Beware of Cat - Postal Recollections

Whew! One less thing I have to do. I can scratch off of my to do list the whole "writing a book about my experiences as a substitute rural mail carrier, " I think, because it looks like this book is probably going to be close enough.

Although it is something I only did part-time for 3 years, it was an interesting job. And, as this book promo alludes, you did get to know a lot about the people in your community. From delivering the mail you know which young couple is having marital problems, which family has a loved one in prison, who is struggling with addiction, illness, or physical handicap. You get a feel for who is having trouble making ends meet and who has been blessed with wealth. You know who the good cooks are, whose kids are in college, what churches people attend and, sometimes, what houses the cops suspect hold hidden meth labs.

I never did get bit by dog or cat, but there were some close calls. Here's more info on the book.

Flurry of Activity

We have snow flurries this morning. It doesn't really seem cold enough, but it is certainly noteworthy, nonetheless.

I am working on a project today that is about to eat my lunch. I have to finish and FedEx a presentation in order to complete my qualification requirements as a "Certified Church Consultant". I've had the lengthy written test done for some time, but I have procrastinated on writing the thesis, knowing that it would be time-consuming and challenging.

Why do we do that? Well, I know some of us don't, but a lot of us do routinely put off difficult or unpleasant tasks until the very last minute. As if delaying the inevitable somehow makes it more, uhm...evitable. In fact, as all of us procrastinators know, this type of temporary denial of reality makes our lives not easier, but rather more stressful and unnecessarily frustrating.

And yet, here I am writing on my blog about procrastination instead of doing the work that needs to be done. I wonder how late FedEx is open...

UPDATE: It's nearly 5:30 EST. I may make it...I've got about another hour-and-a-half to finish, 30 minutes to spruce it up a little, and then high-tail it to the FedEx office. It could happen.

UPDATE: Yeah, I got it done. Dropped it off at FedEx at 7:50, a full 10 minutes before closing. Because I'm not one of those guys that waits until the last minute. Yeesh, how lame would that be?

Home again...

Home again and happily so. It was a good trip, as business trips go, and will likely be fruitful. Travel and accommodations were perfectly fine, without snag or complaint. That is, until I got to my car in the parking lot at the James Cox International Airport in Dayton on my return Saturday afternoon at which point I found that I couldn't find my keys. They remain lost to date, presumably in Atlanta, but who knows...they still haven't turned up. Nevertheless, thanks to my son, I made it back home in time to catch the end of the worship rehearsal at church and the evening's service.

The highlight of the trip was, without a doubt, the worship concert that I attended Thursday night. Diante do Trono ("before the throne") is the worship team of Igreja Batista da LaGoinha, a large evangelical church in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, that I mentioned in a previous post. I had been invited by Randy Adams, who is the recording engineer for most of the Diante Do Trono's worship recording projects. (Go here to see a list of Randy's astounding discography.) The amazing thing was that these friends of mine from so far away, whom I had never met in person before, happened to be in Atlanta at the same time I was, performing at a local church that was less than a mile from my hotel.

My friend and colleague, Jeff McLeod, and I stood behind Andre Espindula, the chief engineer whom I have known telephonically and virtually for several years now. It was a joy to meet him in person at last. The worship was wonderful. They had a full rhythm section, background singers, six-piece horn section and a pair of young dancers. Ana Paula Valdao Bessa is the worship leader and she is a great leader, possessing a wonderful voice and a strong passion for the gospel.

Jeff and I speak enough Spanish between us that we could roughly interpret the Portuguese lyrics and speech, although the languages are, in fact, very much different. It is not the first time that I have worshipped in a non-native tongue and, hopefully won't be the last. I believe that Heaven will be very much like that. It is likely that in Heaven, the Lord will reverse the curse of Babel so that we will all speak and understand a common language, but it is undeniable that the children of God come from every time and every culture on Earth. And language is an integral, inseparable part of cultural identity.

