard a couple of weeks before) and she said that since they have several music groups, the adult choir sings only once or twice a month. And they may do one cantata a year. (none for Easter this year.)

      John gave us a tour of the building and showed us where the Adult Sunday School classes meet. His class has about 25 in it. As were were about to leave we met a couple of other people who attended his class or who teach one of the other classes. Maybe we'll try a class next week.

      At lunch, the family in the booth next to us and little boy with them who jumped on his seat (standing), fell and cracked open his head. They took him to the hospital and then the manager later came and asked us what happened. He got our name and numbers incase he needed them later.

      Later we went to Barnes and Nobel, I read about html language and bought a "Birds of Pennsylvania" field guide. Then we watched the movie Holy Man with Eddie Murphy.

      We watched a program on the National Geographic Channel called "Dog Genius." It was the most informative program on dogs I've ever seen. It makes a person marvel and what dogs can do and how sensitive they are. I highly recommend it to you if you should see it listed in your program guide. Also, I've been reading from Stephen Covey's book Everyday Greatness. The section on "Balance" is a good one. It's loaded with ponderable thoughts like "Life travels at a pace so fast that too many people end up bypassing that which matters most." and "Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn't stop to enjoy it."

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

My what a beautiful sunny Sunday morning we have today! The brightness of the sun reflecting off the snow is magnificent. As I went out to get the morning newspaper I noticed that the snow plough had already been by on our street and the snow on the ground is only about 2 inches deep. PTL. However, I'm reading that other places had blizzard conditions.

Nonetheless, we did as little driving as necessary yesterday.

      I did manage to enjoy watching a couple of golden finches, a purple finch and a bright red cardinal on the deck. The neighbor's bird feeders draws a variety of birds to observe. It reminded me of my bird watching days. (I must get another "Peterson's guide to North American birds" again. I had so much fun trying to identify the birds in our back yard in Southfield and Penn Hills but got away from it in Linwood.)

The Qchord was a welcome distraction from the snow as was the current jigsaw puzzle. All in all a quite day for us.

And Dee's dinner of "asian turkey burgers" with corn and creamed spinach side dishes was awesome. Nice.

Oscar Hammerstein II once said, "I know the world is filled with troubles and many injustices. But I think it is jst as important to sing about beautiful mornings as it is to talk about slums. I just couldn't write anything without hope in it." That's what this sun shining in my window and onto this keyboard does for me.