Black Horse and the Cherry tree

This picture is so pretty! If you look closely, the cherries are covered in icicles! I have found a different blog article with pictures like this one. Apparently it was near San Luis Obispo, California, which got unusually cold. I decided that my blog needs more pictures. I haven't converted to the new version of Blogger, either. I need to investigate if it's worth conversion.

I had a fairly good Christmas this year. I went to visit my mom. I think I still have some lingering resentment toward my mom from when I was younger. I guess it's because of her personality. She likes to tell me what to do as if I am still a child. It bothers me! She also has some health problems and isn't able to do some things for herself. I wish that I didn't have to do things for her. I try to be helpful to my mom, but inside I'm grumbly. My mom telling me what to do may be part of the reason why I doubt myself and feel as if what I do is not good enough. It's part of life that parents like to tell children what to do and are more needy as they get older. I can't change them, but I can choose how to react to those things I guess. I also feel a bit guilty that I react the way that I do. Sometimes I think I can't change. It's a frustrating cycle. God help me.

Dictionary.com definition of reticent

There we go! The Dictionary.com definition of the title of my blogs! "Reticent Squirrel"! Now that I think about it, squirrels don't seem too reticent. They bound enthusiastically across lawns and up trees. They chase each other with much enthusiasm as well. However they are reserved around people. When I was in high school I vaguely remember that we did a personality test in Home Ec. In the results one of the adjectives to describe me was reticent, the teacher said it applied to me! I suppose it did apply to me because I was reluctant to talk sometimes. I was picked on in school, so I didn't express myself often. I didn't know what reticent meant, and my teacher made me look it up in the dictionary. Here it is:

reticent \RET-ih-suhnt\, adjective:
1. Inclined to keep silent; reserved; uncommunicative.
2. Restrained or reserved in style.
3. Reluctant; unwilling.

URL: reticent: Dictionary.com Word of the Day

The Man from Crete video

This is an awesome parable from Fr. Larry Richards. Don't let the Roman collar scare you away. Fr. Larry is an awesome speaker. The parable asks what's keeping us from the Kingdom of God? I wasn't sure if I could get it to show up properly. I am very happy it works! I would love to hear what you think of the story!



P.S. Did anybody else notice that Fr. Larry could use a little eyebrow grooming? Hehehe, oh well, he's a priest, not a celebrity!

Regarding Happiness

Regarding Happiness
Last night I dreamt no matter what cards you are dealt, you need to chew on our potatos. How is this related to Happiness, you may ask?

OK, I will tell you something here now... Sometime around last year I felt the earth would stop. Yeah, just what it sounds like. As I was saying... Yet, somehow I didn't feel like I should have felt. I found satan himself. Insert drum-roll here, because...
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Date: 2006-11-22 01:50:05 Permalink Comments (0)

This is one of those randomly generated blog posts. It comes from the Blog-o-Matic website. I decided to copy and paste it into my blog because the phrase "you need to chew on our potatos." It's the perfectly weird phrase that I like a lot!

Elizabeth Claire Prophet video

Leave it to Presurfer to find this hunk of weirdness! It's a video on You Tube of an incantation against the "evil spirits of rock music." I couldn't listen to all of it because Elizabeth Claire Prophet and the others are chanting very quickly in an obnoxious high monotone! The video is a trippy mix of nature paintings and photographs. It looks kind of like a low-tech slide show with the pictures sliding around. If you can listen to the whole video I think you are immune to the sound! (Click the words "You Tube" to see the video, I'm not going to post it here.)

By the way, Elizabeth Clare Prophet is the leader of the Church Universal and Triumphant, a New Age religion that melds world religions together. They seem to use a lot of Christian vocabulary, but I am sure they interpret the words totally differently from mainstream Christianity. So my discomfort over the chanting probably has to do more with not knowing to WHO the hell they are chanting! Here's a profile on the Church Universal and Triumphant from the Watchman Expositor, a Christian research firm dedicated to refuting cults if you care to read it.

Rub the Magic Lamp

I haven't posted about myself recently. I have a new job as of September. I work at a call center doing phone customer service for Genie Garage doors. I tell people how to troubleshoot their garage door openers. (Hence the reference to the "magic lamp", get it?)