An especially moving segment was when Ana spoke at length to the predominately Brazilian audience of some 1200 or so people about the need for them to remember that most Christian believers in Brazil were saved as a result of the efforts of American missionaries over the last 150 years. She encouraged them to now do all they can to, in turn, embrace and positively impact their adopted country. I was somewhat undone emotionally by the passion of her prayer for our country, the outpouring from the people, and the power of the worship song that followed, Águas Purificadoras.

After the concert, at Andre's request, the host-pastor of the Brazilian congregation took us back to the green room and introduced us to Ana. As it turns out, we share a number of friends in Texas, where she went to college in the early 90's. She was humble and gracious, and it was very considerate of her to spend time with us after a rigorous evening. They were to leave by bus later that night for Miami, Florida for the final concert on the tour before returning home.

What an unexpected blessing this was, and one I will remember often for years to come.

More Groovy stuff

The new Midas XL8 digital audio console is amazing. Not only does it boast extraordinarily high quality and an amazing feature set, it has more cool lights per square inch than anything else I've ever seen. This little pic does it no justice, but it really is one of the most beautiful, aesthetically satisfying high-tech device I've seen in a while. Multiple interactive display screens, hundreds of illuminated knobs and buttons, it is stunning...like something out of a sci-fi movie.

To really see how beautiful these 3-dimensional decorative tools are from Rose Brand, you need to go to their website and follow the links.

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They are very cleverly designed and beautifully made, consisting of a spandex-like material stretched over a stick frame. They come in several sizes and are quite wonderful.

And, just to demonstrate the diversity of this tradeshow and prove that it is by no means all about technology, across the aisle from our booth is Starry Host Design. This is a company devoted to the design of creative worship spaces for children. They partner with churches and focus on facility planning, security, and an engaging, artistic environment for children to learn about God. Their website cites an important statistic, that "80% of the decisions to follow Christ occur between the ages of 4-14." Personally, I can testify that more than once, when our son was young, we decided whether or not we would attend a particular church based on the discernable quality, or lack thereof, of the child care. A church that wants to reach out to and meet the needs of young adults with families need to understand how critical this is. It doesn't matter how beautiful the sanctuary is, how wonderful the worship music sounds, or how great the preaching may be if the needs of your kids are being ignored.

This is the last day of the show and I fly home tomorrow. I had a great time last night at the Brazilian worship concert at Cumberland Community Church. I will write more about it later, but it was great to see in person some friends that I have only known for several years by phone.

Worship Facilities § The Premier Conference for Growing Churches

Okay, this is where I am:

Worship Facilities § The Premier Conference for Growing Churches

And these are the folks with whom we are sharing our exhibit space:

Adaptive Technologies/Allen Products - They make all manner of ingenious hardware for hanging speakers, monitor screens, and such. Suspending big heavy things in the air is serious business and, in their field, these guys are the best.

M-Audio - Computer audio interfaces, keyboards, software, speakers and in-ear monitors.

Intelix - Sophisticated audio distribution gizmos. Mixers, processors, and a slew of really cool little electronic signal conversion products called baluns.

TOA Electronics - Full range of pro audio tools, including the super fantastic HX-5 mini-line array.

I've already run into several old friends and seen some very impressive new professional lighting, video, and audio technology, targeted primarily at the house of worship market. I have some pics, but no way to upload them at this point. It's all incredibly geeky and don't for an instant think that I fully understand what all of this stuff does.

WFX - Atlanta, GA / Gospel from Brazil!

It was never my intention for my blog to be merely a recap of my calendar, nor just a haphazard aggregation of news items or semi-interesting links. However, for the time being that is what it has devolved into.

It is what it is. At least for now. And so that is why it is at least apropos, if not otherwise commendable, to report that I will be in Atlanta for the next few days attending and participating the Worship Facilities Expo and Conference (WFX). It should be fun, actually, and the plan is that it will develop business for my company. I'll be hanging out with Bill (Braveheart) Wallace and Jeff McLeod (of the clan McLeod), two of my esteemed colleagues.

