Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

This song by Chicago has come to mean something different for me this week.

Daylight Savings Link to Heart Health?
Heart attack risk declines after an extra hour of shut-eye.

O.K. - someone's got a little too much time and grant money on their hands. Leave it to the Swedes [of which I am one or am 1/4 of one] to figure that out.

I can relate a little though. I was away from home this weekend housesitting. Monday morning I woke up in my own bed again. I looked at the clock and about had a heart attack. I planned to wake up at 6:00 a.m. My clock read 6:00 but my phone read 7:00. Foiled again!! @#$*)(^&!!!!

Who can I sue?

You see, we are too automated now. The clock sets itself. I plug it in and sparks fly, numbers flash, and voilà, the time is set. It must be one of those new-fangled atomic clocks. It's usually about 10-15 minutes off which really confuses me but that's another topic. This clock had reset itself while I was away housesitting. No one told it though that Congress has postponed our cessation of DST by one week again this season. I wanted to wake up at 6:00 and woke up at the old 7:00 or whatever. I'm still confused. If I wasn't renting, that clock would be thrown at or into the nearest wall. That's saying something too b/c I'm usually one of the calmest persons I know. I might take it to Sarah's Smash Shack. I've been wanting to check that place out and this would be the perfect specimen to obliterate. Someone told me Monday that they had some aggression to work out and wanted to beat me up. I recommended we go there instead.

Wikipedia says, "Many computer-based systems can adjust their clocks automatically, but this can be limited and error-prone, particularly when DST rules change." That is an understatement.

On this date in 1894, Daniel M. Cooper of Rochester, N.Y. received the first U.S. patent for a time clock (No. 528,223). I think he's the one I should sue.

Seefood Diet

Are you on a seefood diet? If so, they've got you covered here:

Got Yogurt?

Church starts at 10:30. That's not time certain - it's usually more like 10:45. We'll today it was more like 11:00. It was a surprise to all of us but for good cause. At 10:30 I met Gerry. He was parked outside with a refrigerated truck. He said he had some yogurt for us and asked if we had room to store about 100 cases? I mulled it over for a second and said sure, we'll put it in our refrigerated truck and plug it in.

We summoned help from those gathered and began the relay from one truck to the other. He explained that he was looking for a church to donate it to and had about given up. Just then he looked up and saw a steeple & cross. He happened to "find" a church that had several gathered at that hour who could make use of it and a church that distributes food 3 days a week and also has been blessed with a refrigerated truck. What are the chances? Oh, & his count was off. It was more like 440 cases. 440 x 12 = 5280 containers of yogurt. You can imagine the street value!

"'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?"

On Tuesday, October 21, between 5-9 a.m. Fox Channel 5 will be featuring a facet of our food distribution. We receive food from many places and are constantly amazed at the volume. They will be concentrating on Albertson's Fresh Rescue program which is administered by Feeding America San Diego.

It's nice when the publicity comes but we make it clear that we do not seek it. We have been feeding the hungry as our Lord commands and will continue to do so whether or not it is publicized. The publicity does shed some light on the increased need, the increased supply and how we are all used as instruments of His peace in the process.

There will be a segment once or twice an hour during those times.

Have a great weekend!

San Diego - "America's Finest City"

I've got to brag a little and say I live in one of the best cities in the U.S. I mean I can have an eyeful of this on a nightly basis if I want. I know it's got an ugly side too. Don't they all. I have lamented that and probably even spoken out against it a time or two.

For now I choose to bury my head in the sand. I rarely watch or listen to the news anymore. It's probably not recommended for someone in my position to do that indefinitely, but for now it works for me and helps me keep my sanity. People often ask, "have you heard about this or that"? There's something to be said about the liberation that comes in simply saying, "no I haven't". Period. I've got enough cares of my own. That may sound selfish but I think that's o.k. for us to proclaim once in awhile.

We do have a nice cityscape. It's simple, fairly contained and you can't go wrong when you add in a portion of the bay or ocean along with it. Some of my favorites have been:

• Chicago from the top of Sears Tower.


• Looking across Lake Monona from our home in Madison, WI with the State Capitol Bldg. in the background.


• Copacabana from Hotel Sofitel when we took a bump after Heap's wedding. [Each of us got a separate room, food, ground transportation, $1000 American Airlines voucher, & seats in Business Class the next night.]