I find that people are crabby! I already know that based on my jobs at the UW Survey Center and Reserve America. But I recently had an older man tell me how displeased he was with the instructions on his wireless keypad. They are mounted on the wall outside of a garage so that a person can enter their PIN and open the garage door without the remote control. In order to program the wireless keypad PIN a person needs to press a "learn code" button on the motorhead itself. The older man on the phone was not able to get up to the motorhead to press it. He expressed his displeasure at there not being explicit instructions on location of the "learn code" button on the literature and the inside of the keypad lid. I attempted to tell him that's a security feature, but he was too busy telling me how irritated he was about it!

This model of wireless keypad can be used for any model of Genie garage door opener made after 1996. The machines themselves vary on location of the "learn code" button. Every step of the procedure is not printed on the inside of the keypad lid for security! Someone can easily walk up to the garage and follow instructions to change the PIN and enter a person's garage if not for the need to press the "learn code" button on the powerhead! However the crabby old man wouldn't allow me to explain that to him. Sometimes I have consumers ask me to get them into their garage by helping them change the PIN on their keypad. They have no "person door" to get into the garage. It's impossible for me to help them change the PIN if they have no way to press the "learn code" button on the powerhead! I love explaining these little details. I wish people were more patient and tolerant of customer service agents!

Free Hugs Campaign Video (music by Sick Puppies)

Check out the famed Free Hugs video, with over 1.5 million views on Youtube!  The song on the video, "All the Same," is awesome too! the band is called Sick Puppies and you can find out more about them at sickpuppies.net.

Rosary Army Radio Adventures

I'm sure I have talked about how I enjoy listening to the Rosary Army Catholic podcast. Episode #96 was pretty interesting because Greg and Jennifer Willits recapped their trip out to California. They went to the 2006 Podcast Award ceremony to receive their award for the "Best General Podcast". They were joined by Father Roderick all the way from the Netherlands as well. Father Roderick received two awards for "Best Inspirational podcast," and "Best Mobile podcast." Boy, Greg, Jennifer and Father Roderick certainly were blessed on this trip. They have a friend of SQPN named "Captain Jeff" who works for a major airline and got very reasonable priced tickets for them to fly to California. Greg, Jennifer, and Father Roderick met a bunch of people who very much enjoy their podcasts. Nothing like meeting fans and friends to boost one's self-esteem! They also met someone who works for the TV show The Simpsons. They sounded very excited about it on episode #96.

I was quite happy to hear about how Greg got to be part of a live taping of a podcast called "the Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd." Greg and Jennifer's four sons very much enjoy the podcast. I've only heard one episode, the one that was recorded live at the Podcast Awards. (If you click the blue triangle next to the links here, either the Dr. Floyd or Rosary Army episodes should play right on the page.) "The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd" is about several time-traveling scientists. It is a very family-friendly and educational podcast. They recorded it old-fashioned radio-show style with homemade sound effects and so on. Greg Willits was privileged to play the part of the narrator. He has a great voice. The story line was quite clever, and there were some well-placed jokes that only adults would catch. I laughed aloud. It is certainly worth a listen. I have to admire the people behind the Dr. Floyd show because they were gracious enough to talk to Greg's son Sam in character via cell phone. Sam shared all his ideas about what Dr. Floyd should do next! I'm sure the phone call made his day!

Work Stuff

A few months ago I wrote a blog post about my job with Reserve America. I mentioned it that I hadn't had a relay call. It is sort of funny that soon after I posted that blog post I received a relay call for Ticketmaster. Receiving a relay call was a funny experience. Because I had worked for the Relay I realized the importance of speaking very slowly for the operator. So I spoke slowly, but yet I had to "think on my feet" so to speak to formulate what I was going to say. The woman who called through the relay did not have very good English. I had to ask several times what type of event and she wanted to attend. After asking two or three times finally she said "clowns go ahead." Finally I knew she wanted to go see the circus. However there were several circuses going on in New York City at the time she called. Finally I think I gave her the phone number for the Madison Square Garden because there was a circus going on there. I also recommended that she look at Ticketmaster.com so she could get an idea of what was going on.

The other day I was thinking about the jobs I've held. While working at the UW Survey Center the people I talk to were generally defensive. They must have thought I was trying to get money from them or possibly steal their identity. The questions I asked for the surveys were very basic. We never asked anyone for their name and address or Social Security number. I remember asking a question about a respondent's zip code. She said "this is getting a little too personal." I explained the reason why we needed her zip code, "to make sure we get a good mix of people around the state." Eventually she gave me her zip code. And then later on in the survey I asked her a question about whether she ever had a Pap smear. Me and my sarcastic mind, I thought "asking for your zip code is not nearly as personal as asking whether you have ever had your cervix swabbed by a doctor!"