Which is good. Isn't it? Of course it is.

An interesting synchronicity is that during the time I am there some friends (and very good clients) from Brazil are leading a worship event on Thursday night in a church just a mile or so away from my hotel. Diante de Trono, which is the worship team from Igreja Batista da LaGoinha, have come all the way from Belo Horizonte (I love the sound of that name...it means "beautiful horizon" in Portuguese). They are an extraordinarily dynamic church and, though I have several of their recordings, I have never seen them live. It should be outstanding. One of my very good friends, Randy Adams, records and produces much of their work and he will be there, too. This may well be the highlight of the whole trip.

pensieri nel passare...

...which means "thoughts in passing", in Italian. I don't really speak much Italian, mostly just musical terms. But I hope to go there soon, probably Rome. We want to celebrate our 25th anniversary (next year) in Italy. Because we think that would be really cool. What follow is a stream-of-consciousness spiel:

This seminar thing that I'm attending, which I mentioned previously, is alternatively interesting and then sometimes not-so-much. Which reflects not in the slightest on the presenters and their program so much as it reflects on my perceptions of how applicable it is to my vocation. The quality and content of the teaching is quite commendable. At the end of it, Lord willing, be a Certified Church Consultant. We had reasonably engaging sessions today on demographics and marketing. And one guy, Bob Adams, conducted a very interesting overview of contemporary myths and trends relating to megachurches, emerging and missional type churches, multiple site and multiple venue churches... Okay, I know that may all sound very boring, but it wasn't. Bob is a really smart guy who has compiled a lot of bonafide research about such things and he presents it very well. I was pleasantly surprised that some of my personal notions about these things were actually at odds with the facts. Who knew!?!? Learning is good even though my brain is now tired.

I have eaten twice now at my favorite Mexican restaurant en todo el mundo. Danal's Mexican Restaurant is on O'Connor Road, a couple of miles south of Hwy 183, down the street from Irving High School (from whence Nancy graduated) in Irving. I took a picture but can't get it online at the moment. When you are in the D/FW area, you must eat there. We always do. Once, after driving all night straight through from Indiana on the way to my in-laws house in Hillsboro, we stopped at Danal's in the early morning and waited in the parking lot until they opened. I hope to go at least one more time before I leave on Saturday. It is not fancy, but it is just the best Mexican food anywhere. The tortillas are made fresh on-site daily and the warm salsa is like none other. Everything they make is great, but I recommend any of the enchilada dishes.

After attending Gateway Church's 10:30 AM service on Sunday morning, I went straight to the big gun show. My brother-in-law, Steve Hockett, is an antique firearms dealer and one of the best gun shows in Texas is the semi-annual one at Market Hall in downtown Dallas. It was a lot of fun, hanging out with Steve and his friend, One-armed John. There were some amazing guns for sale and show, both old and modern, of every size and description. There were a couple of interesting museum-type displays, too, including an impressive collection of large calibre antique machine guns. Another booth had a terrific display of some 2 dozen vintage Kalashnikov AK-47's, modified, in various versions, and collected from all over the world. And there were some gorgeous, authentic, old Cowboy gun collections. It was great. Guns are cool. I am going to have to go shooting more when I get home.

Last Friday, I visited one of my friends here, Buzzy Murphy, of Murphy's Music. Buzzy has a great music store. He is a customer of mine, I've known him for years, I graduated from high school with his big sister, and his family has had a music store in Irving since just after Texas declared independence from Mexico, I think. Any way, business-wise, I take care of him and he takes care of me. I had brought one of my guitars with me on this trip to practice, but when I got here I decided I wanted some type of small, personal headphone practice amp device. So I called Buzzy and then stopped by so that he could make me a crazy deal on a Boss Micro-BR digital recorder. It's a tiny little thing, but the Micro-BR makes the perfect personal practice tool, with it's built-in drum machine, excellent guitar tone, and (really basic) 4-track recorder built in. It also plays and records mp3's, and will even do "time-stretching", which means you can load in, say, Stevie Ray's version of "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and slow the playback speed way down so you can play along with it and learn the tune. It was cheap, it sounds great, it is smaller than a Louis L'Amour paperback, and it is very shiny. I am pleased.