• View from Lady Bird Johnson Park of the Lincoln, Washington, & Jefferson Memorials lit up at night across the Potomac River.
  

Subway's website.

O.K. - I think this is funny and creative marketing, but perhaps bordering on sacrilegious. I've had occasion to visit Abe Lincoln's Memorial, the places he governed from on a state & federal level, the theater where he was shot and the room across the street where he supposedly died & his tomb. I don't know how he would feel about this portrayal of his likeness but go ahead and have some fun at his expense.

Subway Fresh Buzz

I'm not going to SPAM you all with this like I did with the interactive phone call from Samuel L. Jackson telling you to go see Snakes on a Plane. I'll leave it up to you and let you SPAM yourself.

Mail Call!!

Well, today I arrived at work later than usual for a Saturday morning. The main reason was that someone asked me to pick them up at the bus station at 1:00 a.m. and then take them "home". I say "home" because unfortunately they are homeless again and home is a make-shift campsite near the freeway in Chula Vista.

I receive messages constantly as we all do and from all directions; snail-mail, e-mail, v-mail & on and on. Some of it I would just prefer to delete or throw away. Property tax bills, suggestions and work orders, anonymous complaint letters ad nauseum. This letter was on my desk as I arrived this morning and was a welcome change. I'll take this kind any time.

Centennial of the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene

Today we celebrated the centennial of the organization of the "Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene" in 1908. I felt like in some ways it was just another Sunday and in other ways like we were caught up in something bigger than ourselves that only comes once in a lifetime. We were instructed that it would be best to celebrate it in our local church rather than face the nightmare and logistics of trying to gather together in one location. It was cool to hear what other churches did to observe the occasion.

Dr. Terry Read spoke for us. He is a former missionary, seminary professor and a multitude of other things. He & Joan have circled the globe and have connections to many in our church's congregations having lived in their homeland or been exposed to their culture. I've seen his picture many times in the past. It was good to meet face-to-face.

As one who is privileged to have documents, letters, books, photos, news articles, etc. pass through my hands on a regular basis, some 100+ years old, pertaining to our history, I was in seventh heaven. You can't help but think what it will be like in another 100 years when the church is 200 years old, D.V.
[The church used this D.V. in the early writings a lot - latin deo volente - "God willing". Essentially, in this case, if the Lord doesn't come back before that.]


When we sang "Tis' a glorious church without spot or wrinkle, washed in the blood of the Lamb", my mind went to the scandals of the church I've read about. Those make for interesting reading, if enough time has passed and they've been de-classified :). I guess you can't help but be 100 years old and not have a scandal or two or .... The song seems to say there's forgiveness for those too. I am glad to be a part of a 100 year old church. Still, my heart goes out to friends that are no longer with the Church of the Nazarene who've been burned, let down, disenfranchized, disallusioned, etc. Lord help us!

Bikefast

Congratulations to Tom & Kari Crittenden! Mari is now officially part of the family. It was my first opportunity to attend an adoption ceremony & it was an awesome experience.

I've been a part of the process in other ways before, albeit a small part. I assisted with the recruitment of families by pastors through San Diego County Adoptions & was tapped as a spokesmodel for them - Mr. March in the '03 calendar :) . Whenever I think about adoption I am reminded that all who believe in Christ for salvation are adopted into the family of God. (Romans 8 & Ephesians 1)

"Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons [& daughters], the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."

Patience paid off today. Mari was beaming.

I had to laugh at the Curse of September 30th and break the bike fast today. It was a perfect day for it. The weather advisory was: "Get to the Coast". I saw 102° in the North County so it wasn't hard to convince me. To the boardwalk we went. Greg showed Dave & I one of his favorite hangouts in his old stomping grounds.

Then it was off to Anaheim to see the Red Sox/Angels game. Aaron Firberg & I have made it a habit - since he started law school at UCLA - of going to see the Padres play at Dodger Stadium late in the season. Somehow we missed doing that this year, probably because of the Padres performance or lack thereof. Tonight was a make-up game for us - Game 1 of the ALDS. The last time I was at the Big Å I was partaking of Holy Communion with 50,000 other Nazarenes courtesy of the Big J.C. If I remember right, that time I was seated in the Upper Deck above third base.

O.K. - I'd seen enough red for one night. I had to snap one in black and white to mute it all. Ahhh!