On the other hand, at my Reserve America job people had no problem in giving it their personal information out. When that they ordered tickets or made camping reservations they gave me their name, address, phone number, and credit card number! For the Ticketmaster orders people even gave me the 3 digit security number on the back of their credit card. Although I had one woman who said she did not want to give it for security reasons. I had to tell her "Without that number on the back of the card I cannot make the order" because it was true! Ticketmaster requested the three digit code on the back of the credit card in order to assure that the person calling actually had the credit card in their possession.

Obviously people gave me the information because they were calling me-I was not calling them. One or two people even told me that they prefer to talk to me on the phone to place the order rather than placing the order on the Internet. I know there are times where people have had their identity stolen through the Internet. To my way of thinking, it is a bit more suspicious to give your name, address, and credit card information to a live person rather than an order form on the Internet. Oh well, people have different ideas of what is "secure."

Casting about

I finally decided to write another blog post. It has been awhile. Not much exciting has happened in my life lately. I've been doing all right. I was pretty busy with my day job. My life has gone through one major change recently. I was fired from my job at Reserve America. I was late to work a lot of the time. I tried to change my schedule, but that didn't work. Actually what got me in trouble was when I got to work just in time before was late, but I had to go to the bathroom. I punched in and ran to the bathroom. I only did it twice. A supervisor named Jesus caught it and wrote me up for disciplinary action. (Leave it to a supervisor named Jesus to write me up for those!) After that I made too many mistakes and I was fired. Yes, I realize that and I am not a very good worker. Oh well, that's life.

Congratulations are in order for the Rosary Army podcast. The Rosary Army podcast won "Best General Podcast" in the 2006 Podcast Awards website. This was won by popular vote on the website. What is a podcast you ask? A podcast is sort of like a radio program on the Internet. People usually record them in their homes using software with sound affects and special things like that. The Rosary Army podcast in particular is made by a Catholic married couple named Greg and Jennifer. They talk about their family life, their four sons, and especially about Rosary Army ministry. The Rosary Army ministry was started in order to promote prayer of the Rosary. They give away all-twine knotted rosaries. (For the most part the rosaries are all the same color. This picture is a creative example of twine handiwork.)

You can go to the Rosary Army website and print out an order form to request a free Rosary. I have one myself. Mine is medium blue and has a metal crucifix on the end. I must say that I do not pray the rosary very often, but a few months ago I ordered some twine supplies and have made about six of them so far. Rosary making is fun. I plan on sending the rosaries I have made to the Rosary Army so they can distribute them to others.

Congratulations are also in order for two other Catholic podcasts "The Daily Breakfast" and "Catholic Insider" both produced by a Catholic priest from the Netherlands named Father Roderick. His podcasts won "Best Religion Inspiration" and "Best Mobile podcast" respectively. I have not listened to either of these podcasts. But apparently Father Roderick is wildly popular. I have heard he's a big fan of science fiction, especially Star Wars. He talks about popular culture, Star Wars, movies, as well as the Catholic church. I like the Rosary Army podcast because Greg and Jennifer are down to earth. They have a silly sense of humor and aren't afraid to make mistakes on their podcast. Perhaps Father Roderick is similar, and maybe that's why his podcasts are so popular! Check the podcasts out if you are so inclined!

A Reluctant Review

I am kind of hesitant to write the review about the 3rd movie I mentioned in the first movie review post. I don't want to give the movie a whole lot of crediblity. But it was so out there that I gotta write about it! It's called "What the Bleep do We Know?" It stars Marlee Matlin. Yep, that deaf actress who has been on a few TV shows like the Practice, Law and Order and a couple bad movies. (One which had TTY relay operators as part of the plot...) "What the Bleep do We Know?" is a story about a frustrated photographer (Marlee Matlin) who learns about quantum physics and it revolutionizes her life.

The movie intersperses Marlee Matlin’s story and a LOT of computer graphics with scientists talking about quantum physics. This movie starts with a couple of basic scientific facts--or should I say theories (?)--and uses them to discuss New Age philosophy that I don’t agree with. The facts and quantum theories meander into New Age philosophies that negate the Christian concept of God and say that either god is an anonymous universal force, is in everything, or we are god. I think it’s a bunch of mumbo jumbo. (Yes, that's a scientific term!)

