There's no education in the second kick of a mule.

Picture Pages, Picture Pages
I decided it was time for some photos instead of my usual witty and urbane narrative. (What does urbane mean, anyway? It sounds like a Kia model.)
First, some shots of the cafeteria at Litchfield Elementary where Pathway holds our worship service and adult class.
The room is adorned with lots of important notices produced on the office printer and laminated in plastic. My personal favorite: (click to enlarge)

How many churches have anything like this in their sanctuary??


This is one of the oldest schools in the district and in the SW Valley. It's very close to Luke Air Force Base, home for the F-16. So in addition to signs about cleaning up vomit we have an 8' long replica of a fighter plane hanging from the ceiling. Tell me that isn't a cool way to dress up a worship center!

Along one side of the room is a refrigerated vending machine that sells bottled water. I'm not sure why you need to see the cashier if the machine takes quarters.

But what I really love is that six feet down the wall is this:

This is Matt. He's one of our elders and also leads worship. He has a great voice for doing that, but he can't clap.
We give Matt grief because he has shoes. A LOT of shoes. He could give most women competition for the number of pair he has. So note what he's wearing this morning.

Here's a view of the room from near the back. I took this before people arrived. (Didn't want you thinking we were that small!)

After lunch I drove 20 miles west on I-10 to see Pat, the guy who's doing the body work on Ilsa. I shouldn't have been surprised that he hadn't made a lot of progress. Pretty typical. But when he's done it will be every bit as good as the day it rolled off the assembly line. All the dents are cleaned and a thin layer of bondo in the few that couldn't be pulled all the way out. The biggest problem were the two golf ball size dents on the door up by the window. No access to them from the back side because it's a closed channel. So he pulled them out with a special puller that body guys use and then put on the bondo.

On the driver's side the big problem was that the door had been knocked out of alignment. The gap was uneven because the hinge, welded to the body, had been sprung. The gap is now perfectly even all the way around. That's why I'm paying this guy!

He'll finish this stage - get all the dents and bents fixed - and spray it with a special epoxy primer. Then he'll "block" it, using special body sanders to get everything smooth and even. A second coat of primer, then color coat and finally clear coat.

He said he'd try to push it and have it done by the end of October. We'll see. I'm eager to get it back but also realize I am very lucky to have him working on my car, and at a price well below what he would normally charge. In the meantime I've got some work to do. I got a call from a guy downtown I've done work for in the past and he has several projects he want me to take care of, so I'm going in Thursday to take a look. Alas, several of them involve plumbing. It's all good, though. It will help pay for Ilsa's new dress. And once the body is back on the chassis it's time for wiring, headliner, carpet, upholstery....
Yeah, plumbing jobs are OK.

BTW, that bit up at the top about the mule... I heard Sen. Mitch McConnell, Minority leader, say that on Meet the Press this morning. He was asked if the President's plan to spend a few billion more was a good way to jumpstart the economy.