Speaking in church

in the last few months I had to speak twice in church. Before that, it had been 13 years. Not that the local leaders had not tried to recruit me. Scheduling conflicts kept coming up I guess.

I told a coworker that I had to speak in church. He said in his church the priest spoke every Sunday all year long

I explained that we didn't have any paid clergy. So they call people from the congregation. Since I'm new in the ward, recently having the boundaries changed on me, I was fresh meat I suppose.

The following Monday, after speaking, my coworker asked how it went. I told him it was okay. He asked if I said anything crazy so they wouldn't ask me again.

"I tried, but didn't want to say anything too crazy. I still want to go to church."

“So what do you call it?”

“Call what?”

“We always call it going to mass.”

“Oh, I guess we just call it going to church. But, I suppose you mean the first hour it's kind of like mass.”

“First hour?" He was incredulous. "How many hours are there?”

“Three.” I said with a smile. I figured that bit of information would be amusing.

“3? No wonder you have to get people from the congregation to speak. What happens in the second hour?”

“Sunday School. It is kind of like Bible study.”

“And the kids go to that too?”

“No, they have their own program. Called primary.”

“Ever thought about changing religions?” he asked after commenting that it took some dedication to go to church for 3 hours.

“Yes, but where would I go?”

Too much content

I watched a lot of football this last weekend. I probably could have survived by checking the scores after the games. One thing that amazed me, was all the commercials about new movies coming to theatre, new exclusive network series and more. Some looked pretty interesting.

I used to work with someone who knew the line up of all the over-the-air television stations. It was like someone who religiously followed football. He knew what shows were on prime time…. It was almost as if he had some vested interest in producing all that content. It seemed surreal that he made time to watch it all.

I get disgusted just browsing through the online content. I can imagine someone out there going through a lot of this. Not sure it is possible to see everything. Especially the hours uploaded to YouTube on a daily basis.

I suppose it is great for a producer to have all these ready consumers, but it kind of turned my stomach when a commercial touted “more ways to get more entertainment.” How much does one really need?

Maps

I love maps. I'm always looking at one or another. Occasionally I'll pull up an old neighborhood I used to live or used to know.

Recently I pulled up the satellite view of my junior high school. A bunch of memories came back. Of course there were new, unfamiliar changes as I hope there should be.

GPS technology is indispensable but I think people rely too much on it. I was giving directions to a friend as he was driving and had not put in my address into the computer. We came to the interstate and had to make a choice to go north or south.

Basic knowledge of a map would have made the choice obvious. I hope my friend was joking when he didn't know which direction to go, but it wasn't the first time his map skills came into question.

I had a roommate once who needed orientation of a church building every Sunday! I offered to draw a map so he could carry it around. This was many years before smart phones so the map would have been on paper.

Mark of intelligence

In an old post no longer present on the web, except maybe some archive, I went off as follows:

TITLE: Ties not the mark of intelligence 

DATE: 07/16/2003 04:34:27 PM-----
I hate ties. I inherited some clip-on ties from my grandfather; it makes them a lot easier to put on, but I still don't care for them at all. They seem to get in the way too much.
I heard once that one result of the down market was that people would dress up to show a sense of professionalism. I suppose this was done to attempt put themselves higher up the totem pole so when liabilities needed to be cut... they would not be the first.
I was not impressed in the Systems Administrator's abilities. The tie wasn't helping in that area.

Since that time, I have met a handful of well dressed employees whom I have been equally impressed with. Fortunately, most of them did not stick around long or I at least did not have to to work with them directly.

I’ll wear a tie to an important meeting, interview, or to church, but most of the time I’m in my dungeon cranking out solutions. I might even still have those clip-ons in a drawer. I am not sure I have worn one since I inherited them. Grandpa was really short and I think the clip-ons were kid size.

Dress code at work is usually work casual and that is what I strive for. The tie really doesn’t help me and it is almost a distraction when one comes in the room. Who wears a tie? Government employees? Or someone trying to hide something?