One of the main scientific facts discussed is that all matter is made of atoms. Atoms are made of nuclei and the electrons which whirl around them. Between the electrons and nuclei is empty space. The “What the Bleep do We Know?” scientists admit that the electrons are so small and fast that they don’t actually know where those electrons are, but they have potential paths. From this the scientists conclude that all objects and are potentialities rather than realities. The theory is illustrated during a basketball game between Marlee Matlin and an African American boy who speaks like a quantum physics guru. When Marlee Matlin turns her back to the boy, he is in 20 different places on the basketball court all at once; when she turns back toward him, he is in one spot. They also say that our minds create everything that we see and experience. I just can’t agree with that. I didn’t create the desk and chair that I am sitting at or the laptop computer that I am typing on! They are not products of my brain. They exist outside of my perceptions!

The second scientific fact discussed in “What the Bleep do We Know?” is that thoughts and emotions are the result of neurochemicals in the brain. It was part of the “the mind creates reality” theory. The movie makers used some pretty cool graphics to illustrate the chemicals going from neuron to neuron in the brain. In a nutshell, the movie scientists say that we can choose how to react to the perceptions and emotions we have. I can agree with that because it’s basic cognitive psychology. Choosing how to think about our emotions or circumstances in life can help us get over anger, anxiety or depression.

For example, last Saturday I had to work at Reserve America. A coworker got on the bus a few stops after me. When I saw her I said “So you’re putting in your time on the weekends, too, huh?” The lady rolled her eyes, frowned at me and said “I work every weekend.” It was pretty rude. I could have taken what she said a number of ways. I could think that she was a bitch and never talk to her again. Years ago I probably would have thought that I was a stupid person who deserved to be treated rudely for talking to her. Now I can be more objective and think that she must've been unhappy about working on the weekend.

“What the Bleep do We Know?” is a movie that is supposed to cause us to question reality. I guess it is supposed to enlighten us and change our perceptions. It made me want to clean the bath tub! I stopped the DVD and actually gave it a scrub. (Eventually I finished watching the DVD.) I fast forwarded thru the "Polish Wedding" scene because the animation was dumb. At the end of the movie, the scientists gave their credentials. A couple of them were actually physicists and psychologists! They all had written quantum physics books which they plugged, of course. One of them was a chiropractor and another was a lady who called herself “Ramtha.” If you follow the link, you'll find that Ramtha is a spirit that J.Z. Knight channels for a "School of Enlightenment." J.Z. Knight has been on Coast to Coast AM. (Feel free to laugh at the show synopsis I linked to!) The movie directors are Ramtha devotees, by the way. I rented this DVD from Netflix out of curiosity. I pretty much knew that it would be a bunch of New Age crap. I was right.

Movie Review Redux

The other movie I recently saw was “Beyond the Gates of Splendor.” It told the story of 5 Christian missionaries, among them Nate Saint and Jim Elliot, who reached out to the Waodani Indians of Ecuador. They lowered gifts to them from their airplane. After a time of reaching out they landed and gave a couple of the Indians rides in their airplane. Because of a series of lies the Waodani killed the 5 missionaries with spears. (Hence the name "End of the Spear," the fiction movie based on the documentary.) Their wives continued to live in Ecuador, first in a nearby village and later among the Waodani themselves.

This was a two sided DVD. One side was a condensed version that was more like a family scrapbook. The wives talked about how they met their husbands. They told the basic story of the missionaries. They also talked about the loss of their husbands and how it affected them and their children. Steve Saint, son of Nate Saint, explained that when his mother told him that his father was killed by the Indians they lived among he felt a kinship with them because Steve knew that just about every tribe member had family who were murdered.

The other side of the DVD filled out the story. A pair of sociologists explained that conflict resolution was not a part of Waodani culture. They simply murdered each other during disputes! I was touched by the sadness that the missionary crew still show when talking about how they recovered the bodies of Nate Saint, Jim Elliot and the others. Steve Saint’s daughter wanted to be baptized in Ecuador. The Saint family moved back to the jungle, and she was baptized by Mincaye and another of the Indians who killed her grandfather in the 1950s. The best part was the story about Mincaye. Steve Saint and his family took Mincaye with them back to the U.S., and he experienced an utterly different world from the rainforest. Mincaye’s interpretations of commonplace American things like fast food drive thru windows were funny!