That is all...I've got to get to bed. Today was long, tomorrow will be longer.

Like a whole 'nother country...

Today I am blogging from Texas. I am here on a business trip, having flown in yesterday morning to visit our home office, the ProAudio.com corporate headquarters. I spent the afternoon there, visiting old friends, meeting new friends, and getting some work done. I am fortunate to work for a really good company and with some really great people. Mark Bradford, my boss, is one of the very best men I have ever known. For 15 years he has been a mentor, friend, and a premier example of what it means to live one's daily life with faith, integrity, humility, and intelligence. And no, he doesn't read my blog.

I am here primarily to take part in a training and accreditation seminar next week in Arlington sponsored by the National Association of Church Design Builders, which is an industry trade group that, obviously, focuses on the specific needs of churches in the construction of worship facilities. This is a sizable slice of my company's business already and it looks like thsi will be a worthwhile affiliation. At the end of the week, if I behave myself and pay attention, I will be a Certified Church Consultant. That, and about $3 will no doubt entitle me to my vente Americano, black and hot, at the local coffee shop, but still, it looks like the NACDB may provide some good leads and networking opportunities. I have accumulated a number of such "credentials" over the years, and they are largely meaningless in terms of really impacting what I do. But I remain open-minded and optimistic, because one cannot always judge the future by the past. Only time will tell whether or not this was a smart move or simply 4 days out of my life that I'll never get back.

Regardless, it is fun to visit Texas, land of my birth, the crucible of my formative years, the backdrop for the first couple of decades of my adult life, etc., etc. I could go on an on about how the Dallas/Fort Worth area has changed so much over the years. It has been one of the most dramatically expanding areas of the country for several decades, now, but in the 8 years, more or less, that we've been gone it has really just gotten crazy. There are whole towns and cities that used to be on the periphery, like Grapevine, Lewisville, Flower Mouond, Mansfield, and Southlake, tht are now fully immersed and integrated into one sprawling, amoebic organism of commerce and community. The traffic is pretty terrible, but I am kind of enjoying the death-race aspect of it, so far. Roads that used to be two lane country highways are now congested six lane arteries into and out of various concentrations of industry and residential regions.

I am especially enjoying seeing the great diversity of international cultures, merging and contrasting - something I have always appreciated about this area. This makes for an amazing mixture of eclectic art, great food, interesting music, and fascinating personal interactions.

It is a great place to visit, but I'm glad I don't live here. I like living in rural Indiana.

Blessings #5

Business-wise, this has been my most successful week in more than a decade. I've been working on a couple of big deals over the last six weeks or so and both came to fruition this week. I sold more audio gear in the last few days than I do in most yearly quarters. It has been a hectic, busy time lately, but extraordinarily fruitful. And I have another 3 weeks left in the month!

Thank you, Lord!

High Power Line Maintenance

This guy has an amazing job. I certainly couldn't do it. Not for any amount of money.

I know a couple of guys who climb radio transmission towers for a living and that is a daredevil's job, too. But this is just insane.



This is my first attempt to uploading video via Blogger's draft version. Let me know if it works for you. It looks great on my computer. So far, I'm really impressed with this new Blogger tool.

Point Pleasant, WV

MOTHMAN

Today I acquired a new customer in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

I have friends, customers, and clients all over the world and one of the interesting things about my job is hearing about where they live, what their life is like, etc. The lady I spoke to was very friendly and, when I asked where Point Pleasant was, she told me and then asked me if I had ever heard of the Mothman.

