Mixed Nuts

Pam was called in to work extra hours this morning. This time of year the hospital's "census" (number of patients) is down so they sometimes close a unit. Last week they closed 5c, the unit where she works, but opened it back up this morning. That requires lots of extra tasks, from informing the kitchen, the switchboard, the pharmacy.... They asked her to come help with all of that.
So I put the laptop in the back of the bike and rode off to Paradise Bakery. Sometimes I need to get out of the house - away from the familiar and the distracting - to work efficiently. And it worked this morning. I got a lot of Pathway work done.

This afternoon I took care of a couple of tasks over at the double wide. A ceiling fan without a switch but with a remote control had stopped working, so I started checking connections. Narrowed it down to a bad remote receiver inside the fan. Fortunately, Home Depot sells a replacement that solved the problem.
Where is the electrical panel in a 25-year old mobile home? I found three - one outside, one in a closet and one on a wall. None of them had labels that matched the location of this fan and I didn't want to mess something up. (Two were labeled "crossover." Huh?) So I broke one of the rules and very carefully did the re-wiring with the power on. I prayed while I was doing it.

I also got a phone call this afternoon. Long story, but someone halfway across the country took serious offense at something I wrote. I didn't write it to them; they opened a letter addressed to someone else. And I didn't say anything derogatory about them. They're defensive about a mistake they made - what turned out to be a very expensive mistake - and my reference to it in this letter was interpreted as labeling them as stupid. I explained that we all make mistakes, I certainly didn't intend to slam them, don't think that I did, and was sorry she took it as such. No matter, she had worked up a head of steam and was intent on laying into me.
I think she was angrier after she hung up on me than before she placed the call. I'm not sure what she expected, but as a kid I watched my dad respond calmly and unemotionally in situations when someone got upset with him. It often makes 'em even angrier. It did today! But mostly it keeps me from responding in kind and saying things inconsistent with grace and peace.

So, in the third grade, when somebody in your class did something wrong and the teacher, not knowing who did it, scolded the whole class, did it make you feel guilty?
Even when I know I'm not guilty of anything, there's something about being accused by someone that bothers me. It takes me some time to shake off the false guilt.

I can't decide if I got it right - that Hillary would drop out today. She has let it be known that she'll announce that she's out on Friday. So is she in until then?

Big Brown got the rail for the start of Saturday's Belmot Stakes. You gotta watch that race. History could be made. And if you need a human interest story to draw you in, the jockey's 9-year old son has Ushers Disease, which means he's losing his sight and hearing and will soon be blind. Can dad win the Triple Crown so his youngest son can witness the feat?

Test your reaction time by clicking on the button. After five it will give you your average time. I got an average of .2504
Sheep Darting

Josh is a BIG Red Wings fan. He's happy tonight.

A helicopter is flying in the skies above Seattle when the pilot gets disoriented because of the clouds and fog. He flies up next to a tall building, scribbles on a tablet and holds it up to the copter window so the people looking out can see it.
"Where am I?"
Someone inside scribbles a reply: "You're in a helicopter."
The pilot turns, heads south, and shortly thereafter lands safely at Boeing Field. His co-pilot asks him, "How in the world did "You're in a helicopter" give you any help?"
The pilot answered, "It told me I was at the Microsoft building, because like their help line, the answer they gave was technically correct and practically useless."