“Beyond the Gates of Splendor” was a good movie, but it did leave me wanting. The most obvious thing missing was any reference to God! The 5 missionaries said that they would not take guns to defend themselves from the Indians because “We are ready for heaven and they are not.” Elisabeth Elliot mentioned having church with the Waodani Indians. That’s it. I was kind of puzzled why they used sociologists in the movie. I was disappointed that there was no mention of Jesus Christ. There was no explanation of what caused the Waodani to stop their murderous ways, either. I really wished they would have talked about how Steve Saint and his family came to love the people who killed Nate and the other missionaries. Steve’s children think of Mincaye as their grandfather. A natural human reaction would be to avenge the murder, or at least feel anger toward the killers! I heard part of an interview on Focus on the Family with Steve Saint when “End of the Spear” was released. He talked a bit about these issues, but I wish it would have been in the documentary. A testimony of God’s grace to overcome would have made the movie more powerful, that’s for sure!

Movie Review

I watched a few good movies recently. Specifically one of them was great, one of them was so-so and the third was crap! Here are a couple good points about the movies. (I'm no professional movie critic, but I know what I like!) Edit: I think I may have to make these movie reviews into separate posts! I have a lot to say and I don't like making enormous posts!

The great movie I watched was called Mad Hot Ballroom. It was a wonderful documentary about 5th grade boys and girls in New York City learning how to ballroom dance. Three groups of children are followed as they qualify for and compete in an all-city ballroom dancing competition. The movie captures segments with the children being themselves. The boys talk about what they think of the class. They kind of talk about girls, but it seems they haven't yet reached the point that they are "girl crazy." The girls talk about how they want to have careers, get married, have children and especially how they want to have boys treat them with respect. The directors do a wonderful job of capturing the innocence of childhood in these segments.

The rest of the movie focuses on some of the gym classes where the children learn the form and poise of dancing rumba, merengue and swing. It is all proper and innocent, not sexualized like you would find in a club or bar. It's not quite as flashy or complicated as Dancing with the Stars, but the children need to practice to get the moves down well. They learn to cooperate with each other inspite of being awkward and disliking the opposite sex. One phrase from a teacher sticks out "I'm smiling! I may not like you at all but I'm smiling!" That brings me to the teachers. I admire their positive attitudes as they illustrate and guide the children. The movie shows what being a teacher really is, with discipline issues and all. A couple of the female teachers openly cry when they express how proud they are of their children. They are truly dedicated.

I found myself rooting for these kids. My heart went out to the team that didn't make it to the finals. A few of the girls grabbed each other and started crying. I was happy for the girls as they went by subway with their teacher to find just the right outfits for their competitions. It's a rite of passage for the girls to find something pretty and feminine to wear rather than the jeans and sweatshirts in their regular wardrobes. The male teacher at one school helped the boys with their button down shirts and ties as well.

I loved how the film captured the spirit of the teams during the competition. The camera's view cut back and forth between all of the teams performing a particular dance on the floor and reactions of the children along the sidelines. The girls on the sidelines get pretty excited about how well their teammates perform. Some of the children did very well, others weren't as good. One tall hispanic girl danced with flair. She swept her arm dramatically over her head at the end of a turn which illicited quite a reaction from a nearby judge. Another short blond boy danced with a girl who was quite a bit taller than him. He moved his hips, but he wasn't that light on his feet. They really did put a lot of effort and energy into the competition, though. The only thing that I would change about this movie would be to make it a little less obvious which team was going to win. The directors seemed to give more attention to the team that ultimately won the competition. I was hoping for a surprise ending. All in all, I really enjoyed this movie.

Get the Led out

After one of my weekend shifts at Ticketmaster I walked home, part way at least. I reflected on how in my 2 years at the Survey center and my 3 months at Ticketmaster I had never taken a relay call. (Granted, at the Survey center I make outbound calls.) When I was a relay operator I found that in general some people were a bit startled by the relay call. I used to think, "Deaf people exist! Don't freak out! It's more common than you think!" That Saturday night I thought about how deaf people were my life at the Relay center. Then I changed my mind and realized that my job was my life! If I got bad reviews at the relay job I felt bad about myself. (It happened rather often, actually.) My "friendship" with Mike S. that I mentioned earlier added to it. I was just under a general cloud of gloom and shame back then.

I felt kind of condemned about not having "quiet time" with God. In the beginning I felt pretty pathetic about it! Most of the time when I tried to open my Bible and read my mind was distracted right away. I didn't seem to get a whole lot out of it. I know the basic message that God loved me so much that He sent Jesus Christ to be crucified and resurrected to atone for my sin. I didn 't get much more reassurance or revelation from it. I still can't make my "quiet time" last more than a few days in a row.