Of course, I exclaimed!. So I quizzed her all about that for a bit, stopping just shy of becoming a nuisance. As a teenager, I had read the book, The Mothman Prophecies, by the eccentric (at least) John Keel, originally published in 1975. And I have seen the movie several times. It is a genuinely creepy, fascinating story. Point Pleasant has a substantial tourist industry based on this singularity, too. I really must visit there sometime.

When I get to Heaven, among other things, I hope to ask somebody, "Hey, what was up with that Mothman thing?"

UPDATE: Rick Lee reminds me that he has been there, done that, and got the pictures to prove it. And his pictures are much better than my little purloined thumbnail above.

Rural Route #2: Country Churches

More pics from Rural Route #2.

Rural Churches in southern Randolph County.

Carlos Christian Church

Carlos United Methodist Church

Martindale Friends Church

New Liberty Church of Christ

Spartansburg United Methodist Church

Rural Route #2: Are you looking at me?

One of my mail patrons. She lives on E. 600 South near Base Road,

Rural Route #2, 47355.

Untitled and mercifully short post in which the author whines about having to work too much. He should shut up and count his blessings.

Alas, this is my life's theme this week. I am burning the candle at both ends and working like a dog. Not a heroic Space Dog, but a regular working stiff of a dog that is compelled to work at too many jobs all at one time such that he has no time to sniff the breeze or run free in the fields or gaze at (or lick) his navel or other things that dogs like to lick.

You'd be surprised at how many images there are on the internet of a candle burning at both ends. Most of them are copyrighted. I guess it's something folks can relate to.

Current Events

JP is out of school for spring break. Its great to have him home.

My grandma turned 91 this past Friday and we celebrated on Sunday at my folks house. She is such a gem. We are so blessed to have her in our lives. She got her driver's license renewed last Friday, too. But she only drives to church, the bank, and the grocery...less than 5 miles round trip, so don't worry. She's smart and she knows her limitations.

I don't exactly know what to call what it is I did at church on Sunday. Basically, during the offering time, I orated/performed a poem (co-written by my friend, John Waltz) accompanied by a simple hip-hoppish/electronica-style musical underscore that I composed. Is there a name for that? I was a little nervous at first, but after I got into it, it seemed to go well from my perspective. So far, all the feedback I received was positive. It was definitely different than anything we had done before. It was my wife's concept. She's a smart one. If I get a video clip, I'll try to figure out how to post it.

We did several cool things at church this weekend, including playing as a postlude the old R&B hit "I'll Take You There" by the Staple Singers, redone ala BeBe & CeCe Winans. Jesus likes the funky music and so do I. Go check out this fabulous YouTube clip of this tune on Soul Train. You know this song - you love this song. It is big fun.

Next weekend, I get to play my lapsteel guitar at church. I need to practice and get my chops together. Scary, because I'm really not very good, yet.

The snow is nearly gone, having had a couple of days where the temps were in the upper 50's. It was unnerving how quickly the birds and bugs appeared, though, at the first hint of warm weather. Somehow a wasp got in the house, in our bedroom, and in our bed on Saturday morning. Not long after I left for a BSF meeting, Nancy woke up to find that she had been stung on the palm and looked over to see a wasp sauntering across my pillow. She was not pleased, to say the least. And we've already had flies and ladybugs (actually, it is that stinky little asian beetle that looks like a lady bug - you know the one). Yeesh. This old house needs an exterminator.

I'm quitting my part-time job at the USPS. As much as we need the extra income, I really have felt since the first of the year that the Lord was nudging me to let it go. It will be a couple of months, probably, before they find my replacement and I am committed to stay on until they do, but it is in the works. This will help me in several areas, simplifying some things and enabling me to do a better job in my function as lay worship leader and artist at my church. It will also require me to trust God in an area where I always seem to have issues...financial security. I'm cool with that although I don't expect it will be easy. The Lord and I have a long history with this particular topic, and I'm probably due another lesson. He will provide, just like He always has.

k...bye.

