COFFEE - Is it just me, or is the planet shaking?

When mom sees this pic he's in BIG trouble.

A couple of biker gangs had a shootout up near Prescott today. One of the gangs has been identified as the Hell's Angels, the other as the Vagos. No word on fatalities yet but at least one was air-lifted to a hospital, and several others suffered gunshot wounds.
I'm trying to think of the downside to this story.

A couple of weeks ago a woman was run out of a local McDonald's by an assistant manager because she was breast feeding her baby. The owner of the restaurant has apologized, in private and in public, but that didn't assuage the woman's anger. She organized a protest, and today dozens of women showed up to breast feed their babies at the restaurant. The only reported problem was the crowd of Junior High boys clogging the place.

Things I learned today about removing popcorn ceilings:

1. Spraying the ceiling with water from a garden sprayer works well to loosen the popcorn.
2. The special tool they sell for scraping it off does not. Better off using a 6" drywall knife.
3. If you use painters tape to hold the plastic sheeting up on the walls it will hold until some of that water gets on the plastic, adding weight. Then it quickly falls off the walls.
4. Like sausage and legislation, this is a process your wife should not witness. Make sure she's working, preferably a 12-hour shift.
   
5. Which is to say, you're going to need a shop vac. And a regular vac.
6. You'll have a lot of repair to do on the ceiling. The reason they use popcorn is because they can get away with sloppy mudding. Take off the popcorn and you'll see all the problems needing repair before you can paint.
   
7. Wet popcorn seriously raises the humidity in the house. It also weighs a lot, so plan on the plastic sheeting you put on the floor tearing when you try to roll it up, spilling the soggy popcorn on the carpet. (see #5, above.)
8. Wear a hat. Or Jockey shorts if that's all you've got.
   
9. If you do all the laundry, fold it and put it away, she's less likely to be really upset with the smashed and soggy popcorn tracked throughout the house.
   

Tomorrow is our first Sunday at Litchfield Elementary School. I'm a bit troubled that I got no response to my phone calls to the district either Thursday or Friday. I wanted to confirm that everything was in order and the school would be unlocked at 8:15. If they're not we're in big trouble, since by 9 a.m. it will already be in the 90's.
We've told people to expect a couple of shake-down Sundays. We haven't been able to do any trial set-up of seating or sound equipment so we might have some rough spots. But this is an easy-going group so I'm not worried about their reaction.
I am eager for tomorrow and next Sunday. Pathway is taking an important step in our maturation as a church (and moving to the school has nothing to do with it).

When you go on vacation and reconnect with very important friends it's troubling to come home and again be separated by the miles. Parting isn't sweet sorrow. It a downer.

I gotta go take a shower and get all this drywall dust off before Pam gets home.