Pastor Andy said a couple things that were helpful. He used a silly analogy that went something like "When you miss lunch you don't say to yourself 'OH NO! I missed lunch, I will NEVER be able to eat AGAIN!' You just continue on and then eat dinner!" In other words, there's no reason for me to condemn myself and think I will NEVER have "quiet time" if I miss a day. That helped me feel less condemned.

Later on Pastor Andy began to read books by Gene Edwards, Brother Lawrence, Francois Fenelon and Jeanne Guyon which talk about "communing with God in my spirit." Pastor Andy explained that when I am saved, the Holy Spirit lives inside me. I can spend time in the Presence of God whenever I want by turning toward the Holy Spirit within and praying. The Bible contains truth about who God is and how Jesus Christ saves me, so I can look at it as a way to worship and commune with the Holy Spirit within. It's hard to explain. It is quite freeing. I don't have to feel pathetic for not spending adequate "quiet time" and not getting a lot out of reading the Bible. (Some Christians may get all uptight and say that it leads to the conclusion that I am god, god is everything, and I don't need Jesus Christ. I will simply say Pastor Andy was NOT teaching pantheism. I do NOT believe pantheism!)

I am glad that I am not under as much of a cloud of gloom and shame anymore. There are times when I feel somewhat depressed, but it doesn't seem as bad as in the past. That Saturday evening walking (part way) home from Ticketmaster I realized that I STILL don't have much going on in my life other than work. I am online quite a bit, watch Netflix DVDs, and occasionally read. I need a different hobby! I need to meet new people. Maybe I should join a new church, a Bible study, visit with my neighbors more, or talk to church friends on the phone more often! I gotta work on any and all of this!

A Higher Perspective

WARNING: I will be airing my "dirty laundry" in this post by being brutally honest and using some language that may offend others.

A couple of weeks ago I saw my former neighbor Mike S. on the bus. I think he got on just before I did. He sat down and I sat across the aisle from him.
I said something like “Hey, what’s up?”
He leaned forward a bit and said something I didn’t understand.
I said “What’s new?”
He said “Do I know you?” and sat back with a smirk on his face.

I didn’t say anything more. I thought, “Bullshit you don’t know me. We’ve only been ‘friends’ for about 5 years.” Fucker. I thought about how we had gone out for coffee, for lunch and seen movies together (as friends only). We laughed and joked together. I invited him to Sunrise Fellowship. We went bowling with people from Sunrise. We studied the Bible a bit together. Those parts were nice.

We had heated discussions about religion and cut down each other’s ideas. I was just as guilty as Mike was at cutting down his ideas. He dumped all his personal problems onto me. Mike mocked my ideas about Christianity, actually mocked Jesus Christ, insulted my intelligence, and called me fat and ugly. I remembered how the asshole once wrote me a terribly insulting note and put it under my door. I tore it up and put it in an envelope with a note of my own saying that I refused to accept any more of his insults of my religion or my intelligence anymore. That pretty much severed our (friendship) relationship. Since then I’ve only seen him in passing and our conversations have been pretty brief. All in all our relationship has been strained.

On the bus I resigned myself that he didn’t want to talk to me. I smiled to myself as well and thought “God’s going to get you, Mike S.! You are going to be a tongue-talking born-again Christian soon!” (For years I have had an idea that I think is from God that “in 5 years Mike S. will become a solid, born-again Christian.” I think those 5 years are almost up. The “tongue-talking” part is a bit of sarcasm because in the past Mike ridiculed that particular spiritual gift. I sort of hope that God gives him the very gift he ridiculed.) As I got off the bus I stepped towards him and said “God’s blessings be upon you, Mike S.”

At first I thought of saying it as one last “Fuck you” of sorts. Then I changed my mind and thought that saying it would be like that verse somewhere in the New Testament which talks about being nice to an enemy to “heap burning coals on his head.” I realized those ideas sort are sort of selfish. The truth is God really is going to bless Mike S.! He didn’t respond, but I said what I needed to say.

As I stepped off the bus I prayed and gave Mike to God, as much as I could do something like that. I told God I wanted to be done with the spiritual ties to my friendship with Mike. I wanted to be done with the emotional baggage that his insults left with me. As I walked home I coughed a couple times. I didn’t have a cold or anything. I think God was taking care of “spiritual junk” and I was coughing it out. That may not make sense to anyone but me. Oh well.

