I used to like political jokes until so many of them got elected.

I had called the electric blanket company yesterday and this morning they called back. For $20 they're sending me a new control, so we'll both sleep warmly through the winter. Still haven't turned on the heat but we're supposed to get some rain Tuesday, which means no solar heating through sunlit windows.

Sometimes - OK, a lot of the time - my brain works a problem in the background while I'm doing other things, mulling potential causes and cures. Late last night I had an epiphany: Occam's Razor dictated that none of the trailer lights worked because of a ground issue. I got the unassembled trailer at Harbor Freight and they got it from China. Accordingly, bolt heads varied in size so much that the correct socket wouldn't fit on at least one in six. To save money in manufacturing they have you attach the lights to the frame at each corner and connected the ground wire to the tongue in the front. That should work in theory, with the frame acting as the conductor for the ground circuit, except that they painted the frame, thus insulating it from the lights. So this morning I embraced my late-night theory and ran a ground wire that connected each light and attached directly to the ground wire at the head of the harness.
Success!
It feels so good to solve a problem, and electrical problems can be the trickiest. I called Pam at work to remind her she's married to a genius.

The problem with eating the lunch Pam made for me at 10:30 is that I'm ready for the dinner she made for me at 3:30. By 7:00 it's time for another meal but there's nothing to eat that doesn't require doing something in that room with the big white thing that gets hot.
Isn't this a great country!
Note: turns out doing genius work builds up quite the appetite.

Poor Rick Perry.
But it's OK. They're bringing back "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" so he'll have at least one more TV appearance, albeit another losing one.
They complained that John McCain was a boring candidate. Nothing boring about this field of Republicans.

The gal who opens up the school for us most Sunday mornings, Maxima, is from Mexico. She says she's been here for 22 years but her accent is still very thick and sometimes I have trouble understanding her. (Maybe she said 7 years.) We usually chat briefly and she's always cheerful. She's also very eager to make sure everything is as we need it. The elders agreed we should give her a monetary gift to express our appreciation for her faithfulness and help, a gift I'll give her tomorrow morning when she arrives to unlock. (I'm always there early.) I'm really looking forward to that. Besides being cheerful she's a bit shy and quite deferential. I know she'll be very surprised.
'tis better to give than to receive, and more fun, too.

Navy beats Army!

We're blessed with some uniquely skilled people at Pathway and Matt is certainly one of them. His expertise and resources as VP at Arrowhead Advertising has opened up disproportionate outreach opportunities for our church. And the faithful stewardship of the congregation enables us to put it all together. We're praying about a 4-pronged strategy that we trust will bear significant fruit in the weeks and months ahead. Good stuff.