Grumblings from the Mailstrom

It is not a misspelling. It is a play on words. My vanity requires an explanation, causing the ruination of the effect. I realize one shouldn't have to explain a pun, but neither can my fragile ego suffer the quizzical stare, or worse the "Hey, you misspelled 'maelstrom'. Whaddaya, ignernt?" No, better to explain and then shuffle on.

This has been a very difficult week. My numerous professional and personal obligations have again careened into each other's orbit, as they are wont to do periodically, and the subsequent interaction of their gravitational fields has caused chaos, fatigue, frustration, and self-loathing again. Same as it ever was.

What I need is to simplify, simplify, simplify. Maybe next week I'll have time to look into that.

But take a look at this cool picture from my Rural Route #2. This was taken in nearby Carlos (pop. approx. 50) which is pronounced "carr-lus", dry and atonal, with no lingua romanzesca whatsoever. It is a vintage limo; I have no idea what year or make. If I have time, I'll get a closer look tomorrow. Sure, it's beat up, but it is still a great-looking car. How fun it would be to fix that baby up and tool around in it.


This picture really cheers me up. I'm not sure why.

When I work too much, I get depressed. It really sends me into a funk, and not the good kind of Brothers Johnson or Tower of Power funk. But, in those inspired moments when I do momentarily stop feeling moody and snappish, and actually pray for help, God actually does help. Sometimes my prayer goes something like this:

"God, you are going to have to deal with this because I have had it up to here with this @#$^)$#@ and I can't take it anymore. I can't believe I have to deal with this #**$%^@!"

The Lord understands frustration, though, verily far better than I, I'm sure, since He has billions of people to deal with. And as soon as I start talking to Him about what it is about my life that is driving me temporarily insane, the relief starts to seep in. Not all at once, but little by little, my heart starts to unclench, my brain starts to clatter again, the muscles in my neck relax and, even though my circumstances may still suck, I really do, miraculously, feel better. If I stay at a bit, my perspective actually shifts into a much happier and healthier place as I again remember how well off I am, comparatively. Music helps, too, especially worship music. When I stop focusing on myself and my "problems", I just start to feel better.

God's strength abounds when his children are beset by weakness. He has had numerous opportunities to show His strength around me this week. When there is less of me and more of Him in the equation, things definitely go smoother.

Here is a short and very good devotional my Mom sent me that cheered me up. It's good when you're Mom cheers you up. Its good when my Mom cheers you up too. So go read it and be blessed. If you don't, that means that you either don't like my Mom or you have all of the blessings you need right now.

Update: The limo is a hearse. I thought it was, then I thought it wasn't because of the windows, then today I looked closer and now I'm sure it is. That makes it even cooler, of course. I don't know much about vintage cars and even less about vintage hearses.

Stand and Deliver

All day long I've been thinking about this one idea, basically.

I'm going to do something new and exciting to my workspace. I'm going to elevate my desk about 2 feet so that it will be a standing desk rather than a sitting desk. Somewhere I read about some executive who has a standing desk and he does his work while walking on a treadmill all day. I don't think I'm quite that radical, but I do think that standing and moving around should be healthier than sitting.

I'm going to go think about it over a piece of pie. Wick's Pie Factory is located about 14 miles from here. Mr. Wick was an old friend of my grandpa's from way back and these folks know pie. You may have seen them in your local grocery. They are famous and they ship pie all over the country. The pumpkin pie is exceptional. The sugar cream pie is also very good, but it is serious businesss....folks have been known to break into a diabetic sweat just looking at one of those. I can have about 1 piece per year.

Yes, there is probably a link between pie and my interest in metabolic modification. Let's not dwell on it.