I was planning on blogging about this incident and focusing on how unfair the whole thing was that after 5 years Mike would ask “Do I know you?” I left in the cursing to convey those ideas. I guess the language conveys my resentment toward the whole situation rather than actual anger. I discussed it with my friend Sherry today. She counseled Mike in the past. She said Mike called her recently. She thought that something was wrong because Mike’s conversation wasn’t coherent. She thought maybe demons were giving him a hard time. Maybe Mike really is going to become a solid born-again believer in Christ soon and that’s why things seem to be going wrong spiritually speaking!

Sherry didn’t tell me everything, but a while back she told me how she saw some of Mike’s emotional and spiritual hurt while counseling him. She has helped me to see God’s compassion for Mike and to cultivate my own sense of God’s compassion for people. Perhaps that’s why I cry when I pray earnestly for people. I am very grateful for Sherry’s reminders about God’s perspective as a loving Father who has compassion on His children. It helps me gain a Godly perspective on what would otherwise make me bitter.

Grumpy Ladies

I had a grumpy woman call me at Ticketmaster yesterday. Basically she wanted the information about the event and expected me to have it for her instantly! She asked about a Broadway event I never heard of. She griped that she was on hold for a long time and was hung up on before. I appologized and said I would do my best. When I said I wasn't familiar with the event she said I was paid to know that. I was supposed to know what's playing on Broadway yesterday. Another lady she talked to on a different day was able to look it up right away. I was giving her a hard time. I was doing no such thing! I didn't know what event she was talking about! She was griping at me. I wasn't able to search because she was only giving me like 30 seconds to look! I was SO tempted to say something like, "Look lady, I DON'T know everything playing on Broadway, give me a break!"

Then she asked to talk to my supervisor. Of course it was my fault and I wasn't doing my job. (According to her!) He was a couple cubicles away and heard me telling her I was trying my best. Ben, my supervisor, took over the call and ran thru the list of what we sell on Broadway. Then he figured out we don't sell tickets for the event. Our competitor Telecharge sells them. That thought popped in my mind as soon as Ben took the call because the pressure was off. He gave her the phone number for Telecharge. Then he told me not to worry about it. Ben said that some people never learned from their parents how to be nice! (hehehe! SO TRUE!)

The little things

I went to FCMI on Wednesday. Roger and a volunteer named John were busy swapping the broken wheel assembly from a nice leather office chair with another from a used chair. They had to put a lot of effort into screwing the working wheel assembly onto the bottom of the chair. In the end they had a functioning chair. Roger also found the hardware for a sliding keyboard tray to attach under the computer table. He attached and then removed it from the table because it hung too low. Roger is SO good at finding useful things various places around town!

Later on Roger was on his computer watching some video from India with WinAmp. I enjoyed listening to Roger describe how he asked Sherry's son, John, if there was some way that he could listen to music on the computer while reading the news. John said yes. Roger said John went to this spot and that spot online, clicking here and there and then all of a sudden he had WinAmp downloaded! Roger illustrated by wiggling his fingers like he was typing and moving his hand around like he was using a mouse. Roger is relatively new at using the internet. I am sure he's quite pleased with being able to listen to his favorite music from the 60s and 70s while online! I often take things like online radio and my computer for granted. It was a good reminder about the little things being important!

It snowed

It snowed on Friday the 20th. It was about a week too late for the Capitol Square Sprints that happened the previous weekend. It was in the upper 30s or maybe low 40s and everything was brown except for the street around the Capitol building where the organizers of this skiing event laid down snow that they brought from a nearby ski resort! I was on "the square" walking home the night before watching people put barracades up along long the street. I asked someone working where they were going to get the snow? They pointed down the block to a dump truck and a Bobcat that was removing the snow and packing it down! Then Monday morning when I went to work all the snow was gone again, except for a few chunks lying next to the curb. I think it was a bit decadent of the promoters to bring snow up from Tyrol Basin!

Happenstance

"Happenstance" is not just the name of a CD by the self-proclaimed "America's most Entertaining band," Fozzy!! (Fronted by WWE Superstar Chris Jericho.) Happenstance is a chance encounter. I have had a few of those in the last couple of months. I am finally blogging about them.

The first two happenstances were when I was waiting for a bus on State St. Some guy walked up and asked if I was waiting for a bus. I said yes. He said he would wait with me. He looked fairly young. He was wearing a polo shirt and a light jacket. He seemed a bit upset. I asked what was wrong, and he said something about his friends leaving him behind. They took off in a cab without him. I could sorta smell alcohol on him. I assume they left him at a bar. He started talking about how he really wanted to join the army and serve this country. He said that nobody understood how he wanted to serve his country. I commented that people here in Madison probably wouldn't appreciate the fact that he wanted to go into the Army. I told him that he should follow what made him happy. I basically just listened to him because he was upset. He got on the bus with me and then go back off after a few stops.