I have several jobs. One of them is working part-time for the US Postal Service as a "Rural Carrier Associate". In our little area of Randolph County we have only two rural routes. Most of the folks that live in Lynn proper actually have a box and come pick their mail up on a semi-daily basis. My job is that of a substitute carrier, meaning that I run the route every other Saturday and on days when Jennifer, who is the real mail carrier, is sick, on vacation, or feeling otherwise postally disinclined.

Like all jobs, there are good things about it and not-so-good things, but overall, I like it very much and it has been a blessing to our family. There are only 7 people total who work at our Post Office and all of them are great. Because we are very small and in the country, the whole vibe is much more relaxed than it is in the city facilities. Rick, the Postmaster, couldn't be a nicer, more easy-going boss and alot of the bureaucratic formalities and regimental unpleasantries one finds in the administration of a metropolitan Post Office just do not exist in our office. We don't wear uniforms. We drive our own vehicles to deliver the mail and the USPS pays us a per diem to cover this usage. This is a good thing because postal delivery is really hard on the brakes.

As I mentioned, it is a rural route and, after sorting, casing, and generally organizing the mail, it takes about 4 hours to drive around the backroads putting mail in people's mailboxes and delivering packages. There's more to it than that, really, more detail than most people want to know about. But, in truth, alot of my day is about driving around out in the country, which is pretty fun. Except when it snows or ices, then it is not fun, but hard, hazardous, exhausting work.


I like to take pictures of some of the areas I see on my route. This a pond that is on County Road East 700 South (I told you it was rural). This photo was taken in the late spring, but this is an interesting place all year round. I almost always see geese at this pond, but I've also seen all manner of other waterfowl, including herons and what appear to be seagulls or a near relative. This area is beautiful in the winter, too.

I don't think I would enjoy postal work as much as I do if I had to do it everyday, but it isn't bad being the substitute. Its relaxing to drive around out in the country, listening to NPR and rock-and-roll on the radio, putting letters in boxes. Lord willing, I plan to do it for at least another three years or so, until my son gets out of college.

Work

I am well aware that unemployment is a problem everywhere, varying only by degree. However, it is also very possible to be overemployed. I have a couple of different jobs and numerous other committments and responsibilities. Usually I am able to juggle them, successfully balancing the time and resources necessary to keep everything in order and all parties satisfied, myself included. But occassionally, like this past week, the various orbits converge uncomfortably, causing gravitational stress, near collision, and generally making me nuts. When I work too much, I get depressed. Though I like my job(s) and there are aspects that are very fulfilling and rewarding, I am really not doing what I would like to do. Nevertheless, today while working, I intend to make a concentrated effort to enumerate my blessings while I trudge onward. That seldom fails to to lift my heart and focus. Because it really is a problem of perspective, oh my disgruntled heart.



Here is another excellent old postcard.

Sometimes the internet and the whole telecommuting thing makes me a little nuts, but overall I am really grateful for this technology on which my livelihood is so dependant. Today was a good day. I sat at my desk, unshaved and unshowered, barely presentable and did almost $15K in sales. I am blessed to have many friends as customers, and most of them are involved in some aspect of ministry. And except for the Tascam DVD-6500 that showed up DOA, purchased by my own church (?!?!), there were no serious problems.

Showered, shaved, and cleaned up, I am now waiting for the family to get home and I will prepare dinner.

Unfortunately, it looks like I may have blown up my sound card in the thunderstorm last week. I have my computer and all of it's appendages properly UPS'd and otherwise protected, but not long ago, I purchased a new receiver/amp and thought it would be cool to run my computer audio through my stereo system. Which is not protected in any way from surges, spikes, lighting storms, or anything else. I think one of the times we momentarily lost power, there must have been a voltage reversal or some kind of static discharge through the stereo audio cable running from my PC to the receiver. Bummer. Not sure what I'm going to do about that. One of the downsides of being 1000 miles away from the home office is its harder to get stuff like this dealt with easily. Or at all.

Listening: Reuben Morgan - World Through Your Eyes