Another happenstance at a bus stop was when it was pretty cold, and I was waiting for the bus. I didn't have my watch with me, so I asked an older woman what time it was. She told me, I said I hoped that the bus would come soon. She sort of sighed and said "If the goddess is kind." I thought about saying something like "Yes HE is very kind" to express my view about God or to mention Jesus Christ. But I didn't want to seem like I was picking a fight. People here in Madison can be so sensitive. I also thought something like "the bus is going to come anyway, it's not a result of 'the goddess' or God being kind." Sort of like what does God care if the bus is on time or not.

There was another time, several months ago, when I was doing a phone interview at the survey center. One of the questions for the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) asked about the man's religious preference. He said Christian. I read the list of options to him which were something like "Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, Roman Catholic..." He said he was just Christian. One of the subsequent questions asked how often he attends religious services. He explained that he doesn't attend religious services, he watches a Christian TV show every morning, 5 days a week. I don't remember what I ended up entering into the computer for that question. Out of curiousity I asked him what Christian TV show he watches. He said Arnold Murray's Shepherd's Chapel. The man I interviewed said he likes it because the pastor goes verse by verse through the Bible. I have seen bits and pieces of Shepherd's Chapel. It's usually on very early in the mornings on network TV. I have also looked at a few websites who call it a cult and point out the strange teachings of Arnold Murray. (The only website I could find through a Yahoo search was this "Let Us Reason" article.) I guess Arnold Murray teaches the Bible verse by verse, but he twists some very strange interpretations out of it.

So this brings me to the existential question of these happenstances. Why was I there to hear the young guy talk about how nobody understood his desire to go into the Army? Or when the older lady said "if the goddess is kind"? Should I have told that guy on the WLS phone interview that I had heard that Arnold Murray teaches weird things out of the Bible? Should I have mentioned "God is kind" to the older lady at the bus stop? Is it wrong for me as a Christian to not say something about Jesus Christ to everyone I meet? I don't know.

I've gone Corporate!

I have a new job working for Ticketmaster. I take phone orders from people buying tickets for concerts and sports events. Pearl Jam wouldn't like me. I work for a major corporation. In the 90s they tried to sue Ticketmaster over the convenience fees. I found this undated article about Pearl Jam's arguments against Ticketmaster. It cites a couple magazine articles which will probably give a hint as to when it was written. And then ironically there is this E! Online article about how Pearl Jam started using Ticketmaster again during their 1998 tour. Ticketmaster has exclusive rights to vend tickets for certain venues, like Madison Square Garden, so if Pearl Jam wanted to perform there, they had to use Ticketmaster.

I had about a week's worth of training. The first few days were kind of boring. The trainer and her assistant talked about the Ticketmaster philosophy of being friendly, enthusiastic and polite. We learned how to use the computer system as well, but there were problems with the training program. I was happier once the problem was solved, and we could practice going through the computer program and making pretend ticket sales. The only thing we weren't adequately trained on was how to use the computer program that controls our phone lines. I found out the hard way that if I have that computer program up on the desktop and the main program running in front of it, calls sometimes get accidently disconnected!

My first day taking calls was pretty hectic! People really want "good seats" to these events. The computer pulls up the "best available" seats at any given time. Customers want to know if they are "good seats" and most of the time want a second opinion. I try my best to find good seats, but it's hard when customers order tickets 2 weeks before the event, especially with NBA and NHL games! At least I can use the Madison Square Garden website I linked to above. It has a very cool map of the venue so I can have an idea of how close the seats are to the action! During the orders we are supposed to read scripts for magazine sales and some sort of traveler's discount club. My first day I think I failed to properly transfer a couple callers. Hopefully I will be better at my job soon!

The things I love about the job are looking for information for the customers. I love looking up information on Ticketmaster.com! It is challenging because the phone sound quality is sometimes bad. It sort of bugs me when I can't find information on certain events. I don't know much about Broadway plays and musicals. The call center here in Madison handles the New York and New England market, so we get a lot of orders for Broadway shows. (Ironically there is a call center in New York state that handles the Midwest market.) I have tried to look up information on a play or musical called "Man of Her Dreams" and not been able to find a synopsis. Hopefully I will find it soon.